Post by FreZno on Jul 2, 2008 20:01:35 GMT -5
WARNING: The following rant may be too long and whiny for children under seven...
I like the direction they're headed, but only if they make three changes:
1. Let someone else be JBL's mouthpiece. When Regal comes back, he'd be good for it, I think. For the meantime, it can be Rhodes and DiBiase. (You can have short segments with JBL issuing orders to them, and longer segments with them carrying out the orders with the help of JBL's security force.) Those two are pretty entertaining, and even though their promos since winning the belts have been unintentionally heavy on the homoeroticism, I think they'd fit right in with the mix of money and ruthlessness JBL's going for. But seriously, as much sense as it makes to have JBL play the role he played Monday night, I just can't take having to listen to him so much. Every time he starts to talk, it's like he sucks all the momentum and excitement out of the show.
2. Give Punk more time on the stick. And let him do something other than push himself as the guy who shocked the hell out of everyone, including himself, by winning the belt. That's no way to cement him as a credible champ.
3. Dear gods, where was the *wrestling* last night? They dedicated too much time to the storyline segments. That was finally from the opening through to Punk winning the belt, but after that the focus should've shifted more toward the ring.
They recapped Punk's win over Edge 'til the law of diminishing returns kicked in, and seeing Punk hold up the belt for the 10th time had very little impact. Granted, they had a ton of stuff, including an unexpected WHC title change, in the first half hour, and people tuning in later in the show would probably have been lost, but it would've meant so much more to hold off on showing the footage so much until next week's show. That would've been a boost to the quality of next week's show, to see Punk's title win and defense replayed for the first time since it happened. I mean, they'll have to recap the bulk of what happened this week anyway.
And we didn't need to see Edge arguing with his lackeys; that should've been saved until Smackdown, where Edge's story will actually progress. That's a no brainer.
And none of the backstage footage of JBL's security guys taking Cena outside the arena was necessary. As soon as they were behind the curtain and out of sight, that segment should've been over.
And all this happened in the same episode where we had the Mysterio/Marella segment -- which was admittedly entertaining. If Rey comes out next week in a batman suit, I'll be able to die a happy man. Plus the Noble/Kane thing... Am I the only one underwhelmed by this? The Larry the Cable Guy line was funny, but other than that it just felt like I'd seen this angle played out too many times already. If they want to do something with Noble, they should have him putting in a credible effort over someone closer to his size. Throwing him to Kane is going to do nothing to help either one of them get over, and it don't expect it to make for good in-ring action. If anything, it's a step backward for Kane. If he beats Noble, so what? If Noble beats him... that'll just take the wing right out of his Big-Red-Machine sails.
All that time they wasted could've been spent giving us some good matches. Because as far as matches go... this week was piss-poor. Rhodes and DiBiase squash some no-names. Mickie retains over Jillian. (Anyone think Jillian was slated for the belt? No... Anyone care about her match? No.) Jericho gets himself disqualified by pulling Kingston's tights. When's the last time that merited a DQ?? Punk retains over JBL, in a match that did nothing to build Punk's credibility. It was too short, JBL didn't look like a threat, and Punk got the win because JBL was distracted.
If the WWE really is paying attention to what we're saying here, I think we should be careful about dropping to our knees to service them just yet...
END RANT.
I like the direction they're headed, but only if they make three changes:
1. Let someone else be JBL's mouthpiece. When Regal comes back, he'd be good for it, I think. For the meantime, it can be Rhodes and DiBiase. (You can have short segments with JBL issuing orders to them, and longer segments with them carrying out the orders with the help of JBL's security force.) Those two are pretty entertaining, and even though their promos since winning the belts have been unintentionally heavy on the homoeroticism, I think they'd fit right in with the mix of money and ruthlessness JBL's going for. But seriously, as much sense as it makes to have JBL play the role he played Monday night, I just can't take having to listen to him so much. Every time he starts to talk, it's like he sucks all the momentum and excitement out of the show.
2. Give Punk more time on the stick. And let him do something other than push himself as the guy who shocked the hell out of everyone, including himself, by winning the belt. That's no way to cement him as a credible champ.
3. Dear gods, where was the *wrestling* last night? They dedicated too much time to the storyline segments. That was finally from the opening through to Punk winning the belt, but after that the focus should've shifted more toward the ring.
They recapped Punk's win over Edge 'til the law of diminishing returns kicked in, and seeing Punk hold up the belt for the 10th time had very little impact. Granted, they had a ton of stuff, including an unexpected WHC title change, in the first half hour, and people tuning in later in the show would probably have been lost, but it would've meant so much more to hold off on showing the footage so much until next week's show. That would've been a boost to the quality of next week's show, to see Punk's title win and defense replayed for the first time since it happened. I mean, they'll have to recap the bulk of what happened this week anyway.
And we didn't need to see Edge arguing with his lackeys; that should've been saved until Smackdown, where Edge's story will actually progress. That's a no brainer.
And none of the backstage footage of JBL's security guys taking Cena outside the arena was necessary. As soon as they were behind the curtain and out of sight, that segment should've been over.
And all this happened in the same episode where we had the Mysterio/Marella segment -- which was admittedly entertaining. If Rey comes out next week in a batman suit, I'll be able to die a happy man. Plus the Noble/Kane thing... Am I the only one underwhelmed by this? The Larry the Cable Guy line was funny, but other than that it just felt like I'd seen this angle played out too many times already. If they want to do something with Noble, they should have him putting in a credible effort over someone closer to his size. Throwing him to Kane is going to do nothing to help either one of them get over, and it don't expect it to make for good in-ring action. If anything, it's a step backward for Kane. If he beats Noble, so what? If Noble beats him... that'll just take the wing right out of his Big-Red-Machine sails.
All that time they wasted could've been spent giving us some good matches. Because as far as matches go... this week was piss-poor. Rhodes and DiBiase squash some no-names. Mickie retains over Jillian. (Anyone think Jillian was slated for the belt? No... Anyone care about her match? No.) Jericho gets himself disqualified by pulling Kingston's tights. When's the last time that merited a DQ?? Punk retains over JBL, in a match that did nothing to build Punk's credibility. It was too short, JBL didn't look like a threat, and Punk got the win because JBL was distracted.
If the WWE really is paying attention to what we're saying here, I think we should be careful about dropping to our knees to service them just yet...
END RANT.