The Wrestling Thread: WWE WrestleMania 31 [NSFW]

[Prototype]

Bryan Alvarez: People care about SmackDown spoilers? In 2011? SERIOUSLY? I cannot belieeeeeeeeeve people give a gooseberry fool.

I prefer to watch it unfold rather than read about it.

The above mentality is one of the reasons the show does strawberry float all in the ratings.

[Powers]

When do we have to put up our predictions? Any time before the event?

I'm so certain Cena's gonna dick Punk, but at the same time I so desperately hope that Punks gonna pick up the win, even if it does lead to him losing to the MITB winner.

[Mafro]

WWE Money in the Bank
Big Show vs. Mark Henry
Winner: Big Show
Kelly Kelly (c) vs. Brie Bella (WWE Divas Championship)
Winner (worth double): Brie Bella
MITB: Rey Mysterio vs. Alberto Del Rio vs. Kofi Kingston vs. Alex Riley vs. R-Truth vs. The Miz vs. Evan Bourne vs. Jack Swagger
Winner (worth three): Alberto Del Rio
MITB: Kane vs. Sin Cara vs. Daniel Bryan vs. Wade Barrett vs. Cody Rhodes vs. Justin Gabriel vs. Heath Slater vs. Sheamus
Winner (worth three): Sheamus
Randy Orton (c) vs. Christian (For the World Heavyweight championship)
Winner (worth three): Randy Orton
Will the DQ/Ref call stipulation affect the result?
Prediction: No
John Cena (c) vs. CM Punk (For the WWE belt of shame)
Winner (worth three): John Cena
MITB to be cashed in the same night? (valid answers are Raw, Smackdown and None)
Prediction: No

Going for a Cena win, since I don't have faith in the WWE to not strawberry float this angle up in some way.

[Dark Ritual]

C'mon Proto, let's win this thaaaaang.

WWE Money in the Bank

Big Show vs. Mark Henry
Winner: Mark Henry

Kelly Kelly (c) vs. Brie Bella (WWE Divas Championship)
Winner (worth double): Kelly Kelly

MITB: Rey Mysterio vs. Alberto Del Rio vs. Kofi Kingston vs. Alex Riley vs. R-Truth vs. The Miz vs. Evan Bourne vs. Jack Swagger
Winner (worth three): Alberto Del Rio

MITB: Kane vs. Sin Cara vs. Daniel Bryan vs. Wade Barrett vs. Cody Rhodes vs. Justin Gabriel vs. Heath Slater vs. Sheamus
Winner (worth three): Wade Barrett

Randy Orton (c) vs. Christian (For the World Heavyweight championship)
Winner (worth three): Randy Orton

Will the DQ/Ref call stipulation affect the result?
Prediction: No

John Cena (c) vs. CM Punk (For the WWE belt of shame)
Winner (worth three): CM Punk

MITB to be cashed in the same night? (valid answers are Raw, Smackdown and None)
Prediction: Raw

[Dante]

RoH next TV taping announced! Main event is...

MAIN EVENT: World Tag Team Title Match

Wrestling’s Greatest Tag Team (Shelton Benjamin & Charlie Haas) vs. Second City Saints (CM Punk & Colt Cabana)

LOL actually it's...

MAIN EVENT: World Tag Team Title Match

Wrestling’s Greatest Tag Team (Shelton Benjamin & Charlie Haas) vs. The Kings of Wrestling (Chris Hero & Claudio Castagnoli) with Shane Hagadorn

Also Scheduled to appear:

- ROH World Champion Davey Richards will defend
- ROH World Television Champion El Generico will defend
- Eddie Edwards
- Jay and Mark Briscoe
- The All Night Express (Rhett Titus & Kenny King)

[J. Vengeance]

Big Show vs. Mark Henry
Winner: Mark Henry

Kelly Kelly (c) vs. Brie Bella (WWE Divas Championship)
Winner (worth double): Kelly Kelly

MITB: Rey Mysterio vs. Alberto Del Rio vs. Kofi Kingston vs. Alex Riley vs. R-Truth vs. The Miz vs. Evan Bourne vs. Jack Swagger
Winner (worth three): Alberto Del Rio

MITB: Kane vs. Sin Cara vs. Daniel Bryan vs. Wade Barrett vs. Cody Rhodes vs. Justin Gabriel vs. Heath Slater vs. Sheamus
Winner (worth three): Cody Rhodes

Randy Orton (c) vs. Christian (For the World Heavyweight championship)
Winner (worth three): Randy Orton

Will the DQ/Ref call stipulation affect the result?
Prediction: Yes

John Cena (c) vs. CM Punk (For the WWE belt of shame)
Winner (worth three): CM Punk

MITB to be cashed in the same night? (valid answers are Raw, Smackdown and None)
Prediction: RAW

[Custard]

