Hive

Yeah The Rock really wasn't much more interesting in the ring imo... maybe the WWE are telling such top guys to take it easy to avoid injuries, maybe they just get lazy at the top, or maybe they just really can't do any better... but I'm inclined to believe that the company is telling them to take it easy, because looking back at Hogan it was kind of the same thing: he was clearly much better i the ring in Japan than in the US, and it kinda looked as if he was holding back in WWF and WCW. But then of course, the lazy explanation works here as well...

Aye. And hasn't the Ultimate Universe kinda always been about catering to political correctness and trying out new stuff? Didn't they make more characters, most prominently Collossus, homosexual as well? Oh, and also: didn't they already do something like this? Was Spider-Man 2099 not hispanic as well? I just hope all this political correctness doesn't translate into the mainsteam universe and the movies. I'd hate to see a black Spider-Man in movies just as much as I'd hate to see a white Luke Cage. But of course, while the former would be applauded by the PC crowd; the latter would be shunned and be called "racist", so that won't happen.

I don't think anyone ever claimed that Cena makes people look bad on purpose: it's the booking of him and his at times inability to sell properly that does the trick. I don't see many people arguing against Cena being a really nice guy, probably one of the nicest in the business. I myself have nothing against Cena as a person (in fact, I would probably like him as a person if I ever met him), and I completely understand his value to the company. I just strongly dislike his character and his booking and I find most of his in-ring work to be dull and repetitive.

Morrison is too unreliable to ever become a WWE company man like Cena, The Miz or possibly Sheamus. They can't count on him, and his affiliation with Melina definately isn't helping that issue one bit. I don't see WWE investing the required time and effort in trying to mold him. Too bad, as I really like him as an in-ring performer. He's very exciting to watch.

I agree, and I find it very exciting. The Miz has potential for much wider mainstream appeal than Cena, and his babyface turn is inevitable. I've said it before and I'll say it again: A proper babyface Miz can be what they need to feel safe enough to turn Cena heel somewhere down the line. Yes, and life will go on just the same when Cena retires. New stars will take his place just as new stars stepped up when Austin left. Noone has yet to reach Austin's level of merch sale, and it will probably be hard to find someone who can level Cena's as well - but WWE will create new stars and they will survive. But the thing is... they didn't try to replace Austin untill he left, and why should they? Why should they begin to depush him or give him less spotlight in favor of someone else when he was doing the merch sales he was? Same thing with Cena. There's absolutely no reason at all to try to replace him. I agree with Stennick: In a business, you find something that works... and then you milk it untill its' milk gets sour. WWE trying to outright replace Cena with Punk or Morrison or Sheamus or anyone else would kinda be like Microsoft bying Linux and having it replace Windows. You don't remove your prime moneymaker. And expecting them to do so is silly.

Seriously, are you for real with this outlandish claim?

After being a member for how long, 1 month? I don't get TNA's crash booking.

I agree. The reason they often had much longer matches back in "the old days" was that they didn't incorporate as many "spots" as they do nowadays, but just did old fashioned chain wrestling and rest holds much more.

Wow, TNA switches worker allignments more often than most people switch socks... does anyone even know what guys like Mr. Anderson and Angle are these days? Really, the only thing TNA lacks from making me completely give up on them atm is putting the title on Crimson... which doesn't seem very far off.

As much as I dislike Cena, I'll have to agree with this. Cena had one of the best matches I've personally seen him have, while I've seen Punk a lot better than what he delivered here in terms of fluid in-ring work and botch-free spots. He still did good though, but I agree that he blew just as many spots as Cena in that particular match. Doesn't matter though, it was the story that made the match what it was - not so much the in-ring work.

The match was pretty good, but I wasn't blown away. Especially Tyson Kidd kinda botching the finish by nearly getting up before realizing he was to stay down dragged it down for me. But some really good moves by both men every now and then, and loved Regal on commentary.

