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The SmarK Rant for WWE Extreme Rules 2012

The SmarK Rant for WWE Extreme Rules 2012

Live from Chicago, IL

Your hosts are Michael Cole, Jerry Lawler & Booker T

Opening match, Falls Count Anywhere: Kane v. Randy Orton

They immediately fight to the floor and Kane gets two out there, then grabs the dreaded LEAD PIPE OF DEATH already. Back to the floor after trading some shots with that and they do the standard walk-and-punch brawl through the crowd and trade near-falls. They end up over by the entrance, where Orton gets a dropkick for two. Kane boots him down for two and they travel backstage and fight into the bathroom, so you know they mean business. Zack Ryder stupidly jumps in and attacks Kane long enough for Orton get a backbreaker for two, but Kane sends Orton into the CLANGY POLES OF DOOM to take over again. They’re pulling out all the stops here tonight! All we need is the craft services table for the full Russo monty! Sadly, no fresh fruits are used, as they head back to ringside again doing nothing of note. Back in the ring, Orton gets a clothesline out of the corner and the powerslam, and Orton venture out of the ring for a chair. Dammit, where’s the drink tray? What kind of a hardcore match is this? Orton pounds him with the chair and preps the announce table, hitting the draping DDT off the table to the floor for two. Kane counters an RKO and sends him into the post for two. Back in, Kane goes up and gets brought down with a superplex for two. Kane counters the RKO into a chokeslam for two. Kane sets up for the tombstone, but Orton counters into a chair-assisted RKO for the pin at 16:43. The stips ended up meaning basically nothing to the match aside from the one pre-taped backstage segment, but it was fine once it got back to the ring again. ***

Meanwhile, Big Johnny and Eve get some champagne from Teddy Long.

EXTREME Unadvertised Match: Brodus Clay v. Dolph Ziggler

Swagger with the suit at ringside works much better as a bodyguard-type, actually. The crowd goes APESHIT for Ziggler, so I guess we’re in BIZARROWORLD. Brodus gets distracted by Swagger, and Ziggler dropkicks him out of the ring, allowing Swagger to get a cheapshot. Back in, Ziggler dropkicks the knee and hits the fameasser for two. He goes to a front facelock and adds a dropkick for two as the “Let’s Go Ziggler” chants get louder. Dolph with the sleeper, but Clay powers out of it and makes the comeback. The crowd actually boos the comeback, but Clay finishes clean with the splash at 4:15 anyway. Ziggler did what he could here. *1/2

Tables match, Intercontinental title: Big Show v. Cody Rhodes

Cole notes that Show is one of only five men to hold all five of the current titles, including such names as Shawn Michaels. Uh, Shawn never held the US title. Perhaps he was thinking of the European title? Show tosses Cody around on the floor to start, but Cody gets a disaster kick off a table and they fight outside again. Show beats on him some more outside, but Cody dropkicks him off the apron on the way in, and he steps on a table to break it, for the backdoor Rhodes title win at 4:32. What a retarded finish that was. Show demonstrates some really bad sportsmanship, attacking Cody after the fair loss and chokeslamming him through the table. And then he presses him out of the ring and through another table, too. That was ridiculous, and this was barely even a match. ½* And why do they have to keep doing those stupid dangerous table bumps? No wonder guys have back problems.

Meanwhile, Daniel Bryan lists all the advantages he has over Sheamus: Manlier beard, more chicks, less corned beef. All good points. And AJ is lurking in the background.

World title, 2/3 Falls: Sheamus v. Daniel Bryan

Crowd is split on Bryan, but Sheamus gets a giant heel reaction. Sheamus overpowers him and we’re already past 18 seconds, so good job on Bryan. They trade headlocks and Bryan tries a bodypress, but Sheamus turns it into a Regal roll for two. Texas Cloverleaf from Sheamus (which has an obvious gimmick name if he keeps using it), but Bryan reverses to a small package for two. Sheamus pounds away in the corner, but Bryan puts him down with a clothesline and out of the ring with a baseball slide. He dives and Sheamus catches him and spears him into the railing, but Sheamus goes up and Bryan brings him down to take over. The crowd starts a dueling “Daniel Bryan/18 Seconds” chant ala John Cena, which is interesting. Bryan works the arm with some nasty stuff and adds a dropkick to the shoulder for two. And now Booker is talking about “building momentum” and “creating separation” so those must be Vince-isms and not necessarily Cole-isms. Bryan chokes away on the ropes and goes back to the arm with a hammerlock. They slug it out and the crowd really starts to get into the “yes” thing until Sheamus puts him down with a kneelift and makes the comeback. Fallaway slam gets two. Sheamus misses a charge and Bryan kicks him in the corner for two. They fight to the top, but Sheamus blocks a rana and hits the shoulderblock for two. Bryan bails and Sheamus tries a suplex back in, but Bryan escapes and dumps Sheamus. He tries a dive, but Sheamus hits him with a forearm from the floor and tries the high cross. Bryan reverses that for two. He fights for the Yes Lock, but Sheamus keeps powering him off, so Bryan sends him into the post to injure the shoulder. Two more times for good measure, and he pounds the arm with kicks to the delight of the YES crowd. However, he kicks too much ass and gets himself disqualified at 15:00. That was BEGGING for a “I have until FIVE to break, referee”. Second fall and Bryan hooks the YES LOCK right away for the submission at 16:37. Aha, the old HHH v. The Rock “give up a fall to get a fall” strategy. The doctors check on Sheamus while Bryan leads an epic YES chant, but Sheamus is man enough to continue. Third fall and Bryan charges, but runs into a Brogue kick like an idiot. That only gets two, thankfully. They slug it out with Sheamus fighting from his knees, but Bryan knocks him out with a head kick and gets two. Bryan goes up and Sheamus follows with a superplex attempt, but Bryan puts him down and then misses his own dive. Bryan charges again and bumps in the corner, and Sheamus makes the comeback and hits the backbreaker. Brogue Kick finishes clean at 22:53. Tremendous match with a very unique heat. ****1/4 That’s exactly what I wanted out of Wrestlemania. And now we get three months of Sheamus v. Del Rio while D-Bry feuds with a girl.

EXTREME Unadvertised Squash: Ryback v. Aaron Relic & Jay Hatton

I’m kind of digging the “jobbers cut lame promos and then get destroyed” gag. The crowd is already hip to the room and chants “Goldberg” at him. Lariat and muscle buster finish the dweebs at 1:41.

Meanwhile, CM Punk gives final thoughts before the title match.

