Russellmania

How would Austin possibly be a heel at this point? When he was a heel in 96-97 the fans cheered him and turned him face. When they did the heel turn in 2001 it didn't really work. The WWE Universe doesn't want to boo Steve Austin. Who is this person on the roster that will turn Austin heel in the eyes of the fans? And where is the money in trying to make him a heel? Like I said....he makes more money for the company just selling merch and being in games and being a legend. He's still one of their top merch movers and he hasn't wrestled in over a decade I said it needs to be AGAINST a heel

if Austin comes back then IMO it needs to be against a heel and it should NOT be against another retired or semi-retired guy. As much as the novelty of seeing Austin wrestle one last match would draw people in, I think if it's just against some other oldtimer like Taker or HHH then there would be nothing intriguing about that. I just see a match like that falling flat in practice. Austin is a guy who is most compelling when there is some hate involved. Punk really would have been the perfect opponent for him as a brash, younger champion calling him out for being a drunk bully, etc. That ship seems to have sailed as even if Punk's first UFC fight happens this year and totally flops, I don't see him going back to wrestling in time for WM 32 (if he ever goes back at all). I mean really, who else is an interesting opponent for austin?

Not to mention it seems like every single indy fed, at least in my area, does some sort of MITB type deal. I've seen it done in some other indies as well. It's become more of a crutch to fall back on in the way of developing new people instead of them just working up the ranks. In terms of WWE, while I like the idea of having it, I agree that the US or IC titles should be used to build new people. Not a briefcase. TNA's version of this "Feast or Fired" is just beyond stupid. Plus, who carries a briefcase these days anyway? I sort of half-joke a while ago that the MITB winner should just show the ref a pdf of the contract on his smartphone when he goes to cash in. That could actually work really well for a guy like Tyler Breeze at some point in the future since he always carries around his iphone anyway

i don't know what they teach in wrestling school, but it just seems like common sense to me that if you blow the "both guys tumble over the top" spot, then you should just drop to the mat and roll out to the floor instead of forcing yourself over. Like I have no idea how anyone fails to adjust in that situation when it seems like such a simple recovery.

I just hate how it completely undermines the IC/US titles. Why should any wrestler care to challenge for one of those belts when the MITB contract is objectively superior as a means to get into the World Title picture? I also think it is goofy as hell that the guy has to carry that stupid briefcase around all year and present it when it's time to cash in. It is like an 8 year old's notion of how contracts work.

I only really caught the main event, but jesus that sucked until Bryan willed the crowd into it. I'd love to see a stat on how many handicap matches there have been on RAW in the last 5 years. I wouldn't be surprised if there were more handicap main events than there were even ones in that span. No wonder the crowds are often so lifeless. The booking of this company is just so fucking awful. Honestly that finish was a testament to just how great Bryan is. In spite of the company fucking up everything about their booking on a weekly basis, and in the middle of a pointless clusterfuck of a match he still manages to pull the crowd into it.

exactly. I don't think the business or the fans have changed all that much. I think it's just this stupid company (namely Vince) that in the last few years lost sight of the fact that pro wrestling at its core is all about giving people what they want.

this is a ludicrous statement. This whole business for decades has been predicated on the idea that booking is directly influenced by fan response.

I could see them doing a triple turn at WM. Heyman turns on Brock to align himself with Reigns and help him win the title. Then as Reigns is beating down Brock, Rollins makes the save and cashes in. Sadly I don't see them going with Bryan at WM, although I still think that's their best bet. Reigns *needs* a heel run IMO, and getting "screwed" out of his title shot at WM would be the perfect catalyst for that. Actually here's an option....what if Reigns loses clean to Bryan at Fastlane and then teases a turn. Then the next night on RAW Reigns challenges Rollins to a match for the MITB Contract at WM, setting up their spots on the WM card. Reigns could win the match, perhaps turning both guys in the process (maybe the Authority decides to hitch their cart to Reigns instead of Rollins). Bryan then beats Brock for the title in the main event and then Reigns cashes in to win the title and close the show.

wasn't that already established by evilclown's recent interview with HHH/Steph/Bryan?

