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Alright, here's one....
Biggest moment and/or biggest pop that lead to nothing?
For moment, I think about Nexus team debuting on Raw and destroying things, or Punk's sit-down promo on Raw. Both ended up leading to nothing.
For pop, I gotta go with DDP's debut as the stalker. Awesome moment, and the pop is NUCLEAR. This of course lead to....well, nothing.
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Goldberg spearing Bret on Nitro in Toronto. Granted there were outside circumstances there, but it was still a wasted angle.
I don't know if my answer fits but we never got the crazy PPV brawl to pay off Austin Pillmanizing Pillman. In some alternate universe, there was a WM13 headlined by HBK/Hart 2, Austin/Pillman, and Taker/Sid.
ReplyDeleteThe Bret/Goldberg angle is a good pick and I'd throw in the big Flair Horsemen reunion in September 1998 although looking back I wonder if it was anybodies intention to really do a big Horsemen angle or if it was just a backdrop for a planned Flair/Bischoff feud.
ReplyDeleteCan anybody think of any where the angle never actually led to a fairly high profile match at all? At least in both of those cases there was a match, albeit nine months later in the case of Bret/Goldberg.
One I can think of is Dibiase vs Bossman. It may have just been planned as a house show feud, but it got WAY more coverage on TV than the average house show feud, plus weekly vignettes, and a setup at WrestleMania 6 which makes me suspect it was more of an abandoned feud, due to Dusty Rhodes leaving the WWF. I assume that's what necessitated the Sapphire "benefactor" angle.
"Can anybody think of any where the angle never actually led to a fairly high profile match at all?"
ReplyDeleteAustin pillmanizing Pillman, The Hollywood Blondes Explode!(I think it only led to a shitty Clash match, should have been a much bigger deal), and the underrated Pillman/Douglas feud in ECW. I also have no idea why all my examples include Brian Pillman.
LOL you're right, that's kind of insane. Kevin Sullivan vs Brian Pillman never really happened either.. heh
ReplyDeleteI was at the RAW in Tampa where DDP revealed himself. TV didn't lie -- the pop really was that loud. Steve Austin's reaction at the same show was tame compared to this.
ReplyDeleteAnd Pillman/Goldust...for obvious reasons. I'm starting to think that Brian Pillman is the king of unfinished programs.
ReplyDeleteI'm sick of hearing about how Punk's promo led to NOTHING. It led to saving his career. With that promo, he went from no.5 heel on the depth chart to no.2 guy in the company.
ReplyDelete"Punk's sit-down promo on Raw. Ended up leading to nothing."
ReplyDeleteYeah, it only led to him becoming a top star in the company who's in the midst of a 350+ day WWE Title reign. Nothing much.
I wouldn't say that it led to nothing but I will say that it led to nothing interesting.
ReplyDeleteMaybe even a Taker / Sid / Warrior match!
ReplyDeleteBenoit/Guerrero hugging at WM20. If ever there was an excuse to plan for a MegaPowers II breakup...
ReplyDeleteI would pay infinity amount of monies to see this match.
ReplyDeleteGotta disagree greatly with the Punk sit down promo, sure it could of led to more interesting angles but in the end it established him as a legit top star with what I believe will be the longest WWE title run in 25 years... I bet you wouldn't of ever believed that would happen before that promo.
ReplyDeleteThis blog entry is the 1st I've *ever* heard of anyone trying to claim that the promo led to nothing. The ultimate follow-up wasn't executed as well as it could have been post MitB, but anyone who claims it led to nothing (or nothing interesting) is just trolling.
ReplyDeleteI don't really recall the Austin/Booker T feud leading to any kind of match. It did lead to the awesome skits where Austin kept ambushing Booker at Bingo, in the confessional, and to a much lesser yet over-hyped degree the supermarket brawl.
ReplyDeleteAlso GTV. Goldust got fired (or granted his release? Can't recall) before it could be revealed it was him, and in the end GTV was used as Deus Ex Machina.
