infinitywpi

Ryback has lifted Tensai before, just not that particular moment on camera. So either he was sandbagged, or his grip slipped, or something. We only notice the mistakes we see, never the things that go right that we don't see. I think the booking team backed themselves into a corner here, but I've got the solution. Ryback tends to call out "Finish it!" or something before he goes for the win, right? So, after a good 12-15 minute match with a few near-falls, Punk is out of it, Ryback calls 'Finish it!', lifts punk up... and Brock f'in Lesnar comes otu form underneath the ring -inside the cell-, delivers a few mighty punches, delivers an F-5, and drags Punk on top of him. Survivor Series is main-evented by Team Punk/Lesnar vs Team Cena/Ryback. Maybe throw in Team Hell No and Kofi on the face side, Team Rhodes Scholars and Miz on the heel side. Then in December you have Punk/Cena (I know, I know, again), Ryback/Lesnar (and if you think Ryback's gotten over now, having him beat Lesnar would make him -huge-), and everyone's ready for the Royal Rumble. You just know that, regardless of anything else, Ryback is getting the 'Kane Push' in the Rumble this year.

I'll say this... Ryback has grown on me, and part of it is the subtle things. He's been going around, saying 'Feed Me More', and us internet guys are like, hurr hurr, they're feeding him jobbers, so feed him more jobbers... then he slowly moves up the ladder... and then, last night, three words. Feed. Me. Punk. The guy views the WWE champion, not as a threat, not as competition, but as just someone else to be fed to him. To him, Punk is just another one-night jobber. That speaks a hell of a lot to his character, really. I like it. And I look forward to Ryback/Lesnar at Wrestlemania... provided, of course, Ryback doesn't mess up at Hall in a Cell. If he gets blown up after four minutes and Punk has to carry him for another fifteen, then he's not seeing a main event for a long time...

For the record, I saw it coming as soon as Hogan started saying the company was crazy to let Devon go. I just didn't care enough about TNA to mention it. Gonna hafta try to start watching, tho. The last few weeks sound like they've been pretty good.

What I think WWE needs to do: Treat Raw like three different shows. First hour: Raw Family. Short matches, lots of comedy. Brodus, Santino, the Divas (to provide female role models), etc will go here. Cartoonish heels, fun faces, shorter matches, more segments. Second hour: Raw Action. Segment, 15-20 minute match, segment, segment, 15-20 minute match, segment. Longer matches to show off the tag teams, the midcarders, the ones who can actually go for more than five minutes. The IC and US titles tend to stay here, and the Tag Titles as well. Sometimes they'll show up on Raw Family for short squashes. Third Hour: Raw Extreme. It's late. The kids are asleep. Let Punk and Cena call each other assholes. Let the Divas show a bit more skin. Let there be some blood from time to time. Let it loose. Let the big titles be determined here. Let wild and crazy stuff happen. And here's the kicker: Stuff from the first and last shows? Never get replayed on each other. Raw Family will never recap last week's Raw Extreme. Raw Extreme will never replay someone throwing water on Brodus while he's dancing to start a feud. They stuff can overlap with Raw Action -- but not to the other end of the show.

I think they're missing out on a huge opportunity to have 'The Biggest Hell In A Cell Ever'. Sheamus vs Big Show vs Brodus Clay vs Tensai vs Ryback vs Barrett. Maybe have Great Khali be the ref or something. It wouldn't be a -good- match, but it'd be a spectacle.

Just realized.... Show vs Punk was there because otherwise, all the Smackdown matches had heel wins. They must've realized that early on, s'why they booked the match in the first place...

The choke did stand out in my mind as the most brutal part of the whole thing... I'm not surprised someone complained. Pity... I was really looking forward to Bryan/Cena. Ah, well. Five bucks says part of Wade Barret's speech Monday night involves how WWE is scared of them; they had Bryan arrested for assault on a non-wrestler... or something like that. Iff they give a reason he's not there, then they're looking ot bring him back. If they don't mention him at all, he's gone for good.

