Official Pro-Wrestling Thread (WWE, TNA, ROH etc.)

[duffer]

We got three title changes, some new Superstars being pushed (Kofi, DiBiase, and in a funny way, Rhodes), and some surprise endings (RAW ending without a title). The matches were all average or better - even the ECW title match exceeded expectations - and they didn't waste time with all sorts of ridiculous backstage skits like they usually do on PPV.

The pushes were done too early or not properly so as to be of major benefit to anyone was my gripe. As I wrote earlier had little problem with most of the results it's just the manner in which the booking went wasn't sitting well with me.

And I can't go by with all the matches were avergae or better, the ECW match was horrid even going in with no expectations. Also the crowd being dead for most of the matches barr the two ME's takes away a lot of the spectacle and underlines how poor booking has been with their undercard.

Triple H-John Cena was a fantastic match in my opinion, and Edge-Batista was the best of their many encounters so far. Batista has been up a gear or two this year. People are complaining about the "bull****" finish to that match, but the fact is, a clean defeat for Batista would have made him look weak going into his move to RAW, and a clean win for Edge would have been pointless, seeing as La Familia are going to be helping him out for the foreseeable future anyway.

Trips Cena was quality, liked it but was miffed at what was going to happen to RAW(unless the obvious Punk challenge came about). The Batista finish was bs, you argue that you can't move a guy over to another show looking weak but by the same token making your champion look like a bitch is detrimental to the credibility of the belt he holds.

If they wanted to protect Batista they might as well have given him the belt IMO, booked right Edge could've still come out of it looking strong and logically gone after Triple H. That's what I hated about that finish, Edge has carried the feud anyway and taken all the major hits during it so he should've at least got some sort of credible pay-off.

Taking the best match on the card and muddying it with a circus finish does leave a bad taste in the mouth too.

A suggestion I've already heard mooted, which intrigues me greatly, is Triple H versus Edge at SummerSlam, with the loser having to drop their title and hand it over back to RAW. Of course, that makes it impossible to have the inevitable Edge-'Taker blowoff at SummerSlam, so I don't think it's likely. Triple H-Edge could well happen at GAB.

I'd be happy to go with either of those really, but feel if they could avoid vacating the title they should by all means, would prefer a Punk challenge to one of these guys and a cross-brand feud happening and ending at SummerSlam.

I'm calling it right now - Edge vs 'Taker at SummerSlam for the WHC, in a Buried Alive Match. Vickie turns on Edge at the wedding after finding out he cheated on her with their wedding planner (who's being featured on screen for a reason-people don't just randomly turn up and then disappear in WWE unless something's gone wrong), and brings back 'Taker to exact her revenge. 'Taker then gets his title back by burying Edge alive at SummerSlam.

This could work, but I don't think people would buy the love rat angle again. Siding Taker with Vickie could be interesting and I'm not sure how the crowd would react. They're genuinely repulsed by her it seems.

 

[Agent TBY]

This could work, but I don't think people would buy the love rat angle again. Siding Taker with Vickie could be interesting and I'm not sure how the crowd would react. They're genuinely repulsed by her it seems.

I wonder how different it would've been if it was Karen Angle and not Vickie.

A suggestion I've already heard mooted, which intrigues me greatly, is Triple H versus Edge at SummerSlam, with the loser having to drop their title and hand it over back to RAW. Of course, that makes it impossible to have the inevitable Edge-'Taker blowoff at SummerSlam, so I don't think it's likely. Triple H-Edge could well happen at GAB.

There's a huge problem with that. In kayfabe, Raw and Smackdown are still trying to one-up each other. Why would Smackdown want to give back one of the world titles? Isn't it a victory for them that they have both titles on their brand?

Triple H - Edge isn't going to happen any time soon. The scenario of someone from Raw forcibly taking one of the titles away, preferably in a triple threat match where the pinned superstar loses his title, is far more likely.

My dream scenario would've been Y2J throwing a fit after his Michaels feud, saying he wanted to be dual champ again, and was willing to put his IC title on the line against HHH and Edge, for a chance to take one of their titles. That way, the currently heel Jericho could've plotted, with his Canadian buddy Edge, to screw HHH out of the title. Speaking of kayfabe, Smackdown would've accepted that match too, because they'd be confident of winning yet another of Raw's titles in what would've been, essentially, a two-on-one. But well, Kofi's now the IC champ, so that's out of the window.

 

[duffer]

On another note, anyone up for another wrestling related battle? Barney did a great job on the last one but I'd be happy enough to get another one going provided we could get a good enough topic going.

 

[Agent TBY]

On another note, anyone up for another wrestling related battle? Barney did a great job on the last one but I'd be happy enough to get another one going provided we could get a good enough topic going.

Battle of the greatest matches would be fantastic, even though I suspect RR2003 will win it quite easily.

 

[masterblaster]

Battle of the Intercontinental Champions would be fantastic.

 

[Agent TBY]

Battle of the Intercontinental Champions would be fantastic.

Wouldn't it just be another battle of the wrestlers? Almost everyone of note's won the IC title.

 

[duffer]

From Meltzer's site:

World title changes in first minutes of Raw

The sides were balanced quickly as C.M. Punk cashed in his Money in the Bank stipulation after Batista destroyed Edge in a brawl and won the world title.

Ah well, Edge got destroyed two nights in a row now. We now know who's undisputed top dog on Smackdown now. Yay!

EDIT: But delighted for Punk nonetheless. I know he'll be a transitional champ, but for the time being he's reached the top and deserves it as much as anyone in the business right now.

 

[duffer]

Battle of the greatest matches would be fantastic, even though I suspect RR2003 will win it quite easily.

Wouldn't mind that, been some absolute crackers over the past two decades. Narrowing it down to 128 or 64 would be some task though.

