The SmarK RAW Supershow Rant – 05.07.12
Live from Greensboro, NC
Your hosts are Michael Cole & Jerry Lawler
Big Johnny starts us out, letting us know that last week he lost his temper and went into a PATH OF DESTRUCTION that no one can stop. And no reprimand was issued by the WWE Board of Directors, because they know he’s tough but fair. Also, anyone who makes fun of his voice will SUFFER. He talks about his Japanese career and getting his voice box injured by Dr. Death, and we get pictures of All Japan. Huh. So this brings out CM Punk, and I bet he’s going to make fun of his voice. Punk DERIDES People Power, but he’s here to help, not hurt. Punk lays out the storyline for us: Johnny put all his chips on Brock Lesnar, and Brock lost to Cena, so that’s why he’s so upset with Cena. Punk calls him stupid, ugly and friendless, so it’s Punk v. Lord Tensai as a result. Punk looks forward to the challenge. Surprised he didn’t say something about Albert or A-Train.
Meanwhile, Big Show makes fun of Big Johnny on the way to the ring, and Eve is disapproving.
Intercontinental title: Cody Rhodes v. Big Show
I find it weird that they’ll talk about Big Johnny’s Japanese career, but won’t say the words “Johnny Ace” so that people know who he was. Show tosses Rhodes around, but Cody gets the disaster kick, and Show no-sells it. Cody takes a walk at 1:50. DUD Good thing they put the belt back on him. Eve comes out and demands an apology from Big Show for mocking Big Johnny, and Show meekly gives it to her. OK then, champion is a cowardly geek and your giant babyface backs down from the figurehead when challenged. So basically I as a fan shouldn’t get behind anyone, got it.
Kofi Kingston v. Dolph Ziggler
Remember when these guys wrestled a million times in a row for the I-C title and were hugely over? Kofi misses a charge and Dolph dropkicks him and controls with a headlock on the mat, while AW and his crew of jobbers watch backstage. This now includes Mason Ryan. Lucky us. Kofi comes back with the boomdrop, but goes after Swagger, then hits the SOS on Ziggler for two. To the top, but Swagger interferes again and the Zig Zag finishes at 2:38. * Why the hell do they put the tag belts on these guys and then IMMEDIATELY start jobbing them? Is it any wonder that no one ever is allowed to get over?
John Cena does an interview via satellite. The doctors recommended that he take two months off, but he’s going to compete at the PPV, dammit! And he’s the one who told the Board not to fire Big Johnny!
Layla & Kelly Kelly v. Natalya & Maxine
Layla puts Maxine down with a spinkick, but Natalya distracts her and Maxine gets a shot in. Layla finishes her with a neckbreaker at 1:00 anyway. DUD Hey, a champion actually gets to win tonight! Natalya is now once again fully evil thanks to a plot development that happened somewhere off-screen. That’s gotta be some kind of record for turning someone babyface and then back to heel without actually showing either one or even mentioning it.
Randy Orton & Sheamus v. Alberto Del Rio & Chris Jericho
Orton takes ADR down with a clothesline for two, but Jericho comes in and hammers him in the corner. Over to Sheamus for the forearms, but Jericho sends the injured shoulder into the post and Del Rio adds a cheapshot to make Sheamus YOUR face in peril. And we take a break. Back with Jericho holding a chinlock on Sheamus, but Sheamus escapes with elbows in the corner and it’s hot tag Orton. Draping DDT for ADR, but he gets distracted and that allows Del Rio to hit the enzuigiri for two. And now Orton gets the beating, but he hits Jericho with the dropkick. Jericho comes back to control as Cole talks about “creating separation” and Jericho hits an enzuigiri for two. ADR gets a shoulderbreaker, but Orton comes back with the backbreaker and it’s hot tag Sheamus. Jericho tries the Walls, but Sheamus escapes and hits the backbreaker for two. Orton in with the RKO on ADR…but Sheamus accidentally takes him out with the Brogue Kick, and Jericho pins Sheamus with the Codebreaker at 14:18. And ANOTHER champion does a job tonight. However, this seems to set up a four-way Orton v. Jericho v. ADR v. Sheamus match for the PPV, which is 150 times more interesting than Sheamus v. Del Rio. And Orton turns on Sheamus with the RKO after the heels leave, which is fine with me because he’s been wandering around the midcard aimlessly anyway and needs something new to do. Match was the usual formula stuff. **3/4
Meanwhile, all the participants in the tag match get into a brawl in Big Johnny’s office because they all want the World title. And I LOVED that Orton was so pissed off that he angrily told Sheamus that he was coming for the title, because it actually means that people WANT to compete for it. What a concept, I know. So now it’s a four-way at the PPV. Makes sense, since the Del Rio match was going to be death and I think they knew it, although sticking Orton and Jericho in there reeks of changing their mind yet again.
