Current WWE

[Cox]

That sure makes it sound like he's, in fact, not a decent guy and all too willing to pass the buck when something clearly isn't going as envisioned to me.

[goc]

There should NOT be any kind of "title goes on last" rule. It's been proven to be a bad rule too many times, Jericho/HHH being the #1 example.

I hope Meltzer is wrong and they ARE going to turn Batista. I think he would be able to generate some REAL heat, especially if they decide to use him as The Authority's new hand picked guy. I kind of want to see them do a 2 Man Power Trip re-do with Batista & Orton too.

[DMJ]

Two questions for the group -

 

1) Could it be possible that they are pushing Batista as a heel because someone thinks that will actually HELP him get over as a face? I know that seems illogical, but think about - the fans have been cheering Reigns and Bray Wyatt and Cesaro and booing Cena and Orton. Batista is getting booed as a face, so, maybe they think, if they push him as a heel it will somehow turn him into an anti-hero? Kinda like "Hey, now that McMahon wants us to boo him, let's cheer him"? Seems far-fetched, but I thought I'd pose that question...

 

2) If Bryan wins the title at Mania, where does Orton go? My thought would be that Bryan holds onto the title for awhile, retains against Cena or Wyatt in later months, and then eventually drops it to Batista or Lesnar, who would be heels at this point. Then, if Batista is out for awhile promoting his movie or Orton takes time off (which I could really see at this time), either one coming back to take the title off Lesnar (who would potentially still be heel as he would defend the title and retain against Bryan and maybe Cena too) would make them faces by default? Kinda like how when Punk left after WM29, he got a face pop just because he was coming back? I could honestly see that working for Orton if he takes a long enough break. Do you think the fans would accept a face Orton or is the audience so behind that Bryan that everyone else will be second banana (behind him and Cena) for the foreseeable future?

[Childs]

I keep seeing people suggest, in various corners of the interwebs, that Orton/Batista would be rescued by the insertion of Punk. I don't know about the rest of you, but I'm not missing Punk in the 'Mania build, not one bit.

[Stiva]

I keep seeing people suggest, in various corners of the interwebs, that Orton/Batista would be rescued by the insertion of Punk. I don't know about the rest of you, but I'm not missing Punk in the 'Mania build, not one bit.

 

Me neither. Punk in 2013 was pretty shitty, all things considered. He had become an awful promo and was wrestling like a guy who wanted some time off. I don't doubt he's got another entertaining run in him down the line but I don't see what he'd bring to Batista/Orton other than giving the Mania crowd someone to actually cheer for in the match. Batista playing off the massive heat as a primadonna heel is far more interesting to me going forward than babyface CM Punk.

[Jimmy Redman]

idk Loss, I always hated him. I barely watched wrestling during his run, though.

 

I never had love for Orton either, but he's become such a solid worker that it's hard to put him down anymore. I can't recall any of Batista's work that jumped out at me in a positive way.

 

Are there any exceptional Batista performances?

Was his initial run successful enough to suggest he's a big enough star to win the Rumble and headline WrestleMania after hiatus?

 

The Undertaker matches.

The Hunter HIAC match.

The 2010 heel run and matches with Cena and Rey.

 

Those would be the main highlights.

 

And on your second question, I actually thought before he came back that he'd be massively over and easily play the big babyface star in marquee Mania match role. Batista just felt to me like the kind of big star that the "casuals" would say "I wish so-and-so would come back, he was awesome" about. Like Goldberg or Rock or Austin or whoever. And I mean the ratings for his return were through the roof, so there was clearly interest there in seeing him.

 

BUT Daniel Bryan and the Rumble happened. I think in an alternate universe where Bryan hadn't had the last 6 months he had and wasn't "supposed" to win the Rumble and the title to complete the story WWE seemingly didn't realise they were telling, Dave wouldn't have been shitted on to this degree. Maybe a little if people cottoned onto him blowing up or not changing anything, and because crowds are so smarky and he's not a workrate guy, but there wouldn't be this overwhelming sense of "Fuck this guy for taking Bryan's spot" if it wasn't Bryan's spot to take. He wouldn't be getting Alberto babyface heat. But things are the way they are, and everyone and their dog realise that Batista was not the man for this spot.

[alexoblivion]

I picture Vince standing up and popping for Batista's "real men" line, only to be shocked that no one else did.

haha phenomenal. I feel like that probably happens on a weekly basis.

[efrim]

 

I keep seeing people suggest, in various corners of the interwebs, that Orton/Batista would be rescued by the insertion of Punk. I don't know about the rest of you, but I'm not missing Punk in the 'Mania build, not one bit.

 

Me neither. Punk in 2013 was pretty shitty, all things considered. He had become an awful promo and was wrestling like a guy who wanted some time off. I don't doubt he's got another entertaining run in him down the line but I don't see what he'd bring to Batista/Orton other than giving the Mania crowd someone to actually cheer for in the match. Batista playing off the massive heat as a primadonna heel is far more interesting to me going forward than babyface CM Punk.

