***Official WWE/wrasslin' Thread***

Mick Foley's photo.
19 hours ago
HEY WWE....WHAT THE F?

Yes, I'm going to put a brick through my TV. It's just going to have to wait until tomorrow. I had every intention of putting a brick through my TV tonight, after seeing that Daniel Bryan was not even entered in the Royal Rumble match, let alone going to win the thing. But, upon seeing their dad with a brick in his hand, my younger children got a little bit scared, thinking their dad had lost his mind. A rather spirited debate about the wisdom of following through on the promise to put a brick through my TV ensued with my wife - and, as is usually the case in marital debates, I, being the husband, did not emerge victorious. Honestly, the points she made about mercury and glass fragments everywhere were pretty good ones.

But I'm still going to put a brick through my TV. It's just going to have to wait until tomorrow - when the kids are in school, and I can take the TV outside the house for the actual throwing of the brick. Granted, it's not nearly as dramatic as doing it live, right after the Rumble, but at least I will be keeping my word.

As I mentioned on Twitter, I've never felt so disgusted at the conclusion of a WWE (or any) PPV. Like many of you out there, I just don't get it. This Daniel Bryan thing is a phenomenon. You get it. I get it. The fans in Pittsburgh (yes, I was thinking of writing "RIGHT TH...but I'm just not in a cheap pop mood) got it. But tonight, for the first time, I had to admit to myself that the powers that be are just not going to get it. And that makes me sad. I'm just honestly sad, just flat out fucking sad (yes, I dropped an F-bomb there to emphasize how F'ing sad I am for the guys who bust their butts night in and night out - Ziggler, Punk, Bryan, etc - with no hope of getting their shot at this year's Mania.

You know who else I'm sad for? Me. In my two years as an official WWE Ambassador, I never once had to lie about my enthusiasm for the company or the product. Now, although I am no longer officially an Ambassador for WWE (believe it or not, my only official role in WWE is as GM for Saturday Morning Slam, a contract that ends in one month) I was till looking forward to being part of the biggest event of the year. I'll probably end up going anyway. But I'm about 1/6th as excited about it as I was just a few hours ago. I wanted so badly to hear 75,000 WWE fans chanting "YES" - and seeing fans walk away absolutely ecstatic about the outcome of a PPV for the first time in a while...a long while. But when given the chance to make it happen (unless they've got something MAJOR up their sleeve) WWE's answer tonight was a resounding "NO, NO, NO".

CM Punk has quit the WWE

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wHIJlSXdq3s

I think it's a work.

Hopefully. But his contract expires in July.

Oof. thats going to be a tough one for them to overcome.

I agree with him and Foley. These "part timers" always coming in for key roles in the big events is stupid. Dont know why they didnt have Bryan. Could have been a good opportunity for Batista to still win, but draw complete ire of WWE fans toward someone. Typical formula. Bryan comes in, clean house, it looks like he is going to win, and a "good guy" they want people to turn on cheats and eliminates Bryan. Then Batista wins. If they didnt want people to hate Batista, you have him challenge/attack the assailant the following night.

I dont really watch (as it is too predictable and 3 hour Raws are a joke). But these events really caught me and it seems they really botched this one.

Definitely a blow to WM, if it's not a work. Other than that, I think Punk is incredibly overrated. If it is a work, it seems like a desperate rehash to get Punk to reach that peak he had a couple years ago.

His beef with part timers is fair, but if he got the reaction that The Rock and Lesnar got, maybe WWE wouldn't need them.

Batista hasn't worked out very well so far, though. He was popular as a wrestler, but never on the level of the others and has had no success outside of WWE to grab the casual fans.

SVRDhand13 said:

I get why the current fans are pissed about the part timers, but as a person who loved the WWE up until like 2002, the only reason I will come back and watch it is to see The Rock and Lesnar and Triple H. Never liked Cena, Orton or Batista so it just wasn't worth watching anymore.

Orton is insufferable. Just the absolute worst. And really, they need so-called "part-timers" from the past because Wrestlemania is unwatchable without them. Undertaker is a part-timer at this point, but take away his matches at the last 5 WMs and the cards are trash. Rock is a part-timer but his presence popped the Wrestlemania buyrates huge the last three years. If Batista is anywhere near the final match of the night, it'll suck. If they insist in putting him in a title match then whatever. But it can't be the main-event. Personally, I'd like something more than just a one on one match. Maybe a tag in a nod to the first wrestlemania. The dream match for me is Punk and Bryan against HHH and Shawn Michaels. \

watching it a couple times in the past year, it just doesnt have it any longer. The characters and storylines just have nothing engaging. Also, WWE no longer seems willing, motivated, (and probably able) to push the envelope. I looked at #17 to see what that was, and man.... that was the shit.

None of the characters now do anything and they all really blend together. I thought CM Punk was the only one with a strong enough personality to be a "heel" that draws everyone in. The issue is, everyone is so desperate to see that kind of element, he becomes an unimpeachable fan favorite. Everyone else is blah. Im not even a Daniel Bryan fan. He reminds me of a more relevant Spike Dudley. Cena/Batista/Orton are all bores.

I dont see WWE ever getting back. As the old favorites continue to be non-serviceable, its going to get worse.

I think maybe they need to roll back and make it into a "kids" thing again like it was in the 80s. Then grow it from the bottom-up over a decade or 2. Maybe even quietly finance an "underground" type of thing like ECW.

This whole CM Punk/Daniel Bryan situation fascinates me as an old fan. Sadly, WWE failed to capitalize on it. I tuned into the Raw to see how they would follow up and was bored to death. I made it through 90 minutes before turning it over to Full Throttle Saloon on Tru TV.

PBM