WWE/TNA/Etc Spoiler Thread

[MoFlo]

Daniel Bryan last night, my goodness. Two matches, both of which were great. That Ryback match was incredible though.

I love this new character progression angle they are pushing with Bryan. I'm looking forward to seeing where this goes.

Bryan's getting some attitude era pops with his offensive flurries out there. Everything he's been a part of has turned to gold.

I wish they would put in the same work in developing the characters of Miz, Kofi, Cody, and Sheamus as they're putting in with Bryan currently.

Really intrigued with where this leads to. So many possibilities.

 

[Dr. Gymbo]

Bryan's getting some attitude era pops with his offensive flurries out there. Everything he's been a part of has turned to gold.

I wish they would put in the same work in developing the characters of Miz, Kofi, Cody, and Sheamus as they're putting in with Bryan currently.

Really intrigued with where this leads to. So many possibilities.

There's the potential for an amazing feud to be had with he and Ziggler after this stupid Del Rio push blows off (hopefully after this next PPV). But, I'd imagine Bryan feuds with Kane for a couple months first.

Ziggler and Bryan could have some really, really amazing matches though. Man.

I feel like part of the genius behind this latest move with Bryan is that he's not being an overt face and is still drawing huge reactions. I love it when wrestlers get that kind of pop, without the cheap Mick Foley ("Right here, in _____") pops or the over-the-top superhero "drink your milk and eat your vitamins, right vs. wrong" promos that a lot of the faces do in varying degrees.

The anti-heroes and characters that sort of blur that line between face and heel are my favorite. That was part of what was so magical about CM Punk for the months following his summer rant a couple years ago, before he aligned with Heyman and went full heel.

 

[The Voice]

Styles, Joe, and Aries were developed by Ring of Honor. Styles, Joe, and Aries are three of the top seven in ROH ever, and all of them were influential in keeping ROH afloat. TNA survives without Styles, Joe, or Aries. ROH doesn't.


1. Danielson
2. Nigel
3. Punk
4. Joe
5. Aries
6. Generico
7. Styles

My fault, I wasn't saying Aries was developed by them. I knew he was out of ROH. The other two I wasn't sure about. Nor was I sure about Abyss. None the less, they are top talent in the business.

Rampage Jackson signed by TNA and Bellator.

I saw that, if that's their big fa I'm disappointed. Those bellator/MMA guys rarely work in the ring. Lesnar (who's an animal) and Shamrock are the only two I remember working out. Tank Abbott was a bust and so is King Mo.

 

[MoFlo]

Courtesy of dailywrestlingnews.com & pwinsider.com:

-Many were surprised at the reaction Zack Ryder got at last night’s SmackDown tapings. WWE actually has a plan for Ryder going forward, which is why he is growing his hair out.

- It appears WWE are planting the seeds for more members of The Wyatt Family to debut on TV. Right now, we know that Bray Wyatt will be coming up with NXT Tag Team Champions Erick Rowan and Luke Harper. The video that aired on Monday also featured what appeared to be NXT wrestler Garrett Dylan and NXT Diva Bayley in minor roles as Wyatt’s “followers.”

- There were reportedly 3 or 4 re-writes of Monday’s RAW from Hartford, between last Friday afternoon and Monday afternoon. This includes Vince McMahon showing up on Monday afternoon and telling writers to re-do the whole script. WWE officials were very paranoid about going up against Game 7 of the NBA Playoffs.

- WWE officials are once again interested in pushing the tag team division. Over the next few weeks, we may see several undercard talents put together in new tag teams. This latest tag team kick is part of why The Usos are being pushed to feud with Tag Team Champions The Shield. (I'll believe it when I see it)

-We've been asked a lot about whether WWE has realized how great Daniel Bryan has looked in recent weeks on TV. The short answer to that is yes.

Sources indicate that the reason Bryan has been given so much time is that he's in line for a big push over the course of the summer, including PPV main events.

So, if you are a Bryan fan, you look to be in luck. Directions always change but stay tuned.

 

[MoFlo]

Again, from dailywrestlingnews.com:

- Regardless of how Antonio Cesaro has been booked lately, the feeling is that he will be a top star sooner than later. There are some who feel he’s too boring for the spotlight but he still has a strong supporter in Triple H.

- We’ve noted how a Brock Lesnar vs. CM Punk feud has been discussed within WWE. Believe it or not, they also discussed having Lesnar do another mini-feud with John Cena.

Ugh, really? Enough has been done to hurt Lesnar's mystique.

- There has been backstage talk that Curtis Axel is getting pushed because he has a big supporter in The Rock and Vince McMahon is trying to make sure The Rock comes back for at least one more big match.

- The anticipated Kane vs. Daniel Bryan feud might not be happening after all as there may be bigger plans in store for Bryan. At one point, officials wanted to do their match against each other at SummerSlam.

And from wrestling-edge.com

- WWE Hall of Famer Edge used to be considered one of the best at putting together a match among his peers. Among the current group of WWE stars, CM Punk and Chris Jericho have that reputation but it’s said that Daniel Bryan is starting to get it. Of the newer guys, Dean Ambrose is starting to develop a good reputation.

- As noted, WWE will be revealing Kaitlyn’s secret admirer on Monday’s RAW. At one point, the person revealed was going to be Mark Henry as part of his babyface turn. With Henry’s WWE status up in the air, he likely won’t be revealed as the admirer.

- WWE officials have very big plans for Daniel Bryan this summer. Right now, Bryan vs. WWE Champion John Cena is the penciled in main event for the July 14th Money in the Bank pay-per-view from Philadelphia.

Word is that it will be a babyface vs. babyface match. WWE officials are fully aware that Bryan will be heavily cheered in Philadelphia. The feeling is that officials won’t try to turn Bryan heel but that may change.

Source: Wrestling Observer Newsletter

 

[TheLand1287]

^

Alot of interesting stuff there.

I personally am a Cesaro fan, but does anyone have a bigger identity crisis in less than one year on the main roster? I'll recap...
- He started out as the former Swiss rugby player accompanied by Aksana who spoke 5 different languages with horrible theme music.
- Randomly ditched Aksana, received new theme music, had a nice run as US Champ with the persona of being a foreigner who loves American culture but hates Americans. This was his peak.. as he generated good heat as top, up and coming heel.
- Stopped defending the title regularly, and became a jobber to the stars. No longer cut any mic promos and started yodeling before matches (awful).
- Lost the belt and first came out with a hipster look... aviators, a jacket, and some goofy hat.
- Then a few weeks later he now speed walks out to the ring in a weird greco roman style wrestling look, another attire change.

That's a lot of character change for one year, and awful booking by the WWE. I hope he can recover from this.

Moving on, Curtis Axel's push right now kind of reminds me of Tensai this time last year. Both come out making strong debuts main eventing a few Monday Night Raws and getting really big, although cheap wins (both beat John Cena), but neither generates much crowd response. The difference obviously is Axel is a 3rd generation wrestler, has Paul Heyman as his mouthpiece, and has the support of some of the WWE's biggest names. Tensai was a former attitude era wrestler with a gimmick destined to fail, and no wrestling fan with a history of the late 90's, early 00's was going to take him seriously in a main event capacity.. especially with that gimmick. I'm not saying I expect Curtis Axel to become a jobbing comedy act in a year, but I'm hesitant to say he's the next big star either.

Lastly, I'm okay with Kane and Bryan not feuding. They did last summer before joining forces, with Bryan beating Kane at Summerslam. Why waste our time with the same feud, with the same result? I would rather see both amicably part ways.

 

[MoFlo]

dailywrestlingnews.com:

-Vince McMahon was praising Daniel Bryan backstage at RAW last week after working two matches and carrying Ryback. Bryan’s push will continue and there has been talk of having him feud with Dolph Ziggler, among others.

-There’s a feeling that Bray Wyatt, Erick Rowan and Luke Harper will be pushed big time on the main roster as The Wyatt Family. Word is that Triple H is very high on the three.

-We’ve noted before how there’s talk of doing a CM Punk vs. Brock Lesnar feud. Word over the weekend was that they want to do it for SummerSlam and CM Punk isn’t happy about that.

