The Era of Punk Wrestling Thread

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[quote name='GodOfUncharted']Can I ask you what was wrong about tonight?[/QUOTE]
Cena got the belt back after a week and Punk returned moments later. An angle that should have lasted several months didn't even make it to the next PPV before making the events of MITB completely meaningless.
 
While I agree that they could've kept Punk away longer, you have to look at it from WWE's point of view.

1. They consider Summer Slam their 2nd biggest PPV. I'm sure they would like the hottest act in wrestling appearing on the PPV.

2. While the IWC is watching Punk's every move, there are a lot of casuals that have no idea about his comic-con appearance, tweets, or anything else he's done. They need to keep him red hot with the casuals.

3. Maybe Punk didn't want a break right now since he's on fire.
 
I'm also reserving judgement, but I can't help but think like everyone else: they didn't get the immediate ratings boost that they wanted and jumped the gun by bringing Punk back after a week.

The PPV after Summerslam is Night Of Champions. If that wasn't a perfect time to bring back Punk to stake claim as the rightful champion, I don't know what is.
 
[quote name='GodOfUncharted']2. While the IWC is watching Punk's every move, there are a lot of casuals that have no idea about his comic-con appearance, tweets, or anything else he's done. They need to keep him red hot with the casuals.[/QUOTE]

The WWE could have at least shown that comic-con footage on RAW. That would be a drastic improvement over crappy "comedy" segments involving the Bella Twins, Eve Torres, and Keith Stone. Speaking of the Bella Twins can someone explain to me what the appeal behind them are anyways? I don't get them at all.
 
[quote name='CouRageouS']Punk was on a quick segment on Jimmy Kimmel tonight. He made a house call to a little kid who's a huge Cena fan.[/QUOTE]
Just saw the segment, funny stuff.

But the most mind-blowing thing was that the 6 year old in the skit predicted the booking for Raw tonight with pinpoint accuracy. This was filmed last week. Either this kid can see into the future or WWE creative is actually staffed by children.

I'll let you decide which is more likely.
 
Food for thought: John Cena is an 18 time champion in the WWE despite debuting in 2002. His total of 1,025 days as heavyweight champ are better than all but four champions - Sammartino, Hogan, Backlund, and Morales (though he'll pass Morales on Wednesday).

He's a 9-time WWE Champion. Ridiculous.
 
LOVED the ending to Raw tonight....It was so awesome when Cena raised his title, and the whole arena booed, but then Punk raised his REAL title, and the whole place cheered. New theme rocks also!

The Triple h/Rtruth segment cracked me the hell up LOL

"Man you crazy! Talking to people that don't exist!"

"I know, it's like i'm INSANE" :lol:

I am REALLY enjoying the WWE right now. These last few weeks, they have completely flipped the switch.
 
[quote name='LakersForLife82481']LOVED the ending to Raw tonight....It was so awesome when Cena raised his title, and the whole arena booed, but then Punk raised his REAL title, and the whole place cheered. OLD theme rocks also!
.[/QUOTE]

Fixed it. ;)

Anybody else notice the difference in the real belt CM Punk had and the replica trash Cena had? Cena's looked like a Chinese knockoff, but that's probably because it is. Sad to see them blow this load early. I'd have liked to see a tournament extend to Summerslam. Maybe work CM Punk into appearing there or something. Have it build it up on the talk shows like they wanted.
 
While I do agree that WWE pulled the trigger on Punk WAY too soon, I don't wanna write this storyline off a failure just yet. That's a major problem with the IWC: we're too damn cynical. To be fair we're rightfully so most of the time, but let's wait and see in this case. I certainly hope WWE has smartened up over the last month and see that they can really make a superstar (and not the the WWE "rassler's a dirty word 'round these parts" sense) out of Punk.
 
