Corey "TheGreatWhiteDope" Letson:

The Hot Threads crew would like to apologize for not being here for all of you last week. Vacations were taken, people dealt with real life stuff, and we were just straight out a tad busy. The real world has to be priority numero uno, ya know? That being said, taking a week off last week off was in no way my attempt to get out of having to deal with TNA. Unfortunately, thanks to Mike Johns' multiple attempts James Guttman had a two hour corporate meeting entitled: "Legit reasons you can be excused from reviewing TNA and why over half of them won't even work for you."   Needless to say after signing the employee agreement sheet with "Daffy Duck" I figured I got away with it. Sadly upon my vacation return I got a bonus meeting entitled: "Reasons you shouldn't vocally talk about using ideas from The Office, Scrubs, or any other television show before trying to pull them on me (or your co-workers)."

So with that let us move onto Hardcore Justice. I wouldn't Google that term as it would bring up some plausibly questionable adult content. Odds on favorite though, that content would be better than what TNA presented almost two weeks ago. Don't believe me? That's fine, other people can confirm that statement. I'd do a quick rundown of what is going on with the show but TXL runs it down nicely and I only know about one match on the card.

First we had some WWI Forum Members throw out some predictions:

TXL

It looks like only a so-so card at best, but I'm actually intrigued by the main event. One of things that makes a match for me is not knowing who is going to win. I think this one could go either way... Angle is the one you'd most likely want main eventing BFG against the winner of the tournament, but Sting's character has been one of the few big positives of the company, and he has his ongoing "quest" to get Dixie Carter back in control (because, you know, we NEED to have a battle for control of the company featured on the show instead of just wrestling matches). It wouldn't shock me if they went in either direction... hopefully without Hogan interference.

Shelly, AA, Kendrick should be really, really good. I bet they give Crimson/RVD a lot of time too... I think they want to give Crimson his "toughest win to date" and add some legitimacy to his streak (unfortunately).

The rest of the card.... well.....ummmm..... The Pope is wrestling!

The Green Teabagger

Going into BFG, think of it this way....

Rob Van Dam is winning the BFG series.

There's no way in hell even TNA is going to run with Crimson winning this and maineventing BFG, especially in Philadelphia.

So the World Title match is going to be Rob Van Dam versus ????, probably Kurt Angle since TNA seems bent and determined to figure out some way to make Sting-Hogan main event BFG this year

            The Green Teabagger

            Great point about RVD and Philly. You're probably spot on there.

I think that Crimson beats RVD Sunday, and then they meet in the finals, where RVD ends the streak to win the BFG spot.

It's actually not bad booking.... if everybody actually liked Crimson, that is.

                        Exx

                        Actually the top 4 meet in a four way at No Surrender to determine who gets the BFG title shot, so I doubt Crimson's streak will be ending just yet since that gives him an out.

Nuwanda

The main-event could be interesting if they don't overbook it (run-uns etc...). But: the sad thing is that the main-event of the PPV and probably most interesting match of it is contested between... well... 2 old men (40+) who aren't even homemade talent. Shows again: TNA sucks at developing its own talents.

Sad thing is that the tag-team division is quite boring at the moment, don't really know what to think of that match.
I totally can see Winter winning the Ko-title (with the help of starving Angelina)... and a split of the two of them coming some weeks after.
X-Division match could be the show-stealer, looking forward to AA.
Fortune vs. Immortal ------> turn coming
Crimson vs. RVD is probably going to suck.... but the streak is going to continue
Pope vs. Devon... don't even know who actually is the heel in this whole thing... pointless...
Bully Ray vs Anderson: again, wtf.... would they mind not to turn Anderson every single week?

Aaron Wood

Yeah, Crimson ain't losing tonight. That'll be in the final match against whomever.

And then after all of this we got to the show/post-show. Predictions on people's thoughts? Predictions on outcomes? It's been almost two weeks since this PPV. Did even half of you even realize TNA had a PPV on August 7^th?

The Green Teabagger

Hey look, Kurt Angle's the World Champion again.

Sprout1883

Please God not another Angle v Jarrett match

Aaron Wood

Suffice to say, I've not read a positive word about the show overall. And not many when it comes to the individual matches.