WWE title, Chicago Street Fight: CM Punk v. Chris Jericho

Punk stomps a mudhole on Jericho and they head to the floor right away, where Punk finds a kendo stick to draw an “ECW” chant and inflict some damage. Jericho runs away until Punk caches him with a clothesline and lays into him with the stick again. Jericho finally hides behind the ref and gets a cheapshot, then sends Punk into the timekeeper’s cave. They fights on the floor and Jericho beats on Punk in front of his (allegedly drug-addicted) sister, prompting a slap from her and a comeback from Punk. Punk slams Jericho onto the announce table in a nice bump and tries a piledriver on the floor, but Jericho backdrops out and rams a monitor into his back. OUCH. Back in, Punk gets a backdrop suplex, but Jericho lays him out with the kendo stick and pounds him with it again. Jericho stops for the trashtalk and Punk rolls him up for two, but Jericho puts him down for two again. Jericho stops outside to grab a frosty cold beverage and pour it on Punk. Cole notes that this is the proverbial pouring of salt in the wounds. Actually it’s more like the literal pouring of alcohol in the wounds, which is much more painful I’d imagine. Jericho gets another can, but this allows Punk to make the comeback with the bulldog. Jericho reverses the GTS into the Walls, but Punk powerslams him for two. He goes up and Jericho wants a superplex, but Punk counters and gets the Macho Elbow instead. That gets two. Another GTS is countered by Jericho into the bulldog, but Punk blocks the Lionsault with the GTS…and Jericho escapes that too. He sends Punk into a chair for two. They’re just not clicking here, as the timing seems off and they can’t get the crowd to buy into the false finishes. Jericho recovers first and gets a Codebreaker, which sets up the Walls of Jericho in the middle of the ring. Punk gets to the ropes, but it’s no DQ, so Punk has to grab a fire extinguisher instead and sprays Jericho to break the hold. Well that works too. Punk chases him out of the ring with the extinguisher and high-kicks him onto the Spanish table, which means it’s time for the SUPER MACHO MAN ELBOW through the table. Back in, that only gets two, but the Anaconda Vice is hooked. Jericho grabs the kendo stick and whacks Punk in the face to escape, prompting a “this is awesome” chant from the crowd. They are certainly making up for the earlier problems. Punk attacks with the chair, but Jericho grabs it and hits a codebreaker with it for two. Crowd was PANICKED there. Jericho has had ENOUGH of this shit and stomps on Punk in frustration, then tries his own GTS, which Punk counters into the catapult into the steel and the GTS finishes at 25:11. Indeed, this was awesome by the end, a throwback to the crazy brawls of the Attitude era, but man they were losing the crowd bigtime leading up to it. ***1/2 Although the feud lost a lot of steam at the end and I’m hoping Punk moves onto something else now.

Meanwhile, Eve reveals that Beth Phoenix is not medically cleared to wrestle tonight. What? So why advertise the match then? Eve immediately points out that it’s not Kharma.

Divas title: Nikki Bella v. Layla

That’s the big payoff? The crowd chants “We want Kharma” as Nikki goes after the bad knee and gets two. Layla comes back with a crossbody for two, but goes after Brie and gets rolled up for two. The twins switch off, but Layla pins Brie with a neckbreaker at 2:32 to win the title. DUD She doesn’t even look the same as before. Why even bother bringing her back?

Brock Lesnar v. John Cena

Brock is wearing the UFC gear tonight, which is pretty awesome. Brock takes him down for punishment and LEVELS him with a clothesline, and Cena is BLEEDING from the HEAD. Brock just destroys him on the mat and the ref pulls him off to check on the cut, but after it’s stopped Brock comes in again and brutalizes him on the mat. Brock dumps him out of the ring as Cena continues to bleed from his SKULL and the doctors keep stopping it. Cena keeps fighting and tries the FU, but Brock puts him down with a pair of german suplexes. Cena fights back and the ref gets wiped out, but Brock casually puts Cena down again and then wipes the blood on his chest. This is what I paid $55 to see. Brock fights for a KIMURA in the corner and dumps Cena like a sack of garbage again and gets the THUG LIFE CHAIN, but he doesn’t even WANT it. This is a man’s man. So he instead delivers a knee to the ribs, and uses the chain to tie up Cena’s legs before hanging him in the corner and beating the shit out of him some more. Cena fights back again, so Brock sends him into the stairs and then tosses Little Naitch into the ring with one hand in an awesome visual. Cena crawls in with his chain, but Brock steps on his hand and delivers an F-5, knocking the ref out a second time. Another ref comes out and counts two, so Brock destroys him as well. Brock gets the stairs involved as an army of refs wearing gloves head out, and Cena fights back again, only to get caught in a kimura. I would advise tapping out here, but Cena powers him up and slams him on the stairs. Cena goes for the hail mary pass, heading up with the legdrop, but Brock moves and Cena splats and lands on the floor. Brock taunts him from the stairs in a spectacular visual while Cena fights to the apron again, but Brock charges and launches himself at Cena, hurting his own leg in the process. Then he LAUGHS IT OFF and awaits Cena’s return again…and this time Cena hits him with the chain to block the charge. Cena makes the comeback, drawing babyface heat in Chicago because this is such an awesome match, and Brock is bleeding all over the place. And Cena finishes with the FU on the stairs at 17:50. Are you fucking KIDDING ME? They put Cena over? That was the most ridiculously short-sighted booking decision I’ve seen in years. The match itself was unbelievable, a brutally realistic FIGHT unlike anything seen in WWE main events, maybe ever. I was almost literally jumping up and down in my living room by the end, even at 1:00 AM and a long day.  ****3/4 for the match, negative one million stars for the worst decision they could have possibly made.

The Pulse

That flushing sound in Chicago is all the money from Brock going down the toilet. That being said, this was probably the best show since Money in the Bank, easily. The big three matches all delivered (or in the case of the main event, over-delivered), but holy shit why would you spend all that money on Brock and then have him just get beaten like another guy?

Huge thumbs up.

Comments

  1. I don't think it kills Brock or anything. I agree it was the wrong move, especially since I would think the money is in Brock destroying Cena, winning, putting him out, and Cena coming back in a few months to get revenge after Brock has gone over Orton and probably Punk too, but in terms of Brock, he destroyed Cena like we've pretty much never seen Cena destroyed (especially in the PG era) and lost because he got a little too cocky, and in the end he appears to have "put Cena out" for a bit with the brutal beating.

    So I agree wrong move, but I don't think it's the disaster a lot seem to think. But time will tell.

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  2. Thought the big three matches delivered big time, but yeah, I don't get the decision to put Cena over at all in Brock's first match back.

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  3. "Cole notes that Show is one of only five men to hold all five of the
    current titles, including such names as Shawn Michaels. Uh, Shawn never
    held the US title."

    I assume that Cole was talking about holding all of the current titles that existed at the time?  There was no US title when Michaels won the grand slam.

