wrestling / Columns
Thursday Sports Entertainment News Report 10.11.12
I can’t wait to see what she thinks of other specialty matches (ladder, elimination chamber, royal rumble, etc.) ALB’s insights are entertaining (woo woo woo you know it ^_^).
Latinfla4
I am pleased to announce that Awesome Ladybug Girl will be attending her first live WWE event this December at the TLC pay-per-view in Brooklyn. She’ll be getting tickets for her birthday later this month, and I’m beyond excited to give them to her. My hope is that she’ll be able to a) stay awake for the whole event and b) function at school the next day. Time will tell. She’s never even heard of a tables, ladders or chairs match, so this will be interesting to say the least! Anyone else plan on attending TLC in December?
Thank you Sean for being one of the ONLY voices on this site to call CM Punk out on his childish behavior! He has consistently acted like a jackass to fans when he is not in a planned setting he loves(like ComicCon). He attacks people on twitter, attacks fans at shows(I am sure a few deserve it) with the SLIGHTEST provocation. His attitude, combined with his overall look is why he will never be the face of WWE…
The Truth Shall Set You Free!
Your comment about attacking fans at shows turned out to be rather prescient given recent developments (more on that later). I’m glad that someone else out there recognizes that Punk, as a person, is…well…a punk. It’s never popular to call out an IWC darling for being a poofart (tm ALBG) , but I feels what I feels, you know? And for all those who feel obligated to defend the Straight Edge Superstar, you can take comfort knowing that Punk couldn’t care less about my opinion of him. I feel that the man is a gifted, talented performer, but he’s always come across to me like a pissy little jerk. Many people have said that CM Punk is a modern day Bret Hart. Many people have also said that Hart is a “huge mark for himself.” Take that as you will.
P.S. Thanks for being an advocate of the column. It means a lot to me that you not only enjoy my work, but take the time to spread the word.
While I don’t disagree that he is a pompous douche, your “by his logic” statement is unfair. He probably doesn’t walk up to Joe Ignola and try to tell him about bold lines and being a better penciler. That would be what he was attacking using insider terms and telling the person how to do their job.
Chris Johnson
Punk clearly took offense to the use of insider terms and for the rating of matches (“how many stars is this tweet?”) My “by his logic” statement stands, especially for passing judgment on how people perform in their professional duties. If he thinks wrestling matches shouldn’t be graded, then movies, sports teams, and politicians shouldn’t be graded by outsiders either. Of course, this is absurd, as everyone is entitled to their opinion, no matter how moronic it may seem. And let’s not forget, he’s publicly ridiculing a WWE fan in front of over 1 million followers. Classy, no? At least he’s not punching fans in the face. Oh wait…
Greetings, folks, and welcome to another edition of Thursday Sports Entertainment!
WORLD (WRESTLING ENTERTAINMENT) NEWS TONIGHT
Wow, what a week it’s been! Lots of interesting things to cover, so let’s get to it, shall we?
CM Punk got into an altercation with a fan at the end of Raw. Punk was in the crowd after managing to avoid Ryback’s finisher and while Vince McMahon was talking to him, Punk delivered a backhand to a fan and then turned around to shove the man. Security intervened and it was not clear if Punk actually made contact with the man.
WWE.com has an article where CM Punk spoke with the site about the fan altercation at Raw.
“I think the whole situation sucks,” Punk said. “It’s an unfortunate and isolated incident. I was up in the stands, surrounded. Somebody said, ‘let’s push him down the stairs. I got hit in the ribs three times. I was getting shoved and I was getting punched…Then I started getting tagged in the back of the head. Unfortunately, I lashed out in the heat of the moment and I apologize. I’m really just glad nobody was hurt.”
According to Pwinsider.com, a public affairs representative in the Sacramento Police Department has confirmed that the fan who was hit by CM Punk on Monday has declined to press charges and the authorities have determined they will not continue to investigate.
According to Laura Cole of Sacramento.CBSLocal.com, Charles Schmidt, the fan struck by CM Punk Raw, is considering hiring an attorney for a possible lawsuit.