 

 

Punk was remarkably shitty for a seemingly endless stretch of time. The whole Heyman chase thing felt like they wanted to do an old fashioned babyface/manager feud, but the slow pacing of it really doesn't jive with the modern product. By the time he came out of that I was referring to him as the ghost of CM Punk because he was an afterthought on the show and it was pretty clear he had given up on trying to agitate his way to the top.

 

Punk's fun as hell when he's personally engaged by his work, but apathetic Punk is just uniquely terrible. He wouldn't have added much to this Mania season.

[flyonthewall2983]

The way I see it, it wouldn't really matter if Punk was on his game or not for the lead-up. If he's somehow added to the Batista/Orton match, it'll add greater anticipation to it than what we're seeing now. And AFAIK, I wouldn't be too surprised if it was Punk's last hurrah if it were to go down like this.

[efrim]

I loathed apathetic Punk, but its true that Orton/Batista is looking so dire right now that even a disinterested Punk would move the needle on it pretty significantly. Amazing how disposable a title match at Mania is already feeling.

 

Now if he were inserted in to the match having never left WWE? I'm not sure that that has nearly as much impact. His departure adds intrigue and luster to him that had been fading for a long while.

[Timbo Slice]

If Punk isn't there on Monday I'll be shocked.

[Johnny Sorrow]

I loved the old school feel to the Heyman/ Punk fued. I couldn't care less if the pacing wasn't appealing to modern audiences.

 

And putting Punk into the title match would make no sense. That's Bryan's deal. I know tons of fans would go ape for it, but wouldn't it seem like the guy who quit and went home got rewarded and the guy who's worked his ass off didn't?

[Jmare007]

So an update on PPV buys from 2013 show that the summer run wasn't as bad as first reported.

via Dave Metzler in new WON (as stated from financials there was 82,000 unaccounted for the 3rd Quarter)

 

MITB 2013 - from 195,000 buys to 223,000 Buys(up from 2011 - 205,000 & 2012 - 206,000)

SummerSlam 2013 - from 296,000 Buys to 332,000 Buys (down from 392,000 in 2012 and up from 311,000 in 2011)

NOC 2013 - from 175,000 buys to 196,000 Buys (down from 207,000 in 2012)

 

[Loss]

I love that the fake Mark Henry retirement thing was basically the best and most effective angle WWE ran in 2013.

[bradhindsight]

RVD also returned for Money in the Bank - which may account for a handful of those buys.

[Loss]

Was RVD a ratings mover during his short run? Just curious. I remember thinking he'd be hugely over returning and that they needed to pounce on it because it would fade quickly.

[efrim]

Was going to grab a last minute ticket for Monday's Raw as I typically do when I don't have someone to go with. There's always been stray single seats in the past. Not this time - its a pure sellout.

[flyonthewall2983]

And putting Punk into the title match would make no sense. That's Bryan's deal. I know tons of fans would go ape for it, but wouldn't it seem like the guy who quit and went home got rewarded and the guy who's worked his ass off didn't?

 

The triple threat match happens, Punk goes over and Hogan (as I suggested earlier) comes out and makes a match with him and Bryan, in which the smarks pop huge and Bryan goes over.

[Coffey]

Was going to grab a last minute ticket for Monday's Raw as I typically do when I don't have someone to go with. There's always been stray single seats in the past. Not this time - its a pure sellout.

 

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

[marrklarr]

I love me some Bray Wyatt, but I don't ever want to see him deliver knife-edge chops to a guy wearing a Kevlar vest again.

[tlk23]

 

Was going to grab a last minute ticket for Monday's Raw as I typically do when I don't have someone to go with. There's always been stray single seats in the past. Not this time - its a pure sellout.

 

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

 

 

Has anyone ever been a seat filler for RAW? You get in free.

[Steenalized]

Was going to grab a last minute ticket for Monday's Raw as I typically do when I don't have someone to go with. There's always been stray single seats in the past. Not this time - its a pure sellout.

Yeah, my roommate and I were thinking of getting tickets on Tuesday, but the only pairs available were upper deck in the last few rows or marked way up on stubhub. It would be cool to be part of that crowd, but I'll take watching it on TV.

[Jimmy Redman]

Heel Dave is already a vast improvement.

[cm funk]

 

Was going to grab a last minute ticket for Monday's Raw as I typically do when I don't have someone to go with. There's always been stray single seats in the past. Not this time - its a pure sellout.

Yeah, my roommate and I were thinking of getting tickets on Tuesday, but the only pairs available were upper deck in the last few rows or marked way up on stubhub. It would be cool to be part of that crowd, but I'll take watching it on TV.

 

 

From Meltzer's daily update:

 

 

 

--Curiosity over C.M. Punk possibly being at Raw on Monday has caused tickets on the resale market to go up. The prices had been weak in the sense you couldn't get more than face value for tickets, but now they are up $20 across the board. There were 387 tickets on the secondary market. (thanks to Mike Miazga)

[WingedEagle]

No doubt Batista's going heel now.