ReplyDeleteNot sure what the Blond Bytch Project was supposed to lead to, but wasn't it just spite aimed at Sable that ultimately was dropped for legal reasons?
Word. Just because it didn't end up how people wanted to it doesn't mean that nothing happened out of it. Seriously, try to imagine 2011/2012 if Punk lost at MiTB. First of all, he'd probably would be in Japan or RoH right now.
ReplyDeleteAgree 100%
ReplyDeleteThere's a difference between 'lead to nothing' and 'lead to less than it should have done'
SORTA THREADJACK~!
ReplyDeleteUltimate Warrior pinned clean by Andre the Giant!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AJYb2Jfli2I
No, it lead to Triple H & Nash being in the spot-light, followed by Punk being champion but working semi-mains while Cena battled everyone else. That promo should have lead to Punk being able to carry the promotion.
ReplyDeleteIt did not.
So would I. But only if it took place today, and Warrior HAS to come to the ring like he did for that match with Orlando Jordan.
ReplyDeletePunk is now a bona-fide main eventer. He wasn't before that point. So yes, it led to something. Not the something people wanted, but judging by the poor ratingfs Punk gets is anyone surprised he's not this generations 'Stone Cold/Hulk Hogan' in terms of mega-push?
ReplyDeleteDoesn't Canadian Stampede count for 'Austin vs Pillman?" Pillman joining The Hart Foundation was rooted in hating Austin, and he even cost him the title at 'Cold Day In Hell.'
ReplyDeleteYeah I definitely think that people who say that are being too pessimistic. I mean, would pre-promo Punk have held the WWE title (specifically not the World title but the top title) for a year? Never. Granted, I'd have loved it if Punk became "the guy" in the company and always headlined, but in the end Punk's appeal is more specifically focused to guys like me than the audience as a whole. I think with everything that Punk has accomplished he is post-bitching.
ReplyDeleteSomebody get a goddamn review of the DVD up here! I know some of yall have it, hook us up while the rest of us are in the pre-Xmas crunch.
lol what a smark
ReplyDeleteIt's hard to judge that though. is he the champion? Yes. But Seamus
ReplyDeleteYou're the reason that WWE never listens to us. You're ruining wrestling with your obnoxious negativity.
ReplyDeletePunk's on Raw. Therefore he is the A-Champion.
ReplyDeleteI thought that Andre ripping the cross off Hogan in Pipers pit led to nothing too (sarcasm warning).
ReplyDeleteSeriously, I will throw out Nash hitting Goldberg with the Taser.
There's a difference between 'lead to nothing' and 'lead to less than it should have done'
ReplyDelete+100,000
Raw Is Jericho? Big build up, got to duel with the Rock. Rewarded with Road Dog and Chyna.
ReplyDeleteWorked out in the long run but has to be considered short run fizzle, no?
I'd go with Angle kissing Stephanie as a good one. Sadly that never led to an extended feud with HHH.
ReplyDeleteJericho "winning" the title on Raw only to be used as a pawn in the McMahon-Helmsly regime vs Hebner feud.
ReplyDeletePart of me likes to imagine the Bret/Goldberg bit in Toronto was the last time Bret was seen in WCW. I know that wasn't the case, but it's probably one of the few fond memories I have of Bret in WCW.
ReplyDeleteSo I should just cheer blindly? Makes sense to me!
ReplyDeleteThat's exactly what I meant. He talked about change, and wanting change...
ReplyDeleteWhat changed? Triple H main eventing, with Cena being the centerpiece of the company? Sounds like the last 7 years to me.
I have it, and the nWo DVD. Good stuff, both are worth it. Punk's DVD made me realize he'd be the type of person I probably wouldn't like in person.
ReplyDeleteOh yeah definitely. I could probably draw him into a conversation about music and wrestling but all in all he sounds like a dick, so I doubt I'd ever try. That's how it is with celebrities though; we feel like we know them but in the end he really wouldn't give a shit that I've watched him since he was doing MLW shows in Florida.
