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CM Punk owns the internet while you sleep

We interrupt our scheduled report on the Southern States Wrestling Thanksgiving Extravaganza to bring you this important announcement:  this week's episode of What's Crackin With Scotty Goldman is quite spiffy.

http://www.cagesideseats.com/wwe/2014/11/27/7298557/cm-punk-story-walking-out-on-wwe

Comments

  1. Bigfoot THIS thread, Bayless!

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  2. I take back what i said about Punk in the other thread. Jesus, man...he was wrestling with fucking MERSA?!

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  3. To me, this is the most telling part of the podcast:

    Punk went off on a WWE doctor named Chris Amann. Punk says he found a lump on his back, which Amann said was just a fat deposit. Punk asked Amann to cut it out several times but Amann refused. The lump got bigger and turned purple and painful. Punk told Amann again before the Royal Rumble to cut it out, but Amann refused, saying Punk had to wrestle. After the match, Punk again told him to cut it out but Amann said if he did, he’d have to put Punk on antibiotics. After Punk left, he went to another doctor that AJ Lee found for him, and that doctor diagnosed the lump as a MERSA staph infection and immediately drained puss out of it. Punk said the doctor was stunned that he had been wrestling with the infection for months, and said Punk “should be dead.” Punk blasted WWE for misdiagnosing and ignoring his infection which he worked with for months.

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  4. Whatever, he's still a petulant child.


    *pours one out for Farva*

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  5. What I am thankful for on Thanksgiving: not being fired by my company on my wedding day through fedex

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  6. I hope Bayless recants his opinions about Punk's performance during the Rumble.

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  7. So I guess I know what will be the topic at hand in about 9 hours or so.

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  8. Can't wait for all the hot takes taking WWE's side.

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  9. They suspected someone at my office had MERCA a while back and they shut the place down for 2 days had professionals come in and disinfect everything and gave a seminar on diseases of that nature... and we are just a real estate development firm.

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  10. Ya know, there's a level of cartoonish super villainy depicted on WWE's part. And the timing- two months before the Rumble- is… interesting. Like, this is hot enough to cause two months of the loudest CM Punk chants ever, and whenever the Rumble slows, they'll be their loudest… till, say, #27 or #30 "Look in my eyyyyyyyyyyyyes!" at which point the place explodes. Punk's an old-school guy, and LOVES to kayfabe us morons.


    I think this is a shoot. But don't be shocked if it's a work.

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  11. Several years ago I had a big lump on my ankle. Lots of doctors said and tried various things, but it got progressively worse. I was at the point of spiking fevers several times a day before a doctor finally figured out I needed an antibiotic IV, and to lay with my foot elevated over 23 hours a day for a week.


    I totally get what Punk went through, but as several doctors failed to figure it out before that, I can also understand how Dr. Amann could miss it.

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  12. I thought it was interesting when Punk was talking about taking them to court and the settlement, and all the things he said no to are what Del Rio agreed to.

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  13. "So he pitched that they pick three guys from developmental to create the stable. They asked who he wanted and he said "Rollins, Dean Ambrose, and Chris Hero." Triple H vetoed Hero and they put Roman Reigns in that spot instead. The idea was to put The Shield with Punk but plans changed."

    In case anyone needed another reason that Reigns is 100% their golden boy.

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  14. Also, it wouldn't surprise me if Punk follows the Paul Heyman career path. Get fired by a shitty company, come back pissed off and start a company that revolutionizes the business.

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  15. Reigns was a thousand times better fit for that than Hero ever could be. So, HHH isn't a complete idiot.

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  16. "He says the Ryback program took years off his life because of how green he is. He also calls Ryback "steroid guy" because "I call it like I see it" and reveals that Ryback kicked him in the stomach so hard during a match it broke his ribs and he never got an apology or call about it."

    Yup. I knew Ryback was near the top of the list of reasons why Punk bailed. It's bad enough that they put the two in a program where Ryback injured him legit, but after Punk killed himself for the Lesnar match at Summerslam and his body was falling apart, they feuded him with Ryback AGAIN! And they wonder why he left.

