CM Punk; WWE Has Me Hooked Again (2011 Official Pro Wrestling Thread)

[JimH5]

ESPN's E:60 profile on Scott Hall is pretty riveting.

 

I've never been to one of the small indy shows, but even for the guys who are sober, it looks really depressing.

 

Hall looks about ready to die. He moves slowly and is very puffy. Steroid use and drug & alcohol abuse have taken a huge toll.

 

Hopefully his life will serve as a lesson to some of the younger guys.

[Outlander]

At least he is starting to develop a relationship with his son. However, I don't know if Hall will ever be able to turn it around, especially considering he has gone to WWE rehab a number of times and it has never worked. It did disgust me how the indy promoter never had second thoughts having him wrestle in the state he was in, he very well could have died in the ring.

[And That]

That ESPN piece on Hall was hard to watch, just heartbreaking. Hall stated that he should have died 100 times by now, and looking at him, I'd say that's about right. Hopefully this story can have some sort of happy resolution.

[Viva La Grinch]

Reports from TMZ say that the relationship with his son is already over, and the son is no longer wrestling.

 

I know this is a WWE thread, but pretty shocking TNA news that James Storm of all people won the heavyweight title this week.

[BrewCrewForever]

At what point does WWE put the strap back on Punk and give him a real title reign? Survivor Series?

[radman12484]

At what point does WWE put the strap back on Punk and give him a real title reign? Survivor Series?

He's my pick to win the Royal Rumble in January. My guess would be he would face either Miz or ADR one on one at Wrestlemania for the WWE Title.

[And That]

Dean Ambrose (Jon Moxley of CZW and ROH fame) and CM Punk wrestled each other recently at an FCW show... would love to be able to see the whole thing. Or to have been there.

 

Link.

 

Ambrose and Seth Rollins (Tyler Black from ROH) had an absolutely amazing 30 minute time limit match as well, a few weeks ago.

 

 

I was never a CZW guy - too violent for the sake of being violent - and Moxley wasn't in ROH very long IIRC, but I'm becoming a huge fan.

[TracyThom]

If you search YouTube, all three matches in the Ambrose/Rollins series are up. Ambrose is amazing. He is completely different than anyone else on the main roster. I can't quite put my finger on who he reminds me of. A little bit of a young Roddy Piper, with some Brian Pillman and Matt Bourne added as well. William Regal can't help but gush about him on commentary. As a matter of fact, Ambrose and Regal wrestled at the last tv taping. Can't wait to see that one.

[JimH5]

It's turning into Monday Night Yawn.

 

People I now fast forward through:

 

Santino

Michael Cole

Air Boom

Any Diva match

Alberto

Orton

 

That doesn't leave much.

[brettac1]

I'm behind, but I watched Vengeance the other night and thought the collapsing ring spot was pretty decent.

 

I'm pretty much at the point where I don't watch weekly TV at all. TNA is becoming better.

[radman12484]

Yeah I agree TNA is finally heading in the right direction it looks like. Getting the older guys out of the main event spot is a big plus. Angle is great, but TNA isn't going to get anywhere if he keeps beating all the young guys, so it was nice to see Storm beat him for the belt. I could do without Ronnie from the Jersey Shore however. Would like to see more of Mr. Anderson, Austin Aries, Somoa Joe, Eric Young, Bobby Roode, James Storm, and AJ Styles.

[PrinceEatMeat]

The fact that you feel you need to see more of all those guys makes me think that TNA isn't worth watching. Those are all guys I would want to see a lot of. I haven't watched TNA for awhile. Was pure garbage the last time I watched it.

[Viva La Grinch]

I have always liked TNA, even way back when they were on at like noon on Friday afternoons. TNA has always reminded me of those old TBS days of WCW in the late 80's and early 90's. Some great young talent mixed with some castoffs from WWF and a real southern style of broadcasting to them. Yes, its cringe worthy at times, but I sometimes like my wrestling being corny. Having the Muppets on Raw this week reminded me that I like my wrestling when it doesn't take itself too seriously.

 

As for the current state of TNA, you might want to give them another chance. Vince Russo was recently demoted from Head Writer, so some of the "stupid item on a pole" matches might not be some common. Tonight had a great title match that featured a battle between Storm and Roode. After the outcome, I can not wait to see how they develop these two guys for the future.

 

In regards to bringing in celebs in wrestling, I don't mind it. Look at how many Wrestlemania's did this. Were they needed, perhaps not, but watch any highlight clip and they will show the appearance. Do I remember every match from those PPV's? Not a chance, but I will always remember Uecker, Regis, Pam Anderson, Tyson, LT and Mr. T at those events. Its free publicity, and in the case of TNA, they need all the help that they can get.

[pretendastronaut]

I liked TNA until they decided to try to re-live the WCW glory days. Almost overnight the younger guys, and especially the X Division got buried which was really disappointing.

[brettac1]

It seems like that is becoming less of a problem now, though Hogan does always have some creative control and likes to push old guys. Still, people were freaking out way too much when Angle beat Roode at the last PPV. It's definitely been better since Russo got demoted. I believe the old "Brother Love" handles booking for TNA now.

