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Ryback = destined to fail, again

Hey Scott,
Not to sound overly pessimistic, but isn't it unwise to do the EXACT SAME THING with Ryback that failed so spectacularly last year? They've literally had him come out and squash a few people and then thrown him right into an angle with John Cena - basically a condensed version of what happened last time, which only served to expose Ryback's limitations in singles matches that go over 5 minutes. Literally nothing has changed about Ryback since then, but they seem to be going for it again anyway. I get that Vince has a hard-on for him because he has an impressive appetite or whatever, but is there any way the Ryback experiment works this time or is it doomed to fail like it did the first time?

​I find it hilarious that the people who literally own all of wrestling history now and make documentaries about all the stupid stuff that their dead competition did now continuously repeat the same mistakes themselves.  And yes, Ryback is doomed to fail again, but they have no other alternatives for top guys (in their mind) and so they trot out the same muscle-heads hoping that this time lightning strikes.  And they'll get him to the top and then decide to randomly beat him when they book themselves into a corner one time, and the self-fulfilling prophecy will repeat.  It's kind of their thing now.  ​

Comments

  1. I feel like this is all building to Cena ending up down 5 to 1, but all the heels except Rollins walk out on the Authority because they're being treated so crappy. Then Cena demolishes Rollins in 2 minutes.

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  2. I always thought losses did hurt guys a little a bit in Survivor Series match, especially if they're being booked to look undefeated or whatever, but WWE doesn't care and just ignores that aspect of a character's history because the match wasn't a one-on-one match.

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  3. (Not to sound overly pessimistic)



    You're an RSPW fan, if you had optimism you'd be counter-culture.

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  4. Ryback's meaty thighs are the reason why Vince is trying to push him again.


    Thighs are the reason Vince pushes anyone.


    Meaty, meaty thighs.

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  5. Ryback failing isn't a sure thing. He obviously isn't good in the ring, but his push failing last time wasn't his fault and had little to do with the quality of his matches. The guy has more personality and is a better talker than most on the roster, he looks good, he has a fair bit of charisma and connects easily with the fans and he's passable in the ring.

    Also, let's not forget that losing to Punk was the original hit on Ryback's over-ness/momentum, and hurt him more than the losses he suffered as a heel against Cena. And I thought at least one of the Cena/Ryback matches was surprisingly decent.

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  6. That explains why Orton's been pushed for so long.

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  7. "MEATY THIGHS! OUT OF NOWHERE!!!!!"

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  8. Now you know how Vince feels.

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  9. So Steph cut off Rusev's balls? Hilarious.


    PRINCESS CRUUUUSSHH!!!!!!

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  10. I never understood the psychology of secondary moves getting the pin in Survivor Series matches. Shouldn't it be the opposite, that it would take MORE to beat every guy, since they gets tons of rest on the apron? So unless the match is like an hour long, I'd say they should easily be able to kick out of a clothesline.

    Rasslin' logic, amirite?

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  11. Mike Knox getting pinned in seconds was pretty much the end of him.

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  12. HBK: "Who was that guy?"



    I'm sorry, but that awesome line was worth ruining someone's credibility forever. No regrets!

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  13. I'd say he's a better wrestler and talker now though. He did his time in the tag ranks, I think it's okay to give him another shot.

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  14. It's true. Can't deny it.

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  15. I'll call it, Stephanie McMahon is the worst thing about WWE now. Her character does nothing but damage to everyone around her, and her fake boobs are too far apart. Get lost, will ya.

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  16. I really like ryback and think he's great on the mic. I have no doubt they will fuck up his push and do nothing with him.

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  17. When your new gimmick is "The Big Guy", it's a pretty clear sign that creative is out of ideas for you.

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  18. She was great during the buildup at WM 30, and DEM LEGS during the event.



    I don't mind her coming off strong most of the time, as long as she sometimes gets her comeuppance. It makes it more special that way (again, WM 30 is a good example)

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  19. He lost on like 5 PPV's in a row, didn't he? That Mark Henry one probably the most unforgiveable, especially since they decided to then put him in a program with Cena. So actually that would be 7 PPV's without a win since he failed to beat Cena too.

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  20. Is anyone even going to watch this shitty show. I will, in like 4 years on the network when I try and watch all the survivor series in a row.

