Coffey

I tweeted about this, of course no one knows my Twitter exists...but after the reported 1,400 tickets sold for TNA Lockdown Sunday, even though they're under the WWE umbrella, would it be hyperbole or an exaggeration to consider NXT the #2 wrestling promotion in the United States? It's certainly not TNA or ROH. In the past, when the talk of TNA would come up, the big hammering point was people would point to their still having TV. Well, thanks to the WWE Network, people have NXT now. I imagine more people would pay $60 for six months of WWE Network than people would pay $44.95 for TNA Lockdown. I sort of look at NXT as its own entity while RAW, Smackdown & Pay-Per-Views are "WWE" to me. If that makes sense.

I feel like Punk says more by saying nothing. His silence is deafening. Him not breaking his silence is what fuels so many people to want to see him & keep chanting his name. At this point, he's a burning effigy that represents change in WWE. If he speaks or comes back, all of that goes out the window & was sort of in vain. The fire burns out. Punk was the catalyst but it's bigger than him now. His "walking away" is seen, for whatever reason, as dissatisfaction with the direction of WWE. The proverbial straw that broke the camel's back. Punk walking away now represents not wanting to see John Cena on top anymore. It represents not wanting to see Triple H "bury" people. It represents not wanting to see Batista Vs. Orton. It represents wanting to see Daniel Bryan get his moment. To see new figures, such as Wyatts, Shield, Cesaro & Ziggler get their moment in the sun. I'm not sure exactly when that happened but that's what it feels like. Of course, all of those guys are getting their time to shine. They were getting it regardless of if Punk left or not. Bray Wyatt was getting a big push, that's why he beat Bryan at the Rumble. The Shield have been booked strong since their debut. Cesaro is a workhorse & now because of the Giant Swing, he has the crowd behind him. WWE, to their credit, have used this all as a storyline, to put heat on feuds like Daniel Bryan Vs. Triple H. The Authority now represents WWE Brass while Daniel Bryan represents the fans & change. Before leaving, some would argue that C.M. Punk was damn-near invisible. Phoning in his appearances & just being another face-in-the-crowd. I certainly wasn't personally clamoring to see him on each show. He had fizzled out. So I feel like C.M. Punk is a false idol; a fake martyr. We don't know the reason why he left. None of us do. All we can do is speculate. Speculation has been everything from being hurt/banged up, to being upset over Wrestlemania paydays, to being mad about having to work Triple H at Wrestlemania. We just don't know. Some people say it's hard to get behind a guy that quits his job because of reason X or excuse Y, but really, we don't know why he left because he hasn't said it. And as long as he stays quiet, I think he keeps burning. Him not speaking is what fuels the fans to keep waving the flames. As soon as he comes back, or does a shoot interview, or a podcast or even just Tweets, most of that blaze is squelched. All we really know for sure at this point is that WWE has proven they don't need C.M. Punk.

The six-man from TLC was good. It's The Shield against Daniel Bryan, Ryback & Kane.

Watch the RAW segment where Vince McMahon reveals that Paul Heyman was in cohoots with The Shield with Brock Lesnar coming out & destroying Vince in the end. That segment is really good, to me, about showing a lot of what pro-wrestling is all about. It explains the whole story, makes you feel like Brock is a fucking Godzilla Monster when he comes out & makes Vince go from seeming super powerful to being old & brittle. It's a really good attention grabbing 10 minutes or so. Plus Heyman, The Shield & Brock are all still around, so it can be used as a gateway to all of the awesome Shield stuff.

If I went to a live show & someone handed me a flyer where they suggested standing up & literally turning your back to the ring, I would call that person, to their face, a fucking idiot.