[quote name='Purple Flames']While I do agree that WWE pulled the trigger on Punk WAY too soon, I don't wanna write this storyline off a failure just yet. That's a major problem with the IWC: we're too damn cynical. To be fair we're rightfully so most of the time, but let's wait and see in this case. I certainly hope WWE has smartened up over the last month and see that they can really make a superstar (and not the the WWE "rassler's a dirty word 'round these parts" sense) out of Punk.[/QUOTE]

i hope you are right....It would be nice to watch some good rasslin for change.

but dont you think this also has to do with increasing the PPV buys of summer slam? for that reason, it was even more perfect to bring Punk back this early.
 
[quote name='Demolition Man']The WWE could have at least shown that comic-con footage on RAW. That would be a drastic improvement over crappy "comedy" segments involving the Bella Twins, Eve Torres, and Keith Stone. Speaking of the Bella Twins can someone explain to me what the appeal behind them are anyways? I don't get them at all.[/QUOTE]
That would've made it obvious that he was under contract. You know a lot of kids (and some naive adults) thought he was really gone with the title.
 
[quote name='JJSP']Food for thought: John Cena is an 18 time champion in the WWE despite debuting in 2002. His total of 1,025 days as heavyweight champ are better than all but four champions - Sammartino, Hogan, Backlund, and Morales (though he'll pass Morales on Wednesday).

He's a 9-time WWE Champion. Ridiculous.[/QUOTE]
To be fair to Cena, he's also wrestling at a time where there are 2 titles. He wouldn't have as many reigns or as many days with the title if there was only 1 main title.
 
[quote name='advanced']Fixed it. ;)

Anybody else notice the difference in the real belt CM Punk had and the replica trash Cena had? Cena's looked like a Chinese knockoff, but that's probably because it is. Sad to see them blow this load early. I'd have liked to see a tournament extend to Summerslam. Maybe work CM Punk into appearing there or something. Have it build it up on the talk shows like they wanted.[/QUOTE]

exactly what i was thinking too....i yelled out, "Cena's looks like a TOY(ironic huh lol)".

and yes, punk's old theme is amazing, but this theme is amazin too lol.
 
[quote name='GodOfUncharted']To be fair to Cena, he's also wrestling at a time where there are 2 titles. He wouldn't have as many reigns or as many days with the title if there was only 1 main title.[/QUOTE]I think he'd be close. Guys like Christian, Kane, Swagger, etc just wouldn't get to hold the "top" belt (for argument's sake, let's just pretend that the belt with the WCW lineage is considered to be equal to the WWE title within the company).

I was curious so I checked the title history on Wikipedia. In 06-07 Cena had the longest reign, 380 days, of anyone since Hogan from 1984-1988. The only reason he dropped the belt was because he was injured by Kennedy on Raw.
 
http://www.hulu.com/watch/261939/jimmy-kimmel-live-archie-vs-wrestler-cm-punk-part-1

There's the Punk on Kimmel thing. Not that great. Nice job by the kid of nailing exactly what wound up happening though.


I sort of understand them pushing the panic button with Punk last night since he's hot NOW and wrestling fans are conditioned to have short memories, but it still could have been handled better. He didn't have to actually appear. Do the exact same thing as last night...have Cena win, play his music, interrupt with Punk's new music, have Cena look confused, then instead of Punk coming out just put something on the Tron. "The Champ Isn't Here..." or something like that. Put it in Punk's font or whatever and make it totally obvious, but don't have him actually appear yet.

I guess if the plan all along was a Summerslam main event of Cena vs Punk there's not a lot they could do to stall, but a 3 week absence would feel at least slightly less insulting than what we got. Just have Punk finally walk out on the go-home Summerslam show and do the same thing he did last night.
 
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[quote name='neocisco']WWE has a proven track record of providing a good-to-great moment[/QUOTE]

This is what sets them ahead of TNA. Don't even try that "both companies are stupid" nonsense here. Both companies *are* stupid, but they are not *equally* stupid. Like Democrats and Republicans. One group manages to show glints of promise time and again, and never ever ever deliver on them. The other is just consistently full of shit.

[quote name='JJSP']Cena got the belt back after a week and Punk returned moments later. An angle that should have lasted several months didn't even make it to the next PPV before making the events of MITB completely meaningless.[/QUOTE]

winner winner chicken dinner. getting excited about this is like getting excited about blowing your load 15 seconds after you started having sex.

