Snitsky's back acne Posted December 28, 2011 Share Posted December 28, 2011 - WWE Champion CM Punk was denied entry into Madison Square Garden today for the RAW live event. The security guard didn't believe Punk was an actual WWE Superstar and another guard had to step in and let Punk into the building. Â Punk wrote on Twitter: Â "Sellout the Horizon on a Monday, refused entry to the Garden on Tuesday. My life is awesome." Â "Some serious Larry David shit." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Gaffer Posted December 28, 2011 Share Posted December 28, 2011 http://www.wrestlezone.com/news/247197-rep...-due-to-ratings  Several days ago we reported that CM Punk might be in danger of losing the WWE Title soon due to poor ratings of his weekly Raw segments. F4WOnline.com is now reporting, also as a result of poor ratings, that WWE has placed Zack Ryder in a romance story line with Eve Torres in order to distance him from the main event picture.  The report is noting that these managerial moves are stemming from the very poor 2.67 cable rating drawn by the main event of last week's Raw Supershow. It's being said that the current Ryder/Torres story line is expected to continue for the next several weeks.  Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jimufctna24 Posted December 28, 2011 Share Posted December 28, 2011 I was a big Punk fan when I used to watch WWE, but I cannot argue if they did take the belt of him due to those ratings. WWE seem to be in a tough spot at the moment when it comes to drawing, Punk, Orton and others have bombed ratings when they have had the belt on RAW and they cannot leave it on Cena forever. Â WWE need to hope that they can develop a drawing card next year who can carry reasonable ratings on RAW throughout the post Wrestlemania season. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members FLips Posted December 28, 2011 Paid Members Share Posted December 28, 2011 I'm not saying it's not Ryder and Punk, but why is it the super-over faces getting punished and not the terrible, boring heels like Alberto Del Rio and The Miz (how far he's fallen ) getting punished? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members tiger_rick Posted December 28, 2011 Paid Members Share Posted December 28, 2011 Same old WWE and short term decision making. TripleA is right about the shit heels, Mark Henry is (was?) the only decent heel in the company at the required level. Add to the fact that John Cena and Randy Orton have been treading water the past couple of months, Punk is recovering from the mess they made in the summer, Triple H as the authority figure was cut short and his appearances are completely random and the only other genuine main event players, Misterio and Undertaker have been AWOL and it's no surprise that ratings are in the toilet. Â Then consider the tired formula, the endless rematches and the lack of focus on building rounded characters. Â Nah, too sensible, blame 2 wrestlers instead. And lord knows, those romance angles are always a hit, right? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Gaffer Posted December 28, 2011 Share Posted December 28, 2011 With Eve Torres no less. Someone who elicits such silence from the crowd that I genuinly feel sorry for her when she bounces out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joey Joe Joe Jr Posted December 28, 2011 Share Posted December 28, 2011 Trips said it himself on the Shawn DVD I was watching again a few months ago when discussing him holding the company on his shoulders while WCW was kicking their arse in the ratings. Even when critically they were the better show, it wouldn't show straight away in the numbers but they were winning over the proverbial 'man on the street'. It's a slow progress especially when they've relied on a handful of acts for so long. Every year it seems we begin on here discussing the potential names who should be solidified as "the" guys, but it always seems to be the Cena show with a few supporting actors. In their defence, this year, Punk, Miz, R-Truth, Ryder, Sheamus and Ziggler (and Cody to a lesser extent) have all flourished with varying levels and for the first time, I have enjoyed watching whole episodes of Raw in 2011 because it doesn't feel like a whole show of filler building to the cash-cow Cena in the main segment. Every year around this time it seems there is a discussion about who will become part of the upper echelon and break out yet if you look at those Mania posters, it always looks the same pretty much (this year most of the promo material and intro video featured guys who weren't around the year preceeding it like Taker, Trips, Rock, Austin, Trish and Booker). Each year, one or two established big names leave or go on hiatus (Rey, edge, Taker, Jeff, Jericho, Trips, Shawn, Batista) but only now it seems there has been a conscious effort to build up with who they have. There are so, so many guys to varying degrees whom WWE have begun to tell us are "the next big thing" in the last ten years and then proceeded to