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  17. Meekin: or it could be a botch

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  18. Punk's idea for sponsorship could have been huge. Imagine if a guy like Kofi Kingston or Bo Dallas could go out and get himself some sponsorship.

    Sure Brock did it but Punk made it sound like his sponsors were grandfathered in so it didn't help anyone else. Shame too. It might have lessened tension about payouts if guys could get their own sponsorship money.

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  19. Crazy that they passed Ryback onto Cena after injuring Punk.

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  20. "Punk says he turned to Triple H and said "All due respect, I do not need to wrestle you, you need to wrestle me. I do not want to wrestle you. I seriously resent you for not putting me over three years ago when you should have. That would have been best for business but you had to fucking come in and squash it. And then I had to lose to fucking Truth and Miz. It didn't make any business sense then, it doesn't make any business sense now, and I am in a position now where I can tell you that I don't have to nor do I want to wrestle you at WrestleMania. I don't care if I was supposed to win."

    **slow clap**

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  21. In Jericho's new book, he complains that wwe originally didn't want him to do the game show downfall because it's on abc (wwe has deals with nbc).
    I could see wwe's point regarding ads. If wwe has a deal with say mcdonalds and you are wearing Burger King logo on your trunks, that might cause a problem for everyone.

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  22. Pffft, it's a work. He'll be the 30th man in the Rumble, you watch.

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  23. Any links that actually work? :(

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  24. With WWE though you always have to wonder if the doctor had am ulterior motive.

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  25. What do you mean?


    I'm just downloading the podcast instead of trying to fight to stream it.

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  26. The Shield doesn't work at all without that three-man powerbomb, and that finish would look like shit if Hero did it.

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  27. They should have went with Braden Walker.

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  28. You could say the same thing about any sports team

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  29. I've been trying to download it from iTunes but it gets interrupted at the last second

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  30. It's not missing it, it's telling Punk to wrestle on it. No doctor is that idiotic unless they're on the payroll.

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  31. Stitcher seems to have a pretty good stream.

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  32. Use the link in the article I linked to.

    http://www.tsmradio.com/colthold2/show226.mp3

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  33. (I seriously resent you for not putting me over three years ago when you should have.)



    Oh for...


    I get his medical issues, but this... I mean it's fiction. It isn't real. Wins and losses do not matter. Kudos for Punk telling HHH off, but that 'shoulda beat you years ago' thing is just ridiculous.

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  34. It depends on what kind of a person he is. He says all of this stuff, and it sounds like WWE really screwed him. But if he ran a promotion, he might very well have to do things WWE screwed him on.

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  35. I did but it stops playing every 1:50 :/

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  36. I'm calling it now: we'll see some kind of unauthorized doc about Punk's last days on the network before the end of the year. They might even fire back this week on Raw.

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  37. Maybe AJ really SHOULD have walked away when she had the chance.

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  38. Jericho said when he had the wwe doc on his podcast that it's actually better now with their own doctor. They used to have to go to a local hospital to get stitched up sometimes at 3-4am. Also the doctor is trained in sports injuries and knows the wrestlers past health issues so the wrestler doesn't need to say the same thing over and over:

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  39. Like I said, do a right click download and save it to your hard drive. Don't try to listen to it streaming.

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  40. I haven't been able to listen to it yet, but I have to assume it's a shoot. But that doesn't mean it's not weighted in his favor. Very few people can be honest at their own expense.


    There's probably a few things in there that WWE can actually defend, but I doubt we'll ever get the whole story.

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  41. Downloading takes less than 10 minutes, and you can then listen at your leisure.


    It's two hours, so you'll probably want to take a break...

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  42. We all knew Punk was hurt, but I don't think anyone expected that. That's just grisly.


    One of these days, this company's wretched health practices are going to haunt them in the worst possible way.

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  43. Worse than Benoit?

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  44. Cm punk was the hottest guy in years at that point and 3 straight ppv losses (del rio for title, against hhh, against awesome truth with hhh as partner) killed his momentum. He got some of it back by defeating del rio for the title and then going on his awesome title run. There was no reason to lose or to tag with hhh.

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  45. Maybe, maybe not.


