Monthly News Thread (June 2018)

[Pinkfloyd]

Sucks for Graves to feel like that but I don't think he's taking Punk's perspective on this either. If you know the business even a bit, you know that Punk's likely concern with befriending certain guys employed by the WWE is valid. The business is full of people that talk too much about personal stuff with the wrong people.

 

[garnetpalmetto]

- Ronda Rousey has been announced for the UFC Hall of Fame, to be inducted on July 5th.

- Dana White said "that should be a wrap" on CM Punk's UFC career, stating that at 39, he showed a lot of heart, and passion, but "he's 0 and 2 as far as I am concerned". White also said that Mark Jackson, who defeated Punk last night, would not be brought back, and was embaressed of what transpired in the fight on Jackson's side, and said Jackson clearly didn't take the fight seriously. Dana said he regrets not putting this fight on the preliminary's.

- Enzo Amore is returning to the Wrestling World, under his "Real1" name and 'gimmick'. Amore has been announced for the 8/17 House of Glory event.

Actually, White made that comment in regards to Jackson and his digust with how Jackson held back during the fight to seemingly toy with Punk.

WHITE: Michael Jackson, I'm not happy with. This guy was acting like a goofball tonight. You get this opportunity to come in and fight CM Punk and you're doing like bolo punches to the body on top? Never looked like he was trying to finish the fight ever, right? Looked like he could have finished the fight a few times, never tried. I don't know what he did for a living before we gave him this shot, but whatever it was he needs to go back and do that again. He's 0-and-2 as far as I'm concerned.

It was already known at this point that most people who knew Punk either loved him or hated him, and that he could be a massive dick, by his own admission.

... But Graves comes off as quite the dick in his own right. Which you could kind of tell in the past with his treatment of Byron and Enzo, but at least he could play it off as a character at that point.

You mean his in-character interactions with Byron which are heel commentator versus face commentator (and EVERYBODY gives Byron crap) and his interactions with the man who was probably the most hated guy on the roster that literally nobody has anything good to say about?

 

[GarbageGoal]

That's because he's not an impact Champion.

We need someone like The Miz to have a long run. Someone who will make the belts great again

That’s funny, dude.

 

[GarbageGoal]

Sucks for Graves to feel like that but I don't think he's taking Punk's perspective on this either. If you know the business even a bit, you know that Punk's likely concern with befriending certain guys employed by the WWE is valid. The business is full of people that talk too much about personal stuff with the wrong people.

I heard Colt Cabana’s interview with John Pollack and he said the depositions are filled with text messages between Amman and various WWE stars saying interesting stuff. Colt said it was “revealing” but didn’t disclose much more.

Being those depositions were filed likely a couple years ago now, it may have led to Punk’s suspicious nature of anyone WWE related.

 

[Cor]

That’s funny, dude.

It feels like you disagree

 

[M.C.G. 31]

I remember so little from Punk's long reign other than his WM feud. It really was booked like an undercard belt the whole time.

It was until he turned heel. As a face he had the Jericho and Bryan programs. Then he turned heel on The Rock, had his AMAZING respect run where he was cutting amazing promos every week and pushing the envelope (mocking Lawler’s heart attack) and had another great series with Cena, a couple great showings out of The Ryback, and punked The Rock off on the mic before dropping the title to him.

One thing no one can ever say about Punk is that he didn’t believe he was a star. No one can say he was like anyone else in the WWE. In an environment where you get the feeling a lot of guys are just happy to be there (every full-time top guy in WWE today is included in that), Punk held himself to a certain standard and knew where he should have been and wasn’t afraid to shut down or push back vs. creative if he thought something was stupid.

 

[dahrougem2]

I miss Punk's "respect" gimmick/tirade. It felt so real, too.

 

[WingsMJN2965]

One thing no one can ever say about Punk is that he didn’t believe he was a star.

S***, he said as much on his own DVD that he thought he was hot s*** in ROH and then got a reality check when he wrestled Eddie.

Joey Mercury had the famous line, "He wasn't always the best in the world, but he always thought he was."

 

[Engebretson]

I miss Punk's "respect" gimmick/tirade. It felt so real, too.

I mean, I'm pretty sure a lot of that gimmick came from real life frustration. On Cabana's podcast Punk basically said that he was being underused as champ and then they asked him to either turn heel or drop the belt because they wanted to put the belt on the Rock at the Rumble and didn't want him going up against a babyface. You can easily see where Punk felt he was being disrespected and used a lot of that frustration to fuel his heel promos for the next few months.

 

[M.C.G. 31]

I miss Punk's "respect" gimmick/tirade. It felt so real, too.

I'd bet most of it were his real life frustrations.

The promos were a masterpiece, though. I don't know if we'll have someone like Punk who can work the mic like he did for a very, very long time. He was so authentic.

S***, he said as much on his own DVD that he thought he was hot s*** in ROH and then got a reality check when he wrestled Eddie.

Joey Mercury had the famous line, "He wasn't always the best in the world, but he always thought he was."

And that's how it should be in wrestling, imo.

 

[Cor]

In Brock Lesnar’s now, 435 day reign, he has had 14 title defenses.