Brodus Clay v. The Miz
Clay quickly dumps Miz after no-selling his offense, and the Funkettes LAUGH AT HIM. Very subtle there. Back in, Miz stomps him down and gets the corner clothesline and double axehandle off the top for two. Short DDT gets two. Miz goes to a chinlock, but Clay escapes with a sideslam and makes the comeback. Miz goes up and gets caught in a suplex, and the big splash finishes clean at 4:11. Why would you book Clay to sell for 4 minutes on live TV? Poor Miz. ½*
PAUL HEYMAN returns, acting as legal representation for Brock Lesnar. Well you knew he wasn’t going to stay away for long with Brock back, and thank god they’ve got someone to do the interviews now. Brock feels BETRAYED by the fans for booing him despite all the awesome stuff he’s done. Heyman reads a letter on behalf of Brock, who is quitting and never coming back. It’s great that they’ve got Heyman out there to do the talking now, but it’s STILL the same whiny contract nonsense that didn’t work the first time. Repackaging the same issue over and over with different people trying to get the “brilliant” plotting across isn’t going to work, no matter who is delivering the crappy material.
Meanwhile, even the geeks from the USA show they’re plugging think that Show shouldn’t have apologized. Sadly, they run afoul of Eve again.
CM Punk v. Lord Tensai
Unless they’re running REALLY long tonight, this will be a short match. And before we take one last break, Johnny turns it into a handicap match.
CM Punk v. Daniel Bryan & Lord Tensai
Tensai beats Punk down, and Bryan comes in with the kicks for two. Punk rolls him up for two and they collide on a bodypress attempt, which brings Tensai in with the butterfly suplex. Cole’s description of Tensai: “A former WWE superstar who went to Japan and became a star.” Wouldn’t that be a lesser designation, then? If he was already a SUPERstar, why would he want to be a mere star? Tensai with the senton and Bryan comes in with a diving headbutt, which misses. Punk comes back with a catapult into the corner and a bulldog, but Tensai makes a blind tag. He misses a charge and Punk puts him down with a high kick, but Daniel Bryan trips him up and Tensai fucks up a tree slam. That was ridiculous. The GREEN CLAW OF DEATH finishes to dead silence at 6:54. So at the PPV, it’s two losers going against each other for the title. It’s time to give up on Tensai, it’s not working at all. There’s no real upside here in pushing him like this, he’s not getting over and you’re just hurting the babyfaces who have to put him over now. I daresay it’s the old WCW problem of un-over, where you’ve got someone who’s not over, and they would keep putting that person over other people who WERE over to try to create some kind of rub, and all that happened was that everyone got dragged down to the same level.
The Pulse
I suppose Santino should feel grateful that he wasn’t booked on this show. I miss champions and challengers winning matches to set up the big match against each other, not losing matches so that people doubt both guys equally. The tag match was pretty fun, but man, the rest of this show right now is just going in a direction I so do not want to be a part of.
I have to ask, why in the hell was Punk's match a non-title match?
ReplyDeleteIsn't he supposed to defend the belt every week until he loses it?
Heyman talked superbly... and the promo fell flat. We dont care about phony baloney contractual disputes. Are we all just too insider and in reality, a 'Brock quitting' storyline is enthralling despite the fact that anyone with a brain knows its a work? Are we supposed to not get behind the main event angle featuring the most interesting superstar in years?RAW is bore. Totally.
ReplyDeleteTerrible, dull, uninteresting RAW tonight.
ReplyDeleteHeyman the only thing worth watching. Hope he sticks around
They can't even keep track of what HHH's injury is, you think they'll remember that Ace was out to destroy Punk three weeks ago?
ReplyDeleteYeah, at this point I'm wondering if Vince Russo is secretly back on the writing team now.
ReplyDeleteIf we see an "Item On A Pole" match next week on RAW, we'll know the answer for sure.
"And Orton turns on Sheamus with the RKO after the heels leave, which is
ReplyDeletefine with me because he’s been wandering around the midcard aimlessly
anyway and needs something new to do"
Need someone to get kicked in the face by Sheamus? Why not Randy Orton?
According to some reports out there, tonight RAW's was approved almost literally at the final minute and underwent numerous changes on Monday alone. Sure felt like it.
ReplyDeleteI also feel really bad now for saying Eve was a shitty wrestler; she still is, but I feel like it's karma now that they've taken her out of the ring like I always hoped and now making her do something even worse than her wrestling or dancing: talking. She's becoming the reason I flip over to SportsCenter (or Clippers/Griz tonight) during the show.
The crowd was just as dead as this RAW was.
ReplyDeleteBut Big Johnny is MR. EXCITEMENT, dammit!
ReplyDeleteThe Tensai stuff is mind-numbing. He's what Mick Foley would call a black hole of charisma, and Scott, you're completely right, there is no benefit in his current push because eventually they'll realise he's not getting over and job him out.
ReplyDeleteBut, hey, D-Bry got to close out the show chanting YES! so I'll take what I can get. Other than that a dull show with a terrible crowd. Raw SuperShit.
Here's my question: Apparently Matt Bloom was all hot shit in NJPW as Giant Bernard. So is being held back as a worker by WWE restrictions or was he just overrated by the Japanophile crowd all along?
ReplyDeleteWrestling is about style and audience moreso than any fixed standard of ability. The Japanese crowd tends to enjoy the combination of stiff strikes and high impact power moves more than the American audience. Furthermore, Bloom is a much bigger man by Japanese standards than American, which probably made it easier for him to be accepted by the crowd. He really did become a very good worker in Japan, but he did it by projecting a gruff, bad ass personality - he wasn't a fat ninja.
