The Official WWE Thread, Brother!

[charizardfan]

Rock has played a variety of different roles in movie carrer (compare his "father figure to troubled delinquents" role in Gridiron Gang to whatever it was he did in Tooth Fairy/Game Plan/Journey 2 (none of which I've seen, just going off the commercials for them) to the "action hero" roles of Fast Five, and what I assume Snitch and G.I. Joe are going to be). I think it's just that the action genre suits him the best, so he's remembered more for that.

I'll laugh if the Rock actually does retain at mania. So we're going through the same Wrestlemania main event with the exact same result? I'll admit while neither Rock or Cena are my all time fave wrestlers, well the Rock would rank somewhere in the middle, I would like to see the WWE champion on RAW and actually in action every once in awhile. Rock is basically holding the title hostage at this point and it's funny because we just got a new WWE belt and it's barely being shown. The World Heavyweight title is getting featured more on both RAW and Smackdown. I don't really care who's the champ, but I would like to see the WWE Champion actually in the main event of the night again, as in he wrestles.

What annoys me about the WWE Championship and whoever holds it, above all else, is the complete overexposure of them. If there's any one thing I like about Rock's reign now, it's that seeing him wrestle is actually a big deal, since he's not going to be doing it on free television. If there's any one thing I'm not looking forward to when, or if, Cena wins the belt back, it's that seeing the champion wrestle isn't going to mean anything because Cena will be doing what the rest of the roster already does. Which removes anything special associated with the title "WWE Champion".

[Platinum fan.]

Rock has played a variety of different roles in movie carrer (compare his "father figure to troubled delinquents" role in Gridiron Gang to whatever it was he did in Tooth Fairy/Game Plan/Journey 2 (none of which I've seen, just going off the commercials for them) to the "action hero" roles of Fast Five, and what I assume Snitch and G.I. Joe are going to be). I think it's just that the action genre suits him the best, so he's remembered more for that.


What annoys me about the WWE Championship and whoever holds it, above all else, is the complete overexposure of them. If there's any one thing I like about Rock's reign now, it's that seeing him wrestle is actually a big deal, since he's not going to be doing it on free television. If there's any one thing I'm not looking forward to when, or if, Cena wins the belt back, it's that seeing the champion wrestle isn't going to mean anything because Cena will be doing what the rest of the roster already does. Which removes anything special associated with the title "WWE Champion".

True, they shouldn't overespose the champion, and I think WWE has a major problem with how they overexpose guys especially their main event guys, but it still doesn't hurt for them to wrestle every once in awhile on TV. For a casual fan who just got into WWE and sees this Cena vs Rock feud and has never seen them wrestle before, that fan will probably see Cena wrestle at least once but not Rock. Now, unless he goes online to find Rock's old matches why would he get excited for the Rock, who he's never seen before and thus would not know what a great wrestler he is. I would give them a few jobbers as warm up matches but not do to much to expose all their great moves. I wouldn't exactly have two guys who I think would make a PPV main event wrestle on TV, unless they already had one in the past. Even though RAW is more a promo show, there should be some actual wrestling involved from all the superstars otherwise why get behind them? Triple H, Brock Lesnar, and Undertaker don't wrestle on TV anymore either. I think the only reason Rock is getting grief for it is because he's the current champion.

As far as Rock's movies go, I've liked him in a few. I really liked him in Fast Five. Probably my current fave movie he was in.

[Laser Shuckle]

I like him as an actor and in Fast Five too, but that's probably the only good movie he's been in lol.

What annoys me about the WWE Championship and whoever holds it, above all else, is the complete overexposure of them. If there's any one thing I like about Rock's reign now, it's that seeing him wrestle is actually a big deal, since he's not going to be doing it on free television. If there's any one thing I'm not looking forward to when, or if, Cena wins the belt back, it's that seeing the champion wrestle isn't going to mean anything because Cena will be doing what the rest of the roster already does. Which removes anything special associated with the title "WWE Champion".

I agree with what your saying, but if he's skipping multiple consecutive shows and never wrestling then it's leaning more towards underexposure.

Maybe I'm in the minority, but Punk seemed to do a great job of making the belt seem special during his long reign despite all the exposure. I'd rather have that then the Rock stopping by for 10 minutes every 2-3 weeks...

[-Raiga-]

Rock has played a variety of different roles in movie carrer (compare his "father figure to troubled delinquents" role in Gridiron Gang to whatever it was he did in Tooth Fairy/Game Plan/Journey 2 (none of which I've seen, just going off the commercials for them) to the "action hero" roles of Fast Five, and what I assume Snitch and G.I. Joe are going to be). I think it's just that the action genre suits him the best, so he's remembered more for that.

