2012 Pro Wrestling Thread

I wouldn't have even realized it was a heel turn if Lawler hadn't been trying so hard to drive it home. What did he do that was so heelish, really?

 

He stood by and watched the good guy get beat up.

And if that wasn't enough, he hit a flying clothesline or whatever on The Great One.

[/wwewriters]

 

He also gave him the GTS, although I would've much rather seen an Anaconda Vice for effect.

 

I completely forgot about that. And yeah, it would've been cool to see the Vise instead, but I'll take a GTS.

 

Even though he hit The Rock, because Rock's been so absentee lately, it wouldn't surprise me if Punk is a tweener, regardless of how the WWE tries to go on from here. He'd have to do something odder to get true heel heat, like allying with The Big Show, which would just kill his popularity in general and probably get him more go-away heat.

 

damn iphone

 

See my post above

 

Not that this heel turn really matters. Kids/ladies will still cheer SuperCena and boo Punk. Guys will still cheer Punk and boo SuperCena. Did anything really change? Oh, he took out The Rock? Big F'n Deal. It'll be forgotten in about six weeks, until The E reminds us in the build-up to the Rumble ... assuming Punk hasn't been buried by SuperCena by then.

The E has got to quit burying everything under SuperCena. The guy has been going hard for 10 years now. At what point does his body break down? Any bets on a devastating injury happening within the next year? The guy doesn't take any time off, even when he's hurt. How long was he out for the neck surgery? Maybe a few months? What happens if he blows another disc? Out for six months? A year? The E has done little to build up anyone else as the star attraction, and when it's Cena's time The E will be as screwed as it was about 10 years ago when it didn't have a true headliner. Stone Cold wasn't able to work. Rocky too busy making movies. Triple H and Lesnar as their show's respective champs still weren't that "face" of the company to parade around other media.

But, The E should go ahead, keep banking absolutely everything on Cena, and hope his body holds out.

 

They don't really have a reason not to.

He hasn't had a catastrophic injury like Austin did when he broke his neck, and he hasn't had many other issues outside of the neck surgery. He's the cash cow, much like Hogan was. They aren't going to screw the pooch just yet.

 

He is 35 now though, and he's not really built like the guys who tend to age well (HBK, Jericho). I'm guessing he could have a Triple H career arc, just more durable, but Triple H hasn't really worked a full schedule in recent years either. While Cena hasn't really slowed down yet, the WWE should be planning like they only have three more years or so of him as a full-time performer, and also have an injury contingency plan just in case.

 

Big difference between Cena and Triple H is H doesn't have to work because he's being groomed to take over the empire when Vince dies. If he didn't have that in, he'd probably still be working a full schedule.

The Rock was 31 when he stopped being a full-time WWE performer in 2003. Austin was 38. Of course, both had extenuating circumstances. There's no reason, short of a major injury, to think Cena won't be wrestling for at least five more years before they or he dials back to a part-time/major shows schedule. He's pretty healthy and it doesn't look like a major movie career is in the offing. And so long as he's the main merchandise mover and public figure, there's really no reason not to keep pushing him as they are, even if it's fun to imagine him as a heel.

FWIW, I don't think they have to make him a heel in the traditional sense at all. All he has to do is pick up the Summer of Punk character from last year and run with it. Having him team with Big Show or, god forbid, Daniel Bryan makes him just an ordinary heel, and we've got plenty of heels as it is.

 

I watched the 1000th episode of Raw. It was at this point of the year one of the few non-reruns.

Lesnar's spokesperson is a great Ed McMahon to Brock's Johnny Carson. I thought Ricardo Rodriguez was good in that way for Del Rio, but the big mouth and Lesnar trump that combo. And that's not saying anything against Del Rio. He's one of the better heels they've had in years.