either push them too hard to the point where they fail on a big stage or just left to dwindle so they leave (Kennedy, Carlito, MVP, Lashley, Koslov, Swagger, Morrison). Â In short, producing an incredible piece of programming will not drive business up especially when they have so many other revenues of income that putting on compelling stories and characterisation is no longer integral to making money; so what if PPV numbers dwindle when they sell out more frequent tour schedules in new markets? Â In case none of this actually means anything, does anyone remember back in 2000 on Heat on C4, they would show like at least once a week one of their stars on a TV show, filming an ad or music video or doing something related to pop culture? At the moment it feels WWE is in its own little bubble (or universe) yet still wants to be considered a part of the glamorous Hollywood community. It no longer dictates pop culture but is being dictated by it, something summed up by the Guest Host debacle which I thought they allowed themselves to be exploited by allowing mostly D-list celebs at the time plug their products and not really do much for the talent (Hugh Jackman's appearance was easily the best example of a good use of celebrity in this period because he looked genuinely excited to be hanging with a superstar and made him look like solid gold, and plus it felt "real"). Â Basically this is a rant that I have gotten into after reading Tiger_Rick's post and probably is old material but take from it what you will, in relation to this latest news about Punk and Ryder. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Slapnut Posted December 28, 2011 Share Posted December 28, 2011 I'm just trying to wrap my head around the logic of creating a storyline that they are practically calling shit in order to help falling ratings. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members ColinBollocks Posted December 28, 2011 Paid Members Share Posted December 28, 2011 (edited) Same old WWE and short term decision making. TripleA is right about the shit heels, Mark Henry is (was?) the only decent heel in the company at the required level. Add to the fact that John Cena and Randy Orton have been treading water the past couple of months, Punk is recovering from the mess they made in the summer, Triple H as the authority figure was cut short and his appearances are completely random and the only other genuine main event players, Misterio and Undertaker have been AWOL and it's no surprise that ratings are in the toilet. Then consider the tired formula, the endless rematches and the lack of focus on building rounded characters.  Nah, too sensible, blame 2 wrestlers instead. And lord knows, those romance angles are always a hit, right? Couldn't agree more. I'd argue this is the hardest time in WWE history to create a legit draw, the fans just aren't willing to accept people at the minute. The Miz/Del Rio/Punk were/are all channel changer champions, for some reason. Punk is a strange one, he's over huge with the live crowd and his gimmicks sell but the audience in TV land just aren't into him (same with Ryder). You'd hope WWE will see it through with Punk, but they're so short sighted with ratings. You sometimes wish driven Vince from a couple of decades ago meets current complacent Vince in a battle to the death, like in Superman. I do think Punk will survive this though, he appears to get how to handle all the backstage shite.  If I was WWE, I'd throw a ton of money at Batista and have him come back as the character he was during his last run. He's exactly what WWE miss. Edited December 28, 2011 by Blackson Jackson Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
King Pitcos Posted December 28, 2011 Share Posted December 28, 2011 - WWE Champion CM Punk was denied entry into Madison Square Garden today for the RAW live event. The security guard didn't believe Punk was an actual WWE Superstar and another guard had to step in and let Punk into the building. That's brilliant. Surely not a coincidence as well that his ratings are atrocious when people don't even believe he works for WWE, nevermind being champion. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joey Joe Joe Jr Posted December 28, 2011 Share Posted December 28, 2011 Punk is a strange one, he's over huge with the live crowd and his gimmicks sell but the audience in TV land just aren't into him (same with Ryder). Â Â Do you think this is one of those things that WCW did wrong in 2000 where they pushed the "appeal to the internet" button too much so it was incredibly hard for the casual majority to understand properly what was going on? Sure Punk looks cool and different with his tats and slicked back hair and more identifiable physique but for someone tuning into the Slammys he just came out with a plastic display model and spouted some references; not exactly Austin-esque antics of spraying the clearly defined heel boss with a beer truck, huh? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dirty Eddie Posted December 28, 2011 Share Posted December 28, 2011 (edited) Punk is a strange one, he's over huge with the live crowd and his gimmicks sell but the audience in TV land just aren't into him (same with Ryder). Â Â Do you think this is one of those things that WCW did wrong in 2000 where they pushed the "appeal to the internet" button too much so it was incredibly hard for the casual majority to understand properly what was going on? Sure Punk looks cool and different with his tats and slicked back hair and more identifiable physique but for someone tuning into the Slammys he just came out with a plastic display model and spouted some references; not exactly Austin-esque antics of spraying the clearly defined heel boss with a beer truck, huh? Punk is getting a regular great response from the paying fans though, so even if he is an internet favourite, he's still over with the regular live fans. Â I agree that WWE haven't exactly given him an abundance of cool things to do to get over more. Since that first couple of weeks where he got to "shoot" on RAW, they haven't really given him anything super exciting or "Iconic" to do. Obviously the title win and walkout was cool, but it was all over so soon. Nash got to kick his arse a bunch of times with co comeback too, and that didn't help matters. Â The problem still comes from the way they had him come back and "get a new contract" so bloody quickly. All his "renegade" stuff had legs, but really he's not got much to complain about at the minute. Not much point being all anti-authority when you got all your contract demands and you hold the WWE Title! Edited December 28, 2011 by Dirty Eddie Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
King Pitcos Posted December 28, 2011 Share Posted December 28, 2011 The problem still comes from the way they had him come back and "get a new contract" so bloody quickly. All his "renegade" stuff had legs, but really he's not got much to complain about at the minute. Not much point being all anti-authority when you got all your contract demands and you hold the WWE Title! Â "They don't put me on the promotional slurpee cups" was always a bit of a dodgy complaint anyway. Especially when the reason he's not on them is he looks like the sort of smackhead that MSG security wouldn't want to let in to the building. I think the problem with Punk is that although he's very popular with a lot of the people who already watch (like me), he alienates a lot of others (even Fin Martin's gone off him for his "Cena-like" burials of Del Rio) and new viewers can't take him seriously as a champion. Â Just sorting his hair out might work wonders. That greased-back look was good for a slimy cult leader weasel, but it just looks odd on a babyface champion. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members Devon Malcolm Posted December 28, 2011 Paid Members Share Posted December 28, 2011 That's his "scumbag lawyer look" according to a recent AOW cameo. I liked his 'Mini Big Show' bald look when he got unmasked by The Big Show. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dirty Eddie Posted December 28, 2011 Share Posted December 28, 2011 The problem still comes from the way they had him come back and "get a new contract" so bloody quickly. All his "renegade" stuff had legs, but really he's not got much to complain about at the minute. Not much point being all anti-authority when you got all your contract demands and you hold the WWE Title! Â "They don't put me on the promotional slurpee cups" was always a bit of a dodgy complaint anyway. Especially when the reason he's not on them is he looks like the sort of smackhead that MSG security wouldn't want to let in to the building. I think the problem with Punk is that although he's very popular with a lot of the people who already watch (like me), he alienates a lot of others (even Fin Martin's gone off him for his "Cena-like" burials of Del Rio) and new viewers can't take him seriously as a champion. Â Just sorting his hair out might work wonders. That greased-back look was good for a slimy cult leader weasel, but it just looks odd on a babyface champion. Â Â Well the slurpee cups and Icecream bars was always tongue-in-cheek. He had plenty of valid points and the live crowds were agreeing with him and eating up what he said for the most part. Â I still say the main issue was when they went from having him cuss out Cena and Vince (who the crowds enjoy ragging on) to having to do the same stuff to Triple H (who is more universally popular now than ever). Punk went from being the guy standing up to a corporation and it's Chosen One, to being the guy winding up Trips with "your wife" jokes. Â They should have built up Ace's crew into a proper faction so that Punk actually had something solid and dominant to fight against. As it is he's been in confusing feuds with Nash, Triple H and Ace, while defending against the boring Del Rio. Hardly Superstar making stuff! Â Sticking Ryder in a sure to be boring romance storyline is just bizarre? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts