MoS

Punk said on Colt's podcast that he pitched for Chris Hero to be the third guy in the Shield only to be told WWE wanted Roman in that spot, but I don't know if anyone else verified it.

HAHAHAHAHAHA he called The fucking Rock a mark this is incredible like he just wanted to get abused

Rock didn't really make a difference for the Survivor Series buyrate either. He is obviously a mega-star, but it is very very difficult to be a difference-maker when you are not in WrestleMania season. WWE fucked Punk when they had him return in three weeks to help get Hunter over as an authority figure; Summer of Punk ended with HHH v. Nash. He won the title, but they made sure hr would never mean anything as much as he could have. As I said in the other thread though, I don't care if he takes shots at Punk. He is WWE's top guy, and a heel who couldn't succeed as a babyface ace partly because there were resentful Punk and Bryan fans who kept booing him, and partly because they fucked his booking so bad. Plus, Punk did Roman no favours when he made that snarky "Make sure you make Roman look really REALLY good" dig on Cabana's podcast. Him saying what he said about Punk makes all the sense in the world on multiple levels. It is interesting that no one compares Punk as a draw to any current full-time wrestler. Even WWE know that while Punk never became a Cena-level draw, no one else has become one either, because no one else has been put in a position to become so. Punk can at least claim to be the first amongst the equals below Cena's level, and the 2nd biggest WWE star of the 2010s.

I don't really care about him taking shots at Punk, Punk's "Make Roman look really REALLY good" didn't exactly help Reigns with the fans back then. I do still think he could have been more gracious about Mox instead of being the good company rep in his friend's case.

I don't really care about him taking shots at Punk, Punk's "Make Roman look really REALLY good" didn't exactly help Reigns with the fans back then. I do still think he could have been more gracious about Mox instead of being the good company rep in his friend's case.

tbh my theory is that Heyman was in Brock's ear and buried Ambrose/Moxley to him. Heyman has never seemed to be too fond of Mox, and I know Mox worked a bit of DGUSA and EVOLVE, but I don't know if he was one of Gabe's guys, and Gabe is Heyman's protege. I might be completelyoff-base, but I have heard Paul E shoots where he isn't very complimentary about Ambrose.

As for Roman, he said something about Moxley like "Dean sounds happy to be where he is, but if he could have been the man here, he would have been" which honestly is more disappointing, because Reigns knows very well that while his booking was fucked, at least he was featured prominently, and was not treated like a wacko millennial Mankind by Vince. If Roman had received that kind of booking, he would have lost motivation the way Moxley lost motivation too. There's a difference between being misused by losing to Lesnar when you should win, and getting misused by being made to look like a complete joke next to Brock. The reason I say it is disappointing is because after Mox left, he didn't take any shots at Roman, called him his friend, and talked about how he refused to say something really distasteful about his friend's cancer on air. Like, again, of course Reigns is parroting the company line, but surely you can make an exception for your friends. Doing the old took his ball and went home routine is very tired.

Yeah I mean Rock is the biggest movie star in the world. No one in wrestling has ever come close to being that. And while Cena was not a movie star then, he is still wrestling's last great draw, cuz he was the last guy who was allowed to be a great draw. It is obviously an absurd point. The fact that he brought Punk out of nowhere and specifically mentioned those two drawing cards (and didn't call himself a big draw for instance) makes me feel it was a specific company directive to say that. Maybe WWE feel Punk will return and talk about getting shafted at WrestleMania when he deserved a main event, and they feel they need to be ahead of the ball here.

I saw Roman get heat from some fans on Twitter for this, but I am not sure what people were expecting him to say. He is WWE's top guy, and he is also a heel. One reason he is a heel is because he used to get booed by fans who wanted Punk and Bryan in the top spot. He still gets booed by such fans to the extent they still attend shows. Why wouldn't he play to them while still defending his promotion? He can't say "Yeah they fucked Punk bad with their terrible booking, just like they fucked my face run bad with their terrible booking. My spiritual brother!" He has to take the promotion's side. Rollins is a dork, but he did get fucked bad by the Fiend so I think he gets a pass here.

All these mat workers being brought in and given a push right as Danielson's debut looms imminent is definitely not a coincidence in my book.

They chose to be too cute about it. Not announce him, but tease him, so it's not a true surprise. I don't know, one of my issues with AEW is they are too cute (too sweet?) too often

Yeah. He has also basically started to drop his selling just to get into position and into the next spot. It's been a massive decline since the Mox feud ended for him. He was good here when he was just selling and screaming, but not for much else. Match was fine I thought, and the right man definitely won. Wonder what's next for MJF. There are so many moving pieces here in AEW right now. It feels like a genuinely hot promotion.

I see MJF-Jericho are ripping off Austin-Rock camera spots

I am HERE for Miro-Kingston. Mox's promo was also very intriguing. Sort of called out both Punk and even Hangman.

Trust Bruti Marshall to bring down an incredibly hot hour. What is this shit.

Jericho looked so uncool and old in that backstage promo. He has never really been able to have a truly great babyface run. I think it's because for a swarmy/cocky heel to also be a great face, they have to be cool. And Jericho has just never been cool enough

Merits about letting a heel shit on your own promotion and its fans aside, Dan Lambert is such a complete natural at pro wrestling holy shit

Very subtle Punk nod huh. That was an okay mindless spotfest, which is probably the peak you can expect from a Shawn Spears match.

Help me understand, Texan/American people, if you are from one major part/city of Texas, are you the hometown boy everywhere in Texas? Not related to Sammy but in general. Would Dallas would consider, say, a San Antonio guy their own? They do have different NBA teams.

That was amazing. 5 stars purely for the table no-sell. I was iffy on Sting coming in initially but he has completely won me over

Lol so why were Mox and King randomly making their way to the ring? That's not how AEW books its openings. The opening is always a fixed segment, whether a match or something else. It's not like Raw with people randomly coming to the ring to open the show. Sting looks great! This crowd is hot for the match, and even the heels got a great reaction

Space Mountain is the longest ride

It is a bit weird how he was fired out of the blue in one of their rounds of cuts, but then was brought back even as more wrestlers got released, and is now challenging for the NXT title. Regardless, I think most of us want him to win the title from Kross

Do they officially announce CM Punk tonight? Or will they just be cute about it until Friday? Also lost amidst the Punk hype and teases is that Bryan Danielson should also be coming in soon? I wonder when they bring him in, and against whom.

I totally get Meltzer's criticism of Andrade, I am just saying his tweet is hilarious because it (unintentionally) implies that he only thinks Charlotte doesn't suck. It's the whole "Are you calling me old and stupid? "No, I never called you old!" thing