[Choke2Death]

Originally Posted by Starbuck

Yup. But they fucked it up as usual. It never ceases to amaze me that a company who prides itself on 'telling stories' can't seem to do it worth a damn anymore. Occasionally we'll get masterful glimmers of hope in amongst the sea of shit but for the most part, as a storytelling sports entertainment organization, WWE fucking suck lol.

One of the big reasons I've hated 2012. It started off well and a Cena heel turn would have done wonders. But then they fucked it up and went to a status quo that was last around before the 2011 summer.

Oh yeah it was thrown together. Thanks to fans not giving a damn about the Mysterio/Del Rio program

On the serious tip, does anyone ever give a damn about Del Rio? I almost feel sorry for the guy. WWE tries anything they can and fans don't bother booing him even in protest of being shoved down their throats.

[Gamblor]

Originally Posted by Choke2Death

On the serious tip, does anyone ever give a damn about Del Rio? I almost feel sorry for the guy. WWE tries anything they can and fans don't bother booing him even in protest of being shoved down their throats.

Can't say I have cared, and can't say I feel sorry for the guy, because he's still put in main events even when he's not champion and still apparently high on Vince's list of guys. I feel sorry for Bryan, who's made to look like a joke despite getting over and remaining over. When was the last time he even won a match. Or in a case somewhat similar to Del Rio, I also feel sorry for Barrett, who was given the Nexus angle (which could be compared to Del Rio getting two WWE Titles and a Rumble win depending on how you look at it), but was actually very over and ready to win the title as the top heel in WWE, only to have the rug swept out from under him and pushed into mid-card hell where he's been the project of half-ass pushes, storylines and character-development. His recent return promos and eventual return perfectly fits Barrett's whole run. High expectations, but piss poor results due to creative.

But yeah, can't say I feel bad for Del Rio. I can't honestly see him ever getting released, where with Barrett there's always that possibility in my head, or with Bryan he could just end up being another Santino as time goes on (maybe slightly more legitimate but still in terms of being a comedy character). Del Rio has a solid place in Vince's eyes from what it seems, even if the fans don't give a damn for him.

[Choke2Death]

That's why I used the word "almost". Del Rio has great in-ring talent but he can't connect with an audience if his life depended on it. Only time I remember him getting actively booed was before HIAC 2011 when he beat Punk and Cena with a chair and that one time when the crowd chanted "Asshole" in Spanish to him.

At the same time he's been given far too much for what he's bringing whereas guys in the same position have been cut off because of it.

[bme]

- Cena does the empty arena promo and the "i can't lose" promo.
- Cena cockiness cost him the match with Rock.
- Cena gets dropped with an F-5 by the returning Lesnar.
- Cena gets his jaw jacked by Lesnar and F-5ed the next week.
- Lesnar sh*ts on Cena in a video hyping their Extreme Rules match.
- Cena loses the Lord Tensai in his first month back in the WWE.
- Edge returns and tells Cena to "wake up".

Even when he beat Lesnar i thought "ok he'll go into a feud with Punk, fail to win the title back and turn heel".
In a month everything he went through didn't matter anymore.


I didn't care about the matches or the wrestlers involved at the time, but i thought the match with ADR/Mysterio/Kane/Edge was really good.
ADR takes a nasty table bump towards the end of the match.

[Gamblor]

Originally Posted by Choke2Death

That's why I used the word "almost". Del Rio has great in-ring talent but he can't connect with an audience if his life depended on it. Only time I remember him getting actively booed was before HIAC 2011 when he beat Punk and Cena with a chair and that one time when the crowd chanted "Asshole" in Spanish to him.

At the same time he's been given far too much for what he's bringing whereas guys in the same position have been cut off because of it.

Yeah, he's good in the ring. Love his top rope enziguri and I like that his kicks and strikes look effective.

He gets booed very rarely... honestly I'm pretty sure I've heard him get cheered more than booed. His mic skills are pretty bad as well. It doesn't help either that WWE gives us no reason to care. All he does is come out in a fancy car, a nice scarf and smile to the ring. He competes, he gets to get the upperhand on faces more often than other heels, but it's in a generic way. Rarely do we see him use his wealth to his advantage. He used it to some extent against Sheamus when he hired all those thugs to act as cops and arrest Sheamus, only to have them all beat him down, and from the SD spoilers he may have used Barrett to attack Orton (which from what it looks like they didn't really play up the fact at all).

For all of Del Rio's problems with connecting with the audience that are his fault, part of the problem is WWE's booking of his character.

[Obfuscation]

Yeah, I've noticed that ADR has gotten bigger pops than heat during his career. I've even stated that I think he would probably do better as a face instead of a heel. Nobody cares. He might have a fan or two on a place like this, but that's the minority. Instead fans sit on their hands when they see him and we have to continue being force fed this guy who's honestly done nothing. For all the accolades he has behind him it still feels like he's done zero within the company. Something has to be wrong when that is the case.

Good wrestler though. Always thought that. That's not his problem though. Getting over is.

[DFUSCMAN]

Just watched Finlay vs. Benoit Judgement Day 06

What a fantastic match, from finlay's incredible dickish heel performance and targeting benoit's neck. There's this awesome moment near the start where finlay calls the ref over to check his eye then uses the ref as a shield to attack benoit. Finlay's targeting of the neck is awesome, from the brutal clotheslines to the workover segments where all the attention is placed on the neck. I love the subtle things about finlay, stuff like jamming his knee onto benoit's head during a cover is so awesome.

Benoit plays a great babyface as well, his comeback gets stopped multiple times, he hits an awesome german suplex onto the floor which is a fantastic desperation spot. Great selling and storytelling

Easily **** 1/2-****3/4

[Gamblor]

You know, if Barrett had just debuted for WWE and not already had a near 3 year career with them, I'd say it would've been perfect if he debuted as Del Rio's bodyguard/problem solver/mercenary whom Del Rio hired due to hearing about his bare-knuckle fighting... a guy to get the job done for Del Rio and get over in the process, while also playing to Del Rio's strength and getting over himself. Eventually he would turn on Del Rio, which would either make him a face (which is hard to see Barrett as), or if it'd been booked correctly, to somehow manipulate Del Rio, get the World Title and stab Del Rio in the back.

Now it may be too late for that to play out like that exactly, but I think a partnership between them in some fashion would be ideal for both men at this point, with them acknowledging it to the benefit of both Barrett and Del Rio.

[Obfuscation]

Yeah, but look at what Wade was given to debut with. Negating that to be a hired muscle for Del Rio severely pales in comparison. Wade's current role right now is fine. If any momentum was lost it was simply due to his unfortunate injury hindering him. Before he got injured he was fine thanks to the Barrett Barrage/feud vs Orton.

[The Hardcore Show]

Originally Posted by Hailsabin

They put that story you wrote out into effect for the hype video vs Brock. It would have mushroomed from there if he actually would have lost.

The only reason I figured Brock lost to Cena was that they had no plans for them to have a rematch and they needed a reason for Triple H to tell Brock that the demands he had requested were rejected. I guess they felt if he went out their destroyed Cena like he did and beat him 1-2-3 would kind of make Triple H look dumb in not agreeing to what Lesnar wanted when he did everything he said he was going to do.