2012 Pro Wrestling Thread

Speaking of Bundy, good promo by Miz tonight about how Bundy went from main-eventing WM2 to wrestling Hillbilly Jim and two little people at WM3 as the biggest drop-off from the WM main event in history until Miz gets left off the card.

Me-thinks next week, we see a special appearance by Bundy, followed by, as someone else mentioned earlier, a face-turn by Miz at WM.

Few other thoughts about Raw:

1. They had Kane kill Ryder, so why isn't Ryder trying to get revenge? Instead, they have a manufactured match with Orton against Kane, with no real reason for it (Yeah, I know, Barrett got hurt, so what. Get creative).

Shit, since they're not doing much with Orton at this point, they should have had him help Ryder against Kane at WM, get Ryder the win, then RKO him and turn heel. Then you have a Ryder/Orton feud, and build up Ryder some more as a serious wrestler.

2. Good Punk/Jericho promo again, now with Punk's sister involved. I still think Punk should bring up Jericho's DUI, which would be funny.

3. Maria Menoulous (sp)? Good looking gal, but why should I give a shit?

4. Interesting thing about Cena. The Philly crowd didn't boo him out of the building. He still got a mixed-reaction that was pretty vocal. But when he AAed Henry, the crowd popped big time. Seems like those promos have been giving him a bit more respect.

5. Liked HBK's smirk at the end when Taker said he was better than Trips. Funny stuff.

 

1. Even though he got squashed, Ryder did pretty well for someone who was pretty much crippled (in storyline) about a month ago. Good for him. Now go away, Mr. Ryder. You're annoying.

2. I loved the twist by Jericho and, like you, kept waiting for Punk to bring up the DUI. It'd just be more fodder for Jericho, though, since he hasn't tried to hide it. He could easily turn that back on Punk, which is a good reason to bring it up next week.

3. Because she's a good-looking gal and there's always the hope she and Kelly Kelly will accidentally rip each other's tops off while the guy working the 10-second delay button is in the john?

4. I wonder if some of those cheers and respect stemmed from his car wreck. It was up on WWE's website and they weren't shy about putting it out there. Philly fans always like a guy who plays hurt. Shows some toughness, and they really identify with that.

5. That was awesome. Also liked how HBK kind of dropped the smirk when HHH looked at him, then smirked again when Trips looked away. It's the subtle things, man.

And one of my own...
6. If Bundy does make an appearance, I want him to get a squash win over Miz in an impromptu match. Just so we can see him ask for the 5-count. That was one of the greatest heel gimmicks EVER.

 

1. They're building this up as Kane seeking Revenge for Randy not shaking his hand after a match last summer. Orton beat him on SD, Kane offered a handshake as a sign of respect, and Orton walked away (iirc). I think that was Kane's last match for a while, too.

2. Family used to be off-limits. When did that change?

3. Celebrity match at Mania, since Shaq isn't coming.

4. The reaction when Cena FU'd Henry was great.

5. HBK was great during the entire ending promo. He didn't have to say a word.

 

Agree with Batman - The Bundy five count really needs to be brought back.

 

1. A handshake? Really? Zzzzzzz

2. Working-wise, you must have forgotten about the Bossman dragging Big Show's father's casket away from the cemetery, King making fun of Stu and Helen Hart, the Eddy/Rey/Rey's kid thing, Pillman using a gun to defend his wife from Austin, Trips invading Orton's home, and oh yeah, the entire McMahon saga.

Worked-shoot-wise, you had Rude trying to make out with Jake's wife, Golddust and Terri breaking up on TV, Al Wilson, Orton punting Cena's dad, Hogan/Savage/Liz love triangle (yeah, there were rumors) and so on.

3. She was the best celeb they could find after Shaq? Plus, technically, you can count Rock as a celeb.

4. Agreed. Huge pop. And he's done it before with Viscera.

5. Indeed.

 

Funny thing with Bundy and the five-count. Supposedly, he'd do it with Hogan at title-match house shows where he'd beat Hogan in 3, demand the five-count, then Hogan would kick out on 4.9 and the match would continue with Hogan, of course, winning.

 

1. Actually, they DID shake hands after that match. Both have referenced it as the moment Kane turned human, which is pretty corny hyperbole and inaccurate to boot (he was at his most human after Lita's miscarriage). If I'm remembering right, Kane wanted a match with Orton last year because he felt like the monster in him needed to be revived, but instead he shook Orton's hand and went meekly into the night shortly after when Henry put him out.

