Last week, the WWE officially booked Punk vs. Ryback for Hell in a Cell and many of you wanted to know what I thought about that. Granted, I was on vacation and didn't do a Wrap Up, but I tried to respond to as many of you as I could about it, via the twitter slow-motion suicide machine. It was difficult, because I was traipsing around Vegas, doing stupid things and ingesting poisons in various shapes and sizes. First, I hit a jackpot downtown ("jackpot" = "drifter with my car"). Then I headed to the Strip ("Strip" = "police station to turn myself in"). From there on out, it was all one big non-stop party ("party" = "merciless beating by my angry cellmates").
But since nothing all that monumental happened last night, regarding Punk and Ryback, I can still talk about it as if the match was just booked. Like it's still a new thing. And word has it that the writers, including Vince himself, are having a really tough time figuring out how to end the match. It's going to go on last, and it's (so far) the only actual Hell in a Cell match, but they don't want to end a PPV in a swerve. Reportedly. But they also don't want Ryback to lose clean. Which is weird since the last PPV didn't end clean. I mean, do they consider it clean if there's a 1,2,3 even though the decision gets overturned? Anyhow, apparently Punk and Ryback have been working super hard on making this thing work, with Punk leading Ry-Ry through the match. Yes, Brock Lesnar is being considered as a wild card, but it would waste one (if not two, if he shows up on RAW the next night) of his live appearance dates. He only has so many. And Triple H needs him for his WrestleMania revenge tour.
Thar she blooows!
How about this? How about Triple H never comes back to the ring. I know it's wrestling, and heroes need to bounce back...but why not give Brock, and Brock's WrestleMania loss, to Ryback? Yes, I've been more than transparent about not wanting Ryback to face Undertaker, but I also think this could be a good move for Ryback. Feed him Lesnar. It will make a huge statement and it won't piss off everyone in the entire world! Look, I think the best thing to be said about Punk vs. Ryback is that it looks like Punk's going to, somehow, walk away with the belt. At this point, it's all Punk needs to do really. He doesn't need to look strong against Ryback, just smart. And if the ultra-scientific concept of pro-wrestling "Opposite Momentum" means anything (which it does about 85% of the time) Punk and Sheamus are set to retain their titles.
JR actually brought up Ryback's undefeated streak last night, which I don't think I've ever heard anyone fully talk about. Not like Goldberg, who Ryback is a clear shadow of. Ryback has a "streak," but it's not the central focus. So can he handle a loss to Punk? Ryback's already "won" matches by countouts and DQs. He's even gone into battle and had matches that never started officially. I think Ryback will be okay if Punk ekes past him. Those out there who are fans of Rybac won't give a s***. Because, for whatever reason, the choices they've made in their life have led them to become Ryback fans. So clearly, nothing matters to them. Look, I'll say this right now, I was not a Goldberg fan. I just wasn't. I know I'm in the minority and it was certainly a smart business play for WCW, but I hated the way their entire roster got debased. Devalued. It created a huge gap between the handful of Main Eventers and...everyone else. It was like instant wrestling feudalism.
On the upside, I hear that Ryback (the former Nexus cowboy dope, Skip) is a really nice, solid and humble guy who has a huge passion for wrestling. So pretty much an anti-Goldberg behind the scenes. The poor guy's got a foul Hungry Mungry gimmick and had oozing pink eye for about three months, but at least he's quaint. John Cena went down. This was the best the WWE could do on shirt notice and... look, Ryback gets a massive pop whenever he trounces Punk. They could even have him win the belt. Yeah, there are a handful of reasons why that would super suck, but it sure would create a memorable moment.
Speaking of winning the belt, Ryback was on a path to win the IC Title when he got catapulted into Punk's orbit. Ryback squashed Miz last night, and if it had been one week earlier, it would have won him the IC belt. Again...huge chasm now between the guy who's challenging for the WWE Title and the guy who was just the IC Champ last week. Big effin' gap. The Goldberg gap. And the Goldberg Gap, unfortunately, works to keep wrestlers in their spot. With no upward mobility. I will say this, the WWE's programming hasn't been stellar as of late, and Vince came in two weeks ago to try and shake things out of a severe ratings rut, but the one thing that I've been enjoying are the matches. The Miz/Kofi matches have been great, as have the Sheamus/Barrett ones. Ziggler continues to lose most every match (except last night) so I hope that means he's due to pick up the WHT at some point. He's booked to face Ryback next week on Main Event and now there's a chance that one, or both, of them could be a world champ. Even the couple of Punk/Sheamus matches have been fun. And to hear Sheamus describe last night's Lumberjack match? "Toirty fellas on de ohtsoid of da rang!"
By the way, anyone else surprised that Mason Ryan's still around and picking up a paycheck? Oh, Lumberjack matches. You sure do scrape the bottom of the yogurt cup.
AJ signs off as RAW GM because she's getting her "attitude adjusted" by John Cena on page 2...
Also, VOTE FOR YOUR FAVORITE WRESTLER OF ALL TIME!! Page 2! Page 2!
Source : ign[dot]com
