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

[ampulator]

He didn't get ANY time away. ANY.

 

For months one of the basic components of the storyline was "Cena has to do what he's ordered to do by Barrett or it will cost him his career" with the conflict being "what would Cena do if following Nexus meant he had to betray his own beliefs???"

 

Turns out..it really wasn't that big a deal. Because he just said "eff it" got himself fired and then kept on coming to the arena anyway with no real repercussions.

 

If that was going to be the case, it makes all those weeks of Cena worrying about his decision fairly pointless.

I Know, I know. *Pats Peter Hilton on the back* This is on par with what WWE normally does. But hey, at least they tried to build this up. One step at a time, I guess? I'm trying to be positive here, for once.

[Bigpapa42]

He didn't get ANY time away. ANY.

 

For months one of the basic components of the storyline was "Cena has to do what he's ordered to do by Barrett or it will cost him his career" with the conflict being "what would Cena do if following Nexus meant he had to betray his own beliefs???"

 

Turns out..it really wasn't that big a deal. Because he just said "eff it" got himself fired and then kept on coming to the arena anyway with no real repercussions.

 

If that was going to be the case, it makes all those weeks of Cena worrying about his decision fairly pointless.

 

That's just it - the consequences do not at all fit the build-up. That alone makes it a let down. Even without Cena's great goodbye promo, which has subseqently turned out to be a load of crap (which you pretty much knew at the time anyway).

 

Its like if a babyface spent week after week trying to avoid a heel or heels that were out to tear him to pieces... and when they finally get him, the result is a light beatdown and nothing more, the whole thing feels like it was a waste. Unless its played for laughs, but this wasn't.

[ampulator]

That's just it - the consequences do not at all fit the build-up. That alone makes it a let down. Even without Cena's great goodbye promo, which has subseqently turned out to be a load of crap (which you pretty much knew at the time anyway).

 

Its like if a babyface spent week after week trying to avoid a heel or heels that were out to tear him to pieces... and when they finally get him, the result is a light beatdown and nothing more, the whole thing feels like it was a waste. Unless its played for laughs, but this wasn't.

I know how you feel. but at least they HAD a good build up this time. That's not even usually the case.

[Tha Black Phenom]

Because taking him off TV for even one week would be completely idiotic. The #1 star in the top storyline going...you DO NOT take him off TV, not for a second. The only thing I would've changed is not have Cena give his huge good bye speech when he wasn't really leaving at all. That was a great promo, don't get me wrong, but he didn't actually leave.

 

And without going into a huge rant, I just have to say that a huge pet peeve of mine is people criticizing storylines, talking about the things that should've been done differently, before they're even remotely close to finishing. Let's be honest here, they've done a great job with the Nexus storyline so far. They deserve the benefit of the doubt to let it play out and then make a judgement on it. I'm sure there's a reason Cena is getting rehired so soon, and you're going to feel pretty silly if it turns out what they planned is a lot better than what you suggested.

 

Except... Cena's been off loads of Raws. And yeah, they were for special circumstances, either injury or him filming a movie(or flipping a coin, ha), but I tell myself with all of that, one week... even one week wouldn't have hurt anybody. Some folks out there are suggesting he should've been off two months, or until the Rumble/Mania/whatevs but I don't ask for that much - it would've all just conveyed better if there was the actual factor and feeling of experiencing Cena's absence for a while where it would make sense MOST, and to really stick this storyline in... given that it already happens almost once a year.

 

I dunno, just my Achilles heel, but for what it's worth, still, good effort on their part.

[Johnny Fenoli]

Anyone watching NXT? Anyone have thoughts on if any of these guys have "IT"?

[Stennick]

Not A-Ri "it" but Im a G Rilla fan

[eayragt]

Odd how there was criticism that Nexus was buried when they lost they're first ppv 6 man tag match, and the same people are criticising the Nexus storyline for being too predictable. They seem to have forgotten the alleged burying, as some were to wrongly claim. Another unpredictable thing to add to the ever growing list of unpredictable things that have happened during the nexus storyline. Really, the only thing I'd have changed was what Cena said in his leaving speech, to give more indication that if was going to fight it. I would not have kept him off screen any longer as RAW is really short of top star names right now, recognisable to the very casual fan.

[lazorbeak]

Except... Cena's been off loads of Raws. And yeah, they were for special circumstances, either injury or him filming a movie(or flipping a coin, ha), but I tell myself with all of that, one week... even one week wouldn't have hurt anybody. Some folks out there are suggesting he should've been off two months, or until the Rumble/Mania/whatevs but I don't ask for that much - it would've all just conveyed better if there was the actual factor and feeling of experiencing Cena's absence for a while where it would make sense MOST, and to really stick this storyline in... given that it already happens almost once a year.

