going back to this

it's a pretty brutal indictment on the wwe that you think this is not only justified, but THIS is your justification

the wwe title is the biggest title in wrestling. the holder of it is either the best/strongest (face) or the smartest/most conniving (heel). either way, that person is the top dawg in the company.

the #1 contender is the #1 contender because they can represent a legitimate threat to the top dawg either via best/strongest or intelligence

the weeks leading up to the PPV title defense should show vulnerability for the champion to make the challenger look credible (done) and make the challenger look strong/smart so that the fans believe he can win (has not been done)

ziggler not being able to beat a guy who isn't close to the title picture and is off doing his own thing despite the fact that he's #1 contender to the brass ring buries him and weakens his credibility. cena should not be above the title or the #1 contender, the rock should not be above the title or the #1 contender, yet they both are. with every passing week they're rendering the title as completely meaningless unless cena is holding it or contending for it. that is very very very very bad

irm, is it going to anger you when rock/cena goes on last (since they're not above the title)?

nah. there are matches that transcend the company (hbk ut2, rock hogan, cena rock), but individually neither cena nor the rock should transcend the title

cena v kane is gonna headline the royal rumble, or go on after zig/punk, you realize. and you'll get why i'm annoyed

They've been doing this type of thing forever. Hogan/Sid going on after Savage/Flair at WM VIII was hideous.

yeah cena/kane going after RR or ziggy/punk would annoy me. it's just a throwaway feud even if it is supercena . was just jabbing with that comment.

irm: like it or not thats not actually the world we live in, thats the wwe as it was 10+ years ago.

cena definitely transcends the title, as do a lot of guys. you kind of have to once you have won it 10 times. if you look at cena's title matches this year, there is a reason why they always have to bring in a stipulation to make cena care, otherwise it seems pointless, eg. mitb "cena gets fired" stip.

could and should we go back to the world where the championship means something (assuming starting from right now)? maybe.... the first 2 obvious steps are to unify the wwe and whc, and get rid of mitb. but otoh if we were to go back to that world, great talent in the future will have to deal with the fact that edge was an 11 time champ forever etc.

Meh, baseball is dealing with this kind of past inflation on their record books. No reason wrestling couldn't.

and for rr i think cena/kane will be wedged between zig/punk and bryan/show

that said we dont even know if cena/kane is happening yet right? there is a chance it ends up with some other silliness, or just doesnt go at all and we get them both working it out in the rumble

Ziggler's shot is basically a throwaway. Its expected if not basically certain that Jericho heel turns within a few weeks, i assume the day after the RR, and that starts the story where Jericho takes on Punk for the title.

The problem with the logic that the title holder and #1 should be the top two at the time is that it assumes that Cena will stop being booked as Cena. We can piss and moan about it all we want but that aint changing and so the end result is that whether he is holding the title, challenging for the title or otherwise engaged in a pointless time killing feud he will always be booked as the top guy. Even when he loses he never looks like he didnt almost win.

Ziggler being booked as equal to Cena last night is as good as it gets. If you dont agree then, like, stop watching i guess? This is how the WWE books guys like Cena, HHH and Orton.

And fwiw dont assume my reluctant acceptance of this is anything more than that. Its pretty well documents round here that id book basically everything differently in the company if i could. But i cant, so as a viewer i have to accept the reality within the constraints of what the creators wish for it. The federation always beat the borg, the final season's flashes were to the afterlife and the island was a repeating cycle that could never end as jacob found his replacement and loopholed smoky and cena gonna cena.

two man rumble so cena doesn't get hurt.

“Melina vs. Alicia Fox is the greatest match of all time” Cameron Lynn was the other dancer for Brodus

amazing

"What's your favourite match?"

"Curt Hawkins vs the Funkasaurus"

...

"Who?"

Honestly, if I was booking and I thought it had to be realistic, I'd put the strap on Cena for 2 ****ing years. It legitimizes the belt, the top guy in the company has it, and once someone comes anywhere close to his popularity, you turn Cena and have the new huge face go over at a Wrestlemania again.

The title becomes relevant, your top guy has it, it becomes a main event item, and it creates an aura of longer title reigns. Boom.

Agree 100 percent.

i agree with this

Sounds good, but could this model fly in a world of monthly PPVs?

and a world filled with people who despise cena and would turn off completely after 4 months or so?

i guess i think it would be best somewhere in between the two. unify the belts, especially with the raw super show etc., then have the one belt moved around between 1-3 times/year depending on how things are going

I have a theory that long title reigns only work when its heels who hold them. Ive done like zero research, but i was thinking about it recently that its easier to sell "here is the bad guy, lets pay repeatedly to see if he loses" vs "here is the good guy, he wins a lot so come pay to see if he keeps winning". Selling people the promise of elation when the bad guy loses is better than the promise of disappointment when the good guy loses imo.

that is true. when i was around 14 and the quebecers kept the titles for what seemed like forever until the headshrinkers had i think no countout rules and finally beat them it was f'n awesome. flair also immediately comes to mind. shane douglas in ecw was an epic heel reign until he finally lost to taz.

Somebody call my Momma, Best/Worst is incredibly funny this week, and Brandon again somehow delves directly into my head to explain why Funkasaurus was incredible.

http://withleather.uproxx.com/2012/0...y-call-my-mama

please explain Punk throwing a temper tantrum for not getting to do his finish even though he won the ****ing match!!!

hint: it was a ref botch.

just what WWE needs right now. another comedy gimmick midcarder. ?????? close to quitting on these threads due to how ******ed this show is making everyone.

which part of any of this did we want? please make a list and don't use Ryder because no one wanted him changing ****ing tires and being in every segment for no reason.

also lol @ echo chamber and chalking up all of the "haters" as "IWC" in order to make it seem like we want the show to suck. we just want it to make a small shred of sense and not be overtly insultingly stupid.

haha I guess I missed that watching it there live and on tv. Punk gonna Punk I guess?

the current titleholders are: cm punk, daniel bryan, cody rhodes and zack ryder.

i mean i guess you can argue about how they are being used, but im pretty sure if you had said that to the iwc before they were champs, there would have been universal support