ReplyDeleteAnd you having the DVD doesn't count since you're an ex-talent. Unless.....
Yeah, this one bothered me a whole lot. Especially since the angle could have been used to move Jericho into the next level, giving them another viable draw.
ReplyDeleteHow about Lesnar's return? Probably the biggest pop on Raw in 5 years and hasn't helped the WWE at all except for adding about 100,000 PPV buys. Good? Yeah. But not what we thought could happen after he returned and we all lost our shit.
ReplyDeletePunk was a midcarder. Then this happened, and he was the top full-time star in the company with a year-long title reign. Whatever storylines that happened in-between didn't change that.
ReplyDeleteAre you really not getting this, or are you just being obtuse for the sake of being obtuse?
I don't think he's being obnoxious, he's just stating facts. When Punk won the title at Money in the Bank, I think we were all engrossed in wrestling in a way that we hadn't been in years. Speaking for myself, watching him almost immediately drop the title to Del Rio and then get punked out by Nash completely bummed me out and turned me off from the product. Punk should have got the rocket launcher push immediately. Granted, he's had a great title run, but how many events has he actually main evented as champ? It feels like more of the same to me.
ReplyDeleteNow I'm not being an obnoxious smark here, I'm just a fan who's disappointed.
If I were asked, I'd return. But, I don't think that's a phone call I'll be receiving any time soon...
ReplyDeletehe isnt a champion until he beats cena... AGAIN...
ReplyDeleteAll he did was state facts.
ReplyDeleteHe didnt go on #baked rant, he stated what exactly happened.
lol what an anti-smark
ReplyDeletePunk's promo didn't lead to nothing, it just didn't lead to what it should have-big diff
ReplyDeletebut that wasnt the question... #baked?
ReplyDeleteAustin's face turn and Stunner-filled destruction of the Alliance on the Raw before Invasion.
ReplyDeleteUnholy pop to end all pops, gave them the perfect out to end his ill-fated (though artistically fantastic in my opinion) heel turn. Only to swerve it and turn him back at the PPV that contained what should have been the biggest storyline, like, ever.
Storylines are supposed to push wrestlers and make money. To that end, it was a massive success on the former and a relatively big success on the latter.
ReplyDeleteI mean, I get what you're saying and I agree. But wrestling has never been very good at paying off long-term storylines in general, so if they accomplish an end to a mean, I say it's a success.
Well yah, Scott doesn't call anybody. You have to pretty much pwn some trolls to even get an email out of the big bastard.
ReplyDeleteKidding boss, kidding.
A lot of people have rightly called out the e-mailer for saying how dumb it was to say Punk's storyline led to nothing, but it's almost as dumb to say the Nexus storyline led to nothing.
ReplyDeleteA Summerslam main event, six months of storylines with the top star in the company, three bona fide stars coming from it (Barrett and Bryan directly, Ryback admittedly less immediate or direct)? And if you want to go longer-term, Punk's involvement directly fed into his rise.
Did it revolutionize the business? Not at all, but saying nothing came from it is just not true.
If you thought more was gonna happen considering the reported terms of his contract, that's your fault.
ReplyDeleteYes. Especially since Rock was only facing Billy Gunn at SummerSlam. They could have totally gone with a Rock vs. Jericho match there to cash in on that debut. Maybe even prolong it to Rock 'n' Sock feuding with Jericho and, say, Big Show? (The whiny cowardly heel hiding behind the biggest dude he can find). Promo gold and probably some fun dynamics with Jericho against Rock and Foley.
ReplyDeleteI think he's saying though. That the angle didn't go anywhere. A lot happened because of it, but they had to switch Cena to feuding with the Rock mode, and so Punk, champion though he may be, has had nothing to do for like a year.