"Honey, that was amazing!"
"Huh? What? What the fuck was that?"

[quote name='Scorch']I'll wait until it's fully played out before I judge it.[/QUOTE]

Oh, fuck that. WWE books week to week. They took the single greatest part of the angle (Punk taking the story outside the barriers of its traditional domain) and squandered it in a week. Punk was gone *8 DAYS*. They're headed straight for a title unification match at Summerslam.

Compare that to the HBK/Razor feud that they're trying to mimic here. HBK was stripped of the title for leaving on 9/27/93 (according to wwe.com)...the title unification match was Wrestlemania X, so that was late March/early April 1994. 5 months later. They've contracted the entire feud from 5 months to 8 days.

This "I'll wait and see" is horseshit of the highest order, perpetrated by Jim Ross when they panicked about having the belt on Christian for more than 2 days. You know what? That angle sucked, too. Even if Christian finally won the belt, it was (is) a boring feud and they did nothing to make Christian look like a capable Champion.

So when John Cena and Randy Orton walk out of Summerslam 2011 as the respective champions, well, if you want a "wait and see" approach there, be my guest. Me? Randy Orton and John Cena are going to walk out of Summerslam 2011 as champions, and they've already gone through the best part of the feud with CM Punk. fuck that "wait and see" nonsense. I know WWE better than you, apparently. They've fucked this up already and it's not going anywhere good from here.

If you put the movie "Who Framed Roger Rabbit?" and cut out all the live action scenes, would it still be the same film? That's how I feel about this.
 
Definitely disappointed after that promo they had on WWE.com. They could have still salvaged it somewhat. Like I was saying in the chat last night, just have Punk refuse unification and stick to him being the champ. Screw with Cena's head saying it kills him knowing he isn't the real champ and wont be as long as he "still hasn't signed with the company".

The only thing we can hope for now, is that Colt Cobana, Claudio Castagnoli and Chris Hero come straight in and work with Punk. That was part of his "deal", bringing his friends in. Real wrestlers coming in and showing the "superstars" and the fans how shit is done. Not an invasion because that is played out. The Nexus had a good start but WWE creative has shown they can't actually pull it off effectively. Basically the idea that was posted last night either in this thread or chat. I think the one that was linked was a bit overreaching but something similar.

Also at this point, Cena doesn't need the god damn belt. He doesn't. Hell the belt doesn't need to be at play when he goes against Dwayne at Entertainamania. Get the belt on someone else within the next 3 months and let Cena focus on Dwayne. With other people in the run for the belt, maybe they could actually start building talent and maybe get people who have more than 5 moves showcased on the bigger stage.
 
Maybe Punk was all smiling and happy like a fucking goof because Tripa Aych game him everything in that contract. Can't wait until I get a Sheamus ice cream bar.
 
I agree that WWE is rushing this, but what if they don't have a choice? Wasn't the rumor that Punk just signed a short term deal? I can't blame them for moving things along if they know he's only going to be around through Summerslam.
 
[quote name='KaneRobot']Maybe Punk was all smiling and happy like a fucking goof because Tripa Aych game him everything in that contract. Can't wait until I get a Sheamus ice cream bar.[/QUOTE]

Well, now, if that is where they want to go with the angle, he should have come out on the stage and held aloft a prototype package for the new Ice Cream Bar with his face on it. I'm not speaking for myself when I say that I can read nuanced storytelling.

[quote name='Ultimate Matt X']I agree that WWE is rushing this, but what if they don't have a choice? Wasn't the rumor that Punk just signed a short term deal? I can't blame them for moving things along if they know he's only going to be around through Summerslam.[/QUOTE]

8 days? That's full-on panic. Are you saying WWE planned in advance to have Punk "off contract" for 8 days? You're out of your mind.
 
[quote name='LakersForLife82481']exactly what i was thinking too....i yelled out, "Cena's looks like a TOY(ironic huh lol)".

and yes, punk's old theme is amazing, but this theme is amazin too lol.[/QUOTE]

He used "Cult of Personality" in ROH, so its technically his old music.
 
