goodhelmet Posted August 13, 2011 Author Report Share Posted August 13, 2011 Nobody on Earth, including his mom, calls him Phil Brooks.What do they call him, and why?Punk and variations thereof. I don't know know if there's any origin to it pre-wrestling other than the obvious. I was under the impression that's why Vince had the "I can call you Phil, right?" line in the negotiation segment: Not OMGZ SHOOT NAMES HAVE BEEN UTTERED as much as "nobody calls him that." For the record, he has introduced himself as Phil to people. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bix Posted August 13, 2011 Report Share Posted August 13, 2011 Nobody on Earth, including his mom, calls him Phil Brooks.What do they call him, and why?Punk and variations thereof. I don't know know if there's any origin to it pre-wrestling other than the obvious. I was under the impression that's why Vince had the "I can call you Phil, right?" line in the negotiation segment: Not OMGZ SHOOT NAMES HAVE BEEN UTTERED as much as "nobody calls him that." For the record, he has introduced himself as Phil to people. Well, I have to say that surprises me for a number of reasons. Unless they weren't wrestling fans, I guess. Still, it's not like I was trying to argue anything in the first place, so...how about that Triple H? I feel he has instituted a "glass ceiling." Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
S.L.L. Posted August 13, 2011 Report Share Posted August 13, 2011 Again, I have no issue with the logic of running a tourney. My issue is that doing one that quickly doesn't really put over Punk's departure as a big deal. What if the next champ does the same thing? Oh well, no problem, they can always do another tournament. Life goes on. I half-agree and half-disagree with this. Half-disagree in that I don't think rolling out the tourney so quick was the real problem. It's standard operating procedure when a belt is vacated (and from the company's POV, leaving with the belt would have to be considered a vacation...remember when Brock decided he would only defend the belt on Smackdown? At least this time, they actually had guys fight for it instead of Bischoff handing Trips a belt). It's also standard operating procedure for Vince et al to try and downplay the significance of whoever just left (I refer you to Austin's firing in '02, where the company's public stance was that it was the WWE braintrust that made them as successful as they were in the Attitude Era, and that Austin himself wasn't that big of a deal by comparison...or, more recently, the whole "it's not the wrestlers that draw, it's the brand that draws" talking point). And on top of that, you have to consider that at it's most basic level, from the very beginning, the primary motivation of the Mr. McMahon character is a desire to maintain the status quo. At it's heart, the Mr. McMahon gimmick is that of a guy who presides over a well-oiled machine that's made him a ton of money, stroked his ego, gotten him laid, and all he really wants in the world is for that machine to keep running the same as it always has. And if ever it doesn't, his natural reaction is to write it off as a minor hiccup and carry on with business as usual, hoping that it will just start running again as normal without having to make any serious changes to it. Half-agree in that what ultimately makes this character work is that when something goes wrong, and Mr. McMahon tries to convince everything that it's no big deal and that they should just carry on like nothing's happened, nobody believes him. Nobody just rolls with the major catastrophe the way Vince wants them to, the machine breaks down even more, and Vince's sanity slips further and further away as he desperately tries to restore order by any means necessary. Except when Punk left, where none of that happened. Vince downplaying the severity of what happened and immediately trying to crown a new champion? I wouldn't have expected any less from him, and I'm not quite sure why anyone else did. Everyone else in the company other than Triple H rolling with it just as easily as Vince does? Yeah, that's dumb. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Loss Posted August 13, 2011 Report Share Posted August 13, 2011 Where I half disagree with that (are we down to quarter disagreements now?) is that Mr. McMahon has a history of not taking the obvious route first. If wrestling operated where everyone involved always took the path of least resistance, CM Punk would have been fired and pulled out of the title match and Steve Austin would have been fired for attacking his boss in unprovoked fashion the first time it happened. I equate so easily deciding to run a tournament to that. Yes, running a tournament is standard operating procedure, but it really no sells Punk leaving in that it had no impact. Punk didn't even get storyline credit for taking Vince out -- HHH said it was based on some of his decisions lately, but didn't isolate this one specifically, which also should have happened. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
S.L.L. Posted August 13, 2011 Report Share Posted August 13, 2011 Where I half disagree with that (are we down to quarter disagreements now?) is that Mr. McMahon has a history of not taking the obvious route first. If wrestling operated where everyone involved always took the path of least resistance, CM Punk would have been fired and pulled out of the title match and Steve Austin would have been fired for attacking his boss in unprovoked fashion the first time it happened. I equate so easily deciding to run a tournament to that. Disagreeing with the quarter-disagreement: it's not so much that it's the path of least resistance or the obvious reaction, it's that it's Vince's standard back-up plan when things go wrong for him. Sweep it under the rug, tell everyone it's business as usual, and pray nobody notices something went wrong. It's not that it's easy or obvious, it's that that's how the Mr. McMahon character always first responds in these situations. Then, everyone else does notice and point out and exploit the fact that something went wrong, and Vince is forced to take desperate measures. But for the first time in the character's history, his standard back-up plan actually worked (more or less), which fucks things over pretty severely. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
