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

[sledger]

Have to say I feel a lot of sympathy for Christian in this instance, he seems to have had the rug well and truly pulled out from under his feet. I really don't think it would have hurt to have left the title on him for a month, even two weeks maybe. As MB has said, Randy Orton really does not need the title to get over. Whether this is leading to a bigger storyline or not, I'm not a fan of this booking. If they were prepared to put the title on him at all, they should have at least given him his moment in the spotlight.

 

[GIMH]

Well IMO the WWE (rightly or wrongly) don't have the faith in Christian to play top face on Smackdown, and they want to grow the Smackdown brand. The writing was on the wall for Christian before he won the belt, when Orton was drafted across to Smackdown.

I reckon that this is the perfect opportunity to slowly turn Christian heel (a la CM Punk two years ago but the other way round). Christian is much more interesting as a heel I reckon. Although, as mb said, he should be the one with sympathy, it's a basic fact that Orton is more popular and a heel turn can be easily worked on that basis "the peeps turned their back on me" etc.

All that aside, what no-one seems to have mentioned is just how good a match it was. Brilliant. And Sheamus-Bryan was absolutely stellar as well.

The other good news is that when Jericho returns, he might well wind up on Smackdown to get revenge on Orton. After a crap year last year, the blue brand is looking very watchable again (although I never want to see Khali and Mark Henry even shown in the same picture as the title again).

 

[sledger]

Apparently Jericho is saying when he returns he'll be back with another totally reinvented character. Not sure if I approve of that. Whilst it's good to reinvent yourself he's not really been away all that long this time, and his best in the world character was great and still had a lot of mileage imo.

In any case, a return to Smackdown would be great, as would some sort of reunion with Christian.

 

[Shri]

Apparently Jericho is saying when he returns he'll be back with another totally reinvented character. Not sure if I approve of that. Whilst it's good to reinvent yourself he's not really been away all that long this time, and his best in the world character was great and still had a lot of mileage imo.

In any case, a return to Smackdown would be great, as would some sort of reunion with Christian.

Should return with the gimmick where he called everyone 'Jackass' and put 'em in the walls of Jericho. He overdid the codebeaker in his last gimmick and under used the walls.

 

[GIMH]

Can't agree that going back to his old gimmick would be a good idea. Jericho is all about reinvention and pushing himself.

 

[masterblaster]

Well IMO the WWE (rightly or wrongly) don't have the faith in Christian to play top face on Smackdown, and they want to grow the Smackdown brand. The writing was on the wall for Christian before he won the belt, when Orton was drafted across to Smackdown.

I reckon that this is the perfect opportunity to slowly turn Christian heel (a la CM Punk two years ago but the other way round). Christian is much more interesting as a heel I reckon. Although, as mb said, he should be the one with sympathy, it's a basic fact that Orton is more popular and a heel turn can be easily worked on that basis "the peeps turned their back on me" etc.

All that aside, what no-one seems to have mentioned is just how good a match it was. Brilliant. And Sheamus-Bryan was absolutely stellar as well.

The other good news is that when Jericho returns, he might well wind up on Smackdown to get revenge on Orton. After a crap year last year, the blue brand is looking very watchable again (although I never want to see Khali and Mark Henry even shown in the same picture as the title again).

Amongst the hysteria of Christian losing, I did forget to mention how good a match it actually was. It was one of the best TV matches of the year and credit to both Christian and Randy Orton for pulling off a brilliant match.

There haven't been too many matches that get the crowd so emotionally invested in them but the Christian vs Randy Orton match did as did the Christian vs Alberto Del Rio ladder match. For whatever his political standing backstage, surely Christian would've raised his profile by having two absolutely kick ass matches in the space of 2 days.

 

[masterblaster]

Can't agree that going back to his old gimmick would be a good idea. Jericho is all about reinvention and pushing himself.

Yep, I for one can't wait to see what he comes up with next.

 

[GIMH]

How would you feel about a Christian heel turn mb?