            Mike Johns

            Way to instill confidence in those who have yet to review said show

Exx

I thought it was just okay for the first hour or so then it fell off a cliff. Nothing you really need to go out of your way to see though.

The Green Teabagger

Show sucked balls. But then I missed the X match, but from what I read it seems like they went through the motions.

Yeah, I watched it while on a boat riding down a slow moving body of water.

Best part of the night was Anderson going "Yeah, I know he's behind me" when Bully Ray tried to sneak up on him

Aaron Wood

While I cannot stand what I've seen of Sting's character and can't get over the pure absurdity of him have a BIRD keep Bischoff hostage, that opening video made him seem almost interesting, for want of a better word.

Wolfchild

So... Wait? Angle hit Sting with a chair, and didn't join Immortal? He's champion... And still considered a face... Even though he hit Sting with a chair...?

I'm so confused!

Shooting

Didn't Kurt Angle turn down Immortal once before. Saying that Kennedy turned down Immortal twice then joined. Plus Jeff Jerret is in Immortal or is he back in Mexico? Didn't Kurt beat one version of Immortal before with Scott Steiner? So the remainder of MEM joining Immortal after they came in to destroy them.

I wonder if they remember half of want they have done.

JohnnyCraze

I feel bad for Samoa Joe. He deserves better.

Then after all of this our TNA Impact Thread gets it's most attention in weeks. Were we just there to watch out for warning signs with Mike? Maybe. But more importantly is that people were talking about TNA again. Now it being good and not confusing/convoluted…that is another story.

Wolfchild

Dear TNA Impact...

Please do something cool with Samoa Joe this week.

Pretty please?

            The Green Teabagger

            When can Chavo debut to pin Joe again?

Wolfchild

Oh look. Anderson's kinda a face again. What was the point of having him join Immortal?

            Mike Johns

            He was selling t-Shirts. they wanted to stop that

                        Wolfchild

                        So... you're saying we all need to start buying Crimson T-shirts?

                        But...
                        But....

                        I don't wanna a Crimson T-Shirt... But I want them to stop pushing Crimson. So Unfair!

                                    Mike Johns

                                    Now you understand the Impact business model. If you're buying their T-Shirt, they crap on them and bury them at the bottom of the card.

                                    STOP BUYING SAMOA JOE MERCH!!!

WolfChild

Don't joke about the Chavo stuff. I could easily see it happen.

Can he be 'Chavo'? Or does he have to be the new Amazing Red first?

Mike Johns

I honestly think you guys enjoy seeing how much I scream at these shows. if it helps, I feel better after I do. It makes the time feel less wasted

The Green Teabagger

Beer Money have been TNA World Tag Team Champions for seven months.

When's Sabin getting back? We need another four months of Beer Money-MCMGs

WolfChild

Yeah.. They need to sign a new tag team. Desperately.

NOT Lax and and the Sometimes Invasion of the British ain't cutting it.

Mike Johns

I hate this show. I hate this show. I hate this show. I hate this show. I hate this show. I hate this show. I hate this show. I hate this show. I hate this show. I hate this show. I hate this show. I hate this show. I hate this show. I hate this show. I hate this show. I hate this show. I hate this show. I hate this show. I hate this show. I hate this show. I hate this show. I hate this show. I hate this show. I hate this show. I hate this show. I hate this show. I hate this show. I hate this show. I hate this show. I hate this show. I hate this show. I hate this show. I hate this show. I hate this show. I hate this show. I hate this show. I hate this show. I hate this show. I hate this show. I hate this show. I hate this show. I hate this show. I hate this show. I hate this show. I hate this show. I hate this show. I hate this show. I hate this show. I hate this show. I hate this show. I hate this show. I hate this show. I hate this show. I hate this show. I hate this show. I hate this show. I hate this show. I hate this show. I hate this show. I hate this show. I hate this show. I hate this show. I hate this show. I hate this show.

And this is what we'd call one of his better weeks folks.

