Re: The Official WWE Thread - Part 34

by S Sun Nov 28, 2021 1:48 pm

The Eddie-Punk segment was good but the entire buildup itself looked forced, all because Punk needed an opponent at Full Gear. Maybe they should've taken further than they did to give the feud more meaning.

Besides many people, especially casuals hardly know their backstory to even connect with the segment.

Whereas you have Punk and MJF throwing jabs at each other making WWE references which people could easily connect with and understand. The reaction they got from the crowd tells you everything.

Punk had the edge in this segment but it was really impressive to see MJF hold his own and go toe to toe with Punk. The promo could've gone on for like 30 minutes and I would still be very much engaged. It was that entertaining.

But that said, MJF is right. Punk really is AEW's Cena atm. It's like he's come full circle. Watch him get boo'd out of the building if he buries MJF in the ring.

by Onyx Sun Nov 28, 2021 6:28 pm

Punk's at his best as an anti-authority rebel who's fighting against the system and breaking the fourth wall. Can't really do that when he's the top dog in a company that ticks all of his boxes and gives him everything he wants. I'm sure he's well aware of it too, which is why he's playing up the Cena role he's found himself in.

Similarly, Bryan's underdog persona doesn't work in AEW when most of the top guys in the company are around his size. And without the YES movement, he had nothing going for him character wise, he was living off of his WWE fame. Turning heel was a good move.

by El Gunner Sun Nov 28, 2021 7:22 pm

S wrote:But that said, MJF is right. Punk really is AEW's Cena atm. It's like he's come full circle. Watch him get boo'd out of the building if he buries MJF in the ring.

perfect time to hand Punk his first AEW loss then. Make it a good old solid feud. First match, an inconclusive outcome. Second one a controversial MJF win. Third one a clear Punk slobberknocker win.

by Jay29 Sun Nov 28, 2021 9:06 pm

MJF should go over imo.

He needs a big time win to push him into the main event. With Omega and Moxley out for the foreseeable future, Hangman will need a good heel to face.

I expect Hangman won't be dropping the belt anytime soon and will beat Danielson, so he'll need opponents after that.

by M99 Mon Nov 29, 2021 12:25 pm

Before MJF-Punk happened, this was my favorite promo in AEW.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6_x3TNEN51s

Can't wait for Moxley to come back and square up against Punk. It will be legendary.

by El Gunner Thu Dec 02, 2021 11:29 pm

enjoying this Danielson heel version

by Casciavit Fri Dec 03, 2021 3:13 am

That flaming table spot was so stupid

by M99 Fri Dec 03, 2021 8:35 am

Terrible promo by MJF this week. Did he run out of material? Also AEW had Sting, Bryan and Punk wrestle and they still did their lowest rating in seven months since they were wrestling jobbers. They need to stop booking these nothing matches and do something significant with their stars.

by Onyx Fri Dec 03, 2021 11:47 pm

I remember saying a few years ago how if a new company formed, signed Punk, Bryan, Moxley, Jericho and JR as commentator and had a proper TV deal in place, they could compete with the WWE. I'm surprised that such a thing even happened.

They also have Sting, Christian, Matt Hardy and Big Show/Henry if needed. AEW's roster has way more star power compared to RAW/SD, but the booking's been subpar. I think the biggest issue they're catering to hardcore fans, rather than trying to draw in casuals. Catering to a bunch of fans who are going to watch no matter what has never made sense.

Tony Khan is close with Meltzer and wants a sports oriented 'realistic' product, problem is there's a ceiling to that. Right now it's basically a glorified indy fed with bells and whistles.

by El Gunner Fri Dec 03, 2021 11:59 pm

or they could just be taking their time to bring up the lesser names first and build up their hype. Honour the guys who's been at the company longer and still keep getting the big names at the same time - it's a balancing act... if they go full on big names vs big names with the bookings now they'll just be seen as a company leeching off of stars that made their name at WWE

by Onyx Sat Dec 04, 2021 10:55 pm

I'm sure they'll eventually do Punk vs Bryan, but even then I think it'll just be bog standard 'I'm the better wrestler' storyline, nothing outside of the box, won't bring more eyes to the product.

There's certainly some positives with AEW, like not being PG, allowing more creative freedom and being more gritty. Given the choice I'd rather watch Dynamite over RAW/SD, mostly because it's something different and fresh, not necessarily better or groundbreaking though.

The Punk/MJF promo has 3m views on youtube, almost 5-10x more than their average video. Once they start focusing more on promos and writing compelling storylines with larger than life characters, the show will easily trump anything WWE produces. Just think of all the possibilities with the likes of Punk, Bryan, Sting, MJF, Jericho, Christian, Moxley, Broken Matt, Hangman and potentially Bray if he signs.

by M99 Fri Dec 10, 2021 12:38 am

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qrP2WK3ggLI

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cw22ae9JYB4

by El Gunner Thu Dec 23, 2021 9:12 pm

the 3-team tag match had a lot of fun moments! old age showing loads on Punk and Sting though, they both struggled with navigating the turnbuckle for jumps Laughing

That Sting splash to the outside on all 3 opponents was dope though when he finally got himself to the top rope

by El Gunner Thu Dec 23, 2021 9:13 pm

also forgot what a brilliant heel commentator Taz can be Laughing

by Great Leader Sprucenuce Sat Dec 25, 2021 12:05 am

Taz is fantastic, to the point i genuinely wouldn't hate it if they made Schiavone a full time interview guy.