See that animated gif above? In that video, you clearly see the fan in the grey/white t-shirt hit Punk on the head, while the poor schmuck that got hit by Punk was just putting on his sunglasses. Now, I don’t blame Punk at all for being angry. Other videos show people punching him, and getting hit in the kidneys hurts like hell. Punk was totally in the right to be pissed.
However, he should NOT have hit a fan! These are paying customers of a publicly traded company. Punk is the champion and is supposed to act like a professional. Sure, he has the right to defend himself – and if he hit the right guy I’d say more power to him. But he hit the wrong guy. What he should have done was move away and let security take care of the situation. Why security wasn’t there in time, I have no idea. But at the end of the day, an innocent man was cold cocked by a professional fighter, and thanks to the internet, millions of people have seen it happen.
Punk is lucky that Mr. Schmidt has declined to press criminal charges. However, Mr. Schmidt should and probably will look for civil damages. He went there to watch a show, and wound up getting assaulted and humiliated. Whatever settlement he gets, he deserves every penny.
This just reinforces the image I have of Punk – he’s a pissy little prick. There’s zero doubt in my mind about this. Think Undertaker would have struck an innocent fan? How about John Cena? The answer is no, because they are pros that can control themselves.
But you know what the best part about all this is? Punk punched a guy square in the face and said “I’m really just glad nobody was hurt.” So either Punk is lying or he knows he has the weakest backhand on the planet!
He’s still a pompous douche.
According to gawker.com, a burned DVD copy of Hulk having sex with the woman rumored to be Heather Clem (Bubba the Love Sponge’s ex-wife), was delivered to them, and now a sample is posted online.
If you want to check out the video and a “blow by blow” of the event, you can go here.
According to TMZ, Hulk Hogan has been on Howard Stern discussing his sex tape. Here are the details he dropped about the tape…
* The tape was done six years ago.
* He was still married to Linda at the time.
* Hulk says she drove him to have sex outside the marriage because she was so verbally and emotionally abusive to him.
* The woman in the video was Heather Clem, wife of Bubba The Love Sponge.
* Bubba gave Hulk his blessing to have sex with her.
* Hulk admitted his performance wasn’t exactly “tip-top”
* He is working to find out who released the tape, and will press charges.
* Finally, he says he didn’t know he was being recorded.
Hulk Hogan says that he’s “sick to my stomach” after learning that Bubba the Love Sponge bragged that Hogan’s sex tape would be worth a lot of money. Hogan called TMZ Live and was told about the news, which was a shock to him.
Hogan says that Bubba denied having any knowledge of the sex tape and said he didn’t know there was a camera recording at all. He says he told Bubba, “If you had anything to do with this, that means we were never friends.”
I think Bubba and his wife set up Hogan. Some people have speculated that Hogan was in on it, but if he were, I don’t think he’d be talking so much about feeling like a pig and how beat up he is. If Hogan knew he was being filmed, I’m sure we’d get a lot more posturing and studly dialogue from him. None of this “Oh man I just ate 10 minutes ago and I feel like a pig” stuff he was rambling about. Because nothing turns on the ladies like bitching about how you’re gonna puke.
If Bubba’s wife was throwing herself at Hogan with Bubba’s blessing, and if the location of the shoot was indeed Bubba’s bedroom, then Mr. & Mrs. Love Sponge are the most likely culprits in my mind. Think about it. There’s a camera in their bedroom, focused squarely on the bed. She tries for years to seduce the Hulkster. Then Bubba brags about how valuable such footage will be. Who else could have taped it?
I’m just surprised that Gawker left the most riveting part of the tape out of their recap. To see a NSFW image from the exciting moment, CLICK HERE!
According to WrestlingObserver.com, Vince McMahon was not in a good mood this afternoon before Raw. The fallout was that after working for WWE for over a decade, Brian Gewirtz was removed as the head writer. Gewirtz will remain under contract as a consultant
People backstage are said to be scared, and Vince told the producers today, “I want results or I want resignations.”