ReplyDeleteYou know, I think the WWE should sign Kana and bring her in to pair with Tensai. That'd be a sweet tandem.
ReplyDelete...okay, I'm lying, I just want to see them sign a Diva I can actually get behind and that has enough style to get over in the WWE. But man, they need to sign her now and let her and Kharma trade the Divas title back and forth.
ReplyDeleteI remember another company that once did something like that...
ReplyDeleteIn the Ultimate Insider Shoot interviews Russo and Ferrara said, that they wrote RAW on Tuesday the week before and then they discussed the show with Vince McMahon on Wednesday or so. And it worked. Why in the blue hell do they now change things 5 minutes before the show, when they have one week to write this thing?
ReplyDeleteHey, come on, Scott. There was too much negativity in this. You've just got to see where it goes.
ReplyDeleteLesnar should be the one beating Cena and Punk not Tensai.
ReplyDeleteI'm watching more female wrestling recently and Kana is really good, super technical and her german is fucking fantastic, that's what I call a throw, none of this pick them up and drop them gently shit.
ReplyDeleteTrue, true and true. But damn does she pull off the evil secretrary look, and not just in that she looks hot, she really does look like an evil secretary.
ReplyDeleteYeah but then they couldn't build to an awesome match with Triple H and have even more awesome segments about contracts.
ReplyDeleteKharma vs Kana and Special Referee Kama. ;)
ReplyDeleteFirst I thought you wrote the name wrong, but there is really a Kana...
I pray they get Heyman involved in the booking side of things. He was right on the money with his "image conscious" comments. They need to learn how to walk the line between pleasing the kids and merchandise buyers and pleasing the PROFESSIONAL WRESTLING fans at its gritty best. Extreme Rules was a step in the right direction but then they throw out garbage like last night's Raw.
ReplyDeleteI think wrestling should not be for kids. Wrestling is violence to solve problems and that is NEVER a good role model. So why focusing on those, when your teen to adult fan base could be MUCH MUCH bigger?
ReplyDeleteThe whole "He's good in Japan" cliche has always bugged me- I've seen a handful of decent Albert matches in Japan, and he's not the "vastly improved awesome guy" that some Japanophiles claim he is- he's just a half-decent big man.
ReplyDeleteIt helps that the Japanese style is MUCH more forgiving to power wrestlers- I've even seen good matches by the New Blackjacks in All Japan (the crappy Windham/Bradshaw team), because they were given a good bit of time and some basic stuff to do.So I think it's a mix of the WWE style just not mixing with his advantages, and the fact that he was never really THAT good after all.
The WWE needs to finally accept that everyone is kinda hip to the room nowadays. The Summer of Punk proved that since he got super over with the fans with his shoot comments and not treating everything like an obvious work. Not to mention Punk was the only one who could get a contract negotiation over with his sheer awesomeness on the mic.
ReplyDeleteThe problem is, the genie is out of the bottle now. Everyone knows that all this Brock contract stuff is BS, and that Hunter's arm isn't really broken, so no one cares. Just like everyone knew the "Punk is going to drink" angle was BS, so the whole thing fell flat. The reason the crowd doesn't buy into this is because the WWE is trying to have it both ways and the fans know it. They push the guys that the smart fans want, and it is working, but then shoot themselves in the foot by trying to work that same audience with a phony angle after the audience already proved they were too smart for that, and then think they'll save it by having HHH talk about the board of directors for a half hour.
Being happy with the final result means jackshite if you hated the 10 weeks leading up to that final result.
ReplyDeleteWhy can't they just have Lord Tensai be Matt Bloom. Why does he need the stupid gimmick? He just needs to go out there and kick ass. If they want him to get over he needs to beat the crap out of the big stars. Beating them by cheating (green mist to the face or green mist to the hand) isn't going to do him any favors. Debuting him at the same time a Lesnar didn't help either. They basically have a similar role, unstoppable badasses, and Lesnar is obviously the bigger star of the two. If they gave Bloom the Lesnar role without the Tensai gimmick I think he'd be over a bit more.
ReplyDeleteSo are you saying wrestling shouldn't have angles any more because we know they aren't real?
ReplyDeleteIn fairness, they probably lost track of continuity somewhere during the second rewrite of the day.
ReplyDeleteNot at all. I'm just saying they shouldn't have angles that are based on things happening off screen that have no basis in reality (Board of Directors meetings, contract clauses that were previously negotiated, etc.). Have angles based on actual wrestlers feuding over something that happens on the air during the show, because that's what people care about.
ReplyDeleteI think the problem is that Bloom is going the wrong way with his portrayal. He's obviously going for some sort of mysterious badass image, but watching a guy slowly go through his moveset with an expressionless face isn't compelling to watch. There's a lack of aggression and intensity in what he's doing and the anyone watching can see it. There's no urgency to his victories and he doesn't seem to do what he does because he enjoys inflicting pain either. He just comes out, does a lifeless beatdown and wins without ever seeming to care about any of it.
ReplyDeleteI imagine they can make more money off kids than they can adults. Lots of parents will buy their kids whatever they want to make them happy/STFU and they have so much merchandise aimed towards kids (shirts, hats, video games, action figures, belts, etc.). Teens don't seem to buy nearly as much merch and adults obviously don't. Combine that with tons of parents having multiple kids and you can see how much more money there is to make off children than the rest.
