The Wrestling Discussion Thread

[shaz619]

@shaz619 What did you think of Punk v Rollins? Surely, this can't be the only match these two have.

As a huge Punk fan who severely debated all his critics the moment he left the WWE, I felt vindicated man, I felt vindicated. In what will go down as one of the biggest nights in WWE history, on a show which had John Cena, The Rock, Hulk Hogan and Roman Reigns; CM Punk was the headline act in a stadium show, lets just be real, he’s a much bigger star/name then Rollins and I felt vindicated after the match they had, Punk put on one of the best TV matches on RAW in years.

Am sorry to Rollins fans and I will give him some credit to in a minute, but this was the CM Punk show, you take everything off RAW, and you just had the main event segment, it justifies your Netflix subscription & ticket price. The match was smooth like butter, Bret was the best at making simple moves look so deadly and there was a great deal of creativity in Punk’s work such as that neck breaker from the top rope, Punk does things which you remember long after the match has happened and he can work well with pretty much everyone & to their strengths.

The build up had been great and these two really evoked the real life animosity, it was a thrilling fight. Punk had them throwing hands pretty much right away before they transitioned to the more visceral spots in the match, they kept the crowd hot throughout and worked every second, the match was pretty stiff to my eye or at least the action was presented that way.

This was one of Seth’s best ever TV matches, it just felt different and it didn’t feel like he was going through the spots, he wanted to punish Punk. And that really helped elevate his work as well; how about some of the more creative adjusrments to his usual sig moves ? those were great like the superplex spot and those eyes when he lost, those eyes man, that hatred right there is a shoot.

Punk’s helping these guys tell stories like never before and is having them work the most psychological matches of their lives. The finishing stretch was great, they peaked at the right time and didn’t overstay their welcome, I don’t know if Punk was genuinely banged up (probably) but his selling was excellent & that promo right after the match was .

Congrats to all Punk fans, you put him in the spot he has begged for years and these are your results, one of the biggest draws in wrestling and the best all round performer in the world; he once said he’s Taylor Swift for guys, and that is so true from my own POV

And I think they can certainly top this match, they are just getting started and I do want to see more but I fear they have bigger plans for Punk? how did you find the segment in general brother, but am just so happy right now and feel like a wrestling fan again.

 

[RedwoodOriginal]

This bloodline cow has now run dry. I’m like when will they finally disband at this point lol. Solo got beaten yet today it was like nothing happened. Are they clinging to it because outside of KO and Cody feud there’s nothing else interesting on smackdown? You lost the ula fala, let it go already

KO run is incredible rn. Justified heel. Hope he wins.

There was an opportunity to do more with if The Rock got involved. But Rocky blew that on RAW. They still might be able to do Rock v Roman but Rocky has too many nakray. I don't understand why he can't make up his mind on whether he wants to do WrestleMania or not, or why he is holding the company's WrestleMania plans hostage? The Rock getting all this power ever since he became a member of the board has made him an even bigger and more insufferable douchebag. It's like no matter what is going on, every few months he has to come back and remind everyone that he still exists. And what's the damn point of him even being there if he isn't going to be an evil heel? WWE is going to do incredible business regardless of whether he is there or not. It's all about what's good storyline-wise. And this corporate babyface Rock is a bunch of bulls**t. I mean it's probably him being himself. But he is forgetting that this is the exact same persona that people turned on one year ago when he came back to hijack Cody's WrestleMania plans.

KO is doing some great work but that's the sad thing about it, that he probably won't win. They have done a good job to make him a credible heel despite him losing to Cody both times. But the way they have set up this feud, everything points to Cody beating Owens again.

 

[RedwoodOriginal]

As a huge Punk fan who severely debated all his critics the moment he left the WWE, I felt vindicated man, I felt vindicated. In what will go down as one of the biggest nights in WWE history, on a show which had John Cena, The Rock, Hulk Hogan and Roman Reigns; CM Punk was the headline act in a stadium show, lets just be real, he’s a much bigger star/name then Rollins and I felt vindicated after the match they had, Punk put on one of the best TV matches on RAW in years.

Am sorry to Rollins fans and I will give him some credit to in a minute, but this was the CM Punk show, you take everything off RAW, and you just had the main event segment, it justifies your Netflix subscription & ticket price. The match was smooth like butter, Bret was the best at making simple moves look so deadly and there was a great deal of creativity in Punk’s work such as that neck breaker from the top rope, Punk does things which you remember long after the match has happened and he can work well with pretty much everyone & to their strengths.

The build up had been great and these two really evoked the real life animosity, it was a thrilling fight. Punk had them throwing hands pretty much right away before they transitioned to the more visceral spots in the match, they kept the crowd hot throughout and worked every second, the match was pretty stiff to my eye or at least the action was presented that way.

This was one of Seth’s best ever TV matches, it just felt different and it didn’t feel like he was going through the spots, he wanted to punish Punk. And that really helped elevate his work as well; how about some of the more creative adjusrments to his usual sig moves ? those were great like the superplex spot and those eyes when he lost, those eyes man, that hatred right there is a shoot.