Honestly, I'm not all that surprised that Punk is back. It goes back to what I wrote about a few weeks ago... without Punk, describe SummerSlam to me. Go ahead, give me some compelling matches for SummerSlam that don't involve CM Punk. Oh boy, another Orton/Christian match? How ever will the they top the one that involved him getting kicked in the dick to become champion? Cena vs..... who, exactly? Even if there was an interim champ, Cena was main eventing SummerSlam. Period. What, Cena/Del Rio? That would've been exciting before Del Rio lost all momentum. Truth? Rey? Who?

My one hope for the future without Punk was dashed when HHH was put in charge. To me, the obvious place to go was have Punk honestly sit out for a while, and have Cena begin a feud with Del Rio as Vince's new 'corporate champ' to make Cena's life a living hell because he let Punk walk out with the belt. That could've have easily been a main story (albeit rehashed) that carried them for a few months.

A few months. That's the other key. The Rock is going to be at Survivor Series in November. That's 4 months from now. Whatever happened with Punk, it's ultimately a Punk/Cena feud. No matter the outcome, Cena needed to be freed up from it before November. That feels like a lot of time, but the last thing I wanted was Punk returning in the midst of Cena feuding with Rock, giving us 'The Champ is Marginalized! Version 2.0'. I hated it with Miz, I would've hated it more with Punk.

I don't know, I'm still curious where this is headed, but it's not like the signs weren't pointing to Punk coming back sooner than later. I just have to hold on to the vain hope that there's a plan here. Shit, I'd be goddamn pleased as shit to just watch Punk's ROH nWo run a train on WWE for 3 months. I just don't want to believe they're going to squander the most IWC goodwill they've had in 10 years on this.
 
With the Ring of Honor guys it should at least be less awkward than the Nexus where they are deathly afraid to put 80 percent of them in the ring. Should be more in line with how the Radicals were booked initially (though obviously these guys will be less known than Malenko/Saturn/Guerrero/Benoit aside from Punk)
 
Found this on the Fark Raw page:

punk.jpg
 
Fark has some of the best stuff sometimes. I love the whole Mark Henry No Peas

Mark-Henry-psd35232.jpg


I also was looking through Punk's twitter. Blues Brothers reference? Awesome.

“@juhbrew: @CMPunk Can I get an address so I can invite you to my wedding?" 1060 W. Addison

Regal caught it.

“@RealKingRegal: You live with Elwood Blues? @CMPunk” It's a big place.
 
Here's my 2 pennies on what I think might happened:
CM Punk and Cena will rematch this Summer Slam. They might make Punk lose to Cena making Cena the champ. Now with each having one win a piece, a third rematch is surely underway. Well Survivor Series will be the third and final rematch between the two. If I know WWE, Punk will win at Survivor Series due to an interference by The Rock, who stated he will be there. This will be a gateway for Cena-Rock for Wrestlemania, and CM Punk will go on to defend the belt on the winner of the Royal Rumble. I just hope WWE dont go and fuck Punk's character, cause he's the reason why I'm into WWE again.
 
[quote name='mykevermin']The more I think about it, the more incredibly disappointed I am that they hit the panic button and brought him back this soon.

This is Cena getting fired all over again - WWE writers want to make lofty claims in what they advertise, and then realize they've painted themselves into a corner. And by corner, I mean WWE corporate shits their pants when ratings don't jump from the same old 3-point-nothing they've been for years now to a 4-point-oh. They have preposterously unattainable goals, and are unwilling to take any chances to grow the product to get there. They expect the product to turn on a dime and just *explode* in popularity without any risks or changes to it.

Punk was gone for less time than most families spend on summer vacation. Him cutting a promo saying "I'm baaaa-aaaaack!" (shown on wwe.com) is pathetic. It takes elderly people longer to get their mail than it took for CM Punk to leave and return to WWE.