This was a long time coming. WWE Creative has desperately needed a fresh take and this is a decent way to start. What amuses me is that McMahon is often reported as the one man who has final say over Creative, and his daughter runs the division. Surely he’s not going to fire himself or his daughter, so Gewirtz gets the hammer.
If McMahon really wanted to shake things up, he’d remove himself from the day-to-day aspects of creative. Gewirtz’s replacement could come up with a million brilliant ideas, but if McMahon rejects them all and only allows the same kind of stories that have been hitting the airwaves for 10 years to filter through, then not much will change, will it? Do you think Gerwitz being replaced will change anything?
Over the last few weeks, a number of top talents have approached Vince McMahon voicing their concern over WWE’s current product.
One top talent had a verbal back and forth with McMahon in front of everyone at last night’s Raw. During the exchange, the talent (unnamed at this time) basically told Vince the writing sucks and that McMahon doesn’t have his finger on the pulse of things anymore. The talent continued on to say that Vince needs to start listening to people around him, and that when WWE goes to “hell in a handbasket,” it will be all Vince’s fault
McMahon’s top stars, along with pressure from NBC Universal to fix the ratings is said to be a huge slap in McMahon’s face. This all played a factor in McMahon making drastic changes, and word is that more changes will be coming to the product.
Anyone want to guess who this top talent is? My guess is CM Punk. The only other two talents that could get away with saying something like this are John Cena and HHH, and I doubt it was them.
Whomever it was, he’s right. Vince is allegedly a micro-manager, so all the content that makes the air has his stamp of approval. If it’s not drawing the ratings, then he’s responsible as well. Just don’t expect a Type-A personality like Vince to admit culpability any time soon.
Who do you think stood up to McMahon?
POSSIBLE SPOILERSWWE is considering running a Mick Foley vs. CM Punk match at the December TLC PPV. The PPV is set for the Barclays Center in the new York market, which is where Foley is from. Also Foley started a program of sorts with Punk last week, where Foley cut the promo on Punk, and then Punk laid his out at the end of Raw.
The feeling is that a program with Foley vs. Punk would bridge the gap from TLC to the next PPV, Royal Rumble. Punk would face one WWE Legend, Foley, before facing another legend, The Rock.
I like Foley, and while it would be fun to watch, such a match wouldn’t help things long term. Punk doesn’t need any more heel heat (ooooh, I said “heel” and “heat”), and Foley would just be taking up a spot that someone with more potential could be using. From a company perspective, I don’t think that they should go through with it.
From a personal perspective, I’d love to see Foley wrestle live. I like him a lot, and it will be fun to watch Awesome Ladybug Girl witness the Hardcore Legend in action – ALIVE! What do you folks think? Should Foley wrestle at the TLC pay-per-view?
WWE has broken off negotiations with Chris Jericho on a new contract. Jericho had been negotiating with the company for a return and was open to returning as early as this month, but the sticking point came when Jericho wanted to maintain control of his own schedule. Jericho wanted to work forty to fifty dates a year, going full-time at periods and helping out with developmental. However he wanted to determine the periods when he worked and was going to be unavailable during his tours.
WWE, on the other hand, wanted to ensure that they would be his top priority and wanted some control over his schedule because of that. The talks have ceased rather recently.
This puzzles me. Jericho has always showed up when it counts and he’s proven himself to be a loyal and valuable commodity. It seems that his loyalty is being punished. If Jericho were smart, he’d disappear from the wrestling scene for a long time.
Think about it. Guys like the Rock and Brock Lesnar leave for years to pursue other opportunities. When they’re successful, they get large paydays and limited dates. Guys like Jericho leave, become (somewhat) successful, but return for smaller paydays relative to the number of days worked. WWE has a bizarre relationship with talent that doesn’t commit to them. The less a main event talent is willing to commit, the more they want him. The opposite is true as well. The more a popular wrestler is willing to commit, the less they want him. Poor Jericho gets screwed over for being a good company guy.