    We don't know what's going on. Maybe she's going to work just another year, save up money, and then ask for her release.

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  46. He was a made man after Cena.


    Was he booked badly? Yeah. But he wasn't going to be a mainstream, break-out star so it didn't hurt him particularly.

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  47. It's gonna take somebody like the Rock dying in the ring to really blow WWE up I think.

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  48. Dammit. What I really wanted to know was how big Batista's dick is.

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  49. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zxHRJnZsinQ

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  50. Exactly. And on the subject of wins and losses, they do matter to fans. If you lose, your momentum will stall, which means you're less likely to make as much money because you won't be getting PPV main event pay, which Punk deserved at the time.

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  51. True. But they work for a carny as fuck organisation who fire people for ridiculous reasons. I'm sure sometimes they make questionable calls, as they did here.

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  52. Wins and losses only matter to 'smart' fans. The core audience doesn't care.

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  53. His act was very hot at that point and non-wrestling people were talking about him. I remember even bill simmons talking about him. The picture of the wwe title in the fridge went viral. If they played it right, he could have been a mainstream guy.

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  54. Yeah, Undertaker would have been just as big if he lost ever WM.

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  55. They should hire Neil Patrick Harris for the bio-pic.

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  56. They care. They won't tally all your wins and losses sure, but if you lose in a high profile match, then fans will start to look at you as a loser/choker.

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  57. So ziggler losing his title to del rio didn't hurt him? Or cesaro not winning for months? Or rusev having that huge winning streak didn't help him?

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  58. Punk's dickbag ways make sense after listening to this. The man was pretty much miserable for 8 years.

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  59. They absolutely do matter. Not the wins and losses but where they get you. Making money ain't a work.

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  60. I said it in the other thread, but I wish Colt's blog was more of a bigger deal because there's no question WWE would be catching major shit from the mainstream.

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  61. That is so wrong. What, young kids don't care if their favorite wrestlers win a match?

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  62. It might yet. Not hard to imagine that Bill Simmons gives this some attention.

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  63. Nah. WWE might have a lot of terrible practices, but it's not a real sport. People will get mad for 2 days and then move on to the next thing.

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  64. When it comes to dealing with small injuries like being stitched up, I'm sure the WWE doctors are a Godsend in that regard, but when it comes to dealing potentially serious injuries they'll just turn a blind eye to it.

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  65. No doubt it's going viral.

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  66. I wish more people had the nutsucks to tell Vince and co. to STICK IT, BROTHER! If you're not happy doing what you're doing, do something else. I'm glad he did.

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  67. Adam "Colorado" CurryNovember 27, 2014 at 2:55 AM

    Bullshit. If anything they mean a lot more to marks.

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  68. It's too long to go viral.

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  69. I do too.....within the Wrestling world. Putting this out during a holiday weekend, it's surely going to get buried before Monday.

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  70. Funny how rebels tend to get popular.


    I'm trying to remember Punk's big feuds with authority figures. Did he feud with Johnny Ace much? I remember Cena did, but not Punk. Punk had contract disputes with Vince on air, but it was only a month. And Punk was backing up Triple H when WWE became a "dangerous work environment" (that was a terrible story)

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  71. This is a company that's trying to hide the fact that a shitload of dead wrestlers worked for them and/or took steroids and drugs. Something like this would damage their squeaky-clean image they're trying to portray.

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  72. I really wish that there was a viable #2 that punk could go to. If he showed up there on a random segment or ever a pre-hyped one, the iwc would collectively lose their shit.
    For all the complaints we give about tna, sometimes I really wish that it was more viable. that would benefit the wrestlers a ton more with their their schedule, pay, health and sanity.

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  73. I will say, that in terms of long term booking that HHH going over Punk at the B-PPV was the right call. If they did a story where HHH beats Punk, Punk later wins the world title, HHH demands a shot because he feels he's the no .1 contender, and then they have a title match at following WM with Punk going over strong. That's just basic wrestling booking 101 in terms of drawing money in the long term.

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  74. I didn't expect an Owen Hart namedrop.

