Paid Members Supremo Posted November 5, 2021 Paid Members Posted November 5, 2021 Whilst I’ve enjoyed CM Punk having these great little Bret Hart tribute matches with guys you’d never have imagined he’d wrestle, there’s no denying he’s lost a tonne of buzz from when he first came in. I don’t think all is lost though. There was a real sense of excitement with this week’s promo, with him finally having something to sink his teeth into. It felt like he’d finally moved into another gear now his character had something to be pissed off about. Him directly referencing potential matches with some of the top guys suggests that’s obviously the direction, too. I can’t fathom the Kingston/Punk promo on Friday being anything less than a home run and then after that I think we’ll be off to the races. Ultimately, I’m far happier with what they’ve done with both Danielson and Punk than if they’d gone full WWE and abandoned everything they’d built in favour of throwing the belt on them as soon as possible. They’ve both managed to make a splash and slot in without being Batista’d. I’d have never forgiven them or the company if they’d taken Hangman’s spot. I need that conclusion more than anything.
DavidB6937 Posted November 5, 2021 Posted November 5, 2021 14 minutes ago, Supremo said: Whilst I’ve enjoyed CM Punk having these great little Bret Hart tribute matches with guys you’d never have imagined he’d wrestle, there’s no denying he’s lost a tonne of buzz from when he first came in. I'm not sure any company would've been able to maintain that initial buzz though. That return and moment that was seen as so unobtainable was off the charts excitement. Those sorts of moments almost always have a drop off after it. We've seen it with plenty of others once it settles down into the routine week to week stuff.
Paid Members Supremo Posted November 5, 2021 Paid Members Posted November 5, 2021 Yeah, if we’re being realistic his return was one of those moments where you can only come down from it. Something that special, you’re never going to be able to maintain it. The best they could have done is immediately put him in a match with Omega and have him win the belt, but as has already been mentioned that’s not what Punk himself wanted and I would have had to have gone to Citizen’s Advice about what legal action I could have taken for them ruining the Hangman story arc.
Paid Members BomberPat Posted November 5, 2021 Paid Members Posted November 5, 2021 39 minutes ago, Supremo said: Ultimately, I’m far happier with what they’ve done with both Danielson and Punk than if they’d gone full WWE and abandoned everything they’d built in favour of throwing the belt on them as soon as possible. They’ve both managed to make a splash and slot in without being Batista’d. I’d have never forgiven them or the company if they’d taken Hangman’s spot. I need that conclusion more than anything. I think this is something they've managed really well with the majority of debuts - you get stuff like Miro dicking around with Kip Sabian before he really got going, but generally it's because they're not letting the new signings disrupt their plans. They're flexible enough to slot in an Adam Cole or a Bryan Danielson into existing storylines, but not at the expense of those stories, when they could have very quickly pivoted to building predominantly around Punk, Bryan and Cole interacting with The Elite. Instead, Adam Cole has fit nicely into existing programmes, Danielson was able to keep things ticking over while Hangman Page was out, and Punk's waiting his turn. With Moxley out, I imagine there'll be another bit of a reshuffle, but never really enough to disrupt the general direction of every story. They're not sacrificing the long-term build for short-term gain, but nor are they (generally) fucking up the short-term gains either. Sorry to bring this back around to Cody Rhodes, but it's one of the reasons I think his stories continue to stand out like a sore thumb. Rightly or wrongly, it tends to feel like he's playing with a new toy, and that someone can debut and just say, "I don't like Cody Rhodes", and that's the angle. It probably hasn't happened half as often as it feels like, but multiple people have debuted by attacking or challenging him to kickstart a feud, with no real thought as to why they're doing it. And it stands out more because he's not interacting with stories that are playing out over months or years like Hangman and The Elite are.
Paid Members tiger_rick Posted November 5, 2021 Paid Members Posted November 5, 2021 It's too soon to get down on Punk. He's still only been back 2 months after a 7 year lay-off and they're deliberately playing the long game with him. I completely agree that you cannot possibly follow-up that debut. It's impossible. So whatever you do, someone, somewhere is having this discussion. If Punk was coming back as a one off, you'd have gone straight into a money match and took what you could get quickly but he's back for a while so it makes sense to save something for later given they already had the Christian push, the Hangman pay-off and the Moxley/Danielson challenge in mind. We've gotten too used to a couple of things over the last 25 years. The first is the concept of long-term booking and saving something for later. That's barely been done. The second is having any sort of faith that someone can do that and not ruin it week by week. Punk isn't being ruined week by week. They're keeping him ticking along because that's the story he wants to tell and it doesn't overshadow something they've been working on for 2 years. I think bouncing around the time slot hasn't helped them at all. I'm not sure the tournament is a draw either. We'll see if things improve coming out of Full Gear, there's normally a good number after a PPV. I wouldn't be worrying yet though.