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  4. While I agree that Brock should have went over, I don't think it's going to kill him for the rest of his run. Got a feeling HHH/Brock is next. 

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  5. There is NO WAY that this doesn't eventually lead to Cena going over Brock one more time and Rock at the end. There has to be some sort of long term...pla....long....long ter.................lol.........I can't....

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  6. but holy shit why would you spend all that money on Brock and then have him just get beaten like another guy?

    Exactly and now I can go to sleep. :-)

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  7. Depends on how long Cena is out. I can see Brock/Cena 2 happening at WM29. Especially if Brock hulks out on everyone in the mean time. The questions about Cena's health and time off plus the fluke nature on the finish on the first match would be more than enough to sell it. 

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  8. The main event was ***1/2 for me. Brocks shit goes beyond stiff to where I was giddy
    with joy and thought I was watching MMA or boxing for most of that match
    (especially the stiffer than stiff elbows right in the beginning
    elicited a visceral response within the viewer that signals this just is
    not a wrestling match, but something else, I still dont know what)


    And its an interesting dynamic. If youre trying to legitimize the
    product, or at least the main event scene, I mean, yes, this was
    definitely different and more "real" than WWE main events. I could show
    this to my father who is a big time sports traditionalist, watches
    baseball, football, and boxing, cant watch a wrestling match without
    saying how stupid it looks. I say "thats not the point, we know its a
    work and phony, its just good light entertainment". Well this was no
    TV-PG presentation. Just great physical sports entertainment. You could
    show this match to a non-fan and they would at least get a visceral
    feeling out of it and have some kind of opinion on it no matter what
    their preconceived notions of wrestling are.



    The longer it went and the longer the awesomeness ensued I couldnt
    help but thinking how different from main events this was that I wouldnt
    be able to rate it properly. So from "highspots" and "wrestling
    psychology" I have no place to rate this. From a "interesting novel
    approach / fight" I was from ****1/4 to ****3/4 from some arbitrary
    standpoint throughout. Just... awesome. Then the finish happened. Sorry,
    but the booking sours the incredible fight. ***1/2 and a disapointment
    when all is said & done only because of the HORRIBLE BOOKING. Im
    standing firm on this - and yes,  all ratings are subjective. Lol I
    wouldnt hate on ChinWins because he got to mark out with his kids over
    the Cena victory, but this was the absolute wrong outcome for this
    match.


    I thought the World Heavyweight Title Match was ****1/2 and gave
    ****1/4 to the WWE title match.

    At the end of the day still a great
    great PPV, from a workrate standpoint better than Wrestlemania even if
    it wasnt quite the spectacle that it is.
     

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  9. Bryan did, in fact, inform the referee that he has until 5 at one point in the match.

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  10. That would be pretty sweet, particularly if the let Brock win WM and then lose at the next Raw. But where does that leave Rocky? He has a few more movies coming out over the next 10 months.

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  11. Wow. That was the most in depth rating explanation I've read. 

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  12.  No joke, as much as I hate the ending, I have a feeling I'll remember this PPV for Brock-Cena and Sheamus-Bryan as much or more than WM this year. A most in-depth rating for a most memorable show.

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  13. No clue with Rocky. I've heard it thrown out there that he signed for WM29 at least but who knows. It actually would be hysterical if Brock won the last match he is contracted for after losing his first instead of the other way around.

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  14. Wow. I think the main event would have been golden if Brock had just DESTROYED Cena here, and then went on to kill everyone who dared challenge him until Cena finally returns, shows he's learned how to bring the intensity and then does this match at WM. Instead... what do you do with Brock now?

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  15. Hahaha. That would be great. He beats Cena at WM on accident and then bounces.

    Ugh I want that to happen now just because it's so fucking dumb.

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  16. It's still weird, but I figure (or "hope", rather) that there's an endgame to Brock not winning, since 90% of the match was from the Apollo/Drago playbook. I loved the booking of it, that Cena's charges only ended with him getting put down on his ass. That was an insane match, though, and Brock had one great visual after another (I loved the laughing off of possibly blowing out of the knee). Still, if Cena was going to win, catching him as Brock was getting carried away and putting him down quickly on the steps (as opposed to the 5MOD) was the way to do it. Answers will hopefully come tomorrow.

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  17. Also, how much would you get paid to take three clean elbows from Brock? I say at least 50K, my friend won't budge off of 250K. Wuss.

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  18. That, the Irish Cloverleaf, and the Bork Lazer sign made my night. Besides the awesome matches of course.

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  19. Just watched the show and wow it was great. Really great.

    Randy Orton vs. Kane: ***3/4 I really loved this match. Usually I hate crowd brawling but in this case they actually did stuff in the crowd and went for pins. The action was great throughout, the Zack Ryder attack was funny, and I liked the finish.

    Brodus vs. Ziggler: ** Fun for what it was. That headbutt to the gut was vicious.

    Cody Rhodes vs. Big Show: As a match I'd say it was ** but as an entire angle plus match I'd say it was ***1/2 for me. I may be biased due to my fandom of Cody Rhodes but I thought he took a great shit kicking and the finish was perfect-it made Cody look like a lucky yet smart bastard- and their facial expressions were both spot on. The performance part of wrestling was excellent here, Big Show's face when he realizes his foot went through the table as well as Cody's when he realized it too were awesome.

    Sheamus vs. Daniel Bryan: ****1/2 I have a feeling Bryan will weasel his way into a rematch because at the start Lillian emphasized that the winner would be the person who gained two pinfalls or submissions. Bryan had 1, Sheamus had a pinfall and a DQ. The match itself was fantastic and I was glad they got so much time because they delivered big time. The finish was kinda weak IMO but the rest was great. And I liked DB using the "I have til 5!"

    CM Punk vs. Chris Jericho: ****3/4 I'm debating whether I liked this or the WrestleMania match better. Either way everything about this match worked. They even came out in street clothes which looked kinda weird with their knee pads and boots on but whatever. They had a chaotic and violent brawl. This was so good I wanna watch it again!

    Layla vs. Bella: * I was hoping for Kharma but I like Layla so I enjoyed this. Too short to be good, but that neckbreaker was brutal.

    Brock Lesnar vs. John Cena: ***** Honestly not the match I expected. I was expecting more of a brawl but with more of a professional wrestling feel, instead we got a fight. And I loved it. It was so different from anything we've seen. Right from the start where Brock took Cena down and bloodied him up I knew this was gonna be brutal. Wasn't expecting Cena to be dominated so much and wasn't expecting him to win. If Cena is going away I question having Brock lose to him especially considering the only damage Brock took was the chainshot and the F-U on the steps. Obviously we have to wait and see what happens. However, this match was a great combination of atmosphere, match, and angle and it worked. And anyone who hates John should look at this match and AT LEAST respect the guy and his willingness to do ANYTHING for the business. He took an absolute shit kicking.