He's so rebellious. :roll:[/QUOTE]
:lol: I thought I was watching TNA for a bit last night when during the main event I kept hearing JR say that tired line about a historic night.:roll:

If I had a nickel for every time the WWE has either backed down on a storyline or rushed it along for the sake of catering to the short attention span fans I'd be a fuckin' millionaire by now.

THIS is why I stopped watching this 'sport' almost altogether now, since both promotions that're on tv now are reprehensible to watch save for short spurts and even then it's amusing to see how much they fuck up what could've been a great angle with a lil more hype/build up.
 
[quote name='007']without Punk, describe SummerSlam to me. Go ahead, give me some compelling matches for SummerSlam that don't involve CM Punk.[/quote]

Cena hurts his knee, wins the title (just like last night). Next week he comes out, saying his knee hurt, he got an MRI, he's cleared to wrestle, but not in the best shape of his career. He respects Rey Mysterio, and wants to give him a rematch - WWE didn't really give Rey a chance to wrestle a true title defense because he had two matches in one night.

Rey comes out, his knee is fucked, too. He's had a bajillion knee surgeries, etc. etc. He's a competitor, so he accepts the challenge. Rey vs Cena at SS.

But hints have been dropped, however unsubtle, that both are limping (literally) into this match. During the show, give Del Rio a squash match victory, and let him cut a post-match promo hinting that he's going to cash in his MITB at the very end of SummerSlam. It's clear he could beat either of them now, but after they beat each other up for half an hour (well, 15 minutes, since it's a WWE main event) - the belt is all but his. Lead viewers to think that Del Rio will cash in and win the belt no matter what happens.

Build Rey vs Cena in a traditional face vs face way. Hone in on the fact that they're both "hurt," and have them protect each other during the other's matches. They want the match to be as competitive as possible, so they don't want to see nagging injuries build or worsen.

Then, inevitably, one of them messes up trying to help the other, and they accidentally hit, harm, or further injure the other. Do like Bret Hart did to Owen at Survivor Series: Owen is shaking an injury off and walking the ropes, Bret runs the ropes and knocks him into the guardrail. Do that here. Build the tension. Emphasize Del Rio relishing in the breakdown between the two competitors.

SummerSlam comes around. WWE title match: Cena retains clean, but in a brutal match that takes damn near everything out of him.

Del Rio, as predicted, comes out to cash his MITB in. Lights go out. Cult of Personality plays. Lights come on. Del Rio is knocked out on the ground. End PPV.

Yeah, it's semi-inconclusive. And I feel a little dirty using the "lights out/lights on" trick, because it's very Russo and it's super played out. But I want to use the PPV to hint at Punk returning - he's watching what's going on in WWE, he's not back, but he's around and he wants Cena to hold the title because he wants the title for title match vs Cena.

And just *play* Cult of Personality. No need to show him. Fans will know. They do talk to each other.

I'm not going to bother booking the undercard. WWE doesn't bother, why should I?

Oh boy, another Orton/Christian match?
Click to expand...

That has little to do with bringing Punk back, because that match was going to happen anyway. They fucked this angle up, despite the idiotic pleas to "let it play out" (I did, and it was still the drizzling shits). They haven't built up any face on SD with credibility at all that isn't Orton, and no heel that isn't Christian. This is WWE's fault for fucking up, and we have to suffer with the consequences.

A few months. That's the other key. The Rock is going to be at Survivor Series in November. That's 4 months from now. Whatever happened with Punk, it's ultimately a Punk/Cena feud. No matter the outcome, Cena needed to be freed up from it before November. That feels like a lot of time, but the last thing I wanted was Punk returning in the midst of Cena feuding with Rock, giving us 'The Champ is Marginalized! Version 2.0'. I hated it with Miz, I would've hated it more with Punk.
Click to expand...

Okay, that's a fair point.

I don't know, I'm still curious where this is headed, but it's not like the signs weren't pointing to Punk coming back sooner than later. I just have to hold on to the vain hope that there's a plan here. Shit, I'd be goddamn pleased as shit to just watch Punk's ROH nWo run a train on WWE for 3 months. I just don't want to believe they're going to squander the most IWC goodwill they've had in 10 years on this.
Click to expand...