WWE Money in the Bank
Big Show vs. Mark Henry
Winner: Big Show
Kelly Kelly (c) vs. Brie Bella (WWE Divas Championship)
Winner (worth double): Kelly Kelly
MITB: Rey Mysterio vs. Alberto Del Rio vs. Kofi Kingston vs. Alex Riley vs. R-Truth vs. The Miz vs. Evan Bourne vs. Jack Swagger
Winner (worth three): Alberto Del Rio
MITB: Kane vs. Sin Cara vs. Daniel Bryan vs. Wade Barrett vs. Cody Rhodes vs. Justin Gabriel vs. Heath Slater vs. Sheamus
Winner (worth three): Sheamus
Randy Orton (c) vs. Christian (For the World Heavyweight championship)
Winner (worth three): Randy Orton
Will the DQ/Ref call stipulation affect the result?
Prediction: Yes
John Cena (c) vs. CM Punk (For the WWE belt of shame)
Winner (worth three): John Cena
MITB to be cashed in the same night? (valid answers are Raw, Smackdown and None)
Prediction: Smackdown

[IronMaiden]

WWE Money in the Bank
Big Show vs. Mark Henry
Winner: Big Show
Kelly Kelly (c) vs. Brie Bella (WWE Divas Championship)
Winner (worth double): Kelly Kelly
MITB: Rey Mysterio vs. Alberto Del Rio vs. Kofi Kingston vs. Alex Riley vs. R-Truth vs. The Miz vs. Evan Bourne vs. Jack Swagger
Winner (worth three): Alberto Del Rio
MITB: Kane vs. Sin Cara vs. Daniel Bryan vs. Wade Barrett vs. Cody Rhodes vs. Justin Gabriel vs. Heath Slater vs. Sheamus
Winner (worth three): Sheamus
Randy Orton (c) vs. Christian (For the World Heavyweight championship)
Winner (worth three): Randy Orton
Will the DQ/Ref call stipulation affect the result?
Prediction: Yes
John Cena (c) vs. CM Punk (For the WWE belt of shame)
Winner (worth three): CM Punk
MITB to be cashed in the same night? (valid answers are Raw, Smackdown and None)
Prediction: Raw

[KK]

Various news pieces...

There are some changes within the structuring of the WWE writing team. Brian Gewirtz and Michael Hayes’ positions have changed from being Head Writers on RAW and SmackDown to being one above the Head Writer position. Gewirtz’s role is to give ideas and set up the main direction for both shows and pass on what Vince and Stephanie McMahon want on the show. Michael Hayes’ will also gives ideas for both programs, but will explain to the agents where they are going with storylines and give them their orders and what key things have to be included in televised matches. Ranjin Singh (real name David Kapoor) is now head writer of RAW, in that he and his staff put together the scripts for the show. Ed Koskey has the same role for SmackDown. They then both report to Brian Gewirtz, who reports to Stephanie McMahon, who then reports to Vince. "It’s just another level of bureaucracy that will make getting a good idea approved even harder within the dysfunctional division.” said one person within WWE. John Laurinaitis used to hold Michael Hayes new position. Hayes will also work with Vince and Triple H on match finishes for the big shows. To summarise, when it comes to WWE's Creative, Vince is the Boss, Stephanie and Triple are second in command, Hayes and Gewirtz then follow, and Koskey and Ranjin Singh the level below that.

Triple H is now in charge of Developmental, which used to be in the hands of Laurinaitis, though Laurinaitis is still involved in proceedings. While for months people have expected widespread changes, thus far nothing is all that different.

Sounds like a nightmare.

Before the Destination X PPV Sunday, Brian Kendrick told Alex Marvez that he hoped a good buy rate would make a difference in the treatment of the smaller wrestlers. “If this show draws noticeably better than other PPVs, it will be hard to dismiss those numbers. Not to say they won’t be dismissed, but it will be nice, solid evidence that people do care about the X Division. They want exciting wrestling and fresh faces.”

TNA's IMPACT WRESTLING tapings in Huntsville are on a Thursday, so will be going head-to-head with their own television broadcast on SpikeTV.

CLASSIC WCW scenario.

Some of the wrestlers who came in at the last IMPACT WRESTLING tapings who aren't regulars with the promotion noted how they couldn’t believe how bad morale was there. They said the consensus was that guys were just there to collect paychecks, and that across board people were complaining about Eric Bischoff, Hulk Hogan and Vince Russo. The wrestlers who still had confidence in Vince Russo have now completely lost it. With Hogan and Bischoff, the reaction was that they complain about what Russo has them do as much as anyone, but there's still resentment that they themselves have power too, and that they haven’t seemingly come up with any good ideas of their own.

www.f4wonline.com

I find it incredible it's taken them this long to figure out Vince Russo is useless. I think the majority figured that out in 1999...

[Poncho]

I'd forgotten how awesome Sting's WCW theme was/is.