goodhelmet Posted August 14, 2011 Author Report Share Posted August 14, 2011 I am still at the point where I am tuning in to see what happens next week because I am still very interested where the Punk character is going. That is not a goalpost that has changed. there have been major letdowns but the intrigue is still there for me. That could all change tomorrow. By this time in the Nexus angle, I was done. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ricky Jackson Posted August 14, 2011 Report Share Posted August 14, 2011 A friend of mine just brought this up, so I thought I`d throw it out here: Surprise appearance by the Rock tomorrow night? I haven't heard anybody mention it, but it would make sense after they used his promo on Raw last Monday. Could be a way to screw Cena out of the belt without having to resort to the predictable HHH rout (although their match at Mania is supposed to be for the title, so I guess kayfabe wise Rock would want Cena to win). I'm just hoping for anything but a clean Cena win...or a Punk/HHH alliance...or Del Rio cashing in the briefcase... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jdw Posted August 14, 2011 Report Share Posted August 14, 2011 Half-disagree in that I don't think rolling out the tourney so quick was the real problem. It's standard operating procedure when a belt is vacated (and from the company's POV, leaving with the belt would have to be considered a vacation...remember when Brock decided he would only defend the belt on Smackdown? At least this time, they actually had guys fight for it instead of Bischoff handing Trips a belt). I was wondering if there is a standard operating procedure when a belt is vacated/stripped under Vince. WWWF/WWF/WWE Title 02/12/88 Andre vacates: 03/27/88 PPV tourney 12/04/91 Hogan stripped: 01/19/92 PPV Royal Rumble 02/13/97 Shawn smile: 02/16/97 PPV Final Four 09/27/98 Austin held up: 11/15/98 PPV Tourney 09/20/00 Vince vacated: 09/26/00 PPV Six Pack Challenge 10/02/07 Cena injury: 10/07/07 PPV Vince gives Orton title (essentially a forfiet) 06/09/09 Batista injury: 06/15/09 Raw four-way World Title 12/06/04 Hunter held up: 01/09/05 PPV Elimination Chamber 01/10/06 Batista injury: 01/10/06 SmackDown! Battle Royal 07/17/07 Edge injury: 07/17/07 SmackDown! Battle Royal 04/29/08 Taker stripped: 06/01/08 PPV Taker-Edge decision bout 09/07/08 Punk "injured": 09/07/08 PPV scramble match 02/15/11 Edge stripped: 02/15/11 Vickie gives Ziggler belt 04/12/11 Edge injury: 05/01/11 PPV decision bout For the most part, the SOP is to fix the vacating on the next PPV. The Edge stripped thing earlier this year really wasn't much of a vacating as it was resolved by the end of the same show: Edge won it back over Ziggler. Knocking that one out, they *have* done three quickies fixes on TV. Interesting they were after Batista and Edge injuries. So Punk's quicky fixing wasn't unique, though they tended to be exceptions rather than rules. The most recent vacating should be something we probably all remember: this year after Edge's career ending injury. That was dealt with in a common way of a new champ being crowned on the next PPV. John Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Strummer Posted August 15, 2011 Report Share Posted August 15, 2011 NASH!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Victator Posted August 15, 2011 Report Share Posted August 15, 2011 This was some impressive non committal booking. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Strummer Posted August 15, 2011 Report Share Posted August 15, 2011 Del Rio wins the title after Nash jackknifes Punk. Is Nash with the family or Del Rio? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Victator Posted August 15, 2011 Report Share Posted August 15, 2011 I think he is Del Rio's new bodyguard. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Strummer Posted August 15, 2011 Report Share Posted August 15, 2011 Kevin Nash costing Punk the title in 2011 will certainly get some shit going down on wrestling message boards. And probably won't be all negative Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ricky Jackson Posted August 15, 2011 Report Share Posted August 15, 2011 In my previous post I obviously meant to write "Surprise appearance by Kevin Nash tomorrow night?" Yeah, that's it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Loss Posted August 15, 2011 Report Share Posted August 15, 2011 It's really hilarious how bad this has gotten. Maybe now Punk can mention that Nash dyes his hair to hide the gray and killed WCW in a promo or something, and people will be convinced as a result that this is still going great. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tim Evans Posted August 15, 2011 Report Share Posted August 15, 2011 It is still going great. Way better than Cena winning. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Loss Posted August 15, 2011 Report Share Posted August 15, 2011 Del Rio is not over. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Strummer Posted August 15, 2011 Report Share Posted August 15, 2011 from what they did tonight I think it will be that Stephanie hired Nash without H's knowledge to make sure Punk lost. Or something like that Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Loss Posted August 15, 2011 Report Share Posted August 15, 2011 Involving Stephanie McMahon and Kevin Nash in the angle and taking the belt completely off of both Punk and Cena. I'm not OUTRAGED or anything, but I am genuinely surprised, in the sense that it reads like they brainstormed on picking the absolute worst possible scenario and this won out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tim Evans Posted August 15, 2011 Report Share Posted August 15, 2011 Punk/Cena should have ended after MITB cause there was no way they could top it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NintendoLogic Posted August 15, 2011 Report Share Posted August 15, 2011 I think he is Del Rio's new bodyguard. Yeah, but whose side is he on? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flyonthewall2983 Posted August 15, 2011 Report Share Posted August 15, 2011 Exactly, and it didn't help that it directly followed an awesome Orton/Christian match. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Victator Posted August 15, 2011 Report Share Posted August 15, 2011 At the moment I'm assuming Nash is working for Del Rio independently. It would be funny if HHH and Punk were in cahoots only for Del Rio to ruin it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dylan Waco Posted August 15, 2011 Report Share Posted August 15, 2011 Maybe I'm just an idiotic WWE mark who is easy to please but I have found FAR more to enjoy in this angle than to be disappointed/annoyed by. I didn't have any problem with tonight either. In fact I thought it was a great ppv. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul Jacobi Posted August 15, 2011 Report Share Posted August 15, 2011 Del Rio is not over. He's not? I guess I imagined the crowd chanting for him loudly in the opener tonight. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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