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  75. I think we all wanted TNA to be a viable alternative, and our complaints derive from all the self-inflicting ways they kept themselves from being so.

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  76. I think it would have been better if it was posted this upcoming Monday.

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  77. And he sounds the opposite of bitter. He sounds fired up and passionate about it.

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  78. You think this is bigger than Benoit performing murder-suicides? This isn't going to get much traction. The public don't like WWE enough for things to change. They can't get 800,000 people to get the Network, so there's not going to be enough serious outrage for anything to change.

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  79. I think he did love wrestling, but the company just killed his will to do it and put up with the bullshit. I don't think he would be passionate if he didn't care.

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  80. When it comes to the entertainment business, sometimes things like this takes a long for serious action to be taken. I mean, look at Bill Cosby, he fondled women 30 years ago or whatever, and it's only just now that action is being taken. Same with the BBC sex scandal too. You never know what the final catalyst will be when someone decides to take serious action, but if WWE continues on with these practices, it'll only be a matter of time (even if it's in the next 20 years) before something is finally done about it.

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  81. Saying 'winners and losses don't matter' means there's no difference between jobbers and main eventers

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  82. Adam "Colorado" CurryNovember 27, 2014 at 3:03 AM

    Brock may have it in his contract with Jimmy Johns and whoever else that he has to have those logos on his trunks whether it's a real fight or a work. WWE might not have had a choice in the matter, unless they didn't want him on the show.

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  83. Adam "Colorado" CurryNovember 27, 2014 at 3:05 AM

    Hell, in real sports people get mad for a couple days and move on.

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  84. In actual fact, Punk was the first guy to feud with Laurinaitis. They were originally building up Laurinaitis-Punk program before they shoehorned Cena into the spot.

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  85. I don't understand why so many human being don't understand this concept. People complain because they CARE about something. If nobody complained, that means there's no interest.

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  86. It took a few decades before athletes being their wives mattered apparently.

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  87. He was talking about wanting to walk Chael Sonnen to ring side, and Vince being appalled, saying that UFC was barbaric and that "someone was gonna die in the octagon" So Punk was like, "Do I have to remind you about Owen Hart?"

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  88. Ray Rice? It wasn't a big deal at all until the video came out. And then all of a sudden it mattered.


    But it didn't matter. People didn't stop watching the NFL, not even remotely.

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  89. "It's just the concussion talking"


    Jeez, I wonder how many times Vince has used *that* one over the years...

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  90. Ha, I remember in early 97 when the first signed Shamrock and he did commentary and Vince bragged that wrestlers have died in the ring, but no-one had died in the Octagon before as he was putting wrestling over as the more dangerous sport.

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  91. I'd love to be the fly on the wall when Vince talks to one of the divas. I can totally imagine Vince telling them that they're on the rag if they start to complain.

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  92. The juicy quotes will go viral.

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  93. Ziggler was bombing after he won the title, before he'd lost to Del Rio.

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  94. Punk's story about firing up Rusev before the Rumble is so great.

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  95. We'll never know because they aren't salty, bitter assholes like people online are who whine about everything.

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  96. He bombed? He never even got to main event a PPV as the champion. And he was only champion for like 3 weeks before getting the concussion and being removed from tv.

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  97. Adam "Colorado" CurryNovember 27, 2014 at 3:18 AM

    I don't blame Vince for that one. Not for the reasons he gave, but that shitbag is about the last person I'd want one of my employees to be seen with in public. And anyway, wasn't Taker at UFC events all the time? Not to mention HHH walking Mayweather to the ring. A lot more people die in boxing than MMA.

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  98. I think getting to show up at MMA/Boxing events is up there with being allowed to have an icepack after a match.

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  99. To be fair on 2 things...


    1, boxing has been around way longer.


    2, all of those deaths are the reasons why modern combat sports are less lethal.

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  100. Punk later said he learned from that that "it's better to ask for forgiveness than to seek permission"

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  101. Adam "Colorado" CurryNovember 27, 2014 at 3:22 AM

    Oh and Vince must forget that he himself promoted a shoot tournament, with fighters that weren't even trained and where, surprise surprise, most of them got injured.