They did and they don't care. There is no ROH train. The Kings of Wrestling are going to be broken up, repackaged as "Francois Debonair" and "Fjord Bjorg," subject to many squash matches on Superstars, and released in September 2012. Colt Cabana may come back, but won't be used properly. Ace Steel's best hope is for WWE to hire him as a trainer in developmental. Tyler Black may succeed, but won't be used in this angle at all. Whatever hope there is that WWE will do this properly is only for fools.

[quote name='JaytheGamefan']The patch actually works with the color scheme of the shirt and man would I hate to be someone who paid $500 for the MITB-exclusive version.[/QUOTE]

Yeah, I'm pretty sure I'd hate to be that someone no matter the case. The MITB version did have the "WWE Whatever" patch in the corner of the shirt. Only difference here is the date.
 
[quote name='dramasetter929']Here's my 2 pennies on what I think might happened:
CM Punk and Cena will rematch this Summer Slam. They might make Punk lose to Cena making Cena the champ. Now with each having one win a piece, a third rematch is surely underway. Well Survivor Series will be the third and final rematch between the two. If I know WWE, Punk will win at Survivor Series due to an interference by The Rock, who stated he will be there. This will be a gateway for Cena-Rock for Wrestlemania, and CM Punk will go on to defend the belt on the winner of the Royal Rumble. I just hope WWE dont go and fuck Punk's character, cause he's the reason why I'm into WWE again.
[/QUOTE]
This is not going to happen. There are 3 PPVs between SummerSlam and Survivor Series.
 
[quote name='mykevermin']
Compare that to the HBK/Razor feud that they're trying to mimic here. HBK was stripped of the title for leaving on 9/27/93 (according to wwe.com)...the title unification match was Wrestlemania X, so that was late March/early April 1994. 5 months later. They've contracted the entire feud from 5 months to 8 days.
[/QUOTE]
Michaels was hurt.
 
The reason for Michaels' absence is immaterial. The point is he returned after 4 months and said "hey, remember me? the unbeaten champ?" and it led to one of *the* finest WM matches of all time.

The crowd knew who he was, and they knew he was IC champ when he left.

That's my point. There's "striking while the iron is hot," and then there's WWE. I'm surprised Wrestlemania isn't tomorrow, at this rate.
 
[quote name='JaytheGamefan']I don't think that was an injury, IIRC, it was a drug test failure for steroids and some contractual issue as well.[/QUOTE]
Yeah, that's what it was. My mistake.
 
Cena is a medioocre Hogan clone. Orton is a mediocre clone of Austin. Part of Punk's appeal is that he's not really a redux of anything from the past.
 
[quote name='Halo05']The nostalgic part of me misses the time when guys would have a "regular" job and just wrestle on the side. But at the same time, you always knew that Phineas I. Godwinn was never going to win the world title and every time he wrestled someone who didn't have a crazy gimmick, he was going to lose.[/QUOTE]

My bus driver in grade school was Ron Shaw. I used to watch him wrestle on Saturdays on WWF. Bobby Heenan used to call him a 'Ham and Egger'.

/goodtimes
 
[quote name='mykevermin']Cena hurts his knee, wins the title (just like last night). Next week he comes out, saying his knee hurt, he got an MRI, he's cleared to wrestle, but not in the best shape of his career. He respects Rey Mysterio, and wants to give him a rematch - WWE didn't really give Rey a chance to wrestle a true title defense because he had two matches in one night.

Rey comes out, his knee is fucked, too. He's had a bajillion knee surgeries, etc. etc. He's a competitor, so he accepts the challenge. Rey vs Cena at SS.

But hints have been dropped, however unsubtle, that both are limping (literally) into this match. During the show, give Del Rio a squash match victory, and let him cut a post-match promo hinting that he's going to cash in his MITB at the very end of SummerSlam. It's clear he could beat either of them now, but after they beat each other up for half an hour (well, 15 minutes, since it's a WWE main event) - the belt is all but his. Lead viewers to think that Del Rio will cash in and win the belt no matter what happens.