That's my point, he does the same two roles over and over again. Its either bad-***, or bad-*** but really a good guy. You'll never see him a movie like lincoln or playing a lawyer.

[celestial phantom]

Raw was pretty damn good at setting up Mania this week as last week's show was not that great at all. Few things of progress were made last week while we made leaps and bounds this week.

Looking up the Mania card seems to be:

Rock v. Cena II for the WWE Championship
Brock Lesnar v. HHH II with an unnamed stipulation (Please don't be Hell in a Cell)
Undertaker v. CM Punk
Ryback v. Mark Henry
Jack Swagger v. Alberto Del Rio
The Shield v. Sheamus, Randy Orton, and Big Show
The New Age Outlaws v. Rhodes Scholars??? (Theory, but hell this would be a great match to the card better if it's a triple threat tag match or 4 way tag match, just add team HELL NO and some other 4th team)

-Props last night to Punk interrupting Paul Bearer's tribute, because that is how a heel is supposed to be. It's the character and it keeps him fresh and adds to the feud. It even got him involved with Kane in the Main Event.
-I want more NAO v. Rhodes Scholars after their mocking of each other prior to the match, and given 5-10 minutes, it could be a good match and put the Rhodes Scholars over.
-Dolph got a win finally, but really needed Langston and AJ to do so over Daniel Bryan. I really wish they didn't have him job out so much, or be Billy Gunn 2.0
-The Segments with the Shield are pretty damn impressive and the Triple Powerbomb to Big Show is effective and sells how destructive they are.
-Depending on the crowd FANDANGO is getting some reaction, good and bad. This crowd gave a good heel reaction, and putting him against Tensai/Brodus to debut against can lead to something for a feud I guess?
-Ryback/Henry interactions should involve repeated use of their finishers on Hornswoggle, The Great Khali, and 5 others that I dislike or find useless now.
-Too many movie plugs, however Kane + Halle Berry segment was awesome.
-Random return of the Bella Twins, while I may not mind their return as eyecandy...I wish they gave divas meaning.
-Jericho should have said the Jeritron was stolen by a returning Shad and reformed Cryme Tyme.
-Swagger, Zeb, Ricardo, and Alberto segments are surprisingly good, effective, and fun. Zeb has turned Swagger's career around no lies.
-Cesaro can make a lot of guys look great in their matches. That deadly Uppercut of his is just too good, and I love it. I wish he would find a meaningful opponent not named the Miz.
-Finally, Kane getting the win over Punk was a surprise, added to Punk v. Taker, and has people invested more than ever.

[flamebeam]

2 random observations i made last night because I was tired and had little attention span:

-Sheamus reminds me of Triple H more and more each week, which is gross because that act is soOo overrated and unappealing. i don't want a new, Triple H and I'm perfectly okay with the original one doing 2 matches per year
-I know Randy Orton had an affair with Mary Juana, or something like that, but I wish they would make him heel and awesome already. he should've been the one to make the pin, not HHH#2. i know the WWE has policies, but I honestly think Smackdown, the WHC, the heels, and the WWE in general will improve greatly if they did this.

[Jb]

RAW was good. And there was no Cena or Rock.

Hmmm

[Platinum fan.]

I enjoyed RAW last night. A good show for Platinum fan. I enjoyed that we got Paul Bearer segments through the night, because many of the stuff they showed was before I even got into Wrestling so it was nice for me to see some of the early 90's stuff of him. Undertaker and Kane's tribute to him at the end of the night was awesome. CM Punk ruined it, but as it was mentioned he is the heel and is suppose to ruin good moments so the audience hates him. I haven't booed this loudly at CM Punk since his feud with Jeff Hardy way back when. Overall I enjoyed there segments, glad Kane got a victory over Punk and can't wait for Undertaker to do the same at mania when he destroys CM Punk! 21-0 at mania, the streak will never die.

I'm enjoying the teasing of Mark Henry and Ryback. This is a great spot to put Ryback in. I don't care who wins at mania, I like them both. I would think Ryback could use the win more but Mark Henry winning would not disappoint me. I want to see him as champ again soon. I enjoyed Mark Henry as champ.

Dolph Ziggler FINALLY wins a match on TV. AJ and Big E helped a bit, that's what they are there for. But finally Ziggler wins a match. Fandango does not wrestle again and the Rhodes Scholars are back together.

