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The SmarK RAW Rant–03.25.13

The SmarK RAW Rant – 03.25.13

Live from Philadelphia, PA.

Your hosts are Michael Cole & Jerry Lawler

CM Punk, back with Paul Heyman again after a week off last time, are out with the urn to start. Weird how Heyman manages both Brock and Punk, but they never interact with each other. Anyway, Punk is still the Best In The World and the streak is gonna end, blah blah. He invites Undertaker to come out and shut him up, so the lights go out and Taker does just that. They got a really weird way of making you want to see this match thus far.

Fandango is out for a match that never happens, as Chris Jericho attacks him and chases him off. So we get…

Chris Jericho v. Dolph Ziggler

Jericho is still fired up and he boots Ziggler down to start and goes for the Walls, but Ziggler fights him off. Jericho quickly goes up with a flying bodypress for two, and we take a break. Back with Ziggler in control, but Jericho rolls him up for two. Ziggler with a dropkick for two. Stinger splash and he wraps him up with the ABDOMINAL STRETCH. The ghost of Gorilla Monsoon notes that the ankle was not grapevine, and so Jericho easily escapes an otherwise guaranteed submission. Jericho gets dumped but transitions into a double axehandle from the top, and a springboard dropkick gets rid of Big E. Ziggler catches him with the DDT for two, however. Jericho blocks the fameasser and turns it into the Walls (the Liontamer, in fact!) and Ziggler taps at 9:16 to end the epic winning streak at 4. I don’t get the reasoning here at all; Ziggler’s the one with the tag title match. **1/2 Big E lays out Jericho and Fandango comes out to dance on Jericho’s fallen body, because he really hates it when you get his name wrong. As far as Wrestlemania motivations go, this one is right up there with the shampoo commercial.

Mark Henry v. The Usos

This is pretty random. The Usos manage to double-team with a pair of superkicks and one of them gets a flying splash for two. Henry has had about enough of that shit and gets rid of an Uso by running him into the post, and then finishes the other poor guy with the slam at 1:38. And then he beats the Usos up some more because THAT’S WHAT HE DOES.

Alberto Del Rio v. Antonio Cesaro

Del Rio’s new babyface theme music reminds of the redone Losing My Religion where they scaled it up into a major key. Poor Cesaro continues to lose every match and never defend the title he’s had for eight months now. Cesaro attacks and goes to the neck vice, but ADR comes back with the backbreaker, which Cole notes is now a vintage move for him. Goody. Uncle Zeb comes out to scout, and that allows Cesaro to attack from behind and head up. Del Rio brings him down with a superplex as both guys sell like they’re dead 2:00 into a TV match. Jack Swagger beats up Ricardo some more during the lull in the action, and ADR heads out for a brawl with him, which gives Cesaro the epic countout win at 3:25. *1/2 Well, at least he won this time, sort of. Del Rio is so upset at costing himself the match like an idiot that he beats up Cesaro and armbars him, just so we know that the US champion is a huge fucking jobber. Does anyone care about Del Rio yet? Just wondering.

Kane & Daniel Bryan v. The Primetime Players

The champs beat up on Pancake Patterson in the corner to start, but the Players double-team Kane. Bryan comes in for a double hiptoss on Young while Team Biggler come out to watch, allowing Young to get a suplex on Bryan and take over. Pancake suplexes Young onto Bryan for two, but Kane gets the hot (?) tag and beats on Young with the usual. Big boot gets two. Sideslam gets two. Bryan gets rid of Titus with a flying knee and Kane chokeslams Young at 4:33. *1/2 Apparently this week the champs are on the same page and not breaking up. Really, it’s months past the time to take the belts off them either way.

COOHHH is out to once again remind us that his segments are the MOST IMPORTANT ON THE SHOW, DAMMIT. He could RETIRE you know, and never be able to wrestle again! This is apparently something we are supposed to be concerned about. Wade Barrett then has the GALL to come out for his match, so HHH kicks him in the nuts and gazes meaningfully at the Wrestlemania sign. What a dick. Like really, what was the point of that?

Wade Barrett v. The Miz

You’d assume this is non-title, given that they don’t actually announce it as a title match and nobody gives a shit about the secondary titles anyway. Miz chases Barrett out of the ring to start and goes up, but Wade boots him down and punts him in the ribs for two. Barrett goes to the chinlock, but Miz rolls him up for two. Barrett gets dumped to the floor, and back in Miz gets two. And we take a break. Back with the crowd telling us how boring this match is, as Barrett controls and gets two. Barrett surfboards him, but Miz makes the comeback before walking into the bossman slam, which gets two for Barrett. Cole notes that Miz wants to be part of the IC title picture, which is a weird kind of logic to me, because you’re supposed to win matches to qualify for a shot against a dude who loses constantly. Miz tries the figure four, but Barrett reverses for two. A high kick gets two. Barrett loads up the elbow, but Miz rolls him up for two and clips the knee. Figure-four finishes at 12:35. This was OK. **1/2

Meanwhile, Kane and Bryan are fighting again over AJ, but Kaitlyn butts in and bitches about how AJ screwed her over, which prompts AJ to attack. Are we dropping the Cody Rhodes story already? Because that would be just fine, actually.

The Shield v. Zack Ryder, Justin Gabriel & The Great Khali

I do not approve of the Shield doing TV squashes. They should be kept super-special PPV attractions or important matches only. Rollins gets worked over in the jobber corner, but Ryder misses a dropkick and gets worked over by the Shield. Ambrose with a dropkick on the ropes and Reigns comes in and slugs Zack down and tosses him around. Gabriel gets the tag but immediately gets laid out by an Ambrose clothesline and a flying knee from Rollins to finish at 2:31. Khali tries to avenge his teammates, but gets powerbombed as a result. Once the damage is done, Orton and Sheamus come out to make the save. Slowly. And the Big Show is on the announce table side, and with two sides of the ring cut off, the SHIELD HAVE NO PATH TO ESCAPE. Except for the other two sides of the ring, but for the sake of telling stories I’ll note that the babyfaces beat up the Shield anyway. Again, the Shield should not be selling or running from the babyfaces yet, especially not on TV. They need to push, push, push, not cool them off.

