Hey Scott,
I know this is Knit-Picking but how come the WWE never acknowledged the extensive history between Punk and Ryback and Axel? First, there's the fact that Axel used to be in the New Nexus, which Punk led, which is a minor point but could've at least led to some type of real emotion between the two, instead of Axel just saying, "I hate you 'cause Heyman said so."
More of a glaring point is the fact that Punk, Ryback, AND Heyman have history that was concluded less than a year ago. Again, I can understand WWE never wanting to bring up McGuillicutty, but Punk/Ryback was a main event feud in 2012 and not even the announcers are bringing up the odd fact that Ryback is embracing the guy that cost him the WWE title.
Is there a reason they're, I'm assuming, actively ignoring continuity here?It's not really like there's an continuity problem; it's perfectly plausible that a heel Ryback would be cynical enough to embrace the man who cost him the title in his naive face days. But ignoring this history seems to be actively hurting an already weak feud and I can't understand why they would do that?
"Are we to believe this is some sort of...*scoff*...MAGIC xylophone?"
OK, nerd-shaming aside, I prefer to think of WWE TV as seasons that reset every Wrestlemania at this point. Makes it easier to reconcile a lot of the stuff.
Because Punk was the one to punch him in the balls. Heyman was just a part of the business, he backs winners, and in 12', Punk was the winner. In 2013-14? It's the year of the Ryback.
ReplyDeleteI like to think that the characters remember everything, but they choose not to bring it up on television. In a sense, I respect that. I don't need to see Kane air any more of his dirty laundry in public, thank you.
ReplyDeleteKane explaining his entire history in anger management was the funniest shit ever
ReplyDeleteWhat the hell are you talking about?
ReplyDeleteWell, you sure can't argue with the success that Ryback has had this year.
ReplyDeleteOnly two people are allowed to remember things beyond the prior 4 weeks: 1. HHH when he needs to degrade and belittle people in snide side remarks. 2. John Cena when he wants to put an upcoming match into historical perspective...which, honestly, is one of the best things about his promos. And you just KNOW that they're his words since writers are often instructed not to give a shite about the past.
ReplyDeleteAnd, oh yeah, Stephanie is allowed to remember fake memories from 24 years ago (or whenever she was 12 years old and hanging out with Big Show).
Still, the author of the post makes plenty of valid and intriguing points that WWE chooses to ignore in a very stale feud (Heyman and Punk can only do so much).
Vince thinks wrestling fans are to dumb to remember or care about things like this.
ReplyDelete"For reasons never explained, I have an unhealthy obsession with torturing Pete Rose." Classic
ReplyDeleteTessmacher LOVES my magic xylophone.
ReplyDeleteC'mon, that was like two years apart.
ReplyDeleteWhich may be. But how does taking a minute to acknowledge some of these things for the fans that do remember hurt the product for the ones who don't?
ReplyDeleteAnd the next month he's dead
ReplyDeleteYea, I agree. It would take 15 seconds to just mention it.
ReplyDeleteMy favorite bit of that little arc was when Edge came back and Kane bro-hugged him. DBry was upset until they offered a three way hug and the look in DBry's eyes when he realized he could hug them was hilarious.
ReplyDeleteMy biggest issue is how badly Joe Hennig has been handled since debuting on WWE TV. First he is shamed with the name "Michael McGillicutty". Jesus Christ I knew backyard wrestlers with better ring names. Then when they do repackage him instead of just Joe Hennig we get Curtis Axel, who looks the exact same as Michael McGillicutty. Then he proceeds to get a bunch of non wins over guys when he should have beat Triple H somewhat clean on his debut Raw. From there he proceeds to eat a GTS or get pinned every week by CM Punk. I'm suppose to believe he is a Heyman guy?, he is so far removed from Paul's great legacy with talent it is ridiculous. They need to have one final blow off match with Axel and Punk and never have them on TV together ever again, the feud has sucked the heat out of both guys.
ReplyDeleteI hope WWE is serious about Goldberg coming in to wrestle Ryback, beating Goldberg or winning a feud with Goldberg is the only thing that will save him at this point. I think Ryback is cool and has a ton of potential. I actually bought last years Hell in the Cell and was really pissed when the fans shit all over him with Goldberg chants. I would love to see Goldberg come back, I think Paul could do some cool things feuding with him.
And please give Paul one of these alleged revamped tag teams that are coming.
He has no problem selling blu rays and DVDs of matched we don't remember. Or filling a whole network with matches and shows no one remembers.