 

I dunno, just my Achilles heel, but for what it's worth, still, good effort on their part.

 

No you're completely right. Cena's farewell promo was so good that they could've gotten "we want Cena" chants every night for a month. The demand would become greater for the first month or two to the point that when Cena finally did reappear, the crowd would go ballistic. In the meantime, just have NXT continue to look strong: have Barrett beat R-Truth or somebody on the TLC PPV since he's John Cena's buddy.

 

If this is the feud they want to take into Wrestlemania (and let's face it, it should be, it's WWE's hottest angle of the year), they definitely could have shown more patience in stretching the thing out.

[Hashasheen]

Anyone watching NXT? Anyone have thoughts on if any of these guys have "IT"?

 

I had my hopes for Byron Saxton from the promo video since he reminded me of the black actor from Undisputed 2, but his actual character is just whimpy.

 

Johnny Curtis is my other hope, but he's just bland so far.

[sabataged]

This article is from Wrestlezone. I thought it was a pretty good read

 

WWE Needs a Main Event Equilibrium

 

The WWE has had nothing short of a horrible year for injuries and absentees to top stars. With the exception of John Cena and Kane, the list of big stars that have had a portion of the year off is incredibly long: Triple H, The Undertaker, Edge, Randy Orton, Rey Mysterio, Shawn Michaels, Batista, Chris Jericho and CM Punk. It’s hardly surprising that the current youth movement is in full swing – they’ve not had a choice.

 

Bringing Cena and Kane back into the equation, you are left with a thorough list of WWE’s main event talent coming into the year sans Sheamus. What’s worrying about that list is that more than half of their top talent had exposure before the turn of the millennium. And in the case of HHH, ‘Taker, Jericho and HBK – they were all top talent during the 1998-2002 period. That is to say, in the last 8 or so years, the WWE has only created a handful of main event talent.

 

So it’s hardly a surprise that 2010 has seen their hierarchy of talent come crashing down around them. Michaels and Batista (both in their forties) called time on their career, Jericho went on hiatus once again, and the injury prone Triple H and Undertaker both suffered hefty layoffs. Edge and Mysterio have managed to get through most of the year unscathed, but every injury they suffer now is taking huge chunks off the end of their time in the industry.

 

What was left was panic. The gauntlet had been laid down in last year when Irish debutant Sheamus went from ECW rookie to WWE champion inside six months. Wade Barrett too, despite not yet being champion, has had two title shots inside his first year in the company. They had no choice because of what went on in the years prior, and injuries to a majority of its big stars in the last twelve months has been a big reason why the WWE is in a relative low point in terms of popularity.

 

It’s been a very formulaic year. Realizing that it’s 10x as hard to rush a main event babyface that it is a heel, creative has been forced to push all of their fast-tracked youngsters as vulnerable heels. Sheamus, Barrett, Swagger, The Miz have all played identical roles in and around the title picture. This has meant that almost all of the remaining main event stars have been forced to play faces – Orton, Edge and Hunter all play naturally better heels than they do faces, but have been forced by injuries to be babyfaces. Only Chris Jericho and Batista (both who were heels in Wrestlemania’s main event matches) were consistently heels before they left.

 

WWE’s major problem is that neither route is healthy. Sitting on a large bunch of established stars constantly puts the same people into title matches – so nothing changes and things stagnate, as happened between 2004-2008. And rushing through a whole bunch of new stars solves that problem, but creates a new one in the sense that they all follow the same path. The vulnerable heel wins championship in fortunate fashion (see both Sheamus’ title victories, and Swagger and The Miz cashing in their Money in the Bank contracts) – then spending the following few months clinging to the title with dear life thanks to a diet of scrappy DQ victories (see Sheamus in either reign against John Cena and Randy Orton, and Jack Swagger vs The Big Show).

 

The only strange thing about the last year has been that both Sheamus and Swagger lost their titles in multi-way matches that are traditionally utilised to protect vulnerable heels (Sheamus’ two title losses were at Elimination chamber and in a 6-pack challenge at Night of Champions, Swagger lost his title to Rey Mysterio at Fatal-4-Way). The same heel champions creative didn’t want to see win clean, they didn’t want to see lose clean either. It’s an odd catch 22 in what has been an otherwise very formulaic year that is vindictive of the company’s current state. The champions they want to look vulnerable, they also don’t want to look too weak.