I believe that they haven't added anything. Their subscription numbers are so low that the only people who have it have got to be current fans. For all the praise the NJPW interface got at launch time I find the video player to be worse than WWE's, which isn't very good itself (on both OSX and iPad 2). They beat the WWE Network at pretty much every other interface aspect though. Their numbers will stay low until they get some apps out in the world. That's what has kept me from subscribing. Too many easier-to-use services that I already subscribe to. there's an android app for playing the videos. you still go to the website to access them, but then once you start playing them it opens them in a NJPW World player app.

why does a guy get chastised for mentioning Bryan's salary in this thread but nobody seems to have an issue with this taking a Rusev/Cena tangent? Don't know why I even care...not trying to make a big deal out of it, but the Bryan salary thing was an interesting item in the context of how they're booking him and I didn't see the issue with it. anyway as for Bryan I am still pretty butthurt about their failure to hitch their wagon to him. Nobody is more fun to watch than him right now, nobody seems to connect with a broader range of their fanbase, few are better ambassadors for the company, and nobody seems more deserving of a real main event run than him. The whole thing has just really disappointed me as a fan and just really crushed my interest in WWE.

If I had to guess, I would say the announcement of Triple H Vs. Sting? I'm not sure...but I'm confident it will be something that does not have anything to do with Daniel Bryan. he specifically framed it as being an announcement that would help squash the "controversy" around Reigns winning the Rumble. I wouldn't put it past them to completely ignore their own narrative, but giving them the benefit of the doubt, this announcement shouldn't have anything to do with Sting. now the question is whether or not he was talking about the "real" controversy which is that people wanted Bryan over Reigns, or the worked controversy which is that Reigns had outside help to win the Rumble. Based on how they've talked about it on the website it sounds like they mean the worked controversy.

man if only WWE had been smart enough to let the fans get Steve Austin "out of their system" in 1996. What a fucking stupid retard company.

Bix did not cancel since he writes about wrestling for a living. And he was never encouraging people to cancel either, you are totally misrepresenting that. He just encouraged the people who *were* cancelling to use that hashtag so that it would be easier to get a feel for how many were cancelling.

well Bryan never lost the title. It wouldn't be difficult at all to sell people the idea that he's at least entitled to a number 1 contender's match to settle this "controversy", especially when you consider people want Bryan anyway so there's really nothing to sell. It's not like people are going to be crying 'injustice' over this if it were to happen. There is no "controversy" though. Bryan was entered into the Rumble and was thrown out easily and fairly in a few minutes. he also never lost the title though. why should he have to win the royal rumble to get a shot at *his* title? It's fucking pro wrestling. All they need to do to manufacture controversy is say there's controversy.

well Bryan never lost the title. It wouldn't be difficult at all to sell people the idea that he's at least entitled to a number 1 contender's match to settle this "controversy", especially when you consider people want Bryan anyway so there's really nothing to sell. It's not like people are going to be crying 'injustice' over this if it were to happen.

The thing is they have more options than Reigns. Not to make a huge list, as there are options, but Dean Ambrose is right there. Over the summer who was more over and they shit it away. Why the Wyatt Family was split up and not elevated together over time is a mystery too. They didn't even milk an angle where Harper broke free and Wyatt brought somebody in to replace him. That stable could have run and run. Say what you will about Wyatt himself, there was a time where he was one of the more interesting guys on the roster, people were really into him and those Wyatt/Shield matches were the most anticipated matches on the shows they were on. It's been a long-running trend where WWE will break up teams/stables well before they need to and with no future plan but the Wyatts one is the most ridiculous. Not having any long-term plan for Ambrose after The Shield broke up is up there with it though... YES. Been thinking this for a while. I thought breaking up the Shield was a good move, but the Wyatts should have stayed together. In fact, the shield split would have helped the Wyatts continue to get over by proxy since they could have put over how now that the Shield has broken up there is nobody to stop the Wyatts path of destruction or whatever.

I could see them booking Bryan vs. Reigns for the number one contendership at Fast Lane to tie up the loose end of Bryan never being given a World title shot after being stripped of the title by the Authority with Bryan coming up short yet again. Why not milk the trolling for a few more weeks? I would imagine it's something like this. IF you accept that Bryan isn't getting the push (which I don't but whatever), then this would make sense in a lot of ways. Bryan would probably make Reigns look better than anyone else on the roster could. Reigns also desperately needs another PPV singles match before WM if they are really going through with this. The dude has ONE ppv singles match. It's fucking absurd.