ReplyDeleteYou know what I've never understood? The mentality that you can market to only one demographic: the adults, or the kids. There's no "middle ground" in the WWE; they either want Attitude raunch or cartoonish plots. Of course, going in either direction alienates a specific fan base over the other, so my question is... why fall back on those two fields?
ReplyDeleteDid you know that there are a wide variety of entertainment options that can entertain both adults and children at the same time? Think of it as the football mentality; I can go to a school, and point out dozens of children who watch football on Sundays, and I can go into a place of employment and do the exact same thing. Does football have to be catered to one audience or the other? No—it's presented based on the merit of what it IS. Professional wrestling is such a dirty concept for the WWE, which is why they try to present it as anything but. When you're in a competitive market (the entertainment business in this example), you find your niche that you can do better than anyone else, and you run with it.
Well, the WWE promotes WRESTLING; it's what wrestling fans (the only ones who matter) want to see. And yet they spend so much time trying to pimp the social media aspect, or the soap opera aspect. Wrestling in its purest form is just like any other pseudo-athletic entity; it's appeal can be spread across the board, unlike soap operas or cartoons which have a very limited audience at either end of the spectrum.
Genuine thrill to see Heyman back. He got a rise out of crowd with the Brock Quits announcement that Brock wouldn't have gotten himself.
ReplyDeleteRight. It's the corny wannabe ninja poses and the goofy mask and robe etc. that make him stupid. He didn't wear that dumb shit in Japan.
ReplyDeleteOdd that you say that, because I always felt like Eve was one of the more capable and charismatic Divas on the roster. That probably says something about who they hire and push, but still.....I don't think she's so bad.
ReplyDeleteExactly - he's going for stoic badass, the type of evil psycho that will slowly dismember you without showing any expression, but it's just not working. Slow and methodical works in movies, but hasn't worked in wrestling for a good thirty years. "Slow and methodical" almost always equals "boring".
ReplyDeleteThe thing is, it's not Tensai's fault - he's shown for roughly a dozen years that he can be relatively light on his feet and move at a good pace in the ring. Vince is the one telling him to slow his pace.
I see what you're saying, but "He-Man" and "G.I. Joe" also solved problems with violence.
ReplyDeleteCM Punk said "Toolbox"! What a pipebomb!
ReplyDeleteAlso, will he face any repercussions from telling someone to kill themselves on Twitter? That seems to go against this whole mantra of anti-bullying.
Absolutely, 100% agree.
ReplyDeleteI've been saying this for the last (almost) year, but they're blowing a HUGE opportunity to cater to several demographics by simply not allowing Punk to be on the same level as Cena. Punk is the champion, but he's clearly in the "upper-card" territory, while Cena gets to main-event all the PPVs even his angle and/or opponent sucks (the "Embrace the Hate" angle with Kane).
Punk and Cena should be, at the very least, EQUALS, with Punk catering to one demographic and Cena catering to another. Throw in Sheamus as the ass-kicker that lets his actions in the ring speak for him, and you have a great triple-headed monster that can cater to anyone and everyone. Cena can be the goody-goody, Punk the sarcastic rebel, and Sheamus the all-business badass.
But, no, can't let that happen.
I hope someone sends Lesnar a text!
ReplyDeleteI have a joke!
ReplyDeleteQ: What do you call Li'l Jimmy's pirate friend?
A: Arrr!-Truth!
8 )
He actually apologized.
ReplyDeleteDefinitely. I think his best match by far has been the Cena one from a couple weeks ago because it seemed like he upped his game and aggression in it. It may help that it was his longest and his apponent was Cena but it was just so much more intense and exciting that I thought he had turned a corner. The friggin NINJA HANDS has to go though.
ReplyDeleteNot too excited about the direction of things at the moment, will be happy when Brock is back.
ReplyDeleteFunkasauraus is already stale, and I was giving Tensai the benfit of the doubt, but yeah, he basically sucks and I have no interest in watching him.
I did pop for Heyman's return, that was a nice surprise.
I like Punk the wrestler but he seems to be a huge dick in real life.
ReplyDeleteWhen you say you popped for Heyman's return, does that mean you actually cheered out loud when you saw him on your TV screen?
ReplyDeleteOn a more practical note, how he is allowed to use the green mist without being disqualified? Michael Cole claimed it causes vision problems, so clearly WWE officials should be aware it's illegal, and the evidence is all over his hand.
ReplyDeleteTotally. And this is why Twitter and wrestling is a bad idea. We don't need more interaction with performers. I'm perfectly content having my perception of a wrestler on TV being who I think that person is in real life.
ReplyDeleteNo doubt. He's like the most uncharismatic monster heel ever.
ReplyDeleteYeah, anyone who says things like "i'm the guy who says things other people are too scared to say" makes me roll my eyes
ReplyDeleteHe-Man never really hurt anyone. He punched mountains and threw boulders.
ReplyDeleteOr pose-downs! Nothing gets the fans amped like a good ol' pose-down!
