Unfortunately, this is true. I'm nearly 100% positive that Taker would put Cena over at WM23. I just don't think Cena deserves that.

I think Cena's about as deserving as anyone now of that rub. He's going to be wrestling for them for another decade, he's already a maineventer. He's coming off back to back PPV's where he had matches of his career, he was off the charts good last night.

John Cena does have passion for the business and he does want to be better, I'm not a huge fan of the guy personally but he's earned everything he has and is deserving.

But if he does face UT, and since he will be put over (since Cena hasn't had a clean loss in 2? years) where does that put him? He's already been pushed down everyone's throats, and he's already unbeatable. If UT wants to put the guy over, I guess that's his prerogative, but I also don't know what the point of UT winning the belt and then immediately dropping it would do, other than set up a tournament or weaken the championship. I just have a feeling you're going to see a triple threat match btw HBK, UT and Cena at WM, which of course, Cena will win cleanly, because he always wins cleanly. Other than constantly building up monsters for him to destroy (Umaga, Khali), I don't really know where the Cena character will go from here...it's not the 80's anymore.

At this point, no one in the company deserves to end the streak. If it does have to happen, though, Cena is far and away a better choice than Dave the Annymule.

Of course, I'd be lying if I said I wouldn't love it if Taker fought CM Punk for some bizarre reason and Punk no-sold a tombstone, then hit the Pepsi Plunge to win.

I'm imagining the PPV buyrate after a CM Punk title win.....probably about .1

No way does Batista deserve to end the streak. The guy is a botch machine, and he's already over the hill.

Whatever happened to that old man who Undertaker wrestled in a bloody mess and they later found out he has hepatitis?

Ya forgot to include the following option:

The virtually-defeated contestant (i.e., slumped by the corner post) suddenly having an instant resurgence of strength and energy (i.e., quickly rolling away) just as the other wrestler is in the process of making the final killer maneuver (i.e., doing a full-speed jump into the air aimed at the 'victim' but instead landing directly into the corner post, resulting in dazed confusion).

I dunno, but Alex Shelley has chlamydia.

The old man was Bob Orton, Randy Orton's dad. When WWE found out he had hepatitis, he was fired immediately because he didn't tell anybody about it, thus putting lots of wrestlers at risk.

Punk will be a huge star as long as WWE doesn't screw it up, which means he won't be a star because WWE doesn't know talent for chit. Even the watered-down version of Punk being shown now is one of the most over talents in all 3 brands, but yet he jobs first in the elimination chamber.

Batista is awful now that he isn't juiced up. His first couple matches back he couldn't even get his opponents up for the demon-bomb. It was embarassing watching him.

HEY!

http://imgred.com/http://artfiles.ar...C11815780.jpeg

The sad thing is they could build a whole brand around Orton if he wasn't such a dumbass.

Hey!
I'm not getting paid!
And I'm never gonna change my ways!

http://xs311.xs.to/xs311/07052/OrtonBook.png

Cena's the only talent on the roster right now who could legitimately end 'the streak'. He's so over it's insane. Edge really did him a world of good last year; that was the best booking WWE's had for years, putting those two in a program that went for so long. Cena went from mostly booed, to half-and-half to almost universally cheered now. He gets by far the most pop of anyone in the company. It was really obvious last night when he was more over than HBK in the state of Texas.

I have to say I was really, really surprised to see the two of them get the titles, for political reasons. I can't believe HHH would agree to that. Maybe he's finally realized his time's almost over and it's time to put over the next generation.

And the Cena/Jamal err Umaga program last night at the Rumble was terrific. Get Cena the babyface win, but keep Umagamal an unbeatable without special circumstances monster.

I was really, really happy to see taker on Raw last night. I was afraid they were heading for A taker/tista match like everyone else, which would not only be a shit match, but a waste of the streak (which I think should end to put someone over, it would be a great way to cap off a great career - go out as a pro). I told my girlfriend I thought it would be taker/cena though, so maybe I was right...

What I think they ought to do is have Taker beat Batista for the World Title before 'mania, and then have Cena end the streak at 'mania, unifying the belts.

I have a bad feeling they're going to put Michaels over at mania, though.

Punk will not be a huge star because HHH, HBK and Stephanie hate the guy. When Heyman got dismissed he was totally screwed. Punk has been ****ed since SS when the crowd cheered him over DX, I picture Stephanie and HHH in the booking meeting going "**** this guy".

Guys like Anderson and Finlay are in the back using their clout to get guys like Hardcore Holly pushed ahead of Punk because they know where their bread is buttered with Steph......

Punk's pretty much screwed.