ReplyDeleteI remember being really excited for some reason. When Test was with Tn'A and they were supposed to go help Stephanie Mcmahon and Test said, "Why would I care about her? she left me at the alter. Screw her."
ReplyDeleteI got really excited for some reason.
It didn't get much better than WWE 2000.
ReplyDeleteGoldberg beating Goldberg? PARADOXICAL
ReplyDeleteOr Kane and Lita's awkward meet-up on Raw. 'So... how about the weather?'
ReplyDeleteConsidering his skill level vs his spot on the card, I'd think it was extremely successful from the Ryback's point of view.
ReplyDeleteI think WWE just wants to sweep Punk's heel turn under the rug. Seriously, that was some bad shit that just made Punk look really bad.
ReplyDelete"You people suck! Boo me! Why aren't you booing me after Bret Hart knocked me out and I beat up Mick Foley? Hey, Undertaker, Paul Bearer is dead!"
I loved his heel run.
ReplyDeleteHeel punk > face punk, IMO
Yea the way they made him use the cheapest tricks in the book to get heat took away some of his credibility. Plus the fact he looks like a guy that half the ppl watching think they could probably kick his ass doesn't help his cause at that time.
ReplyDeleteI had no idea that Axel was in the new Nexus and no recollection of Punk and Ryback feuding... I'm exactly what WWE wants in a fan.
ReplyDeleteI'd say:
ReplyDeleteAngry Punk > Happy Punk
They have one last shot with Axel: Heyman/Ryback turn on him, he turns face, and decides that he's done "being who others want me to be" by switching back to his real name. He's an awful heel, but maybe he'll make a decent face.
ReplyDeleteThis is also true.
ReplyDeletelol. to be fair, that was almost 2 years apart. It wasn't rare that they did that crap either. Hacksaw teamed in 90 with Bossman and he was feauding with him earlier that year...Steamboat teamed with Savage at Survivor 87...Jake teamed with Earthquake (supposed to) in 91, only months after killing damien! I still love the character consistency that Bad News never got along with his team. Awesome.
ReplyDeleteWorked wonders for Ray Traylor... go for it.
ReplyDeleteI was just watching some random Smackdown episodes from 2000 as I never saw the show back then. It's astounding, when compared to now, how over everyone was. Val Venis gets a 2013 Main Event level reaction coming out for a random European Title match. Edge and Christian beat the Dudleys in a nothing tag match and the pinfall has the crowd in raptures reserved these days for WWE Title Main Events.
ReplyDeleteIn February they were even subtly foreshadowing Steph's crush on Kurt Angle. That wasn't paid off for another five months!
Oh, how it makes me sad that the guy responsible for the writing in 2000 (forget his name) was mocked and labeled a "nerd" by Vince and Steph because he planned out the various storylines in blocks for months in advance. You ever want an answer as to why nothing makes sense and continuity is non-existent in the WWE these days, just remember the boss and the head of creative think planning storylines out is worthy of derision.
Imagine heel Rock vs. face Punk. I don't get his Memphis obsession and that heel run was a disaster.
ReplyDeleteI really think Punk needs some time off to go start a band or act in some indy movies or something. Maybe he will come back fresh. You can just tell all the passion, desire, and love he had as a backyard wrestler and indy wrestler has sucked right out of him. The best role for him would be to help a new start up promotion as he would be a huge asset as a talent, trainer, creative mind, commentary, etc.
It was inexcusable that he couldn't be bothered to lift some weights while he was the champion.
ReplyDeleteChris Kreski, he does deserve more credit than he ever gets.
ReplyDeleteIf his only remaining goal is to main event Wrestlemania then the best thing for him to do when his contract expires would be to take a year or two off and then come back ala Lesnar/Rock/Undertaker/HHH for a mega-match. It's the most likely way he'll get to fulfil that dream, I think.
ReplyDeleteSadly, I just checked his Wikipedia page and it turns out he passed in 2005. That's a bummer. The wiki even notes that we was mocked for his use of storyboards. What a ridiculous company.
ReplyDelete"Look at that nerd doing his job competently!"
The fact that he was replaced as head of creative by Stephanie is both hilarious and pathetic.
Yes a hundred times over. If your goal is to "tell stories" then you had better be consistent with the telling of them.
ReplyDeleteThis comment should win every thread here on BoD. Great stuff and I'm *very* impressed. I had to look it up to see if I remembered what you're referencing.
ReplyDeleteThat was my favorite, too. I love how Kane is basically a walking in-joke for snarks like us.