Lazy? Really? You can critisize his character and his mic skills if you will, but calling him lazy? I think Orton is one of the most dedicated and hard-working wrestlers in WWE today who always does his best to be professional and engaging in the ring. He doesn't know 1000 moves like Malenko, but I personally feel that he's a lot more versatile than Cena. But still, not knowing a lot of moves does not necessarily make you lazy imo.

I like Orton but agree with you to an extent. Especially the way he was booked against New Nexus was horrible (but certainly no fault of his). But he makes people look fairly good in the ring, I think.

Agreed, they will likely turn him babyface and try to propel him to Cena-ish levels. Everyone keeps talking about WWE not turning Cena heel untill Orton is capable (if ever) of replacing him as the face of the promotion... but maybe that spot is actually better suited, and more likely intended, for The Miz...? I personally think he can become a great underdog babyface, and I'd like to see him in a match against someone like Alberto Del Rio at WM28. Or a heel Triple H. I have no interest in Undertaker-Triple H II, and would much rather see Undertaker face off against someone fresh. Someone who can bring energi and agility to the match at a level Undertaker for obvious reasons is no longer able to... someone like John Morrisson. Ah yes, one can always dream...

And now to something that could make next year's Wrestlemania one of the biggest ever... Austin responds to rumors about facing off against CM Punk at WM28, saying that he won't say it will happen but more importantly he won't say that it won't happen either. He also says that if he were to have one last match, having it against CM Punk would be the way to go. Check it out: http://www.ewrestlingnews.com/headlines/VIDEO_Steve_Austin_Talks_CM_Punk_Movies_More.php Imagine The Rock vs. Cena and Austin vs. Punk on the same card. What kind of wrestling fan would *not* want to see that event?

I seem to recall Orton beating him in a tables match as well last year or so, through a lame finish where Orton turned the Attitude Adjustment into an RKO. The thing was: he still crashed through the table first, so how he won on that is beyond me.

I agree, he does help get them over in promos. I think he's given Punk a boost in their recent feud (on top of Punk being awesome all by himself).

Perhaps you should stop trying to be the center of attention and accept that people can discuss things in this thread not necessarily brought up by you.

No reason to get your panties in a twist, calm down. Such anger is bad for your heart. Did I ever mention your name in my posts? Did I quote you? No? Then why are you taking my posts so personal? Breathe in. Breathe out. Calm down.

I still think they dropped the ball on Flair managing AJ Styles as champion, I really liked that. It was the only time I liked Flair's work in TNA, pretty much. Having Hogan and Abyss of all people constantly knock them down did nothing good, nor did giving the belt to RVD the minute the stepped into the Impact Zone... *sigh*

I'm not in disagreement with you here, I just find it odd and directly wrong to give Cena the credit for creating stars out of certain people. Like you said: they got themselves over, getting the "Superman treatment" from Cena wasn't what did it.

Yes, a lot of people have had their most memorable moments in feuds with Cena. But is that really due to Cena's work, or due to the fact that the bookers gave them their best material and plenty of spotlight because they were part of the company's premier feud? How on earth can Batista being entertaining as a heel be attributed to Cena? Would it had made a difference had Orton or Triple H been in Cena's spot?

By the same logic, one could say that Cena didn't propel any midcarders to main event... booking did.

I concur. Cena didn't get Batista over, Evolution and Triple H in particular, aided by a Royal Rumble win, did. Batista was way over before doing anything with Cena. If Cena got Sheamus over, then why didn't he stay at the top instead of floating down to midcard status bar occational appearances in the main event? Why is he not a top draw now? Feuding with Cena did very little for Sheamus except for being viewed as more boring than when he entered the feud. I personally felt that he was hotter before the feud than after, but I may be mistaken. Nexus was buried, I don't see there being much to discuss on that note. Barrett was on the brink of getting over before they decided to bury him and shove him down. The Miz got over by himself, because he was awesome (pun intended) on the mic. He was red hot before entering the feud with Cena, and I'll argue that Michael Cole actually did more to get Miz over than Cena did.