The Rhodes Scholars v. Brodus Clay & Tensai

See, the point of this match is to build up the issue between the Bellas and the Funkettes for their 30 second nacho break match at Wrestlemania. This lesson in booking brought to you by WWE, where they’re telling stories. The Scholars double-team Tensai, but Brodus gets the hot tag while the women brawl at ringside for some reason. Cody hits the kick on Brodus and gets the pin at 2:38, but that’s obviously secondary to the red hot Bellas v. Funkadactyls feud. DUD

Ryback v. 3MB

This is the point in the show where I’ve resigned myself to the fact that it’s not getting any better by now and probably won’t magically make me care about Wrestlemania. Not this match in particular, but just the show in general. So yeah, 3MB gets a bit of offense, but Ryback inevitably destroys Slater with his Goldbergian offense and does the double-stack Shellshock on Slater and Mahal to finish at 3:53. *

AJ v. Kaitlyn

Holy shit, Kaitlyn is still the Divas champion? I had seriously forgotten about it. It seems like months ago that she won that thing from Eve. Kaitlyn throws her around the ring and hits her with the gutbuster, and they brawl to the floor, where Kaitlyn charges and hits the railing. And that’s the countout at 2:00. So yeah, two cheap heel countout finishes in the same show. So, um, boo AJ? DUD

MAIN EVENT HALL OF FAME Q&A: John Cena v. The Rock

The entrances for the Hall of Famers and participants ALONE eat up 10 minutes, and then they do a 25 MINUTE OVERRUN on a three hour show. If you think I’m recapping this shit, fuck off. And yet Wrestlemania is still going to do over a million buys. And remember Punk having the WWE title for 434 days and actually caring about it? Now we get Rock carrying it around like a prop for two months and never mentioning it.

The Pulse

Another stinker, although not quite on the level of last week until we got to almost forty minutes of talking about nothing as a main event interview segment. They are literally not even trying anymore.

Comments

  1. I turned on in time to see Triple H stare at the sign after kicking Barrett. Eye roll.

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  2. I feel so dumb for buying into the Rock will take the title with him to premieres and talk show appearances making it even more important talk.

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  3. "If you think I’m recapping this shit, fuck off."
    Fucking thank you for the fucking bullets that you fucking eat by recapping this fucking show for the sake of your fucking blog community. I fucking heart Scott F. Keith. The 'F' stands for 'Fucking'.

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  4. Man that fandango jericho match really makes me want to see wm!

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  5. HowmuchdoesthisguyweighMarch 25, 2013 at 10:36 PM

    Rock/Cena wasn't bad... Just wayyyy too long. I think they have done a good job building up the six man tag. Nobody will ever care about swagger vs del rio, both fine wrestlers and del rio has hit his stride as a face. Theme music remixes, managers and new haircuts don't change the fact that del rio vs swagger should not be on a Wrestlemania card. Tag title match is fine, Ryback vs Henry is fine but a Henry loss annoys people who care, Jericho vs fandango is random but not a bad way to actually debut a guy in ring. Jericho will work hard to make him look good.

    Frustrated over the punk/taker build and HHH vs Lesnar should be a WM quality bout but nobody asked for this rematch

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  6. Shame you didn't bother with the main event interview segment. It was easily one of the most effective hype jobs for a Wrestlemania match in a long time.

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  7. "The entrances for the Hall of Famers and participants ALONE eat up 10
    minutes, and then they do a 25 MINUTE OVERRUN on a three hour show. If
    you think I’m recapping this shit, fuck off. And yet Wrestlemania is
    still going to do over a million buys"


    And that last sentence is the whole problem in a nutshell. The writers know they don't need to try anymore.

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  8. Whoever responded to me about me feeling bad for Scott having the review this was right.


    It's funny how by watching the show, you can tell it's bad but just reading Scott's review makes it 10x worse and leaves me more apathetic, don't know toward who though.....

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  9. Really? Because the premise sounded pretty lame and "Rock and Cena verbally spar in a main event interview" is played out.

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  10. Maybe I mentally checked out for the 50x time during those 3 hours, but what did they hype exactly? Cena said he needed to win just cause and Rock laughed at his feelings.





    Nothing different from last year.

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  11. Yeah but this time it's the Redemption of John Cena. Stories, folks. Stories.

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  12. I'm so glad these people didn't tell me bedtime stories when I was a child.


    It would be jumbled mess.

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  13. Teasing a Cena heel turn is the hook they've been missing. They need to push that angle hard, it probably will get people on the fence about seeing a rematch to buy the show if they think Cena is turning.


    The QnA set up was stupid but the promos from Rock and Cena were good. Might even be Cena's best promo ever. Gives me hope that Cena and Rock can make whatever stupid idea Stephanie comes up with work over the next few weeks.

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  14. I thought it was awesome when Henry yelled "NOBODY SPLASHES ME!!!" in response to one of the Uso's doing a splash off the turnbuckle.



    The water park skit just writes itself.

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  15. Cena has never won the big one, so this is pretty important.....


    Its pretty ironic that they are recycling the Benoit angle of never winning the big one before WM XX and also erasing Cena's past big one's that he did win. It all pretty much ties together......

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  16. Forget one upping Mark Henry. Ryback should have one-upped Triple H by hitting all 3 members of 3MB in the nuts, staring at the sign, and then leaving.

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  17. What's amusing is that they hire SOAP OPERA WRITERS. Soap writers pen the most nonsensical storylines with the most banal dialogue possible to cater to a demographic that watches with one eye open between naps. NOBODY takes their work seriously and WWE foolishly craves this.

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  18. It hyped a Cena heel turn, the holy grail of wrestling. Smartest thing they can do.

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  19. Cena had done better promo's in the past, the constant main event promo fests are getting very stale.

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  20. Cena has won like FOUR big ones!


    Fuck this company.

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  21. This post has been brought to you by the Letter F

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  22. The sad thing is that a Soap Opera can keep your interest if done correctly. These have to be the worst Soap Opera writers of all time.



    Did Vince say go get me the Melrose Place writers and they came back with the ones from the awful reboot?

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  23. While that's true, the execution was lacking and if they could book worth a damn, they wouldn't have to go to this last resort.


    If there was ever a moment, we got good promo out of Cena, it should of been tonight.

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  24. That's because when some idiot heard the term "male soap opera" describe wrestling, they took it literally.

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  25. Thing is, even Soap Opera can write( the ratings for Soap Opera say so)


    I find it hard to believe these are Soap Opera writers

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  26. I honestly dont see the big deal that the Rock isnt carrying around a belt to premieres and talk show appearances. I dont recall Tyson or Holyfield carrying around their titles to things like that.



    And honestly, do you really want Rock to grab more PPV buyers so it breaks the record and we get Rock/Cena III?

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  27. I think he hired the ones from MTV's "Undressed." Though that might be giving him too much credit because that show had a trashy appeal where stories made actual sense.

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  28. "Cena has never won the big one, so this is pretty important....."