ReplyDeleteFaces do have to have short memories, otherwise we wouldn't have gotten our annual fix of 'Ole turns on Dusty', 'Arn turns on [every face ever]' and TNA Hall of Famers Sting and Kurt Angle vying for the Gullibility Hall of Fame. That said, just give the past a quick nod and move on, WWE!
ReplyDeleteHe was probably working a really brutal schedule plus he's been beat up for quite a while. Sometimes guys just get to a point where they figure it's best to focus on their in-ring work and character rather than being in the gym a ton. Once his Rated-R character took off, Edge lost a ton of muscle mass b/c he quite punishing his body in the gym. Not everyone is John Cena.
ReplyDeleteI'd love for Heyman to take Barrett and pair him up with another "Heyman" guy.
ReplyDeleteYes. Everything did seem more special for sure. I'm sure a lot of that is nostalgia and revisionist history, but I don't really care. 2000 was tremendous.
ReplyDeleteYes. Honestly, that was good enough in terms of "paying off" the Test/HHH/SMH thing for me. Test could have become more, if they really played up his revenge at some point, but honestly when was that going to happen? HHH was working with Foley, Rock, Kane, Taker, Angle, Jericho, Benoit in 2000. I don't see where Test would, or should, have become a main eventer. In short, having Test shrug her off and move on with his career was probably just fine in terms of continuity
ReplyDeleteIn episode BF12, you were battling barbarians while riding a winged Appaloosa, yet in the very next scene,
ReplyDeletemy dear,you're clearly atop a winged Arabian. Please do explain it.
True, but face Punk beats that ridiculous heel Punk any day of the week.
ReplyDelete"For reasons never explained" sums up 90% of their storytelling, which is made it even funnier.
ReplyDeleteSo true.
ReplyDeleteI agree with not bringing up the Michael McGillcutty nonsense. However, i don't know why they can't bring up the Punk-Ryback feud from last year. They even had a Hell in a Cell Match at the very same PPV last year, with the heel-face roles reversed. I think references to it would be very easy to make. Punk could say, "You know Ryback, I used to respect you. Last year you fought me like a man. You even went to the top of the Hell in a Cell to give me a shell shock. That hurt me for days. But now, you're a coward. You hide behind Paul Heyman. You are a shell of your former self. I beat you last time, and I can beat you again, even with Heyman's help." Then Ryback can get furious and assualt CM Punk viciously. Now all of a sudden, you have a personal feud that builds on history. Why isn't WWE doing this?
ReplyDeleteHe wants to headline WM vs Cena. That'll happen if Punk leaves and becomes a Hollywood superstar. Hah
ReplyDeleteI had to look him up, too. That guy was successful in every venture he pursued. You have a guy who has his shit together and is a winner, and you replace him with Stephanie, who was only a couple years removed from college. And this is the 2nd most valuable and critical creative position (a step below from the title, "I'm Vince McMahon, goddammit"). No wonder why my and so many others' interest began to wane around late 2000 and early 2001 as we just tried to stick around til WM17.
ReplyDeleteLol cena is totally on HGH anyway. It was a laughed at secret that during his ovw time that his motel refrigerators were to be kept a certain temp upon his arrival. Cough, to store something not beer related. He uses and management looks the other way. Holly even referenced it on wor that the top guys get a pass but undercard do not.
ReplyDeleteWhat the hell are you talking about?
ReplyDeleteMain Event upvote count there. Just sayin'...
ReplyDeleteNumber... 1... draw
ReplyDeleteRyback the person? Yes. Ryback the character? No.
ReplyDeleteRyback (the character) isn't stupid, but he's insecure and naive. He went up against Heyman and thought he'd play fair, it stands to reason that Ryback+Heyman would be unstoppable in 'back's mind.
ReplyDeleteBut Punk has balls and heart and drive and huge psychological problems that Ryback doesn't understand the power of because he's been fed a steady diet of WWE bullshit (bodies are everything) and Heyman bullshit (Heyman can do anything).
McGillicutty is a great, masculine name.
ReplyDeleteRyback is one thing, but I don't think they want to bring up the New Nexus. I mean, after Punk turned tweener, they just disappeared. You'd think you know they'd be curious as to what happened to their group, but I guess not.
ReplyDeleteAnd god knows she didn't do anything worthwhile when she was in college. I mean, she got a degree in Communications. Is phony major.
ReplyDeleteWhich "face Punk", though?
ReplyDeleteThe hard-working new guy, the angry one we have now, or the one that referred to John Laurinaitis as "Snicklefritz"?
And Hugh G. Rection!
ReplyDelete