This Week in WWI Forum History

Hello and welcome back to your time-traveling portion of Hot Threads. If you've never seen this before (shame on you) then what happens is I'm going to sit you down in this here "Time Machine". Once you are all strapped in and this bowl goes on your head we're going to attach the "time speed up enhancers". At this point you may feel a jolt, hell, you may think that your lower private area is being electrocuted. Don't worry, it is being electrocuted. Electrocuting your pelvis area is what makes time travel possible. There will be a slight sting, but we'll be looking at random moments of the past five years on the site in no time.

Random Insane Pictures through the years - Aug 1^st-Aug 15^th

Here is the thing…after searching through five years of insanity throughout these weeks for crazy stories I haven't found anything big. People weren't really talking Raw, releases, Smackdown, Impact, PPVs, ROH, Asking Matt anything, nothing. So instead this week is going to be another look back at some insane pictures that have been thrown onto the boards within this two week time-frame in the insanity.

(Oh Matt Hardy…things like this….just…wow. Should've been obvious this shouldn't go on Twitter.)

(Looks like  Ole is preparing for his Raw Guest Hosting  job that was cut but has been added to the next upcoming WWE DVD release)

(I still don't get this. So it's the pong title between Cole/Matthews. But who is the current champ? Also, with Cole being Cole nowadays why hasn't he obnoxiously announced this title to the world?)

(This is what I miss about Nickelodeon. Thanks for 90s at Night from midnight to 2am Teen Nick.)

(I miss Rene Dupree. Seriously, I thought he was great. Can he come back now? Holly isn't anywhere around at all.)

Unfortunately with that we've reached the end of this week's journey. Luckily you can count on all of us here coming back and being your blast from the past (week) in just seven days time. Until then…..

Emmett "Green Teabagger" Gore:

It's been two weeks since we did Hot Threads so this is a special Hot Threads Deluxe edition covering the last two weeks (obv) which means a hell of a lot more work for me and TheGreatWhiteDope so you damn well better appreciate it, marks!

August 8^th Raw---the last Raw before Summerslam

The Green Teabagger: Awesome.

Trips is going to ref the match and steal the spotlight from Cena and Punk.

Who's taking the Pedigree Sunday

JohnnyCraze: HHH is gonna pedigree both of them and pin both of them after putting himself in the match.

JT: Everybody, including those watching.

Wolfchild: Everyone. Cena, Punk, Brock Lesner, Undertaker, Vince, Shane, Shawn, King, Cole, Booker, Nash, Hall, Angle, Sting, Bourne, Henry, X-Pac, Colt, The Kings of Wrestling, Stone Cold, and Nunzio.

Then Aurora Rose pins him (SWERVE) and becomes the NEW Heavyweight Champion

The Green Teabagger: Maybe Triple H will do something shocking and never before seen in the history of guest refereeing and actually have nothing to do with the finish

Maybe pigs will come flying out of my ass too and crap gold doubloons

TheGreatWhiteDope: So last month we learned how you make a 3-week build into the most anticipated match in years.

This month we learned how you cram 4-6 months worth of storylines into 3 weeks and totally kill your previous month's amazing momentum.

We also learned it only takes 2 weeks for Raw to become "The Triple H Show"

The Green Teabagger: I'm waiting for someone to walk up to Truth and tell him there's a spider on his shoulder.

The Chosen 1: Morrison vs R-Truth tonight? not at Summerslam, when we've got Miz vs Rey for the 10 pm Main Event and ADR-Punk for the Main Event Main Event.... I smell angle..

The Chosen 1: One of these years they're gonna change the rules and have a MITB cash in DURING a match... that'll be crazy.

Nuwanda: Wow, they just jobbed Del Rio... but that makes Punk look strong

The Chosen 1: They can job him all they want so long as he cashes in successfully

The Green Teabagger: Dead (crowd) for Riley.

JT: I still don't get why we're supposed to get behind the guy WWE wanted to win NXT season 2. He just bland.

Nuwanda: He doesn't deserve to have such an kick-ass theme

Wolfchild: Hey. He WAS the second best wrestler/personality in NXT Season 2. Only guy better was the guy who won. Okay, and Husky Harris... But I think we're supposed to forget about both of them.

JT: I forgot who won that. wasn't it some jobber guy who used to work for TNA?

The Green Teabagger: People only liked A-Ry when he was facing The Miz. That's it.