    2 Royal Rumbles and a litany of WWE Championships.


    I think I'm gonna need a definition as to what "the big one" is.

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  29. They totally insult their audience. I mean as a kid, I recall Vince acting like Harley Race was a newcomer but this is just too much...

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  30. I think we're getting Rock/Cena III regardless.


    Considering Cena winning at 29 is gonna make it 1-1.

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  31. You mean they weren't tonight?


    Because Cena seemed to be going out of his way to reach John Mayer levels of self-important hyper-dickery.

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  32. Im guessing "the Big One" is a match vs the Rock which pretty much devalues the entire roster and every opponent Cena has ever beaten....

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  33. Rock/Cena @30?


    NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

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  34. Even while watching that closing segment I thought, "Ain't no way Scott is recappin' this shit."

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  35. There is only one way they can screw up a Cena turn. Make him a smarmy, grinning douche that talks to the camera on his way to the ring and watch him shrug and smile as the kids boo him and the smarks cheer him.

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  36. But Cena pretty much buried the WWE title the day after WM 27, when they announced Rock/Cena I

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  37. Last time I watched anything on MTV was when Tough Enough was on there. So I have no idea what Undressed is but I could see Vince going to lame ass MTV for help....

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  38. A million buys is a given, but I still feel like this year's Mania will do well under last year's number. And with what they're paying both Rock and Brock, that really should be enough to get them to possibly rethink what they're doing.


    One can hope, anyway.

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  39. Rock/Cena III an Iron Man, HIAC, Last Man Standing, No Holds Barred Retirement Match......

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  40. It was a late night soap opera about a bunch of high school and college kids hooking up or hiding their gayness. That's it.

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  41. I thought the execution was great. Cena started out with his usual pandering bullshit but when Rock called him out on it, he snapped and cut a hell of a promo on Rock.

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  42. The promos might have been good, but after 3 hours I was checked out and couldn't pay attention any longer. This program and general direction is just not holding my interest in any significant manner and forcing me to watch an extra 30 minutes on a show that's already overly long isn't a particularly good way to make me care about it. I have seen a MILLION John Cena promos about how he has to overcome the odds and a million Rock promos as the cool champion, I want to see something different for a buildup. And that doesn't mean "different ways to repackage the concept of a promo without having them wrestle each other". Why not have Rock do a talk show and Cena does a surprise appearance and beats the shit out of him?

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  43. Very true about the title but Cena makes every other opponent seem worthless now. That's pretty much the cardinal sin in wrestling. See Hogan, Hulk in the Warrior DVD.

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  44. Roll call: Team Edward or Team Jacob?

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  45. Sounds better than what I imagine Jersey Shore or The Hills were.

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  46. Said it in the live thread, and saying it again, because seriously, if Cena doesn't turn heel at Mania and beat Rock by going all Austin X-7 on him with a steel chair to win the title, and then flip off the NY/NJ audience while trash fills the ring, then this company deserves having the world booing their #1 face. Because I didn't see or hear a single thing I could root for in that Cena promo tonight, just a lot of self-important bitching.



    It was like a "But I..." Bakery for all the fresh excuses his character was making for losing.

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  47. I think the amount of posts on the Raw threads tells it all. If we were getting entertaining TV, there would be less typing and more watching. I suppose it's good for the blog when the product stinks...

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  48. I see what you did there.

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  49. At this point, I'm *way* to drunk to understand the question.

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  50. Luckily I only watched the last segment but I think the usual pandering Cena bullshit he started out with was intentional. If you notice after Rock called him out on his bullshit, he became a completely different guy. It was subtle, but he definitely started heeling up.

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  51. Oh, they're definitely *teasing* us with something. Whether they go through with things, is another thing entirely.

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  52. The show stunk but the thread was quite good, the blog is really hitting it's stride going in to Mania...

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  53. The last five minutes, sure. The twenty minutes that preceded that, not so much.

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  54. No, they aren't trying. Wrestlemania is going to make sixteen bajillion dollars regardless of whether or not they try to book an entertaining, logic-filled, feud-advancing television show. This shit is going to go on forever. They'll continue using unbelievably bad booking and their core audience will continue eating it up. If all of the 2014 pay-per-view numbers are down, they'll just jack up the price by $10 in 2015. The fans will eat it up. Ringside seats to Wrestlemania 30 will break $1,000 and fans will gobble them up like Pac-Man before they even know what the main event is. Big E. and Dolph will probably be breaking up and feuding by the time June rolls around and the fans will nom-nom-nom it up while waiting for the next tag team to form and split.


    Also, Fandango is a thing.

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  55. This whole Rock-Cena storyline would work so much better if Cena had actually, you know....ACTED as if it was the worst loss of his career. He could have gone into detached, self-loathing loner mode....walked out of arenas before his matches, his confidence shaken up. Disappeared for months. It's John Cena. He doesn't need the Big Show feud....he doesn't need another crack at CM Punk....he doesn't need to mess around with AJ and Dolph Ziggler. Then he shows up, throws his hat into the Royal Rumble...wins it....everybody's shocked. Then he spends the build up training for the redemption. Meanwhile, CM Punk rules the show until Rock shows up, beats him for the title, and spends his build up pandering to Hollywood and mocking Cena as washed up. The shit writes itself....

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  56. I'm probably reading way too much into this, but I'm getting the sense that they real Cena heel turn happened when he turned into a PG, bland, safe character how ever many years ago. And WM29 is when WWE finally lets us in on it.

    Cena sold out and has been able to keep up this facade but Rock is the only guy who causes him to break his character. You could see it during the promo, Cena starts out with usual shtick but when Rock calls him out on it, he snaps back into who he really is. "You didn't beat me, I did." It's why he hates The Rock. He is the only one who can reveal to everyone else what he really is.

    This might be too meta, but I feel it's intentional. The Rock is supposed to be this conquering hero from the Attitude era but it gets lost in translation because Rock hasn't really brought his A game(until tonight anyway). He just comes off as Dwayne Johnson accepting the role of the Rock and watching old videos for research and reading a script.



    Anyway, I'm suddenly interested in Rock/Cena 2 now.

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  57. http://imageshack.us/a/img94/4403/funnybf.gif

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  58. Does anybody else feel somewhat violated by those major key versions of Losing my Religion & Riders on the Storm? Something can be captivating while being a "downer". It makes me think of those people who would say "The X-Files could have been so much better if only they had let them get the bad guys most of the time...and Mulder and Scully had consumated their love by the second season."
    Isn't there already enough happy shallow claptrap in the world of music today?

