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The saga between former WWE champion CM Punk and his old employer is far from over. ICYMI, last week, Punk went on Colt Cabana's "The Art of Wrestling" podcast to explain why he left the WWE, uncovering details about the organization that were previously unknown to wrestling fans.
Then, in response, WWE Chairman and CEO Vince McMahon appeared on Stone Cold Steve Austin's podcast just a couple days later to clear the air about Punk's revelations, going so far as to formally apologize to him.
However, the wounds between the two parties have yet to heal. Returning to Cabana's podcast this week, Punk reiterated his desire to stay retired from the WWE, and assured Cabana that his beef with the organization is still alive. Responding to remarks made by fellow wrestler Chris Jericho, Punk held nothing back:Jericho thinks that I feel exactly how he felt in 2005. He left for two, two-and-a-half years or something like that. So, from his perspective, he felt in 2005, when he left, he was never gonna come back and he sees me saying that and he's probably like, 'Just wait three years, you'll feel like it'll come back.' And I can see his point of view, but then, in turn, I'd go, 'Motherfucker, they didn't fire you on your wedding day. They didn't purposely and maliciously try to ruin a day that was supposed to be special to everybody—it's your wedding day.Full Interview:
I don't want to hear, 'It was a coincidence." I don't want to hear, 'Oh, the lawyers didn't talk to talent relations.' ... My wife asked for that time off so she could a) get married, b) go on her honeymoon. ... They knew. If the apology was sincere, you wouldn't use it as a publicity stunt on Austin's podcast. You have my phone number, you have my address, you could text, you could call, you could show up when you're a 10-minute fucking drive from my house and apologize to me like a man. That's the fucking reality of it. That's the fucking timeline, ladies and gentlemen. I was sick and fucking hurt and sick and tired and burnt-out and I walked and I can do that because I'm an independent fucking contractor."
https://soundcloud.com/coltcabana/ao...m-punk-returns
Quote:
Originally Posted by MaskedAvenger
--- Lucha Underground is the wrestling show you need to be watching
There is a ton of wrestling on television and the internet on a weekly basis. If you were to attempt to watch it all, you'd be watching eight to eleven hours of WWE/NXT, two hours of Impact Wrestling (or best of Impact Wrestling), one hour of ROH, plus new shows like Lucha Underground, NJPW's upcoming new show on AXS, and whatever local wrestling and indie DVDs you consider your forte. In all of this, there is one hour you MUST watch, and surprisingly, it is Lucha Underground.
For years, I've been begging wrestling promotions to do something different. My theory has been to keep the ring, but scrap the rest. Throw out the normal format of a wrestling show. Throw out the giant arenas with big screens. Throw out the production techniques wrestling has used for years and try something new. Lucha Underground is finally doing this.
Let's start with "The Temple," where Lucha Underground's action occurs. It looks a little dingy. It's small. There are visible walls. The audience doesn't look innumerable on television. It's not the standard wrestling arena WWE excels at producing TV in and Impact Wrestling spent too many years trying to recreate/copy. It is a unique location. It looks like a place fighters would go to fight. It reminds me of the place Ryan Atwood randomly began fighting people at on The OC in season four after Marissa Cooper died. The venue itself completely changes the feel of the show.
Production-wise, The Temple is well-lit. This may seem like a little thing or like an obvious trait, but when was the last time Ring of Honor had a well-lit show (never is the answer)? Lucha Underground is also shot in a different way than most wrestling products. Once again, they look at the standard formula and do something else. This is massively important in wrestling. TNA's director formerly worked for WCW and seems to have developed ADD. Kevin Dunn, WWE's major production force, has been quite talented for years, but has failed to evolve/adapt past 1997. Lucha Underground seems to be the only wrestling company with the budget and the bravery to evolve.
While all of this is nice, wrestling shows are about characters. More than anything else, the characters need to be likable/hatable and mostly relatable. The triumph of Lucha Underground is the characters they have managed to develop. They create characters, almost out of legends, painting with broad stokes to create archetypes, then filling in the details. After just a few episodes, they have some of my favorite characters in all of wrestling. Lucha Underground has found a way to quickly introduce talent without it being overwhelming to the audience.
The character of Sexy Star (despite the worst name I could imagine), has stood out above the rest of this roster. She is a woman who survived domestic abuse and found her strength in lucha. She wears a mask and she wrestles men. It's interesting, because on paper it doesn't seem like much, but when her story is presented visually, it evokes emotion. It causes viewers to connect. She is already the best female character in professional wrestling and it only took a little over a month.