Total one-match show for me. Cesaro/Zayn was great though. Some great spots in there & a lot of psychology working off of stuff from previous matches. I liked Regal pointing out that Cesaro worked on the breath/gut of Zayn before starting to go after his legs. Make it so he can't run away, then make it so he can't run/fly at all. Totally took him apart. Some good hope spots too. Fun & good match. CJ Parker, The Ascension & Mojo Rawlings are all the drizzling shits. Ladder match disappointed me as I know both can do more. Wasn't feeling the crowd for most of the show but when they chanted "you still got it!" at Stephanie McMahon & she broke, then said "I never lost it" I popped. Emma/Paige was OK but the hype train is so high on both of them it's hard for them to ever live up to expectations. They honestly both felt sloppy to me. I've seen good women's wrestling before, usually from Japan. There's just a big disconnect for me here. I can't get into it, I'm sorry. They felt like they were moving in slow motion to me the whole time. I like Paige as a character & think she would be OK on the main roster but I can't imagine a lot of good coming out of throwing her in the ring with Brie Bella, Aksana or Alicia Fox. Just feels like a total waste of time. AJ Lee got over because she was featured in stuff OTHER than crappy 4-minute RAW matches against other Divas. Paige needs something like that. A story, some depth. Also, I'm pretty sure there's been quite a few "anti-Diva" gimmicks and all that ever seems to me is either "Goth" or "not-Blonde." Paige doesn't change that perception. (not saying she's not cute or a bad worker) Loved Regal on commentary. Not sure we needed all the cameos from "real" stars (to chime in on that) but it didn't hurt anything. I watch NXT most weeks & this kinda just felt like a longer version of their normal show. I think Neville is pretty good but I'm not sure if I would have put the title on him. Does that mean that Bo will get called up soon or that Neville won't get called up anytime soon? I'm not really sure. Big E. got called up when he was the champ, so whatever. Neville should be billed from The Shire though, I know that! Jury still out for me on Rousev. I think if he's protected he'll be OK. You try to make him work non-squashes, he's gonna be in trouble. All I've seen from him now in a squash or two, a run-in & his Rumble appearance. He has a great look though & I think his manager/valet is gonna get mega over.

This is interesting to me. How many people fit in there?

I agree plus Batista is just more fun as a heel. To me at least. His "spotlight" character right before he left was great & judging by RAW, it seems they're going that direction again. Batista also, from what I read, signed a 2-year deal. So that's not just a promote a movie & leave contract. Also, Randy Orton was clamoring forever to turn heel again last time he was babyface, so I can't imagine he'd be OK with turning face again so soon.

You're a helluva lot more optimistic than I am. I think the show closes with Taker beating Brock with a Tombstone. Bryan loses to a Pedigree to get time off & Orton/Batista goes on after HHH/Bryan with Batista winning the title.

There's a good chance Bryan gets pressed between thighs too since he wants time off for his wedding after Wrestlemania.

Bryan/HHH, Orton/Batista & Cena/Wyatt is not a card I want to see. At all. Not even a little bit.

It also helped that she was really cute and there's not a huge roster in NXT, so they see the same familiar faces every week.

I bet that's what ROH thought too.

I always thought in WWE Hulk Hogan would be a great Jack Tunney style authority figure. He's still a great talker, even if he's a parody at this point. I mean, authority figures are apparently a staple in WWE that is never going away now & I would rather have one all-powerful match-maker than having Triple H, Stephanie McMahon, Vince McMahon, Kane, Vickie Guerrero & Brad Maddox all doing it... Plus, I mean, it's fucking Hulk Hogan. The man is the reason I started watching professional wrestling. I would much rather see Hulk Hogan on WWE Monday Night RAW calling everyone, including the Divas, "brother" than see him doing Comedy Central Celebrity Roads of David Hasselhoff, Midget wrestling on the redneck channel, being in TNA, or doing Rent-A-Center commercials with Troy Aikman. This man was on Johnny Carson, on the cover of Sports Illustrated, etc.

I'm curious how different the TV will become once the WWE Network launches. I mean, they're not really selling Pay-Per-Views anymore, they'll be selling the network. So does RAW just become a 3-hour commercial for the WWE Network every week? Do you think they'll start doing things like starting a match, or a best-of-series & then telling you to see the rest on the network? Things like that. I know the network is mostly older stuff & RAW and Smackdown will still be on TV but I gotta imagine that the PPV shows won't just cease to matter at all. I'm sure they'll matter less because they're cheaper but that mean that RAW will matter more? It'll be interesting.

Didn't Comcast just buy Time Warner Cable too? Like $45 billion or something crazy. I think it still has to be approved by the Federal Government but I haven't been keeping close tabs. It's going to be a crazy time for television, that's for sure. I imagine my cable bill will go up even higher, WWE is going to be switching stations & a lot of their stuff, thanks to the network, won't even be on TV! If it wasn't for sports, I'm not sure I would pay for TV anymore. Maybe this year will be the year where I can't justify it anymore when I already pay for internet too.

RAW was so awesome & fun tonight. I loved the show. Usually not a big fan of the current product lately but so glad I didn't miss the show tonight. Cesaro is a super star. Wyatts/Shield is hype shit too.

That would most definitely 100% backfire because they would know that Punk was told to say that shit. That's exact opposite of what Punk, for the most part, stands for. If anything, I think that would draw more attention to it & make it worse.