 

[SirBloody Idiot]

I think it is probably in Christian's best interests to stay a face. The WWE have a massive need for top faces, and as a heel he'll just get lost back in the shuffle. Plus, no one wants to boo him at this point in the same way no one wanted to boo Chavo after Eddie died.

Not sure we need another whiny dick heel either. Christian plays that part pretty well, but the WWE only seem to be able to book the whiny dick and the monster heel.

 

[GIMH]

Looking around Smackdown though, who are the top heels?

I'm probably forgetting someone, but I can only think of Sheamus.

The fact that Mark Henry was out demanding a title shot says a lot...

 

[masterblaster]

How would you feel about a Christian heel turn mb?

If it was other circumstances I would absolutely welcome it. I personally thought before Edge's retirement and all the goodwill coming off of that, that Christian's face character was growing stale. I was a huge fan of his work with the WWE in 2004 and 2005 as the smarmy, arrogant heel and he continued that good work in TNA where he was an excellent heel World Champion.

I just think that with the outpouring of emotion and support that Christian got after winning at Extreme Rules and then losing on Smackdown, people don't want to boo him just yet. But strangely enough a heel turn might be just what he needs to get back on top of Smackdown. Smackdown is desperately lacking top heels at the moment and since Randy Orton is still the most popular person on the show, a Christian heel turn would probably make the most snese.

It'll be interesting to see how they execute it though. They could have Christian lose a few more matches to Orton and then ultimately just beat him down out of frustration setting up a grudge match of sorts. The interesting thing here will be that a large portion of the internet audience will always cheer for Christian but it won't be too difficult to turn the casual fan or the live audience against him, especially as Christian is very good at being a heel.

 

[masterblaster]

Say what you will about the guy but this is why us peeps are such big fans. Absolutely one of the best promo guys in the business.

YouTube - Christian Cage interview

YouTube - Christian Title Shot Interview-Smackdown 29/4/11

 

[SirBloody Idiot]

Looking around Smackdown though, who are the top heels?

I'm probably forgetting someone, but I can only think of Sheamus.

The fact that Mark Henry was out demanding a title shot says a lot...

Henry's one of the best big men in the business IMO. They missed out big time when he was drafted to Raw and was getting massive reactions. Deserved a nice run after an underrated title run on ECW.

 

[Jono]

Can't agree that going back to his old gimmick would be a good idea. Jericho is all about reinvention and pushing himself.

The complete opposite to:

Still love Flair, don't get me wrong. But he made a ****load of money being the same guy for 30+ years

 

[GIMH]

Still, when the guy is that damn good

Although I wish he'd hang it up

Anyway, anyone catch Raw? Thought it was a really good show from top to bottom, and even though we're getting Cena V Miz again, it just feels a bit fresher with the draft having shook things up.

The main thing of note, though, was a rare 'Smackdown Rebound'. The amount of attention they put on Christian - rather than focusing on Randy Orton - suggests to me that him losing this title might actually be a good thing for his career, as it could possibly propel him a lot better than a badly booked (say like Rey 2006 or one of Edge's early runs) title reign might have done.

Just speculating really and certainly JR seems of the same mindset - given that he's on the inside track again these days, there's probably something to his comments.

Basically, regardless of whether he regains the title or not, I think we're going to see Christian in a more prominent role than he's pretty much ever been in in WWE.

 

[GIMH]

Hey guys, does this thread load like **** for anyone else half the time?

 

[vic_orthdox]

Hey guys, does this thread load like **** for anyone else half the time?

If you want we can make a new one up, that's what supposedly happens when threads get too big.

 

[GIMH]

Yeah that's what I was thinking, but only if its okay with the others.

 

[masterblaster]

Yeah okay with me mate. This thread loads really slowly at the best of times. I'm amazed at the mileage that we've gotten out of it though! Over 524 pages and still going strong!

 

[masterblaster]

Got to say if you haven't watched Smackdown this week it's a must watch. An awesome show from top to bottom with some excellent matches. The Daniel Bryan vs Sin Cara match was just superb and the main event tag match with Randy Orton and Christian vs Sheamus and Mark Henry was very well done. Smackdown definitely looking like the more superior brand these days.