Taker upset at Slammys

[SFAeroTaker]

In my opinion, the only good thing about this year's Slammy awards was the "HBShizzle" award.

 

[Wacokid27]

I have to agree that Punk/Taker was a far better match, but the stance that it should've won because it was a solid match with good action and great storytelling (f**k the haters) is a fallacy. Remember, it's a show and the story that needed to be told is that Cena (the real face of the company for the last several years) vs. the Rock was not only a hugely important match, but the most important (read "Best") match of the year. Plus, whether they're setting up Rock/Cena III or not, they no doubt want the door to remain opened on the possibility.

As far as all-around story of a match goes, Rhodes Brothers vs. the Shield was the best of the three, but it didn't have all of the importance of either of the other two (Cena/Rock is obviously going to be important, particularly as it was for the WWE Title; Undertaker at Mania makes Punk/Taker hugely important just because of The Streak...Rhodes/Shield was just a couple of scrubs trying to win their jobs back from that perspective). Had it been an honest competition (and let's not forget that pro wrestling is not), Brock/Punk would have been nominated and, most likely, should have won (because it blew all three of them away from a psychology/storytelling/action standpoint).

wk

 

[seabs]

Still why would you want the same guys again when you have all this talent?

Whilst there is a lot of talent none have the superstar feel the AE had, that's what's currently missing IMO we have a ton of Chris Jerichos which is wonderful but without the Austins or the Hogans it doesn't work.

 

[Wacokid27]

Whilst there is a lot of talent none have the superstar feel the AE had, that's what's currently missing IMO we have a ton of Chris Jerichos which is wonderful but without the Austins or the Hogans it doesn't work.

Actually, we have the Austins (Punk and Orton both have characters that are more or less copied from Austin, although with different amounts of success) and we have the Hogans (Cena's character has become almost a carbon copy of the Hogan character from the 1980's), to go with our Jerichos and Michaelses (Bryan, Ziggler, etc., etc., etc.). What gets missed a lot of the time when talking about the Attitude Era is that pro wrestling went through a phase where it was cool to watch wrestling for people who weren't hardcore wrestling fans. Today, that's not the case. So, Cena and Punk and Orton could outdo every big-name guy in the history of the business and it would not have the same impact that Austin and the Rock did in the Attitude Era or that Hogan-Andre had at Mania III.

In other words, it's not a lack of talent or "starpower" as much as it is a lack of acceptability by the casuals. A big part of the reason for this is the popularity of MMA/UFC/whatever, which has the added bonus of not being scripted (which, apparently, means something to some people).

wk

 

[seabs]

Actually, we have the Austins (Punk and Orton both have characters that are more or less copied from Austin, although with different amounts of success) and we have the Hogans (Cena's character has become almost a carbon copy of the Hogan character from the 1980's), to go with our Jerichos and Michaelses (Bryan, Ziggler, etc., etc., etc.). What gets missed a lot of the time when talking about the Attitude Era is that pro wrestling went through a phase where it was cool to watch wrestling for people who weren't hardcore wrestling fans. Today, that's not the case. So, Cena and Punk and Orton could outdo every big-name guy in the history of the business and it would not have the same impact that Austin and the Rock did in the Attitude Era or that Hogan-Andre had at Mania III.

In other words, it's not a lack of talent or "starpower" as much as it is a lack of acceptability by the casuals. A big part of the reason for this is the popularity of MMA/UFC/whatever, which has the added bonus of not being scripted (which, apparently, means something to some people).

wk

Similar gimmicks but both lack the starpower which you admitted, of course those two things are linked a major star is responsible for a boom in popularity (and vice versa) that's why they become megastars. If Cena and Orton out did Hogan and Andre that audience would be required or they haven't outdone it if that makes sense.

 

[Wacokid27]

Similar gimmicks but both lack the starpower which you admitted, of course those two things are linked a major star is responsible for a boom in popularity (and vice versa) that's why they become megastars. If Cena and Orton out did Hogan and Andre that audience would be required or they haven't outdone it if that makes sense.

Point taken.

I guess what I was getting at was that those things happened at times when wrestling was cluing into mainstream fame. In both of those cases (much like the rage that was Gorgeous George back in the 1940's/1950's) it was a "perfect storm" of both wrestling being seen as mainstream entertainment and having stars that were able to take advantage of it.

My feeling is that wrestling has become a "niche" form of entertainment at best. Those mainstream spurts of fame wrestlers get are fewer and farther between than in the past (and a big part of that has been the fault of Vince McMahon, who has marketed WWE as a "kids' show" and "family entertainment" when through the majority of the history of pro wrestling, even during the heydays of Hogan, Austin, etc., pro wrestling, while kowtowing somewhat to children (mainly a function of Hogan's popularity with kids), was still treated as adult entertainment...not saying it was a bad thing as it has proven to be a smart business move). Since mainstream viewers see WWE as a "family friendly product", the love it used to get on a fairly regular basis now goes to UFC/MMA/etc.

wk

 

[SFAeroTaker]

Keep this in mind...

 

[Action Jackson]

It's not that Taker didn't return (like I'd expect him to this early anyway) but Taker vs. Punk did NOT win match of the year and I, along with the millions of Taker fans wanna know...why and how? Why didn't this match win and how didn't it win?

Dead Man Walkin'

Why are you such a mark?

 

[SFAeroTaker]

Why are you such a mark?

I don't know what that means.

 

[ENFORCER1]

Punk vs Taker was one of the best matches I've ever seen. How Rocky vs Cena 2 won and the Taker match didn't was just madness. Everything to do with the Taker vs Punk match was awesome, the storyline going in to it was amazingly told and heel Punk was just so epic then
:sad:

 

[Wacokid27]

Punk vs Taker was one of the best matches I've ever seen. How Rocky vs Cena 2 won and the Taker match didn't was just madness. Everything to do with the Taker vs Punk match was awesome, the storyline going in to it was amazingly told and heel Punk was just so epic then
:sad:

The humorous thing about that match is that nobody seems to think it was "just an alright match". Everybody I talk to about it either thinks it was an amazing match (which is my opinion, by the way) or that it completely sucked. Just funny that there doesn't seem to be a middle ground on it.

wk

 

[Action Jackson]

I don't know what that means.

Gimmick poster outed