Topic: Wrestling discussion

[Adrock]

I didn't say it was so that point is moot. The Rock came back to shill his movie career. I think everyone knew that.

[BranDonk Kong]

The significance of Rock's win will probably be revealed tomorrow. It leads to many more routes for Cena to go now than if he had won, too.

Will Rock brag about how he has beaten everyone there is to beat at WrestleMania, only to have Brock Lesnar interrupt him...or Undertaker?

[Adrock]

I really hope they don't try to set up The Rock vs. The Undertaker. I'm still holding out for Sting vs. Undertaker next year and I recently read that Sting is signed with TNA until the end of 2012 so there's some hope.

[TJ Spyke]

Not likely, Sting signed another 1 year deal with TNA. So he wouldn't be free until like late February 2013 (which is cutting it close for WM). Would Undertaker need to do it though? 20-0 is pretty symbolic, and no one will ever come close to it.

[Adrock]

Didn't they set up Undertaker vs. Triple H last year in February?

[TJ Spyke]

Yes. So it would be possible, but it would be extremely close and not have much time to promote it. You also have to wonder if Sting would want his first (and possibly only) WrestleMania match to be losing to Undertaker?

[Adrock]

It's a dream match so I wouldn't put it past either. WWE would have anywhere from 5-8 weeks to promote it but it's over a decade in the making so I don't know how much prep time is needed. And even if they needed more time, is TNA really an issue? TNA totally let the WWE walk all over them with Flair appearing at the Hall of Fame this year. They could have legally blocked that. Maybe they wanted to keep Flair happy but with all of his debts and WWE only asking for a 1-2 night appearance, Flair needs TNA more than TNA needs Flair. They held all of the cards and still folded. The only person really holding this back is Sting. Apparently, he was close to signing last year.

[TJ Spyke]

Flair only appeared because TNA let him. We don't know the details, maybe WWE paid TNA for it. At the very least, TNA might get some free publicity since casual fans might search for where Flair has been at find TNA.

It's no secret Flair is very unhappy in TNA and wants out. He seemed to confirm it even more by saying at the HOF ceremony ""I'd like to! Don't question me about that!" (when fans chanted "Please come back") and talking about how he still watches WWE. Expect him to re-sign with WWE as soon as his TNA contract expires.

[Adrock]

Obviously, TNA let Flair. My point was that they could have told WWE to shove it but Dixie Carter just bent over and took it. I'm sure they're aware of Flair's feelings toward the company and if he's unhappy and bent on leaving, they could have told him to finish his contract then GTFO. That said, would they really not release Sting from his contract early if he asked? Or if the WWE paid them? Maybe, maybe not. The circumstances would be different from Flair's but I was just pointing out that TNA officials seem like total pushovers.

And does WWE even want Flair back? According to Flair, he sat at home for 6 months waiting for a call after his contract expired before signing with Ring of Honor.

[TJ Spyke]

Flair wanted to wrestle, that was part of it. I am sure WWE would like to have him sign a Legends Contract.

[BranDonk Kong]

Flair doesn't wrestle because he wants to, he wrestles because he has to (he is very much in debt). Also Sting didn't actually sign a new contract, that was part of a TNA storyline where he's no longer in charge and is now a wrestler again. His contract is up at the end of the year. I'd like to see Sting in WWE just to say that it happened, but I've never been a real big fan of his.

[Adrock]

I couldn't find the article i read stating that Sting was signed until the "end of the year" (Bound For Glory is in October so i guess that still qualifies) but i just read that Sting's contract extension including Dixie Carter's tweet was for storyline purposes. I've never been a big Sting fan either but as a wrestling fan (even an extremely casual one these days) I definitely want to see Sting vs. Undertaker.

[TJ Spyke]

Well, Lord Tensai made his debut tonight (it was indeed A-Train, and Michael Cole even mentioned that he was a former WWE superstar who went to Japan and became a international star before returning to WWE as "Lord Tensai"). He brutalized his opponent, Alex Riley, so bad that the ref stopped the match.

Also, The Rock said he is returning to WWE and vowed to win the WWE Championship again (he hasn't held the title since he lost the Undisputed WWE Championship to Brock Lesnar at SummerSlam 2002). Rock even made a joke about the Canadian Football League (he mentioned how he was cut from the CFL in 1995, and told the crowd how much you have to suck to get cut from the CFL).

[BranDonk Kong]

Glad to see Jericho isn't gone, though it sucked seeing the "whiskey bottle" explode before he even let go of it. Cool segment though, and surprised to see them give Mark Henry the win, even if it was a count out.

[TJ Spyke]

It helped get Mark Henry back to the monster heel status he had before his injury, while protecting Punk at the same time.

I saw a comment on a wrestling site I visit where someone mentioned that the Punk-Jericho thing was similar to a feud between Jerry Lawler and Jake Roberts in 1996. Roberts was a recovering alcoholic (we all know he would later let his demons catch up to him again) and they did a angle where Lawler poured whiskey down Roberts' throat and then bashed him with the bottle.