[Zellery]

WWE Money in the Bank
Big Show vs. Mark Henry
Winner: Mark Henry
Kelly Kelly (c) vs. Brie Bella (WWE Divas Championship)
Winner (worth double): Kelly Kelly
MITB: Rey Mysterio vs. Alberto Del Rio vs. Kofi Kingston vs. Alex Riley vs. R-Truth vs. The Miz vs. Evan Bourne vs. Jack Swagger
Winner (worth three): Alberto Del Rio
MITB: Kane vs. Sin Cara vs. Daniel Bryan vs. Wade Barrett vs. Cody Rhodes vs. Justin Gabriel vs. Heath Slater vs. Sheamus
Winner (worth three): Wade Barrett
Randy Orton (c) vs. Christian (For the World Heavyweight championship)
Winner (worth three): Randy Orton
Will the DQ/Ref call stipulation affect the result?
Prediction: No
John Cena (c) vs. CM Punk (For the WWE belt of shame)
Winner (worth three): CM Punk
MITB to be cashed in the same night? (valid answers are Raw, Smackdown and None)
Prediction: Raw

[KK]

I'd forgotten how awesome Sting's WCW theme was/is.

Which one?






I have to say I really liked the first one.

[Dante]

Triple H is now in charge of Developmental, which used to be in the hands of Laurinaitis, though Laurinaitis is still involved in proceedings. While for months people have expected widespread changes, thus far nothing is all that different.

I wonder what's going to happen to Ace, what with him strawberry floating up on the Jericho and now Punk situation (and wasn't there one more he was responsible for letting go, Batista possibly)

The guy has always sounded like a prick backstage and the opposite of how JR ran things in his days.

Oh and a iMPACT thing; I quite liked Borash on commentary at D-X, much better then Tazzz (who I have started to grow to hate as a commentator)

[Poncho]

The Crow one. Could have been a song in Deus Ex.

[KK]

The sooner Sting leaves IMPACT WRESTLING/TNA/WHATEVER THEY'LL BE CALLING IT NEXT WEEK, hopefully the sooner we'll get a Sting DVD from the WWE.

[NBK]

Punk mouthing "oh my strawberry floating god" was brilliant and the crotch shot from the rafters

Yeah, no lip reading skills required for some of those spots. Amazing stuff indeed.

Punk's always been a wrestler that has impressed me even when reading about read about his matches but I've never actually seen any of his stuff outside of WWE.

Are there any good 'Best of...' DVDs kicking about?

RoH did 3 volumes of the bEst of CM Punk. Not sure if there still in print tbh

There is this that is avaible for £5 on Amazon
Best of CM Punk

However, none of the Samoa Joe trilogy seem to be on there at all - not bad for thep rice tbh

Cheers, can't really go wrong with that price. I'll keep an eye out for the ROH 3 volume ones though, Joe used to be amazing and it'd be great to see him take on Punk.

[Mafro]

The other Punk dvds are easy enough to get for cheap on eBay.

[Balloon Sod]

Someone called into the PWTorch Livecast with a prediction of what might happen, and for once it sounds like a really good bit of fantasy booking.

Punk and Cena are both knocked down for the 10 count. McMahon comes out and says that the match could go either way, so it's a no contest. Cena keeps the belt but doesn't win the match because both Punk and Cena disrespected him and put his championship, and company, at risk for their own selfish gain. He needs a champion he can trust; so out walks Del Rio who cashes in on Cena.

I don't want to see ADR as champion, but that scenario solves pretty much everything, puts heat in the right places and sets up both a Cena/ADR w/ Vince feud, and even an eventual Punk return. Even if it's a one night deal, Punk could return in 5 months or so to team up with Cena against ADR and someone else.

[Dante]

Someone called into the PWTorch Livecast with a prediction of what might happen, and for once it sounds like a really good bit of fantasy booking.

Punk and Cena are both knocked down for the 10 count. McMahon comes out and says that the match could go either way, so it's a no contest. Cena keeps the belt but doesn't win the match because both Punk and Cena disrespected him and put his championship, and company, at risk for their own selfish gain. He needs a champion he can trust; so out walks Del Rio who cashes in on Cena.

I don't want to see ADR as champion, but that scenario solves pretty much everything, puts heat in the right places and sets up both a Cena/ADR w/ Vince feud, and even an eventual Punk return. Even if it's a one night deal, Punk could return in 5 months or so to team up with Cena against ADR and someone else.

I'll give up watching Chikara for an entire year if that booking happens; it's completely stinkfest if that's how it gets dealt with. Hell it gooseberry fools on all the work done thus far and makes everyone look week (Punk for being screwed, Cena for getting pinned in a match and ADR for having to let Mcmahon give him that chance)

I'll still honestly believe ADR will be the first MitB winner to NOT successively cash in.

[KK]

I think this storyline has potential to really turn into something big - but I guess it depends whether Punk is staying, & if there's any sort of deal going on with ROH, or any of its wrestlers.

Ideally you want something like the nWo or Austin/McMahon - not so much in the sense that it's a carbon copy, but in that these were storylines that continued for months & became interwoven with the fabric of the programming itself. We've had so many one or two month storylines that exist simply to get to the next poorly promoted PPV. Immortal in Impact Wrestling is the right idea. It's a load of crap, sure, but it's an ongoing plot. A grander storyline which has various offshoots.