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  21. As I watch the Monday Night Wars series on the Network, your point Scott about WWE doing so many things WCW did is startling. Just one strong example of this, Cena absolutely is Hogan booking wise. When CM Punk won the title he became Goldberg when he won the title. Neither Cena nor Hogan left the main event and not having the main title did not hurt them one bit. But made both Punk and Goldberg less for being the champs but not being in the Main Event. The fact that Cena vs. Orton was the main event match five years after it was the main event match reminds me of Hogan vs. Flair. 1994 and 1999 (heck actually 2000 with the ridiculous strap match).
    For all the mocking (I might add rightfully deserved) of WCW they do. At this point one could do a documentary on WWE now and it would be the exact same mocking. Crazy.

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  22. Just a random thought: if the wwe is trying to catch lapsed fans with the network coukd there be two worse people to center the entire show around than HHH and Stephanie. Half of the audience left and never came back the first time these two had the show be all about them. They are still boring, one dimensional, circle jerk characters with zero cool factor. I haven't watched raw since wm because its the hhh show again, what a joke. Can't wait until something horrible happens to the company.

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  23. Bald big guy.

    BBG.

    Hmm.....

    -WWE Creative

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  24. She's a great performer and talker, but nobody should ever be put over this strong that can't really go in the ring. Vince was World's Most Bastard when he was in the role, but he still jobbed to everyone from Flair to Hogan to Austin that he pissed off along the way. There's no benefit to her making the Divas look like stupid children, and bullying grown men, because what's Rusev going to do about it? Hit her? Put her through a table? I don't want to see violence against women. She's not going to lose her job or go to prison for her crimes, so what comeuppance in the wrestling world can there be?

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  25. This could quite possibly be the most logical opinion you have ever had.


    GET OUT.

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  26. TJ: I don't want to preempt the daily update, but the Observer's reporting this today on TNA TV:

    "At press time we received word that negotiations took place this past week between TNA and Destination America, which is a station in the Discovery Network family. Destination America is Ch. 286 on DirecTV and Ch. 194 on Dish, and available in 60 million homes, or about 52% of the country. Based on sources close to the deal on the Destination America side, they should know by the end of the week if a deal will or won’t be reached, or at least that was what they were thinking as of mid-week. As best we can tell, everyone who has asked about a deal (it’s possible Kurt Angle is the exception) has been told that they can’t talk with them until a TV deal is made. There has been talent told Spike is still in the running and was the most likely place, which kept people from being negative, but the preemptions don’t seem to be a good sign. Others have also been told differently regarding Spike."

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  27. I didn't know you hadn't watched Raw since Wrestlemania?

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  28. So a travel channel....okay.


    Does this mean they could have an episode of Impact where Dixie drives into the Grand Canyon? Because I would watch that episode.

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  29. It's like villainous minions in movies and TV shows - the more of them there are, the easier each one is to defeat.

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  30. He doesn't watch Raw? Yet he still comments on the product? WHAT A LOSE.... NEVERMIND!!

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  31. I can't imagine this was near the top of the list of channels they were aiming for.

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  32. Seems pretty silly in hindsight that people thought the Ryback character was done after the first loss and now it seems like the guy could have continued to stay over if they gave him another winning streak.

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  33. It was probably easier to justify back when superstars didn't face each other much, and weaker moves were more accepted. Hell, Hogan used a LEG DROP as a finisher.

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  34. I'm guessing it may have been above Inspiration or Hallmark, but who knows? It is truly inspirational that a company that has been on life support for what feels like a decade is still somehow around.


    It is also truly inspirational that the figurehead of the company is a hermaphrodite and no one cares. What a great company.

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  35. Maybe the producers of the channel wanted a show on what it'd be like to visit Hell?

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  36. I didn't know that Kevin Kelly was in charge.

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  37. I suppose it's good that he's no longer referring to himself as a bowl-lee

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  38. FEED HIM MORE.....information about the right stocks to purchase because he needs to create a better portfolio considering he'll be out of the big money matches soon enough.

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  39. What a stupid fucking reason to push anyone.

    Providing quality ice cream, on the other hand...

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  40. And it apparently jobbed him out in the long run.

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  41. in his brief time off did he work on how to not injure his opponents?

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  42. The only hope I really have for the WWE moving forward is mired in NXT right now. Other than that, there's just a dearth of of fucks given right now on the main roster. The bland or overexposed guys remain on top, the only guys getting pushes are slugs or office darlings, and the guys who can go remain saddled squarely in the midcard. The fuck, WWE?

