The Official WWE / NXT Discussion Thread *May Contain Spoilers*

[Stennick]

Like I said different strokes for different folks and all that so yeah if you like the Danielson promo's thats totally cool. To me he was basically just saying in a fairly monotone voice exactly what we say everyday here and I suspect thats why people love his promo so much. They like him and he's being the IWC Stone Cold meaning he's saying the stuff we've always considered very insider and very hush hush within the business and his character doesn't give a damn who hears them. I mean right now I'm not interested in it because he seems to be feuding with a play by play guy or thats basically what he said when he said "the guy I really want to talk to is micheal cole" and then proceeded to stomp him.

 

In my opinion Jericho's promo on Hart goading him into the no DQ match that backfired was ten times the awesome of that promo. CM Punk creepily singing Happy Birthday to Rey's daughter was more awesome. The last Taker/HBK promo before Wrestlemania was awesome. Anderson's promos for the last month have been on fire.

 

Again different strokes for different folks I just think people are letting their love for DB and the fact that he said the same thing they said overhype it. Sure it was cool and a surreal moment but as a wrestling fan I'm not interesting in DB saying he's better than the Miz and then beating up an announcer. I liked what the guy said but really whats the end result? You walk a fine line with these shoots much like Russo found out in WCW. Its Danielson telling that when he says Otunga doesn't know how to run the ropes and Vince hires big guys and only guys he gets made get pushed. When he says those things he's saying "Steve......wrestling if fake and as a fake character I'm telling you its fake because its fake".

 

It would be like watching The Hangover and in the middle of the Hangover one of the guys stops and turns to the screen and says "this is what comedy is about. We're tired of the same lame humor passing off as the best comedies so we're here in this movie to show you that no matter how different this movie is its still a better comedy than what you like. And then proceeds to get back into the movie.

 

I don't like that. Little digs are ok easter eggs if you will but to come out and say "Vince pushes big guys, he only pushes guys that he creates, and I worked in ROH so I'm better than the Miz". I don't like that The Miz is a Tag Team Champion and a U.S Champion in storyline DB hasn't won a singles match so in character for what justification does he have that he's better? He won some matches in a bingo hall?

 

Wouldn't that be like A record setting high school QB who won championships and set records all over the nation calling out Tom Brady and saying he's better because his form is more what a QB's should be like?

 

I'm not even talking real life here I'm talking about in character why do I care about Daniel Bryan? He's lost every match he's had on NXT, he beat up an announcer, he keeps complaining about Vince holding him back which would be different if he won every match and THEN didn't win NXT but when you're 0-100 or whatever he is and you're telling me as a fan that you're better than the U.S Champ and what two or three time tag team champion? Because you did good wrestling guys in a lower level? As a fan why do I like Daniel Bryan when he says that? Doesn't he come across as a holier than though cry baby? If thats what their going for great but I've not seen him do much in that promo that was babyface like.

 

Again I liked the promo but I liked it in the same way I liked Joey Styles promo to kinda form ECW, or Heyman's promo on TNN. Their neat "I can't believe I'm seeing this" moments but their just that moments. I liked my worked shoots to be Scott Hall showing up and saying "you know who I am.....but you don't know why I'm here". I like moments like HBK beating Davey Boy and Anvil while talking about "that money pit in Atlanta". Or DX invading WCW. It has that "this is crazy their saying that moment but its just that a moment in a bigger, more interesting storyline.

 

Some people liked it and Its good that they did because if the IWC came on here and said "man our favorite wrestler of the last five years just went on live television and told vince exactly what we've been saying for ten years and we hated it". That would make them even more hypocritcal than they already are at times. So yeah I'm glad the IWC finally found something they like but its just not for me.

 

I'll go back to CM Punk being better than me, Dave rocking leather jackets and Kanye glasses, I forgot to mention Lethal's Flair tribute was WAY better than DB's promo. So anyway though I'm glad people like it and I'm not sayin gI didn't like it. I was like "this is the coolest thing NXT has ever done" but it was the "moment" not the promo that interested me.

 

However people love TNA, people love ROH, and people love the WWE. Before that people loved Dubya Cee Dubya and the Territories. My point is wrestling is all about all of us taking out of it what we will so I hope nobody thinks I'm trashing them I just didn't think TEW mod makers should start giving DB a 25 point increase in charisma and mic skills because of what he did.

[The Final Countdown]

He won some matches in a bingo hall?

Michael Cole? Is that you?