ReplyDeleteWith some kind of Vader vs. Mankind? And Owen/Bulldog vs. Lafon/Furnas? Wrestlemania 13 sucked, but it didn't have to. Unfortunate.
ReplyDeleteShort of getting the monster Ryback push, and in the process soundly defeating John Cena, I really don't see what else they could do with Punk.
ReplyDeleteHe's been their top guy not named Cena.
I agree with the poster to an extent and here's why. Punk became a big star, yes. The Nexus became stars, etc. But the Angle didn't go anywhere. A story has three parts. Beginning, Middle, End. We almost never get those three parts and that's what the poster meant, I think, from the angle going nowhere. We get the beginning, we sometimes get a middle, but then if there's no real payoff, what's the point?
ReplyDeleteExample. Kevin Nash interferes with a match. (Beginning) Punk takes offense, and they have verbal back and forth leading up to what should be a ladder match. (Middle) Creative gets bored, and throws HHH the match instead and Punk goes off to do something else which I can't remember.
We never had an End therefor we never had a proper story, so the Angle wen't nowhere. There was no pay off. (Regardless of who made money or became a star)
And I would definitely say DDP appearing on RAW for the first time is right up there in wasted moments.
ReplyDeleteI worked at a sports bar then, and wrestling had been a crazy hot property for PPV's and even RAW, but had started to fade by that point. When DDP appeared the buzz went around the whole bar and people were crowding around the TVs for the first time in months.
It's pretty much the only fond memory I have of Bret in WCW. I was firmly a Bret guy, and actually "watched" Survivor Series on our beloved "scramble vision." So imagine what was going through my mark mind at that point... then seeing the nWo the next night with Canadian flags... I was firmly behind WCW at that point. I wanted Bret Hart... that might have lasted a month, when I realized Bret was being treated as just some guy.
ReplyDeleteYeah, but Jericho underperformed in that promo. Even he admits it's hard to watch after the initial pop.
ReplyDeleteNo new belt, no ice cream bars, no change in the status quo. It led to nothing for the fans. For Punk as a person, that's a different story...
ReplyDeleteThis.
ReplyDeleteJericho's my favorite probably ever, but by his own admission he had a lot to learn about how things worked in the WWF.
I agree that Punk took too much of a backseat for awhile. But when it's Cena v. Rock or Lesnar, that's fine. But when Cena was feuding with Johnny and Show after that- and really, Kane before that- Punk shouldn't have been taking a backseat to that. That's when you treat Cena's stuff like a "special attraction" and have your two best wrestlers- Punk and Bryan- in the main event, elevating them and the belt all at once.
ReplyDeleteAn underrated one: Kane's "embrace the hate" promo to Cena.
ReplyDeleteHear me out.
Yes, it ended up being a wildly stupid storyline with two awful matches, but the beginning of it- Kane's awesome re-masked return and attack on Cena and the promo the next week- was great. And could have been the impetus for real change in Cena's character.
Then he's just smily idiot guy again. What a waste.
I think they blew a huge opportunity when they didn't follow up on the Hillbilly Jim/King Kong Bundy feud from Wrestlemania III. Bundy was basking in crowd heat when he slammed and elbow-dropped Little Beaver for the DQ and Jim got a massive response when he led his army of midgets to the rescue (probably a close third, right behind Steamboat and Hogan in terms of pop of the night, just edging out Piper). The fans were clearly ready to invest in that feud, but the WWF let it fade into the background as they focused on pushing guys like Savage and The Honkytonk Man. Here's what we could have had:
ReplyDeleteThey could have built toward an epic rematch at Wrestlemania IV where Hillbilly Jim, devastated by guilt over what he'd allowed to happen to Little Beaver, retires from wrestling while Bundy goes on a tear under his new moniker "The Midget Squisher". After several months of squashing various little people Bundy is confronted by a new member of the WWF roster, Hillbilly Jim's little cousin Cousin Little. It turns out that part of why Jim had taken Wrestlemania III so hard was because he had a midget cousin who he'd spent his whole life protecting. But with Jim psychologically unable to return to the ring, Cousin Little takes it upon his self to stop Bundy and stick up for his brethren.