ReplyDeleteI actually think they should do away with Evil (or even biased-against-evil) GM figures of all types, and instead go back to basically never mentioning how matches get made. The wrestlers are ostensibly in what is basically a sports league. Just make the assumption be that there is a schedule that gets set backstage, and everyone is just competing in a schedule of athletic contests. Make the occasional reference to the "championship committee" (don't show them on screen) as the way that title matches get made, so we don't have to rehash a storyline every month about some wacky series of events that led to this month's title match. Then let the angles and feuds just arise from things that happen in or around the ring. And have more than 50% of the TV time be matches. I would watch the hell out of that.
ReplyDeleteIt means it was 1230 in the morning, I was in a shitty mood, barely cared about the show, and it made me sit up and say wow.
ReplyDeleteYes. I'm so bothered by the "let's make the main event in the first twenty minutes of the show" nonsense. WTF was the kayfabe plan when they showed up to Omaha, or Milwaukee, or Orange County, or Portland, ME?
ReplyDelete"Hey, we only like have one match tonight, boss."
"Don't worry. I'm kind of a dick, I'm sure someone will rile me up enough to hastily book a bunch of handicap and non-title bouts."
Agree wholeheartedly with this. We know HHH's arm isn't hurt, so even though we register it as part of the storyline intellectually, we don't register it emotionally. Same with Punk/Jericho/booze.
ReplyDeleteAlso, the suspension of disbelief is just too much. Punk and Jericho wanting to beat each other for the title is easy to feel, because so many people want to be the best as whatever it is they do. But most of us don't get into a weird "drink this beer and be like your alcoholic daddy" thing.
Same with Joe, I think. I don't ever remember a non-robot actually being hit with one of those laser bullet things they were always shooting.
ReplyDeleteIt's a bit, DF.
ReplyDeleteThe creative nosedive began when Stephanie became head of creative.
ReplyDeleteNot an attack on you, but I hate when people make these comments. Whenever anybody ever says anything that isn't super duper friendly fun, people always go "isn't that against their whole anti-bullying campaign!"
ReplyDeleteThere is a difference between somebody being a bully and somebody being an asshole. When somebody says that homosexuality is a digusting sin and the person responds wiht "kill yourself," that's two immature people interacting. That's not bullying.
I actually like Punk's Twitter timeline, but I completely agree with your sentiment. If Twitter and YouTube has taught us anything, it's that WWE is 100% right about being so protective of what interviews their Superstars participate in and what is said in those interviews.
ReplyDeleteJust out of curiosity, how much of the Lord Tensai stuff that the WWE keeps trying to push is based on reality? I mean, I'm assuming Bloom actually did go to Japan, but did he become a big star over there? Also, anyone have any idea which tattoos of his are fake? Can'timagine he would actually do that to his face, but people have done stupider things...
ReplyDeleteAnd in all honesty, if being in a faction with Mason Ryan, David Otunga, Husky Harris, and Mike McGillicutty didn't drive Punk to alcoholism, nothing will.
ReplyDeleteThe thing was though, that at the time of the tweet Punk said "kill yourself". Let's say he was joking, is that the kind of joke a kid-friendly WWE wants to be known for?
ReplyDeletePunk is such a useless character right now. He went from being refreshing and great in the Summer to calling people "Stupid, ugly, friendless" and the ultimate 11 year old insult, "toolbox."
ReplyDeleteHeyman's promo was a waste of time. Don't get the praise for this at all. Guessing some just see Heyman speak and think its automatically genius. I like Heyman but that was nothing special and not one bit controversial. The contract angle is terrible and no one cares about it at all.
All of his tat's are real except that face shit.
ReplyDeleteLol ok Chip.
ReplyDeleteHell of a Rangers game last night. The kids didn't even realize they'd missed wrestling.
ReplyDeleteThis show sounds like a chore to sit through.
It's time for Matt Bloom to go real-life "They made me pretend I had a tattoo on my face!" heel and scrap the whole shitty gimmick. It was a dumb gimmick anyway if he was going to keep the stupid lip piercings.
I didn't see the Heyman stuff, but...really? They brought in Paul Heyman to cut a promo about contracts?
ReplyDeleteYeah, I no longer feel that tinge of excitement when Punk's music hits. I don't know if he's ad-libbing or if what he says is scripted, but it's terrible, unfunny and serves no purpose. Seems like he's been off his game since the disastrous HHH angle.
ReplyDeleteI've noticed that Lord Tensai can't talk. Must be Dr. Death's fault.
ReplyDeleteFor someone who got over making shoot comments and dropping "pipe bombs," he hasn't done any of that in months. Fortunately he still brings it in the ring, and his match with Bryan should be tremendous.
ReplyDeleteI thought the word was the bird... er, I mean that Tensai got all kinds of awesome in Japan...
ReplyDeleteHow odd that Eve suddenly needs glasses once she gets an office job. It must have been a real struggle getting around all this time during backstage bits without them all these years.
ReplyDeleteIt's probably a good idea your kids didn't watch last night's horrible show. There are laws against child abuse.
ReplyDeleteIt's pretty telling when Paul Heyman comes out and there's not even
ReplyDeletean E-C-DUB! chant. I don't think it was the overall audience, but
just the location.
They should have wait till next week to re-introduce Heyman, when RAW is here in Pittsburgh. That's a market that would have given him a reaction, as opposed to NC.
As a Caps fan that Rangers game made me sick last night.
