I accidently stumpbled upon the spoilers unwillingly, but naturally i am always intrigued to read them.... anyway i wont ruin it for those who havent read them but be prepared for an evening of master tatsue (ninja turtle joke).
Wonder where all the contrarians are to say that because this is a taped show, OBVIOUSLY the crowd has been artificially sweetened. Can't be because people like Punk. What the fuck were some of these people doing last summer?
I love how Punk sells the bewilderment and pain of being unable to shut Henry down. It does a lot to make Henry out to be the monster he should be (and not job boy for Big Show), and their series has done positive things for both men. Great match.
Y'know, out of the big three RoH graduates (Joe, Bryan, Punk), the first two, Joe and Bryan weren't that over in Japan and Mexico respectively, but I don't think Punk had any of those problems, he was always treated as a big deal by the fans and honestly by the company as well. Yeah he was dicked around by WWE for a few years, but he was always in at least the mid-card, he never languished in dark matches or on Superstars, he was never in any danger of spring cleaning, as much as he and some of his fans want to pain Punk as a victim, he was a future top guy (at least a Jericho, if not THE Man) mostly because he's gotten good reactions heel or face no matter where he went. I can't think of many times where Punk came out to silence.
This angle hasn't really changed an iota since before Mania. I'm kinda bored with it. I hope it gets blown off in Chicago and they go somewhere else with it. I honestly haven't really enjoyed anything about Jericho this year besides the actual matches, which sucks considering he's on my short list of all time favorites.
Let's face it. They completely botched his return by re-booking him NOT to win the Rumble at the last second. It totally took the wind out of a promising gimmick and angle.
This blow-off match should be decent though. Who is next for Punk after this though? I'm surprised they jobbed Mizark to him tonight. They could have gotten a ppv match or 2 out of him with Punk.
Somewhere in there Santino should have had an L.A. Galaxy jersey on, just to really get a cheap pop out of the crowd and milk it. Or it'd just draw laughs, either way.
Maybe Miz or ADR, with an outside chance of D-Bry if they want Sheamus to work with someone else. I think a storyline with a little more meat to it between Punk & Ziggler could help Ziggler out.
Good Lord. Time to pull the plug on A Train's new gimmick. And why are they letting guys with ZERO mic skills cut so many promos lately. Get some damn mouth pieces/managers in there for these guys if you insist on having a "verbal message"!
OMG Otunga is terrible. He couldn't position himself property for that cover, when he started spinning himself around to get out of Santino's way so he could put his foot on the ropes, it gave away the false finish and everything. He's got a million dollar body, but for wrestling he's got a 10-cent brain.
Santino needs better guys to work with (Bryan?) so he can get his work in the ring to match his pops. That entrance with the football jerseys was killer though. I don't know shit about football but I knew where that was going and it was funny.
Something I've been curious about....why did WWE never acknowledge Umaga as being "Jamal" before..........but they felt they had to acknowledge Tensai being a "former WWE star?"
The WWE could do an angle at Extreme Rules where Lesnar just DESTROYS Cena and Cena is "injured" for a few months only to come back as a conquering hero. Might work.
I fucking love it. THAT is how you use something that catches on with the fans while still keeping the character a heel.
I find it funny that they took 2 years to ever explain where the LeBell Lock got its name and they do it on the night they finally change that stupid move name. Long live the YES! Lock.
OK to anyone who says that the "Yes" chants are just a fun thing that people like to do and has nothing to do with Bryan himself: before Bryan is on the show? No "Yes". After he's on the show, during Cena's promo? YES! YES! YES! YES! YES!
They better be careful about how they boo Bryan at Extreme Rules, because he's gonna be INSANELY over in Chicago. King thinks he's in 'bizzarro land' now. . .
Real question - does the WWE book the match knowing this? Or plow ahead with Bryan as the heel and have an entire crowd crap all over their new champion?
Id actually mark out (if I don't buy it, of course) if they had Sheamus win in 18 seconds ago as a giant middle finger to the fans. 1997 Vince would do that just because.
I honestly think Sheamus can survive a temporary heel turn. Have him throw Bryan through tables, hit him with a pipe, generally beat the shit out of him while Bryan fights from his back, have him almost win but fail because Sheamus is just that much of a killer. Sheamus can regain some of his edge and turn back face depending on where the next Smackdown is.
This main event is doing nothing for me. The London fans are chanting Albert. At least he shaved his back. Also he should be taking bumps like that (the back suplex/Blue Thunder Bomb) for anyone three weeks after his debut. But he also shouldn't be booked against Cena to begin with.
