Loss

Promos burying him Promos burying him Promos burying him Promos burying him

The idea that it's an argument of percentages is not being able to see the forest for the trees. Austin and Rock won and lost at the right times. Austin didn't lose at Wrestlemania XIV. No one was burying Austin and Rock on promos as total jokes who didn't deserve to sniff the world title picture either.

John, Punk was the world champion on pay-per-views against Jeff Hardy and Batista when both were at or near their hottest points. He also had the long program with Rey and worked Randy Orton at a Wrestlemania. This was all before the "big" main event run and new contract. I don't think it's farfetched to say he got some nice payoffs during that time period. No reason to assume he wouldn't be in the same financial situation as Chris Jericho when he left in 2005 at the very least. And Jericho was out for over two years.

Also:

No. Only those who disagree with me on anything.

It is amusing if Kane removed him from the Royal Rumble, only for the guy to never be seen again.

That would in some ways make it funnier.

Narrated by Stephanie and Corporate Kane!

Stephanie must present Daniel Bryan with a Whole Foods gift card. Ok now I really want this segment to happen.

Stephanie: On behalf of all of us, I would like to congratulate the new ... ... Pause while everyone puts on the beards ... Authority in unison: FACE OF WWE! Then awkward yes chants that get drowned out with NO. Gold.

Stephanie, HHH and Kane need to wear the horrible beards!

Sure. Even if it only lasts one week, having the entire Authority in the ring to kick off a celebration, dropping a Daniel Bryan face from the ceiling, announcing that WWE is "going green", banning red meat from the concession stand, etc. Going WAY over the top with it would be great.

I feel like if Bryan wins at EC and HHH comes out and acts all supportive and tries to jump on the Yes movement insincerely, that will get way more heat and be better at setting up the match. Similar to how Vince suddenly loved Austin and supported him when he was champ.

It's strange that Vince still hasn't explained how network payoffs will work to everyone. It's even weirder that everyone is afraid to even ask the question.

I wouldn't say Daniel Bryan has been buried the last few months. I think a more fair description is that the heel promos on him have not been the kind of promos a company allows to be cut on a guy they really want to get behind, and that he should really emerge victorious over The Authority in the end. If he accomplishes that, the belt and his card placement is a separate issue. People are conflating them, because the Authority storyline is about the belt and his card placement.

Why was Punk unhappy? Has anything more been reported on this? This thread is the first I'm learning of it.

Sure. I was just having so much fun with the analogy that I carried on for a few posts.

I wonder what else they can offer him at this point. He already has a bus. Would they build him high speed rail?

Or perhaps having no arms had a domino effect on other parts of the guy's approach to life and romance. Maybe guy with no arms number one lost them rescuing a drowning baby from the bite of a shark, while guy with no arms number two lost them in a stupid sewing machine accident, which led to embarrassment and depression. Guy with no arms number one is a hero, while guy with no arms number two is a laughing stock. No two scenarios are exactly the same and there are mental changes associated with physical loss that impact different people in different ways. Guy number one lost his arms. Guy number two lost a lot more than that. I have a feeling if we were assessing his worth as a spouse, he'd really want us to just remember him when he had two working arms. And the last thing on his mind would be drawing a Valentine's Day card.

Sure. But if you can't, that doesn't mean that you aren't. It just means that you have no arms.

For whatever reason, from day one, everyone in WWE management thought he was tremendous in the ring. He also earned brownie points by not putting up a fuss about jobbing to Warrior.

I totally disagree with that. To say that you learn how good wrestlers are when tools are taken away implies that a wrestler should be able to do something with nothing. And those who don't have much probably should be able to do something with nothing. But I would consider a wrestler who had natural athletic gifts and didn't use them pretty dumb. It's right there as an option. Look at it this way. I'm sure the most important thing to your wife is that you love her. That doesn't mean you should never buy her jewelry. And if you normally hand make your Valentine's Day cards for her, then you have your arms amputated and can no longer do this, you're not a bad husband because you can no longer show your love in this way. (Holy morbid scenario.)

Also, I think the idea that wrestling that can't be done regardless of the physical condition and age of the performers is somehow dumber is ludicrous. It's a myopic point of view that assumes that all wrestling is performed for an audience of one. Of course wrestlers throwing out innovation and athleticism without thought put into it sucks, but it's really short-sighed to dismiss any tool that a wrestler has at his disposal that makes his matches more interesting.

I don't think these things are necessarily in competition with each other. I value all of it. There are so many ways to do pro wrestling, and I hesitate to say I agree with this because I don't think it applies to every style. RINGS is perhaps the most athletic promotion in history and that is the focus of what they do, yet it is done exceptionally well and they deserve credit for what they accomplished. We all have values, but I don't think being a zealot does anyone any good. There is more than one way to do pro wrestling well.

I don't even know what being the "top guy" means at this stage. Randy Orton is the world champion, but John Cena is the top guy regardless of who the champion is. Someone can be the champ without having to be the man.