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

[Teh_Showtime]

Yeah I dont see how beating a weakend Rey is a legit claim, but whatever. Im just dissapointed that he wont ever get a rematch.

[Hive]

It's semi-old by now, but I hadn't seen it before. Pretty funny. David Arquette vs. Chris Jericho:

 

[crownsy]

Yeah I dont see how beating a weakend Rey is a legit claim, but whatever. Im just dissapointed that he wont ever get a rematch.

 

 

YEa, i've been very underwhelmed by the turn this story has taken, though the punk promo at the begging was good.

 

and I agree 100%, i hate when they do the "this guy forgot he gets a rematch" move. and i know it's wrestling, so these things will never be addressed and i'm supposed to tunr my brain off but....

 

1. Who was the annonomus GM for the last year and a half? The podium is gone now, so I am assuming the gimmick is over...I don't care if Trip had simply said "one of the changes I'm making is that the GM is gone." but at least, you know, address why and how a major gimmick is simply gone with no warning.

 

2. Why does Cena deserve a rematch on a title that A) he did not compete in the tournament for and B) has never held, lineage wise?

 

3. Rey had a whole backstage segement about how important the title is to him, how it's his dream, how he's taking it home to show the kids ect....and this week he doesn't even interact with the title hunt?

 

I agree with Pwtorch's assessment, which Punk pretty much confirmed on bill simmons pod cast, this stroyline was going to build to Cena v. Rey at summer slam, then have the unification belt at night of champions (which makes sense) but the E' panicked, and now we are getting an incredibly disjointed and rushed version of the story thats getting the point across but leaving giant plot holes (why cena got a rematch, but rey doesn't, why Trips would give a damn what Johhny Ace had to say, ect.)

 

Still a fun storyline and it's given us Punk reborn as just a M/E level wrestler who speaks his mind, but not the payoff i was hoping chicago would be.

[Hive]

1. Who was the annonomus GM for the last year and a half? The podium is gone now, so I am assuming the gimmick is over...I don't care if Trip had simply said "one of the changes I'm making is that the GM is gone." but at least, you know, address why and how a major gimmick is simply gone with no warning.

 

Maybe it turns out to be Johnny Ace?

[bigtplaystew]

Rey might get a RAW title rematch next week but that seems unlikely as they appear to be building soemthing with him and JMo vs Truth and Miz.

 

Rey also might come out and challenge whoever wins at summerslam. Cena could win at SS and Del Rio could cash in MitB... then Rey could come out and make his claim for the rematch against Del Rio. Who knows?

[jjohns44]

I am surprised that WWE has been holding onto Evan Bourne, and every once in a while he'll hit a winning streak like in his feud with Swagger and he manages to make it on TV and in high profile matches like money in the banks. He's a good wrestler, just surprised they seem to have a spot for him 3 years into his TV debut.

[shawn michaels]

Yeah I dont see how beating a weakend Rey is a legit claim, but whatever. Im just dissapointed that he wont ever get a rematch.

 

Cena? Well, he won the title from Rey, a la heel. THis confuses me! How? Using his rematch clause? Still...isn't he suposed to be the good guy? I don't think the wwe worked well there. And as for Rey, i still have hopes he will have a rematch. Most likely after the Punk-Cena thing is over.

 

So...what you guys think about the "Two WWE champions" thing?

[Teh_Showtime]

Just read an article on B/R that had a source with Punk saying Rey vs Cena rematch was to be on for SS but they jumped the gun with Punk and the WWE title match was supposed to be Night of Champions.

[Teh_Showtime]

Punk's backstage powers are in full effect now.

 

Colt Cabana worked a SD dark match at the tv taping tonight.

[bigtplaystew]

As Colt Cabana or as Scotty Goldman?

[20LEgend]

I don't know but after the recent promos him coming back as Goldman would be stupid. It must be as Colt, well other than the naming rights problem they seem to have.