Paid Members BomberPat Posted November 5, 2021 Paid Members Posted November 5, 2021 I think the story they're telling of Punk being potentially a bit rusty, being a little older, and getting back into the swing of things is so unique in modern wrestling, too. Particularly because, as you say, we're so used to WWE comebacks being all about instant gratification, but it's also because it feels much more like a boxer or fighter coming back from a lay-off rather than like a wrestler returning from injury or hiatus. I'd wager a lot of the people complaining about Punk not being booked "like a star" straight away also complained about AEW's lack of "sports-like presentation", but the way Punk has been working is as sports-like as anything they've done.
Paid Members Supremo Posted November 5, 2021 Paid Members Posted November 5, 2021 (edited) Absolutely. Even though Bobby Fish half ruined it by kicking out at 2.9 rather than the planned 3.1, I adored the concept they were going for. Someone coming back after a long lay off and actually struggling and having to adapt and change feels so fucking fresh. Normally people just come back, win The Rumble, win the Title at Wrestlemania, and then wrestle Kane. It’s similar to why I’m absolutely obsessed with the Hangman storyline. It’s unlike anything I can remember seeing in pro-wrestling. A proper story where people struggle and face challenges and overcome obstacles. Hangman gaining his confidence after years of turmoil and calmly explaining how many days were left until he took Kenny Omega’s head off genuinely gave me goosebumps. I could cry seeing this fella finally get his shit together. Considering the freedoms and the sheer amount of TV time pro-wrestling affords people to tell stories, it’s nothing short of insanity that stuff like this feels so new and exciting. Edited November 5, 2021 by Supremo
Chili Posted November 5, 2021 Posted November 5, 2021 Punk hasn't lost any buzz for me. Because I've been patient. From the Hobbs match on I've enjoyed seeing Punk do similar to Christian. Fight different opponents to get his groove back. Because that's his story. It's really amusing looking back at when say Sting came in. Some here were like, he's getting very boring, oh dear me. But we had to wait. Punk has EDDIE KINGSTON. This is his first big match since Darby. If CM Punk had been wrestling main guys since his arrival, your spunking big matches and also who wins and loses the match? I think we live in a time where if we are definitely not getting closer to the fireworks factory, we get a bit freaked. Probably that stupid WWE PTSD people have, which in some parts of Twitter is outright Stockholm.
Guest Posted November 5, 2021 Posted November 5, 2021 Patience gets rewarded, with the specials next year there is gonna be a lot to prime Punk up for. No point wasting it now when things are stable.
Paid Members garynysmon Posted November 5, 2021 Paid Members Posted November 5, 2021 2 hours ago, BomberPat said: I think the story they're telling of Punk being potentially a bit rusty, being a little older, and getting back into the swing of things is so unique in modern wrestling, too. Particularly because, as you say, we're so used to WWE comebacks being all about instant gratification, but it's also because it feels much more like a boxer or fighter coming back from a lay-off rather than like a wrestler returning from injury or hiatus. I'd wager a lot of the people complaining about Punk not being booked "like a star" straight away also complained about AEW's lack of "sports-like presentation", but the way Punk has been working is as sports-like as anything they've done. That makes a lot of sense if that’s what they’re going for. Have hardly watched any AEW since his debut but caught the one hour late night version on ITV1 last Monday. TBH I thought Punk looked pretty old and shit with those long tights, and wondered why he was fucking about fighting scrubbers like Bobby Fish on the undercard. But as you said, as a long term ‘redemption’ type storyline, I could totally get where they were going.
Loki Posted November 5, 2021 Posted November 5, 2021 6 hours ago, BomberPat said: Sorry to bring this back around to Cody Rhodes Not something we will ever hear AEW say! I'm not sold on this "redemption" Punk arc. I think you're all right, that IS what they're doing, but then in his first match back after 7 years they had him beat one of their brightest rising stars! Which when he struggles a few weeks later to get past Bobby Fish, makes it look both like Punk is going backwards, or that maybe Darby isn't that big of a deal. It reminds me in a way of when WCW signed Bret Hart - beyond the initial buzz they clearly hadn't got any plans for what to do with him, and by the time the cycled him into the main event his aura was lost. The way out of this, for me, is to turn Punk heel. That's his natural habitat, he's an unlikeable guy. That "unprofessional" to Kingston made him look like a dick.
Paid Members tiger_rick Posted November 5, 2021 Paid Members Posted November 5, 2021 1 hour ago, Loki said: It reminds me in a way of when WCW signed Bret Hart - beyond the initial buzz they clearly hadn't got any plans for what to do with him, and by the time the cycled him into the main event his aura was lost. The way out of this, for me, is to turn Punk heel. Funnily enough, that's what WCW thought about Bret. Didn't work because WCW, via it's CEO Hogan, didn't want Bret to succeed. I've more faith in AEW tbh.
Project Nim Posted November 6, 2021 Posted November 6, 2021 Ftr entrance music is superb. What kind of reaction do you think Cody will get when they come over to the UK? Cheers or a resounding chant of “Cody is a wanker”?
Merzbow Posted November 6, 2021 Posted November 6, 2021 It's Don Callis done with the company now that the Impact deal seems to be over?
Project Nim Posted November 6, 2021 Posted November 6, 2021 I’ve missed something clearly but how did Eddie Kingston cost Punk the chance of a match against Orange Cassidy?
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