[TJ Spyke]

Guess the rumors of Lesnar returning are true, he just came out to confront John Cena. His first WWE appearance since his awful match against Goldberg at WrestleMania XX.

Big way to make a return. He offered to shake Cena's hand, then picked him up and hit the F-5 (then kicked Cena's hat out of the ring to add insult, LOL).

[Adrock]

Looks like I missed an awesome Raw tonight. I'm watching clips on youtube now and I read the show summary.

- The Rock says he's going to become WWE Champion again. Sucks for Punk... I suppose he had to lose the strap eventually though a win over The Rock would be big. Considering the WWE spent the better part of the last year setting up The Rock to beat their current top guy after a, what, 7 year absence, it's really not looking good for Punk and his title reign.
- Speaking of Punk, he loses his match (at least he kept the title) then gets attacked by Jericho. Rough night. Didn't he beat Jericho last night? That storyline is over. It started out with the whole Best in the World thing then they inexplicably shifted gears to Punk's straightedge lifestyle. I kind of wish this feud would just go away because it's silly now. Let Punk and Jericho go off and do something else for a couple months then try to revisit it and do it correctly. Jericho looks almost as bad as Dolph Ziggler right now. It's hard to take these guys seriously as viable competitors when they just keep losing all the time. It would be nice if Punk was involved in the top storyline but that seems to be reserved for Cena and Lesnar.
- I still feel like the WWE is wasting Dolph Ziggler but maybe he's still paying his dues until he gets promoted to main event status. He technically won last night but he didn't really do anything. Then, tonight he lost. I keep picking the wrong guys to root for.
- Lord Tensai drew some decent heat tonight. I thought the ref ended the match a bit early. Looks like they're trying to build him up as an unstoppable force which the WWE already has 2 of: Mark Henry and Kane.
- I was never a huge Lesnar fan (especially with the super-lame way he left) but it's nice to see him back. The WWE could use some big names. The list of major superstars was looking a bit thin last year with some injuries and Edge retiring though I felt that CM Punk finally got a real shot because the WWE needed someone to push. With Jericho sticking around, Undertaker liking not taking an entire year off and now Lesnar coming back, things should get interesting. I just hope they keep pushing the younger guys, namely Ziggler.
- We're seeing a lot of returns from past superstars. Seems like they're planting the seeds for an eventual Attitude Era vs. PG Era showdown which reminds me of WCW's Millionaire's Club vs. New Blood. That wasn't a bad idea; WCW was just beyond saving at that point. If the WWE goes down this route, I hope they handle it better than the Invasion angle. Man, that had so much potential. There are still a couple of guys I'd like to see come back, namely Rob Van Dam but he's still in TNA.

[TJ Spyke]

WWE Hall of Famer Chief Jay Strongbow passed away today, he was 83.

[BranDonk Kong]

When Johnny Ace was telling CM Punk that he was going to get hit by a natural disaster, I was fully expecting Lesnar to come out and hit the F5. I really hope this isn't setting up for WrestleMania though, that's too much build up. Lesnar should just plow through everyone on the roster, I'd like to see him be the one to face Undertaker next year, even if he loses. They did have that "confrontation" a while back at the UFC PPV after all.

[TJ Spyke]

It's being reported that Lesnar's contract is for 1 year (leading up to WrestleMania XXIX). He will be required to make a minimum of 2 appearances a month in 2012 (he would have to agree to appear more often).

[BranDonk Kong]

Well even if he just attacked a different main even guy each week or every other week and then destroyed them at the PPVs it would be awesome. They need to get him to do more appearances though, even if they put him on a TV-only (and PPV) deal, he'd still be off 5-6 days a week, make a ton of money, and please all of the home viewers. They really need to be able to build him up, since he got pummeled in his last two UFC fights.

[BranDonk Kong]

So, Overeem basically just pissed hot for a steroid test...taints his win over Brock Lesnar, which led him to retire.

[TJ Spyke]

It was for a recent drug test though. Basically we won't know if it's a false positive until they test the second sample he gave.

[BranDonk Kong]

He skirted a bunch of tests last year though, essentially fleeing the country when he was supposed to be getting tested. The dude has the face of a steroid user.

[Adrock]

/facepalm

Does the WWE really think anyone even remotely believes Jericho has a chance of beating CM Punk for the title in Chicago of all places in a match called a Chicago Street Fight? This is on top of Jericho promising to make Punk drink alcohol which goes against one of the main facets of Punk's persona. This is a waste of everyone's time. I'd love to be wrong because that would make things interesting. It just seems to be heading in a very obvious path. I wish the WWE would move on from this feud and have them wrestle other superstars so the outcome wouldn't be so predictable. I suppose Mark Henry could come out to lay Punk out to set up a feud with Punk the writers seem to be pushing the past couple of weeks and that would totally be how Jericho wins a major title but I still don't see it happening. Punk is going to win that match even if they set up a storyline with Henry. Whatever they do, I hope they don't drag out Jericho vs. Punk for another month. Try the feud again at a later date. It has the potential to be as awesome as Jericho vs. HBK was a few years ago. I just think they need a reboot because their storyline has been handled pretty poorly so far.