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  102. Must have learned that from Vince when he sexually harrassed those women....allegedly.

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  103. It literally had nothing to do with Chael.

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  104. Adam "Colorado" CurryNovember 27, 2014 at 3:23 AM

    That's good advice in a lot of situations. No one can say no if you ask permission in the first place.

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  105. Adam "Colorado" CurryNovember 27, 2014 at 3:24 AM

    I know that, I'm just saying that should have been reason enough to say no.

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  106. Adam "Colorado" CurryNovember 27, 2014 at 3:26 AM

    How can someone deny you permission to do something that happened already? They can say don't do it again, that's about it. Not like he would get fired for it.

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  107. He won't get fired for it, but they can change plans and have Punk work with Ryback again to teach him a lesson.

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  108. How much different would history be if Royal Rumble was Rock vs a heel Daniel Bryan?

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  109. Adam "Colorado" CurryNovember 27, 2014 at 3:28 AM

    Didn't they do that anyway?

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  110. "No one can say no if you ask permission in the first place."


    Do you read what you type?

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  111. Adam "Colorado" CurryNovember 27, 2014 at 3:29 AM

    It was a typo, I fixed it.

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  112. Probably, but my timeline is off with these things.

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  113. The matches would be better probably.

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  114. Adam "Colorado" CurryNovember 27, 2014 at 3:31 AM

    The crowd probably would have turned Rock into the heel.

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  115. I'm pretty sure WWE never would have done that if it came down to it. They just wanted Punk to play ball. Similar thing happened in 91 when DiBiase was unhappy working with Virgil, so DiBiase was given an ultimatum to either work with Virgil or work with a ham and egger (he was a pretty known job guy, but his name escapes me) and DiBiase chose the lesser of 2 evils.

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  116. Adam "Colorado" CurryNovember 27, 2014 at 3:41 AM

    I'm not going to let the same 2 or 3 assholes ruin it for me.

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  117. Rock specifically asked to work with a heel, so they had no choice.

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  118. TJ: Just booked tickets to my first ever Raw, London in April. Yeah!

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  119. I know this post is about Punk, but I feel WWE did the same thing to Edge too. I feel they forced Edge into early retirement and the guy is going to have have neck problems for the rest of his life because of it. Following his first neck surgery, Edge did an interview where he said the days of him doing ladder matches are over and then WWE proceeds to book Edge in a shitload of ladder matches over the years.

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  120. Spoiler: William Regal will lose. Maybe Sheamus too depending on whomever's booking if they think England and Ireland are the same country or not.

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  121. I'll happily see that no good bully Sheamus lose.

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  122. Adam "Colorado" CurryNovember 27, 2014 at 4:02 AM

    They'll call up Neville and have him job.


    (He's English, right?)

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  123. he is! I saw him at a Dragongate UK show here a few years back. We sat right in front of his mum.

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  124. I didn't expect a Benoit namedrop.

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  125. They can portray the squeaky-clean image all the want; perception is reality, and the reality is that a lot of people look on the company as this seedy joint that is low-rent entertainment and morally bankrupt leadership.

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  126. As a matter of fact, he is right.

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  127. Part of the reason he bombed was that they had him lose to Swagger the VERY next week clean non-title. I'd wager that seriously hurt him. He'd also been jobbing for something like six straight months leading up to the title win, further hurting his credibility even from the start. Wins and losses matter.

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  128. For what it's worth, MRSA is no joke. They appear like infected bumps at
    first, which then grows into a painful (and uber-nasty) boil. I've
    dealt with two instances in the last five years, because the bacteria is
    more common in the region that I live. The one on my chest, when it
    opened up, was particularly uncouth as they say, leaving a little hole
    down into the inside of this boil.

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  129. I have two trains of thought on this...

    From a purely objective, facts-driven basis, CM Punk's podcast was interesting, and brought up some juicy tidbits that seem to feed into the majority of the IWC's feelings on the WWE and its 'senior leadership' as such. Granted though, the man behind the CM Punk character is noted as someone who is generally pissed off and an asshole by his own admission, so it's hard to look at everything presented without holding on to some modicum of questioning its complete authenticity. Because of the private nature of the final conversation in Cleveland, it will always be a he said/he said type deal, and speculation will rule the conversation.

    As a subjective CM Punk mark, his interview really expounded on what a dickbag Triple H can be behind the scenes. For all that he does right, there's an equally damning side that really draws on how petulant he can be at times.

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  130. Fucking outstanding. Miss watching the guy, but good for him for getting out with his mind intact.


    And those shots at Ryback. Ouch. That guy will never live down that rep.

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  131. LOL at Punk losing a check for hundreds of thousands of dollars in his basement for a year.

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  132. It amazes me that Ryback is as green as Punk and others suggest that he is, considering he's been with the company since the original Nexus angle in 2010. If he hasn't picked up the fundamentals by this point, he's a lost cause.

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  133. But does he use ice afterward?

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  134. If guys get over too quickly/easily, they let the success get to their heads and stop trying to learn because they think the business is easy.

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  135. Getting fired by FedEx on your wedding day? Jeez, WWE really is showing WCW-like signs...

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  136. Still need to listen, just read the recap. Good for Punk. They're such passive aggressive assholes firing on his wedding day. I'm shocked AJ's been booked as strongly as she has this year in retrospect.

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  137. On one hand, I commend Punk for having the balls to tell him to stick it. And he does have a point about his 2011 booking.


    On the other hand, it seems childish for him to hold a grudge just because he wasn't put over everybody when he was hot in 2011. The WWE didn't exactly have a surplus of credible upper-card challengers at that point. So what if he lost to Truth/Miz in a pointless tag match? It helped them and Punk was already made.


    And I hate to say it, but HHH didn't "need" to wrestle him at WM this year, especially when he was going to be losing.

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  138. I read the recap, might get to listen to it later. Again, I question the sanity of anyone that wants to work there.

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  139. It just seems that the Punk/HHH thing is really personal. Not sure if HHH is like that with all the talent but it's obvious those two do not like each other. Difference is Vince can hate you and work with you but HHH hasn't learned to do that.

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  140. Jim Cornette has said that you need to be crazy to want to work in the business, but if you're sane to begin with then you'll end up going crazy with the rest of them.

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  141. If what Punk said about HHH was true then it was probably him that came up with the idea to fire him on his wedding day.

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  142. I believe it. It starts in the beginning with Gen. Rection. I just couldn't see myself going back for day 2 after dealing with him. If you make it past that it becomes a video game with you having to face a different boss at each level until you have to deal with the head basketcase

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  143. I was ready to turn on The Rock anyway. That Rumble match was just embarrassing.

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  144. Well, HHH is smart to the business. He knows that everyone, even the top stars are expendable whereas Vince believes big stars are the answer to his company's woes when business is in a slump.

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  145. Nah, he said WWE was a pit stop.....FAST LANE, BABBBBBBBY

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  146. I thought the match was fine, but disappointing. Only thing I hated was Rock ending Punk's 400+ day as champion with a friggin elbow drop. Who does he think he is? Buddy Landell?!

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  147. Well it didn't help them did it? Truth and Miz were quickly buried afterwards, which makes Punk losing even more stupid with the benefit of hindsight.

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  148. We slightly disagree here. This just seemed to be about putting Punk in his place more than anything else. Both sides kept upping the ante until Punk walked out. Then HHH ups the ante by firing him after he already quit. Then Punk ups the ante even more by saying he'll never go back.

    None of this seems to be even slightly business related. Even the WM power play seems more about Punk trying to get his way than actually caring about main eventing.

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  149. In all honesty, professional wrestling has always been a seedy, carny-like environment. The fact that a publicly traded company can get away with some of the shit they've been able to sweep under the rug is crazy though, from attempting to discredit the renewed discussion on concussions in 2007 to the resurgence (?) of steroid abuse in the locker room, not to mention a horrendous track record on talent relations and treating wrestlers one notch above indentured servants.


    As poorly as I hold the U.S. Government right now, I'd almost say some sort of Federal investigation into their standards and practices would be justified.