 

It won’t be like this forever, which is why it’s important that WWE fans keep the faith even when at the moment things really seem to be at a low point. Once WWE can strike a happy medium between the two extremes of the last ten years, where establish stars around the age of John Cena and Randy Orton rumble with rising talent, without the risk of exposing gaps in the roster, the WWE could really kick on in a way they haven’t in years. People complain that the likes of John Morrison and Kofi Kingston are being held back. In truth they’re just taking the natural path that baby faces have always taken, but look held back in the wake of rushed heel pushes.

 

It may take another 18 months to two years, but once the likes of Morrison and Kingston are established in the main event alongside the likes of The Miz, Sheamus, Barrett and Swagger, the WWE may be in a position of main event parity that they have been in since the late nineties. The lesson they must heed from recent years, is not to rest on the present, however hard it may seem to be.

 

[lazorbeak]

This article is from Wrestlezone. I thought it was a pretty good read

 

They make some good points, including some points that have been made here. I hate that they created a "new guard" of main eventers and basically sat on them until Batista called it a career and now they're left with only Orton and Cena while the other guy they "made" from the same era is off drawing far bigger buyrates in another medium. But even when it was Cena/Orton/Batista as the top 3 names in the company, WWE never really gave them the ball entirely, whether to please workrate smarks or who knows why, so we got 7 years of new guy vs. old guy, "old guy" being a guy who was main eventing before 2001. Now, the old guys are even older and the new guys don't have the experience of carrying big matches by themselves and WWE is suddenly running out of talent at the top.

 

But the article says something like "It’s been a very formulaic year," then provides no explanation of what that sentence means, since they're talking about too much youth movement at once. If anything, this year is a break from formula.

 

Further, the article's complaint has been a feature of wrestling since forever. Heels cheat. Ric Flair in his first title reign defended the title with DQ's and tainted finishes. When The Rock was champ for the first time, he was booked so that he couldn't beat an out-of-shape borderline handicapped man without tons of help. This:

 

The vulnerable heel wins championship in fortunate fashion (see both Sheamus’ title victories, and Swagger and The Miz cashing in their Money in the Bank contracts) – then spending the following few months clinging to the title with dear life thanks to a diet of scrappy DQ victories (see Sheamus in either reign against John Cena and Randy Orton, and Jack Swagger vs The Big Show)."

 

Is just how you book heels to make people dislike them. You don't dislike a guy who is just the best and never backs down and will kick anyone's ass: that guy sounds pretty bad-ass. It's why Triple H always got face pops even as a heel, and it's why guys like Lesnar or Cena or Orton were turned face by the crowd. But nobody wants to cheer a coward or a hypocrite or someone who doesn't "deserve" the belt.

 

Also for something that is published (if only on the web), the writing gets bad right here:

 

The same heel champions creative didn’t want to see win clean, they didn’t want to see lose clean either. It’s an odd catch 22 in what has been an otherwise very formulaic year that is vindictive of the company’s current state. The champions they want to look vulnerable, they also don’t want to look too weak.

 

That's not a Catch-22. It's not even close. Also, "vindictive" should probably be "indicative," as in "indicating." I realize that's nitpicky, but it makes the article look unprofessional to use the wrong term twice in one paragraph.

 

Also while I think Morrison is great and should be a world champion contender, other than being on Raw how is he any better off than he was a year ago when he was getting title shots at Jeff Hardy and looked like he was just shy of the main event? This feud with Sheamus is the most important thing he's done on Raw other than grow a beard. Isn't that pretty much the definition of stalled?

 

But while the article does notice what's going on, I think they're missing the big picture. Yes, WWE has pushed its new top guard as heels, because it is way easier to do that. Triple H, Rock, Kurt Angle, Jericho, Edge, Orton, and even the Undertaker were "undeserving heel champions" at some point. The difference is guys like Swagger have followed up their title losses with completely falling out of the title picture, making their wins look like a fluke, while Kurt Angle went from "cowardly heel champ" to "Steve Austin's goofy apprentice" to "#1 babyface in the company" in less than two years. Giving somebody like Sheamus two title runs, even if he's not booked as the greatest worker ever, makes the fans buy into him, so that when he does turn babyface, he will still be able to hang around the title picture, the same way Orton, Rock, etc., moved into being top babyfaces after being introduced as cowardly but athletic heels.

 

Does WWE need to make some changes? In a word, yes. They need to let go of the Attitude era. It's over. Nobody who was a fan then is going to come back now. It's time to pass the torch. If that means you go through some growing pains, well that's the price you have to pay. In the mid-90's, we went through the same thing with WWF finally realizing Hogan wasn't going to bring in fans from a decade earlier anymore, and going to the most talented workers on the roster for his replacement. It didn't work, and led to a couple of years of struggle, but it ended up launching the company back into national prominence when they let Steve Austin be himself. Do it again. Who knows, maybe R-Truth or Christian or somebody else under the radar will re-invent themselves and become the biggest deal in the sport. Stranger things have happened.