After several months of Cousin Little getting in midget rescuing potshots and escaping close calls, Bundy finally manages to corner the diminutive member of the Hillbilly family in the ring and gets ready to add him to his "short list". Before he can replay the famous bodyslam and elbow-drop heard around the world from WM III, however, "Don't Go Messing With a Countryboy" begins pumping on the PA system and Hillbilly Jim hits the ring to a thunderous pop. Jim unleashes the righteous fury of the hills on Bundy, sending him fleeing to the back.
This sets the table for a "Bet the Farm" steel cage match at Wrestlemania IV. If Jim wins, Bundy becomes his farmhand, but if Bundy wins, he gets 5 minutes alone in the cage with Cousin Little. Of course Jim wins, when Cousin Little slams the cage door on Bundy's head, and uses the momentum to become a serious contender to the IC title, eventually winning the belt, and entering into a brutal feud with Ted Dibiase after refusing to sell out to him.
I see what you're saying... kind of like when Jake Roberts told Ultimate Warrior that to beat the Undertaker he needed to let the darkness in.
ReplyDeleteCome to think of it, that was a missed opportunity as well. Jake had bad luck.
ReplyDeleteNothing for the fans? Uh, Punk as the number 2 guy in the company is something new.
ReplyDeleteWho the hell thought Punk's crusade was about ice cream and a different opening graphic? It was an angle! Did you really think Austin's feud with McMahon was over a suit? It produced a great angle and made another top guy in Punk, just because you didn't get the kayfabe promises you expected doesn't mean it failed.
Punk seems like a guy who's interactions are severely dependent on whether you're friends with him or not. I know some guys who can be total assholes to most people, but I get along great with them because we're friends.
ReplyDeleteBam Bam Bigelow - first time in WWF - big pop when he told off Slick and took Humperdink as manager. Then Wrestlemania IV tournament (which many thought he might be winning)... and nothing.
ReplyDelete"Give him another 30 days to think it over."
ReplyDeleteYou know one time my dad got me and my two younger sisters WWF Ice Cream bars for dessert. One of my sisters and I both got Hulk Hogan and we laughed at my other sister because she got Hillbilly Jim.
ReplyDeleteWatching it 12 years later, I laughed my ass off when Bundy squashed Little Beaver.
ReplyDeletebut what does that have to do with the topic? "pop leading to NOTHING"? just because it didn't satisfy everybodys expectations doesn't mean there wasn't a huge followup.
ReplyDeletewhat are you talking about? we got several high profile matches with Punk. including a match most of us would have sworn we would never see, CM Punk vs. Daniel Bryan for the WWE world championship on a ppv.
ReplyDeletefunny how different perception is. I think he comes across like a very great person.
ReplyDeleteI still had hopes at first because they gave him and Flair enough time for their match at Souled Out, which was even promoted as the de facto-main event. but you're right, it was going downhill very fast.
ReplyDeleteHillbilly Jim fantasy booking....now I've seen it all
ReplyDeleteHBK/Hart 2, Taker/Sid, Austin/Pillman, Bulldog/Owen, Vader/Mankind, Ahmed/Faarooq HHH/Goldust and LOD/Furnas and Lafon.
ReplyDeleteWhat's really annoying is that if WCW allowed Bret to continue his run with Goldberg without any real creative interference, I'm sure he could have pulled out some of Bill's best ever work both angle-wise and in the ring.
ReplyDeleteAwesome. Especially the "awesome fury of the hills" bit.
ReplyDeleteThey could have had the same result without making him look like a lame-o. Have him hit Trip withe belt, eat the beatdown from the whole faction and he looks like a star, trip gets his title back.. no problems.