    Overall: 3 ****+ matches and one that was RIGHT there makes this one of the best PPV's in a long time. In some ways I liked it more than WrestleMania but WrestleMania still had Taker/HHH. Every advertised match was good-great. This is the 3rd WWE PPV I've bought in a row and it was worth the price.

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  20.  Exactly my thoughts on the main event. No it didn't have cool highspots and stuff and it was far from a traditional professional wrestling match but that was the point. It wasn't supposed to feel like a wrestling match, it was supposed to feel like a fight. I don't know what I saw during that main event, but it was so different from nearly anything I've seen in wrestling and I loved it. I wouldn't necessarily want this type of match to become commonplace but on rare occasions? It works great.

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  21. Man, this torrent can not finish fast enough. My expectations are really high after seeing everyone talk it up. So Brock has 7 ppvs left...

    June ppv: HHH/Brock

    Summerslam: Brock/Orton

    September ppv: Brock over Punk for the title.

    Survivor Series: Rock comes back to challenge Brock for the title to pay off his exit promo.(really hope this comes true as I will be there)

    Royal Rumble and Wrestlemania: If Brock drops the belt to Rock, he wins the Rumble and challenges Taker at WM. If he retains against Rock, he defends it against Henry at the Rumble and Cena/Brock 2 happens at WM.

    Anyone else?

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  22. The way they booked Cena here is just so weird, especially if he's taking off for awhile. 

    They basically booked a win made-up to look like a loss and had him do a stretcher job angle without actually doing a stretcher job.  I just don't see how they expect to build any sympathy for him as a babyface and it's this kind of booking that makes it easy to see why some people (that aren't 10 and under) are starting to getting sick of him. 

    You really can't overstate the silliness of this booking though.  Case in point, look back to Summer 1990 -- Hogan loses to Warrior, gets squashed by Earthquake big time, does the stretcher job and makes EQ an unstoppable monster in the process. 

    The end result is that they do nearly the same buyrate for Summer Slam that they did for WrestleMania.  Summer Slam was basically sold entirely on that angle too, which is crazy when you think about it -- you basically had Hogan on top against a relative newcomer who was a completely untested commodity at the box office and a retread of a less than a year old Warrior/Rude feud.

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  23. All the mains were pretty terrific, but Sheamus/Bryan really had it all. The match was technically perfect and presented a ton of variation. It also delivered on the level of psychology - you had Bryan going the entire match trying to prove himself against the fluke, and his cockiness playing perfectly into his decision to use the DQ to get a fall against a giant he was having trouble putting away. The brogue kick played into it believably instead of shutting Bryan's lights out right away for the third fall. Bryan did an amazing job keeping the crowd into moments where Sheamus had to take some time to sell the beating. Overall, it was genuinely the first match in which I believed Sheamus could hold his own as a wrestler. He varied his moveset impressively and sold the shit out of that fight.

    Cena/Brock was a very compelling match and definitely delivered from a surreal stiff-fest standpoint, but like Taker/HHH at Wrestlemania, it was more an ugly beatdown with a dramatic finish than a wrestling bout. No missteps, skillful display, and great drama make Sheamus/Bryan a perfect match for me. Matches like that are why I watch wrestling.

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  24. I have no price for that.  Any one of those elbows could ruin you permanently.

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  25. Of all the crazy shit that went down tonight, Sheamus holding his own with one of the best technical wrestlers in the world for 20 minutes was among the most surprising. What a hell of a match; I could really see now what HHH sees in him.

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  26. If I had to guess, I'd say with Cena gone, Lesnar overcompensates for the loss with even more demands (which Ace can't ignore, since they're paying Brock an obscene amount of money), and he winds up finagling his way into winning the World Title. This draws Cena back, as Brock does the Punk deal and threatens to leave with the gold when his deal expires. Lesnar will then defeat a not so healthy Cena to even the score.

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  27. I completely agree. That match provides an incredible model for building dramatic, effective matches. Great storytelling, great psychology, and none of the over-reliance on finishers that bog down so many "main event style" matches. These two allowed their characters and wrestling styles tell the story, even though the background to the match didn't really have much to it. Just a superb effort.

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  28. Just watched Brock/Cena. What a weird match. It was awesome but I guess I was hoping for more 2003 Lesnar. I know he is older and bigger but that type of match isn't going to work for every Lesnar match. That dive from Lesnar was both amazing and insane, perfect example of how much of a super athlete he is. And did anyone else catch Lesnar about to do the throat slash taunt before he caught himself? 

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  29. Surprised that nobody's mentioned how Lesnar nearly dropped the steps on the head of the downed official.  He really is living his gimmick.

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  30. Amazing main event, something totally different for WWE, and they told a great story -- something I thought they failed at with HHH/Taker last month. 

    I couldn't care less about the "short-sighted booking" either.. I found myself going into complete mark mode and wanting the face of WWE, who's been kind of down on his luck lately, to beat the sadistic monster who's been acting like he's too good for the business. 

    I did think for a second they were going to have Cena tap out after getting brutalized for 20 minutes, but they stuck with their guy, and I thought it was a nice moment at the end. 

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  31. exodus316 exodus316April 30, 2012 at 4:33 AM

    Prediction: 2022 Scott will look back on this and say they made the right decision.  No facts to back it up, just a gut feeling.

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  32. I saw this at Fox & Hound in Louisville and man, was that crowd great. They had so many people show up (I counted 127) that they were showing the event in two rooms. One room was all smarky, chanting "Yes" and "We Want Kharma" and "Cena Sucks;" the other was filled with OVW wrestlers watching reverently. But the whole place exploded when Cena won. There were maybe 3 boos, everyone else was elated. In that context, Cena pulling off the win was the right move.

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  33. Bryan/Sheamus was sooo good. Great psychology, selling, story, and huge amounts of fun without relying on near-falls. Fingers crossed that Bryan gets another month in the title picture. Easily 4.5 stars.

    Punk/Jericho got really good at the end, but they needed those big spots to hit 4 stars. I think it's simply the case that they don't have the chemistry - certainly not to the level you'd think workers of their standard would. Not sure where next for Punk, hopefully not Tensai, then I'll be sorry for complaining about getting not-quite-as-good-as-I-expected matches.

    Lesnar/Cena was tremendous. I pitched that this might be a hybrid-style match, and no-one agreed with me, but it certainly wasn't your usual WWE main event. The result is dumbfounding, there's simply no excuse for it. They had a readymade story: Cena loses at WM, then gets slaughtered at Extreme Rules, goes away for a few months (which it appears he's doing anyway), comes back fighting. It's Hero's Journey 101. They are beyond stupid sometimes. But, as CM Punk said, Vince McMahon is a millionaire who should be a billionaire.