[Teh_Showtime]

It was as Colt, he lost to Wade Barett

[djthefunkchris]

If I remember right, he's been on as Colt before (way before the Scotty Goldman thing). I think on heat or something like that, it might have been... I'd have to go searching again, but I'm sure you can find some older footage (before they even hired Punk) of Colt wrestling as Colt for the WWE/F in the past.

 

Seriously would be weird if they hired him as Scotty Goldman again. I think the Colt Cabana thing has spread enough (even before Punk's rant, although that definately helped him out big time) to bring him in with his own name.

 

I believe I read a while back (when the whole name debacle about Punk was going around) that CM Punk was on a talk show of some sort, and talked about changing his name so he could work and people would recognize him, as MC Punk, and other such varieties. He had a few idea's (he was joking more then anything). I found the audio of that before everyone was saying he didn't want to sign because WWE wanted to buy the rights to his name... yet from that older audio, they had already bought the rights.

 

I would imagine Colt's name is going to be bought by WWE as well, if he works out. Probably about three years (if that's how long the contract is) from now.

 

 

Quick search and http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QtEQ3QgukdU, there he is against Eugene on Heat, and

is against Matt Hardy also using his Colt Cabana as his name.

[bigtplaystew]

I was udner the impression that MVP and CM Punk were the last two that signed a deal where they could wrestle as their names under their respective gimmicks because they come up with them.

 

Merchandising and licensing is a whole new ballgame. I wouldn't be shocked if they can WRESTLE under their WWE names but cant sell merch, action figures, appear in video games, etc. without WWE licensing getting involved.

 

I'm sure Colt hasn't signed anything yet and is free to use whatever name he wants.

[lazorbeak]

There's two marks in the freely searchable trademark system for Punk, one filed 3-28-2007, and a new one filed 6-22-2011. They cover: "Clothing, namely, tops, jackets, bottoms, underwear, pajamas; footwear, namely, shoes, sneakers, slippers; headwear, namely, hats," while the old 2007 mark covered "Entertainment services, namely, wrestling exhibitions and performances by a professional wrestler and entertainer; providing wrestling news and information via a global computer network."

 

So as of today, WWE has rights to the wrestling name and merch.

 

Edit: Colt Cabana has no registered trademark, so if he used his own name it would presumably involve signing over his rights to the character.

[liontamer]

just watched raw, didn't understand the comment by CM punk about HHH in bed with steph. was there a reference there or am I just a bit naive on something? The crowd seemed to eat it up though.

[Moe Hunter]

It's basically in reference to his 2002-2005 reign of terror. "I just don't know if he's got what it takes" refers to the likes of Booker T, RVD and Jericho who all got summarily dismissed by Triple H during that time. Jericho obviously did get the belt, but it's no secret that Triple H didn't like him, and the booking definitely shows that they didn't really give Jericho the ball to run with.

 

The implication made by CM Punk is that "creative meetings" were held in the McMahon-Levesque bed, instead of in board rooms, and as such talented performers got screwed over.

[TrekkieMonsta]

There's two marks in the freely searchable trademark system for Punk, one filed 3-28-2007, and a new one filed 6-22-2011. They cover: "Clothing, namely, tops, jackets, bottoms, underwear, pajamas; footwear, namely, shoes, sneakers, slippers; headwear, namely, hats," while the old 2007 mark covered "Entertainment services, namely, wrestling exhibitions and performances by a professional wrestler and entertainer; providing wrestling news and information via a global computer network."

 

So as of today, WWE has rights to the wrestling name and merch.

 

Edit: Colt Cabana has no registered trademark, so if he used his own name it would presumably involve signing over his rights to the character.

 

To my knowledge Punk still owns the rights to his name, he's just allowed them to use it on merchandise.

[lazorbeak]

To my knowledge Punk still owns the rights to his name, he's just allowed them to use it on merchandise.

 

Not according to the United States Patent and Trademark Office. http://www.uspto.gov/

 

WWE owns the marks for both the professional wrestler and the merchandise.

[Stennick]

Lazorbeak is right and its just bad for business to not own the rights to something like that. Even "The Rock" is or atleast was trademarked by the WWE to the point where Vince got "producer" credits in movies he was in. (IE paid as a producer for allowing them to use the Rock name).

