WWE: WWE TV - Raw & Smackdown Part 3

[FriendlyGhost92]

We will see there was a lot of the exact same conversation when he debuted in AEW. Like word for word I remember the same conversation and ironically I think the closest it got to happening was the Hangman feud lol it is the direction they should go but we will see if they actually do.

There's a couple differences here...

1. You now have fresh incidents here that weren't there in AEW. (Not from his debut, at least. Post Brawl Out, maybe) Punk's prior issues in the wrestling business were mostly Anti-corporate WWE, which makes you a total babyface in AEW. "I want to be here" and "I love this place" statements sound a lot more authentic to AEW two years ago than they do to WWE considering all the shit he's talked about the WWE over the last 10 years.

Not to mention "Everybody loves me in the back, people were giving me hugs" is so over the top it sounds like intentionally cringey BS. Honestly, I'm sure there are probably very few people in WWE putting up any protest to Punk being back, but him framing himself like a Bryan Danielson/Mick Foley beloved human being sounds like deliberate bullshit.

2. For AEW being still a baby company at the time he was signed, it probably would've been stupid to turn Punk heel. He was their top draw and they were (And still are) trying to reach a point where they're actually profitable. (TV deal being the key)

3. Tony is nowhere near the intelligent booker Triple H is lol.

 

[FriendlyGhost92]

Funny, as I was typing that I realized... Honestly, probably less than half of these guys have ever actually worked with Punk.

Roman and Rollins were barely up (Though The Shield's debut was heavily tied to Punk) and then Cody, Randy, Rey, Kofi, Miz, and the Usos? Randy and Cody certainly seem cool with him and we know he and Kofi were pretty close in his prior run. I don't think Rey hates anybody or would do anything to make somebody hate him. Dunno about the Usos and I can't recall if he and Miz squashed their beef or not.

KO and Sami worked with him in ROH and KO has previously mentioned that Punk was a dick, but that was also 15 years ago and will probably not be held against him. If anything they'll be mad at Punk because they're buddies with the Bucks.

AJ and LA Knight have been around for two decades, but never really crossed paths with Punk, except for maybe AJ with Punk's brief stint in TNA.

 

[Sheppy]

Rumors of RAW's media deal being finalized so that might have been the business.

You could tell.

 

[Sheppy]

3 hour RAWs are an absolute killer.

 

[AtlantaWhaler]

3 hour RAWs are an absolute killer.

Doesn't help to have to figure out an additional 4 hours of programming (combined) for the other two shows as well. Too much.

 

[TD Charlie]

Doesn't help to have to figure out an additional 4 hours of programming (combined) for the other two shows as well. Too much.

2 hours for Smackdown is perfectly fine. There are nights where it drags crazy in the middle, but then some nights it goes by fairly quick too. 3 hours on Monday is just rough. I don't need to see a filler match between 2 low card shmucks run for 3-4 segments.

 

[Satans Hockey]

AJ and LA Knight have been around for two decades, but never really crossed paths with Punk, except for maybe AJ with Punk's brief stint in TNA.

AJ and Punk had a bunch of matches in ROH and some other indies. There was also this...

AJ Styles Fires Back At CM Punk, Says He Does Not Respect Former WWE Star

WWE Superstar AJ Styles has responded to CM Punk after the former WWE Superstar called Styles out for his silence amid racial unrest.

www.forbes.com

 

[FriendlyGhost92]

AJ and Punk had a bunch of matches in ROH and some other indies. There was also this...

AJ Styles Fires Back At CM Punk, Says He Does Not Respect Former WWE Star

WWE Superstar AJ Styles has responded to CM Punk after the former WWE Superstar called Styles out for his silence amid racial unrest.

www.forbes.com

Haaaa. I forgot about that. Punk showed his ass on that one.

ROH had to be very early in Punk's career, no? AJ was in TNA by something like 2004 or 2005, I thought.

AJ also doesn't like Heyman at all, so safe to say they wont be traveling in the same circles.

 

[AtlantaWhaler]

2 hours for Smackdown is perfectly fine. There are nights where it drags crazy in the middle, but then some nights it goes by fairly quick too. 3 hours on Monday is just rough. I don't need to see a filler match between 2 low card shmucks run for 3-4 segments.

Per show, maybe. But you have to be a real fan to have any desire to watch 7 hours (plus PPV's) a week of wrestling (not even including AEW and others).

Plus, I know there is separate booking per show, but that's still 7 hours of booking for one company on a weekly basis. There's going to be a lot of crap needed to fill that much content.

 

[93gilmour93]

Rumours are that Punk vs Reigns is the plan. I’d much rather see this than another Cody vs Roman at Wrestlemania in the main event. That feels like a much bigger match for an event like WM

 

[TD Charlie]

Per show, maybe. But you have to be a real fan to have any desire to watch 7 hours (plus PPV's) a week of wrestling (not even including AEW and others).

Plus, I know there is separate booking per show, but that's still 7 hours of booking for one company on a weekly basis. There's going to be a lot of crap needed to fill that much content.

