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


Adam Ryland

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For those interested in such things, it looks like Dave Meltzer gave Punk/Cena the full 5-stars. The last time the WWE had a 5-star rated match from him was the 1997 HBK-Taker Hell in a Cell match and its the first match he's rated this high since the 2005 Joe-Punk match.
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For those interested in such things, it looks like Dave Meltzer gave Punk/Cena the full 5-stars. The last time the WWE had a 5-star rated match from him was the 1997 HBK-Taker Hell in a Cell match and its the first match he's rated this high since the 2005 Joe-Punk match.

 

It deserves it, in my opinion.

 

That means that's Punk's second 5 star match, and he has the last 2.

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For those interested in such things, it looks like Dave Meltzer gave Punk/Cena the full 5-stars. The last time the WWE had a 5-star rated match from him was the 1997 HBK-Taker Hell in a Cell match and its the first match he's rated this high since the 2005 Joe-Punk match.

 

I agree one hundred percent that it was a five star match, for me Cena/Punk was as good as wrestling gets.

 

The fact that it had an absolutely red hot crowd also didn't hurt..

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There were several atleast partially blown spots. I'm not one that gets into things like this but there were for sure some awkward moments in this one and some bad landings and some blown spots. I'm not trying to be 'that guy" but lets not get TOO caught up in the hype. This was the best pro wrestling match I've seen in a long long long long time but it wasn't five stars. Four and a half? Sure I'll go there but five stars is perfect and this wasn't perfect.

 

I loved it and it was great but there were several moments that took me out of it atleast briefly. Every match has them I'm not saying it was bad or it was anyone's fault.

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For those interested in such things, it looks like Dave Meltzer gave Punk/Cena the full 5-stars. The last time the WWE had a 5-star rated match from him was the 1997 HBK-Taker Hell in a Cell match and its the first match he's rated this high since the 2005 Joe-Punk match.

 

source? I would like to see a full updated list.

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Regards that spoiler:

 

 

Yea, the same thing has happend once before and we saw how it worked out then.

 

Yeah... with an injury. Again, we only see things this way now because Bryan hasn't been built up yet. In three months, when he starts to look legit against the top stars, opinions may differ. People also said Miz and RVD would lose the briefcase.

 

There were several atleast partially blown spots. I'm not one that gets into things like this but there were for sure some awkward moments in this one and some bad landings and some blown spots. I'm not trying to be 'that guy" but lets not get TOO caught up in the hype. This was the best pro wrestling match I've seen in a long long long long time but it wasn't five stars. Four and a half? Sure I'll go there but five stars is perfect and this wasn't perfect.

 

I loved it and it was great but there were several moments that took me out of it atleast briefly. Every match has them I'm not saying it was bad or it was anyone's fault.

 

It's not just the match that's taken into account. It's everything. The angle leading to it, the effort put into it all. The crowd reaction is an important factor. Safe to say the angle provided some of the best TV the past few years had to offer. It all culminated with a match hosting a red-hot crowd, the match being given a succulent amount of time, all to end with a relatively clean finish, which is already iconic enough to have Cena pinned clean :p

 

It deserves it, IMO. You know which matches got four and a half stars? HHH/Taker at Mania 27. And a bunch of noteworthy matches in the past few years that stood out, but not that much. Stuff like the triple threat at WMXX, Orton/Foley at Backlash, HBK/Shelton on Raw and more. HBK vs. Angle at WM21 almost made it. But when you look at it on an overall perspective, Punk vs. Cena ****s on all of them.

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The next few steps in the storyline are crucial, it might be sink or swim. The ending segment of RAW kinda felt flat in my opinion. Vince made a good effort to light some importance on his decision, Cena had a good promo, but the HHH/board part felt anti-climatic. I absolutely didn't feel the emotion of the moment regardless of both them trying to cry, sorry. What's up with Vince crying anyway ? Doesn't that prove the board is right ? Where's the fighter in Vince ? Why didn't he start yelling they can't do that, that he is still the man in charge ? Just staying there crying made him look even weaker than what the board said. I don't buy Vince McMahon, the character, just accepting the decision and moving on. If he doesn't try anything to reverse the decision, it will be very disappointing.

 

HHH character as an authority figure needs development and I'm okay with giving them time to do so. He can't just be the HHH we know as it won't work. Authority figures need some kind of weakness to appear beatable, even if it's just their ego they make them take silly decision, and I don't remember the last time HHH appeared beatable or vulnerable. At the sime time, they don't have the luxury of time. The storyline commands that the new authority makes a strong point of proving that the former authority made bad decision. It's a tricky balance to achieve. If the Anonymous GM is still there (I didn't see the podium this week), that could be one way of slowing down the storyline and adding some room to establish the HHH authority figure character.