Another fantastic character is Lucha Underground's attempt to create a sure-fire homegrown star, Prince Puma. Puma is a "descendent of Aztec warriors" (see what I mean about characters being created from legends) and he is one of the most athletic wrestlers in the world today. He is portrayed by Ricochet, who is a worldwide wrestling standout. His athleticism alone makes him must-see. Puma was introduced by Konnan as the next major wrestling star and he is living up to Lucha Underground's hype.
As much as I have enjoyed Lucha Underground, they still rely on some tropes I don't necessarily enjoy. The heel authority figure was played out over ten years ago and this is another wrestling promotion with one. While their approach to it is a little different, it isn't necessary. It's also impossible to bring up tropes without mentioning Matt Striker, who has serious issues on commentary. One moment, he seems like a fountain of occasionally accurate knowledge, but he seems to yell half of his lines and throw in a little too much hyperbole. The sound mixing on commentary could also be improved, especially the studio voice overs.
Lucha Underground is the wrestling show you need to be watching. It's one hour per week and it is fun to watch. This is a show I'm happy to add to my regular rotation of weekly programming. It seems to leave fans wanting more each time it goes off the air, and that is a good thing.
WWE Raw Poll: Do you believe Roman Reigns legitimately won the fan vote?
Yes. I believe Roman Reigns legitimately won the fan vote for Superstar of the
Year. 15%
No. I don't believe Roman Reigns legitimately won the fan vote for Superstar of the Year. 85%
How was TLC?
Good to see Demolition is back.
Reminder of a new wrestling reality show on WGN America channel that starts soon.
That show looks like it is going to be stupid.
To say it's taken a while to end up with this iteration of The Ascension is an understatement. Konnor first signed with WWE in 2005. He worked in the Deep South developmental system until 2007, never making the jump to the main roster. He was apparently scheduled to be part of the ECW roster when it re-debuted on Sci-Fi, but got a wellness policy suspension shortly before the show started. He was granted his release, and took some time off from wrestling, returning in 2009, and eventually resigning for the WWE in 2010.
He finally made a jump to the main roster in December 2010, albeit on the 4th season of NXT, in its original, pre-developmental form. His pro "mentor" was Alberto Del Rio, and he worked under the gimmick that he looked like a rat. Inexplicably, this didn't get over, and he was the second contestant eliminated. He appeared on the following season, NXT Redemption, but was again eliminated.
When Florida Championship Wrestling was re-branded as NXT Wrestling, Konnor, wrestling as Conor O'Brian, was part of Ricardo Rodriguez's Ascension stable, which included Kenneth Cameron, Tito Colon (Epico) and Raquel Diaz (Shaul Guerrero). The stable was eventually whittled down to just O'Brian and Cameron, who started to take on modern gothic characteristics, in particular emulating the style of the Underworld movies.
The team appeared on the first ever episode of the new NXT TV in June 2012, defeating Mike Dalton (Tyler Breeze) and CJ Parker. Viktor, who had signed for NXT in 2010 after bumping around the indies for 10 years, also appeared on this episode, wrestling under the name Rick Victor in a losing effort to Bo Dallas. Victor engaged in a brief feud with NXT Champion Seth Rollins before disappearing from TV for almost a year.
The Ascension tag team also had a less than smooth year. They were pushed as a dominant team, facing off and defeating the likes of The Usos, and Tyson Kidd and Justin Gabriel. But things came off the rails when Cameron was released in November 2012, following an arrest for allegedly attacking a police officer while intoxicated. Cameron has since resurfaced in TNA as Bram. O'Brian, meanwhile, continued as a singles act, and feuded with NXT Champion Big E.
In June 2013, Victor started to appear at the end of O'Brian's matches, watching on impressed. The two reformed the Ascension tag team, and in October 2013, they won the NXT Tag Team Titles from Adrian Neville and Corey Graves. They held the titles for 11 months, but rarely defended them, instead squashing jobber teams. They defeated the returning Too Cool at the first NXT Live Special, Arrival, and defeated the team of Kalisto and El Local at the first Takeover show. By this point, the gothic elements had been phased out, with the team instead being defined by their intensity, and they changed their names to simply Konnor and Viktor.
Kalisto formed a new team with Sin Cara, and they managed to capture the titles at Takeover II. Konnor and Viktor appeared later in the show to attack the debuting Hideo Itami, starting a feud. After weeks of beating down Itami, the Japanese star called in "a friend", the debuting Finn Bálor, and they formed a team that took down The Ascension at Takeover III.
What A Rush.Quote:
Originally Posted by netscape check two
Wait wrong tag team....
^^
ha ha that should be great