by Onyx Mon Dec 27, 2021 2:02 pm

What a moment this was. :bow:

by M99 Mon Dec 27, 2021 10:10 pm

Hilarious how NXT turned out to be AEW developmental. Undisputed Era, Andrade, Black, Ruby with Gargano, Keith Lee and Ember Moon probably joining soon. Thats literally most of the top guys from 2017-18 peak NXT. Just missing Ciampa and Strong lol.

by Casciavit Thu Dec 30, 2021 12:20 am

Memes aside, Hook is actually the future of this business.

by Great Leader Sprucenuce Thu Jan 27, 2022 6:08 pm

Don't usually give a shit about ratings but seeing how Punk vs MJF main event next week impacts things will be interesting.

by Casciavit Thu Jan 27, 2022 6:49 pm

Wonder if they'll kick off or main event the show.

The kick off is preceded by big bang theory so there's always a higher viewership at the start. The problem is they don't maintain that viewership bump past the first 2 quarters.

by El Gunner Thu Jan 27, 2022 9:42 pm

the way MJF been dodging Punk i wonder if the fight will actually take place Laughing

if it does, i think Wardlow will intervene

by El Gunner Thu Jan 27, 2022 10:19 pm

ahhh the good old nice days when we could still objectify women

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aymCxx7bBJY

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IcQ7WSq1zco

by M99 Sun Jan 30, 2022 8:07 am

My god, Royal Rumble was absolutely terrible.

Thank God AEW exists with WWE being the Roman/Brock show across both brands, NXT dying and NJPW turning to shit after the pandemic. CM Punk vs MJF this Wednesday, at Revolution we'll probably get Mox vs Bryan and Darby vs Andrade.

I'm curious about the world title match at evolution. Page has a filler title defence in ten days and that gives two weeks build for his Revolution match. If its gonna be Adam Cole thats way too less of a time for a build imo.

by silver Sun Jan 30, 2022 9:06 am

Apart from the odd Youtube videos, I haven't watched WWE in about 4 years, and I haven't religiously watched WWE probably since WM 30ish timeframe. I decided to watch the Rumble today since the Rumble has always been my favourite PPV and it was on a Sunday rather than typically Monday my time.

I couldn't tell if it was bad or not since I don't have a benchmark and I didn't know half the wrestlers. Overall though, I enjoyed most of it probably because you can't really screw up the Rumble concept. I didn't care that no new stars were made. Frankly I wanted someone I knew (Brock) to win rather than someone like Riddle, Omos, etc.

What I found most surprising was how engaged the crowd was (popping loud a lot during the show), and how most of the crowd were adult men and women. This is a much nicer audience than the Cena-era crowd of children. Nobody does presentation and big-time feel quite like WWE. I've conceeded that no matter how bad the booking is, the Rumble and WM will always pull in huge crowds and $$$ and WWE will never die.

As far as the matches go, nothing was memorable, worth a second watch, and will be forgotten in a years time. That didn't mean I didn't enjoy it. They know what works. A 15 min Lesnar-Lashley sprint is much better than trying to make it a long epic (ala any Evil matches for NJPW fans).

The women's Rumble match was my favourite most likely as I knew most of the wrestlers rather than a bunch of no-name midcarders (in my viewpoint) in the mens match. It was a weird match for me from so many different eras; the era I grew up watching (Lita, Ivory, Molly Holly in the Attitude era. Mickie, Kelly Kelly, Melina, McCool in the Ruthless aggression era), wrestlers who I don't even know are still under contract or were special guests (Bella twins, Alicia, Natayla), womens revolution era (Charlotte, Sasha), then a bunch I had no idea who (Alylia, Nikki ASH) all mishmashed together into a coherent match.

Btw some of the returning women look unrecognizable especially Melina and Kelly Kelly.

Ronda's entrance and pop was amazing. Then she got in the ring and looked like crap.

As far as the mens rumble goes, how depressing is that Ziggler has been in 15 rumble matches, second all time behind Kane, and only eliminated 12. How does Ziggler still have a job. He's in the same spot 10 years ago. Theres a few in the match who I was thinking they've been spinning their wheels for years and surprized they still have a job.

What is Shane O'Mac doing in the match!?

Pretty clear it was going to go down to Lesnar/McIntyre. There was no other star power other than AJ Styles. Either they ran out of time, or Lesnar wanted to go home early with how quickly he came in and eliminated everyone including McIntyre.

by McLewis Mon Jan 31, 2022 2:07 am

I stopped watching both WWE and AEW at the beginning of the pandemic, right as both started doing shows without crowds.

I'd consider watching AEW again as it's the more interesting brand. WWE just looks......dated.

by S Mon Jan 31, 2022 2:59 pm

The problem with WWE is they can't look beyond Reigns and Lesnar. They have elevated both of them to such a high level that they can't find anyone dethroning them. Rest of the roster have become subservients to Reigns and Lesnar.

This shit will continue as long as both are under contract with WWE because Vince can't see anyone past these two guys.

Is this like the 4th WM main event between the two? Embarrassing tbh.

by Sponsored content