Are you including NXT? I don't think I've seen maybe more than 2 or 3 full episodes of NXT. It doesn't count. You're right about it being a burden on the writers though. I would have a hard time fantasy booking for ONE guy over the course of a few months. These creative teams pump out so much. Lots of it is trash, sure, but content is content I guess

Rumours are that Punk vs Reigns is the plan. I’d much rather see this than another Cody vs Roman at Wrestlemania in the main event. That feels like a much bigger match for an event like WM

Cody v Roman makes too much sense. I hate it, but it's probably still the right thing to do.

From a match quality standpoint, not to mention a 4 month build, Punk v Rollins far surpasses anything the WWE can put together right now...outside of Gunther v Brock of course

 

[93gilmour93]

Cody v Roman makes too much sense. I hate it, but it's probably still the right thing to do.

From a match quality standpoint, not to mention a 4 month build, Punk v Rollins far surpasses anything the WWE can put together right now...outside of Gunther v Brock of course

Punk vs Rollins will definitely happen at some point but it sure sounds like from stuff I’ve heard that the company wants as big a Wrestlemania as possible for the first one under the endeavour umbrella and they may want Punk vs Roman. Punk vs Heyman on the microphone would be epic leading up to the match. The one thing up in the air is they may do Rollins/Punk first and then Reigns/Punk in the summer which would mean Roman keeps the belt again at Maina

 

[Khelandros]

Punk vs Rollins will definitely happen at some point but it sure sounds like from stuff I’ve heard that the company wants as big a Wrestlemania as possible for the first one under the endeavour umbrella and they may want Punk vs Roman. Punk vs Heyman on the microphone would be epic leading up to the match. The one thing up in the air is they may do Rollins/Punk first and then Reigns/Punk in the summer which would mean Roman keeps the belt again at Maina

Plan is probably to pass Hogan as the "longest" reigning champion, to kind of write him out of the history books. So another year and a bit to go with Roman as Champ.

 

[Emperoreddy]

I have seen zero rumors that say Punk/Roman is the Mania plan.

Only thing was that they want to do a Punk/Roman feud at some point but it won't happen until after Punk/Seth is done

 

[TD Charlie]

I have seen zero rumors that say Punk/Roman is the Mania plan.

Only thing was that they want to do a Punk/Roman feud at some point but it won't happen until after Punk/Seth is done

They will get there at some point I'm sure, but it's not priority #1 for me.

 

[AtlantaWhaler]

Are you including NXT? I don't think I've seen maybe more than 2 or 3 full episodes of NXT. It doesn't count. You're right about it being a burden on the writers though. I would have a hard time fantasy booking for ONE guy over the course of a few months. These creative teams pump out so much. Lots of it is trash, sure, but content is content I guess

It doesn't count because you don't watch it? Of course it counts. It's enough to tune out even the most dedicated wrestling fans.

 

[TD Charlie]

It doesn't count because you don't watch it? Of course it counts. It's enough to tune out even the most dedicated wrestling fans.

For me. Does not count.

 

[AtlantaWhaler]

For me. Does not count.

Explain...it's wrestling, WWE, and even includes a lot of the main roster folks. How does it not count among the 7 hours of available WWE programming?

 

[GKJ]

I have seen zero rumors that say Punk/Roman is the Mania plan.

Only thing was that they want to do a Punk/Roman feud at some point but it won't happen until after Punk/Seth is done

That’s the same thing I saw. Nothing about Punk/Roman at Wrestlemania.

 

[mrmovies779]

give me Walter vs Roman at WM

 

[TD Charlie]

Explain...it's wrestling, WWE, and even includes a lot of the main roster folks. How does it not count among the 7 hours of available WWE programming?

It’s treated almost entirely as a different company and I don’t watch it. It doesn’t count for me

 

[Satans Hockey]

Haaaa. I forgot about that. Punk showed his ass on that one.

ROH had to be very early in Punk's career, no? AJ was in TNA by something like 2004 or 2005, I thought.

AJ also doesn't like Heyman at all, so safe to say they wont be traveling in the same circles.

Match wise they fought each other 03/04 but they were both in ROH in different times together from 02-05. AJ was doing both during that time because TNA only had a brief moment during that time frame that they wouldn't let guys do ROH too.

 

[FriendlyGhost92]

I have seen zero rumors that say Punk/Roman is the Mania plan.

Only thing was that they want to do a Punk/Roman feud at some point but it won't happen until after Punk/Seth is done

I'm not getting where that falls on the timeline, honestly.

Seems like Roman's getting Randy at RR, and I assume WM is Punk/Rollins and Roman/Cody. Assuming Roman drops the belt to Cody, I think he almost has to go away until SS.

I figure when he comes back they'd be dumb not to flip the switch on him as a face, and at that point, Solo is the obvious program.

 

[Fro]

Dreamer suggested it on Busted Open, I'm listening to the YT pod they do of the show...Basically they condense it...but his idea and they all ran with how it can work

 

[TD Charlie]

Dreamer suggested it on Busted Open, I'm listening to the YT pod they do of the show...Basically they condense it...but his idea and they all ran with how it can work

I think it's worth doing at some point, but no need to when you have 2 nights for Wrestlemania. Punk and Roman are likely to be the two biggest draws in WWE, no need to combine them right now.