ReplyDeleteA little off subject here but the big pop for Punk's sit-down promo pop talk got me to thinking -- The thing about Punk, Daniel Bryan, etc. is that they can't sustainably drive the bottom line like Cena has -- When millions of 10 year olds can persuade their parents to buy Cena merchandise, you do what McMahon is doing, ride that horse until it can't be ridden anymore; Little Johnny has way more influence than jobber123, Ryan Murphy, cultstatus and Caliber Winfield and his Armada of Exploding Boners -- I haven't personally seen one kid (or adult for that matter) wear a CM Punk shirt anywhere (I live close to Sacramento and the Bay Area so you'd think you'd see at least a few progressive fans sporting Punk stuff around, but you'd be wrong) -- While you and I find Punk more appealing (for what his character is, a tribute to "smart" fans) virtually nobody else does -- See him for what Vince lets him be, a Scooby Snack for our consumption -- He will never, ever break through as a mainstream star and it's not really apparent that he wants to -- He seems somewhat content to be what he is, a talented worker taking what he can get as a hero to the disenfranchised "real" fans -- If he disappears tomorrow, Vince won't really sweat -- Really, we have to give Vince credit for allowing him to exist as he does -- If Cena disappears tomorrow, all of those millions Linda wasted on her campaign will suddenly be very painful...
ReplyDeleteHow about a mega pop that shouldn't have led to something but did? -- DDP introducing the Ultimate Warrior led to an insane pop and... well, you know...
ReplyDeleteGotta disagree about the "Nexus" storyline going anywhere.
ReplyDeleteYes, they ran for several months, but simply having matches isn't the same as "going somewhere" - to me, it's very similar to the months-long Sheamus/ADR feud that also didn't lead anywhere. Sure, Nexus and ADR both "main-evented" for months on end, but there was never any storyline progression.
"Nexus" peaked the night they debuted, and then were reduced to a bunch of jobbers the very next week.
I REALLY liked the Piper's Pit around the same time where Piper was basically begging Cena to turn heel or the fans were gonna turn on him. It too, didn't amount to much, but could have been a cool angle.
ReplyDeleteYeah, I lot of people talk about that being a horrible angle, but it could have been good with a few tweaks. DDP should not have been portrayed as a perv. He should've just been trying to take out the big dog in the yard.
ReplyDeleteBut you were never gonna get anywhere as that was a point where Taker seemed to be super selfish about giving anyone a rub of any kind.
Saying Ryback came out of the Nexus angle is like saying Ziggler came out of the Spirit Squad.
ReplyDeleteI don't think it is unreasonable to have expected more from Brock, especially considering it was the night after they let the Rock (who only did 2 matches) go over their biggest star.
ReplyDeleteI've heard about these fantastic public places over the years that people gather and watch pro wrestling but have never been to one -- All kidding aside, more than several Bloggers have mentioned watching wrestling with other wrestling fans at a sports bar or even a regular bar over the years so I know it happens (or at least happened when wrestling was compelling) but where? Don't worry, if you let me in on the secret I'm not going to show up wearing an NWO Wolfpack shirt and ask if I can sit with you, but it is totally alien to me there was once/is a place like the one you worked at -- I don't want to know specifically but please name a state/province -- A buzz in the crowd that DDP was revealed to be the stalker and they were all transfixed on the TV to see what transpired next, really? Is it an East Coast thing? A Southern Thing? A Canadian Thing? Seriously, as I've never seen it in my extensive travels of the West Coast and the Midwest -- Actually sounds kind of cool but just can't wrap my head around it...
ReplyDeleteOr Bret would have taken a career ending kick to the head sooner.
ReplyDeleteI see TONS of Punk shirts around here, mostly on the college-age crowd.
ReplyDeleteThis is such a stranger power you have--the ability to convince people that Hillbilly Jim could've and should've been pushed at every point in his career. Use it wisely.
ReplyDeleteI can't wait to hear how he becomes manager of the year in 1996 when he helps the Godwinns.
