I don’t know yet
On the observer radio, Dave was speculating about a potential Austin vs a punk match at mania. Say what you want about how it will look, but if that happened, nothing in wrestling would be as big as that or even close to it.
The greatest trick ever pulled was making people think the Devil did not exist. And while the IWC tweets , hopefully as uncomfortable as possible that TK won’t answer questions about the All Out brawl, I want you to listen to me. The Devil will return because the New Jersey Devil is real.
But really, did anyone not pick up on MJF once again rifting a CM Punk promo on Wednesday. And the common refrain about the Devil not existing…welll…certainly seems like everyone is convinced CM Punk doesn’t exist in AEW anymore.
If Punk can’t be champ because he’s old. He’ll mentor his new protégée. Anyway, just some fan fic.
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To echo something @McGuire72 said, if you are asking me to recommend a show that displays the best of WWE, Raw is the absolute worst choice. If you are talking 4 weeks ago you saw a show, if memory serves me correctly, they had a string of about 2 shows in a row that were the worst since the Hunter regime took over that were right around that time period so I’m not surprised. Not defending Raw, I get it as its a chore and I dont blame you for lasting an hour.
However, your original post talked about all WWE shows:
PLV’s and the best Smackdowns are pretty good shows. Not every one is a hit, but since Hunter took over there are many more hits then misses, and the bloodline truly is the best thing in wrestling. Have you at least been watching highlights of them? If not, that’s not very Usey of you.
I saw this bro
I don’t know, Dave reported in his newsletter that Punk is legit pissed about cabana coming back on TV. Do you think they put aside their differences that fast and he’s gonna come back and help MJF?
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Ha ha, yeah I usually grab the PPV highlights and watch the odd bit here and there. We get a shortened version of Smackdown and Raw on UK TV, maybe I’ll try and get into the Smackdown one as its barely and hour so no excuse really. When I was watching more often the USOs were by far and away my fave thing so I should try and keep up with the Bloodline story…I hope its building to something decent at Wrestlemania
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I think the general consensus is that the product is a bit cold, the build has been not great, the last episode was downright train wreck especially the last segment, but matches on the Pay per view are going to be really good, their paper views usually deliver, and MJF winning could be a potential historic moment.
Based on all that I am leaning towards ordering it, although I think it is concerning the size of their crowds, ratings, and a bit of bungling of this build especially what we saw on Wednesday
I think IF they did get over this and resolved their issues, there would be zero upside in feeding that to reporters. especially since Punk can’t do anything in the ring while hurt. The surprise and chaos to ensue will be excitement enough. I also think it fits with the story too well. MJF returned after everyone declared that ship sailed. Haven’t we learned enough by now that even the reporting is sometimes part of the show with some of these reporter types. When guys wanna be part of the show so bad, I have a feeling they’ll let their audience be played along for the ultimate “TUNE IN ON WHAT JUST HAPPENED” moment.
The by far most likely scenario is he isn’t back. But also, what if the Devil does exist?
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If he came back that was certainly swing that hotness tide a lot
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And spike a rating and subs and downloads. Just saying. He’s probably not coming back and only I (and you) heard the obvious call backs in the promos. I’m not sure it was even mentioned on Rewind a Dynamite.
I’ve been checkd out of the wrestling internet scene a minute but curious if the use of the verbiage caught attention as it did pre-Punk’s Last Dance return.
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I heard the “as you lay there John, hopefully as uncomfortably as possible…” (or whatever the exact phrasing was) and thought that was too direct of a shot to just be a throwaway. I just don’t see a path for a CM Punk return to go down without being a huge mess. But I’ve said similar about some AEW angles before and been (happily) wrong after it played out.
Man, there is so many people in this thread that are totally blinded by a regime change in WWE right now. You can talk down on AEW all you want, the ROH shit has been too much. Too many guys coming and going off TV etc.
But there is 1 interesting thing on WWE TV and that is the Bloodline. I would argue that WWE under HHH so far has been a failiure and is even worse than when Vince was around. At least before the shows were so bad, that the podcasts were hilarious to listen to. Now the shows are fucking boring.
Long ass matches, which do not belong on the main roster. Fans in attendance who dont give a shit about said matches and are on their hands the whole time. Random people returning who are basically jobbers, other than Johnny Gargano, who flat out looks like a dork.
I will even say NXT is more entertaining right now than anything main roster related that isnt the Bloodline.
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Anyone who thinks WWE is “hot” needs to watch RAW. Nobody is over on that show. Completely dead crowd for three hours every week
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To be fair, I don’t think there is a single person on this thread saying Raw is an easy watch. I hear you with some of the matches, but there are some hot matches as well. Just this past week as an example, crowd was going nuts for Rollins vs Finn, very good match. Rollins is over as anyone right despite what the internet may try to tell you.
Smackdown and the PLVs are more so what I think are good right now. I love what they are doing with the bloodline, Gunther has been great, and for the most part the majority of SD’s have been pretty good. For me, big difference between AEW and WWE is AEW wants me to pay $60 for a PPV…WWE charges me $15. Also, I can watch Smackdown in 45min, dynamite requires full attention for the entire show.
I don’t think WWE is “hot” but I think The Bloodline is incredibly over, and the product as a whole is benefitting from being more watchable (generally) than they’ve been in a long time.
But I think we’re also learning that it was dumb to think Triple H didn’t pick up any tendencies from the guy he worked for/with for 25 years, and that booking five hours of original TV every week is ridiculously hard for even a good booker.
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I agree with all of this.
I also think people need to realize Hunter didn’t have the luxury of starting from scratch like Khan did, he had to take over an existing product. Best analogy I can give, its like Tony Khan wrote a book from chapter 1 while Hunter had to take over for someone who was already 42 chapters deep. Not the same thing.
John said it best a few months ago, the true test for Hunter will be in like a year from now when every story and every character will eventually be in his vision as he didn’t pull a Russo/WCW and do a reset. Now, will it be better? I don’t know, I think so, but I don’t know for sure. Regardless, that that is when he will show us how good or bad he is as head of creative.
Now I’m sure some will get all bent out of shape and take this as some giant defense of Hunter, but its not. He has definitely had some bad creative on the main roster, ie. miz/dexter story. I would also not give him credit for all the good. While he is booking the Bloodline great, he didnt create it. Hunter didn’t book Roman as champ for 2 years straight. Almost everything he is working with is an extension of the previous regime. Regardless, it will be entertaining to see where he goes with everything.
I really hope you’re right. It’s pretty clear they need Punk. All sides just need to come together and make this work. That being said I don’t see it happening because Punk is a petty weirdo.
They need punk? A one million live gate without him for tonight. They were selling out well before he came and after hes gone they’ll be just fine. Lets calm down here.
They do need Punk. Selling out a PPV when you do 4 a year is not an indicator of not needing your biggest star.
Have you seen the attendance for the live events?
They got $1 million gate by just charging more for the tickets. If you went to the earlier shows they were severely under proced.
For instance for double or nothing I was literally sitting two rows from ringside for like 100 bucks. At WWE those will be well over 1000
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