REVIEW OF “A MOST MIZERABLE CHRISTMAS”
Every night before bed, Awesome Ladybug Girl and I read a story together. Usually, she’ll read the book to me, but if it’s too long or at a higher reading level for her age, I’ll read the book to her. This past Monday, I read Victoria Mick Foley’s latest story: “A Most Mizerable Christmas.”
Foley is an experienced author of children’s books, penning Christmas Chaos, Halloween Hijinx, & Tales from Wrescal Lane. Foley seems to have the niche market of “holiday children’s books featuring wrestlers” cornered, for sure. I’ve never read any of the other books, so I had no idea what to expect when reading A Most Mizerable Christmas.
The plot summary is as follows: A class full of pint-sized wrestlers are given an assignment by their teacher, Ms. Guerrero, to write a letter to Santa. The school bully, The Miz, mocks his classmates but sets his sights on the new kid in class: CM Punk. Miz grabs Punk’s letter to Santa, ready to read it aloud to everyone. To Miz’s surprise, the letter is blank, and CM Punk declares he doesn’t want to get any presents as he already has enough toys. The Miz becomes irate, and for some unexplained reason decides to head to McMahonville Mall to visit Santa to discuss the matter.
Miz confronts Santa at the mall, only to discover that Santa is fed up with his naughty ways. Santa sics his newest helper, a muscular “Cenelf” on the Miz. John Cenelf unceremoniously kicks the Miz out of the mall. The Miz, being the scheming brat that he is, hatches a plan to trick Santa into giving him presents. He makes a laundry list of toy requests, signs the note as CM Punk, but puts his own address as Punk’s address. To further the charade, he dresses up as Punk and spraypaints “CM Punk Lives Here” on the roof of his house. With luck, Miz will fool Santa into thinking he’s delivering toys to Punk instead of Miz.
Miz awakes on Christmas morning to discover that he has received nothing. The Cenelf appears again, explaining that Santa cannot be tricked and that Miz is getting what he deserves in a mysterious blue stocking. With a wave of his “you can’t see me” hand, the Cenelf disappears.
Miz goes outside and cries his eyes out. The other neighborhood kids kind of watch but don’t provide him any comfort at all. CM Punk tells everyone that he’s just happy to have friends. The rest of the kids build a snowman, sans eyes, and call it a day. Alone, the Miz is all cried out. He plans to destroy the eyeless snowman that the other kids have built.
Then, suddenly, for no reason, the Miz has a change of heart. He decides to not destroy the snowman, and realizes that the two lumps of coal in his mysterious blue stocking would make perfect snowman eyes. He places the coal eyes on the snowman, and he’s seemingly changed forever. The end.
To me, the plot seemed meandering and lacking a consistent message. First, the moral seems to be to not ask for too much for Christmas (aka, don’t be greedy). Then it turns into a plot to trick Santa. Then, it’s about the importance of friendship, even though all the other wrestler-kids left Miz to rot when he was distraught. Then, Miz learns the importance of being nice, but there’s absolutely no big catalyst that drives this sudden transformation. One minute, he’s ready to smash their snowman, then, he literally changes in an instant and becomes nice. This isn’t Ebenezer Scrooge waking up from a terrifying series of dreams/visits to get a new lease on life. Miz’s transformation is totally random.
Also, why didn’t the snowman have eyes? The book shows CM Punk holding a dozen carrots, but there are no rocks or buttons available in the whole neighborhood to make eyes? Clearly, there are no eyes because it’s necessary to the plot, but it’s such an obvious plot device that makes little sense.
The book is written in rhyme, and even though the target audience is for 6 year olds, it comes in at a whopping 48 pages. By comparison, the classic Christmas tale http://www.twitter.com/411mania
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SIGNING OFF
Thanks for making Thursday Sports Entertainment your destination for Wrestling News, Opinions, etc. I won’t be able to do next week’s column as I’ll be away. No worries, you can still flame me in defense of CM Punk below!
Hasta Jueves,
This is Sean.