I did enjoy Alberto Del Rio and Ricardo mocking Jack Swagger and Zeb's addressing the nation thing. Still more interested in this then Cena vs Rock II. Brock Lesnar made a appearance and destroyed the New Age Outlaws. I really loved Paul Heymans two words for you "BRRROOOCK LEEEESSNAAR" or however he says it, it's cool.

So overall a good RAW despite neither Cena or Rock being on the show. They were not needed last night. Undertaker, Punk, and Kane were the stars of the night. Speaking of stars why so many movie things going on? With Chris Jericho, Miz, and Wade Barrets segments about movies as well. I'm also glad they acknowledged Barrets time in NXT under Chris Jericho.

[Laser Shuckle]

I liked how they put the spotlight on CM Punk vs Undertaker along with Kane and Bearer rather than the stale Cena/Rock retread.

Punk stealing the urn was a nice touch. Now he has the Undertaker's power! It's just a shame Punk has been booked to be a cowardly villain who can't seem to win clean.

Also I was holding out hope for another A+ video package from Brock Lesnar about Triple H:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ufYQ034AJ_k

"What's running through Triple H's mind? I don't give a crap what's running through his mind. What's more important is what's running down his leg, Piss. the guy is scared. He's shitting his pants is what he's doing"

[celestial phantom]

I did enjoy how they didn't have Rock/Cena on last night. The show was one of the better ones this year so far, and they had the spotlight on different people, and it made a great difference. It's a good way to develop talent by giving them the ball and running with it every so often without "the face of the company" on the show. In recent memory at TLC 2011 Cena was not on the card for a match and the PPV was still a good one. Cena does not have to be a focus every week, nor does The Rock. In the build up to mania, they need to be on more than ever really, yet like 10 years ago with Rock/Austin/HHH/Taker/Mankind, as long as you have one/two on a week then you don't have to have the same guys on and let underused guys run with the ball. We used to have weekly tag matches with different teams on Raw and Smackdown showcasing what they could do. A spot dedicated to divas and 2 midcard/upper midcard matches with a bigger main event with a main event talent and midcard guy. The shows were good 10 years ago because of the main event talent segments and not their matches of the nights, because quite frankly the quality of matches back then were pretty low. They can do better with today's shows by providing good segments (like we had on Smackdown and last night) with guys who actually put on a heck of a performance weekly.

[charizardfan]

I agree with what your saying, but if he's skipping multiple consecutive shows and never wrestling then it's leaning more towards underexposure.

I'm not trying to defend the Rock, really, so much as I'm just pointing out why I don't think a champion should be wrestling on free television, unless it's a special Raw. It's been an annoyance of mine for a while, and that was the best place to bring it up.

That said, I haven't been watching much of Raw, but to the best of my knowledge Rock's missed all of three shows (one in February, two in March) and none of them were consecutive. He's scheduled to appear the rest of the Road to WrestleMania, has shown up on SmackDown!, and has wrestled at every pay-per-view since his return, so I really don't think it's a big deal.

On to Raw... pretty enjoyable for the most part. Still couldn't care less about HHH/Brock, but WWE made a positive step with Undertaker and CM Punk. They seem to realize that there's no way of making Punk a huge threat to 'Taker, so they're just building him up to be the biggest ******* he can be, so that we'll be happy with Undertaker beating him at 'Mania. It's probably the best use of this storyline. I like how they took Cena and Rock off for the night. The constant hype of last year's build, exciting as it was, got tiring quick. Show held up fine without them. And, hey, if all Cena and Rock promos can be like the one they gave two Raws ago, then I guess I can get invested in another match between them.

And while this year's main events might not be as good as last years, the undercard's coming together a lot better. I'm more excited for Ryback/Henry and Orton/Sheamus/Show vs. the Shield than any of last year's midcard events. So that's something.

[Jb]

After a little thinking, I think the main problem with the WWE is the atmosphere. No one seems to care as much as they did back then which turns a lot of people off.

[Frygon]

Punk's interruption ruled.

[Laser Shuckle]

That said, I haven't been watching much of Raw, but to the best of my knowledge Rock's missed all of three shows (one in February, two in March) and none of them were consecutive. He's scheduled to appear the rest of the Road to WrestleMania, has shown up on SmackDown!, and has wrestled at every pay-per-view since his return, so I really don't think it's a big deal.

He missed half of the shows in February (only two, but still) and he's not going to be on next week so that's two weeks in a row right there and another half a month. I suppose it doesn't matter much anyway if they're just going to rehash a stale storyline with him, but that's pretty bad.

I don't think he should be wrestling all the time either however it sucks for those of us who can't afford the pay per views to have the champion never wrestle on TV, especially when it's a part timer like the Rock.