I would like to set the over/under on a Albert/Brodus Clay wacky dance team at six months.
And Cole just called the crossface the STF. Fuck that guy.
Hopefully the argument that Cena never puts anyone over can end now. Dude put over Rock, Tensai, and will put over Lesnar all in a month. And put them over strong.
Holy shit. Granted it wasn't clean, but I didn't see that coming. They legitimately don't care about crowd reactions anymore. Albert is the anti-Bryan.
Good on the WWE for giving Tensai the win. Yes, it was probably too early to book a Tensai-Cena match, but having Cena win would've totally destroyed any chance of Tensai ever getting over. Cena's got enough cache that he can afford to lose a match like this once in a while.
That's true, but wins like this are the only way Tensai's going to get over. Albert beating guys like Kidd/Gabriel/DiBiase week after week won't do anything for his character.
Yeah, I guess that's true, but guys recreate themselves all the time. Is Randy Orton the viper or the apex predator? Or is he the Legend Killer? This thing seems to be falling flat because...I don't know? It just feels really ridiculous, and that's saying something.
I really question the logic of repackaging A-Train like this if they didn't put a mask on him.
They shouldve just stayed with A-Train or Giant Bernard, and push him as some beast who found his game in Japan. Having him wrestle like Yokozona is ass-backwards. Especially when he was a really good power wrestler back in his first WWF run, just stuck with a terrible gimmick.
I don't see Lord Tensai working. They're trying real hard w/ the Umaga thing (down to the face paint) and it's not clicking at all.
"couldn't" have cared less..... but what kind of reaction did you think Tensai would get from them? Cheered because it was against Cena? I'm not disagreeing that it was pretty "blah".
The real question is whether the WWE thought process is "Daniel Bryan is so over now, we need to get the belt back on him!" or "Daniel Bryan is so over now, he doesn't need the belt anymore!"
I'm curious, how was Albert stuck with a "terrible gimmick" his first run? I've seen this posted numerous times and I still don't get it. The piercing thing only lasted a couple months before Droz's career ended. Debuting a brand new guy in that Russo time without a gimmick was not gonna happen.
His team with Boss Man, T&A with Test & Trish, and then X-Factor, he was the heavy of the group. That is not a bad gimmick. It's actually not a gimmick at all, it's a role.
Hip Hop Hippo was a bad gimmick, but that only lasted a couple months. I don't think that defined his career, and it's probably the thing he's least remembered for.
A-Train some may have thought was a bad name (I didn't), but it wasn't a gimmick either. Name and gimmick? Two different things. If he came out in a raiload conducter outfit and started choo-chooing like Ice Train, then yeah that's a bad gimmick. But for the majority of his WWE run, he didn't have agimmick at all.
Was there last night and yes it was a hot crowd until the tag match and Albert killed it at the end. Also it might not be obvious on TV but the O2 Arena is a concert venue not a sports arena so the acoustics are amazing. Not many banners though and a lot less merchandise being worn than usual - not helped by the doors being opened too late for people to buy stuff before the show.
Punk was insanely over - huge CM Punk chants during the match and a good reaction to the promo - although they seemed to run out of time and cut to the commercials before it was supposed to end. I guessing the bit where he just shouted out "Fish and Chips" to the audience did not air in US.
Brian not quite as over although the Yes chant has become 2012's "What". Its acquired a life of its own but it could get old quickly.
Reaction to Cena - both pro and anti seemed more muted than previously. But live at least his promo on Brock came over really well and Brock's promos are just money.
The also crowd seemed older than last time I saw the WWE live - perhaps the kids are getting bored of Cena and Punk/Brian are drawing a different section of the audience. They really have to decide where they are going though - the Brock character in particular jars with the more kid friendly stuff.
So in conclusion Punk and Brian are the most over wrestlers on roster in London. Either Vince is an idiot for pushing endless big men like Albert who the fans don't give a toss about, or he's an evil genius who can take two wrestlers who couldn't draw a crowd of 1,000 between them in RoH and sell out 20,000 seat arenas with them. Beat's me.
Cena's done several. And Scott himself has mentioned how Jericho and Benoit switched between working heel and face at various house shows. Hopefully they'll have Sheamus keep his head down, not cut any profiles, and allow Bryan to shine, with Sheamus playing the role of a heel, cutting off Bryan's comebacks and such. Not a real heel turn, just working heel for a night.
I'd actually like to see a Big Show vs Khali feud, solely because they will waste time with each other, rather than squashing guys who could use the rub for no reason whatsoever.
