Topic will have unmarked spoilers for purposes of discussion, final warning.
VERY VERY LAST WARNING.
Watched the Money in the Bank Pay Per View. For the first time in a long time, I dared to believe that WWE could finally pull off a good pay per view because it had good build up. And while not perfect due to the Divas title match and Big Show/Henry, I felt like I got my moneys worth for what I bought the PPV for, i.e. the MitB matches and the Championship matches.
Daniel Bryan finally gets a title shot by winning the Smackdown Money in the Bank match. This is definitely something I was hoping would happen but almost didn't believe ever would. Great match as well, good spots.
The RAW MitB was really good as well. And while the process of Orton/Christian didn't go as I would have wanted it to, I am just so glad that Christian has the title back now.
And then the main event. Good God. What an awesome main event. Punk was great as usual, and Cena actually showed his ability to WRESTLE and not just spam the 5 moves of doom. The crowd was one of the best parts of the match, showing how much they cared about the outcome. Loved the "Cena wins, WE RIOT" sign. Vince coming out and teasing another Montreal Screwjob legitimately fooled me. And then Punk ignoring Del Rio and running out into the crowd was something I did not expect, because I never expected WWE to actually end a proper farewell angle with someone walking out the champion.
But wow, yeah, Cena/Punk was definitely the match of the year for me. This PPV was easily better than Wrestlemania this year just for those matches. For the first time in a long time, I actually care about what happens.
Best PPV I can remember despite a third of the matches being women's and fat guys. Marked out when Punk won it. Only thing that failed was Bryan not cashing in after Orton/Christian
On July 18 2011 16:44 sixfour wrote: Best PPV I can remember despite a third of the matches being women's and fat guys. Marked out when Punk won it. Only thing that failed was Bryan not cashing in after Orton/Christian
They can't do that, they gotta milk the briefcase for all it's worth.
And besides, Bryan's a face. I expect him to cash it in RVD style. Maybe during ROH: One Night Stand LOL.
On July 18 2011 17:36 Azerbaijan wrote: I Don't understand the appeal of WWE, isn't it just a bunch of large sweaty men pretending to wrestle?
I don't understand the appeal of SC, isn't it just a bunch of nerds massing single units?
See how easy that is?
You find certain things interesting, while others don't. Clearly, there is an appeal to them.
Anyone familiar with wrestling (even those who aren't, or so I thought...) know they are doing more than pretending to wrestle. Obviously, storylines, outcomes, etc. are planned, are moves are pulled to avoid injury when possible, but the sheer amount of damage they do to their bodies (as evident in any interview with any wrestler out of character, ever) is very real. The skill and dedication is very real. Moves often hurt (badly) and serious injuries often occur between two professionals who are doing their best to avoid such things.
The appeal? It tells a story. The same as any show, film, book, etc. The story many be uninteresting to you, but if you can't understand the appeal of story-telling itself, then there isn't much I can do for you.
The actual wrestling that occurs is theatrical. It is visually pleasing. Talented stuntmen doing impressive acts -- it is often very fluid, dramatic, and elicits an emotional response.
If this specific method of delivering this (story and theatrics), then so be it. You don't personally find it entertaining, but understanding the appeal isn't difficult.
I don't watch wrestling, by the way. I did for quite some time, but haven't since 2002 or so, because the writing staff changed and a lot of shifts occurred that don't appeal to me. I still see the appeal.
I didn't understand the appeal of professional BW, but I read about it and educated myself.
You seem like you simply don't want to understand the appeal, and rather, feel like bashing people for liking things you don't like.
Understanding the appeal of something widely accepted as appealing isn't difficult. You may not agree, and absolutely despise it, but understanding it? That isn't hard.
I must say its the best PPV in a very long time, defo since the Attitude era.
I've got a feeling Punk is staying, it really would ruin the WWE title if they had it leave the company and replaced it with a new one. It might all just be one big soap opera, but the WWE's biggest title being taken to another company is something Vince simply wouldn't allow.
Atleast they gave Cena an out, when vince came out and Cena was forced to knock out the dipship with him, can't remember his name, he "had the match won" and was forced by honour to release the hold and go whack a suit. I so wanna see some kind of confrontation on RAW where Cena blames Vince for interfering.