it's just crazy to me that Vince is making almost the same exact mistakes 20 years later. The Bryan/Reigns situation feels a lot like Michaels/Diesel back in '95. At the time Michaels was heating up and seemed like the safe bet to give a title run until they find a more traditional franchise guy, but Vince panicked and tried to make Diesel the next Hogan. Ultimately Diesel wasn't a draw and also sucked in the ring and he was forced to go with HBK a year later. And the funny thing is that I think Bryan has a lot more mainstream appeal than Michaels did back then. I wouldn't be shocked at all if Reigns flops ala Diesel and a year later Vince has no choice but to push Bryan after all. As for whether or not Bryan can be "the guy" for longer than a few months or a year....I agree that on paper it wouldn't seem like it, but in 1996 I don't think anyone would have guessed that Steve Austin would end up as big as Hulk Hogan. And I see a lot of people saying it's unrealistic for Bryan to be pushed into that spot because he's already "old" at 33. I find that funny because Steve Austin didn't win his first world title until he was 33. Even if they were to push Bryan and he has a solid run on top for 3 or 4 years, that's still plenty of time for him to draw some money and build a legacy. Guys like Cena who are on top for 10+ years are exceedingly rare. It is really unfair and unrealistic for WWE to insist on finding *that* guy when they have a guy right now who could potentially still have a very impressive run if given the chance. Not saying he's the next Steve Austin either, just that there are similarities in that neither guy was the prototypical WWE babyface and neither was ever "chosen" to be the top guy. It's just incredibly frustrating as a fan to see how they're handling Bryan knowing that if they'd been that stubborn with Austin in 96/97 then they'd likely be out of business today. Like how the hell can Vince not see that?

the notion that Bryan is not automatically the number one contender is infuriating anyway. he never lost the title. In kayfabe terms he probably should have been part of the Royal Rumble title match. It's kind of silly that he had to even be in the Rumble if you think about it. Why should the uncrowned champion be subject to the same process to earn a title shot as Titus O'Neill? To make him wrestle in a number 1 contender's tournament on top of that would be even more silly. But whatever, it's all moot because he should be main eventing wrestlemania and this company is exceedingly fucking stupid. also I'm totally indifferent to Ziggler and the idea of a Bryan/Ziggler WM match doesn't excite me at all. Honestly from a pure wrestling standpoint I'd much prefer Bryan/Sheamus, but Bryan deserves better either way. Nothing they can come up with will be better than Bryan/Brock would have been.

Bryan's neck issues were cured like 7 months ago when he had neck surgery. getting kind of sick of people talking about Bryan's neck issues like they are on par with Austin's or Edge's. My understanding is that his neck surgery was more in line with Cena's in 2007. What kept him on the shelf was that he had a pinched nerve as a result of the swelling in his neck and because nerves are funny it took time for the big nerve in his arm to regain function. I think all the naturopath did is find a physical therapy routine that was able to get the nerves in his arm working again. Bottom line is that his neck is fully healed and he's probably no more likely to reinjure it than Cena.

20 years ago, yeah I guess you could qualify us as being a vocal minority wherever you frequented (RSPW, AOL Squared Circle, Prodigy). The thing is though the vocal minority really helped the business change 20 years ago during the Monday Night War era as fans got smarter and kayfabe wasn't working anymore. The rise of ECW back in the days should've been a tip-off that something was up. The fans help make guys like Austin, Rock, Foley, etc more so than Vince did Austin - to me at least - gets it, The Rock gets it, Foley gets it, and others but Vince just doesn't seem to understand the social dynamics of how information is shared now vice 20 years ago. Hence why when his ideas get nuked by the crowds he resorts to trying to troll his audience to teach them a lesson so to speak. The issue though is when they troll all it does it continue to build in the mindset of fans the idea that they're not valued as a consumer. Vince has to be one of the few guys I can think of off-hand that will intentionally piss his consumer base off time and time again just because he thinks he can without repercussions but it shows up in his stock valuation. the problem is that by and large, Vince is right. People will keep coming back. I mean look at this forum. People were super butthurt after the Rumble and yet we already have people talking about future booking and WM plans. We don't have the numbers on how many actually cancelled the Network this week, but I suspect they're not so significant as to affect WWE's plans and a lot of the people who were super pissed off on Sunday will almost certainly be paying $9.99 to watch Wrestlemania anyway.

the notion that a guy like Cena absolutely, positively cannot ever tap is one of the worst things about pro wrestling. Some of the most badass people on the planet tap out in MMA all the time. It shouldn't be seen as a sign of weakness or disgrace, but wrestling is funny that way.

if they turn him heel it's only going to compound the problem because: a. The fans love him b. a turn right now would be incredibly transparent c. the fans would be sympathetic to his kayfabe reasons for turning anyway.