2012 Pro Wrestling Thread

Punk vs. Bryan should be an epic feud/match that gets serious play on a major PPV. Instead, it's getting almost zero build and going on to a worthless PPV. This just kind of wraps up the WWE in a nutshell right now.

 

Punk/Bryan should be a longstanding feud that helps carry WWE. You can have it run for at least the remainder of the year and the quality of their work would keep fans coming back. Unfortunately, the chances are very good that they'll piss away the feud and then have them as a tag team with little to no explanation. Look at Cena/Punk. Ten months ago, it was the hottest thing WWE had; by the end of the year, they were in six-man tags together as if nothing ever happened.

 

The WWE, for the past few years (at least), has been afraid to come out of any sort of comfort zone. They just stick to their formula, no matter what the reaction is, and they can't adjust on the fly.

Look at a few of the things they've done that could have been super-hot: The Nexus. Punk, the wrestlers' strike on Raw, Zach Ryder. Each of which, except for the strike, could have carried the company. Instead, Nexus peters out with a whimper, Punk gets neutered, the strike, which could have been one of those crazy Raw memories, gets dumped in 30 minutes for a Vince/Trips segment, and Ryder is reduced to looking like an idiot.

The WWF of the late-90s would see fan reaction, and go with it. The WWF of today keeps trying to control fan reaction, and when they don't get it, keep shuffling along as is.

 

Here's how I want to see this feud: WWE Champion CM Punk vs. World Heavyweight Champion Daniel Bryan, title unification, Wrestlemania 30, winner gets a new belt to replace that hideous Cena-fied title.

One can dream.

 

WWE is planning to take Raw to three hours each week beginning with their 1000th episode. As craptastic as their regular shows have been post-WM, I can't see where there was a demand for another hour. On the same note, Impact is also planning to go live in the near future as well.

Iceberg dead ahead.....

 

Live Impact? Three hours of Hogan/Flair/Bischoff. An hour for each! YAY! .... crickets.

 

It worked so well for WCW Nitro! How can this possibly fail?

 

3-hour Raw? Didn't they see how well (or not so well) it went for WCW with Nitro? Those who fail to learn from history....

 

It could work. Just unify the rest of the dual titles and kill SmackDown. Make the IC belt a meaningful item and do something to drastically overhaul the dead tag team division.

 

And add a TV title.

 

A couple of secondary titles (especially a TV title that gets defended every week) would be a good thing. I do agree that if they go to 3 hours, they need to unify the belts.

 

They must unify the belts and place more importance on the secondary titles. At the same time, they should treat Smackdown in the same manner that WCW should have used Thunder: a program that highlights the up and comers and second-tier vets. My biggest concern with them taking Raw to three hours is that you're probably not going to get any more than about 30-40 minutes of in-ring action, with much of that being quickly thrown together 6-and-8-man tags and the Ryback/Clay squash match thrown in for good measure. If 3/4s of the show is nothing more than highlighting Cena's latest Make a Wish, a stupid ass Hornswoggle skit or Santino endearing himself to a celebrity guest, then I'd venture it won't be long before the ratings scream "get thy ass back to two hours."

As for Impact going live, the only benefits are a possible Christy Hemme wardrobe malfunction or someone cashing in on a Wrestling Death Pool. With Jeff Hardy, Kurt Angle, Hulk Hogan and Ric Flair in play, the chances of that happening are greatly increased.