I kind of feel you, but I'm going to give them a pass here (Vince and HHH). Reason being, is because several times of late Vince has looked weak... I mean, he was going to sign ANY contract (at least that's how he made ME feel), if Punk would just stay. That's not the Vince I know either.

 

Pluss, all that stuff about the "fighter in Vince" sounds just like the stuff Cena was complaining about... "Where's the fighter in you now?!! Are you going to take those demands Punk is asking for?!!" He said almost word for word a week ago, just what your saying here... Which means to me it's supposed to be part of the storyline (or what are they calling it... The "Shoot Promo" era?).

 

For those interested in such things, it looks like Dave Meltzer gave Punk/Cena the full 5-stars. The last time the WWE had a 5-star rated match from him was the 1997 HBK-Taker Hell in a Cell match and its the first match he's rated this high since the 2005 Joe-Punk match.

 

It deserves it, in my opinion.

 

That means that's Punk's second 5 star match, and he has the last 2.

 

There were several atleast partially blown spots. I'm not one that gets into things like this but there were for sure some awkward moments in this one and some bad landings and some blown spots. I'm not trying to be 'that guy" but lets not get TOO caught up in the hype. This was the best pro wrestling match I've seen in a long long long long time but it wasn't five stars. Four and a half? Sure I'll go there but five stars is perfect and this wasn't perfect.

 

I loved it and it was great but there were several moments that took me out of it atleast briefly. Every match has them I'm not saying it was bad or it was anyone's fault.

 

You know... I seen some things in there as well. I know "who" it was. Here's the thing... I don't think anyone was looking for that to happen, so they didn't see it. If I remember correctly, everyone was looking for a certain person to screw up, even twittering about it. I was going to comment on it, but I think I'm going to go the route you took, and just keep it to myself, at least for now.

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I don't know to me giving a match five stars is a matter of perspective. One man's five star match might be another's four star match.

 

To me a five star match is something that is going to be talked about for years to come. It is a match that other wrestlers will watch in order to see what they can do. When I think five star I think Magnum T.A. vs. Tully Blanchard in the I Quit Match or the Steve Austin vs. Bret Hart double switch match. They are both still talked about to this day.

 

In fact the Tully/Magnum match is considered the hallmark of I Quit matches. Will Punk vs. Cena stand the test of time? At this point I would say no but really only time will tell.

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It's a bit premature to say either way but I think it will stand the test of time. You have the IWC imploding with positive reviews, the angle was so hot it resulted in sold-out CM Punk merchandise, the crowd was compared by many to a rabid ECW crowd which as it strangely sounds, is a bonafide feat. It's one of the few matches in history you could say no one truly knew who was gonna win. Even here, the match left several posters feeling surreal like if they truly witnessed a spectacle. To say this kind of stuff happens two or three times a year which is pretty much how often those ****1/2 bouts come by is pushing it, at least to my eyes.

 

The match will probably sweep a bunch of WON awards as well. MOTY, PPV of the year, angle of the year, etc I see all gearing towards this.

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Punk/Cena is one of those matches that is five-stars not strictly based on the quality of the match but rather the match and the story it told as well as the story surrounding the match itself. It's one of those right place-right time deals where if it was two other wrestlers in another arena on another night doing this exact same match, it would still get highly rated but not reach the apex of the rating scale. But it was the right match at the right time in the right place with the right people and everything that didn't involve the actual match itself was booked to perfection. If you're rating the match based strictly on the match itself and the work by Punk and Cena, then I can see why people would not want to give it five-stars because there were some hiccups. But as a whole, the match, the angle, the storyline, the booking, etc, it was very easily five-stars.
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On my completely subjective scale of personal enjoyment, I gave it 4-stars. I have no problem if others give it the full 5 though. Personally, I have less of an emotional investment in WWE and Punk than most of the folks I've talked to, so it didn't quite thrill me like it did them. Still my fave WWE match of the year thus far, and probably in my top 5 worldwide.
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Punk/Cena is one of those matches that is five-stars not strictly based on the quality of the match but rather the match and the story it told as well as the story surrounding the match itself. It's one of those right place-right time deals where if it was two other wrestlers in another arena on another night doing this exact same match, it would still get highly rated but not reach the apex of the rating scale. But it was the right match at the right time in the right place with the right people and everything that didn't involve the actual match itself was booked to perfection. If you're rating the match based strictly on the match itself and the work by Punk and Cena, then I can see why people would not want to give it five-stars because there were some hiccups. But as a whole, the match, the angle, the storyline, the booking, etc, it was very easily five-stars.