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  43. Mountain monsters.

    Alaska monsters.

    TNA.

    all seems equally legit.

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  44. His opinions are clearly not limited by what he does or does not watch.

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  45. Vicki threw her in goo that one time...


    ... that... that's about it...

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  46. I want to see someone pin Cena in the middle of the match and have that set up a program for the next PPV.

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  47. You don't want violence against women?

    Damn brits.

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  48. Spike TV is available in 85.5% of U.S. homes.

    Destination America is available in 52.2% of U.S. homes.

    If true, this is a major failure. All the TNA fans who bitch about how Spike didn't do enough for TNA will now understand how bad it will get being a third-rate cable station.

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  49. I'll be pissed that once Orton returns he's behind Ryback in the pecking order. They've spent over a decade trying to get Orton to a super duper babyface and when he appears to get to that level, it wouldn't surprise me that they just turn him into a boring babyface like they did in 2010-2011.

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  50. There can't really be people who think that Spike didn't do enough... Are there?

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  51. How about we just get rid of evil pushy authority figures already?

    Aside from the match with Vickie, I can't think of a time when Stephanie got humiliated and looked bad... meanwhile, her father had little issue with being portrayed like a clown.

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  52. Believe it or not, that's a common TNA fanboy line actually. Something about how Spike doesn't run enough commercials for the product or promote them enough.

    Nevermind the fact that TNA is incapable of prompting its own house shows AND that Spike shelled out tons of extra dough to bring in Hogan, Bischoff, and a few other guys.

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  53. Honestly pushing him isn't the worst thing. I feel like the other option they have is to use the Big Show in the same exact spot for about the 500th time. Not saying this will work, but of all the dopey and redundant things they do, pushing Ryback again isn't that bad

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  54. I think the big difference is that Vince always wanted to be accepted as part of the boys whereas Steph probably sees herself above everyone else.

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  55. I think she looked bad at WM 30. I think she even took a bit of a bump, right? But she did sell embarassement when Daniel overcame the oddz, even though she wasn't kneed in the face or anything. I think it was a great payoff.

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  56. Yeah agreed, Ryback won't be a business changer or whatever, but he's a perfectly good guy to plug in the main event spot of the B-PPV's much like Show, Henry and Kane.

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  57. "But you no liek Orton, so we give you wat you want!" — WWE

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  58. I meant more recently, but yeah, Mania 30 was a loss for The Authority... one of the reasons why it was such a great show.


    But if WWE's plan is to make The Authority mostly kick ass all year and then suffer a big-time loss at Mania AGAIN, it's no wonder why the show is repetitive

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  59. Well, she's been DDTd, crucified, and married while drugged. As a face, anyway.

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  60. I don't understand the anti-Ryback sentiment.

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  61. I think it has more to do with who he gets pushed ahead of in the pecking order (i.e. more popular and talented guys) than anything against him personally.

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  62. Despite the thousand-dollar suits, Vince is a carny and a wannabe wrestler at heart. I always envision Vince as wanting to be the real-life Ted DiBiase: a respected millionaire who is a pro wrestler because he likes to wrestle.

    On the hand, Stephanie is a wannabe executive. I'm sure she would've done well for herself in the corporate world outside of WWE (like Shane), but the only reason she is in such a high position of authority in WWE is because she's Vince's daughter. The crap she put out as "head of creative" (and her legacy of soap opera writers that remains to this day) would've turfed her out of any wrestling company if she wasn't Vince's daughter.

    Look at this way: Heyman was head writer of Smackdown and BEATING Raw and Stephanie was in charge of Raw. WWE's solution? Fire Heyman for doing too good. It's fucking idiocy.

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  63. She was a bit embarrassed, then spent two months saying that Bryan’s
    body couldn’t handle being champion, was proved right, had a Shield member join
    her team, turned the Bellas against each other, beat Brie in a match and won
    that feud conclusively, humiliated the Divas division several times… Where is
    this going? She’ll be embarrassed again next Wrestlemania, take a bit of a
    bump, then get right back on the mic and patronise everybody for another year? No
    buys!

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  64. Exactly. Compare that to 1998 where Vince was getting humiliated by Stone Cold almost on a weekly basis.