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  59. Because fuck you, that's why.

    http://24.media.tumblr.com/679ed6defe78dbafe9f295aa64b4de6d/tumblr_mk8wnz3rWE1r2ahfqo5_250.gif

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  60. If TNA had a Clash type show on Spike the night of Wrestlemania i'd save my 70 bucks. Actually, come to think of it, i'll still be saving 70 bucks.

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  61. And U, and by the number 621...

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  62. Next week we'll have a 45 minute overrun where everyone on the card comes out and stares at the Wrestlemania sign while Machine Gun Kelly sings that same shitty song over and over again. Move over this is your life, your 8.4 will be crushed

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  63. "I'm Joe F'n Pesci, and I f'n approved this f'n message..."


    (Sorry, but I just can't bring myself to spell the word out in public.)

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  64. Almost in tears reading this rant. This the SK I grew up with. There's too many lines to try and recap, but spot on about Cesaro, Barrett, The Shield and the whole main event segment. But don't forget, in the late '80s manager's clients never interacted so I'm okay with Brock and Punk not hanging out...yet.

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  65. Honestly, if *I* were Vince's son-in-law, I'd have kicked even more dudes in the junk.

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  66. If it arises from a Cena heel turn that leads to Attitude Era 2, with Cena cutting promos on how Rock has turned into a bland, pandering, roided up, uninteresting jackass, I could buy Rock Cena III: 4 out of 7 Falls Lumberjack Texas Bull Rope Bra and Panties Ladder Submission Pose Down at WM 30.

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  67. Lloyd, are you excited for Wrestlemania, for Cena/Rock, Brock/HHH...for anything?!

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1NNx26bkI9I



    I agree, Lloyd. I agree.

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  68. "If you think I’m recapping this shit, fuck off."



    We love you Scott. Never change.

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  69. I got that "Yes kick his ass" reaction regarding Fandango tonight instead of being bored by him.....i've gone insane

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  70. It's almost as if this company is being run by a grumpy old man who just stubbornly does the same shit over and over again, unless he gets arbitrarily angry at something and makes a scene...

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  71. Vince McMahon is the proverbial "Old Man yelling at cloud."

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  72. If they had a re run of impact ditto...

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  73. Quantify in a percentage your belief they actually pull the cena turn, just curious?

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  74. He does have ads you know, so he gets some form of revenue. Cant blame the guy, besides this blog helps make my work day tolerable. Wish hed throw up morr retro rants lately though.

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  75. So how do we quantify the difference between snapping and going heel for a moment and staying face but just being real?

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  76. Snooze fest of a Raw. I mainly watched the Heat play around against the Magic.


    The Cena/Rock promo started slowly with Cena's ridiculous comparison to Donovan McNabb. Cena has gone to WM multiple times, exiting with multiple wins, included WWE and World Heavyweight Champions. It's fucking ridiculous that Cena went there. And then he said a great BS line. "You didn't beat me! I beat me!". Yeah sure John.


    So glad Rock called him out and just kept pushing Cena's buttons. That was great. Seeds of Cena's heel turn being planted, but I don't think they'll take root. Cena is selling WM with hints of a heel turn, but ultimately Vince will keep him face. There's nobody else to run as #1 face unless Punk turns face again. Cena laid out by the Rock was great, but it makes me think Cena will get his BS "redemption".


    I am more interested in WM than before, but still not sure of joining a viewing party.

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  77. The WWE has become like a wrestling simulator. They book matches and angles, but any meaning behind any of it is merely in the eye of the beholder.

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  78. You haven't. Jericho is just that good.

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  79. 5%. We'll see if in the new few weeks they keep dropping hints. But even if they do, I can't see it getting higher than 20. And I wouldn't even mind if they don't, almost plays better if he keeps being the same guy.

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  80. I still can't believe Cena brought up Donovan McNabb. Might as well have brought up Ron Jaworski.

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  81. Not to diss Donovan. As a Patriots fan, I wlll admit he came *this close* to Eli Manninging us back in the day.


    Ew.

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  82. Also, gotta love how in Philly, Cena brings up football players, but in Pittsburgh, he talks about Sid the Kid. That's because Big Ben is a Big Rapist, ladies and germs.


    Is this the Blog of Doom, or ProFootballTalk? I may be lost.

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  83. Did you watch it?

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  84. Seriously, maybe people are just angry about the show. But I watched it...um differently and I thought it was pretty successful.


    Cena cut his best promo in...uh...ever. Giving a solid motivation, actually setting him up as the underdog and actually tying together the years of build this match has had. His whole bit about having the Rock beat, only to fuck up by taunting him was great.

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  85. You didn't get Cena acting like a petulant dick? I thought it was an ace bit of acting from the normally bulletproof Cena. He was Bret-ing it up.

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  86. I think it is because the terrible QnA set up masked what was a pretty great dueling promo. It was easily the best segment since Rock/Cena starting feuding 2 years ago.

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  87. Bret 97 is the first thing that came to mind. Also with a bit of Austin's "I need to win." from X-7. Honestly, if he does turn, combing those two characters is a great place to start.

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  88. He didn't need to.


    Cena no-selling the loss, then revealing how much it pissed him off worked better. Cena is a guy who succeeds at everything, so when he does get his ass kicked he continues to no-sell it because Cena always get his "win" back.


    But the Rock is the coolest guy in the world (kayfabe), and his coolness and the ease of how he constantly gets the leg-up on Cena finally pisses Cena off enough for him to break his cool.


    If you sell like mad for everything, then everything becomes the same. This is actually one good thing that's come out of Cena's give no fucks character, when he actually does give a fuck? It actually means something.

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  89. Agree completely. Rock and Cena had a great promo, it gave tons of character depth and solidified what their feud is.


    This match has better build then their previous bout.

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  90. Yup.


    Show, don't tell, allow the audience to draw their own conclusions, great art shouldn't have to tell you why something is happening, it can allow the viewers to piece it together.


    Look up Death of the Author.

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  91. I fucking loved it.

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  92. Yeah I don't think it'll go down.. I figure he might take a few cheap shots though, and the next night on Raw they'll say how Cena "had to go places he didn't want to go" or something.. And Cena will be back to normal, like nothing ever happened.

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  93. As long as he doesn't bring up Syd tha Kyd...


    Fuck Odd Future.

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  94. Frustrating though it took them this long to get here.

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  95. TEAM DISCOVERY CHANNEL!

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  96. Shit, you'd be lucky that The Rock even mentions WWE on a talk show, let alone trying to do anything involving a wrestling angle there. I love that idea, though.