 

LB aren't you involved in the legal field in some manner?

[lazorbeak]

Lazorbeak is right and its just bad for business to not own the rights to something like that. Even "The Rock" is or atleast was trademarked by the WWE to the point where Vince got "producer" credits in movies he was in. (IE paid as a producer for allowing them to use the Rock name).

 

LB aren't you involved in the legal field in some manner?

 

I am. The trademark search function on the uspto site is free and pretty easy to use though, so it's not like you need a law degree to appreciate it.

 

But, the lawyer-ly distinction is the distinction between the TM and the ® designations. Basically anybody can put TM next to a name or a gimmick, which means basically nothing except you can keep somebody two towns over from stealing your business name/gimmick/whatever when he comes into town, but once it's federally registered you have a stronger legal position. Most indy guys don't feel the need to register their gimmicks since they own the name as long as they came up with it. Samoa Joe is one of the few indy guys who still has his own registered trademark separate from TNA.

 

And WWE has registered the "CM Punk" mark on both people wrestling as CM Punk and anyone selling CM Punk t-shirts.

[djthefunkchris]

As I said, Punk himself was talking about ways to get around it, when he was actually considering leaving. This interview was before the whole storyline started (and before the talk about them wanting to buy his name come up), so I figured WWE has had his name for a while now, just out of common scense. It's another reason why I figured he had already signed a contract, or they knew he was going to sign a new contract, when the MOTB thing started, because of all the "false" rumors that he wasn't signing because they wanted to own the name, and of course as I said, he already talked about how he had to change it somehow way before this. I liked the MC Punk idea (his words) myself, just wonder if he could pull it off (you know, the rapper gimmick part that would have to come with it). He felt he could change the initials and name around enough that they wouldn't be able to do anything about it (they, meaning the WWE).

 

When the whole name dispute come up AFTER this interview (one of the reasons I'm having a hard time finding it right now, is because of how long ago I listened to it.), I figured the whole thing to be part of the storyline, to get people to believe he might not come back for real. Name value means alot more to us I believe (Us as in the fans), then it actually does to the wrestler's themselves.

 

EDIT: You know, I think it might have been a link in this thread, or something that lead to it from a link in this thread... I just can't remember exactly where I heard it, or what the show was called. I believe it was some sort of websight interview if memmory serves me right.

 

Not really that important, as from above, they have owned his name in some form since 2007.

[bigtplaystew]

Well, gotta love a guy like Lazorbeak who actually does his homework and lays it out. Rarely on a message board does someone actually know what they are talking about and back it up lol... bravo, sir.

[ShaunGBD]

http://network.yardbarker.com/mma/article_external/the_rock_vs_john_cena_match_reportedly_could_be_scrapped/5937664

 

You have to do it, you book the match the day after WM, good or bad you have to do it. I do like the fact that due to them wanting to cancel it, they won't book a year in advance. Also, you knew Cena will get booed when you booked it, why the change of heart? Lastly, The article said it might be HHH who doesn't want it, made me chuckle a bit. of course it's him.

[bigtplaystew]

That story has wrestling journalist BS written all over it. My favorite writer in the universe Dave Meltzer broke that story this morning. It screamed of BS then too.

 

Try this one:

 

http://www.lordsofpain.net/news/wwe/Vince_McMahon_Says_The_Rock_Will_Appear_At_Several_Upcoming_WWE_PPVs.html

 

Not that LoP is any better, but McMahon said during a WWE investor conference call that The Rock will be at MORE ppvs because they like the money. No way is the WM 28 match that has been building all year being taken away. It's the most exciting WM in a very long time. Rumored returns of Foley and Stone Cold are only going to propel the event further.

 

A Rock/Cena WM28 main event is a huge ticket item for them. Rock merch has been doing well all year. Travel packages for WM28 sold out in two days. Barring injury to one or both of the two guys doing the match, I can't see the WWE being stupid enough to screw this up.