    Anyhow, the three main matches delivered, so thumbs up from me.

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  34. I think you're giving Sheamus a little too much credit. It's true, he was a participant in a ****1/2 match, but he was Davey Boy to Bryan's Bret. Sheamus was clearly blown the fuck up early in the match, and got broomsticked by Bryan. Not a good indicator of his ability to work these longer main event-type matches on regular basis. Vince correctly saw who the real star was at SS92, but I'm less convinced that'll happen this time.

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  35. Basically God... I mean Scott agrees with Flair4dagold's debate on the other PPV review. We can all go and live peacefully now :) 

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  36. In addition to Cole's error about Shawn Michaels holding all five major titles, did you notice that he also mistakenly listed Owen Hart as one of the other guys who did it? I assume he meant to say Bret.

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  37. You know, the first phrase that came to mind during the main event was "Won't someone please think of the children?!".

    It's almost like the company was paranoid that Cena's young fans were going to be so traumatized by seeing him destroyed and having to take some time off that they would tune out, so they just had to put Cena over and have him cut a reassuring promo to make them feel better. Indeed, I was waiting for them to cut to children in the crowd in tears during Brock's beating.

    I wish I was being sarcastic with that remark, but considering all the Youtube videos out there of kids crying to Cena losing, I honestly think the company keeping Cena so invulnerable has everything to do with not alienating that fanbase.

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  38. That wasn't an error.  Cole said that Big Show was one of five men to hold all _current_ titles, meaning all titles available at the time.  Shawn Michaels was the Grand Slam champion, winning all of the titles available at that time (WWF, I-C, tag, European).  Pedro Morales (WWWF, I-C, Tag) also did the same.

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  39. Was Scott's opinion on the finish ever in doubt? I feel like he's an even bigger mark for Brock than he is for Rock (though it'll be interesting if that's put to the test). I stayed up mostly for the star ratings, particularly the main event, given how unique it was. Never seen anything like it.

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  40. Why would Brock need to win the Rumble to challenge Taker for his streak?

    My own predictions for Brock is that maybe he beats Punk for the belt next month and then dominates the next few months until dropping it to Rock at Summerslam (it makes sense to do their match here because it would be the tenth anniversary of their first match and all.) I know Orton is rumored to be his opponent, but rumor is the key word there. Orton can just as well be his opponent in either June or July. Then Brock comes back to wrestle someone at Survivor Series (Triple H?) and then does something at the Rumble before losing to Undertaker at Wrestlemania.

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  41. "Holy shit, why would you spend all that money on Brock and then have him just get beaten like another guy?"

    Because WWE wants Brock to be a HEEL, and they'll be able to do a more effective job of building true heel heat for the guy if the fans perceive him as a fraud, especially in light of last Monday's ridiculous closing segment where Johnny essentially sold Brock the entire company without Brock having to prove that he really was everything he said he was. You yourself have said repeatedly that if they just put a guy over and have him kick ass repeatedly in the process, all it leads to nowadays is that guy earning the respect of the fans and getting stuck in that perpetual blur-the-line state between heel and face, and that's what we would have been stuck with if Brock had gone over. Now, regardless of what Brock does - injure Cena and put him out for months, win the WWE title, run roughshod over the entire roster - the fans will never respect him as he enjoys his ill-gotten perks because this loss will hang over his head like the Sword of Damocles, eating away at him until we get the inevitable rematch. That's why it wasn't short-sighted at all to put Cena over, quite the opposite in fact.

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  42. I suspect that Brock's speech on Raw might be similar to Triple H's speech following Wrestlemania 27, about how he lost the battle (the match) but won the war (by beating the ever loving shit out of Cena and taking credit for him being gone.) 

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  43. I'm curious just who all they can put Brock with now - given how stiff and at times sloppy he was at points, I don't know how many will want to become punching bags for those sorts of shots. Certainly can't see an older Undertaker or someone like Orton (who'll whine about one botched spot) being comfortable taking that kind of beating.

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  44. Scary thought for today: By 2022, some of us will have been reading Scott for the better part of 25 years. We should have some kind of real-life meetup if that happens

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  45. You really think it was necessary to destroy Lesnar's credibility in order to keep him heel? It's not like Lesnar is a random wrestler where if they dominate they'll get cheered. Lesnar has a meta behind him: he's perceived as not caring a damn about wrestling or anything but his own financial well-being. That's not a hard guy to keep heel even as he destroys everything in his path. Now, though, it's going to be harder for him to be anything, face or heel, because now he's not a threat, he's a joke. The former UFC Heavyweight Champion lost to John Cena in a street fight his first match in. Bye bye cred.

    One of the worst booking decisions I have ever seen.

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  46. Why can't Johnny ignore them? Lesnar lost. What kind of a big deal could he possibly be if he's already lost to John Cena?

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  47. ive been watching the 80s version of the twilight zone and tales from the darkside and what u said reminded me of the episode "the devils alphabet" in a internet sort of way.

    this frat made a pact to meet up every year even in death and the ghosts kept meeting up til the last living member finally called a vote to end the pact.

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  48. A lawnmower mishap left me without both internet and cable, so I didn't see the ppv.  I definitely hope to track down the main event somewhere on youtube or daily motion.

    If Cena is really going to be out for a few months, what I imagine they'll do is have Lesnar cut some kind of promo where he says Cena's win is a fluke.  There will be some kind of confrontation, perhaps even a match scheduled, and then Lesnar completely takes Cena out and puts him on the shelf.  It perhaps would have been better done on the ppv itself, but I'm sure they'll find a way to get some of Lesnar's heat back.  

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  49. It would be a great swerve if Brock was not signed for a year and this was his last match...

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  50. Cena-Lesnar kind of mirrored the Clippers-Grizzlies game.

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  51. Considering what an afterthought he's been for the past few months, Orton would probably jump at the opportunity to work a high profile feud with Lesnar.

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  52. I still don't understand why they jobbed Lesnar last night. If you want to book him to be STRONG, you don't make him lose his first match back to the WWE!

    He should have killed Cena.

    And to top it off, Cena is going on vacation to film The Marine 3! Cena should have been stretchered out like in WWE 12. Which is what happened when I played it a few nights ago.
     

    Dumb ass company.

     

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  53. I've had time to digest the stupid ending of Cena/Brock. I wonder if they go the Joe/Angle route and have Brock beat the hell out of people until he gets a rematch? Brock showing up at Cena's house and beating the crap out of him while he's injured doesn't seem TOO out of the question.

    But the simple thing to do is have himkill Cena at RAW tonight.

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  54. Let me start by saying that I watched this match in a completely unironic way, and this is the first WWE match I've watched in such a way, and taken seriously, since 2005.