The Chosen 1: I can't wait until 3 months from now when we're all complaining about how WWE uses CM Punk's old music instead Cult of Personality when showing all this footage

JohnnyCraze: wow, Punk is awesome. Talking about Masters and Smith and Kozlov.

The Chosen 1: Cena mentioned his "workrate", "5 moves of doom" AND his "heel persona"...

PeterDawson: You know, I have to give WWE this: both guys made a lot of factual statements during the final promo. This angle could have been a slower burn than it is but at least they're using some 'real' stuff in an effective way. I know some people have called this the type of thing TNA and/or Russo would pull and they are true, but its done well. Kayfabe is still maintained fairly well, pretty much any obscure reference is explained.

AnthonyAnalog: Oh yeah, and when is Punk going to go apeshit on Cena turning from generic white guy, into white rapper, to white guy with semi white guy rapper apparel and occasional Boston accent?

SummerSlam itself on August 14^th with Cena v Punk for the WWE Title, Christian vs Orton for the World Title, etc.

xArsenicKissx: With only five matches on the card so far, will this be a raging kegger or a poolside flop? Is the Summer Of Punk going to continue? Will Trips McGameface look good in stripes?

TheGreatWhiteDope: Five matches isn't terrible. MitB only had five matches or so. Just gives 2 main events a lot of time to actually tell a good story. And with the length of Christian/Orton that will help a ton / Cena&Punk(&Trips) can use that time to slow build something epic (plausibly).

Aaron Wood: Stephanie was fapping material right there. (Writer's Note: I assume fapping is some weird Scottish word for {Editor's Note overriding the writer's note: Yeah, that's exactly what it is} on a tarp with some paper towels to clean up after.)

The Chosen 1: 1st of all Steph ....wow..... she's hotter now than she was 10 years ago..

2nd... sorry Sir Woodward

3rd... I just saw the RAW GM Stand.... I hope I've been right and they've been holding off on having the RAW GM ring in, with the hopes that we'd all go "Oh shit.... the RAW GM??"... and hopefully that night is tonight... it'd make sense... it is the P.P.V.

RDLee: My guesses for Christian's "insurance policy": Tyson Tomko or Brodus Clay.

PeterDawson: You know what, I'm fine Sheamus lost like that. Count-outs are usually lame, but I'll play exception to the rule here.

The Green Teabagger: I didn't know Cee Lo borrows his wardrobe from Aretha Franklin

RDLee: It's good to see Viscera back. Didn't know he could sing.

The Green Teabagger: Yay I arrived just on time to see Beth Phoenix kill a bimbo.

Please God.

Please?

(God's Note: Sorry Greeny. Kelly Kelly is my favorite WWE Diva.)

(Writer's Note: Well that explains a lot, doesn't it?)

PeterDawson: Well, looks like Bryan's feud with Barret is just heating up. I'm just glad they didn't add the briefcase as a stipulation out of nowhere. That'll probably be for the future...

The Green Teabagger: What are the odds Punk Pedigrees (or dare we dream Pepsi Plunges) Cena tonight?

xArsenicKissx: Trips is gonna pedigree Punk for the Cena win

(At this point at Summerslam, the forums pretty much laid out to enjoy Cena vs Punk. To make a long story short, Punk pinned Cena after a GoToSleep when Triple H missed Cena's foot on the ropes. After the match, Kevin Nash appeared out of nowhere and Jackknife power bombed Punk. After that, Alberto Del Rio cashed in his Raw Money in the Bank briefcase to achieve his destiny and become the new WWE Champion.)

RDLee: KEVIN NASH!!!

The Green Teabagger: WWE CHAMPIOOOOOOOOOOOON!!!!!!!!!!!

ALBERTOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO DELLLLLLLLLLLLLLL RIOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

That ending was AWESOME!

Trips not helping either win, just missing a call which any referee could do. Fucking brilliant after everyone gets their fears up.

Nash out of nowhere powerbombing Punk.

ADR cashing in.

While I really wanted Punk to win and be champion for a while, I can deal with this ending.

