‘It’s a laugh!’ That’s the motto that I believe WWE are now using for every creative decision that passes through Vince McMahon’s office. Not only does it look like, thanks to John Cena’s injury, that C.M Punk will have to fight Ryback at Hell in a Cell, a match in which Cena may serve as Special Guest Referee, but WWE have actually followed through on their plans of a new television show which is in its second week.
As if WWE haven’t got enough, low rent, television shows they can’t fill already, not to mention the graveyard of tried and failed shows that have fallen at their first hurdles, WWE now gives us The Main Event. If you haven’t seen it then you don’t need to. Because quite frankly, it sucks. It’s normally a two card show in which nothing of note happens. For those of you old enough to remember The Main Event in 2012 is a remaking of the old WWE programme of the same which ran from 1988 – 1991.
One would have thought WWE had learnt their lesson with Saturday Night’s Main Event when they brought it back in 2006 and it sunk faster than the Titanic. Remaking old programmes doesn’t work in 2012. It’s also a lesson BBC should take note of. It seems Vince needs to lose more money and more talent to injury (an extra show means WWE performers have to work extra matches which means increased risk of injury) before he realizes that WWE have way too many television programmes as it is.
Look at the listings. Now that The Main Event is upon us, we have; Raw, Smackdown, Superstars, NXT, The Main Event, WWE Saturday Morning Slam, WWE A.M Raw, Afterburn (Highlights show), The Bottom Line (Highlights show), This week in WWE, WWE Experience and The WWE Collection; and almost nothing happens on any of them. WWE can’t possibly justify the amount of time and money they’re devoting to all these shows and still have no one new to push into the main event spot. All of these shows might be justifiable if one or two of them found and created new stars that could make the leap to Raw and Smackdown and eventually make a splash in the headline spot. But none of them do.
Raw is headlined by stars such as John Cena and C.M Punk. Smackdown is headlined by stars like Randy Orton and Sheamus. Superstars is just a dumping ground on which WWE put talent who can expect their ‘Future Endeavour’ send off soon and on which headline stars make appearances when WWE don’t have a match that would interest anyone. NXT is a show which is meant to find new talent but which is more bothered about the pro’s assigned to the rookies and the Main Event is just showcasing main event talent whilst ignoring the under card.
That’s twelve weekly television shows WWE produce. Some live, some highlight shows and some that are just wasting our time by telling us what we know already. When you combine those twelve with the numerous repeats and the monthly pay per view events, WWE are wasting so much money. Money which could go on producing talent.
WWE need to scrap the Main Event and put it down to a bad business decision. Look at all the shows that WWE have created and axed; Heat, Velocity, ECW, Saturday Night’s Main Event, Shotgun Saturday Night, Livewire, All American Wrestling, Tuesday Night Titans, Wrestling Spotlight, Prime Time Wrestling, Superstars of Wrestling, Wrestling Challenge, The Main Event (1988 – 1991), All Star Wrestling, Championship Wrestling, Mania, Action Zone, Sunday Night Slam, Friday Night’s Main Event, Super Astros, Jakked, Metal, Excess, Confidential and MSG Classics; that is a graveyard that will become even more full every time Vince and his team have another great idea.
C.M Punk. The man that WWE is counting on right now to carry them into 2013. Despite the fact that WWE are working Punk to death, another little problem arose on Raw. Who saw it? That’s right, I’m talking about Punk laying into a fan which was not part of the show, for anyone who thinks otherwise. The story we got from both sides was conflicting but seeing the guy who Punk punched, I can believe Punk’s side easily.
Apparently, WWE security should have gone with Punk into the stands, which is standard in WWE in 2012, to prevent anything like this from happening. When Punk was up there wit the crowd around him he was receiving punches to the back and ribs and things being thrown at the back of his head. For a start that’s disgusting. If you’re going to WWE events to abuse the talent like a brainless prick then you don’t belong in this business. I don’t care who you are. Then Punk heard the scum bag say “Let’s push him down the stairs.” Like anyone here, Punk turned around and punched the guy so hard, he fell over and supposedly did damage to his knee.
I don’t condemn Punk for his actions. I applaud him. And you’d have done the same as well if you thought some scrounger was going to push you down a flight of stairs. WWE wrestlers put their lives on the line every night for our entertainment and regardless whether we like some of them or not, they all deserve out respect. I don’t like John Cena or Hulk Hogan but I respect them for what they do. They don’t do it for some little dick who thinks he’s clever, to conspire to push them down the stairs when they go into the crowd and make a lot of people’s nights by doing so.
Not only would I have punched the guy. I’d have broken his nose just to get the message across. Now it looks like Punk could face legal action. Why? It was self defence. The Numnuts is also seeking money for the supposed damage knee he received in the altercation. Yeah right. The little moron to save his blushes is trying to make himself look like the victim in all of this. Punk wouldn’t have touched him if he hadn’t have been playing the hard man who thought he could what he likes in front of his friends. I don’t doubt that the idiot is some scrounger trying to extort money from a millionaire (which Punk is now) because he thinks he has the right to do what he lies to whom he likes. Did anyone expect Punk just to take being pushed down the stairs? No. Those who believe the spasmodic fan responsible for this is innocent need a slap themselves.
I’m glad to hear that WWE aren’t going to punish Punk for this. Usually they would, even though it wasn’t his fault, just to keep face with the public, but if WWE do then they face losing Punk. And with Orton and Cena injured, plus the build up to the Punk vs Rock match at Royal Rumble (Punk attacking Rock on Raw’s 1000th episode), WWE really can’t afford to lose Punk right now. If I was Punk, and WWE punished me, I’d hand them their championship back and walk out of the company. No one would blame him. Luckily thought WWE aren’t going to punish Punk – because it’s not his fault.
On another Punk note, it’s coming to light that early plans for the Undertaker are emerging and they look pretty good. It was originally scheduled that Undertaker would face Brock Lesnar at Wrestlemania 29. Seeing as Brock Lesnar and Triple H are far from finished WWE have come up with another plan. This is it. Undertaker would return at Royal Rumble and win the Royal Rumble match earning a Championship match at Wrestlemania 29. Punk would retain the WWE Championship against The Rock at Royal Rumble and Punk would then defend the WWE Championship against Undertaker at Wrestlemania 29.
This is a good plan. The draw for two matches like Brock Lesnar vs Triple H (rematch) and C.M Punk vs The Undertaker for the WWE Championship would draw huge money and viewing figures. Especially after Punk’s epic Championship reign. Right now WWE plan to allow Punk to end the Undertaker’s undefeated streak at Wrestlemania to earn the respect of the fans and wrestlers. It makes sense since the ‘respect’ storyline has spanned the last few months.
The only problem is, where does the Rock fit in? Last year WWE had Rock vow to become the WWE Champion again. They don’t make promises like that without following through. Maybe WWE could have Rock end Punks reign at SummerSlam 2013. By that time though the Punk reign will be boring and Punk himself will be all but worn down to the bone.
However WWE decide to go about this then it could be epic. It could be earth shattering and it could put Punk up there as one of WWE greatest ever performers. He’s certainly earning that label at the moment and should be applauded for his efforts over the last year. Punk has kept WWE interesting, relevant for the most part and enjoyable in his champion ship defences. And in 2012, that’s not an easy thing to do. Let’s just hope WWE avoid booking him on The Main Event too often. Any matches that appear on a dying show are usually buried in the graveyard when the show checks out.
Onwards and upwards...