WSX is... interesting so far.

Punk is apparently screwed because of his attitude:

I should add I was extremely disappointed in seeing Punk job to Striker tonight. They clearly are totally burying the guy.

And wtf was with Holly beating van Dam clean. From WWE champ to jobbing to jobber Holly in a year's time.

Vince really is killing ECW.

And now the Undertaker shows up on ECW. What is this crap?

lol. I suppose 'Taker has the right to challenge for the ECW belt, too. Of course, this all means that he is going to wrestle Batista @ WM23.

LMAO

Heh. Imagine if Undertaker were to challenge for any kind of championship he wanted to:

Joe Buck: Its over! The St. Louis Cardinals have won the World Series!
*lights go out*
*GONG*
[/chokeslams Pujols]


Stern German Professor: Congratulations to all of the 2007 Nobel Prize winners.
*lights go out*
*GONG*

etc.

Which could go down as the worst match in the history of mania.

Not to mention, his inability to work in the right right now aside, if Batista won, they'd be allowing a 38-year old wrestler whose body is falling apart to end the streak. I doubt he's still working in 3 years. Ridiculous.

Yup, on all points. It's a damn shame.

So, basically, they are all jealous that he gets to bang Maria Kanellis. :shake:

i like the herpes.

MINNEAPOLIS -- Minnesota high school wrestling programs were suspended Tuesday because of a widespread herpes outbreak.

The Minnesota State High School League banned competitions and direct contact between wrestlers in practice until Feb. 6 after 24 cases of herpes gladiatorum were reported by 10 teams. The virus is spread by skin-to-skin contact, and symptoms include lesions on the face, head and neck.

The suspension is meant to control the current outbreak, allow time to diagnose new cases and prevent disqualifications at the state tournament, scheduled for Feb. 28-March 3.

The Minnesota Department of Health has been tracking the virus, caused by herpes simplex Type 1, the same strain that causes cold sores. Officials first became aware of the outbreak at a tournament in Rochester in late-December.

Scot Davis, who coaches wrestling at Owatonna High School, has been involved in wrestling in Minnesota for more than 40 years and can't remember the league completely shutting down before.

Davis' wrestlers, who get checkups several times a week, competed at the Rochester tournament where the outbreak was first detected, yet none of his wrestlers has been infected.

"I think it's a bold step," he said. "How else are you going to get this thing cleared up? How do I explain to a mom that her kid has herpes forever?"


Steve Larsen, wrestling coach at Century High School in Rochester, said his team will miss three competitions because of the eight-day suspension.

"It's going to make scheduling interesting," he said. "I hope some of it will get rescheduled."

The Century team has had no skin problems this year, Larsen said. But in the past, when a few of his wrestlers came down with ringworm, his team was suspended from practice and competition as a precaution.

Infected wrestlers have to sit out matches and get cleared by doctors before they can resume wrestling, he said.

Dr. B.J. Anderson, a former wrestler who acts as a health adviser to the high school league, said the greatest concern is an infection of the eye, which can, in rare cases, lead to scarring or blindness. The virus can remain in a body indefinitely, he said.

A similar outbreak occurred in 1999, affecting 63 wrestlers and disqualifying several of them from the state tournament, Anderson said.

Dr. Henry Balfour, a national expert on herpes who works in the department of virology at the University of Minnesota, said wrestlers are at a high risk for this sort of infection because of the nature of the sport.

"Usually you have to have damage to the skin," he said. "If there is a break in the skin ... then the virus could take and cause a skin infection."

Copyright 2007 by The Associated Press

RVD is jobbing because his contract is up in July and he's made no secret of the fact that he's probably leaving because he isn't happy there.

Shit, my TiVo didn't catch it. Stupid MTV.

Good thing they show repeats of everything a thousand times a week.

I actually didn't mind that too much.

I'd rather have seen some sort of Punk-Burke midcard feud rather than having him curtain jerk every week and feud with someone like Striker, but he had plenty of offense and lost by being screwed, so it doesn't really make him look bad. It was better than having the streak end in a clean loss to Holly, that's for damn sure.

From what I've seen about the Punk situation, HHH actually doesn't seem to hate him as much as some think he does. Not to say he's ready to back a Punk world title run or anything just yet, but most of the anti-Punk stuff in the back seems to be more from the old-school guys who honestly think he's crap and only on the roster because of Heyman, in addition to reeruns like Lagan.

That whole speech might as well have been a shoot, because Mr. McMahon was saying what Vince really thinks.

Yeah. At this point, the only thing to do when it comes to RVD and Sabu is to bide your time and wait until they're in TNA.