PeterDawson: Huh... well that was pretty damn interesting. Dunno if anyone elsek knew this but Nash worked an iPPV last week so this is a hell of a step up for him, granted he's been under a WWE Legend contract for a while so it makes sense. Still, my point remains the guy's getting some great work in.

So to break this down for any who aren't watching and aren't reading Wood's coverage...
- HHH accidentally screwed Cena (seemingly, didn't look intentional), counting an ideally invalid pin, but in spite of Cena being pissed he left, thus showing how he differs from Christian
- Kevin Nash then bombed Punk after appearing out of nowhere, HHH wondering what the hell was going on
- Del Rio cashed in on a destroyed Punk and, no shock, won

This is actually pretty awesome. You can of course argue another 'they went too fast with this' bit since I think pretty much everyone figured Del Rio would cash in tomorrow after the match the champ, predicted to be Punk, faced Rey. Plus it was pretty clear since E3 that Del Rio was supposed to be in the Summerslam main event but with Punk's storyline becoming so damn hot they decided to change it around and have Del Rio win the money and then cash in. I mean, plans change, but it worked out alright. Nice to see Del Rio finally get a title after earning two guaranteed title shots in special matches, but then, Money in the Bank has a much better success rate than the Royal Rumble. I don't think any of the last 4 Rumble winners have won their title match...

But yeah, this story's got great potential. Kevin Nash became a giant curveball, and again I don't think a lot of people picked Del Rio to cash in tonight. I will admit though the bits with Stephanie make me worry we've got a potential Steph versus HHH thing going on, which is about as old hat as you can get without having Hulk Hogan feud with a Scot.

TheGreatWhiteDope: Well....Del Rio has a pretty awesome enforcer now.

....and hell if his enforcer isn't already in WWE '12

Because essentially I see the story like this: Triple H comes out and apologizes for messing up the call in Punk/Cena. Both Cena/Punk have valid claims to a rematch for the WWE title. Thus NoC is DelRio/Cena/Punk. Triple H totally doesn't understand the Nash thing though and that goes 1 of 2 ways:

1) Kinda like TNA when Hogan came back, but probably working out better story wise, Nash just says "Well, buddy I figured since you were running this place that meant WE were running this place."

2) Kevin Nash is now Alberto Del Rio's personal enforcer (Big Daddy Cool is back in his original WWF/E roll) *The one I figure is reality*

Either way, interesting way to end Summerslam with 2 really great final matches. And again through all this one thing is very clear: Punk/Cena is going to overshadow how great the Orton/Christian program has been this entire summer.

Aaron Wood: I wouldn't so sure Nash was doing it for Del Rio. Given that HHH didn't overtly choose sides last night, what if Nash did it for HHH setting up Del Rio's win, which will be revealed down the line, hence setting up Punk vs. HHH at Survivor Series at MSG.

HHH came out of last night with a few possible routes based on plausible deniability. Which makes things interesting since we don't know exactly which way he'll go.

Exx: I thought it was a great show up until the TNA finish and Del Rio getting the belt. And the only part of Del Rio's act that I like, Ricardo, wasn't even there. Not looking forward to the Del Rio/Cena matches.

At least the promos should be good between Punk and Nash.

T-Dog: The worst-case scenario which I could see happening is that Nash was sent by Stephanie and/or Vince and the main story-line in 2011 WWE would be a McMahon power struggle.

I'm hoping he was secretly sent by HHH so we get HHH/Punk at Survivor Series.

Mike Johns: Well, you can market at people, or, you can get them genuinely excited about stuff. WWE stops marketing for a few seconds while Punk got you genuinely excited about Money in the Bank, then kicks the emotional connection in the balls by rushing Punk back and making it all about Vince McMahon and HHH... again. Then just to put the capstone on the angle, they job Punk out immediately to alberto Del Rio, because you got to stick to "the plan" even when its proven that "the plan" isn't making you money or creating interest in your product, thus, we're back to being marketed at rather than genuinely invested in the product.

Sure, we can look at Steve Austin and learn that fans' emotional investment in the product = more money than Jesus. But we'd rather milk the kids' parents for the John Cena shirt money, and continue to be the joke of pop culture instead of producing a fanbase that, like metal or punk, will tell the mainstream to go fuck itself when it rips into wrestling. No, let's instead continue this culture of forcing your fanbase to be embarrassed to associate itself with your product publicly by producing an embarrassing product that we can't emotionally invest ourselves in.

