Professional wrestling thread

I have no clue what they're going to do with ECW. They could kill it, but now they have a deal with Sci-Fi, which loves the ratings it gets, so they'd have to replace it with more WWE programming. Maybe this, combined with the main event of the next Smackdown PPV having John Cena in it, is the clue that it's time to kill the brand split. I was as big a fan of splitting WWE into two as anyone, but with no serious competion, a dried-out farm system and no more surprises left to spring (we've seen Vince McMahon and Eric Bischoff hug, we've seen it all), I say screw it and bring everything together again. Like they're paying attention to the split anyway (Raw's Jeff Hardy and SD's Matt Hardy teaming on all three shows, MNM on all three shows, Cena making SD appearances).

 

Plus the expected Big Show departure is now done (they taped ECW main event tonight), though he'll be back for his proper sendoff at Wrestlemania 23.

Heyman is great, but he's also his own worst enemy.

I also saw that Sabu might be leaving soon and RVD has six months left on his deal and could bail out.

 

The only thing keeping SD afloat is Batista and the reuniting of the Brothers of Destruction. I'll watch SD now that Kane and Taker are back together.

Heyman was great in the old ECW. But he sucks as a corporate shill to VKM.

Big Show...is he retiring or just leaving WWE for TNA? I sure hope he ain't going to TNA...

Sabu wouldn't fit in in on RAW or SD. Hell, he barely fits in on Extremely Crappy Wrestling.

 

Vince is incredible. He doesn't allow Heyman to run ECW the way the promotion is meant to be run, instead wanting to make it "sports entertainment: part 3" yet, it's Heyman's fault when the fans fart all over it. Vince is a clueless old man who has no idea what appeals to his target fanbase and he has no one in creative who will tell him he's wrong.
Vince? There's nothing wrong with a little variety. Not all of your brands have to be exactly alike. SmackDown! has been pretty entertaining the last month or so, since Michael Hayes has taken over as the lead writer. Ratings have been really impressive because, gasp!, the program has focused on wrestling!! I know, what a strange concept. However, I don't hold out much hope of it lasting. Whenever something seems to catch fire in WWE, Vince decides he needs to be more "hands on" with that particular brand and things go to the crapper.
Here's to hoping Heyman winds up in TNA or ROH and sticks it up McMahon's ass.

 

Heyman in TNA would be scary ... bad IMO. Heyman is good in doses, just not big doses. I know he went down to OVW and gave it a pulse (Lashley reportedly wanted to go from SD to ECW because Heyman helped him at OVW) but in the long run, Heyman is a burnout and the last thing TNA needs is another burnout (Russo). I don't think Heyman would be good for ROH either. Sure, Heyman respected wrestling even when he was in charge of ECW, but he'd also take away some of the pure wrestling feel of ROH and muck it up a bit and thus ROH wouldn't be the ROH that fans like GimpyScribe have known.

I will say this, though, about the state of the WWE empire. It's time to have the brands come together as one show again, but with a twist. Have Monday's show develop feuds/continue storylines, have Tuesday's slot be a showcase for cruiserweights and underused talent and make Friday a payoff type show with big matches with a Saturday Night's Main Event feel to it.

 

Not sure what you're basing Heyman being a burnout on cuz, in my opinion, WWE has never really given him an opportunity to do what he does. Sure his baby, ECW, folded a few years ago, but he was fighting an uphill battle from Day 1. There was no way he could compete with WWE or WCW during the Monday Night Wars because every star Heyman created, McMahon or Bischoff would buy. Heyman could only work so much magic before he ran out of wrestlers that had the talent/charisma to help carry his company. Heyman's biggest mistake is he tried to expand ECW into a national promotion, and went well beyond his financial means to do so. I'm by no means defending his business savvy.

I still believe in his savvy as a booker, though. Heyman is the ONLY reason why CM Punk is on the main roster right now. Vince, Stephanie, HHH and all those other nimrods had no idea how to book Punk. Heyman, and this has been reported on several news sites (including Meltzer), had to fight to get Punk promoted. Heyman has an eye for real talent and knows how to get guys over.
I think Heyman in TNA would be scary .... good. Well, as long as Russo is dismissed. If Heyman has to share the book with him, all bets are off. Vince's fingerprints were all over the first episode of the new ECW and it bombed. According to Meltzer, he allowed Heyman to take more control of the show in the following weeks and it steadily improved in the ratings and in show quality. But, once it started gaining steam, McMahon forced Heyman to take more of a backseat so that ECW could capture it's WWE/Sports Entertainment identity. Yesterday's show was crap and, according to one web site, Heyman told McMahon so. The McMahons didn't take too kindly to that and told him to leave.
At least Heyman knows crap when he sees it (and I'm willing to bet anything that Heyman didn't book CM Punk to get jobbed out in 7 minutes and be the first man eliminated in the main event). That's more than I can say for Vince and Stephanie.
I think Heyman's reputation as a "burnout" is more propaganda spewed by WWE Creative than anything.

Claws is right about Heyman in ROH. He's really not needed there because Gabe Sapolsky is the booker (who happens to be a disciple of Heyman from their days together in ECW) and runs ROH as close to the ECW style as any company in the country (I should know, I've seen nearly every ROH event released on DVD).

 

Never said Heyman doesn't know talent, because he does. It's just that it takes more than knowing talent to be solid. While he could no doubt give certain TNA guys a boost because he believes in their talents (CM Punk is a great example in WWECW), his temper and his irrational behavior would ultimately cripple TNA. Hence why I think Heyman is a bright guy, but he'd short out at TNA just like he has in other places.

Also, if he went to TNA, he'd be handcuffed by Jarrett anyway. Russo and Jarrett are buds. Not sure of the relationship with Jarrett and Heyman. I'd rather see Cornette lead TNA than Heyman.

 

But, I ask you, where else has Heyman been cut short other than WWE? To the best of my knowledge, he came directly from ECW to WWE. I'm just speculating here, but if someone who is known to be as creative as Paul Heyman gets his ideas/legs constantly cut out from under him in WWE (cuz McMahon knows what the fans want better than they do), I'd be surprised if he DIDN'T have a couple of meltdowns.
I'm a fan of Cornette, too. But he and Heyman both have that combative personality and it's one of the main reasons WWE let Cornette go, because he was having major problems with the talent in OVW. Again, I think the root of those problems came from WWE dictating what direction those guys had to go with talent.

I know it's McMahon's company and he should have ultimate say on what direction his company goes, but I just think it makes no sense to have people like Heyman (and Cornette) and not use their vast wisdom to book programming. In an ideal world, I'd let McMahon continue to run RAW, hire Cornette and let him work with Michael Hayes (who's doing great) on SmackDown! And let Heyman book ECW. You'd have three distinct programs with three distinct styles. We wouldn't have cookie-cutter programming the way we do now.

 

Poindexter will wear a turban before Cornette shows up in WWE again.

 

Wait ... Fabulous Freebird Michael P.S. Hayes is the lead writer on SmackDown!?!

If his shows are more like the old Mid-South and WCCW shows than the McMahon-ized WWF/E crap, I might start watching again.

 

Don't count on it. Michael P.S. Hayes died when Dok Henrdix was born, and that's been something like 10 years now.

 

Yep, the same Michael P.S. Hayes is writing SmackDown! It's actually been pretty good the last few weeks, since he's taken over. Vince and Stephanie are really hands off with SmackDown, focusing more on RAW, since it's their flagship program. But the ratings for SmackDown! have gone up in recent weeks, so I started to check it out once again and it has turned into a pretty solid wrestling show. SmackDown! still doesn't have the depth of talent that RAW does, but they're utilizing it very well.