Oh and loved Randy going off the deep end, its nice to see him lose it every now and then. He'll have the title back pretty quick I'd imagine as he should get as many shots at Christian as Christian got at him. Anyone else like the face he pulled before the second RKO on the announce table? made me lol
On July 18 2011 17:36 Azerbaijan wrote: I Don't understand the appeal of WWE, isn't it just a bunch of large sweaty men pretending to wrestle?
I don't understand the appeal of SC, isn't it just a bunch of nerds massing single units?
See how easy that is?
You find certain things interesting, while others don't. Clearly, there is an appeal to them.
Anyone familiar with wrestling (even those who aren't, or so I thought...) know they are doing more than pretending to wrestle. Obviously, storylines, outcomes, etc. are planned, are moves are pulled to avoid injury when possible, but the sheer amount of damage they do to their bodies (as evident in any interview with any wrestler out of character, ever) is very real. The skill and dedication is very real. Moves often hurt (badly) and serious injuries often occur between two professionals who are doing their best to avoid such things.
The appeal? It tells a story. The same as any show, film, book, etc. The story many be uninteresting to you, but if you can't understand the appeal of story-telling itself, then there isn't much I can do for you.
The actual wrestling that occurs is theatrical. It is visually pleasing. Talented stuntmen doing impressive acts -- it is often very fluid, dramatic, and elicits an emotional response.
If this specific method of delivering this (story and theatrics), then so be it. You don't personally find it entertaining, but understanding the appeal isn't difficult.
I don't watch wrestling, by the way. I did for quite some time, but haven't since 2002 or so, because the writing staff changed and a lot of shifts occurred that don't appeal to me. I still see the appeal.
I didn't understand the appeal of professional BW, but I read about it and educated myself.
You seem like you simply don't want to understand the appeal, and rather, feel like bashing people for liking things you don't like.
Understanding the appeal of something widely accepted as appealing isn't difficult. You may not agree, and absolutely despise it, but understanding it? That isn't hard.
I apologize for coming across as condescending. You have a good point in that I am not interested in or stimulated by method of delivery. I remember watching a documentary about Andre the Giant where Hulk Hogan recounted an event in which Andre allowed Hulk to throw him to make a dramatic finish to a fight that Hulk said probably made his career. He spoke a lot about the physical toll the throw took on both of them.
I failed to remember and appreciate the fact that these people are professionals in their chosen craft and I again apologize for my choice of words.
On July 18 2011 19:47 jeeeeohn wrote: "Cena wins, we riot"? Since when did Cena become a heel? I haven't watched WWE in a long time but last time I remember he had the crowd in his pocket.
You must have stopped watching early on in Cena's face run.
The much of the crowd and the majority of fans online got tired of Cena really quickly. WWE has basically turned him into the next Hulk Hogan. Squeaky clean strong guy who always does the right thing. Which wouldn't be as bad if, like Hogan, they didn't pushed him as the main face of the company and portrayed him as nearly invincible in the ring. Rarely ever losing, and even more rarely losing cleanly.
Even by WWE's own admission they mainly marketed him towards females and kids, and the kiddies would buy all the John Cena merchandise. In order to market him towards a more "family friend" audience, they even changed his finishing move's name from "The FU" to "The Attitude Adjustment" and his submission move's name from the "STF-U" to simply the "STF".
And once again, like Hogan, they greatly toned down John Cena's moveset, to the point where people referred to his style as "The Five Moves of Doom". And despite being the top man in the company, the WWE would continually for YEARS try to portray him as "the underdog" in all of his fueds.
Eventually many fans really grew tired of this gleaning, super clean, family-friendly, always-do-the-right thing boyscout. Whose purpose was mainly to sell merchandise to the children. Who was always portrayed as the underdog despite his many world title reigns and rarely ever losing cleanly. And who could rarely ever put on good matches by himself and usually had to rely on his opponent to make him look good. And despite the WWE still trying to keep him as a face (to sell merchandise), for a good long while now, the crowds have been roughly 50/50 cheers/boos in most places.
It proportion was even more in Punk's favor today because they were competing in Chicago, PUNK'S HOMETOWN and the location where a similar event occurred in a different wrestling promotion where Punk walked out with the world title after his contract ended.