ReplyDeleteTrue, his match with Bryan should be fun but character-wise, Bryan's is far more interesting. Him yelling yes at the end of the match last night cracked me up.
ReplyDeleteAnd I wouldn't say its Stephanie's fault. Well, not entirely. Vince made a massive mistake in appointing his beloved daughter to that position, cause you know he'll never want to remove her from it.
ReplyDeleteOh I'm not really a fan of the Rangers, just a fan of playoff hockey. This is our first year really watching, I don't have a team yet.
ReplyDeleteI suppose I should be a Canucks fan because they're by far the closest pro team to me but I just can't doom my children to another shitty team (we're Mariners fans...sigh).
Since my team has already been eliminated (Ottawa), I too am just cheering for entertaining/dramatic hockey, which that game delivered in spades.
ReplyDeleteI have Holtby in my Playoff pool though so thats like feeling the same as a Caps fan (right?).
Meh, you could always be a Canucks fan, at least they have a decent fanbase (a little nuts). And the rest of Canada sort of hates them so that might be a nice chip on the shoulder
It would certainly offer an explanation for wrestling ability.
ReplyDeleteSeems like the guy can't win. Weren't people calling him a whining bully when he was cutting those edgy promos?
ReplyDeleteBut it had nothing to do with WWE. It was a comment he made on his personal Twitter account discussing something political, with no relation to the company.
ReplyDeleteI would enjoy a 2 minute segment every week of Kana kicking a random diva (perhaps Tamina Snuka, son of Superfly Jimmy Snuka) in the face repeatedly.
ReplyDeleteTwitter is a bad idea, period.
ReplyDeleteIt's not that Heyman's actual promo was amazing or controversial, just that he did a better job than anybody else probably could have with the terrible material. It's like a great actor in a bad movie.
ReplyDeleteDoesn't matter - employers have a lot of right to take what an employee posts on their personal Facebook/Twitter/Youtube/etc. page and discipline them for it.
ReplyDeleteYou, as an employee, represent the company, whether or not you're "on the clock". If investors or customers were to get really upset with Punk's comment, they'd protest it by boycotting WWE, at least until Punk was punished in some way; WWE would end-up suffering as a business, despite having nothing to do with Punk's decision to post such a comment.
By the same token, imagine if Punk said something like "all faggots deserve to be shot and spend eternity in Hell", would your reaction be the same?
People like Jesus, Gandhi, MLK, Darwin, and even George Carlin were truly fearless when it came to freedom of speech.
ReplyDeleteThe billions of people who post tasteless comments and jokes on message-boards? Not so much.
EXACTLY!!!
ReplyDeleteIt's been like this for FIFTEEN YEARS now!
My mistake, those weren't the best examples, I just pulled them out of my ass.
ReplyDeleteHow about the "Ninja Turtles"? "Popeye"? All of the "Looney Tunes" dropping anvils on each others' heads and blowing each other up with dynamite?
It wouldn't surprise me if John Cena is on the opposite end of the gay marriage debate.
ReplyDeleteThen again, Cena is a walking Etch-a-Sketch.
Definitely, it's the ridiculous mannerisms and costume that are killing him.
ReplyDeleteThe idea of an American that has assimilated Japanese training and culture into his fighting-style is a GREAT gimmick (think "Karate Kid" or "Bloodsport"), but he's been a 1995-era stereotypical cartoon joke since his first step from behind the curtain.
I understand your point about a company having the ability to discipline people for what they post online. It happens in "real life" as well. My point was more that WWE being kid-friendly was (admittedly somewhat) irrelevent since we're not talking about something that happened on WWE TV.
ReplyDeleteHowever, I do think your example is a bit off. My reaction would not be the same because Punk's hateful comment would be directed at an entire group of people based solely on their sexual orientation. His actual hateful comment, on the other hand, was directed at a single individual based on what that person said. There's a definite distinction.
I think our only hope is that she finds a different department that she likes better - maybe, one day, she'll become more interested in marketing or FCW or something.
ReplyDeleteAnd the thing, this concept worked for them before. If you didn't like Austin, you had the Rock, if Rock was too cocky for you, you had Foley, or you had the Undertaker.
ReplyDeleteI can see that point of view but Heyman didnt appear to give 100% either. More like 75%. He seemed a bit tired to me and I think the lack of reaction threw him off a tad. But, yeah, he did a better job than anyone on the roster could have with that material
ReplyDeleteGood point about individual vs. group.
ReplyDeleteLet me rephrase: What if a fan posted "gay people deserve all the same rights as straight people", and a WWE wrestler replied "kill yourself"?
Come to think of it, didn't Goldust recently post on Twitter that he wouldn't converse with anybody that didn't accept Jesus as their savior? That's probably why he was just fired.
They can't all be home-runs, and I'd hardly call that one of his best promos ever or anything, but he's still better than just about anyone on the mic. Imagine Laurinaitis giving that promo!
ReplyDeleteAnd the basis for that is?
ReplyDeleteI'm a HUGE Rangers fan, and last night was FUCKING AWESOME!
ReplyDeleteHow bout them Broadway Blueshirts Baby!
We Want the Cup!
no, because no such thing as "people". certain users on this blog have called him that. but I am very sure that are obviously not the ones who miss his "shoot" comments.