[flash=480,385]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SvY_gP5Zvgo[/flash]

But it sure was fun, those few weeks we thought there was hope.

Johnny Craze: Saw Summerslam and thought it was pretty good. Christian/Orton was one of the best matches I've seen this year. While Christian didn't win, he did a hell of a good job.
Diesel/Nash appearing was pretty suprising.

August 15^thMonday Night Raw the night after SummerSlam, the beginning of Alberto Del Rio's WWE Championship reign

PeterDawson: I'm actually curious what Del Rio's champ entrance will be like. I will say that having Ricardo really will pay off tonight, like it did at the Royal Rumble.

TheGreenTeabagger: Mandatory 20 minute Triple H promo time

Mike Johns: First segment....

I bet he talks. #ShutUpHHH

JT: He is ALBERTIO DEL RIO!!!!!!!! AND HE IS THE WWE CHAMPION!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The Green Teabagger: Triple H just did something he's never done before.....

He got the hell out of the way for someone else to take the microphone.

Me again: You know...I know it happens quite a bit more often that this but....

If the face really wants revenge on someone in a gimmick match like this, then why go for a quick fall? (At this point, John Morrison was facing R-Truth in a Falls Count Anywhere match and went for a win about two minutes into it)

Mike Johns: Because...

1 - babyface in question believes winning IS revenge (which makes him stupid, but, hey, in some companies, this is a step up)

2 - babyface in question's stage mom GF is outside waiting for him

3 - they're stalling for time

4 - babyface in question doesn't think of this

The Chosen 1: HOW DOES Jared and Subway end up on RAW once a year for like 6 years... and we always pretend like its Jared's first time... they should just make him a recurring character at this point

The Green Teabagger: So when Kevin Nash wants to tell the truth, we're supposed to be worried if we can handle it.

When CM Punk wants to tell the truth, he's being an ungrateful douche.

Gotcha.

Mike Johns: Welcome to TN... wait, this is Monday, right?

Oh, shit.

Wolfchild: Diva's of Doom, huh? Okay, I kinda like it...

JT: What are the odds on Nash getting injured while talking?

RDLee: So it's obvious now that Stephanie sent that text to Nash from Hunter's phone so perhaps he "didn't know about it"....

JT: I just don't give a shit about Alex Riley.

Clifffside: At least it's thought provoking. It keeps you guessing which keeps you watching until you get answers. I like this type of TV, let's see if they can keep delivering the plot twists in this CM Punk story.

Wolfchild: There's been small hints at changes with the CM Punk storyline and less of the PG-ness for lack of a better term, but this is the first night that it feels like the whole show is changing... I could be reading way too much into it, it's just little things.. But, yeah, there feels like something's in the air…

JT: Leave it to Cena to ruin a perfectly good Del Rio victory.

The Chosen 1: Jesus Christ I don't ever remember Cena that pissed.... good he's been acting a liitle too passive recently, if this puts him over the PG edge Im all for it

Clifffside: I think PG's days are numbered. It's gonna take a while, but I feel they are headed toward a more contemporary show. Once again I just hope they are committed and start to do more with the rest of the roster other than the main characters.

Tenchi: Okay, who lit that fire under Cena's ass?

The Chosen 1: I can believe it.... we ended RAW tonight without a definitive answer to the Kevin Nash thing.... are they... My God.... actually playing out a storyline to the best of their ability over the course of more than one week.

It's a very 1996 feeling in this bee-otch.....so I give it two years for the PG to be completely gone..

PeterDawson: Huh, I'm impressed, yet at the same time annoyed. Impressed because all the answers weren't given, meaning whe actually have a storyline. Lets just hope it doesn't become anonymous if you know what I mean... then again this is a pretty solid opportunity to resolve that hanging plot thread.

My annoyance comes in that I think Cena and Punk were swapped. Cena doing what Punk did and Punk doing what Cena did would have been better in my eyes, but I still get why. Punk angry at Del Rio makes sense but its still heel on heel, even if Punk is potentially headed for anti-hero territory. We know Punk has a rematch clause, but Cena needs to be the face in the feud so establishing him wanting a piece of Del Rio was arguable more important. So again, I understand it, I'm just none the less annoyed. It happens.