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  97. The difference between Tyson and Holyfield is that the public knew exactly what profession they were in when they were big stars. When it comes to The Rock, he's showing up on these talk shows, movie premiers, bullshit like that, but he's showing as Dwayne Johnson, the star of shitty action movie after shitty action movie.

    Vince and co. would probably be ecstatic if he shows up on Leno just carrying the belt there over his right shoulder, and what's the first question that Leno asks him: "so you're the WWE champion now, huh? How's that going for you?" Rock answers the question, jokes around with Leno's WCW run, then plugs the match with John Cena at Wrestlemania, then talks about whatever shitty-ass action movie that he has coming out. But no, Rock never mentions it. That's bullshit.

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  98. Sydney Crosby is also a fucking bad ass, so there's that. Not that Big Ben isn't, but I'm a huge fan of Crosby, Cena can mention him all he wants.

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  99. "If you think I’m recapping this shit, fuck off" ...there's your new banner byline... Hahah.

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  100. Yeah, I mean, I dug the really obvious questions. But it was pretty pointless.


    "So Rock and Cena, WHY ARE IS THIS MATCH IMPORTANT!"

    ReplyDelete
  101. Paranoid, egotistical and whining about he's a great guy? Awesome.


    I hope Cena comes out with a Rock screwed Cena shirt next week.

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  102. Yes. I haven't seen this promo yet. However, based on Cult's (and others') assessment, I'll assume for argument's sake that for about five minutes, through dialogue, facial expressions, tone of voice and the meaning of their words that they've brilliantly defined their characters and story, as well as given depth to the feud.

    (There are so many angles you can take when it comes to using Rock and Cena as analogies and to represent the crowd. Does The Rock represent the time in which wrestling was great and is back to demonstrate true greatness? Does Cena, despite having been a king for nearly a decade, still have something to prove? Anything like this could be a compelling subtext, even if on paper the feud is about the WWE Title, or a bottle of shampoo for that matter.)

    However, before this promo, all I could have told you about it was that they're wrestling again because that's what draws. That's why Rock won the WWE Title the same night Cena won the Rumble. No interesting story. No subtext or hints that there's something up someone's sleeve. Will Cena finally turn heel? We could only speculate based on the fact that everyone's clamoring for it, but nothing based on what we've been shown.

    That's why I loved Austin's turn at X7. In hindsight, there were so many hints being dropped. He didn't lose to Angle, but he couldn't beat him either. He couldn't beat his main adversary, Triple H. He hadn't had any run-ins with Vince, and Vince "begrudgingly" allowed him to enter the Rumble. He could only win the Rumble by using a steel chair. "I *need* to beat you, Rock. More than anything you could ever imagine."

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  103. There's nothing the kids like on TV then a bunch of old guys asking questions to dudes standing behind podiums...

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  104. Fuck I'll take what I can get. I mean, we got it, right?


    I'm actually psyched for the show. Fandangoo actually did something heelish, Triple H put over Brock and gave his match some meaning, Taker actually...did something, Hell No gave their match teeth with the AJ thing (actually AJ did a great job all night), Ryback and Henry's dueling squashes were dumb...but yet again, it's something.


    Honestly they're doing a great job of giving every match both a purpose, and firmly establishing the character and motivation of each matches participants. Just because people are too stupid/lazy/blind to see it, or they don't like what "stories" WWE is telling doesn't mean that WWE is bad at their job.

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  105. When you think about it, Cena is as close as they've come to recreating that Bret Hart 97 magic. Just swap out Canada and America for kids and adults.

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  106. Rock/Cena worked tonight in spite of itself. Those guys know how to sell a rasslin' show. Creative just needs to back the fuck away from them. Seriously, they shouldn't say one word to them until it's time to tell them who is going over. Same with Taker/Punk and Brock/HHH.


    Work out your frustrations at being a shitty writer on Fandango, leave the heavy lifting to the pros. They don't need every segment branded with bullshit buzzwords like QnA! and rap battle! and Rock concert! And Team this and Team that!


    Less time coming up with a trending hashtag and more time letting Rock break a buyrate record for you. I know I've been beating the "WM is gonna bomb" drum here and I still kinda believe that but I always said if the build sucks, it will bomb. This WM ain't gonna sell itself like last year.

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  107. Worst_in_the_WorldMarch 26, 2013 at 5:34 AM

    Favorite part of the show was the crowd's complete lack of interest in everything Triple H was saying. Seriously, his match has been built up more than anything on the show, his career is on the line, he's giving a fiery baby face speech, and the crowd was almost in What territory. Now compare that to the reactions that Jericho was getting from the same crowd-- they were popping for everything he did/said. Jericho got a match against Fandango more over than Trips did a match with Brock goddamn Lesnar.

    Which is all to say, they're nuts if they think the Mania crowd is gonna be on Trips' side. Especially if they go through with putting Steph out there too.

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  108. Cena's winning. Then he's going to shake The Rock's hand. Then I'm going to be annoyed. That's how WrestleMania XXIX will end.

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  109. When The Rock/Cena shit started on my downloaded copy of Raw, I checked how much time was left to go and the clock said 31 MINUTES. That's without commercials. At that point I got up and started doing better things whilst listening in the background. Whilst it gave us John Cena teasing a heel turn, that is an INSANE amount of time to dedicate to one segment. CM Punk's "pipe bomb" promo went for 6 minutes. Why they feel the need to drag these talking segments out beyond the realms of sanity is beyond me. Actually, no it's not - three hour shows.


    I honestly can't conceive of how people watch this in real time. It's not (just) that it's bad or stupid - it's really, really boring.

    Today I skipped everything bar:
    HHH kicking Barrett in the nuts for no particular reason.
    Jericho/Ziggler/Fandango stuff
    CM Punk's promo


    The show positively zipped by!

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  110. absolutely. we all know most of the crowd didn't really buy into Austin's heel turn/persona. but it really was good storytelling.

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  111. btw: that's why I love the stories CM Punk has told on his dvd: he claims that the first time someone approached him with a script for him he demonstratively ripped it apart in front of his eyes.

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  112. the sad thing is: you might actually be right.

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  113. Someday, years from now, I am going to sit down with my now 2 month old son and tell him this. "Son, thank you for saving me from a terrible mistake. You see, I was going to go to New York and attend my first WrestleMania. When I found out you were coming in January, I cancelled these plans. With each passing Monday, I found myself less and less excited for WM, to the point where I could not imagine actually paying to attend an event with quite possibly the worst build up in recent memory. Thank you for saving me from a colossal waste of time and money."