That must have been a good show. I had some buddies who saw Cannibal Corpse, Nile and The Black Dahlia Murder over the weekend in Columbus Ohio, I couldn't go (had to watch my 4 yr old son). Mastodon kills it.
"Gimmick" isn't the proper term, but he had a horrible look/name - a fat hairy guy in trunks? Named "Albert"?
Maybe if he wore jeans a t-shirt, and gave him a full name (Al "A-Train" Bloom), it would have worked better. He just seemed like one of those guys that Vince dressed a certain way for a chuckle, like Rikishi or Bertha Faye.
They also did Shawn/Batista on that card. I remember thinking it was really cool to have two big matches like that on the April PPV instead of waiting until "Summerslam", kinda like how we're getting Brock/Cena now instead of waiting on it.
(And, yes, I did refer to Show/Khali as a big match - sure, it wasn't gonna help the buy-rate, but as a mid-card program, you'd think they would save the two biggest guys going at it for a bigger PPV.)
They may not be pretty bad when it comes to work-rate, but I think giving them a run with the tag-titles would be a great way to give a rub to the guys that eventually beat them. Ziggler-Swagger, Rey-Cara, Barrett-Regal, pretty much anybody on the roster would work.
I think Vince just likes putting fat people in tiny (or tight), upsetting outfits: Albert, Husky Harris, Bastion Booger, Big Daddy V, Rikishi, etc. Yoko's outfit wasn't flattering, but at least it worked for the gimmick. And let's not forget what happened to poor ol' Amish Roadkill:
Whatever his undoing might be. Cena's skill as a wrestler is something that many people, including WWE itself, has failed to consider as a factor to get angle's over.
I accidently stumpbled upon the spoilers unwillingly, but naturally i am always intrigued to read them.... anyway i wont ruin it for those who havent read them but be prepared for an evening of master tatsue (ninja turtle joke).
ReplyDeleteSpoiler alert: If they edit the crowd response, this show will suck.
ReplyDeleteSooooo..... anybody hear that WM 28 did 1.3 million buys?
ReplyDeleteif they do that people will fucking revolt!!!
ReplyDeleteI think Princess just threatened to use biological warfare! I was sick this past week! *evil monkey point of dooooom*
ReplyDeleteHaven't seen the spoilers(didn't even know it was a taped show tonight), so I'm hoping it's good.
ReplyDeleteYeah, no clue it was taped either.
ReplyDeleteNo Mark Henry entrance = -1, WWE.
ReplyDeleteI had to look at the spoilers.
ReplyDeleteGiven the debate on the other thread, I'm loving how crazy over Punk is in London. :)
ReplyDeleteHuge "Sexual Chocolate" chant. Hilarious. HOT London crowd tonight.
ReplyDeleteSweet, crowd is hot tonight. Which means the WWE is going to mess with that somehow, because fans having fun is a bad thing
ReplyDeleteHOT CROWD! YES! YES! YES! YES!
ReplyDeleteWonder where all the contrarians are to say that because this is a taped show, OBVIOUSLY the crowd has been artificially sweetened. Can't be because people like Punk. What the fuck were some of these people doing last summer?
ReplyDeleteI hope this leads to awkward promos of Mark Henry trying to learn how to talk again.
ReplyDeleteI love how Punk sells the bewilderment and pain of being unable to shut Henry down. It does a lot to make Henry out to be the monster he should be (and not job boy for Big Show), and their series has done positive things for both men. Great match.
ReplyDeleteY'know, out of the big three RoH graduates (Joe, Bryan, Punk), the first two, Joe and Bryan weren't that over in Japan and Mexico respectively, but I don't think Punk had any of those problems, he was always treated as a big deal by the fans and honestly by the company as well. Yeah he was dicked around by WWE for a few years, but he was always in at least the mid-card, he never languished in dark matches or on Superstars, he was never in any danger of spring cleaning, as much as he and some of his fans want to pain Punk as a victim, he was a future top guy (at least a Jericho, if not THE Man) mostly because he's gotten good reactions heel or face no matter where he went. I can't think of many times where Punk came out to silence.
ReplyDeleteCM Punk single-handedly making the WWE championship mean something again.
ReplyDeleteAmazing.
ReplyDeleteI've thoroughly enjoyed this series of Henry-Punk matches.
ReplyDeleteThat looks like the fakest bar set I've ever seen.
I'd love to see what happens if Jericho actually walked into a British pub wearing that fruity jacket.
ReplyDeleteChris Jericho is a riot.
ReplyDeletePreach on Brother Lesnar!
