It wouldn't be the first time that WWE has worked a minimal cross-promotion agreement with UFC, just look at Ken Shamrock's run with the company, where WWE took any opportunity to mention Shamrock's success in the UFC.

Was that really a cross promotion deal tho or just WWF taking advantage of the fame Shamrock allready had off of it?

They advertised UFC shows on Raw.

Back then UFC wasn't a competition, WCW was.

Well, they did advertise for WCW too with Billionnaire Ted skits and fake Diesel & Razor.

They also advertised ECW pay per views in 97.

I've been thinking on this and Dylan and I touched on it a little bit as well. Brock-Cena has the potential to be a disaster. I have really enjoyed this angle but I fear the match might not deliver. Who's to say Brock won't be lazy and just half ass it for the entire match? I mean he was pretty terrible in Japan before he went to UFC. It's very possible he could be as bad or much worse. At least he's being booked as a guy who wants to fight rather than "entertain" and "wrestle." I just fear the match could end up being utter dog shit before it's all over with.

I expect it, frankly.

He put out a good effort in his last wrestling match with Angle. With agents laying it out and a motivation to make more money later, he'll be fine.

I think Lesnar's biggest difficulty will be living up to expectations. People seem to remember him as being a fair bit better than he actually was, so I'd have to imagine that anything less than a superlative performance out of him will be seen as a disappointment. It's a pretty safe bet, I'd guess, that Victator is correct and that Lesnar and Cena will have a lot of help laying out the match. If ring-rust isn't too big of a factor, they might be able to pull something off that satisfies most people... but I'll be pretty damned impressed if their match doesn't wind up being seen as a disappointment in most circles. It should make for some pretty animated discussion, either way.

I figure the Extreme Rules stipulation opens the door for weapons-assisted stunts to give them something to work with.

So, how bad did they drop the ball with that contract signing angle last night?

 

I thought everything up til last night's show had been well done, as well as it could be done with a 4 week build to what should have been a huge long built money match, but man, that segment really fell flat. Brock wasn't bad and I liked the idea of him playing himself and holding up Ace with demands, but they didn't put him in a position to succeed by having him sitting in the ring talking calmly for 5 minutes, and I think it hurt his aura.

So, how bad did they drop the ball with that contract signing angle last night?

 

I thought everything up til last night's show had been well done, as well as it could be done with a 4 week build to what should have been a huge long built money match, but man, that segment really fell flat. Brock wasn't bad and I liked the idea of him playing himself and holding up Ace with demands, but they didn't put him in a position to succeed by having him sitting in the ring talking calmly for 5 minutes, and I think it hurt his aura.

I really don't understand all the criticism of this segment. Did it go on too long? Yea, but that's like...every talking segment the WWE does. He should be talking calmly. Why would he yell? He played it calm because that's how he's supposed to. He's not afraid of Cena. He's completely confident that he's not only going to beat Cena, but pretty much destroy him.

Reading all this really makes me wish Heyman was back in the equation as Brock's mouthpiece.

So, how bad did they drop the ball with that contract signing angle last night?

 

I thought everything up til last night's show had been well done, as well as it could be done with a 4 week build to what should have been a huge long built money match, but man, that segment really fell flat. Brock wasn't bad and I liked the idea of him playing himself and holding up Ace with demands, but they didn't put him in a position to succeed by having him sitting in the ring talking calmly for 5 minutes, and I think it hurt his aura.

I really don't understand all the criticism of this segment. Did it go on too long? Yea, but that's like...every talking segment the WWE does. He should be talking calmly. Why would he yell? He played it calm because that's how he's supposed to. He's not afraid of Cena. He's completely confident that he's not only going to beat Cena, but pretty much destroy him.

 

It wasn't the playing it calm, it was that they left him and Johnny Ace out there to carry like 8 minutes of talking when neither of them is that good at it. Ace's wooden delivery only works when he's got somebody dynamic like Punk playing off of him, otherwise he's just comedic. And you could see the switch in Brock back and forth between him hitting the scripted points and saying shit he actually believed in. It was awkward.

 

I didn't hate it, I just think it was a huge let down after 3 weeks of really good buildup and a bad call by the creative team.

Heyman being back would suck and make the angle shitty (or shittier) depending on your perspective.

 

I thought the Brock stuff on Raw was the only good part of an unbelievably terrible show

The Heyman as Brock talking piece point is such bullshit. Brock can build up his own matches. There's no reason why he shouldn't be talking for himself. It's not like he needs any help selling something with him being a part of it.

 

The contract signing setup might have been bullshit, but Brock made the most out of it, I think. It was a good segment. Best on the show by far.

I agree with the last two posts completely. On a show with that awful Punk/Jericho segment I can't believe the contract signing is getting the most hate. Especially since the contract signing was actually fairly well done while everything about the Punk/Jericho bit was bad.

Punk/Jericho has been so horrible. It's time for this feud to end, but I have a feeling it's not going to end yet.

It's such a weird feud. Like all the ideas that were there were good. Them feuding over "Best in the World", then Jericho making it personal, talking about Punk's family, pouring booze on him, even Punk pretending to be drunk. They were all good ideas. I think WWE just overly complicates things instead of making them simple and SHORT.

Here's the thing. Brock's not an actor. Having him deliver scripted lines in the middle of the ring is a rough proposition. Maybe he did as well as could be expected in that situation, but why not play to his strengths?

Agreed. Part of what I meant by bringing Heyman back is that my impression of this feud is that it's another David/Goliath thing for Cena. Brock doing ten minute back-and-forths with Laurinitis squashes that image completely. It just makes him look like another heel. Even the behemoths who were also good on the mic had managers. Vader with Harley Race, Bundy with Heenan, Earthquake with Jimmy Hart, all of them were doubly effective at being monsters for having those guys and in essence knowing when to shut up and look menacing in promos.

Agreed. Part of what I meant by bringing Heyman back is that my impression of this feud is that it's another David/Goliath thing for Cena. Brock doing ten minute back-and-forths with Laurinitis squashes that image completely. It just makes him look like another heel. Even the behemoths who were also good on the mic had managers. Vader with Harley Race, Bundy with Heenan, Earthquake with Jimmy Hart, all of them were doubly effective at being monsters for having those guys and in essence knowing when to shut up and look menacing in promos.

For me, the segment does reinforce the David/Goliath matchup as it shows Brock being so intimidating in stature it felt like Ace was making a deal with the devil just to wipe out Cena from his vision of a legitimate WWE.

Brock was great Monday. He is way too good at being a dickhead. Him telling Ace that he would not tolerate being fined like Sheamus was great.

Punk/Jericho has been so horrible. It's time for this feud to end, but I have a feeling it's not going to end yet.

Man I agree with this completely. Jericho's promos are cringeworthy. "YOU'RE ON THE PATH TO ACOHOLISM" "LIKE YA FATHER; YA FATHER'S A DRUNK" "YOU DRUNK, NOW!? ARE YA!?". I can't believe anybody can tolerate that trash let alone praise it. Orton/Kane is being built better. And is still a pile of nothing.

Jericho has reached Foley levels of "this act does not work anymore, go away before all my good memories are ruined" bad

It's such a weird feud. Like all the ideas that were there were good. Them feuding over "Best in the World", then Jericho making it personal, talking about Punk's family, pouring booze on him, even Punk pretending to be drunk. They were all good ideas. I think WWE just overly complicates things instead of making them simple and SHORT.

None of those things are good ideas. That's the problem.