[Stennick]

The man speaks the truth and I hate Cole so it bothers me the guy is being so damn right on the money.

 

That said Josh Matthews is the best announcer in the company free Josh Matthews. Josh Matthews for RAW announcer FTW

[The Final Countdown]

I like the guy I really do

 

The man speaks the truth and I hate Cole so it bothers me the guy is being so damn right on the money.

Err....so, you like Danielson/Bryan, but you also think he's a boring, nerdy midget who has no business being in WWE?

[LoganRodzen]

I don't like that. Little digs are ok easter eggs if you will but to come out and say "Vince pushes big guys, he only pushes guys that he creates, and I worked in ROH so I'm better than the Miz". I don't like that The Miz is a Tag Team Champion and a U.S Champion in storyline DB hasn't won a singles match so in character for what justification does he have that he's better? He won some matches in a bingo hall?

 

From what I saw of the promo he wasn't bragging about accomplishing more than the WWE pro's - he was talking about pure wrestling ability. He was just flat out saying, "I'm a better wrestler. I know it. And you know it." When you break it all down it's your average heel/upset babyface promo.

[Self]

I'm with Stennick on a couple of points. Any time you break kayfabe in a promo, I sorta tune out. I want to believe wrestling is real, just like I want to believe those Lost dudes are really stuck on that island. I want to suspend my disbelief, and if someone is talking about 'push' it loses me.

[The Final Countdown]

I'm with Stennick on a couple of points. Any time you break kayfabe in a promo, I sorta tune out. I want to believe wrestling is real, just like I want to believe those Lost dudes are really stuck on that island. I want to suspend my disbelief, and if someone is talking about 'push' it loses me.

I agree, blatantly breaking kayfabe during the show isn't something I'm a fan of either. But, personally, I didn't feel like that's what happened in that promo. Maybe I need to go watch it again, but while watching the promo I felt like Danielson was saying the WWE in general (and Cole in particular) were going out of their way to humiliate him and keep him down because, technical wrestling ability aside, he didn't fit their traditional image. If he had said something like "And I had to go out and put over guys who suck", or something along those lines, I wouldn't have enjoyed the promo anywhere near as much. But I didn't feel like anything Danielson said crossed over into truly breaking kayfabe. Again, maybe I missed something, but that was my reaction.

 

...but really, considering this is a company that continuously had Hornswaggle beat up Chavo, and had the dude from the SNL movie blow up R-Truth with a pyro, this promo can't have been the hardest you've had to go to suspend your disbelief recently.

[Linsolv]

I agree, blatantly breaking kayfabe during the show isn't something I'm a fan of either. But, personally, I didn't feel like that's what happened in that promo. Maybe I need to go watch it again, but while watching the promo I felt like Danielson was saying the WWE in general (and Cole in particular) were going out of their way to humiliate him and keep him down because, technical wrestling ability aside, he didn't fit their traditional image. If he had said something like "And I had to go out and put over guys who suck", or something along those lines, I wouldn't have enjoyed the promo anywhere near as much. But I didn't feel like anything Danielson said crossed over into truly breaking kayfabe. Again, maybe I missed something, but that was my reaction.

 

Yeh. It came off, to me, as "lampshading" kayfabe: Danielson was saying things that normally would imply that wrestling's all fake, but then went on to give an example -- having Vince "in Cole's ear," telling him all the "bad stuff" to say about Bryan.

 

To be honest, I tend to like kayfabe. I'm willing to buy (well... 'believe.' Not 'buy' with money.) just about anything as long as it's addressed. Why was Batista on RAW for the last 5-6 months of his time on SmackDown!? They told me a reason, so I bought it. To be honest, it's stuff like that that has me shaking my head with TNA. Their main storylines simply aren't credible any more. The [sexual] assault bit with Abyss? Really? I know it's fake, guys, but please, could you try a little?

[The Shape]

The big guy push comment doesn't necessarily break kayfabe anyway, can just say it favours them in terms of hiring them in the first place and giving them opportunities, which is all part of kayfabe anyway...

[Self]

To be fair, I didn't see the promo. I'm done with NXT. Maybe if they do a quick season 2 I'll start watching again to see the new guys, but the show broke my heart. Endless possibilities squandered. Hurt me so bad I didn't watch Smackdown this week. My faith in WWE as storytellers is gone.

 

In kayfabe, Daniel Bryan has nothing to complain about. He was given plenty of opportunity to fight, and lost every time. Sometimes against fearsome warriors like Batista, Jericho and Khali, but sometimes against incompetent fools like Darren Young and Michael Tarver. He's crying about being humiliated? He kinda deserves it. He had his shot and failed. The only way to see this as anything but a failure on Daniel Bryan's part is if we look beyond kayfabe.