ReplyDeleteSantino and Otunga are going to end up having more matches the Davey Boy and Warlord did in '91 at this rate.
ReplyDeleteI love how Jericho says "Dubdub E" championship. 10 years later and the name change still sounds awkward.
ReplyDeleteIf the Stones can get away with it, so can Jericho.
ReplyDeleteLiving in England apparently.
ReplyDeleteThis angle hasn't really changed an iota since before Mania. I'm kinda bored with it. I hope it gets blown off in Chicago and they go somewhere else with it. I honestly haven't really enjoyed anything about Jericho this year besides the actual matches, which sucks considering he's on my short list of all time favorites.
ReplyDeleteIs Brock gonna shoot on Cena?
ReplyDeleteLet's see if they cut out the "YES!" chants throughout the bits not involving DBry. Yeah, I said it. DBry.
ReplyDeleteThis Jericho/Punk angle needs to end with Punk driving in with a Pepsi truck and dousing Jericho with Pepsi.
ReplyDeleteLOL. Well done.
ReplyDeleteThey should have waited til after Mania to introduce the CM Drunk stuff.
ReplyDeleteLet's face it. They completely botched his return by re-booking him NOT to win the Rumble at the last second. It totally took the wind out of a promising gimmick and angle.
ReplyDeleteThis blow-off match should be decent though. Who is next for Punk after this though? I'm surprised they jobbed Mizark to him tonight. They could have gotten a ppv match or 2 out of him with Punk.
LOL Arsenal lost to Wigan today.
ReplyDeleteSomewhere in there Santino should have had an L.A. Galaxy jersey on, just to really get a cheap pop out of the crowd and milk it. Or it'd just draw laughs, either way.
ReplyDeleteI endorse this just for the fact that it would draw a huge twitter rant from Angle.
ReplyDeleteLMAO@ Dave Otungo doing a clean job to Santino.
ReplyDeleteSweet Jesus that was one ugly match. Almost like Otunga and Santino were actively trying to get on the next ep of Botchamania.
ReplyDeleteWhy would WWE cut out "Yes" chants if they are planning to, you know, make a T-shirt that has that very slogan on it?
ReplyDeleteMaybe Miz or ADR, with an outside chance of D-Bry if they want Sheamus to work with someone else. I think a storyline with a little more meat to it between Punk & Ziggler could help Ziggler out.
ReplyDeleteGood Lord. Time to pull the plug on A Train's new gimmick. And why are they letting guys with ZERO mic skills cut so many promos lately. Get some damn mouth pieces/managers in there for these guys if you insist on having a "verbal message"!
ReplyDeleteOMG Otunga is terrible. He couldn't position himself property for that cover, when he started spinning himself around to get out of Santino's way so he could put his foot on the ropes, it gave away the false finish and everything. He's got a million dollar body, but for wrestling he's got a 10-cent brain.
ReplyDeleteSantino needs better guys to work with (Bryan?) so he can get his work in the ring to match his pops. That entrance with the football jerseys was killer though. I don't know shit about football but I knew where that was going and it was funny.
BAHAHAHAHAH!
ReplyDeleteWWE Creative
@WWE_Creative:
There was an embarrassing moment when @wwejoshmathews tried to interview Lord Tensai but was talking to a butterfly house #RAWTonight
Something I've been curious about....why did WWE never acknowledge Umaga as being "Jamal" before..........but they felt they had to acknowledge Tensai being a "former WWE star?"
ReplyDeleteCons
I notice that Brock skipped over his NFL days...
ReplyDeleteBrock is going to KILL Cena at Extreme Rules... one hopes.
ReplyDeleteI agree. It would have made more sense once Jericho lost, since it would show a need to "get in his head" to beat him.
ReplyDeleteI also think a ladder match would be much more appropriate between these guys.
It wasn't bad, but people like him need to be in a tag team with an experienced wrestler.
ReplyDeleteWOO WOO WOO - time for another burial squash!
ReplyDeleteYou know what would help Zach Ryder? If he wasn't a Jersey Shore douchebag.
ReplyDeleteWhy does Kane wear that mask? It looks queer as shit.
ReplyDeleteOh, wow..the most stereotypically British man in the world wearing that Zack Ryder wig. XD
ReplyDeleteNothing more heart warming than a happy mark.
Kane= Jason Vorhees from Jason X. I finally put my finger on it.
ReplyDeleteLike at Extreme Rules? Or in the promo?
ReplyDeleteThe WWE could do an angle at Extreme Rules where Lesnar just DESTROYS Cena and Cena is "injured" for a few months only to come back as a conquering hero. Might work.
