Two things:
1) I can't get behind the idea that some of you have that Axel is a bust. He gets a good fan reaction (yes, I know that part of that's reaction to Heyman, but that's what a manager's for) and his mic skills have gotten better since the "Beginning of the Genesis of the Beginning of Joe Henn.....er, Mike McGillicutty" promo. Besides, his promos always follow Heyman's, which hurts most people on the mic. Axel is also a very good in-ring performer. Some of you guys still saddle him because you didn't like his first WWE incarnation. He's got a lot of talent and has the capacity to have a big career in the WWE.
2) Some of you seem to be of the opinion that it would have been more realistic that a rookie fresh out of Florida would have a better chance of beating a four-time former World Champion than a guy who's wrestled four (unless I'm miscounting) main event matches for the WWE Championship (and it was strongly suggested that, without the interference of Brad Maddox and the Shield, that he would have beaten CM Punk for the WWE Championship). This is an opinion I can tolerate, but with which I very much disagree. While anybody could have shocked CM Punk with his appearance and put him through the table to set up Heyman/Axel beating Punk at NoC, what would such a rookie's chances be of really holding his own against one of the top guys in the company in a longer-term feud. This gives WWE a chance to do two things: 1) give Ryback a rub by having one or two high-quality PPV matches against their current No. 2 face, and, 2) give Punk a chance to further prove how good he really is by working strong matches and helping make Ryback look like a powerhouse (even though he'll doubtless lose at least one of those PPV matches to Punk), which furthers the idea that Punk is a scrappy, never-quit, never-say-die babyface. Like him or not, Ryback is seen by most "casuals" as being a powerful force in WWE and having two good PPV matches against Punk makes both men look strong. Oh, and by the way, this also gives Heyman more chances to lord his "superiority" over Punk and gives Punk more chances to cut promos against Heyman, which seems to bring out the best in him (which is saying something).
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