 

I should point out this is a complain on the writers, not Bryan Danielson. The performer is great, the character is incompetent.

[Linsolv]

Crying isn't fair. If anyone should be crying, though, it's Tarver. If anyone recalls, right before Danielson's good or bad promo, Tarver was saying literally the same things and was unequivocally told by Striker to STFU.

 

Assuming that they're indeed writing this **** (I think someone a few pages back said it seemed like Striker was surprised at what Bryan was saying) I am sort of confused about Bryan's character. The first "shoot"-style promo, he almost definitely hinted that he was scripted to lose. I'm kinda surprised nobody complained about him breaking kayfabe there.

 

In the second, he basically flew into a rage and beat hell out of Michael Cole.

 

Where are they going with this? My name is "Line solver," but I cannot figure where the third point goes for this one.

[LucianCarter]

Finally saw the promo. It was good. It was not great. Whoever said Jay Lethal's Flair impression was a far superior promo, nailed it.

[Stennick]

I tend to think their going to make him a heel. The guy was 0-whatever in NXT. He said he should be eliminated and then came back and flew off the handle claiming he was better than the tag team and U.S Champion and then beat up an announcer. All the while CM Punk and William Regal two of the biggest heels in the company blatantly agreed with him.

 

As far as breaking kayfabe in that wwe.com interview he said Otunga couldn't run the ropes right. I think its pretty hard to look at this as not breaking kayfabe. Maybe people don't want to look at it like that or maybe people are so desensitized when it comes to kayfabe that we really don't know what it looks like when someone is breaking it but if this was someone other than DB doing this and Vince Russo wrote that I think he would be criticized for doing another "shoot" angle.

[The Final Countdown]

I don't think I read the WWE.com interview you're talking about, so no clue there.

 

I do agree that I see this as a heel turn in the making, though. I don't think his rant or his attack on Cole make him very sympathetic, and having Punk and Regal sit there and nod along with him is a pretty strong message to me.

 

Jay Lethal's Flair impression was amusing. He really had Naitch's mannerisms and speech patterns down, and it was entertaining. But beyond that, I don't see anything special about it. Maybe I just had a hard time taking that "conflict" seriously since it centered around a WWE Hall of Fame ring.

 

The Jericho/Hart promo mentioned was great while Jericho was talking, but I thought it went downhill pretty quickly once Bret was on the mic.

 

I don't remember any HBK/Taker promos from this year being anything special. The video packages, sure, but the promos? Maybe I missed something when I was flipping between Raw and Impact.

 

Punk's "Happy Birthday" and pretty much anything Anderson has done recently, I'm with you there; definitely a notch above Danielson's NXT promo, IMO.

[Linsolv]

I don't remember any HBK/Taker promos from this year being anything special. The video packages, sure, but the promos? Maybe I missed something when I was flipping between Raw and Impact.

 

Punk's "Happy Birthday" and pretty much anything Anderson has done recently, I'm with you there; definitely a notch above Danielson's NXT promo, IMO.

 

Yeh. I'd agree with most of that. The video packages... well, they didn't make me buy WrestleMania, but they DID get me to buy the American VI (IE, the album that Johnny Cash song they played in the background was off of).

 

I wasn't that impressed with the Happy Birthday bit, though. Eh. Maybe it's because of my exacting standards for singing.

 

EDIT: The other problem I have is, who's Bryan got to feud with? He's got the Miz, Michael Cole (lol), and maybe Wade Barrett. All heels, except MAYBE Barrett, who's just associated with one of the top heels in the E.

[Stennick]

http://www.wwe.com/shows/wwenxt/articles/14491226/danielbryancole

 

Thats the interview where DB talks about Otunga not running the ropes right. You have to stretch pretty far to say thats not a breaking kayfabe moment. He might as well start talking about bumping and powdering.

 

I don't think Michael Cole is a heel and I don't think he's feuding with Wade Barrett.

 

The Miz is a heel yes but is he really feuding with him yet? Not really since The Miz I would assume is in a real feud with Bret Hart right now.

 

If I were guessing I'd say DB keeps saying how much better of a wrestler he is than the Miz. He gets The Miz in a match, the Miz wins and DB just snaps in a "I can't believe I lost kind of way" and goes full on heel. That or they do some worked shoot where it looks like DB is being booked to lose ala Jarrett/Hogan in WCW etc maybe not to that degree but maybe DB is about to win when he stops and lets himself get rolled up or something like that implying that DB wasn't "supposed" to win.