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  65. "Well what have you done for me lately?

    -I got you that danish!
    -And I'll never forget you!"

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  66. I think we all need to accept that the Attitude era is over, and move on. We will all be better for it.

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  67. I wouldn't worry about them not pushing Orton. He'll be boring crowds until he can no longer walk.

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  68. I think Ryback has a chance to be good - as mentioned, he's funny and has a lot of charisma - but the fed will screw it up again, not letting him get over on his own. No excuse not to include the stuff he does on Main Event, for example.

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  69. I don't have a problem with Ryback. But we've seen this all before. He'll get so far, then they won't let him go over the big hump (Cena). It's not just his problem, it's everyone's problem.

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  70. Not saying it should come back, I'm just saying they need to use some of the concepts from the Attitude era just because it obviously worked in helping them make a whole bunch of money.

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  71. I thought it was fucked up. In line with his character, but still fucked.

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  72. I don't get the anti-Orton stuff. I think he's just fine. He consistently puts on good or better matches.

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  73. He's just boring and doesn't connect at all (at least my opinion). Sure he's a competent wrestler and all but would you rather seem them shoot for something new, or just keep putting out the same dull formula they have for the past ten years and expecting a new result?

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  74. it's okay to push guys even if you won't ever make them the top guy. He's the scary looking guy who if you give him enough of a push to be a threat could help whoever you do think could be a top guy get over. He won't be the next John Cena, but he might be the next Mark Henry. That's not without value, is it?

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  75. I think most of it is two-fold:
    1) He's been on or near the top for 10 years now.
    2) His moveset doesn't ever change. He's in the same match regardless of the opponent. At least Cena changes up the match depending on his opponent.

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  76. Its good to know Cesaro won't ever get a push.

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  77. Let's not get crazy now - We can't have anyone replacing Big Show, Kane or Mark Henry. It's only 2014.

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  78. This.

    The carny thing is illustrated often, most recently with the network in the UK. Of course they just tried to do what they wanted and sort it out later.

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  79. Has there been anyone in the past 20 years that has fallen as far and as fast as Cesaro?

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  80. If you mention a wrestler and you have to think for a minute before you can remember if he's a heel or a face now, it's probably a sign that they're not using the character very well.


    In ring stuff, I don't have a big problem - all his matches look a lot alike, but you could say that about most of the guys now

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  81. Crucifiction's too bloody good for some people.

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  82. Eh, the thing with Cesaro is if they give him fifteen minutes and a competitive match he'll get over again on ring work alone. Same way Barrett gets over on personality. Kennedy... never really had that much to begin with.

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  83. ...Kennedy

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  84. All for the low price of $600k a month!

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  85. True dat. Also give him the swing back. People will start counting along, and then cheer.

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  86. Crushed Scott Casey's momentum at the '88 Survivor Series.

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  87. I might be remembering this wrong, but wasn't he set up to be the bastard mcmahon love child before he failed the drug test? It seems like the WWE was set to make a really big deal out of him before he screwed it up

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  88. He talked a lot of crap about being clean and then failed a drug test.

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  89. I can't tell - are you genuinely interested in Orton or making a joke? If you want to see him pushed to the top again then fear not, he will be. And he'll still be really, really boring

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  90. Agreed. Other than that, he really is innovative and awesome

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  91. I don't think so, not now, anyway. When the fans are behind you, you have to take that moment. He was built up for months and they buried. It'll take a lot more than one match to re-build him, if that's even possible.

    Barrett, to his credit, had a schtick that was working before he went out. Big difference.

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  92. Was watching Cena-Undertaker from the June 2004 Smackdown. A really nice match, and it was kinda weird seeing Cena job relatively cleanly. Kinda wish they had built up a longer program over that year.

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  93. Yeah, he's a guy that people automatically believe as a player based on his intensity, strength, and moveset. Plus, his promos have improved and he's got a catchphrase to chant; Lord knows those crowds could use SOMETHING to get invested in these days. It's not hard to make Ryback a semi-main guy. Just don't beat him at a half-dozen PPVs in a row and purposely make him into a loser.

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  94. They booked walk outs, double dq's, dq's, countouts and double countouts all the time. See Hulkamaniacs vs Million Dollar team from 89, Slaughter and Taker from 90, Flair's Team vs Piper's Team at 91 and Takar/Yoko from 93 as glaring examples

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  95. Stephanie McMahon >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Corporate Kane

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  96. My girl is immensely irritated that the supposedly corporate and so, professional Kane, forgets to bring his wrestling gear EVERY. SINGLE. WEEK.