ReplyDeleteAs Scott says...
ReplyDeleteTHE FEUD MUST CONTINUE
Michael Cole = Chachi from Happy Days?
ReplyDeleteUgh. Damn you London for bringing back the "What" chants! So much for "Yes" being the new "What".
ReplyDelete....the Yes Lock?
ReplyDeleteThe YES!lock, eh, I can dig it.
ReplyDeleteOh man Daniel Bryan is en fuego.
ReplyDelete"YES! YES! YES! YES!"
ReplyDeleteDaniel Bryan is so much like goofy heel Kurt Angle right now it's scary. And awesome.
ReplyDeleteDaniel Bryan is so freaking awesome.
ReplyDeleteDaniel Bryan is amazing.
ReplyDelete"It's true. It's true"
ReplyDeleteThat backstage segment was gold.
ReplyDeleteYes Lock, I love it.
Promo
ReplyDeleteHow did Kofi Kingston NOT crack up at that? I know they are pros, but that's funny shit.
ReplyDeleteI fucking love it. THAT is how you use something that catches on with the fans while still keeping the character a heel.
ReplyDeleteI find it funny that they took 2 years to ever explain where the LeBell Lock got its name and they do it on the night they finally change that stupid move name. Long live the YES! Lock.
Cena going away for a while could help. He is staler than month-old bread, maybe some time away and a fresh look would help.
ReplyDeleteI assume that on their Mexican tours, it will be known as the SI! Lock
ReplyDeleteHe needs something. These matches with Santino aren't helping either of them.
ReplyDeleteIn Germany it will be known as the Ja! Lock.
ReplyDeleteI love the awesomeness of how he decided to change the name.
ReplyDelete"What did Gene LeBell ever do?!"
3 Minute Warning was awful and never did anything of note, A-Train was not and at least a victim of the Streak.
ReplyDeleteIn France or Quebec, they can't really call it the Oui! Lock, because that sounds like something you can get charged with rape for doing.
ReplyDelete..and the Qui! Lock in France.
ReplyDeleteOK to anyone who says that the "Yes" chants are just a fun thing that people like to do and has nothing to do with Bryan himself: before Bryan is on the show? No "Yes". After he's on the show, during Cena's promo? YES! YES! YES! YES! YES!
ReplyDeleteIt would do good to get Cena off of TV for awhile and have a Summer of Brock.
ReplyDeleteInteresting how Cena makes everything sound like a promo. He covers all the bases on his upcoming PPV matches when he has the mic.
ReplyDeleteWeren't they chanting it during Punk's match?
ReplyDeleteIs anyone else sick of these fucking eras?
ReplyDeleteThey were.
ReplyDeleteOh. Well I wasn't paying attention. Still, they weren't doing much of it the rest of the night.
ReplyDeleteHave they clarified what an Extreme Rules match IS yet?
ReplyDelete...and for a moment, London surpasses Jerusalem as the most holy place on earth.
ReplyDeleteSo much for it just being Miami...
ReplyDeletePoor Kofi. They couldn't find an irrelevant opponent for D-Bry? Like Zeke? Or A-Ry? Or the tag champions?
ReplyDelete...yeah, that does sound painful for all the wrong reasons.
ReplyDeleteY'know, a lot of people have made comparisons between Sting and Cena, I wonder how Crow Cena would work out...
ReplyDeleteIt's kind of annoying listening to Cole defend Bryant after he ripped him to shreds for so long.
ReplyDeleteThey better be careful about how they boo Bryan at Extreme Rules, because he's gonna be INSANELY over in Chicago. King thinks he's in 'bizzarro land' now. . .
ReplyDeleteI'm assuming that they kept cutting away to the crowd because Kofi was cracking up on camera. If he didn't, I don't know how he kept his composure.
ReplyDeleteNaomi has the best ass in wrestling by far.
ReplyDeleteUnless John Cena can't walk or is filming a real movie, he's not taking time off. You don't give your biggest (only?) every week draw 3 months off.
ReplyDeletePoor Sheamus, he's going to get eaten alive in Chicago.
ReplyDeleteI would bet $100 it's because the Matt Bloom rumors trended on Twitter for like 5 minutes one day during the week of WrestleMania. Sadly, I'm serious.
ReplyDeleteI think Big Johnny is about to book a "handicap" match. Bow chica wow wow!
ReplyDeleteThey did on SmackDown last week.
ReplyDeleteThis is a better tribute than they gave to Savage. (Sighs)
ReplyDeleteI think Tessmacher can give her a run for her money.