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  114. btw: lol @ Bret Hart "correcting" himself after saying "wrestling fans" ... ("... the WWE Universe")

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  115. And he'll say... "What's Wrestlemania?"


    "Well, son, there used to be this company called the WWE..."

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  116. I'm not saying anything particularly new here, but they just HAVE to do away with the third hour of this show. I understand how much more ad revenue it generates for them but at what cost? The product is clearly suffering.


    Case in point, wouldn't that Q&A segment have been slightly more tolerable if it was at the end of a TWO-hour show instead of three? I think it would.


    Plus, if you've noticed, the live crowds are just dying week after week after week. The crowd last night was pretty hot the first hour, but by the end they were just comatose.


    Again, I'm not stating anything new here, but they REALLY need to take a hard look at whether this third hour is beneficial to them from a creative perspective. I know they're committed to it through Summerslam, but after that, it needs to be looked at again. Which means it won't.

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  117. Seriously, does the WWE not comprehend that there are like 800 other channels to watch nowadays?

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  118. BECAUSE F*** YOU THAT'S WHY

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  119. especially the 1999 WWE rants

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  120. just wait til the show, the blog might crash!

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  121. I don't know where you get twenty five minutes of overrun. On my cable guide, the show is scheduled to go to 11:05. It went to 11:20. That's fifteen minutes, and it's unusual but not unheard of; when I'm DVRing I always take the precaution of recording until 11:20 anyway. I'm more concerned about the habit of overrunning on Smackdown now. It's just a few seconds but I'm used to my DVR cutting out at ten on the dot. I may have to start going an extra minute or two.

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  122. Well I recorded the last hour because I wanted to watch Revolution, and thus I missed most of the debate. Like I said a couple of weeks ago, it's ridiculous to me that Raw takes longer than a lot of baseball games. Why is there still an overrun?! As for Smackdown, I haven't watched it on TV in years, so can't help you.

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  123. I'm not going to defend the three hour RAWS; I liked them at first but agree it's too much of a good thing every week. But recording from 10 to 11 has never cut it - RAW has gone to 11:05 or later every week since it's been on the air. I probably don't have to tell you there are still plenty of ways to see the debate if you are so inclined.

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  124. Didn't watch it, sounds like shit. For people saying wwe is doing some subtle Bret hart heel shit with cena... dude cena always does heelish shit but we're supposed to cheer it. That's how they always use him, and that's how they booked shameus and it sounds like hhh just kicked Barrett in the balls for no reason. I'm betting Vince can't book faces anymore before I'd think cena is turning.

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  125. If Cena does turn heel, who is the best bet to be the new top face of the company and feud with heel Cena? Ryback?

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  126. This again was a terrible Raw. Better than last week? Yes, but instead of eating crap, you only have your nose buried in it. Punk is trying, but I don't buy a 50 year old Undertaker beating anyone consistently anymore. The WWE universe demands that "the up and comer" continue his streak to 21 - 0. Hell, he looks 70 on my HD tv.


    HHH continues to cut the same boring promo and burying any talent when he gets a chance. Wade Barrett can't get over with the IC title although we stick him in shitty programs and position him terribly, I'll show him!


    I never would have thought to say this, but I truly now believe Gerwitz is a lot more responsible for the Rock's career than people give him credit. The Rock is boring, dull, and cannot cut an interesting promo anymore without coming off like a total douchebag. Cena is still Cena. My only hope for this Wrestlemania is having Cena turn during the match and then destroying the Rock with a chair a la SCSA at Wrestlemania XVII.

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  127. BRUTAL SHOW. I was long gone by the time Rock/Cena hit the stage. What a mess.
    I'm not ordering WrestleMania. They can make a bajillion dollars without my $70. Worst buildup to a WrestleMania I can remember.

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  128. Replace one smiling, jokey doofus with another - Sheamus.

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  129. Worst_in_the_WorldMarch 26, 2013 at 8:18 AM

    IF Cena turned heel, I think there's plenty of great choices. Ryback and Sheamus would be my picks for the guys who finally beat him in the end. (Sheamus or Ryback destroying heel Cena at Mania 30 would be pretty awesome, in my opinion.) Orton and Jericho could have great, heated feuds with Cena and ultimately put him over. There's always the option of turning Punk face (June PPV is in CHicago, cough cough) which would be a feud that gets nuclear heat.
    Bryan vs Heel Cena would be amazing, and even in a loss that feud would get Bryan all kinds of over.


    And plus, here's the great thing about turning Cena heel: the dude would be getting so much heat, that he'd be able to make an opposing babyface huge just by virtue of how much the crowd would hate him. It'd be like the DDP vs nWo situation, in which DDP went from midcarder to star simply by standing up to them. A heel Cena could probably make stars out of guys like Kofi Kingston, Bryan, etc simply by them feuding with him. And for guys like Ryback and Sheamus, feuding with a heel Cena would take them to another level.


    So that's why I say, it doesn't matter if there's not already that guaranteed Cena-replacement just sitting there, because it doesn't matter. A heel Cena could get the entire roster of babyfaces over to new levels.

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  130. Why are you recapping the show then? No one is forcing you to watch it, so why bother watching the show at all. It's getting lame week after week to read you mentally check out of the show 2 hr 30 min, and then gloss over everything else.


    The Rock-Cena segment took forever to get there but it was great. Rock cut some great promos, and it gave the feud an edge and makes you want to see what happens next week. Not only did Rock punk Cena out again, he did it in front of five Hall of Famers. What's Cena going to do next?

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  131. Lol Undressed went hard

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  132. You are right... and that's why I'm not excited at all to see this show.

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  133. I'm shocked that Philly fans kept booing the McNabb references... do they realize that that guy brought them to a Super Bowl and several NFC championships while Michael Vick did jack shit for 3 years after they showed McNabb the door?

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  134. I think most people count anything past 11:00 as the overrun... and it went past 11:20 because I have my DVR set to record 15 minutes later and I missed the end of the show, had to see it online. I think Meltzer said on his podcast that it ended at 11:22.


    In a mind-blowing thought, Wrestlemania will go about 25 minutes longer than last night's Raw and will cost $70 to see.

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  135. just because its old hat, doesnt mean its doesnt need to be worn.


    this is the forum to speak... speak ur piece.


    RAW was terrible.

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  136. definitely or "NOW WITH 150% MORE FUJ"


    i can go either way

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  137. Ben Rapethisberger is like 2 hits away from, death. One hit from retirement.


    Its time to hang it up. Matter of fact, the whole team can make like an amoeba and get out of here.

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  138. frank ocean's lp was alright.