Build Rey vs Cena in a traditional face vs face way. Hone in on the fact that they're both "hurt," and have them protect each other during the other's matches. They want the match to be as competitive as possible, so they don't want to see nagging injuries build or worsen.

Then, inevitably, one of them messes up trying to help the other, and they accidentally hit, harm, or further injure the other. Do like Bret Hart did to Owen at Survivor Series: Owen is shaking an injury off and walking the ropes, Bret runs the ropes and knocks him into the guardrail. Do that here. Build the tension. Emphasize Del Rio relishing in the breakdown between the two competitors.

SummerSlam comes around. WWE title match: Cena retains clean, but in a brutal match that takes damn near everything out of him.

Del Rio, as predicted, comes out to cash his MITB in. Lights go out. Cult of Personality plays. Lights come on. Del Rio is knocked out on the ground. End PPV.

Yeah, it's semi-inconclusive. And I feel a little dirty using the "lights out/lights on" trick, because it's very Russo and it's super played out. But I want to use the PPV to hint at Punk returning - he's watching what's going on in WWE, he's not back, but he's around and he wants Cena to hold the title because he wants the title for title match vs Cena.

And just *play* Cult of Personality. No need to show him. Fans will know. They do talk to each other.

I'm not going to bother booking the undercard. WWE doesn't bother, why should I?



That has little to do with bringing Punk back, because that match was going to happen anyway. They fucked this angle up, despite the idiotic pleas to "let it play out" (I did, and it was still the drizzling shits). They haven't built up any face on SD with credibility at all that isn't Orton, and no heel that isn't Christian. This is WWE's fault for fucking up, and we have to suffer with the consequences.

[/QUOTE]

I was just dealing with sheer name value at this point. Honestly, outside of MitB, I'd wager it's been a long, long, long, long time since WWE convinced anyone on here to actually order a PPV *because* of a storyline. I get the big PPVs out of habit. Mania is a lock, as well as the Rumble. SummerSlam has entered the 'gonna have to show me something' realm. Last year was the final straw for me with that one.

The problem is, really, that unless that miracle of a set-up you posted happens (honestly, I was a big fan of that), I'd doubt anyone is going to order a PPV on the name basis of the top two matches being Cena/Mysterio and Orton/Christian. Even with a month to build, face/face matches are tough, especially when Cena and Mysterio may honestly be the two most boring faces on the roster. Orton/Christian is the opposite problem, where it's two interesting guys who have been neutered by a storyline. I'll admit it, when Orton first started this feud, he became honest-to-god interesting again. Now? The feud has overstayed it's welcome by months already, and somehow I can't imagine that 'kicked in the nuts' was the blow-off.

WWE, if nothing else, realizes that the classic 4 PPVs are the ones people will remember. They live on. They get DVD collections. Monthly PPVs? Completely throwaway. Sure, they could spend the time and effort to make them memorable (see: MitB), but that's just not their m.o. anymore. SummerSlam doesn't just need a match, it needs a MATCH. Rey/Cena isn't that match. Orton/Christian isn't that match. Taker is MIA. HHH is a suit. HBK retired. Austin doesn't wrestle. They dug Bret up last year. The Rock isn't coming back yet. They don't have an ace in the hole for this one, and the years of focusing on 2-3 guys have really, really caught up with them here.

So, Punk. Punk is that thing to generate interest. They've got 3-4 weeks to sink or swim with it, but the bottom line is that Punk was the only 'hook' they had for this year. I know I name-checked legends in the last paragraph, but that's important... if the main event of SummerSlam isn't buzz-worthy, then something on the undercard has to sell the PPV. Given that I'm not sure I can name the US, IC, and Tag champs right now, I don't have a ton of faith in that happening.

I hate the timing, I really do... but they needed Punk to sell this PPV. They should've held off *until* SummerSlam to bring him back, but they wouldn't be WWE if they didn't deflate everything immediatly, would they?
 
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