In closing, here's a picture from the mixed-up files of Mr. CM Punk:

Please, Arn, don't put him back on the streets!

I don't get why Striker is even on the air. Feuding with Balls and now Punk, when he's not drawing any heat. He's a joke. How they fired all those other guys and not him is a complete mystery.

Punk jobbing his streak to Jobber Holly was just unfrickingbelievable. It's hurt Punk, he's not getting the same pop he did after his debut. People are starting to not care and that's death in wrestling. But it's the typical WWE "promote a guy big when he arrives and then dump him to the undercard" approach. I'm sure Monty Brown will get the same thing.

And Holly is a joke. I guess they're *finally* putting him out to pasture, mr. career jobber, so they're going to give him some wins in the new developmental ECW as a pat on the back. I wonder if he's training anybody there?Yeah, although I do think (duh) it was all designed to start the old vs new angle.I think RVD stays if they offer him enough money. We'll see. I'm not sure it's as cut-and-dried as everyone says.

I don't know what's up with Sabu.

Bit of spoilage from the Smackdown taping last night:









(can't remember the number for the background color, so scroll down if'n you want to read, otherwise, you've been warned)

Tornado has a match on WSXExtra so if you feel the time to pull up MTV's website you can give that a watch.

Sadly Lagana didn't want to do some of the things he's done......he was firmly against giving Holly any kind of push. Finlay and Anderson keep going above his head......

Stephanie McMahon hates Punk, and she hates Heyman too.........the reason the agents and old school guys are saying shit about Punk is they now where their bread is buttered and they're just being yes men to appease her.

ECW has been dead to me since the ppv in December. I haven't even bothered to read recaps of the shows online. Vince took every original ECW member and buried them beyond recognition so he could get stiffs like Hardcore Holly, Bobby Lashley, Test, etc. "over". It's pretty telling that during the ECW title match at the Rumble, the fans were booing both Lashley and Test. Then they took the one surefire star in the making in CM Punk and buried him because the old farts are jealous that some young new kid was getting huge pops. Even if he has the worst attitude ever (which I doubt, workers in ROH and TNA all loved working with him), the crowd wants to see him and that's all that matters in the end if you want to draws fans/make money.

Thank goodness the original spirit of ECW (great wrestling, long matches, simple storylines that make sense) is alive and well in Ring of Honor. Even with a decent rate of turnover, they consistently put on great shows because they use their top stars correctly and are always looking to get some new guys to the top of the card.

I watched WSX, and it could do pretty well, especially if the ROH guys get a lot of camera time. I'd also like to see the Dragon Gate tag team get a lot of tv time, they'll wow some people. The announcers were beyond awful, but so are all the other announcers around today except JBL and Joey Styles. Also, they made a great choice picking Evans vs. Sydal as the first match. Those two guys have great chemistry because they've worked together a lot in ROH. I don't like seeing XPac again, but I understand they need some recognizable names to start the show.

If Stephanie McMahon hated CM Punk, he never would have gotten pushed in the first place. Like Heyman had more say than she did? And if HHH and HBK hated him, name one rational explaination for why they would have agreed to team with him at Survivor Series. They could have had him off the show entirely if they wanted to, and instead he ends up working with them in one of the most high profile matches on the card. Yeah, they really have it out for that guy.

That stuff is the worst of the internet wrestling BS, where certain people are always to blame and others can do no wrong. CM Punk is no angel. Guys in ROH definitely did not all love working with him, as more than a few made off-the-record comments to the sheets as far back as when WWE first sent him to OVW about how Punk had a lot of karma waiting to come back on him.

And the claim about someone like Dave Finlay being a spineless yes-man is laughable.

Go listen to Matt Hardys shoot from the time he was unemployed he paints Finlay as a total jackass.

Punk was fine on the 3rd brand with Heyman going to bat for him in meetings.....he was ****ed when he GOT OVER on DX at SS. There's a big difference in not caring about another guy on a show than what you do when that guy gets over on you.

Triple H has been burrying people for years.......it's not some huge shocker that he'd be pissed the new guy got a bigger pop than him.

Holy shit.

It's similarity to Kabuki theatre.

Agreed. Every few years it's like a new backstage villain has to be crowned for people to blame when things go wrong. And in some cases it's no doubt deserved, but then EVERYTHING starts to get blamed on them and it becomes a parody of itself.

Well, if Matt Hardy says it, then it must be true. BTW, being a jackass does not make you a spineless yes-man.