On July 18 2011 20:01 sixfour wrote: Cena isn't. Match was in Punk's hometown and Cena's universally hated by everyone over the age of 12
I'm over 12 and I don't hate Cena at all. I do understand the hate though, as shown by my description. I definitely don't like the way WWE is using him. But I have nothing against Cena. You have to remember that Cena probably has no control over how the WWE chooses to use him. He's not like Triple H with backstage powers and large creative control over how he's used.
Cena's pretty much a good worker. He'll do what's asked of him by the WWE and he knows that he does sell merchandise and selling merchandise is good for the company.
Unless something comes up about Cena actually wanting the company to use him as he's being used now, I really don't see any reason to hate Cena. I can understand, though if people think it's easier to direct the hate at Cena instead of the WWE creative direction as a whole like I do.
You have to remember that Cena probably has no control over how the WWE chooses to use him. He's not like Triple H with backstage powers and large creative control over how he's used.
He's the biggest face in the company, represents the company in most big media events and sells the most merchandise. It's unrealistic to think that he doesn't have an input into what he does.
You have to remember that Cena probably has no control over how the WWE chooses to use him. He's not like Triple H with backstage powers and large creative control over how he's used.
He's the biggest face in the company, represents the company in most big media events and sells the most merchandise. It's unrealistic to think that he doesn't have an input into what he does.
Input, maybe, but overall creative direction? They DO put limits on his moveset when he's shown in the past to have a larger one. What kind of reasonable input do you think he could and would put in that would: 1. Improve his character for the better of the company. 2. The WWE would listen to?
And keep in mind, the WWE doesn't have to listen to him at all, and given the last few years, the bookers and the creative team as a whole. aren't the smartest bunch. In the end, he will do as they tell him to. I'm not saying "Oh he's the victim, he doesn't want to do any of the stuff he's making them do". I'm sure that's not the case. But you can't expect him to be able to do make large changes. And really, it's not his responsibility to do so. He's not in charge of how the company uses him or how he's booked.
Ultimately, I don't think you can really say with certainty how much control over he actually has over his character. We do know that it's creative and booking that the responsibility lies in though.
Ah, I understand. Now that I think about it, you're exactly right: most matches with Cena would proceed like: suplex - suplex - attitude adjustment - stfu - the end. Never hated him as a character though, since I was mostly rooting for Randy anyway and they rarely crossed paths. Must be frustrating for him to be hated for being the good guy. Odd turn of events. >.>
i was working during the ppv, but i caught the Punk/Cena match on youtube when I got home this morning. The crowd made the match great, and the ending was a pleasant surprise. I'll definitely be watching the beginning of Raw tonight, and this is coming from a guy who usually doesn't bother to watch it at all
I don't think it's hard to understand why people hate him considering he usually lets his opponent do all the work. Just the other night Chauvo spoke out against him. I think a lot of people are tired of seeing him do the same shit over and over again. He plays the underdog role way too often and lets everyone out beat on him and all of the sudden as the other guy pointed out. Does a few signature moves and wins. It's pretty boring to watch, but last night I gave them the benefit of the doubt and watched. To my surprise Cena wrestled back, albeit there were a few screw-ups on both Cena and Punk's part.
Daniel Byran has been working in the independent scene for ages and the guy really knows how to wrestle. The only thing he lacks is chops on the mike. The only reason WWE can sell the guy is because he knows how to wrestle.
MMA wasn't always around. I grew up watching wrestling when I was a kid. It was a lot of fun back then. There were some great moments in the Attitude Era, which led to a short resurgence. Something the product really needs right now.
It's been a couple years since I last watched any WWE or kept up with the scene, but it's cool to see familiar names (like Orton, Cena, Punk, etc.). Maybe I should check out the next ppv event...
On July 18 2011 21:48 OpticalShot wrote: It's been a couple years since I last watched any WWE or kept up with the scene, but it's cool to see familiar names (like Orton, Cena, Punk, etc.). Maybe I should check out the next ppv event...
WATCH the major matches of THIS PPV. i.e. the 2 ladder matches and the 2 World Titles matches, ESPECIALLY Cena/Punk in whatever way you can. Whether it be youtube or getting the DVD when it comes out.
Not to be stereotypical, but as a Canadian, you might also appreciate Christian finally getting the chance for a proper title reigh as he beat Orton for the World Heavyweight Championship in this.
EPT