I think this part is definitely true. There is a bias, especially online (maybe not here) against certain style. And no match ever starts with each guy having a clean slate to impress. Wrestlers are definitely judged on past work & sometimes to their detriment. Sometimes guys get a rep for being a lot better than they are too (Kurt Angle comes to mind) and that also follows them over the years. For example, a guy like Viscera has to go above and beyond to even get people to notice. Every match he's in is basically starting at -1 stars to anyone that rates matches or cares to do that. Meanwhile, for a long time, it felt like guys like Eddie Guerrero, Chris Benoit or Rey Mysterio, Jr. started with +3 stars. So they can just do nothing and it would still be rated "eh, 3-stars, nothing special but it didn't suck." Meanwhile Big Vis would go out & bust his ass and it'd be "dud." The bigger wrestlers, that aren't Big Van Vader or Terry Gordy, definitely have to do more to stand out. It wasn't until just recently where people started to give Mark Henry credit. That's actually one of my favorite parts about this forum is that people judge things independently. I mean, you can usually guess if a match will be good or bad based on who is in it but it's not a 100% exact science. Sometimes great wrestlers have a bad night & sometimes bad wrestlers have a good night. I think the posters around here call people out, regardless of their résumé .

I was always pretty much of the belief that a highspot was just something off the top rope. Springboard or otherwise. I see no reason to change my definition of this term. Until right now at this very moment, I've never heard otherwise & I've been posting on the internet since the end of 1998.

Everyone knows that I'm a wrestling fan. Even the women I've been with, it came up pretty early in the topics of conversation. One of my exes gave me a lot of shit for it but always did so in a joking way, she didn't really care. Honestly, I think she liked that I was so passionate about something. She was into her stuff & I was into mine. In high school, which seems like forever ago now, I was known as "the wrestling guy" & for a long time even thought I was going to become a wrestler as a profession. That was during the height of the Monday Night Wars so it actually made me pretty popular. I went to high school from 1996-2000 & pretty much wore a wrestling shirt, usually ECW shirts, everyday of the week. Steve Austin & the nWo blew up & they were selling wrestling shirts even in the damn mall. I never pursued that profession as I was scared off by horror stories of injuries, scumbags & low pay, but I'm still a big wrestling fan & everyone, for the most part, that I come into contact with finds out pretty early. I just don't think it's a big deal. Going to live shows is fun, even for non-fans. Just like people that don't watch baseball might still enjoy going to Wrigley Field on a nice day (in example). And when I watch it on TV, it's no different, to me, than someone else making time in their schedule to watch any other program. On Monday, 8-11, I'm watching RAW. I've watched pro-wrestling since I was like five or six years old. I'm in my thirties now, it's a part of my life. It's just who I am. I don't hide who I am, or what I'm into, from anyone. They either accept me for who I am, or they're not in my life, ya know? I'm not going to lie to myself & others to attempt to garner acceptance from someone. I watch wrestling, I read comic books, I play video games. I worked in a nerd hobby shop for a few years, played Magic: The Gathering for almost 20 years & even qualified for the Pro Tour. I have nerdy tendencies. So what? Everyone has something that they're into. I post that shit still on my Facebook & Twitter. If someone doesn't like it or isn't into it, they can ignore it or de-friend me. I'm a big dude with a lot of self-confidence & don't really fear confrontation, so maybe that's why I have a different outlook, I'm not sure. It's just not something that was ever embarrassing to me. Maybe it's because I'm a big sports guy too? I used to play football & baseball. I'm still a big sports fan & follow along with that as well. So wrestling is just one of the "sports" that I follow along with, in addition to MLB, NFL, Notre Dame & NBA. I also grew up & still live in the Midwest though, which has always kind of been a hot bed for pro-wrestling, so I generally think it's more accepted around here anyway but even if it wasn't, I'm not overly concerned with what the fuck other people think about me.

Lita as a hall of famer just made me shake my head.

Shawn Michaels turning on Marty Jannetty on the Barbershop always comes to mind. Also when Randy Savage snapped & turned on Hogan & his "lustful eyes" that he had for Elizabeth...pretty much the angle that turned me into a fan. The Mega-Powers EXPLODE~!

but...but...but... I thought the card was "set in stone." Like many of us already speculated, WWE doesn't know what the fuck they're doing for Wrestlemania yet, let alone is the card "set in stone." Sure Punk taking off changed things but the vocal crowd couldn't have hurt! I just don't understand their logic sometimes.

There are quite a few forums name-dropped already that I've been banned from.