After a little thinking, I think the main problem with the WWE is the atmosphere. No one seems to care as much as they did back then which turns a lot of people off.

I blame the boring/predictable booking.

[-Raiga-]

-Cesaro can make a lot of guys look great in their matches. That deadly Uppercut of his is just too good, and I love it. I wish he would find a meaningful opponent not named the Miz.

Funny, I myself would like Miz to be the non-ric flair goody too shoes miz, and instead be a cocky face of the company who doesn't have to deal with small fry like cesaro.

[Laser Shuckle]

So just for the hell of it I made a top ten most stale list:

1. Cena
2. Sheamus
3. Orton
4. Vickie
5. Santino
6. Ziggler
7. Brodus
8. Otunga
9. Ryback
10. Prime time players

[Platinum fan.]

Santino and Otunga aren't even on TV much...actually I can't remember Santino's last appearance, when was it? But like the idea of the stale list XD

Someone mentioned the Rock not showing up at the next show either on here? If that's true then to be honest, I really don't care. Cena Vs Rock II is a feud I really don't care that much to see and I would laugh if WWE overestimates just how much people want to see it again, though I'm sure there are plenty who do. I am more interested in Undertaker vs CM Punk and the role Kane will play if they continue to use him in the feud, Jack Swagger vs ADR, Yes I am into this feud. Like it more then Cena vs Rock II. I'm also finally getting entertained/interested in the Shield. Their gimmick still is a yawn for me with the whole "justice" thing but I like that they are being booked as a big time threat. I actually wouldn't mind seeing them vs Big Show, Orton, and Sheamus at maina. And of course Mark Henry vs Ryback. Triple H and Brock Lesnar are like somewhere in the middle.

[flamebeam]

So just for the hell of it I made a top ten most stale list:
1. Cena
2. Sheamus
3. Orton
4. Vickie
5. Santino
6. Ziggler
7. Brodus
8. Otunga
9. Ryback
10. Prime time players

3. i enjoyed Orton's Invincible/Legacy year-and-a-half period. he was just awesome. he really does work better as a heel
6. Ziggler can be the next Edge, so that's cool
9. Ryback is the closest we can get to a Goldberg/Lesnar/massive-monster character. so he can stay
1. I'm a Cena fan, but I'd rather not open up that can of worms

the others can go and I wouldn't care

[Jb]

Ziggler can not be the next. Not with that stupid name

WWE should bring back the Ministry of Darkness. That was Taker can work behind the scenes and only wrestle the big matches. Have the faction made up of the older NXT guys and maybe Orton and another big name. That way they can sacrifice Cena.

[Mye]

It seems that the punk vs undertaker wrestlemania match may turn into a "streak vs urn" match. If that does happen, I'd love to see kane as a possible special guest referee (turning heel on taker in the process).

[Cancer0081]

Ziggler can not be the next. Not with that stupid name

WWE should bring back the Ministry of Darkness. That was Taker can work behind the scenes and only wrestle the big matches. Have the faction made up of the older NXT guys and maybe Orton and another big name. That way they can sacrifice Cena.

can you explain why Orton should be included in your vision of the Ministry? if JBL were involved as a backer, that'd make sense. using Orton for it doesn't make any clear sense.

[Mye]

I actually agree with cancer, but for a different reason. When the ministry was around, they were a heel faction. Right now, Undertaker, orton, and a few of the "older" nxt guys (daniel bryan, ryback) are all faces. To turn them all heel makes no sense. Now, if the Undertaker was to become the GM of raw...

[~Spaceman~]

If the Ministry were to make a comeback it could easily consist of mostly current NXT guys. Connor O'Brien, Paige, Corey Graves and The Wyatt Family are all people I could see as part of it

[Mye]

I couldn't see any of them a part of it. If a non-heel version did exist, I could see kane (assuming he doesn't turn heel vs taker), Justin Gabriel, Big Show, and possibly Daniel Bryan a part of it (mind you, with plenty of "groups" existing already, the idea of adding the ministry seems doubtful).

[Laser Shuckle]

Santino and Otunga aren't even on TV much...actually I can't remember Santino's last appearance, when was it? But like the idea of the stale list XD

haha thanks, I think Santino's last appearance was when Raw was in las vegas a few weeks back. Not really sure either but his character has really gotten old regardless.

Ryback is the closest we can get to a Goldberg/Lesnar/massive-monster character. so he can stay

Ryback can join the Hall of Pain class of 2013. He doesn't have that Badass factor and just seems to ride off his catchphrase. His Fruit Roll-up ring gear doesn't exactly help either.