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hellpop

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Well, it's hard for me to find too much fault with it, because there is a real lack of depth at the top of the card, and they obviously want him to be in that mix for the foreseeable future. In an ideal world, sure, they would more slowly build him up. But with Bryan and Punk both gone, their options are limited. The fanbase is only going to take so much pure Cena, and they aren't going to take, say, Seamus very seriously. The bigger problem I have is with how they've mishandled Cesaro sad.png

On another note, I've been watching Saturday Night's Main Event, and some of that stuff is so fun and good. Last night I saw the classic Hogan vs. Andre episode. Poor Hart Foundation and Strike Force had to follow that match, since it was the time when Hogan would wrestle in the middle of the show so he could leave early and avoid traffic or whatever. Another thing from some of those early SNME's--Terry Funk was such a perfect foil to Hogan, so perfect in just about every way as a heel, and really should have been in the WWE for longer during their heyday in the '80s.

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The first time I can remember watching wrestling was a SNME show. All I can really remember was that there was a feud decided by a waterslide race (???). Personally, I can't really watch old WWF stuff. Even when I was a kid I thought it was too cartoony. Now, ugh.

Cesaro's "push" is one of the great mysteries of the year. He was getting a big reaction, so they stick him with Paul Heyman to make him a star, and... proceed to job him out, have him eliminated in a battle royal by Heath Slater of all people, and then unceremoniously split him with Heyman on the same night the latter cuts the promo of the year. Just really dumb all around. I hope he's going to replace Kane as an Authority Guy now.

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Listen, kayfabe died for me the moment I realized that every Hulk Hogan match was going to end in the same stupid way. And then there were the guys that lost all the time. And then there were the guys like the Big Boss Man, who would handcuff people to the ropes and beat them with a nightstick when he was a bad guy, and then he became a good guy... and still handcuffed people to the ropes and beat them with a nightstick, but now it was "justice".

And then there's Vince. I HATED Vince as an announcer. One of the reasons I can't stand Michael Cole is that he's basically just Vince reincarnated. Never names moves, tells stories rather then calls the match, oversells pinfall attempts, overused a dumb phrase ("whatta manuver" and "vintage [whomever]", receptively). It's no coincidence that the best period in WWF/E history coincided with a move away from Vince's taste, and him leaving the broadcast table.

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Soooo I guess TNA lost Spike TV. I wouldn't watch TNA if you paid me but it's going to mean a lot of guys flooding back into WWE and maybe ROH getting a little better. Maybe Tru Tv or something could pick up TNA but I can't imagine it helping.

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Yeah, there's still a chance someone might pick them up, but it's not good news. I mean, it's good news in that they were terrible, but a lot of people will loose their jobs. Unfortunately, I don't think WWE will pick up anyone. I mean, if they didn't want AJ Styles or the American Wolves...unsure.png

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I can see the WWE picking up all of their old talent again (Angle, the Dudleys, maybe even Jeff Hardy), but only for short-term contracts like Jericho or RVD. Like Hellpop said, I can't see any other TNA talent being of any interest to the WWE right now.

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It's an open question as to whether they'd take Angle and Hardy, since they still have the same problems that caused WWE to move on from them in the first place. I'm really hoping to see Angle come out as the payoff to the Rusev angle, though. Maybe a one-off appearance at the Rumble?

Dudleys I could see them using to spice up the tag team division (heck, or the Hardys for that matter). Dudleys vs Usos? Dudleys vs Wyatts? I'd watch those.

I'd love to see a guy like Bobby Roode get a WWE shot, but I don't think they were interested the last time his contract was up. Other then him, I don't know who they would take. Magnus? He's got a good look and is fairly young. Joe? Can't see it. Dave Meltzer was saying last night that ROH might not be able to take too many guys, since they are already pretty full up.

Did you guys hear the Vince Russo story?

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It's an open question as to whether they'd take Angle and Hardy, since they still have the same problems that caused WWE to move on from them in the first place. I'm really hoping to see Angle come out as the payoff to the Rusev angle, though. Maybe a one-off appearance at the Rumble?

Dudleys I could see them using to spice up the tag team division (heck, or the Hardys for that matter). Dudleys vs Usos? Dudleys vs Wyatts? I'd watch those.

I agree with you on the Dudleys.

I think the biggest value to Jeff Hardy & Angle would be in merchandise - action figures, video game appearances, t-shirts, Jeff Hardy arm garters, Jeff Hardy / the Usos face painting kits...

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TNA has some amazing talent. I hope they get a TV deal somewhere. The storylines have been crap for the past few years, but it's actually been pretty dang good the past few weeks. I haven't been watching a whole lot of WWE lately. The only thing I have really enjoyed is stuff with the former members of Shield andnwatching the Wyatts. The Battleground PPV was pretty much rubbish. It was way too predictable, except for Miz winning the batle royal, which was disappointing. I love watching wrestling, so hopefully things turn out for TNA.

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Sorry for the SDCC interjection. I'm just waiting to see how the Spike/TNA thing turns out later. I do enjoy TNA, though.

I couldn't get an autograph of Hogan and Bryan, but Big E was a manageable line. Cool guy who seemed to enjoy being there. Very wide dude and his face was sweating ever since he got in. I think the signature Big E thing is that he always doing some goofy face when taking pictures. So it is nice to see some of his genuine personality. Attached was just a random pic I liked of him looking mean for a pic.