 

Those are the two ways I see it going but so far I can't see how as a fan I'm supposed to be with DB. I look at it like this.

 

If I'm looking at this from just a WWE perspetive.

 

DB is introduced as a succcesful wrestler in the different "indies" across the world. A guy that was trained by HBK (which is completely false HBK had like zero to do with DB other than DB training at his school that HBK didn't even run). Anyway then they tell me he was trained by Regal. So to start this guy is a submission artist, who's been succesful in the "minor leagues" all over the world and he's been trained by the best.

 

He then starts losing matches most of the time their very competitive Jericho, Khali, Batista, some tag matches with the Miz etc. He winds up never winning a match on NXT and still has never won a singles match in the WWE. The guy says "I haven't won a match yet I should be eliminated". Then he is eliminated because its like the parent thing "what should your punishment be?" then the kid says what his punishment is and the parents say "OK". SAme thing here he said he didn't deserve to go on and they eliminated him.

 

So then the next week a guy that has only won one match which was a what random ten man tag when he beat Santino then comes onto NXT and says he's a better wrestler than the Miz. Technical, Pure, whatever the case may be how can a guy who has never beaten anyone claim to be better at anything than a U.S and Tag Team Champion.

 

Then he attacks Vince and the company saying they only hire big guys and that Vince only likes guys he can create and that he didn't create DB. What other purpose would this serve in a kayfabe world. Vince only hires big guys? Well he hired you so what do you mean? He means Vince only PUSHES big guys well in a kayfabe world that makes no sense. In the kayfabe world DB had the same chances to succeed as anybody else. He was given a shot and he didn't get it done. So "Vince only hires big guys" is irrelevant. Is he saying Vince usually only hires big guys? So what he's got a job or was given a shot at a job so why does Vince's hiring standards have to do with DB at all? He then says Vince likes guys he created. Ok whats he getting at there? From a kayfabe point of view if DB is saying Vince didn't create him again why is that even a point? Vince gave him a shot to suceed and he didn't take it. What I'm saying is that DB made the big guys, and created guys comments but why would he be complaining about that? Those things have nothing to do with him. I think its pretty obvious Daniel was breaking kayfabe with that interview. Its not his fault he's doing what he's told but all I'm saying is I don't really like breaking kayfabe. Like I said drop in a tid bit here or there as an easter egg and I can get a chuckle out of it but to stop everything and say "I'm not being pushed because Vince doesn't like little guys he didn't create" doesn't work for me and can only end badly in storyline terms.

 

Again its not that guys fault but at the same time what other purpose would "Vince only hires big guys and guys he created" line have anything to do with DB? It doesn't he hired and didn't create DB and he gave DB in kayfabe terms the same chances he gave every other NXT rookie. Its not Vince's fault DB couldn't win a single match on NXT. How does that make DB a sympathetic character? To the IWC sure we're all like "SCREW YOU VINCE for not pushing a guy that isn't big and a guy you didn't create". The reality of it though the other 70% of the WWE is like "this dude lost and now he's in here making ludicrous excuses for him losing every match he was given.

 

I like DB and I'm sure we'll get plenty more quotes from the IWC's message boards and people will say "I can't believe they let him say that about Vince" moments. At the end of the day I just hope they make this short and they focus on DB more than what the company does and doesn't hire. As far as Striker being shocked about what DB was saying. Everyone has got to know that this is 100% worked. Do you really think they would let DB go on and on like that with a live mic if this wasn't worked. Would they then put up an interview with the guy if this wasn't 100 percent planned. Punk got in the doghouse for not wearing the right clothes do you really think DB would have a job if he said anything more than what they told him to? To coin a phrase I don't think so.

[Candyman]

Assuming that they're indeed writing this **** (I think someone a few pages back said it seemed like Striker was surprised at what Bryan was saying) I am sort of confused about Bryan's character. The first "shoot"-style promo, he almost definitely hinted that he was scripted to lose. I'm kinda surprised nobody complained about him breaking kayfabe there.

 

I've always assumed that's just good acting on Striker's part. I mean, it's not like it's live (especially the backstage interviews), so they could easily say "Hey Bryan, we're going to shoot that interview again, and this time you're NOT going to mock our booking decisions and say your real name and you ARE going to stick to the script. Thanks."