<p>So, random thought...</p><p> </p><p> How many of the Season 2 rookies are in on this?</p><p> </p><p> I think I'll actually watch NXT tonight... so in that aspect, the angle worked.</p>

<p>Hrm. Here's the promo I'm expecting when we find out Cole was behind it all...</p><p> </p><p> "That's right, that's right. Boo me. You don't like me. I know! When I had Daniel Bryan come out and call me a poor man's J.R., and you all cheered? I heard it. I've been hearing it ever since I was taking crap from The Rock in interviews backstage. Well, you know what? It's time for things to be different. Jerry Lawler never showed me an ounce of respect at that announce table. Well, he's not here anymore. Matt Striker never showed me any respect. He's not here anymore. John Cena... well, let's remind you all about John Cena."</p><p> </p><p> *Play clips of John Cena insulting Cole*</p><p> </p><p> "John Cena... did not show me any respect. And he is not here anymore. Last week, we made a statement. A declaration of war. You are either with us, showing respect, or you are against us, and we'll show you the inside of an ambulance. We are NXT, and this show is now ours."</p>

<p>The entire existence of NXT has just been justified. This was as close to an Invasion-level markout I've had for a while. The sheer... potential, of what may come. </p><p> </p><p> Let's hope they don't blow it.</p><p> </p><p> Also, bonus points if they reveal their leader, evil Micheal Cole, has been in on it from the begining...</p>

I like the change from a booking standpoint... the old-school TNA fan has seen AJ fight pretty much everyone but Waltman, Hall, and... well,you know. RVD has whole string of "for the first time ever" matches ahead of him, with established-in-TNA names. Thinking in TEW terms, if I want to avoid repeat-match penalties, I can either a) hire a new main eventer every month to challenge my champ, or b) hire a new main eventer for nine months, make him champ, have him run through the roster, and then have someone dethrone him at the end. One of those is much cheaper and easier to pull off.

I watched Pope/Wolffe... kinda faded in and out for a few matches, finally passed out during Abyss/Foley... woke up to see Bischoff slugging Flair. This isn't a knock on the show, I have the flu... from what I saw, decent show tho.

Saw him wrestle Mike Knox at a house show earlier this month. He didn't -suck-... but let's say, if Knox is getting the face reaction? Nobody cares about you. When The Hart Foundation ambushes you after the match and beats down on you, to cheers? Nobody cares about you.

... Am I the only one who suddenly wants to see Conan O'Brien host Raw?

Got back from the Smackdown show in Fargo -- bit of a letdown; no Undertaker, no Punk, no Cryme Tyme. On the other hand, Morrison/McIntyre was pretty good, Y2J/Hardy was as good as you'd expect, and I began to realize why R-Truth was a champion waaaay back when in TNA. Oh, also, Mickie James? Far more flexible than I expected. Goldust? Far more over than I expected. Drunken college kids behind us? Faaaaaaaaar more annoying than expected.

I'm gonna go out on a limb here and say "botched finish". Sheamus was supposed to go through that table on the outside, same time as Cena, to set the next match. Now, we just have to see if management thinks he did that deliberately...

<blockquote data-ipsquote="" class="ipsQuote" data-ipsquote-username="dcxbox" data-cite="dcxbox" data-ipsquote-contentapp="forums" data-ipsquote-contenttype="forums" data-ipsquote-contentid="25170" data-ipsquote-contentclass="forums_Topic"><div>good thing heroes is on netflix the next day, but if u dont have netflix you can watch on hulu with short commercials</div></blockquote><p> </p><p> Wife hates watching shows on computer for some reason. Even if I hook it up to the HDTV. *shrug* Women.</p>

Dammit. I hope Heroes and House are reruns that night. The DVR can't tape that many things at once...

So... am I the only one who's noticed this? A heel champion holds the title until losing it to a mega-over face, and then goes on to feud with an up-and-coming young African-American superstar. Meanwhile, the title goes on to be defended in a triple-threat match against both members of a dominant tag team. The champ retains, only to find his next contender is a large, heavily-muscled man who recently arrived on his brand. ... is it just a coincidence, or are the Raw/Smackdown writers -really- that lazy? Or is this being done intentionally?

No, they aren't. He's gone straight from "Feuding with a main eventer" to "Beats two former champions in six seconds." I'm calling it right now; Orton gets his hands on the title somehow, and we get Orton/Kofi for the title at Mania. And after tonight... I'd buy that. EDIT: This is why we love Jericho. Fan: "Go back to Toronto!" Y2J: "I'm from Winnipeg, you idiot!"

Well, they're in DC, according to R-Truth's cheap pop... DC loves them some home-grown Batista.

Watching. Don't think Batista got quite the reaction they were looking for.