[crownsy]

Great article and a great post Laz.

 

This:

 

Is just how you book heels to make people dislike them. You don't dislike a guy who is just the best and never backs down and will kick anyone's ass: that guy sounds pretty bad-ass.

 

Being seen by more people would make it so much easier to explain why guys not looking like a world beater is not "burying" a guy.

[Hyde Hill]

Still there are differences between heels and how you book them and the level of cowardliness etc. I get the cowardly heel act for Miz and it works for him just thought Lawler was taking it a bit too far and early as now Miz doesn't look like a threat at all.

[crownsy]

Still there are differences between heels and how you book them and the level of cowardliness etc. I get the cowardly heel act for Miz and it works for him just thought Lawler was taking it a bit too far and early as now Miz doesn't look like a threat at all.

 

Sure he does, he wins. Ergo he's dangerous.

 

 

 

to qoute an awful movie

 

"it doesn't matter if you win by an inch or win by a mile. Winning's winning."

[lazorbeak]

Still there are differences between heels and how you book them and the level of cowardliness etc. I get the cowardly heel act for Miz and it works for him just thought Lawler was taking it a bit too far and early as now Miz doesn't look like a threat at all.

 

Why does he have to look like a "threat"? He's the WWE champion! He should be dodging contenders and doing anything he can to hold onto the belt; none of that requires being threatening. In fact, the longer he holds the belt and the more he avoids his comeuppance, the more the crowd will hate him and it will be that much more of a pay-off when someone finally takes the belt from him.

[PeterHilton]

Why does he have to look like a "threat"? He's the WWE champion! He should be dodging contenders and doing anything he can to hold onto the belt; none of that requires being threatening. In fact, the longer he holds the belt and the more he avoids his comeuppance, the more the crowd will hate him and it will be that much more of a pay-off when someone finally takes the belt from him.

 

I agree with this. There are certain heels that I don't really care for it when they are booked as weak or always needing to run away or get help to retain a title (I didn't really care for Sheamus in that role for instance) bt a lot of the time it works.

 

I mean..I don't think I EVER saw Honky Tonk Man beat someone clean unless it was on a Saturday morning against a total jobber.

 

And I am always shocked people forget how much time Ric Flair spent as 'the Dirtiest Player in the Game'...Barry Windham, Sting, Lex Luger, Dusty Rhodes all essentially made their names by almost beating Flair for a belt.

 

JCP did the same thing for years and got tons of success out of it: Face chases Flair, Flair cheats for months, Flair FINALLY loses belt, fans go wild, face, gets over, Flair wins belt back, rinse & repeat...

[Linsolv]

JCP did the same thing for years and got tons of success out of it: Face chases Flair, Flair cheats for months, Flair FINALLY loses belt, fans go wild, face, gets over, Flair wins belt back, rinse & repeat...

 

Come to think of it, isn't that exactly what IWC Darling RoH was doing with Austin Aries and Tyler Black in their feud earlier this year?

[b0shey]

total bullcrap, how could Cena win the Holy **** awards

Evan Bourne RKO was the true OMG moment of the year.

[PoisonedSuperman]

So why was Cena rehired?

[Hulkamaniac85]

Dang, that was really disappointing (Cena being rehired that way)

[b0shey]

OMG, Match of the year coming up

 

Alex Riley/David Arquette vs Randy Orton

[The Final Countdown]

Come to think of it, isn't that exactly what IWC Darling RoH was doing with Austin Aries and Tyler Black in their feud earlier this year?

Pretty much...well, aside from the fact that it didn't work as well for ROH as it did for Crockett. A good chunk of ROH's fanbase gave up on Tyler after Final Battle last year, to the point where his title win wasn't as big a moment as it should have been.

[b0shey]

Come On.... Michelle McTaker Diva of the year ........ BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

 

OMG.... Cena won superstar of the year... what a complete shock

[The Two]

So, just to clarify, John Cena was "Fired" for a grand total of 3 weeks and appeared on TV every single one of them.

Well, that was a worthwhile and meaningful angle.

[BHK1978]

Alex Riley/David Arquette vs Randy Orton

 

WCW has been dead for almost ten years now and Vince still has to get his cheap shots in at their expense. I guess you cannot expect anything less from a man who made a music video called Stand Back which was his warning to the other promoters.

 

So, just to clarify, John Cena was "Fired" for a grand total of 3 weeks and appeared on TV every single one of them.

Well, that was a worthwhile and meaningful angle.

 

Honestly, I am surprised they kept him "fired" for that long.