 

I tend to think their going to make him a heel. The guy was 0-whatever in NXT. He said he should be eliminated and then came back and flew off the handle claiming he was better than the tag team and U.S Champion and then beat up an announcer. All the while CM Punk and William Regal two of the biggest heels in the company blatantly agreed with him.

 

Yeah, I said a few pages back that this smells like a heel turn. He also had Jericho agreeing with him when he said knows how good he is. Plus, I mean, that's the only way you can justify attacking an announcer. That's just not something a face does. Sure it's sweet at the time, and you laugh at Cole, but then it's like...wait a minute, a wrestler just pushed and slapped an announcer? Really? Umm...ok.

 

EDIT: The other problem I have is, who's Bryan got to feud with? He's got the Miz, Michael Cole (lol), and maybe Wade Barrett. All heels, except MAYBE Barrett, who's just associated with one of the top heels in the E.

 

Yeah, I don't know what they're doing with Cole. He had always been a face on Raw up until right after the Bret Hart match, when all of a sudden he decided to start ripping him(even going all the way back to his match at Wrestlemania, which he had never mentioned before). It's like Vince McMahon, or whoever was in his ear, decided at that very second he wanted Cole to be a heel. It was the strangest thing I've heard in awhile. Up until that point, I would've said they could have Danielson continue his fued with Cole on Raw.

 

But isn't the obvious answer here, if they want him to turn heel, have him join the SES? He could interfere in the Punk/Mysterio match tonight. I don't know if he drinks or smokes in real life (I don't think being a vegan affects either of those), but it's not like that matters.

[Linsolv]

You're [stennick -- I just didn't want any confusion regarding the fact that Candyman beat me] falling victim to the problem a lot of "in the know" people fall prey to -- seeing hints at things they know, that people who don't know wouldn't see. Bryan said that Michael Cole put over David Otunga. That's behind-the-scenes talk, but not about behind-the-scenes things. He just said that Cole was complementing Otunga.

 

As for the exact phrase, "run the ropes," I don't know what that even means. Is that a stock phrase that I missed? I thought he was saying that David Otunga was so stupid, he couldn't even set up the ring, or something like that. It came off almost like a "yo mama so fat" comment to me, but I might be missing something.

 

See, the first month or two of losses, Bryan had an excuse for. He faces Chris Jericho, has a serious injury (in kayfabe, at least -- and I don't care what the WWE says, busted ribs are serious enough), and then suffers 3 or 4 losses while he SHOULD be out recovering. Now he's down 0-5, and things go downhill from there. That's a relatively standard sports story. But when did Wade Barrett go against the World Heavyweight Champion? Skip Sheffield? Perhaps, for the sake of argument, Daniel Bryan was purposely handicapped by facing someone that nobody else was expected to face so early on.

 

From a purely kayfabe position, I feel that I just presented an argument that Vince knowingly, maliciously held down Daniel Bryan for over a month. Is it the most believable of all time? No. Did they pre-package that concept for me? No. But it's good enough for me to overlook the faults.

 

EDIT: regarding Danielson's drinking/smoking habits, I don't think veganism affects that, but it also doesn't effect soda, and he doesn't do that. If soda's too hard of a substance for you, why would you smoke or drink?

[The Final Countdown]

But isn't the obvious answer here, if they want him to turn heel, have him join the SES? He could interfere in the Punk/Mysterio match tonight. I don't know if he drinks or smokes in real life (I don't think being a vegan affects either of those), but it's not like that matters.

I'm not 100% positive, but I THINK he is straight edge in real life, even if he doesn't really play it up or refer to himself as such. And yeah, if Bryan's going to go heel, putting him in the SES could be really interesting. That's something I've been kinda thinking about for a bit now. They could play up Danielson's lifestyle, and maybe even allude to Punk and Bryan forming a friendship in their "indy" days if they so chose.

[Zeel1]

As for the exact phrase, "run the ropes," I don't know what that even means. Is that a stock phrase that I missed? I thought he was saying that David Otunga was so stupid, he couldn't even set up the ring, or something like that. It came off almost like a "yo mama so fat" comment to me, but I might be missing something.

 

According to Jericho's book; ring ropes are very tight. You have to hit them a certain way, to actually bounce off them. If you don't know how to do it, they just stop you when you hit them, and you can end up with welts on your back.

 

Certain people hit them differently, and some of the more.."perceptive" people, if you will, will judge them on this. I've seen some people say Jeff Hardy hits the ropes very sloppily. Don't really notice many differences myself, but there you go.