The weird thing is that you look at Jim and the dude is massive. The dude is over. Why wasn't he pushed more? I could swear he only had about 3 or 4 PPV matches in his career.
Fuck Little Johnny. (just kidding)
ReplyDeleteI know that you're totally right, but I honestly feel that they should cater to me also since between buying two tickets to summerslam, over a half dozen ppvs, and paying for wwe classics on demand I will have given vkm well over $1,000 of my own (not that hard) earned money. That's without ever buying a t-shirt. Frankly I spent all that money because outside of Summerslam (still cool to see live) and HITC (which did have big shows best ever match imo) the workrate and actually booking of the matches is really good. I like lots of guys on the roster. I like seeing mistico in the wwe even if he is kind of struggling. I like Damien Sandow. I am trying to soak in as much rey as I can because this might be it. Even Randy Orton is having good matches now. So in a lot of ways I think by having such good matches and pushing punk and daniel bryan as much as they have they are attempting to cater to me as a fan. If you can get past Cena, (who as annoying as his character can be, is an awesome worker), and some of the shitty circle jerking they do the show has been pretty good over the last two years.
So basically my point is the are kind of catering to me in half assed way, and it's possible that just by purchasing 65 dollar ppvs i'm giving them more money then LJ's mom.
I'm convinced that actually is Hillbilly Jim posting.
ReplyDeleteBack when it was first released, the entire doc was up on youtube. No idea if it is still up.
ReplyDeleteJerishow would have happened ten years early, then.
ReplyDeleteEven half the Kids fucking hate Cena in Toronto, and bullshit-most Cena fans I've met are the fickle ones who cheer faces and boo heels no matter who they liked prior to a turn, and I'll be damned if the WWE and their machine can't get the current Cena fans behind whomever they want-it's the market least likely to pick up on people being shoved down their throat, half of the kids still think it's real and whoever wins the most is the best. (see Cena; John) I speak as someone who was a kid and thought everyone was cheering for Cena in 2006, I never heard the boo's because I bought hook line and sinker that he was the second coming of Christ.
ReplyDeleteI get you, brother -- I have two Little Johnny's and I often think the same thing but then look at them and see myself looking right back at me -- What I see on the Blog and don't really agree with, is that it seems there is a mentality that you either like Punk or Cena, and not in a Hogan vs. Bundy WM II way -- It goes deeper than that, you're either a cool, rebellious sort (Punk) or a jock establishment type (Cena, duh) and never shall the twain meet -- Vince doesn't care which one you like as long as you buy something -- He created and controls both -- Cena's character may be annoying to you but fuckin' A if Superhero Cena doesn't move shirts at Kohl's or Wal-Mart -- It'd be good if more Blogsters understood why the pecking order is what it is -- I could be wrong here but without Cena, Punk is in ROH where NOBODY cares or in TNA getting pissed on by Hogan and Bischoff...
ReplyDeleteAnd what age you are -- I go shopping with my two boys and see Cena shit everywhere (maybe not TONS, but a lot :-) -- Who's going to move the bottom line for Vince, Little Johnny's parents indulging him, or a broke college-age kid? We both know who's cooler, but that's not the point, is it? (And, in my defense, my boys don't really care for wrestling so they own no Cena stuff -- though my older boy has watched the Horsemen DVD's with me and thinks Flair is pretty cool; so I'm doing something right)...
ReplyDeleteBesides the guys I grew up with as fellow fans and you fellow Blogsters, I've barely ever really seen a pro wrestling fan except kids wearing Cena gear but I'm a poor source as I'm quite a bit older than you are and the last time wrestling was cool with my age group was during the Monday Night Wars...
ReplyDeleteBut wrestling has never been very good at paying off long-term storylines in general
ReplyDeleteI don't buy that, I hear that those Mega powers once exploded and it was a big deal, and on the Indy's we see long term stories all the time (Generico vs Steen springs to mind) I get that a three month rivalry is the new yearlong feud, and I'm not asking for a long term story, I'm just asking that they bother to protect Punk past his match with Trips, Punk got ice cold in 2012, and I don't think he will ever reach the level he was at in 2011 again.