Punk’s helping these guys tell stories like never before and is having them work the most psychological matches of their lives. The finishing stretch was great, they peaked at the right time and didn’t overstay their welcome, I don’t know if Punk was genuinely banged up (probably) but his selling was excellent & that promo right after the match was .

Congrats to all Punk fans, you put him in the spot he has begged for years and these are your results, one of the biggest draws in wrestling and the best all round performer in the world; he once said he’s Taylor Swift for guys, and that is so true from my own POV

And I think they can certainly top this match, they are just getting started and I do want to see more but I fear they have bigger plans for Punk? how did you find the segment in general brother, but am just so happy right now and feel like a wrestling fan again.

Lovely post man. You summed it up beautifully. Especially regarding the impact Punk had on the show and what it meant for him to be headlining the show.

Since you covered just about everything I'm gonna talk a bit about he story of the match, which I thought was brilliantly told. You had Rollins who is (in storyline) a former CM Punk fan, so obviously he knows everything about Punk and all of Punk's moves. But then you have Punk, who portrays himself as the big brother to Rollins (I'm above this guy), but he knows Rollins's playbook too. So I thought that was a really nice bit of subtle storytelling they did there. Punk may not like Rollins, but perhaps he has been watching Rollins from a far all these years and does have respect for what his former friend and protege has accomplished in the business. I enjoyed the finish too, which was quite similar to the finish from Punk's match with Mox.

Like alot of Punk's great matches it started off slow, but once they got into the swing of things and started telling the story, it got really freaking good. I do think this match was hurt by being on TV, rather than PPV. You give these guys 22-24 minutes and they would have blown the roof off the building. But this was still pretty excellent. They gave you just enough while leaving the door open for future matches. And yeah, I also felt like they were pretty stiff. Maybe it was intentional to get over the idea that both guys really hate each other.

I also loved Punk kicking out of two pedigrees. Whoever came up with that idea, bravo.

 

[shaz619]

Lovely post man. You summed it up beautifully. Especially regarding the impact Punk had on the show and what it meant for him to be headlining the show.

Since you covered just about everything I'm gonna talk a bit about he story of the match, which I thought was brilliantly told. You had Rollins who is (in storyline) a former CM Punk fan, so obviously he knows everything about Punk and all of Punk's moves. But then you have Punk, who portrays himself as the big brother to Rollins (I'm above this guy), but he knows Rollins's playbook too. So I thought that was a really nice bit of subtle storytelling they did there. Punk may not like Rollins, but perhaps he has been watching Rollins from a far all these years and does have respect for what his former friend and protege has accomplished in the business. I enjoyed the finish too, which was quite similar to the finish from Punk's match with Mox.

Like alot of Punk's great matches it started off slow, but once they got into the swing of things and started telling the story, it got really freaking good. I do think this match was hurt by being on TV, rather than PPV. You give these guys 22-24 minutes and they would have blown the roof off the building. But this was still pretty excellent. They gave you just enough while leaving the door open for future matches. And yeah, I also felt like they were pretty stiff. Maybe it was intentional to get over the idea that both guys really hate each other.

I also loved Punk kicking out of two pedigrees. Whoever came up with that idea, bravo.

The finish was an easter egg for guys like me & you lol I think the cherry on top, great post there on the story element / lil bro v big bro narrative; now that you mention it, I have to compare that to Bret v Owen ?! surely that had to have been the template for the match to some extent. I felt it was an unusually hot start for a Punk match, not crazy crazy but a lot more action if you rewatch the first 5 mins due to the animosity between the two imo it did build and build however but there was some needle at the start to I’d say. It’s funny we can talk about the match in this manner because inherently it goes back to the story you mentioned which they told in the ring, this is their version of Shawn Michaels Shakespearean Wrestling.

I completely take your point on the PPV side of it, but when you think about the spot they were in, RAW Netflix etc possible continuation of the feud etc they maximised their ability to have the best match possible within all the constraints on them, which is another reason why I enjoyed it so much; I didn’t have very high or low expectations for it but I feel they really delivered on the night, it’s like reading a book, the closing stretch needs to give you some pay off and it’s fine to leave some unanswered questions and they did they very well.

Haha I was surprised when Rollins hit him with those, there’s so much story within those pedigree’s, just think the money he would have made with H lol not really a gripe, but imagine Punk won with the pepsi plunge after those two moves lol I think he used that move a few times in AEW.

Another thing I noticed was Punk really felt the pace, beyond how injury prone he is or isn’t, carrying the increased muscle mass is going to test his endurance (maybe the impact of bumps as well) more when there is a wider gap between his matches. UFC took years of his career but many also overlook the AEW run, the hipsters there criticise him but he was there working every week and did all the big events; he didn’t hold back in any of those matches and I definitely feel they took their toll on his body. WWE on the other hand don’t need him every week, AEW certainly were not able to monetise it massively, though his impact there was undeniable, now they want to make use of him still regular on TV, but more careful on the physical side and selectively book his matches for major shows or live events as there is more upside for them that way, similarish to Lesnar who I was hoping to see on RAW; but guys like him & Austin wont just take a cheque to massage H’s ego.