    Pink matter with 3 stacks is a banger.

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  139. first off... LOL


    secondly, fuck you MGK is from cleveland!


    BIFC

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  140. The Rock/Cena segment was tremendous. It directly addressed many of the issues I had with the story -- Cena not winning the big one, why the feud feels different from last year's, Cena's growing frustration. Both guys delivered MONEY promos.


    Other than that, AJ's ass was the only worthwhile thing about Raw.

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  141. Imagine for a minute, however impossible, how cool it would have been if
    it would have been the opposite scenario, with Wade kicking HHH on the
    way to the ring.

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  142. If Cena turns heel, he only has one person he can wrestle at next year's Mania: Undertaker.

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  143. This just in: Cena is NEVER turning heel. That is all.

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  144. Gerwitz is with rock--hes writing his material still. I think 98-99 rock was best, when Russo and ferrara gave him pointers.

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  145. Hulk was so full of shit there. EVERYONE knew Warrior beat Hulk already,and that was the whole point of them wrestling again.Plus Hogan was the heel, anyways, so the crowd should've wanted to see him get beat again by a guy who could do it. I really hate that Warrior dvd.

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  146. In his defense, he is a DEAD man...lol

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  147. Worst_in_the_WorldMarch 26, 2013 at 9:48 AM

    Gawd, that'd be such a waste. Cena turning heel by ending the streak, yeah that'd be awesome. But an already heel Cena getting his ass kicked by Taker would be so incredibly dumb. It's the reason that I hate the direction of this year's Punk-Taker match——— why is Taker the one who gets to beat the dominant heel? He's 50 years old, he wrestles once a year, and adds nothing to the show 11 months out of the year. Punk's heel heat this year should have gone towards putting over a new face star, not towards putting over the goddamn Undertaker. And that should go the same if Cena turned heel.

    Anyway, side rant. Not arguing with you that they WOULD do that, just saying that I really hate that they would.

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  148. Wait, the blog didn't like a show? Someone call the Daily News.



    What's the number you all figure for comments complaining about Wrestlemania WHILE WATCHING Wrestlemania? I bet we hit 2,500 this year at least.

    SEE YOU NEXT WEEK *EVERYONE*



    =)

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  149. I was watching live and thought my clock on the DVR said 11:20 but I could be wrong; I have to be drunk to watch wrestling. And, people can count anything past 11:00 as overrun if they want to but RAW hasn't ended at 11:00 since I restarted watching wrestling so it's a little unrealistic.

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  150. (I remember thinking "boy if I were DVRing I'd be missing the last few seconds here" but it wasn't two full minutes.)

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  151. Gin likes to waste energy mocking people for watching the show and complaining about it on a blog, which is pretty funny considering that he basically called the whole thing juvenile last year.


    Oh yeah, and he recently learned the word "cunt" so he's added that to his vocabulary when he wants to emphatically point out how stupid the sheeple are.

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  152. Something I keep wondering during this entire Mania build: why have they not ONCE made a connection between Punk & Lesnar, nor between Taker & HHH? It's just bizarre. I mean, Punk & Lesnar are both managed by Heyman, yet watching the show one would assume they've never even heard of one another. And they're feuding with Taker & HHH, who have fought eachother at the last two Manias. Mixing those stories would come so naturally, and would have created lots of individual scenes and twists that would have eliminated the monotony of the individual builds——— so any thoughts on why they haven't done it? Not saying they had to give us the Punk/Lesnar vs HHH/Taker tag match on Raw (though that would have been awesome, and was the exact type of thing that would have gotten the crowds super hot for the Mania singles matches), but why not have Punk & lesnar deliver a beat down to HHH and have Taker make the save? I don't see the point in ignoring such obvious connections.

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  153. As a fellow fan from Philly, we all operate under the mindset of "What have you done for us lately?"


    I myself, like throwing out the "You guys miss McNabb yet?" whenever Vick comes out.

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  154. That's one of the things that seems to be missing from Raw these days. Do they ever do the faces from one half of the main event matches team up with the faces of the other main event matches anymore?


    I miss the "here's a preview of "insert PPV here"",

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  155. That's why I think the build has been so bad with the part-timers. Usual wrestling build would have Punk and Lesnar against HHH and Taker in a tag match on the go-home Raw (or as a main event this week)... of course it wouldn't be a long or a good match since that could be a PPV main event, but at least it would be better to see that rather than talking, talking, talking, talking...


    I was also hopeful that we would get Rock in a tune-up match (or at least a tag match) on Raw just to freshen things up... but I really think that's what's hurting the build to the show, because four of the top six guys can't do anything but talk, outside of that awesome HHH/Lesnar brawl a month ago and a lame Rock Bottom last night (and I assume an AA for Rocky next week).

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  156. Tell me how the show was worthy of being a Wrestlemania stretch-run Raw for nearly three and a half hours.

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  157. The only thing that would have saved it would be Zeb Colter bringing out Rush Limbaugh to counter it.

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  158. They're scared the fans would cheer Punk over HHH.

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  159. This exactly. They really paint themselves into a corner when they have a weekly wrestling show, and NONE of the guys in their three main events ever wrestle, or engage in anything physical for more than a few seconds. Not saying they should be trading pins back and forth, but by god that Punk/Lesnar vs HHH/Taker tag match is such a gimme. Just have it go 10 minutes and then end in a giant schmozz to go off the air. Would have been a million times hotter finish to a show than anything they've been doing.


    And why can't Rock & Cena tag up one week to beat say, Rhodes Scholars? A competitive match would A) Make the younger guys seem like a big deal, B) Give Rock & Cena some wins heading into the show, C) Allow for Rock & cena to get physical without having a match against eachother, and D) Put some wrestling on the wrestling show. And the crowds would be hot for it.

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  160. Again, I'm really interested in HHH's crowd response at Mania, ESPECIALLY if they end up putting Stephanie (the most unsympathetic person in the company) in his corner. He's obviously aiming for the Flair/HBK emotional crowd response, but I'd be shocked if he gets anything close to that.

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  161. I really don't get Scott's constant complaining about RAW being 3 Hours. I mean, I understand if it's 3 hours of horrible TV which RAW has been for the most part. But Scott goes to the point of dismissing segments that are actually ok simply because it's reached the 3 hour mark, which is ridiculous considering a 3 hour wrestling show shouldn't be an alien concept to him (i.e. WCW's Nitro run). Again, I agree WWE has been horrible for a long while now but it's not simply because RAW is a 3 hour show.

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  162. Cena was right, he never would have belonged in the Attitude Era. He would have been a great heel though..