    Seeing Kane fight is like watching a kid who is made to do P.E. in his underwear.

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  97. Crazy. Spike gave them stars, it gave them every different timeslot and day it ever requested, it cross promoted on Bellator. They led the horse to water so many times, and that dumb TNA horse just refused to drink.

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  98. I definitely understand the first point. Being on top for so long is such a drawback to the current five-hours format of Raw and Smackdown. It's really unfortunate that the Brand Split didn't pan out.

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  99. I've said this before, but here's how the SS main event is likely to go. The assumption here is that the match will be Rollins/Kane/Henry/Rusev/Harper v. Cena/Ziggler/Show/Sheamus/Ryback:

    Rusev and Sheamus will fight to either a double-DQ or a double-countout, probably in the first six or seven minutes. Henry will pin Big Show. Cena will pin Kane. Harper will pin Ziggler to set up an I-C title program. Cena will pin Henry and Harper. Rollins will pin Ryback. Cena will then overcome massive interference and pin Rollins, setting up his rematch with Lesnar. The Authority will be out of power, Stephanie will not take it very well and will eventually turn on HHH, who will have to get back in the ring to save his career at WrestleMania against someone of Steph's choosing. Eventually it will all be forgotten, Steph and HHH will be back in power, and the more things change, the more they stay the same.

    Or Cena will go down 1 vs. 5 and pin everyone for the ultimate LOLCENAWINS.

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  100. They did good the first couple weeks building him back, then they destroyed it by having him turn against Cena on RAW. Sure he turned on the authority by the end, but I thought they were going to have him be a face, not a guy that attacks the #1 face. Not that I'm a Cena fan, I just think it was the wrong thing for Ryback to do if they're trying to rebuild him.

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  101. I watch the Monday NIght War eps now almost exclusively to hear them talk about everything that they did right in the 90s completely oblivious to what is happening today.

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  102. Ryback was getting over, but the program with Punk really hurt (yes, he was pushed into the main event too quickly due to Cena's injury). Had his first loss been the Shield interference at Survivor Series rather than a fast count by Brad Maddox at Hell in a Cell, maybe it would have gone better. I actually wouldn't have minded putting the title on Ryback, even as a transitional champ, as a loss to the Rock (though the match would have been bad) might have seemed more acceptable than a cheap fast count, while Punk would still have held the title for nearly a year.

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  103. The sad thing is that its hard to tell if Scott's predictions are a joke, or for real. I could easily see that happening.

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  104. Vince probably read Scott's post and said "dammit, we have a leak!"

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  105. She doesn't get comeuppance, that's the problem. After firing Brie and gleefully stripping Brie's husband of the title (not to mention being part of the team that had been trying to keep him away from the title for months), she got slapped by Brie, called a bitch, and had to grovel so Brie wouldn't sue her. Then, she immediately crushed Brie in the build up to and through the Summerslam match (immediately switching to being confident that she would beat Brie in a match rather than showing ANY concern about having to wrestle after ten years against a pro; not to mention the Ronda Rousey stuff and hugging her kids after the match) and has since not been connected with the Brie-Nikki stuff since (which could theoretically allow her to look bad when Brie costs Nikki her title match at Summerslam).

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  106. I couldn't agree more. But TNA fanboys seem to think Spike didn't do enough. But if TNA can't even properly promote a house show tour in the age of social media advertising, I think we can guess what the real problem is.

    I know it's apples and oranges, but as far as I know most, if not all, of WWE's advertising comes from WWE itself. USA Network or SyFy doesn't need to promote the show during Royal Pains or whatever else is on USA these days.

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  107. If the Authority are out of power, how would Steph be able to fire HHH? If she still has/exercises power right after the Authority loses, it makes the stip seem utterly worthless.

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  108. It's really out of their control though. Cena is able to rise above everyone, so what can they do?

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  109. TNA barely advertised it’s possibly last ever PPV on it’s
    own television show and it complains about others attempts at advertising?
    Pretty weak.