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  150. London tapings are a real crap shoot. I went this year's Raw taping and it sucked. But a couple of years ago we got Michaels and Cena going broadway (ironically the year I decided that the Smackdown roster looked better and went to that one). Either way be prepared for a bloody massive queue at the O2 as they always leave it too late to open the doors which is odd as I'd have everyone in as early as possible and flag them merch.

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  151. I started to post about their business practices being exposed but investigative journalism has pretty much died out.

    This stuff isn't enough to make me stop being a fan but it probably should be. Hearing about this kind of stuff just brings me down because while the company has grown, the treatment of the employees seems to be worse than it was in the smoke filled bar days.

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  152. Respect. I saw Bryan D in front of 200 people at Wolverhampton Town Hall. Got to love the randomness of the UK indy scene!

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  153. CM Punk didn't need to win that match with Triple H but coming out of it the way he did after the loss didn't help at all.

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  154. I know that Punk not being there means I watch next to nothing of the main WWE product.

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  155. Probably goes back to when Punk was more over than he was in that Survivor Series match. Probably didn't help that when Punk was World Champ on Raw, HHH was slumming it on Smackdown.

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  156. It wasn't so much the loss, it was the overall booking. Punk went from being WWE's hottest property after the pipebomb deal to being an afterthought in the whole Nash/HHH feud.

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  157. If Punk's math is correct, how do you not do day 500 of Punk's reign as champ vs the streak?

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  158. That match was shit. I'm going off memory cause I haven't rewatched it. One thing I do remember was Rock sitting outside the ring breathing like an 80 year old woman cause he wasn't in wrestling shape. That's not something I paid 50 bucks to see and was highly disappointed.

    Then they restart the match because wrestling and then Rock wins with an elbow of all things. No interest in seeing him ever again after that.

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  159. I saw Bryan Daniel at a UK indy show in Croydon and I was pretty excited then ended up being disappointed as Bryan ended up working a 5 minute match.

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  160. I understand completely. There was a point when I questioned myself and my integrity for putting money into a form of entertainment that led to such a high rate of injuries and premature deaths from drug and physical abuse wrought by the business. It basically came down to "enh, they love what they do, otherwise they wouldn't do it," but I still have reservations sometimes.

    I think that people assumed (incorrectly in hindsight) that when the WWE went public, it would usher in the start of reforms by necessity to convey the proper social image a publicly traded company needs. Instead, the WWE exists in this strange vacuum that immunizes it from scrutiny somehow. As a lifelong fan of wrestling, I would be very sad to see the WWE brought down under any circumstances, legal or otherwise. But by the same token, a company as idiotic as they have proven to be shouldn't deserve my attention anyway, so let them get buried under lawsuits for all I care.

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  161. Understandable. I wish I could walkaway too but I'm an addict and I need help

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  162. It's not my favourite place in the world the 02, but it's a neccessary evil. Seen a couple of UFC's and several bands there. Going to see Morrissey there this saturday!

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  163. Honestly? Considering how he was booked during that reign and his placement in terms of the card, my honest opinion is that they were never really interested in making Punk bigger than he was. It was a situation where they felt compelled to cash in to an extent out of necessity—Punk was the only fresh thing going for a long time—but they never truly went all in on him like they could have.

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  164. I think you summed it up pretty well. It's a battle between my personal entertainment and my appeal to humane decency. Enjoying wrestling should not be a moral dilemma but here we are. Damn

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  165. I'm the same way with the Carolina Panthers.


    Still only a game out of first. FUCK.

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  166. I hear you, but I still disagree. Day 500 vs The Streak sell itself.

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  167. I'm been trying to quit on the season all year but they just won't let me. I have a feeling this is coming down to the last week. I even thought about going to the playoff game if they somehow pull this out. They have me where they want me.

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  168. It's why I have such fond memories of the late-'80s/early-'90s period, comparative to today. The childhood fascination and nostalgia factor play a big role, but the company's public message was much more positive, even if the same seedy problems existed backstage.

    Nowadays, the company comes off as so transparently facetious in everything that it does. Perhaps it's just the adult in me now that can see through facades that were above my understanding as a child. Even so, it's sometimes hard to reconcile the WWF of 1990 with the WWE of 2014 in terms of recognizing the same man leading the ship.