ReplyDeleteI take it your point is, what if Punk said the same exact thing but it was against a cause instead of for it? If so, then yes, I do think that's different.
ReplyDeleteI guess I would equate it to the difference between a cop shooting a criminal, and a criminal shooting a bystander. It's essentially the same action, but the motivation and target is the difference.
Nonetheless, my initial point was that I don't consider it bullying when one person says one thing, and another person says something back.
please: kill yourself!
ReplyDeleteyour example and the thing he really wrote are not remotely the same.
Yeah, the lack of actual wrestling on what's supposed to be a wrestling program is why I gave up on the WWE a long time ago. Some quick math has about 31 minutes of wrestling in a 2 hour and 5 minute show. Subtract a half hour or so for ad breaks, and you're left with an hour of talking and bullshit. Stating the obvious here, but I guess that's the difference between wrestling and Sports Entertainment.
ReplyDeletestill not the same, hombre.
ReplyDeleteI think this is awesome. I'm glad for everyone who calls out idiots on their shit.
ReplyDeleteit worked for original The Undertaker.
ReplyDeleteI marked out for "YOU'RE NOT BETTER THAN ME"
ReplyDeleteWhat Brock Lesnar is doing on screen is bullying.
ReplyDeletethat's what I liked about the old Jack Tunney days. now and then he would get involved in some decisions (so whenever the WWF felt they wanted to book something where an "official" decision was needed, they easily could) but not ALL THE TIME!
ReplyDeletealthough last night didn't suck because it was "kid friendly". it just sucked!
ReplyDeleteto me, Taker and Foley were not on the same "megastar" level as Austin or Rock.
ReplyDeletethe best, often used (because it's pretty obvious) example: Batman and Superman.
If I'm not mistaken, he was seen endorsing either Mitt Romney or Rick Santorum, and both of those guys oppose gay marriage. Now whether Cena shares those beliefs or not is another story, I'm just saying it wouldn't surprise me if he did.
ReplyDeleteEspecially when his character would make "lol you're gay" jokes at Miz every other week during their feuds (Punk made a similar joke like that once, and there's that YouTube video of him arguing with that fan).
The South Park where the people who were trying to stop bullying bullied everyone around them into not bullying pretty much perfectly captures why I think Punk is a dick.
ReplyDeleteI know everything cant be great but why praise something if it isn't?
ReplyDeleteThe opening promo by Johnny was the worst. My god.
It was one thing when Vince was being the evil authority figure and he was actually a jag off doing things like the kiss my ass club and firing people randomly. But Big Johnny? I dunno, he just seems like a middle-manager so I don't get people getting all worked up about him. The first over-the-top thing he did was attack Cena and that makes sense in story lines (Cena had screwed up the guy that Big Johnny wanted to be his centerpiece). But Punk picking on BIg Johnny and other guys like that? Maybe I'm older now but it's one thing when your boss is sacrificing you on a giant symbol, it's another when he's just sort of a dick.
ReplyDeleteAs for DBD-Punk, I went into this week hoping it was going to be the main event and now I know there's no chance which sucks. But the short build actually works in their favor; why not just build the feud around DBD saying, "we came up in the indies, you got all the breaks, I will prove that I am the REAL Best in the World at Over the Limit by taking the most important title in the world"? I know it's not Punk's second-cousin who jay walked or whatever, but it builds the show around wrestling and the importance of the title.
Where's Otunga been??
ReplyDeleteFlip over to Clipps/Grizz from RAW? I would say flip over to RAW occasionally from Clipps/Grizz.
ReplyDeleteThis is such an entertaining and hotly contested series blowing the others out of the water. Its a shame Lebron and the Heat are drawing 2.5 ratings several times a week when the best playoff series is drawing 1.5's in much, much more exciting games.
I think it's just that, relative and in comparison to everything around it, it was great.
ReplyDeleteLike the old cliche' about women hanging out with ugly friends to make themselves look better.
Back in Chicago for the trial of the guy who allegedly murdered Jennifer Hudson's family members.
ReplyDeleteI thought I heard a faint one, like one guy who tried to get it going and then stopped when no one else did. I'm not that surprised that the EC-Dub chant is pretty dead; after all the revivals, does anyone really care anymore?
ReplyDeleteWorking Japanese-style matches and WWE-style matches are completely different animals. WWE matches are much more tightly scripted and laid out.
ReplyDeleteThis is also why Gail Kim looks like a phenomenal women's wrestler in TNA but a Kelly Kelly-level worker in WWE. Some folks just excel at one style or the other.
As far as Punk & Twitter, WWE should blame themselves if he says anything offensive: he didn't even have a Twitter and said he wasn't going to get one until WWE made him open one. You get what you ask for.
ReplyDeleteDidn't we learn from Benoit that these wrestlers are not at all who they appear to be on TV? We don't know them. Any of them. HHH could be the nicest person on the roster for all we know.
ReplyDeleteBut you seem to be presupposing that WWE style is either the best "style" or hardest to learn style and that's just not true.
ReplyDeleteI don't see how your response discounts what I said. He CAN'T win, because if he's doing shoot comments people are calling him a whining bully (while others, including myself, enjoy it). If he stops, then he's a sell out who lost his edge and is just doing scripted promos.