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  110. The brand extension was too late. They could've kept WCW alive and had two competing entities where they controlled the market and pocketed the profits from the engineered competition. Instead they chose to bury it and settle old grudges. Even if they went that route though, we'd still have Cena/Orton jumping ship weekly and battling each other so it probably doesn't matter

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  111. Not fire HHH, turn on HHH because she'll blame him for the loss of power. She could then become the manager of someone, perhaps Rollins, and force HHH into a career-threatening match.

    Alternatively, it's WWE, so it's not like they'll think this entire thing through logically anyway.

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  112. As Bound for Glory shaped up to be a trainwreck I kind of wasn't surprised they distanced themselves from it. It went from being what was supposed to be a TNA gamechanger to a show that only featured 12 TNA wrestlers and was missing a few of their top guys... including their champion.



    But maybe if they put more planning into the "Biggest Show of the Year", they wouldn't have had to shy away from it.

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  113. Yeah, ideally, they would have used the WCW name as a new brand to launch on, say, Thursday nights. Even in 2002, though, I firmly believe the split could have worked had they been able to stick with it. Oh, well.

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  114. Bryan and Vinny played a backstage wwe.com segment with Ryback and Axel and it was awesome. No phony storylines, or bad lines. They literally were joking with each other and it added so much depth to BOTH of them. It sucks what creative does to tv.

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  115. It will come down to Cena vs. 2 others (who cares, doesn't matter, fuck you). One of the Authority guys will pull back the mat around ringside and DDT him on the concrete. He will roll Cena back in the ring and Cena will kick out of the pin attempt and pin both guys within one minute.

    See SummerSlam 2010 for reference.

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  116. He must be really injured if they can't bring him out to do bad news again like last time.

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  117. Wwe knows everything. They listen to their audience and give them what they want! Lol

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  118. That was on Superstars, and it got my attention too. Like, wow, these guys can be fun and interesting! When Vince doesn't care about the show you're on.

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  119. I think they just needed a face to throw in the SS match with Ryback. Look at any other options. It's not like they've put a lot of planning into this.

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  120. Pro wrestling used to be that way :/

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  121. I think that ending is a solid lock to happen. Maybe instead of Stephanie, it's Vince or someone given the GM spot like Sting or something to play the face role. They get Rock. Rock vs HHH for WM. Rock wins. HHH is back boring us by summer.

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  122. I actually found Rybaxel fun. If anything Ryback's time with Rybaxel gave him time to develop a persona and time to learn to develop a connection with the crowd during matches.Ryback improved big time from his first "Feed Me More" push. Whether he succeeds this time is based on the booking.

    I guess Ryback is in trouble.

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  123. I understand it, I just don't agree with it.


    He's not great in the ring, and can definitely be sloppy (something that there's no excuse for), but I think he's a lot better than people give him credit for, he has personality to spare, and has shown that he can play several different types of characters. I'm a fan.

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  124. Bad News Brown quit on his team three years in a row. Not sure why they kept asking him to be on the team!

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  125. I actually really like the name - it fits the character's ego, as he's not even close to being the biggest guy on the roster. Kinda like Bob Holly as "The Big Shot".


    Plus, it's not really new, he's been using that name for at least a year.

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  126. Having him job to Henry only to turn him heel and feud with Cena the next night was a total "WTF?" moment.

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  127. Ryback's the fifth guy on Cena's team? You'd think they'd have Orton so he can pop the hometown crowd and get his revenge on The Authority. I don't like Orton one bit, but based on the stories told on THEIR TV SHOW, that's the only logical outcome.

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  128. maybe winning that match would've saved the family carnival

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  129. I love the spot they do in some SS matches where to get rid of someone like, say, Big Show, everyone on the opposing team hits him with their finisher in succession.

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  130. It'll probably come down to Cena and Rollins, the ref will get bumped, and Orton will come out of the crowd to RKO Seth (out of nowhere!) and give Team Cena the win.

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  131. So that's why Kaitlyn was divas' champion for six months. Mmmmmmmm.....Kaitlyn's thighs.....

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  132. Also, am I alone in thinking it makes no sense that Triple H isn't fighting for his own destiny? For over a decade this character has declared himself the best most untouchable wrestler ever. Now, he's running the company and will lose his job if his team loses at Survivor Series...and he's relying on Mark Henry, Kane, & Harper? WTF?

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  133. so what you're saying is it'll be like a Raw main event

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  134. Even Cena wasn't invulnerable to jobbing as US champion.