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  169. I agree, but in Vince's mind Rock v Cena II would sell more because it worked so well the first time.

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  170. I've been trying to quit sports for several years now. I am way too emotionally invested in certain things, and I honestly think I'd live longer if it weren't for sports teams taking years off my life. Between the Panthers finding creative ways to kick me in the balls and my Mount Rushmore of Irrational Sports Hate constantly being upended, I spend more time yelling expletives at the TV these days than I do enjoying the game.

    I used to be that passionate about wrestling, but a lot of things conspired to kill that same level of connection on that front.

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  171. Shit, why not do both? It's not like they have 4 hours to kill or anything.

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  172. Mania 29 was terrible. How many people really wanted to see Cena get his win back? That show was so bad I didn't watch again until 30.

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  173. It's the same with the NFL. We just know too much. Wonder if it would be different if it wasn't promoted as such a big family thing we always knew about the seediness?

    Vince has made strides in the past few years but Punk did make one great point. The guys in the locker room are not putting pressure on management to change things. Instead they put pressure on each other to keep the status quo.

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  174. Life'd be a more boring place without caring too much about sports teams. I always feel a bit sorry for those who don't follow a sport or a team.

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  175. I'm sure having the fear of being left off a PPV or shunted down the card has a lot to do why the locker room doesn't rise up.

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  176. Oh, I'm not defending the decision they made by a long shot. CM Punk versus the Undertaker, Streak v. Steak should've closed that show out, no question. If anything, I would've much preferred Punk/Undertaker with the title and steak on the line as the main event, followed by Brock Lesnar and the Rock, and then figure out a way to work Triple H and Cena together or something.

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  177. I was a huge sports fan growing up. I'm managed to stop caring so much about everything but the Panthers. The emotional investment is no where near the level it used to be but I still have to have a cooling off period after losses. I'm not sure I want to stop caring though.

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  178. No doubt, but they can't leave everyone off the card.

    Austin once said that the guys will never work together cause the top guys eat too good to stand up for the guys on the bottom of the card. Until that changes this will just keep going.

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  179. Funny, I was thinking to myself, you hear why Punk left straight from the horse's mouth but I'm sure there are going to be assholes that are going to defend WWE.


    I'm actually kind of looking forward to what Vince Jordan has to say.

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  180. My case is a bit special, in that part of the attraction to being a huge sports fan was that my mom and dad were huge fans in their own respective ways. Growing up, one of the treats was watching a game or race on TV with my dad; I did the traditional father-son thing and started bleeding for the same teams he loved, but my mom was a huge baseball fan as well, so it was something we all shared. Losing them both unexpectedly 10 months apart kind of put a cloud over sports for awhile, and now it's just not the same watching things alone.

    Football is the one exception, since my brother and I watch every game. I still love things like hockey, baseball, and basketball; just not at the level that I used to, really.

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  181. Human nature. Most people think the rich should be taxed more until they become rich, then all of a sudden it becomes unfair.

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  182. Ah, I'm sorry to hear that man, that sucks.

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  183. I'm planning to go to one of the shows on that tour... Birmingham would be closest for me, but I'd love to take my lady to go see a Raw taping.


    Fancy some company, or got plans?

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  184. And that shot at Triple H at the end?


    HHH: Dave took the piss test.
    Punk: Did you?
    HHH: ...

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  185. Not special plans ,It's gonna be me and my brother, and I've got a reservation at a hotel at the Docklands. I'd be more than happy to say hello! I bought the cheapest seats available. I basically had the choice of going to the Notts house show in April and getting really good seats, or heading down to Londontown but getting crap seats. So we're up in the heavens.

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  186. "You need to be fucked up just to work in the business." - Al Snow


    A sane, rational person does not work in wrestling. At least for very long.

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  187. I only go if any shows are up north like manchester..but now just waitin for a live raw...sick of going to house show...thoroughly bored with the last one I went to...I wished I had tickets to pcw/roh shows

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  188. I care about the Panthers and Duke, and that's pretty much it nowadays. I'm a lot better for it.

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