In CM Punk’s 434 day reign, he had 149 title defenses.

Pretty amazing. Punk defensed the title every 3 days on average.

Brock has defended, on average, every 31 days.

That’s mind blowing.

 

[Paris in Flames]

Every 31 days feels insanely generous all things considered.

 

[SeidoN]

every 31 weeks maybe

 

[Cor]

- James Ellsworth is set to return to the WWE, possibly as soon as Money In The Bank. Ellsworth was released last November, but will be returning to the company, with several creative pitches being done recently for his return.


Meanwhile, creative still has no plans for Sanity or Authors of Pain

 

[BigBadBruins7708]

In Brock Lesnar’s now, 435 day reign, he has had 14 title defenses.

In CM Punk’s 434 day reign, he had 149 title defenses.

Pretty amazing. Punk defensed the title every 3 days on average.

Brock has defended, on average, every 31 days.

That’s mind blowing.

honestly, I prefer a champion defending like Brock more than like Punk.

Too many defenses cheapens the big fight feel of a title match. If you see one all the time, what's the big deal.

I like it when the title is only defended every month or 2, keeps it special, keeps the title elevated beyond the rest of the promotion and makes it easy to sell the PPVs when it is defended.

And it makes it easier to build new main eventers because the struggle and chase up the mountain to get a title shot now accomplishes this. No longer is it win the title or back to the midcard

 

[GKJ]

honestly, I prefer a champion defending like Brock more than like Punk.

Too many defenses cheapens the big fight feel of a title match. If you see one all the time, what's the big deal.

I like it when the title is only defended every month or 2, keeps it special, keeps the title elevated beyond the rest of the promotion and makes it easy to sell the PPVs when it is defended.

And it makes it easier to build new main eventers because the struggle and chase up the mountain to get a title shot now accomplishes this. No longer is it win the title or back to the midcard

Punk was defending it once a month on PPV’s. The difference is that it was almost a year into his reign when they started putting him in the main event.

It wasn’t cheapened because he defended it too often, it was cheapened because they told you it wasn’t important

 

[M.C.G. 31]

If anything, the Universal Title feels like one of the most worthless titles at the moment because of how long it's been gone and how rarely it's defended.

You want to see a prestigious title that isn't defended super often but when it is, it's a big deal (and the champ is still working)? IWGP Heavyweight Title.

 

[BigBadBruins7708]

Punk was defending it once a month on PPV’s. The difference is that it was almost a year into his reign when they started putting him in the main event.

It wasn’t cheapened because he defended it too often, it was cheapened because they told you it wasn’t important

with Punk I'd say it was both.

1 defense every 3 days is well into the cheapening territory.

 

[M.C.G. 31]

with Punk I'd say it was both.

1 defense every 3 days is well into the cheapening territory.

149 title defenses include house shows.

Based off my quick count on profightdb, his televised championship title defense number was 22.

Lesnar's televised defenses are 8.

 

[GKJ]

with Punk I'd say it was both.

1 defense every 3 days is well into the cheapening territory.

House shows don’t count. Come on now

 

[Cor]

House shows don’t count. Come on now

I’d say they count.

Sure, the chances of a title change are less than 1%, but Punk is still there defending the title in matches to entertain the fans.

 

[Kimi]

149 title defenses include house shows.

Based off my quick count on profightdb, his televised championship title defense number was 22.

Lesnar's televised defenses are 8.

I count six for Lesnar, plus one winning it from Goldberg.

vs Goldberg (c) - Wrestlemania - Title Change
vs Joe - Great Ball of Fire
vs Joe vs Reigns vs Strowman - Summer Slam
vs Strowman - No Mercy
vs Strowman vs Kane - Royal Rumble
vs Reigns - Wrestlemania
vs Reigns - Saudi

 

[GKJ]

I’d say they count.

Sure, the chances of a title change are less than 1%, but Punk is still there defending the title in matches to entertain the fans.

He’s entertaining for the house. House shows are only part of storylines, as like anything else, when they tell you it is. Which is never.

 

[M.C.G. 31]

I count six for Lesnar, plus one winning it from Goldberg.

vs Goldberg (c) - Wrestlemania - Title Change
vs Joe - Great Ball of Fire
vs Joe vs Reigns vs Strowman - Summer Slam
vs Strowman - No Mercy
vs Strowman vs Kane - Royal Rumble
vs Reigns - Wrestlemania
vs Reigns - Saudi

you're right, accidentally double counted the Rumble.

 

[Shoalzie]

If anything, the Universal Title feels like one of the most worthless titles at the moment because of how long it's been gone and how rarely it's defended.

You want to see a prestigious title that isn't defended super often but when it is, it's a big deal (and the champ is still working)? IWGP Heavyweight Title.

I'd basically say the Universal is the equivalent to the NEVER Openweight or the IWGP Intercontinental title. A good belt but we know what the real title is.

Whomever takes the belt off Brock...it won't equate to Rock beating Punk and it obviously won't equal Kenny beating Okada. There's no good story to whomever wins the Universal. It'll be kinda anticlimactic because we're expecting Brock to leave the company soon. It's not like he's going to be around and have actual rematch program with the new champ.