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  135. I think they will have Rusev beat the crap out of Cena. Maybe have him get disqualified beating Cena up too much, have Rollins sneak a win over the comatose Cena. Then have it 3-1, Rollins, Kane and Harper to Ziggler or Ryback. Kane and Harper get knocked out, and Rollins is sole survivor after beating the lone remaining guy. Orton then comes out the crowd and RKO's him,


    Next ppv, Rollins v Cena and Orton v Kane. Then you can have Orton v Rollins at the ppv after that.

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  136. Ryback Rules Persona >Feed Me More Persona...

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  137. Vader from his debut to SS. Where he should've been to where he was put basically makes Cesaro look like Hogan running through the Heenan family

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  138. They were going to run WCW but that Booker T/Buff match on Raw seemed to kill it. I think the mistake was not waiting to unveil WCW in a strong WCW market...

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  139. It's interesting how they push random guys for Survivor Series. It fails more often than not, but the effort is nice. Remember when Matt Morgan and Nathan Jones suddenly became relevant again for the team Angle vs team Brock match? Or when Maven of all people was given a spot against Evolution? I suppose it's an ideal time to try a new push, but then they seldom follow through and in hindsight we're left wondering, 'What was up with that push?"

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  140. I like how Cena leaves the match. Then I'd say to rip off the best one of these matches ever, Team Austin vs. Team Bischoff from '03. Ziggler in the HBK role finds himself alone against 3 guys, fights his guts out, has it won, loses due to outside interference during a ref bump.

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  141. only change is, i would have rollins win it without outside interference. Maybe hitting Ziggler with a curb stomp on a chair or something.

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  142. The crowd reactions he was getting standing up to the Authority before the spinebuster shows, to me at least, they shouldnt have done the fake turn on Cena.

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  143. The thing with Ryback is that he looks and behaves like a big dumb, clumsy idiot. When he took ownership of that with the Axel tag team he was hilarious and entertaining. When he actually takes himself seriously (like now), I can't take him seriously. It was ridiculous the way he cleared the ring of everyone on Raw


    Then again the crowds are popping massively for him so what do I know. Still think he's going to get exposed again though.

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  144. they appear to be going with a combination at least of Big Guy/Ryback Rules/ Feed Me More Ryback so hopefully it meshes.

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  145. I don't understand the Ryback love at all. He's big, but his moveset is boring -- it's the Shellshock and a clothesline. Wow (and the Shellshock is a glorified Samoan Drop). Moreover, he gasses easily, he's sloppy as hell, and his stop.motion.grunting.and.shout.ing.promos are dreadful. I can't wrap my head around his success.
    YepYepYepWhat-a-Do.

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  146. I agree with this. Ryback's over, but once you try being serious with him, it doesn't work. He seems like the prototypical tag team get the hot tag, dominate for 2 minutes, and go away guy. Like a 2000 Rikishi before WWE went way too far with him.

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  147. It was a moronic move because he was getting momentum, the fans were buying into him again and in one move they fucked that up because now the people are just waiting for the eventual turn to happen.

    Of course part of that blame is on the Cena end as it's even more clear now they want no one challenging his top babyface spot.

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  148. Henry also finished him off by simply falling on him, very strange

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  149. Two. He left before the 1990 Survivor Series.

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  150. So two weeks ago, Ryback returns as a face and cuts that awesome, relatable face promo on a backstage online extra that would immediately win over anyone. Then TWO WEEKS LATER they have him turn heel and join the Authority, and then THREE FUCKING HOURS LATER they have him turn face again not because he's a decent guy, but simply because the Authority annoyed him so much.

    God forbid you actually have a face getting cheered because he's a decent person.

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  151. This. It just really doesn't make sense to keep her so ridiculously strong at the expense of the actual in-ring talent.

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  152. They want no one challenging Cena in that role. Just that small seed of distrust from the fans will keep him from getting as over as he could as a face.

    And I liked that promo, it was direct and strong and something that people would get behind. So of course they fucked it up. Really the news would be if they didn't fuck it up.

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  153. "but the only reason she is in such a high position of authority in WWE is because of all the experience and working knowledge of the company that she has as a result of being Vince's daughter."

    FIFY

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  154. Maybe early on. ECW spent about three weeks trying to show synergy with SyFi before giving up.

