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To Cheat or Not to Cheat

Hey Scott,

In between waiting for the Tuesday night specials to resume so I can contribute again, I wrote a well-received comparison piece over on Cageside Seats.  It involves Bret Hart, so you might like the read.  If you think it's worthy of linking to the Blog, go ahead.


Andy PG
 
 
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Then And Now: To Cheat or Not To Cheat
Times sure have changed in professional wrestling, at least as it pertains to cheating and our reaction to it. Here's how.
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​Interesting comparison, although I should point out that Cena won the match anyway and so had no actual consequences of his wavering morals.  And then won another bunch of rematches on top of that.  ​

Comments

  1. Are we still complaining about this? We got the awesome three way at Mania out of it, and Batista is better as a heel anyway. What's the problem with how things turned out?

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  2. He wouldn't have been the right guy to go with as the winner even if Bryan wasn't uber-popular (Punk would have been) because Batista vs Orton headlining Wrestlemania in 2014 is sad.

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  3. R.O.C.K. in the U.S.A.May 20, 2015 at 6:53 AM

    They messed up a lot with Batista.

    He gave what has to be the least convincing "The WWE Universe can boo or they cheer who they like" speech possible.

    Also, Deal With It=Heel Catchphrase

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  4. Theberzerker, #1 HUSS CHOMPIONMay 20, 2015 at 6:54 AM

    Everyone always forgets that when he officially came back, 2 weeks BEFORE the Rumble, he got a huge pop and everyone was excited to see him back. That entire situation was simply frustration over them ignoring Bryan. Big Dave only turned heel because they kept pushing him and pushing him, and by the time of that shitty Del Rio match at EC, the only way to SAVE his return was reforming Evolution, which in all honestly was very smart of them.

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  5. R.O.C.K. in the U.S.A.May 20, 2015 at 6:56 AM

    That awkward Triple H hug was the first chink in the face push.

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  6. I remember it being a pretty average pop myself. Not bad, but nothing spectacular either.

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  7. Theberzerker, #1 HUSS CHOMPIONMay 20, 2015 at 6:56 AM

    It's true...take Bryan out, and Punk still would have left. And even if he didn't, Batista/Orton would have flopped big time no matter what.

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  8. I dunno... I agree about Batista vs Orton flopping no matter what (although the Bryan situation definitely intensified the hate for it), but I don't think Punk would have left if he was told by management that he's finally be given what he'd always wanted, which was the main event of Wrestlemania. I know he was mentally burned out and stuff, but I think realizing he was about to get offered that kind of position would have motivated him to stick around for longer.

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  9. Belee_Matt!_INDEED!!!May 20, 2015 at 6:59 AM

    I think Dave should have come back the exact way he left -- in a wheelchair. And instead of the Bray Wyatt/Cena match, we got the rematch between Batista and Cena.


    Dave wheels his ass to the ring. He tells John that ever since their match 5 years ago, he's been thinking about how he left him in this wheelchair. Then Dave gets up, grabs the wheelchair and hit Cena over the head with it.....awesome sauce, cool match for Mania. Have Bray do something else that doesn't make him job out.

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  10. Belee_Matt!_INDEED!!!May 20, 2015 at 7:02 AM

    I agree. It turned out fine.

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  11. Theberzerker, #1 HUSS CHOMPIONMay 20, 2015 at 7:04 AM

    That's assuming it would go down the same way. Without Bryan it's not guaranteed there would be the same fever for Punk, so the 3-way might not have gone down. And we know HHH wouldn't be so acquiescing for him as he was for Bryan. It might have gone down the same, but the odds are just as good that it wouldn't I think.

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  12. They should have brought Batista back as a heel from the get-go.

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  13. Theberzerker, #1 HUSS CHOMPIONMay 20, 2015 at 7:06 AM

    Or job Bray to UT that year instead of this, keeping the Streak in tact. Deprives us of an amazing moment, but that moment came at such a cost.

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  14. Without Daniel Bryan around and without Batista hugging ultra-heel Triple H and Stephanie the moment he returned (one of those random moments where the Stephs break character and expect us to ignore it), his return would've been aces. His return popped the biggest RAW rating since RAW 1000.

    Or, Batista should've come back as a heel -- the Authority's muscle whose job was to take out this upstart Daniel Bryan.

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  15. Also, his return popped the highest RAW rating since RAW 1000.

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  16. I wasn't saying the fans would be in just as much of a fever-pitch for him as they were for Bryan, just that he would have been the best choice if Bryan wasn't nearly as over as he was because Batista's return was destined to flop either way (plus, Punk was along with Bryan the most babyface behind John Cena.) Punk winning may have even been the original pondered idea considering they planted a couple seeds on television months before, like Heyman mentioning two different times (after Punk had officially turned face) that he'd love to be there in his corner when he headlines Wrestlemania one day.

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