ReplyDeleteNo way that match gets 10 minutes plus. I bet they do some type of 10 second botched ending like we saw with Clay-Ziggler.
ReplyDeleteWhat's up with everyone calling him "Bryant"? Is that like the new "loose" of 2012?
ReplyDeleteReal question - does the WWE book the match knowing this? Or plow ahead with Bryan as the heel and have an entire crowd crap all over their new champion?
ReplyDeleteId actually mark out (if I don't buy it, of course) if they had Sheamus win in 18 seconds ago as a giant middle finger to the fans. 1997 Vince would do that just because.
The same thing that it was when ECW was still around?
ReplyDeleteTessmacher definitely wins the TNA division.
ReplyDeleteWhat an absolute joke the tag team titles are. And Slow and Khali may be one of the worst tag teams of all time.
ReplyDeleteI honestly think Sheamus can survive a temporary heel turn. Have him throw Bryan through tables, hit him with a pipe, generally beat the shit out of him while Bryan fights from his back, have him almost win but fail because Sheamus is just that much of a killer. Sheamus can regain some of his edge and turn back face depending on where the next Smackdown is.
ReplyDeleteDid Kofi say "Yes!" when he gave up? Daniel should refuse to release the hold until that happens...
ReplyDeleteI don't know why, but the Big Show irritates me.
ReplyDeleteWhy haven't we ever seen Big Show v. The Great Khali?
ReplyDeleteGood for Big Show & Khali. Young up-and-comers like that need the rub of absolutely destroying the current WWE tag team champs.
ReplyDeleteI know why he irritates me.
ReplyDeleteI think they had a small feud in 2007-08.
ReplyDelete...so were the fans screaming "Da!" at Daniel Bryan during their tour of Russia? We need to know these things.
ReplyDeleteWow. Big test for Tensai early.
ReplyDeleteCena defeated A-Train back in the day, he should have no problem with Asian-Train.
ReplyDeleteDaniel Bryan was on the Smackdown roster, and didn't go to Russia.
ReplyDeleteA Train's punches are weak sauce for a MONSTER. This gimmick is one of the biggest fails in a long time.
ReplyDeleteAt this point WWE may as well just throw the Tag Titles in the garbage can a la WCW.
ReplyDelete...didn't know the dude outside the ring would get involved.
ReplyDeleteCan't believe this is on last instead of Punk-Henry.
ReplyDeleteWouldn't it be hilarious if Tensai hit the Baldo Bomb and the ref went 'Oh no, Cena can't continue' and rang the (fucking) bell.
ReplyDeleteComparing Cena to Tiger Woods?
ReplyDeleteThis main event is doing nothing for me. The London fans are chanting Albert. At least he shaved his back. Also he should be taking bumps like that (the back suplex/Blue Thunder Bomb) for anyone three weeks after his debut. But he also shouldn't be booked against Cena to begin with.
ReplyDeleteI would like to set the over/under on a Albert/Brodus Clay wacky dance team at six months.
And Cole just called the crossface the STF. Fuck that guy.
... or he could just pin Cena.
ReplyDeleteLord Muta wins to the sound of pure crickets! Brilliant move pushing this guy.
ReplyDeleteHopefully the argument that Cena never puts anyone over can end now. Dude put over Rock, Tensai, and will put over Lesnar all in a month. And put them over strong.
ReplyDeleteHoly shit. Granted it wasn't clean, but I didn't see that coming. They legitimately don't care about crowd reactions anymore. Albert is the anti-Bryan.
ReplyDeleteI wish they would have gotten Muta instead of A-Train. They could have built to match with him at next years Wrestlemania.
ReplyDeleteTHIS.
ReplyDeleteCena's match went over like a fart in church, CM Punk's was hotter than hell. What a way to end the show with a downer.
I can't believe Cena lost, I really thought he'd run all over Tensai.
ReplyDeleteI always thought his quirky selling was the issue.
ReplyDeletePretty soon he'll be getting X-Pac heat.
ReplyDeleteGood on the WWE for giving Tensai the win. Yes, it was probably too early to book a Tensai-Cena match, but having Cena win would've totally destroyed any chance of Tensai ever getting over. Cena's got enough cache that he can afford to lose a match like this once in a while.
ReplyDeleteWhat is it about this Lord Tensai thing that has been so deflating?
ReplyDeleteExcept for the fact that even a HOT London crowd could have cared less.
ReplyDeleteAnyone else now getting the sinking feeling that after Punk finishes off Jericho at Extreme Rules, Albert is his next program?
ReplyDeleteProbablly because it's Albert.