EDIT: I've just realized that Punk feuding with Kevin Nash may actually be clever. Punk's got MMA skills and insists he's the best wrestler so who does he face? A big, strong guy who is the 'ideal.' Any match they have may not be great, but that is potentially a pretty neat story.

ZAH: Without going back to read the pages, am I the only one who thought Punk owned Nash on the mic? I mean, Nash looked like he had no idea what he was going to say next...which is why the lame insults came into play.

And Punk laughing off the Waffle House comment was a great reply, I thought.

I see some reviewers pissing on this segment for multiple "been there/done that" and "too insider" reasons, but I thought it was entertaining and still made Punk look good...especially when security stopped him from going after Nash and Nash was smirking at him.

I dunno...I'm probably just way off here. I really liked the segment.

Sprout1883: Wow thanks WWE for just killing an ultra hot angle in the space of about 3 weeks.

Bring back Nash and we can all talk about 1996 again

How is this good for business

Mike Johns: For the people who still don't see why I'm so damn cynical about this, sprout pretty much hit it.

I see this crap EVERY WEEK on Impact. Guys talking about WCW Politics in the 90s and using it as an allegory for Political BS in the company you're watching now.

Had I not fallen off the wagon when HHH became COO, I'd have burned the wagon after this show.

TXL: I agree with this and what JG wrote in his Raw Insanity... why does there always have to be an "authority figure/struggle for power" storyline??? It has been nonstop since the mid 90s now, and it just lends itself to rehashing the same ideas and bringing up these same insider references.

I didn't hate the segment, and I'm definitely willing to let this play out, but I want something new.

Alissyoshi: Does anyone else see that maybe they will simply do this better than TNA tried to do? Like the "new" and "young" guys will actually win out and defeat the dinosaurs. VKM and company seems to like to make others look foolish.

Yeesh, what a past two weeks.

August 9^thWWE News Thread

James Bullock: Can't Melina just take a hint?

Melina was on the road with John Morrison this weekend, and many and had questioned her as to why. She gave the following explanation…

"No. I'm still fired. I had this trip planned prior. I stand by my man. I was told I couldn't go IN the arena 2 watch. Funny."

After she posted that, many followers offered her tickets to the show.

Credit: Pwinsider.com

Aaron Wood: The more we see of that relationship, I can't help but think that she's less of a girlfriend to Morrison and more like a pushy-stage mum, driving her mommy's boy of son to his next performance.

I bet she even packed a juice box for him and waited outside until he was finished.

AnthonyAnalog: Only question is, how many ppl did she let hit it while he wrestled?

Aaron Wood: Now now...they're in a committed loving relationship which has been dogged enough by scurrilous rumours upon her character...


I'd say at least 5...

Drewcifer: I was going to say, "Had a quickie phone session with Batista out in the car during JoMo's match", but I think you guys have managed to fill in the holes for me...

August 11^thWWE News Thread

Aaron Wood: Superluchas is reporting that CMLL is going to announce the return of Mistico, the idea being that he's going to be released from his WWE contract and Hunico, who plays Sin Cara this week on Smackdown, will carry on as Sin Cara going forward.

http://superluchas.net/2011/08/11/mistico-y-sin-cara-%C2%BFque-sigue/

PeterDawson: Yeah that is interesting. I'd seen it claimed, not necessarily reported mind you, that we were gonna get Hunico and Mystico/Sin Cara together, feuding over who the real Sin Cara was. Still, probably for the best since to say Sin Mystico wasn't working out was a bit of an understatement

Aaron Wood: It depends on whether CMLL call the alleged press conference and if they do, what they say. It could be complete bullshit. And if you translate the article into English, it does suggest that a Hunico vs. Mistico feud/match is on the table.

PeterDawson: Sin Cara isn't leaving WWE. I guess they're using the switch to get him some time to improve on his flaws?