Punk has pitched other feuds to creative and let it be known that he shouldn’t rush into a feud with Paul Heyman and Lesnar. (He's right)

Who would turn heel for the feud is still up in the air (I'm assuming they meant 'face' and not 'heel') also but it will likely be Punk as there are still plans for Lesnar to face The Undertaker or The Rock at WrestleMania XXX.

 

[DJTJ]

I will watch every PPV that has Ziggler/Danielson. Everyone. Ironman match? Best of Five? Two out of three falls? These two could literally go 60+ and get WWE another five star.

I dig the Wyatt family, but SJK/Hero are going to be the better tag team (if they stick with it.)

 

[Derek]

I don't know much about SJK/Graves, but with Cesaro lacking direction right now would anybody be opposed to Kings of Wrestling reunion?

 

[TheLand1287]

Looking forward to Raw tonight. Considering there is a PPV that is 6 days away, which only has 3 confirmed matches as of now, we should expect the majority of the rest of the card to come together.. and it better be good because so far I'm not impressed.

Cena vs. Ryback is barely holding my interest on a good day, let alone having a "3 stages of hell match", which is the definition of overkill for those two.

CM Punk vs. Jericho is a match that never disappoints in the ring, but we haven't even seen CM Punk on TV in two months, and the build for the match seems suspect at best. I'm still skeptical that it will even end up taking place.

Then you have Wade Barrett vs. The Miz vs. Fandango for the Intercontinental Title. A belt that has not been defended at any PPV yet this year, and we are halfway thru 2013. I like all 3 superstars, but they've all been booked horribly by WWE recently.

Other matches that look like they could be taking place, but are unconfirmed, are: Ziggler vs. ADR for the World Heavyweight Title (this would be a welcome addition), Sheamus vs. Sandow (only good if Sandow get's over, if not, then it's a match we've seen a thousand times on Raw and Smackdown already), Kaitlyn vs AJ for the Diva's Title (it may happen, it may not, in the end.. does anyone care?), and possbily Bryan-Orton (would be a great match, but seems rushed, and where would that leave The Shield and Kane?)

 

[Dr. Gymbo]

I don't think Punk returns this Sunday. I really don't. I think they'll have Curtis Axel step in and draw a massive amount of heat on both he and Heyman.

 

[TheLand1287]

I don't think Punk returns this Sunday. I really don't. I think they'll have Curtis Axel step in and draw a massive amount of heat on both he and Heyman.

This is the result I'm expecting as well, even though Axel-Jericho just fought on Smackdown, it was not a clean win for Axel. Plus, other than Axel having a match at Payback with Triple H, they need to put him on the card somewhere.

I also just envision a bigger return for CM Punk then a random match that he really had no role in the feud that led up to it. On the other hand, you would think this would be a bad PR move for the WWE to promote a match and superstar of the caliber of Punk, and then he no shows. I'm hoping the WWE answers most of these questions for us tonight... instead of wasting my time promoting Sonic or giving us throw away matches between Tons of Funk and 3MB.

 

[Derek]

I don't think Punk returns this Sunday. I really don't. I think they'll have Curtis Axel step in and draw a massive amount of heat on both he and Heyman.

I think he might make an appearance at some point, but I don't think he'll actually wrestle this match either. No idea how they'll play it off, but I'm pretty sure they have bigger things in store for a CM Punk return than, "Oh, Jericho challenged me? I better come back."

Edit: TheLand pretty much said the same thing I did, should have read his post first :chuckles:

 

[Derek]

Axel taking Fandango's spot in the IC Title match. Gotta assume he wins it and having the IC title on a guy who is getting weekly mic time with Heyman has to be a good thing.

 

[Derek]

Notable Smackdown spoilers:
The Shield takes their first real loss in 6 man action as Bryan made somebody tap (forget who even though I just read it)
Axel picked a win over Wade Barrett by pinfall

My own thought:
I'm fully expecting Orton to cost Bryan the match at Payback and complete his heel turn
I like Axel getting the win over Barrett, he can bring some legitimacy to that title if they do this right