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  155. The one time I saw Ryback in-person was a house show he headlined with Cena, and they had a pretty fun tables match (probably in the ***-***1/4 range). I don't think he's useless, and in the right role (maybe a Lex Luger-ish mid-1990's in WCW type) he could certainly work, but if WWE's model is "cool someone down, heat him up FAST, and wonder why he isn't getting over," someone in creative needs to have their head examined.

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  156. No matter how ridiculous Ryback's persona is, do you really find a near-300 lbs. monster clearing the ring that hard to believe?

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  157. His size is irrelevant -we've seen Rey Mysterio clear the ring of tons of people and make it believable. The point is it's fucking Ryback clearing the ring of Kane, Rollins and John Cena after he's spent a year jobbing to Kofi Kingston. It's just stupid

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  158. "we've seen Rey Mysterio clear the ring of tons of people and make it believable."

    Speak for yourself.

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  159. A face with personality, what a novel concept. Why WWE didn't just go with that first is beyond me.

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  160. I don't hate the guy, he's just there and I'm like "Ok".

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  161. He was.

    I'm not saying WWE wouldn't have tried, but Kennedy would've either bombed in a top-line program or gotten injured or pissed someone off backstage.

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  162. For most people. But Cesaro is so good that, like Bryan, he can get over on ring work if they let him. He just needs to, I guess, be a tad more political. Vince likes people who challenge him a bit, who demand a push.

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  163. You could make the argument, though, that he's turned on Cena because of past issues, then having a load of former foes and the likes of Kane having a go at him on his own team has made him change his mind.


    This is the one thing that annoys me heaps in the WWE - it's how utterly black and white all the face/heel stuff is. If Orton comes back as a face, he'll be tagging with Cena (et al) against the Authority, despite the fact he and Cena have been trying to tear each other to shreds for over a year.


    I'd quite like them to go with an actual continuity thing with Ryback - make it that he doesn't like Cena, so was happy to fight against him, but he's tagging with him because he's realised he hates the Authority more, but it doesn't change the fact he still doesn't like Cena.

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  164. The Big Guy>Ryback Rules>Feed Me More


    Just let him be The Big Guy! :)

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  165. Yeah, that's two pretty good promos from Ryback that could and should have been on Raw to help develop his character for the main audience, but got buried away (in Fallout and Superstars respectively).

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  166. Ziggler, immediately after cashing in on ADR?

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  167. No, I thought the exact same thing. I was astonished he wasn't Team Captain of Team Authority.


    That said, if he comes back for this, then the question becomes "why doesn't HHH just take care of it himself" any time anyone messes with his plans.


    It's the WWE version of the "Why don't the other Avengers help when Captain America (or whoever) is getting the shit beaten out of him in his own movie" problem.

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  168. There's still another Raw for them to "injure" Ziggler...

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  169. True. I guess the difference is H has nothing left to prove in the ring in regards to winning titles, but this time it's for his authority--and he's got (kayfabe) losers like Henry & Kane on his team.

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  170. Yea, you're right, Ziggler will get jumped on kickoff and Orton will show up outta nowhere

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  171. "but if WWE's model is "cool someone down, heat him up FAST, and wonder why he isn't getting over," someone in creative needs to have their head examined."


    It's basically WWE's own "initiation" of the superstars. Where they have to PROVE THEMSELVES at their WORST.


    Never mind that THAT entire philosophy is hypocritical BULLSHIT when you take into account the Lesnar's and Roman Reign's of the world.

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  172. I always found it hilarious how they kept Cena out of the main event in 2004, because they thought he wasn't ready from an in ring standpoint. And yet FUCKING BRADSHAW was main eventing WITH a long world title reign!


    FUCK THIS COMPANY sometimes.

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  173. I feel like if they would have kept him tweener, he'd be far more successful. Unfortunately, his matches are boring and he's just not a good wrestler, not even for a big man. I've actually come to like him a lot more after the first mega push fail. His heel promos were outstanding and the guy was absolutely hilarious. He has the mic work and expressions down to a t now, so maybe there's hope for him. Probably not.

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  174. Yeah, that's not WWE's explanation. I hate when fucking people go, "well, if you look at this way.." NO, you can't look at it that way because that's not what the writers want you to believe. It's that their booking is so ass backwards and ridiculous that it just ended up being that way. That is your explanation.

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