ReplyDelete^ THIS. They are booking him as if he's Yokazuna circa '92.
ReplyDelete^ THIS. They are booking him as if he's Yokazuna circa '92.
ReplyDeleteThat's true, but wins like this are the only way Tensai's going to get over. Albert beating guys like Kidd/Gabriel/DiBiase week after week won't do anything for his character.
ReplyDeleteUGH. Luckily there will be plenty of playoff games to distract me enough through that miserable feud.
ReplyDeleteThey should have a wrestler with the sound of crickets as theme music.
ReplyDeleteMcMahon like big wrestlers fighting, so I could see him go after Sheamus as well. Smackdown needs a monster heel.
ReplyDeleteYeah, I guess that's true, but guys recreate themselves all the time. Is Randy Orton the viper or the apex predator? Or is he the Legend Killer? This thing seems to be falling flat because...I don't know? It just feels really ridiculous, and that's saying something.
ReplyDeleteI really question the logic of repackaging A-Train like this if they didn't put a mask on him.
ReplyDeleteThey shouldve just stayed with A-Train or Giant Bernard, and push him as some beast who found his game in Japan. Having him wrestle like Yokozona is ass-backwards. Especially when he was a really good power wrestler back in his first WWF run, just stuck with a terrible gimmick.
I don't see Lord Tensai working. They're trying real hard w/ the Umaga thing (down to the face paint) and it's not clicking at all.
He sucked in english, now he sucks in Japanese.
ReplyDeleteHe improved in the ring, but his mic skills are still the same and his look hasn't changed enough to garner interest.
Agreed, he's wrestling at half-speed or methodical if you prefer; but this isn't the A-Train I remember. Maybe I need to refresh my memory on youtube.
ReplyDeleteWhy Muta has not wrestled in the WWE is beyond my understanding.
ReplyDelete"couldn't" have cared less..... but what kind of reaction did you think Tensai would get from them? Cheered because it was against Cena? I'm not disagreeing that it was pretty "blah".
ReplyDeleteMe too, but I can't put my finger on exactly why.
ReplyDeleteHe also has several gimmicks they could use if he didn't want to use the Great Muta. "Kokushi Muso" is a good one as well.
ReplyDeleteRandom question: did anyone notice that Spike let "bullshit" through the censors during the Storm/Roode video package towards the end of the show?
ReplyDeleteI was at a concert (Opeth and Mastodon!) and avoided spoilers b/c I figured it would be an epic show. Boy was I wrong...
Anyway, back to your regularly scheduled open thread after the fact,
The real question is whether the WWE thought process is "Daniel Bryan is so over now, we need to get the belt back on him!" or "Daniel Bryan is so over now, he doesn't need the belt anymore!"
ReplyDeleteI'm curious, how was Albert stuck with a "terrible gimmick" his first run? I've seen this posted numerous times and I still don't get it. The piercing thing only lasted a couple months before Droz's career ended. Debuting a brand new guy in that Russo time without a gimmick was not gonna happen.
ReplyDeleteHis team with Boss Man, T&A with Test & Trish, and then X-Factor, he was the heavy of the group. That is not a bad gimmick. It's actually not a gimmick at all, it's a role.
Hip Hop Hippo was a bad gimmick, but that only lasted a couple months. I don't think that defined his career, and it's probably the thing he's least remembered for.
A-Train some may have thought was a bad name (I didn't), but it wasn't a gimmick either. Name and gimmick? Two different things. If he came out in a raiload conducter outfit and started choo-chooing like Ice Train, then yeah that's a bad gimmick. But for the majority of his WWE run, he didn't have agimmick at all.
I now want every crowd to scream YES! every time Daniel Bryan hits a move. How awesome was that?
ReplyDeleteIt's not that Cena doesn't lose, its that the losses usually don't mean anything.
ReplyDeleteLook at Miz. Beat Cena in the main event of last year's Wrestlemania. Didn't mean a damn thing.
With Punk it meant something, although they didn't exactly let Punk win "clean".
Kind of like when they ended that Elimination Chamber PPV with an Ambulance Match with Cena and Kane.
ReplyDeleteWhy would we want to?
ReplyDeleteHe wrestles like Sting, but I think his undoing is that Cena has been booked like Hogan.
ReplyDeleteI love how they couldn't even be bothered to put any effort into editing out Khali's fuck-up on a taped show.
ReplyDeleteSorry, but you can't call any feud between those two small.
ReplyDeleteBadoom tis.
Because he's awful? That's why he's always irritated me.