 

While I'm not sure I'd rate quite that high (perhaps more inclinded to 4½ stars, but still close), I do completely agree with the reasoning. The match had good in-ring action, but it wasn't what made it so special: it was the buildup, the crowd, the storytelling... it all just added up and made it something really really special. For the first time in many years, I actually got emotionally invested in a wrestling match.

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Punk vs Cena was in any event some of WWE's best work in YEARS. It's no 5* imo due to some minor botches and the abrupt ending that could've been more elaborated. But like everyone says: it was a great match.

 

In fact, the State of the Art as far as wrestling is concerned, is pretty darn OK right now. Months ago I was thinking the industry was miserable. Now we had Tough Enough, this PPV, the return of the X-division, ROH still doing well... Pretty awesome.

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To me Punk vs Cena was 5*, simply because it had me emotionally invested. The thing is 5* matches are very subjective, to me all of the Kobashi vs Misawa matches aren't 5* because I can't get myself invested in the matches. However to many fans they are the best matches of all time. The same applies to this match, some won't view it as 5*, but other people will.
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It's an either/or thing. A lot of people also said Flair/Michaels was 4+ stars (which I disagree).

 

I would give it a very strong rating, but when I think 5 stars in American Wrestling, I think of storytelling in the ring and buildup along with the actual match. The storytelling and buildup was 5 stars, but the ring work was maybe 4.25 stars (I think it is Cena's best match since the hour long bout with HBK). The last 5 star match I would say was Taker/Michaels at WM 25/26 only because the story really was in progress for years (starting with the former bout with Flair). That gets five stars because of the raw emotion (especially in the 2nd bout) and the sheer quality of the match (moreso in the 1st bout).

 

I think that is a combo package if you want to call either of them a 5* match, but this match was the closest you will see and Im perfectly fine that it wasn't five stars. It was probably the match with the best buildup that didn't disappoint, which is most important.

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The Punk storyline continues...

 

http://uk.tv.ign.com/articles/118/1183201p1.html#IGNSDCC

 

Comic-Con: CM Punk Crashes WWE Panel, Confronts Triple H!

 

This afternoon, with yours truly present, CM Punk crashed the the joint Mattel/WWE panel – WWE: Past, Present and Future – at San Diego Comic-Con, featuring WWE superstars Triple H, Rey Mysterio and the legendary Bret Hart.

 

Punk announced himself via bullhorn and then, with WWE Title in hand, took to the designated question-asking mic and began to awesomely speechify! Punk took exception to the fact that they were trying to crown a new champ on RAW and then challenged Rey, or anyone else who wanted to be champ, to head out to Chicago to take him on.

 

Punk then also asked Triple H and RAW writer Brain Gewirtz why Zack Ryder wasn't on TV. Triple H, in what seemed to be a part of a storyline, told Punk that things had changed on RAW and that there was a new regime. He told Punk to give him a call. Punk responded by telling Hunter that he was sure Stephanie had his number

 

More on the story, plus video from the event as it develops…

 

http://media.giantbomb.com/uploads/3/32230/1844227-x2_74a7a5a_super.jpg

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The Punk storyline continues...

Comic-Con: CM Punk Crashes WWE Panel, Confronts Triple H!

 

This afternoon, with yours truly present, CM Punk crashed the the joint Mattel/WWE panel – WWE: Past, Present and Future – at San Diego Comic-Con, featuring WWE superstars Triple H, Rey Mysterio and the legendary Bret Hart.

 

Punk announced himself via bullhorn and then, with WWE Title in hand, took to the designated question-asking mic and began to awesomely speechify! Punk took exception to the fact that they were trying to crown a new champ on RAW and then challenged Rey, or anyone else who wanted to be champ, to head out to Chicago to take him on.

 

Punk then also asked Triple H and RAW writer Brain Gewirtz why Zack Ryder wasn't on TV. Triple H, in what seemed to be a part of a storyline, told Punk that things had changed on RAW and that there was a new regime. He told Punk to give him a call. Punk responded by telling Hunter that he was sure Stephanie had his number

 

More on the story, plus video from the event as it develops…

 

Awesome...

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I am excite. Just got to hope they acknowledge this on Raw.

 

I think the point of it is that they aren't acknowledging it on Raw, it's kind of being played off as something completely outside of the WWE, which is pretty cool.

 

Not saying it'd be better or worse if they did mention what he was doing on Raw, but I'm almost sure they won't.

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