 

[sledger]

Haha Yeah! CM Punk!! didn't expect that, kind of made my remarks him yesterday look a bit foolish.


I'd say a battle of the best matches would be the best if we went for another battle, got plenty in mind to nominate.

 

[masterblaster]

From Meltzer's site:



Ah well, Edge got destroyed two nights in a row now. We now know who's undisputed top dog on Smackdown now. Yay!

EDIT: But delighted for Punk nonetheless. I know he'll be a transitional champ, but for the time being he's reached the top and deserves it as much as anyone in the business right now.

Delighted for Punk but really disappointed for Edge. Edge is the best thing going in WWE today and to take the belt off him is pointless. We all know who Punk should've beaten to become Champion but it probably never would've happened anyway.

 

[Majin]

Yeah definitely bittersweet, was so annoyed Edge lost but so happy Punk won and held on to it, for a while I thought they were going to do something horrible hand have JBL win it off him that night which would have been the worst thing they've done in a long time. But yeah Edge got a **** deal.

 

[duffer]

From an article by Todd Martin on F4:

To begin with, Punk has just been buried on ECW. He lost so many times
to so many nobodies. He badly needed rehabilitation before getting the
title. This is an argument for more in the way of long term booking. If
you’re going to elevate a guy, you need to set the fans up for it so
when it happens they will be totally into it. If it comes out of the
blue, there’s a much greater chance the audience will reject the guy.

I also didn’t like the way Punk won the title at all. He won like a
chicken****. He let someone else beat up the champion and then took
advantage like a coward. That’s a clever way to present a heel, but
it’s no way for a face to win the title. If they thought enough of Punk
to give him the title, they should have done so in a manner that told
fans they were serious. The way he used the backdoor to get the title
kind of buried Raw as well.

Although it was lost in the euphoria of the title change I agree word for word with this. I like how WWE are trying to freshen up the card but they need to tread with caution here.

 

[sledger]

From an article by Todd Martin on F4:



Although it was lost in the euphoria of the title change I agree word for word with this. I like how WWE are trying to freshen up the card but they need to tread with caution here.

Yeah the thought did cross my mind as well tbh, though i'm still largely in favour of what happened, as long as it's handled well from this point onward...hopefully it'll work out ok.

What I find funny is the way that when Edge cashed in his MITB in this fashion all the commentators were saying was "no!, this is wrong! Edge is despicable! the ultimate opportunist! what a coward!" etc..... But when Punk cashed in...it was more of...."ZOMG!! CM PUNK! YEAH!! NEW CHAMPION!!".

 

[Majin]

That's the only reason it worked for me, tbh, the fact that it was Edge he was doing it to. Anyone else and it would have been a bit **** but we all know Edge has done it twice now so it's justice being served in this case.

 

[sledger]

Something amusing that I was discussing with Barney Rubble last night, is the fact that Kofi Kingston, who is supposedly "the first ever Jamaican WWE superstar". Has apparently never been to Jamaica in his life, and similarly has no Jamaican heritage whatsoever, and was actually born in Ghana...Another example of the E using stupid racial stereotypes in gimmicking their wrestlers...I can just see the creative team thinking this one up..."yeah...ok.....so he's a black guy....and everyone loves jamaicans.....because they're crazy and fun...just like in cool runnings....and as he's a black guy...nobody will ever know he isn't jamaican".....kind of means his gimmick is bordering on racism tbh...but then this is the WWE we are talking about, so it's nothing new.

 

[Majin]

I thought that had been fairly widely known among the IWC for a fair while anyway. IIRC he had a gimmick based on his Ghanaian heritage before he became a wrestler for the WWE anyway.

 

[sledger]

haha really? had no idea tbh, thought this sounded like a typical wwe idea so didn't look into it.

Surprised that Edge vs HHH has been booked for GAB, would have thought they would have held this back for Summerslam, guessing that they will just have a rematch at Summerslam, a HHH win one assumes.

 

[Barney Rubble]

I hope that's not SD spoilers from you there, sledger. I'm staying clear from now on.

Speaking of which, I'd appreciate it if people could put anything that hasn't been shown on TV in spoiler tabs in future. I've decided I enjoy wrestling much, much more if I don't know what's happening.

Again, speaking of which.....C-M-MOTHER-****INg PUNK!!! I don't care about the tenuousness of his victory, I don't care how he's been booked recently. I mark out big-time for the guy and was almost out of my seat when he came out to cash in. So happy he's hit the title jackpot. Feel bad for my boy Edge, but I shouldn't be surprised it's him who's dropped his title and not HHH.

Life as a mark is so much more fun - the longer I can stay away from the general cynicism of most wrestling sites, the better. Of course I will still be heading in here for discussion and all that, but moments like that make staying away from spoilers very rewarding. Can't wait for the next few weeks, some very exciting things going on right now.

 

[duffer]

Life as a mark is so much more fun - the longer I can stay away from the general cynicism of most wrestling sites, the better. Of course I will still be heading in here for discussion and all that, but moments like that make staying away from spoilers very rewarding. Can't wait for the next few weeks, some very exciting things going on right now.

Too late for that, once you cross over into Smarkville there's no turning back. It's the ability to question anything that makes you a smark and unless you can watch the shows without questioning anything at all that happens then you're a goner

Oh and Smackdown spoiler below page down cos I don't know how to use spoiler tags.














































Edge has finally gotten rid of Vickie and La Familia. Like him better this way tbh, he doesn't need Vickie to get heat if anything she's the one who got more repulsively over by her "romance" with him.

 

[Agent TBY]

Oh and Smackdown spoiler below page down cos I don't know how to use spoiler tags.

Surprisingly, even though it's vBulletin, there are no spoiler tags on this forum.

Just say

Spoiler

, or something.