Being a newer user of OOT, I was pleasantly surprised to find this thread a couple of hours ago since I do yearn to have a mature discussion about a male oriented soap opera with friendly people!
Lemme kind of give my overall 2 cents here...
Love the new direction for both Raw & SD since the draft took place! On a side note, I sat front row here in Wilkes Barre, PA for last year's draft, saw the filming of the limo blow-up done the night before from a few hundred feet away, and had to sit on the info for 24 hours since I work in the local media...but I had no idea who would be connected to it until one of the security guards I was chatting with the whole night gave me a heads-up right before Vince walked to the ring 5 minutes before the boom! Said security guard also shared a couple of fun stories with me about Flair and a couple other guys that I'll type up sometime.
Anyway, the angle involving Edge, Batista, Punk when the belt switched hands was nicely tied together. Plus what happened last night on RAW served as a nice added effect going into the GAB. Reportedly, the after RAW dark match saw Batista squash Punk in a 2-minute match when B hit the B-Bomb on Punk as he came off the top rope. I see Punk winning this Sunday since the plan is run with him on top for the next 2-3 months or so. I do smell the start of a full blown heel turn by B, since the plan is for him and Orton to run wild together when Randy returns in 2-3 months. You also have to wonder how many more shoulder issues that he can endure since this collarbone thing makes 3 major injuries for him.
This seems to be the start of JBL's last big program and I think this ends at SS with a potential Hell In A Cell match. Rumors have it that they'll start on Sunday from the point of Cena being
"grazed and banged up" going into the Street Fight which means I can see JBL winning Sunday to set up SS.
The formation of this Cena/Cryme Time thing is solid and I can see them getting over in the future on Rhodes/DiBiase...their interview with Duggan last night was great. Cody & Ted can talk, but someone needs to hire Cody a voice coach to remove the lisp/closet gay guy sound to his voice that pops up at times. Still no Hardcore Holly response to the swerve...bye bye Bob!
The Jericho/HBK thing is epic and this Sunday will also lead to some epic SS stipulation match as well. Jericho sounded super nasty in the post-match promo too...looking forward to seeing this develop.
Other stuff...Mysterio gets moved to RAW...I hope he doesn't get buried. I think we'll see him tangle with Jericho down the road as I can also Michaels getting into the Batista/Punk thing post-SS. Santino getting beat by Beth last night, very nice and I hope he goes away...his gimmick is stale now. Kofi's push is also good right now and they to continue to create stars like him right now.
The rest of the roster...outside of Kane (I'm guessing "he's dead or alive" is either Paul Bearer or his return to the evil side is the end result along with Taker's return), Cade, Noble, Burchill, Regal, and most of the Divas...release them! Please lose Layla & Jillian especially!
Smackdown...digging the move of HHH and the continued feud with Edge. I'm sick of Vicky even though she draws massive heat form the crowd! But their roster is pretty solid...MVP, Jeff Hardy, Big Show, Kennedy, Umaga, and Shelton can help make things stay fresh. Outside of Miz (hate him)/Morrison, Jesse & Festus, & Hawkins/Ryder...the tag team division sucks. It's why I can also see the Dudleys return later this year when their TNA deal expires...big money, big push, and one last run will be too hard to turn down. Most of these SD Divas are solid too!
ECW...close it down once and for all! Move Matt Hardy, Burke, Chavo, & Dreamer to Raw, move Henry, Neely, Estrada, the former Chris Harris, and Delaney to SD. I'd also send Tazz to the SD announce team. Everyone else can go work the indys!
Ron Killings is supposed to become a upper mid-card guy on SD soon, we'll see!
Gonna be interesting to see how the Vince angle plays out...I also think based on what happens on Sunday...they'll somehow work Shane into TV next week and maybe a live appearance via satellite with Steph since putting her on camera being preggo isn't something she'll wanna do.
Thoughts? I'd also love to some guys come home and bring some new ones from TNA. Cage,
Samoa Joe, LAX, Styles, Rhino, Motor City Machine Guns, Lethal, Daniels, Dutt, & Abyss. They could easily be meshed into each roster and improve the product, but Vince needs to let them do their style to keep the growth of the overall product. The rest of the TNA roster can retire, quit, or go spend their saved money. Don't offer Teny & West a job either!
Like most of the ROH stuff to...but I've only followed them for the last 18 months or so. I'd not be surprised to see Danielson come to the WWE by year's end either!
Lastly...I saw someone's post about cutting down the number of PPV's and how to still make the same revenue. I agree they should cut it down...the monthly money is too much for some to handle now in this economy, plus they do need to spend some more time on promotion of certain events. If all this is done, while continuing to execute great TV going into these PPV's...money won't be a problem.
Since Vince now seriously views the UFC as a direct threat to his monthly PPV and overall business dollar...the old "less is more" strategy needs to happen here!
Thoughts?
Last edited by JBS1273; 07-15-2008 at 07:50 AM.
Reason: edits