It's a hell of a lot harder to find a bar airing wrestling now that the company markets to people who can't even drink
ReplyDeleteI love how you can complain about hating angles and storylines and then chew someone else out for wanting to be emotionally invested in an angle. I'm glad you thought the angle was great. I didn't. I thought the promo was great. The match was great too. The angle of CM Punk becoming an agent of change in the WWE was a failure for me. I'm the same bored viewer who skips forward through half of Raw and watches the rest in the background as many wrestling fans my age are...and probably how you are too.
ReplyDeleteWell for me, it's because I hate that whole Straight Edge/Punk movement. I mean, even in the documentary it says "straight edge is not believing in labels!" even though that's EXACTLY what being punk is all about. Giving yourself a label, and following an exact set of rules and guidelines so you can be an "individual". It's horseshit.
ReplyDeleteAnytime someone is a straight edge, you know it within 5 minutes of meeting them because they tell you. Most straight edge folk are obnoxious little shits who constantly talk about being straight edge, and how they're having so much more fun than everyone. They're Milly from Freaks & Geeks, only far more obnoxious.
Now I know there are some Straight Edge folk who aren't obnoxious pricks, and if you are one, I applaud you. So no need to get all on me because you wait 10 minutes before you let everyone know you're SE instead of 5 like everyone else.
These days I'm not really sure as I haven't been out to watch in years.
ReplyDeleteBut from 98-00 I worked in a sports bar, kind of a cheap local knock off of Hooters with the girls in shorts and tanks, in a suburb of Toronto and RAW was a draw, but PPV's were the busiest night of the month. The whole place would be absolutely reamed and we'd even take reso's for tables. We had 2 locations and both were the same.
It was pretty hot, the whole place would often chant with the live crowd, and Road Dogg's spiel, and pretty much anything out of Rocky was a singalong.
It had started to wane by 2001, as I said, and I have no idea if that particular bar is still airing them, but I doubt it. One of their locations has since closed, actually.
There were at least two other places in town (a pool hall and another sports bar) that aired wrestling that i know of. I used to go to the pool hall and watch because the beer was cheap.
And yes, no joke at all, the DDP reveal was big time.
ReplyDeleteI was in the kitchen and all of a sudden this buzz just went around "hey, it's DDP!" and guys were calling their friends from the Buck Hunter machines to look at the TV's.
It's called suspension of disbelief. There's a difference in being invested in the storyline and thinking the storyline is real.
ReplyDeleteI don't bitch about the X-Files because Mulder didn't actually reveal to me the truth of the alien conspiracy and it's involvement with the US government. And that's what wrestling is, a tv show, and you should treat it exactly the same way you should treat any other tv show.
We've gone over this before.
ReplyDeleteYou've met two people who told you there were straight edge, right? Out of the thousands of people we meet in our everyday lives, how many of them could be straight edge, but never tell you that they're straight edge?
Your problem is that 100% of the people you know that are straight edge tell you that you're straight edge. But if they don't tell you that they're straight edge, how would you know that they were straight edge? Your point is fallacious.
Dean Malenko unmasking as Cyclope at Slamboree. HUGE pop, and I'm not saying it led to NOTHING, but I don't remember much happening with Dean after that. But man, that pop...
ReplyDeleteYeah I get what you mean. I don't really know if I'd call myself straightedge because as you said there are guidelines and shit that I don't even bother to look up. I don't drink, or smoke, or do drugs. I don't think that makes me better than those who do, and most of my friends partake in those activities. I just don't. Doesn't make me a better or worse person than someone who likes to have a beer after work.
ReplyDeleteMiz, Edge, Punk, Orton. All guys that Cena has made into stars.
ReplyDelete