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  163. Dude, I'm personally happy to discuss the show with you if you want. What did you enjoy? What didn't you?

    Like for instance, I loved the last half of the Cena-Rock segment, and the heel foreshadowing. Great character stuff there.
    And I thought the Punk-Taker segment was good this week, even though overall I don't like how "Punk ending the streak" has been made to be such an afterthought.
    Even though they were all squash matches, I'm down with everything they did to build Ryback/Henry and The Shield matches. Looking forward to those.


    Oh, and Jericho/Ziggler was great, and I think Jericho/Fandango is actually over as an angle.


    As for negatives, the show still had way too much filler, Del Rio/Swagger is boring as hell, and the Triple H promo was a dud.


    So those are my thoughts on the show. And if you look through the comments, you'll see lots of other people's thoughts about the show.


    So what about you? What did/didn't you enjoy? Or are you just a troll who somehow has an "unbelievable amount of fun" pestering people online?


    Anyway, see you next week!

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  164. Did anyone else notice the lukewarm reception he got last night? Even kicking Wade in the junk got no response.

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  165. It's Philly, they boo everything.

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  166. That belt is so ugly that I wouldn't want to be seen in public with it either.

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  167. They have Lesnar for two more years, maybe they are saving that connection for the future?

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  168. How has Punk ending the streak been an afterthought? He only mentions it 500 times his promos.

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  169. Best in the world.

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  170. Yup... and jesus h. crow if we get another Wrestlemania Rewind show next week like I was fearing for this week. BIg Show vs. Cody Rhodes! Daniel Bryan vs. Sheamus! Kane vs. Great Khali!

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  171. Yeah, overall it is horrible but the one segment that was worthy was the end and Scott shat all over it simply because it was at and past the 3 hour mark.

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  172. Worst_in_the_WorldMarch 26, 2013 at 1:21 PM

    Because the show itself isn't treating "Punk ending the streak" as even a remote possibility. The only thing the announcers talk about in relation to the match is "Goddamn Undertaker is pissed. He's gonna KILL Punk!" Punk isn't being booked as an equal who has the skill to end Taker's streak, he's being treated as a whiny nuisance who people should pay to get beat up.


    It's a complete opposite approach from how the Streak matches have been promoted this decade. I mean, think back to the build-up for the HHH and HBK matches. It all revolved around "can Taker somehow keep teh Streak against THIS guy?" Hell, the match last year was sold as Taker being the distinct underdog.


    And yes, Punk himself talks about ending the Streak, but he's the only one. Taker hasn't sold Punk as a threat, the announcers aren't selling him as a threat. SO when Punk says it, he's just saying it as a delusional heel.


    So yeah, I I think it's pretty clear: WWE decided to sell this match based on the premise that people will pay to see Taker finally kick Punk's ass. But they're not even making an attempt to sell it based on whether this guy can end the streak. It's being booked as a "face beats up pussy heel" match, rather than a "clash f titans" match, which to me is a complete waste of Punk. Sandow or Rhodes could have filled the role in this storyline (steal the urn, run away) just as well.

    ReplyDelete
  173. Christopher HirschMarch 26, 2013 at 1:26 PM

    I don't think we are watching the same show. Cole said last night that many people believe that Punk can end the streak.


    They are building it differently than Shawn or HHH because those guys were faces and Punk is a heel. Plus, why would I want to see the same build for 5 years now, I like that they are changing it up a bit. I'm not dumb as a fan, Punk was WWE Champ for over a year, that puts him in kayfabe terms as someone that can go toe to toe with Taker.

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  174. Worst_in_the_WorldMarch 26, 2013 at 1:36 PM

    Yeah, agree to disagree. To me, nothing in this build has been about Punk being a threat to the streak, or Taker looking at him as a challenge. All I see is Taker no-selling Punk as an actual opponent, and Punk engaging in early 90s cartoon booking, coming off to Taker as less of a threat than Kama or Mr. Hughes. But again, maybe we're just watching different shows.

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  175. He basically is the corporate champ that McMahon always wanted, which is why it was downright dumb to see Cena feuding with McMahon every now and then.

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  176. That's not totally true. The Punk/Cena epic came at the tail-end of a horrific show and Scott reviewed all that.
    Segment was okay. But a 40-minute yak-fest after a crappy 3 hour show is not good.

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  177. Worst_in_the_WorldMarch 26, 2013 at 2:24 PM

    Oh dude, that HHH promo was getting crickets. Nobody gave a shit, and the crowd just seemed restless the whole time. Had he stayed out any longer, it seems like the whats were about to go full force.


    And I don't see how that reaction could be blamed on a dead crowd, when the crowd was super hot for the Punk/Taker stuff and for everything Jericho did. I mean, check out the crowd reaction when Jericho (backstage) announced he'd be taking on Fandango. WAY bigger pop than anything HHH said regarding Lesnar. So somehow, Jericho got more heat on a match with FANDANGO than HHH could with brock Lesnar.


    Anyway, it's amazing how badly WWE overestimates HHH's popularity. The entrance song and the water bottle are way more over than he actually is.

    ReplyDelete
  178. Just as Stephanie, Ric Flair, CHYNA were more over than he actually was.


    Again, Bret Hart was right.

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  179. I was really hoping the first hour would be used to showcase some younger under card guys in longer matches. WCW Nitro first hour used to be a lot of fun with the luchadores.

    ReplyDelete
  180. Worst_in_the_WorldMarch 26, 2013 at 2:39 PM

    I think that as a heel, Triple H works really well. He's just totally miscast playing the sympathetic babyface, or the "legendary face who commands respect" role (ala HBK, Austin, etc.) He just isn't at that level for fans. Where Triple H still could be effective today is as the modern day Mr. McMahon. Turn Triple H, put Cena as his corporate champ, and the entire face side of the roster could become huge stars just by feuding with them.


    BUT for that to work, Triple H would have to show some ass and actually put over the faces, which definitely isn't gonna happen. Much more important for business that he kicks Barrett in the nuts.

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  181. Triple H is one of the only heels they ever booked really strong for a long period of time. The sympathetic babyface role is shit for him.

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  182. Orton is turning heel, one guess who he feuds with?

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  183. that was indeed the only good thing on this show

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  184. After these shows I wish Nitro was still around.

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  185. He needs to bring back the hot pokers for match ratings.

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  186. Again I'll make the point that when Rock is promoting a movie on a talk show he's on official business with the movie studio and not really at liberty to start plugging other stuff. If Vince wants Rock plugging Mania on talk shows he's probably gotta drop some cash or get his publicity people involved.

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