ReplyDeleteI haven't a clue what Cena's political leanings are, but during the feud with the Rock he pretty regularly ridiculed Rock for making derogatory remarks about gay people and using homosexuality as a punchline.
ReplyDeleteBloom was a big star in Japan but he was half of a tag team, it was really the tag team that was the draw together rather than Bloom by himself
ReplyDeleteAnd the thing is, it's not like she's just some independent wrestler who the WWE would have absolutely no interest in. She absolutely has the look and the feel to fit into the Divas division and be a huge star.
ReplyDeleteI have not seen many ten year young kids wearing Austin 3:16 or nWo shirts from 96 to 2000 or so. But they should have made a ton of money...
ReplyDeleteexactly. I wouldn't have joined in, either.
ReplyDeleteHow on earth did you read what I wrote and get that out of it? If anything, I was implying the opposite, though the truth is there's no "best style."
ReplyDeleteDifferent does not mean better or worse. And just because a worker can't work the WWE style effectively doesn't mean he's a bad wrestler. Likewise, a WWE guy like Miz or Ziggler flopping at the Japanese style wouldn't mean they're bad wrestlers (though Miz kind of is).
I do think it requires more skill to "improv" a match than to follow an agent's instructions to a tee, but that's more a personal bias than anything else. WWE style has its merits, and those who excel at it -- Cena, Orton, etc. -- are very good at their jobs.
ReplyDeleteCallback to the original Nexus beatdown. Gotta love that continuity.
ReplyDeleteThat is the most depressing reason I can imagine for someone not being on TV. That poor woman, she's probably a hardcore drunk or something by now. That's pretty damn hard to have to cope with.
ReplyDeleteHis issue was "that's lame and played out and you're almost forty and still telling jokes adolescents tell" not that there's anything wrong with making fun of gay people.
ReplyDeleteAnd CONTROVERSY CREATES CA$H!!!
ReplyDeleteSeriously bro? Controversy is the mark of a good promo? Not logic, or delivery? And Punk isn't the same character anymore because he's changed, sure the Jericho feud didn't do what it could've or should've for his character, but he's feuding with Bryan now, so dont' expect much SPORTS ENTERTAINMENT in this one.
He's already used "I HAVE TILL FIVE, REF" in the Sheamus match, and I hope that he makes it a new thing.
ReplyDeleteAnd this Bryan feud will be nothing but good for him, Bryan will get credibility and Punk will get a jolt of life.
I wear glasses, most everybody I know owns them, whenever I grapple or do martial arts I don't wear them. It's possible that Eve is nearsighted and since she's working an office job and no longer doing something physical like wrestling she has to wear her glasses due to the demands of her new job.
ReplyDeleteWHADDA HEEL!!! Punk should GTS him.
ReplyDeleteOn the plus side, it led to the emergence of Executive Assistant Eve.
ReplyDeleteAs a Winnipegger, I get to watch my old team have the best season in franchise history the same year as my city finally got a new team. AND, I broke a nail...
ReplyDeleteI am not sure why he needs to make "shoot" comments. I just miss the edge that his character had last year. I just want to see him call people on how ridiculous they are and to get in their face. Even last night, when confronting Ace, he just seemed too late back and disinterested. It is almost like winning the title kind of put him over the top and the character has lost any motivation. Which could actually be a cool storyline (Eye of the tiger!) if they ran it!
ReplyDeleteOk, I get where you were going now. I was jumping to conclusions.
ReplyDeleteYou're not wrong. The whole basis of his "voice of the voiceless" character is that he was being held down and wasn't being recognized. Now he's one of the most highlighted guys in the company and the WWE Champion. His only real complaint now is that he can argue that he's the champion and one of the most popular guys but he's still not closing the show, guys like John Cena and Triple H and Undertaker are. The problem is, these sorts of storylines always put him against another face. That only works in small dosages.
ReplyDeleteTotally worth that 5 year old getting murdered, you're right.
ReplyDeletefool be quiet and go back to jizzing all over non-looking real women like Kelly or Maryse, and she has heat soemthing Maryse NEVER had btw
ReplyDeleteno use, he's a few cans short of a six pack
ReplyDeleteThey are all fictional comic characters, while wrestlers are real humans who pretend to hurt each other. Or would you let a 7 yea old watching something like Bloodsport or American Ninja? And that are even movies, where they do not really hit themselves. In Wrestling they do!
ReplyDeleteYou put 2 sentences more of thought into it than the WWE writers did.
ReplyDeleteNo, controversy is not the mark of a good promo. However, Heyman's promo didnt have much redeeming quality. Plus, why wasn't he with Lesnar at the begining? The whole thing felt contrived.
ReplyDeleteAs far as
Create your own explanations. Just because something isn't said on screen doesn't mean you can't justify it however you want. Art is an interactive medium. Death of the Author and all that jazz.
ReplyDeleteDidn't have much redeeming quality? It established the Brock is Quitting angle and Paul Heyman is now Brock's new manager. That's two very important things. And he wasn't with Lesnar at the beginning because Brock didn't feel he needed legal counsel, now he does because he's lost leverage.
ReplyDeleteYou may not like Punk's new character, but the attitude that "It changed and it sucks now" led to the nWo lasting for seventy thousand years, or any other of the countless examples of wrestling angles continuing past their expiration date.