[Candyman]

See, the first month or two of losses, Bryan had an excuse for. He faces Chris Jericho, has a serious injury (in kayfabe, at least -- and I don't care what the WWE says, busted ribs are serious enough), and then suffers 3 or 4 losses while he SHOULD be out recovering. Now he's down 0-5, and things go downhill from there. That's a relatively standard sports story. But when did Wade Barrett go against the World Heavyweight Champion? Skip Sheffield? Perhaps, for the sake of argument, Daniel Bryan was purposely handicapped by facing someone that nobody else was expected to face so early on.

 

From a purely kayfabe position, I feel that I just presented an argument that Vince knowingly, maliciously held down Daniel Bryan for over a month. Is it the most believable of all time? No. Did they pre-package that concept for me? No. But it's good enough for me to overlook the faults.

 

EDIT: regarding Danielson's drinking/smoking habits, I don't think veganism affects that, but it also doesn't effect soda, and he doesn't do that. If soda's too hard of a substance for you, why would you smoke or drink?

 

Yeah, he definitely had an excuse for his early losses...I never really paid attention to the fact that he was winless until he lost to Tarver (I think) a couple weeks ago. I remembered expecting him to win that match and finally start rolling. That was really the first time I thought to my self "What are they doing with him?"

 

Good point on him not drinking soda, I forgot he said that in that challenge. Definitely seems like he'd be a natural fit for the SES, and a friendship with Punk in general...even beyond having a similiar lifestyle(if they actually do), Danielson and Punk both had a fairly similiar career track on the way to WWE that they could play up as well.

[Self]

I find the idea of a professional athlete drinking soda far more bizarre than drinking / smoking. Drinking gets you drunk, which is fairly enjoyable. Smoking... does something, I don't really know but people dig it. Soda does nothing that you can't get from water. It tastes 'better', but that's about it.

[Slim Jim]

The "running the ropes" and SES talk leads me quite nicely to something I was pondering the other day while watching Smackdown... does anyone else think Luke Gallows moves weirdly?

 

It isn't just the way he hits the ropes either, his general movement just seems odd. I used to think it was part of the Festus gimmick, and thought it was impressive that he'd managed to encorporate that into the gimmick but since he's been "saved" by Punk, he still moves that way... with the conclusion being he does just move in a manner unlike any other wrestler ever.

 

Anyone else notice that or am I the crazy one?

[Linsolv]

I find the idea of a professional athlete drinking soda far more bizarre than drinking / smoking. Drinking gets you drunk, which is fairly enjoyable. Smoking... does something, I don't really know but people dig it. Soda does nothing that you can't get from water. It tastes 'better', but that's about it.

 

I find the idea of someone not drinking soda as strange. I know a lot of people don't, and I'm not trying to criticize, it's just that soda isn't THAT bad for you.

 

Drinking destroys your liver; smoking destroys your lungs.

 

There have been famous athletes that have had one or the other. As a long-time tennis fan (yes, yes, get the queer jokes out of the way ASAP) I know Marat Safin is famous for being a BIG time alcoholic, and Karsten Braasch (ranked as high as 38th in the world at one time) was known to be a chain smoker.

 

In an amusing story, he once beat both the Williams sisters one afternoon after one of them boasted that they could beat anyone ranked outside the top 200; he rubbed it in my smoking a pack between the matches. Cause he was kinda a jerk.

 

Anyways...

[Hyde Hill]

I don't think I read the WWE.com interview you're talking about, so no clue there.

 

I do agree that I see this as a heel turn in the making, though. I don't think his rant or his attack on Cole make him very sympathetic, and having Punk and Regal sit there and nod along with him is a pretty strong message to me.

 

Jay Lethal's Flair impression was amusing. He really had Naitch's mannerisms and speech patterns down, and it was entertaining. But beyond that, I don't see anything special about it. Maybe I just had a hard time taking that "conflict" seriously since it centered around a WWE Hall of Fame ring.

 

The Jericho/Hart promo mentioned was great while Jericho was talking, but I thought it went downhill pretty quickly once Bret was on the mic.

 

I don't remember any HBK/Taker promos from this year being anything special. The video packages, sure, but the promos? Maybe I missed something when I was flipping between Raw and Impact.

 

Punk's "Happy Birthday" and pretty much anything Anderson has done recently, I'm with you there; definitely a notch above Danielson's NXT promo, IMO.

 

Pope earlier in the year and some of Angle's promo's have been outstanding as well imho. Especially the one where he told the story behind the medal.