2. Family is rarely if ever off limits. Bobby Heenan built a feud with Big Bossman out of insulting his mother. Wives/girlfriends are constantly brought into feuds. Pretty much everyone with the surname Guerrero has been pulled into angles with Rey Mysterio. Jerry Lawler intensified his feud with Bret Hart by using Hart's parents (and many years later, having his recently deceased mother used against him by Michael Cole).

3. It's a cheap way to get exposure on a mainstream platform. I can't imagine she'll add a single buy. Plus she's been on a Raw and a Tribute to the Troops, getting involved in ring and everything, so this isn't even that special. I'm surprised she isn't going over Big Show.

4. Whatever hopes you guys have about Cena turning heel appear to be a long way away from happening. Which means it'll probably happen.

5. I was left underwhelmed by the final segment. Obviously all three guys are strong on the mic, whether speaking much or speaking not at all, but having HBK as the referee seems like overkill. Taker and HHH have a good feud going; as much as I like HBK, throwing him in there takes away from some of that and replaces it with a rather pedestrian "will he turn on his good friend, help his good friend or piss them both off by being completely neutral?" angle that's been done many times before.

 

Also:

1. That Lord Tensai vignette is apparently for Giant Bernard/A-Train. So his Tweets denying his return to WWE were pretty blatant fiction. However, the vignette makes it appear that he'll come in as a wrestler and not Johnny Ace's bodyguard.

2. WWE has notified Bright House Sports Network that it is shutting down Florida Championship Wrestling. The developmental program is moving to Stamford, at least in the short term. Not sure if NXT becomes de facto developmental or if they're going to do everything in closed training sessions, or if they're looking for another place to put it.

 

I am completely underwhelmed by the entire build-up to Wrestlemania. Very little I'm interested in.

 

Ditto. I want to like it, but I just can't.

I've already seen HHH-Undertaker. Not that long ago. It's like watching a re-run.

The Rock is flat as hell.

Randy Orton-Kane is just random

I can't stand anything about Laurianitis, who I find unwatchable

Punk-Jericho has taken kind of a weird turn

Cody Rhodes-Big Show is probably my favorite feud going right now, which isn't saying much.

Oh and of course, Miz, my favorite, is deep in "We'll never, ever let Ultimate Warrior happen again" hell.

 

I agree with those disappointed in the buildup to Mania. It's just not fun. The Rock is stale. He's had some moments but overall, just a big dropoff from what he used to be. I actually have grown to like Cena more in this (which might be what WWE is going for) but I still don't care much about what I expect to be an anti-climactic finish at Mania.

I still like the Jericho-Punk stuff. Those guys just bring it consistently and I am really looking forward to their match. Could be a great one.

Everything else is of little consequence to me. I should be interested in Sheamus vs. Bryan but they haven't done anything to build a feud there. Sheamus just keeps squashing everyone and Bryan continues to win but they have little interaction to show any kind of feud there.

And most of all, it really sucks how the Miz keeps getting buried. Sorry, but an angle in which he loses 20 times in a row and then complains that he's not part of WM is not exactly a good way to sell him. One of the best character in WWE is being tossed aside. And, after all the work the WWE had done to build up young talents like Ziggler, Bryan, Miz, Sheamus, even Kofi of late, none of them are playing any sort of prominent role in this. I know it's the biggest show of the year but one of those guys needs to at least be in the top three matches on the card.

 

Apologies if it's been mentioned previously, but how does WWE plan to increase buy rates for the summer PPVs when five of the seven protagonists involved in the three main events (Rock, HBK, Trips, Taker, Jericho) are going to be elsewhere with a sixth (Cena) possibly involved in another movie?

This is where WM 28 is failing. Other than perhaps Rhodes, there isn't anyone in that mid-to-upper-mid card that is going to get a WM that builds them up as a top-tier guy. Maybe Barrett would have also received it had he not been injured. Botching Miz with this angle hurts him unless the eventual face turn puts him in position to return to where he was last year. It feels as if WWE is now afraid to let the younger guys succeed. They can't keep going to the Rock/Taker/Trips/Y2J well year after year in order to rev up interest. Having your main event set a year in advance, at least to me, feels like they were willing to sacrifice building anyone up in order to assure Rock/Cena and Trips/Taker would be be the headliners. If that's the case, it's a short-term win but a long-term failure on their end.