    WOW- was that not a microcosm of the WWE's history as a whole? They can nail something so so so perfectly, having BALLS for once in the past decade, by having Lesnar look like a monster in his UFC gear, complete with JJ-whatever sponsership, and fight a UFC fight because, if we are suppposed to watch the product in a real way and take it seriously, a UFC fighter who "knows better" would come to the WWE and do exactly that. Fight a (far superior, infinitely smarter) MMA fight and DOMINATE. If the WWE were real, like I'm "supposed" to believe, the idiots bouncing off the ropes and taking naps on the canvas would be DESTROYED by even a prelim MMA guy (see: daniel puder).

    But they let Brock be Brock and do what Brock would do in this situation if shit was real.

    And that is EXACTLY what the product needs to be in 2012.

    However, ask Chael Sonnen if winning 24 min of a 25 min fight means a damn thing....

    Now if I can pull a Jesse Baker, or whatever, and just say quickly: if I were booking this, I would have had the beginning be what it was, with Brock cutting Cena with the MMA elbow, HOWEVER, while the DRs were checking Cena (which, BTW, as an MMA fan MAKES NO SENSE), I was DYING for Brock to tear the DRs off of Cena violently, and finish Cena then and there, take his belt, and walk out. Let the real shit beating be at Brock's next appearance.

    HOWEVER, they WWE'd it up, as they do, and it was what it was. Not quite sure why Keith didn't give this one the full 5- opinions of a finish such as this should't factor into a star rating- bc from inception through execution (MAYBE i wouldnt have had Brock sell bumping on the steps, but like I said, they HAD TO WWE it up) was genius and flawless, and the most subversive thing they've done since the 1990s.

    Cena winning was the absolute wrong decision. I don't know what carny bullshit backstage punishment bullshit was involved in that decision, or if it was Cena beating the Rock's stunt double, but they have never made a worse booking decision (up to and including the Invasion).

    This is coming from a person who mocks wrestling (all forms, esp wwe) as a matter of habit. I hate it. I really do- the bouncing off the ropes, the cartoon nonsense- even the stuff you guys LIKE, i dont like. But, for the first time in so long, I was absolutely captivated. Hell, Scott himself was jumpng around his apartment... so on a sliding scale, so was I.

    But wow, talk about not wanting revere-cross over fans (AKA "back from the UFC bc I went for Brock at first anyway"). Jesus Christ, you MAKE UP THE ENDINGS. IT'S FUCKING FAKE! And you take the biggest PPV draw since Mike Fucking Tyson and YOU MAKE HIM LOSE HIS FIRST FIGHT?

    LOL.

    Well, thanks for giving me a reason to watch :)

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  55. Random thought: If they ever wanted toi unify the World/WWE title, they now have the man to do it with.

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  56. I never saw the Daniel Bryan-Bret Hart comparisons that people mention till now. I was wondering if they ever met...and then realized they were on the same team for that WWE vs. Nexus match.

    Anyone ever hear Bret's take on DB? Seems to me he's that kind of old-school wrestler Bret would love.

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  57. That's fine but you seem to be assuming their only way forward is to basically become MMA because they have to have an audience of MMA fans or something.

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  58. I wouldn't do it. The cost of the medical bills would eat up the majority of the money.

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  59. GSP once was interviewed about MMA elbows and how there's a technique to busting someone open with them. You hit an opponent with more of a graze that LOOKS vicious because the blood helps you in the eyes of the judges.

    I'm not sure if Brock was doing that because he's not the most technical MMA fighter.

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  60. ^This. Ex-fucking-actly.

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  61. You claim to hate wrestling, but you know who Jesse Baker is? That is just weird.

    Cena doesn't have the title btw, Punk does, and SK gave ****3/4 - I don't think he took a 1/4 star off for the finish. In any case, I agree that Lesnar should have gone over, any other result is senseless.

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  62. The answer we were looking for was "Four Leaf Clover."  But we have some nice parting gifts for you.

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  63. Why not a hybrid? Take out the corn ball stuff, leave the stuff MMA wont/couldnt ever do. Last night worked as such- in MMA, no one is creating a mini-stake in the middle of the ring, just to pose and gloat. THAT is pro-wrestling, and thats some great shit. 

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  64. They're catering to the kids who love Cena. That's all it is really, they're terrified of losing the merchandise-sucking kids for Cena so they have to make him win everything unless it's against someone everyone likes more (like the Rock), or have him lose in a manner where he could concievably put the blame on someone else (like w/ Punk) but he won't because he's JESUS H. CENA. Sigh. It's the neverending goddamn Hogan Syndrome again, and the only solace I take (aside from the good wrestling when it happens) is that along with the smarts in the crowd, these kids are gonna grow up in a few years into teens and turn on him VICIOUSLY. Hell it's already happening. But I don't think any change will come unless something drastic happens...like half an entire crowd one night just walks out of the show halfway through. They can mask sound, but not watching half the audience walk out the door and not come back.

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  65.  I was a big fan from 1989-1992, and total hardcore from 1996-2008. As Meltzer will tell you, your brain (essentially) gets used to style and pacing (this also applies to film and TV in general). When I was getting sick and pissed off with WWE around 2005, and was hearing great thing about ROH, I switched over... and at first it was kind of hard, the style of match is completely different. And once I was i love with ROH, WWE just seemed slow and cartoonish.

    Once I got into MMA the same long applied to all of pro wrestling.

    And I just assumed Cena always has some kind of title. LOL. My bad.

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  66. Yeah I don't get that logic either.  If you go full MMA style, you lose the wrestling fans and the younger crowd that is buying the merch.  Not to mention that they would never compete with the established MMA organizations.  The 2012 product doesn't need to be MMA style.  The writers just need to get their heads out of their asses.

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  67. What value is there in a rematch now? Cena already beat him so what does it matter? It should be the face who redeems himself, who gets revenge on a dastardly heel, it doesn't work the other way round. Imagine if in an action movie the good guy beat the big bad at the beginning... it does not make sense.

    Besides, people know Lesnar isn't a fraud, he's clearly a legitimate badass. He may be greedy and cocky, but he's not a fraud, he's a monster.

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  68. Why do you watch wrestling then? It seems like everything you dislike about wrestling is what makes it wrestling.

    Professional Wrestling(i'm talking WWE/WCW/ROH) should NEVER aspire to be just like MMA or UFC. It's nice to have a match like this occasionally, but I still want the ropes, the coreography(When it's done well) and the finishers.

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  69. I don't blame you, until last year it was safe to assume he did.

    I just accept them as completely different things. MMA is sport, WWE is violent soap opera. That's not to say there isn't a blurring of the lines - as Lesnar shows, but generally I can suspend disbelief without the aid of ultra stiff elbows.