And the WWE panel was just insane! I mean, seeing Sting, the crowd erupted! Everyone was all wondering why there was some long pause when the Sting action figure was shown. Earlier, Heyman teased Brock Lesnar was coming out and even pointing behind the curtain, but of course Heyman was just playing the crowd. Best question was a fan asking Michael Cole if Jerry smelled like strippers. It was a little hard to get chants over in this crowd as it felt like fans were forcing it, but man, the Yes chant that followed the strippers question got everyone, including me in my first public Yes chant. And when someone asked about wrestlers royalties from the WWE Network, Bryan answered honestly saying no one knows, but you could see Hogan put his head on the table and shaking it in disappointment as it seemed like Bryan shouldn't have said anything. Oh, and of course, Michael Cole kept promoting the WWE Network every chance he got, which got a good laugh from the crowd every time. Even he laughed after saying it every time. This was the first year I ever did WWE related stuff at SDCC so I'm looking forward to doing it again next year!

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Edited by storm 1:08
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So the women get the main event segment two weeks in a row. How odd. I'm enjoying the storyline, but MAN I wish Steph was matched up with someone better then Brie Bella. Just think how much better this angle would be with AJ Lee instead.

Also, if you didn't watch Raw, there's really no need to, but do yourself a favor and watch the Lesnar/Cena hype video:

http://youtu.be/S0AIIusp_Ko

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Nice note to end that video on--"I'm gonna leave him in a pile of blood, and urine, and vomit." drool.gif

One good thing about Lesnar's deal is that, due to the fact that he wrestles so infrequently, it's easier to maintain the image of him as a genuine monster. If he was wrestling every week, the temptation would always be there to establish some other guy as legit by making Lesnar look weak or even getting beat by facing him. But having a champ that only shows up a handful of times a year to wrestle doesn't really work for pro wrestling. So I don't think they should give attractions like Lesnar the belt. But I have a hard time imagining Cena beating Lesnar for two reasons. First, Lesnar just beat the Streak, and to lose his next match would somehow cheapen that. Second, Cena beat Lesnar last time, and again, to have Lesnar lose tot he same guy twice in a row would really weaken Lesnar and the value he brings to the company as a legit monster threat every time he enters the ring.

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Note he doesn't specify WHOSE blood, urine, and vomit. unsure.png

I think having the WWE champ as a special attraction might work. It would certainly give title defenses a certain kind of prestige. I also can't see Lesnar losing; they really screwed up by having him lose to Cena and HHH prior to his match with the Undertaker, which is why I think people weren't really into the match, because they'd already beaten Lesnar with much lower stakes then the Streak on the line. But conquering the Streak gave him back his aura. It would be foolish to throw that away now.

Rumor has it that they are building up to Lesnar/Reigns at WM, since Reigns is the chosen one. We will see if he gets over to that point.

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Probably won't work, the same way that Batista didn't work this year. I think we're at a period where the fans have to choose the legit champ in the WWE, whoever that is going to be. If only Punk came back. . .

Having an attraction champ could work, but I think they would need to wrestle at every PPV at least. Not a select 4 or 5 shows a year. And he would need to be on shows in, at least, a speaking capacity (or in Lesnar's case, just making an appearance while Heyman spoke for him). The champion needs to be pretty consistently visible IMO.

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I hope Cena looses. I feel that he is so over with the WWE Universe that there is no need to put the belt on him all the time. Fans are still gonna cheer like crazy (or boo) no matter if he is champ or not. It's time for a new champion, and I don't think Reigns is it. He has the look, but needs more in ring work. I hope Cesaro, Ziggler, Ambrose, Rollins, and Barrett (when he returns) get huge pushes in the future. I could see any of them being champ.

The Wyatts are another favorite of mine. I hope WWE doesn't split them up like they did with the shield. Let them remain together and hopefully they all get titles in the near future. Harper and Rowan impress me every time I watch them wrestle. I can't believe they aren't tag team champions.

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Yeah, I think they've basically given up on Dolph. Cesaro too, from the sounds of it. WWE really sucks sometimes.

I wonder if the network model now makes it more possible to run shows without title defenses. I mean, you're not buying individual shows anymore, so theoretically there's no reason Brock has to be at every show. But I don't really think they are deep enough right now to get away with it. They've got a lot of talent, but they have not done a good job building them (for the most part). It will be interesting to see what happens at the Rumble, which Reigns is expected to win and which is also expected to feature the return of a certain beloved bearded underdog. If Daniel Bryan comes back at that show (which, by the way, might be in Philly so I might go), and they put him in the Rumble match and have ANYONE else win, they are crazy if they think that person won't get booed. Well, unless maybe Punk returns that night also. If I were the WWE, I'd book Bryan against Brock (since he never lost the title, but had it stripped) and get him out of the way.

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I'm all for Lesnar getting the belt just to see how it'd work and how long it'd last as it's something a little different. Mercenary hijacking the belt and just showing up whenever on his terms. Heck, I'd be happy if he keeps doing a video promo like Monday night. Plus, it'd give a reason to slowly phase out the 2 titles and just use one. As for who can take the title away if Lesnar wins? Unfortunately, I can only see Cena right now. Reigns still needs a lot of work, but is still possible.

In the Brie/Steph contract signing, Brie mentioned something about karma coming back to bite her in the butt or something. Steph hiring Kharma as her hired gun? Wishful thinking.

Ziggler keeps getting pushed down but still manages to get a lot of support. I hope he gets rewarded with a good IC title run, at least. If Lesnar wins, maybe the IC and US titles get more of a spotlight?

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