Just to throw some actual facts into this discussion, Survivor Series was November 26th. The match where Punk had his first loss, followed by all the talk about how he was in the doghouse, was January 9th. Over 6 weeks later. Not exactly a cause and effect.

And he was so pissed that he waited 6 weeks to act on it.

The problems with CM Punk have been documented pretty well over the past several weeks. Just off the top of my head, he went around complaining about his involvement in the Elimination Chamber, not a smart move for someone who has only been in WWE for a few months. He threw a fit in the dressing room at a show because the crowd didnt respond to him well. He blew off advice from agents when they tried to talk to him. And a lot of the wrestlers are not especially fond of him. That is a pretty bad mix, and those arent even all the examples.

The Elimination Chamber booking was awful....not to mention Heyman wanted to give Punk a put over in that match by having him be the one to take out Big Show which Show was fine with but Finlay and Anderson immediatly had an issue and wouldn't allow it to happen.

The WWE locker room has a high school mentality Punk's new so god forbid he say something. They expect to be able to downgrade you, talk shit to you and if you don't just sit there with your head down you're a problem. But it's cool for Randy Orton to shit in peoples bags....

As far as Finlay goes even if you respect the guy and think he's tough. As an agent in the WWE you are a yes man. You know where your bread is buttered with Steph and management. Ted DiBiase wasn't being a yes man and was telling them which pushes he thought were wrong and which guys they like were bad workers......he was fired.

Just for reference on what I think of Finlay's opinions as an agent....he lobbied for Atrain to be pushed ahead of Matt Hardy and Edge...ATRAIN. Then when he got Atrain into the spot that was suppose to be for Matt....he had awful matches with Edge and Finlay turned around and blamed Edge for it.

Yea that Finlay he knows talent...pushing for someone like Holly over Punk is just stupid, you aren't a draw due to senority. If this was 1997 Finlay and Anderson would be telling Vince that Steve Austin guy isn't any good and Henry Godwinn should get a mainevent push.

The bottom line is that Punk is a great performer (see any of the matches in the Joe v. Punk trilogy if you doubt this) that the fans want to cheer for. In a brand with very few guys that are worth a damn in the ring, he needs to be pushed to the moon. I don't care about any "attitude issues", that has no bearing on his abilities in the ring and the ability to connect with the crowd. Steve Austin beat the shit out of his wife multiple times, and Vince still brings him back time after time, so obviously they look past character issues on a case-by-case basis. Unfortunately, Vince can't see past his own ego at this point so we'll continue to see big roided-up stiffs stalking around the ring putting the fans to sleep.

One other thing I read about Punk was that they wanted him to join Spirit Squad a while ago and he refused. Obviously they were pissed at him for that but I can't disagree with his decision.

Who do you guys that like wrestling here think will go into the Hall of Fame this year? I think McMahon needs to put Randy "Macho Man" Savage in!

The WWE wants nothing to do with Savage at all so that at this point is a Pipe Dream at best....

http://www.wwe.com/superstars/raw/ma...venotes/020107

I'm sure this has nothing to do with why Punk is getting heat backstage:

PLEASE DIE THREAD!!!!

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HAHA.....that Ahmed stuff is great.

He did get included on that list of HOF candidates that Hulk Hogan gave away on the radio. And they acknowledged in a recent magazine that a Macho Man DVD is the one they get the most requests for, so it's hard to imagine that not happening at some point if they know they'll make lots of money from it.

Well......Jakks who does the action figures wanted to sign him to a Legends contract so they could make a figure. They were told by the WWE it wasn't happening and they wanted nothing to do with him at all.

So what did Randy Orton do to piss everyone off? I hate the guy so I am curious.

Which time?

Any

He's gotten in trouble for things like.....smoking weed in the back.......it was reported he took a shit in a girls bag because she didn't know who he was and blew him off backstage. Although that had been denied by both parties and that he "filled her bag with hand lotion ruining all the stuff in it"

Thanks

What is the reason you dislike young Randall?

That sounds strange. Jakks has done a bunch of Ultimate Warrior figures and he and WWE hate each other.

Ahmed Johnson? Is that guy dead? He dropped the **** off.

He's not dead but he weighs about 450lbs.

Digler,

FWIW, Orton also tested positive for steroids a few months ago, continued to work televised shows and was put over on the next PPV (against Carlito).

It was apparently weed, if any drug, that landed him in trouble. The main reason for the suspension, during which he worked without pay and was kept out of house shows, seemed to be his attitude and actions backstage. Not that he ever truly shit in a Diva's bag, but he's still acted like a total douche too many times to count.

Through it all, he's still our Randall.

http://imgred.com/http://images.yuku...dcdbe382e3.gif