ReplyDeleteWas there last night and yes it was a hot crowd until the tag match and Albert killed it at the end. Also it might not be obvious on TV but the O2 Arena is a concert venue not a sports arena so the acoustics are amazing. Not many banners though and a lot less merchandise being worn than usual - not helped by the doors being opened too late for people to buy stuff before the show.
ReplyDeletePunk was insanely over - huge CM Punk chants during the match and a good reaction to the promo - although they seemed to run out of time and cut to the commercials before it was supposed to end. I guessing the bit where he just shouted out "Fish and Chips" to the audience did not air in US.
Brian not quite as over although the Yes chant has become 2012's "What". Its acquired a life of its own but it could get old quickly.
Reaction to Cena - both pro and anti seemed more muted than previously. But live at least his promo on Brock came over really well and Brock's promos are just money.
The also crowd seemed older than last time I saw the WWE live - perhaps the kids are getting bored of Cena and Punk/Brian are drawing a different section of the audience. They really have to decide where they are going though - the Brock character in particular jars with the more kid friendly stuff.
So in conclusion Punk and Brian are the most over wrestlers on roster in London. Either Vince is an idiot for pushing endless big men like Albert who the fans don't give a toss about, or he's an evil genius who can take two wrestlers who couldn't draw a crowd of 1,000 between them in RoH and sell out 20,000 seat arenas with them. Beat's me.
If he ever wrestles in France, he HAS to get the crowd chanting "Oui! Oui! Oui!"
ReplyDeleteI think he could fuck up the average bar-goer in pretty much any country.
ReplyDeleteThe Who lock? He's not Jim Neidhart.
ReplyDelete95 percent of the crowd wouldn't have known what an LA Galaxy jersey looks like.
ReplyDeleteHow'd you guess?
ReplyDeleteI was gonna say Knit Hat.
ReplyDeleteDoes WWE do temp heel turns?
ReplyDeleteCena's done several. And Scott himself has mentioned how Jericho and Benoit switched between working heel and face at various house shows. Hopefully they'll have Sheamus keep his head down, not cut any profiles, and allow Bryan to shine, with Sheamus playing the role of a heel, cutting off Bryan's comebacks and such. Not a real heel turn, just working heel for a night.
ReplyDeleteI'd actually like to see a Big Show vs Khali feud, solely because they will waste time with each other, rather than squashing guys who could use the rub for no reason whatsoever.
ReplyDeleteThat must have been a good show. I had some buddies who saw Cannibal Corpse, Nile and The Black Dahlia Murder over the weekend in Columbus Ohio, I couldn't go (had to watch my 4 yr old son). Mastodon kills it.
ReplyDelete"Gimmick" isn't the proper term, but he had a horrible look/name - a fat hairy guy in trunks? Named "Albert"?
ReplyDeleteMaybe if he wore jeans a t-shirt, and gave him a full name (Al "A-Train" Bloom), it would have worked better. He just seemed like one of those guys that Vince dressed a certain way for a chuckle, like Rikishi or Bertha Faye.
And I say all that as a fan of the guy.
No, he's wrestling a very slow pace - I guess to seem "stoic" and "mysterious" or whatever. He can move for a big guy.
ReplyDeleteHe already is - you could hear the entire audience groan when he was announced.
ReplyDeleteYup, "Backlash, 2008".
ReplyDeleteThey also did Shawn/Batista on that card. I remember thinking it was really cool to have two big matches like that on the April PPV instead of waiting until "Summerslam", kinda like how we're getting Brock/Cena now instead of waiting on it.
(And, yes, I did refer to Show/Khali as a big match - sure, it wasn't gonna help the buy-rate, but as a mid-card program, you'd think they would save the two biggest guys going at it for a bigger PPV.)
They may not be pretty bad when it comes to work-rate, but I think giving them a run with the tag-titles would be a great way to give a rub to the guys that eventually beat them. Ziggler-Swagger, Rey-Cara, Barrett-Regal, pretty much anybody on the roster would work.
ReplyDeleteNaomi and Cameron are both hot as hell.
ReplyDeleteCena cheated on his wife too.
ReplyDeleteI think Vince just likes putting fat people in tiny (or tight), upsetting outfits: Albert, Husky Harris, Bastion Booger, Big Daddy V, Rikishi, etc. Yoko's outfit wasn't flattering, but at least it worked for the gimmick. And let's not forget what happened to poor ol' Amish Roadkill:
ReplyDeletehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:RoadkillWWE.jpg
Yikes.
Whatever his undoing might be. Cena's skill as a wrestler is something that many people, including WWE itself, has failed to consider as a factor to get angle's over.
ReplyDelete