The Chosen 1: Okay...if he does stay then maybe they really are just gonna do the SIN CARA vs SIN CARA feud... which would be cool considering it'd be unique and give MISTICO and the SIN CARA name a chance to actually mean something... which they'd better start doing if they really want that Rey-Sin Cara match for Mania.

A new story featuring the most boring member of the original Nexus, or as John Cena called him ‘The chick from Wendy's" heath Slater.

RDLee: He is THE ONE....MAN.....ROCK.... BAND!

Naw Mean?

http://www.wsbtv.com/news/28839206/detail.html

James Bullock: Who's got a skin flute comment lock, cocked, and ready to unload?

James Guttman: Always makes me laugh when I see a story about someone outside the ring doing something that has 100% more personality than they've ever done on TV. I'd buy a ticket to see crazy, horny chokehold man get beat up by a hero. Much better than the grown up Sam from Diff'rent Strokes we have now.

As for Mistico - this is the 2011 version of Max Moon/Paul Diamond/Konnan. WWE should just forget about creating masked superheros and stick to doing straight ports like Rey.

Exx: I hate you Heath Slater (Writer's note and Funaki note: Indeed)

Moving on from Heath Slater news, because too much Heath Slater gives you migraines and a condition that gives people a Tourette's like twitch that forces you to grab the remote and change the channel…I wanted to add in this post from Clifffside which simply nails it on the head.

Clifffside: Since this thread is call WWE News and Opinions I just wanted to give a random opinion on the state of WWE and then go back into my shell.

I haven't consistently watched WWE for years now. Anyone who knows me from years past on these forums knows that I'm one of the most jaded when it comes to WWE. They abandoned the simple principle that made them so enjoyable to watch a decade ago and that's keeping the show reality based at all times. With this whole PG era that they had going on I had no interest in the product because the "attitude" that the show was once presented with was out the window.

But in recent weeks through Facebook, Twitter, podcasts and blogs (that don't necessarily have anything to do with wrestling btw) I've been hearing about the buzz WWE has going with Triple H being in charge and CM Punk ascending as the new torch bearer for WWE. Of course I was skeptical at first, it's not like I've seen this "new beginning" before; but I've been catching all of the "important" segments here and there and I have to say, FINALLY somebody at WWE seems to get it. I don't know why they would ever become such a contrived and scripted show when all they had to do is present what's REAL. This whole CM Punk thing, this whole Cena/Rock thing....those are real conflicts, real emotions, real stories that even non-wrestling fans (which I've sorta become....smh) can get engaged in.

IMO they have the foundation to maybe do something special here. Maybe they can kick off a run where wrestling is cool again. What I'd like to see is this philosophy that they have going with the top guys maybe get spread throughout the entire roster. I'm sure the John Morrisons and whoever else they have (I honestly don't know WWE's roster....smh) also have real stories and conflicts that can be portrayed to make exciting episodic TV again. One huge problem with WWE in the past couple of years used to be their biggest strength, continuity and making new stars. If they can get back into a consistent groove with reestablishing continuity in their storytelling (which isn't hard when the stories are reality based) and making new stars (which happens when they get over like a CM Punk or Miz) then I feel that it could be the beginning of a REAL new era, one where WWE's popularity reaches a point where it hasn't been in what seems like forever.

The marketing and branding has always been there, but now, at least for the moment there seems to be a glimmer of light at the end of the tunnel in terms of real legit self sustaining substance to back it up and keep the new audience growing.

August 17^thWWE News Thread

Aaron Wood: By the way, it seems as though WWE have applied for trademarks on "Future Endeavoured". "Future Endeavour" and "Mr. Future Endeavour".

The Chosen 1: Honestly it makes sense for them to trademark the first two as despite the negative connotation Future Endeavour'd has entered the pro wrestling lexicon purely due to WWE's use of the phrase... Just about everyone uses that phrase now.

The interesting thing is who the hell is MR Future Endevour? Could just be a gimmick idea with no one in mind... But I'm gonna go with it's a reference to Laryngitis

Okay, I'm exhausted. My computer is telling me this whole thing is 16 pages on my own and over 4,500 words so I'm calling it a weekend. I'm going back to watching funny cat videos on YouTube, watching TCG tournaments on the internet, and worrying about my organic produce department at my grocery store. GO GO ORGANICS!