[TracyThom]

I've tried to like TNA, but the goofy storylines and booking has turned me off again and again. I also hate the look of the Impact Zone in Orlando. It reminds me of WCW Saturday Night or WCW Worldwide. The Orlando fans drive me nuts too. Many are more interested in getting themselves over with their stupid chants.

 

I'm going to give TNA another chance due to both Bruce Prichard's promotion to head writer and the fact they are doing more Impact tapings on the road.

 

---

Changing gears, has anyone been watching the new Ring of Honor show? The show airs in Milwaukee on both Channel 18 (Saturday 1pm and Sunday 3am) and Channel 24 (Saturday 9pm and Sunday 10pm.) In Madison, the show is on Channel 47 on Saturday night at 11:30pm and 3:30am. I like the pacing of the new show compared to ROH's old HDNet show. However, I do not like the commentary team of Kevin Kelly and Nigel McGuinness. I vastly preferred the HDNet commentary team of Mike Hogewood and Dave Prazak. "SLAP THE PORPOISE!"

[PrinceEatMeat]

So after that Nash promo last night, where does everyone think this storyline is going? It seems to be incredibly slow going right now. Probably because Nash was off filming a movie and wasn't cleared to wrestle for awhile, so everything got pushed back. I hope it picks up a little bit now. I still think there will be more to it than just Nash/HHH. I think HBK may get involved at some point.

[patrickgpe]

i'm sure they are setting up Nash-Triple H at Wrestlemania, i'm sure things will move along slowly until then since Triple H is out for 6 weeks.

[PrinceEatMeat]

Don't you think they'll wrestle before then though? Possibly at TLC? I don't see how they could put off the match until Mania. Sure they might end up wrestling each other at Mania, but I would think they'll face off before then.

[radman12484]

Don't be shocked if HHH comes back to RAW next week. They are pushing Nash returning for a reason and for them to keep on talking about it week after week. Nash has to be either be doing something at Survivor Series or wrestle HHH at Series. I always thought they brought Nash back to give either Undertaker or Big Show a match at Wrestlemania.

 

I am starting to lean towards Dolph Ziggler winning the Royal Rumble. I know he's lost back to back weeks, but they need to give him something to do until he gets hot and starts winning again. I for one wouldn't mind seeing CM Punk vs. Dolph Ziggler for the WWE Title at Mania.

[thablingster]

I've grown to enjoy Dolph. His match with Morrison last night was a good match. I will never understand why they haven't done more with Morrison, but eh. I could see them pushing someone like Sheamus for the rumble too.

 

Punk cutting on Del Rio's promo skills was hilarious. I always used to fast forward through Del Rio because I didn't care and he always said the exact same thing.

 

Last night was kind of squash-tastic with Swagger-Santino, Ryan-JTG, and Del Rio-Kingston all being basic squashes.

 

I wouldn't be surprised to see Nash stick his nose in Punk's business (again), just to keep that angle warm until HHH gets back. Punk wins the title at SS and they then really push Punk as Austin 2.0 where it's basically the entire heel faction of the company vs. him up to Wrestlemania.

 

They've done a good job getting a decent heel contingent in place to snipe at Punk (Del Rio, Swagger, Ziggler, Rhodes, Christian, Miz, Truth, Barrett, Nash, etc.), but there aren't nearly as many credible faces to help other than HHH and Cena. They're pushing Ryder to the moon and while his gimmick is awful at least he's decent in-ring. Santino is ... Santino. They've buried Morrison as he's on the way out. Kofi and Bourne are relegated to tag team anonymity. They'll probably just bring Show and Sheamus over more often. Or book Mason Ryan as the next Batista. Sigh. At that rate I'd rather have more Ryder. lol

[jerichoholicninja]

I wasn't watching at the time but isn't this Nash/HHH angle the exact same angle they did like 6 years ago?

[radman12484]

I wasn't watching at the time but isn't this Nash/HHH angle the exact same angle they did like 6 years ago?

It's pretty close I'd say, except HHH was heel and Nash was face. Either way, I hope this feud leads to something.

[brettac1]

I wasn't watching at the time but isn't this Nash/HHH angle the exact same angle they did like 6 years ago?

It's pretty close I'd say, except HHH was heel and Nash was face. Either way, I hope this feud leads to something.

Yes, a poor match with a 53 year old dude that can barely move.

[TracyThom]

I hate to keep plugging Dean Ambrose (the former Jon Moxley), but he and William Regal are in the middle of a terrific feud in FCW. This is their first match. Regal is snug as can be with his punches, and pounds the snot out of Ambrose after trapping him in the corner turnbuckle. THEN, Ambrose works the final 1/3rd of the match with one arm. His other arm just hangs there dead. Terrific work.

.

To top it off, the Regal promo in the second video is outstanding. Real emotion. Moxley plays the psychopath perfectly. This promo is a million times better than anything I've seen in the WWE in years.

 

 

 

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