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  70.  I don't watch wrestling- In the past 5 years I've seen 4 matches, usually bc I listen to Meltzer primarily for his MMA coverage but sometimes I wanna see something I know he's going to give his opinion on (HHH/Taker at Mania, Rock/Cena, and Brock/Cena). I've been with Brock since the beginning, so I'm willing to check out his WWE return matches since there will only be a few.

    And, I really think you can have both if they think outside the box a bit. The last time they did it (Attitude) worked out like gang busters for them.

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  71. Fuck it, now I want them to do a tasteless death angle. Just think, Lesnar could murder Cena - perhaps by making that cock-sword tattoo become a real sword and stabbing him - then at Summerslam Cena is resurrected by the power of American Pride (TM). Anything other than what I've described and that's it, I'm never watching again.

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  72. HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHA!!!!!  Putting Cena over Brock is the greatest thing of all time. I can't believe they actually did it. Brock is a loser that proved he couldn't hang with the top Heavyweights in MMA.  The last we saw him, he got kicked in the belly, quit the fight & then quit completely.  I don't know why we are supposed to buy him as some big tough guy when he got completely destroyed in 3 straight fights.  Screw Brock Lesnar, I hope they job him to Santino tonight.

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  73. He definitely was.  The elbows you use to hurt and concuss someone are driving ones where you use your bodyweight as part of the blow and aiming at the jaw.  Those are more or less punches except you're using your elbow instead of your fist.  The ones that cause bleeding you aim at the forehead, upper temple and you slash with them using the point of your elbow like a knife.

    The 3 "real" elbows Brock hit Cena with were all slashes, then he finished with a classic post hand on face then driving elbow.  That last one probably hurt more than everything else in the match besides the hard knee to the ribs.  For the record I'd take the first 3 for 10 grand, but we're looking at 100 grand to take that last one.

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  74. TheRealCitizenSnipsApril 30, 2012 at 9:18 AM

    Hold on now...if there is one thing we've learned from the Zach Ryder push it's: Let's see where they're going with this.

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  75. TheRealCitizenSnipsApril 30, 2012 at 9:29 AM

    Fuck yeah. If they're gonna go the "bring tattoos to life" route (and why wouldn't you???) then they need to bring in Scott Steiner too and team them together as the Teutonic Knights. Have them murder, literally murder jobbers with their sweet tats until Cena has SEEN ENOUGH and comes out to put a stop to it.
    First order of business: Kill Zach Ryder. His tattoo impalement on RAW should really help make him a sympathetic character.

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  76.  You are just absolutely wrong. Brock won 1 of his last 3, first off. The two people he lost to are elite MMA heavyweights, multi-promotional champions, top 5, and one was roided to the moon anyway.

    So you're saying if I box my way up to a Klitschko and get the shit beaten out of me that I may as well be Spider Rico? Please.

    Brock beat a legit MMA legend for his Heavyweight title, defended against two legit top 10 fighters, and got a horrific stomach disease that derailed his career. That's what real sports are like on an elite level. No one is fucking around, and Brock in his prime would have been an absolute handful for any heavyweight on the planet.

     (Brock now, flabby and missing organs, could beat the shit out of the entire roster before breakfast, so.... um?).

    And while I get that you don't understand the business of pro wrestling, getting your MMA facts off is just offensive.

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  77. Why do people hate the booking decision so much?  They are playing it like
    Cena is on the shelf with an arm injury (and if Lesnar mauls him and
    injures him further he gets his heat right back), and Lesnar refused to
    use weapons in the match; I think the times where he picked up the chain
    and threw it down were purposefully done to illustrate that he only
    needs his hands to win.  Cena used a weapon and won; Lesnar can state he
    didn't need to resort to that.  Plus, Lesnar was in control for 16 of
    the 17 minutes, it wasn't booked as a back and forth affair.


    Overall, it's April.  He's signed for a year.  This loss won't be
    significant as long as he steamrolls people en route to the rematch.

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  78. I was under the impression that Cole was talking about IC champions when he mentioned HBK and Owen... he switched from talking about Big Show and started talking about Cody and the IC belt.

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  79. Carried over from one of the other threads, but what are people's thoughts on how gassed Sheamus was?

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  80. <>Survivor Series: Rock comes back to challenge Brock for the title to pay
    off his exit promo.(really hope this comes true as I will be there)

    Pittsburgh FTW

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  81. He's Irish.  They aren't designed to last long.

     

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  82. Does anyone know if Cena is actually scheduled to be at Raw tonight?   I think the only way this booking really makes any sense is if Cena shows up tonight, and Brock "finishes the job" so to speak and knocks him out for a good long time...maybe even do an Earthquake/Hogan-esque injury angle where Cena is so beat up they take him to the hospital, then all the little kiddies can send Cena well being cards and stuff like that while Brock shakes it off due to "ring rust" or something like that, and continue to run over the rest of the roster.

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  83. "
    She doesn’t even look the same as before. Why even bother bringing her back?"

    Seriously? Jesus.

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  84. As long as Cena gets stabbed in a bar during a commercial break, he should be ok enough to die and come back by Summerslam

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  85.  Ha! It sooo did. Ultimately the Grizz/Lesnar will come out on top, I hope!

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  86.  He said he'll be there to address his future.  And I think Brock finishes the job

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  87. Brock doesn't need to cut everyone with elbows to get over- but do it once and make it significant. That should have been the end of the match right there, but what they did was great too- but it should have ended with Cena lying in a pool of his own blood....

    And, as such, a journey begins... Cena NEEDS to up his game, learn to fight for REAL-fake (or fake-REAL), push himself harder than he has ever pushed himself along the way to challenge Brock at date TBD. But Vince is fucking stupid. Sorry.

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  88. Trying to find some clips of Cena/Lesnar that weren't from WWE '12, I happened upon this wonderful little thing: 

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wNwQH-916kI&feature=colike

    They should sign this kid, he'd get bigger annoying-heel heat than Cole and Vickie put together. Yeah'mean?

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  89. So they'll do a double blade-job at a PPV that will do something like 100,000 buys, but not at Wrestlemania in a Hell in the Cell match? What the fuck? And what was the point of bringing Jericho back if they're just gonna job him out? Has he even won a singles match since he came back? This applies to Brock too. To quote Scott: This is me. This is me SHOOTING MYSELF IN THE HEAD BECAUSE OF STUPID BOOKING. Any questions?

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  90. Oh, and the "violent soap opera" idea is not conducive to their current PPV model- Brock Lesnar looking like a monster is.

