2012 Pro Wrestling Thread

My man Arda Ocal was in the Bell Centre last night:

http://www.baltimoresun.com/sports/pro-wrestling/ring-posts-blog/bal-eyewitness-account-of-jerry-lawler-s-heart-attack-collapse-at-wwe-raw-20120911,0,6198603.story

 

Cena was excellent last night, and Punk was really good at selling the verbal blows.

For a monologue that is one of the best of all time, check out this one from the early 80s of Archie (the Stomper Gouldie).

 

Oh, and in honor of today:

 

I agree that both did an excellent job on the mic. Cena did make some valid points, especially in terms of the color changes and Punk using the elbow.

 

This presumes Lawler will make a recovery, regardless of whether or not he returns to television.

With that in mind, two suggestions:

1. Let Cole, once and for all, be a straight-up PBP guy. I think at this point there's no way to have Cole and Lawler go after each other and have it not be either unbelievable, classless or both. Few people, even the marks, are going to buy Cole making snarky comments after an evening in which he was on the verge of a full-on for-real meltdown because of what happened to Lawler.

2. Certainly they'll have to find at least a short-term replacement at color, and at this point it seems there's a good chance Lawler doesn't return, even if he makes a full recovery. The Raw travel schedule is pretty tough even if you're only making weekly trips, and he's a 62-year-old with major heart surgery in the best of circumstances. They could fit the Miz in there pretty easily, either as an active wrestler/commentator or as a commentator alone. He has good simpatico with Cole, I doubt JBL is interested in coming back, Heyman probably wouldn't (plus he's in the middle of WWE's big angle), they don't seem especially eager to give William Regal anything that prominent to do, and nobody else comes to mind. Maybe have a few guest color guys come in while Miz is still holding the IC title, then once they figure out what they're going to do with the seat, have Miz slide in.

 

I'll be interested to see how they handle the commentator situation after this. I can't help but think they'll have to make some major changes.

 

No one marks harder than me for the Miz, but he was absolutely terrible on color last week. Maybe he can do better in the future?

 

I'd like to hear Booker T. or someone colorful like that.

 

I don't think they can plug Miz in right now, particularly with him holding a belt. I was thinking last night, how about Road Dogg? I enjoy the banter he's had with Josh Matthews on that "Are You Serious?" web show. And as a former "athlete," he can fit well into the typical color commentary role.

 

I thought Punk and Cena were really great last night.

QUick question on Punk: I know people want to see him vs. Stone Cold at some point. He threw in a nice verbal jab at Austin last night. It may not mean anything but any chance they are planting a seed for that?

 

But with him as GM, where would he/WWE find time for it?

 

It'd be nice to see, but didn't Austin just recently have pretty extensive knee surgery?