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  91. With the WWE desperately trying to make Wrestlemania even more mainstream, I doubt you will see blood on that PPV for a very long time.  They probably were ok with a bloody match being at a less famous event.  As far as Jericho, he is what he is at this point, I think the reason why he came back was to put over Punk, so I'm not surprised he's lost all the matches.  Also as far as Brock goes, I agree I think he should've won last night, but it's not unsalvageable, we'll have to see how they follow up.

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  92.  Lesnar beat Carwin (even though Carwin dominated him), lost to Valasquez, and lost to Overeem.  How is that winning 2 of his last 3?

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  93. Must be related to Chris Tucker.

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  94. No, but I'm pretty sure I can guess Paul Orndorff's take on Daniel Bryan.

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  95. Maybe it's me, but Cena's didn't look like a blade job, but got open the old fashioned hard way; HHH tried to do the same when he let Taker pummel his eye, but Taker couldn't crack it open more.

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  96. I didn't see it, but 2 PPVs in a row with hardway blood? I doubt it.

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  97. Dammit, it was 2am, I was not in the right mind, I knew what you were going for...I'm gonna come up with more excuses than Brock will tonight.

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  98. I have no doubt that that's what they'll go for, but the difference is this: Trips/Taker featured the winner doing a stretcher-job and the loser leaving their own power, while Brock/Cena didn't. Brock lost and then crawled to the back on his hands and knees, while Cena won and joked around on the mic.

    The situations are similar, yes, but to two completely different degrees. In the former, the winner looked like a loser and the loser looked like a winner; the latter, the winner and loser looked exactly like what they were.

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  99. If the story is that Brock is basically signed to an iron-clad contract, then Brock could simply threaten Johnny as a way of getting whatever he wants; sure, Brock may have lost the match, but if they did a backstage segment where Brock grabs Johnny by the throat and slams him up against a wall, Johnny would have no choice but to agree to Brock's demands.

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  100. I really don't see Brock/Orton as a "Summerslam"-caliber match; Brock/Trips or Brock/Rock would be better in that spot.

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  101. When Brock returned, Scott said that his fanboy-ism for Brock outweighs his fanboy-ism for Rock.

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  102.  Exactly, as soon as I saw the two brats at ringside in full Cena gear I know we heading into shenanigans. This was just the biggest pussy move in the history of the company. They didn't want to make the kids go home crying so Cena had to win and piss millions down the drain. Well, after thirty+ years watching, that was the end for me. I was so excited to see Brock back and the screwed it up in 27 days, pathetic.

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  103.  Which would not work as Brock was the one who crawled out of the ring while Cena gave a goofy promo at the end. Brock came out of this match looking weak while SuperCena did the same shit he's done for the last eight years.

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  104. If he gives an announcement to say, "I'm taking time off to heal, but I'll be back stronger than ever"  it will hurt the angle more than it will help.

    Even Superman took time off after getting HIS ass kicked by Doomsday.

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  105. Because he was the same grinning Cena that he always is after a match. He still could have won (I even alluded to it last night) but he should have done a stretcher job and not walked away cracking jokes like Bruce Willis at the end of a Die Hard movie.

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  106. They could have made a killing selling "Get well Cena" bracelets like they did when Hogan got put out by Earthquake.

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  107. I'd rather have the skull tattoo on his back come to life and bite Cena's head off. Then Paul Bearer could show up, wave his urn around and re-animate his headless body. Cena's zombie corpse (complete with sewn-on head) could go around beating the entire roster until the Undertaker unites his wayward tormented soul with his body at Wrestlemania. (but not before pinning him and keeping his streak going.) He could wake up grinning and say, "How do I look, ma?" afterwards to keep kayfabe.

    Don't mind me..I was just playing Mortal Kombat.

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  108. I'm picturing Orton yelling, "Stupid, stupid, stupid!" alot during that feud.

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  109. Jericho has beaten Kofi in singles matches at least twice. As for jobbing him out, he didn't come back to have his time in the limelight, he strictly came back to do a program with Punk and put him over. His appeal with non-wrestling fans is pretty limited to old-school metal douches and Dancing With The Stars fans, which kinda cancels each other out, so it's not as though he's a giant shot in the arm for WWE anyway. I say it's a good use of him at this point.

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  110. I'll never understand why Warrior's first program as champion was against Rude again. Dibiase, Mr. Perfect and Macho were all right there, and all could have been transitioned from what they were doing to a program with Warrior. And if the Macho program was pushed up, I think they could still go back to it in time for WM7, with some good writing.

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  111. Yeah I agree, I think it really hastened the end of his title reign too as it was pretty much a dead program by 1990. 

    In retrospect, the whole thing was pretty messed up, because Hogan got the hot new heel and all of the other top heels were slated to be tied up in major programs -- Rude would have originally been paired with the Bossman, but he left and thus they jettisoned Perfect into that feud, Dibiase was about to start his feud with Virgil, and Savage and Warrior was slated as a winter house show program and a WrestleMania match.  It probably would have made more sense to give Warrior the Earthquake feud and Hogan a program with Rude.

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  112. Hahaha! Hmmm, actually...

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  113. if WWE becomes like MMA I will quit watching (because I totally dislike it and think it's boring as hell).

    ReplyDelete
  114. but Kelly does have a point. "bad ass" characters tend to get cheered. and even more if they are succeeding in destroying everything in their path. maybe it really was the WWE's way of trying to ensure Lesnar gets more negative reactions.

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  115. I think *organizing* WWE like a real sport (which they did during the first part of the Hogan era) would be great.  I find it much more sustainable when it doesn't have to be a cliffhanger every week, and it doesn't precipitate the need for frequent title changes which make it impossible to remember the title history.

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  116. Monster heels rarely get cheered (but then no one's been pushed as quite as much of a monster since Lesnar the first time round). In any case, the money was in Cena losing, Brock dominating in his absence, and Cena returning to get his revenge. It doesn't work the other way.

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  117. Jesus Christ, WWE. It's not rocket science.

    Lesnar destroys Cena. Cena takes off to make his movie. Brock runs through the roster. Cena makes a surprise comeback, challenges for a rematch at WrestleMania. Gets his win back.

    Fuck the WWE.

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  118.  So you want WWE to change to your liking so you'll become a fan again? You need to get over yourself, buddy.

    What's the matter? Is the UFC beginning to bore you?

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  119.  The Miz is off to film The Marine 3.

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  120. This this this this this. I marked out for Cena in a way I haven't marked out since I was a kid. Fuck the booking.

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  121. Not alienating your fanbase is logical booking.

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  122. When this ppv first came out I only saw it from the Jericho punk match on. Just watched that db vs sheamus match on YouTube and holy shit was it awesome. I'd love to see those two guys feud again. So lame they didn't get to show off at wm28

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  123. no making smart booking decisions like having the returning star not lose his first match is logical booking.

    ReplyDelete
  124. Then just go fuck youself bitch

    ReplyDelete

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