The Critic

QUOTE (Iwritecode @ Aug 2, 2011 -> 09:14 AM) Lately though it hasn't really been cooling off at night. Last weekend I was outside sitting in a chair at 10 PM and still sweating. Yep. It's been a sweaty experience walking to the bus stop at 3:15 AM. 80 degrees at 3 AM is not a "low temperature".

The Mrs. LOVED the show last night. She said it was one of the top 5 shows she's ever seen.

My wife is having a nice retro music weekend. Journey, Foreigner and Night Ranger tonight and Paul McCartney tomorrow night. She's really excited about it and I'm happy for her. I wouldn't have minded seeing the show tonight (but I wasn't about to intrude on her Girls' Night with her friends). I saw Paul back in 1989 and I really don't want to see a concert at Wrigley.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Jul 30, 2011 -> 04:59 PM) Entertaining 5th inning in this Cubs/Cardinals game. Quade kept arguing Holliday's clean, legal takeout slide until he got tossed. Guess he wanted to take a shower rather than watching the collapse.

QUOTE (MHizzle85 @ Jul 27, 2011 -> 10:24 AM) After I think about it some more, the WWE didn't rush this as much as I thought they did. Punk is RED HOT right now. Not sure if you can risk keeping him off of TV too long. This will definitely sell more for Summerslam than ADR/Cena would. Personally, I would of kept Punk off of TV until the end of SummerSlam where I would've done the whole Punk showing up to "Cult of Personality" after the main event. I know why they brought him back, I just think there were more creative ways to keep him on TV and in the scenario without having him physically return yet. And I get it that they want to cash in on his heat at SummerSlam, but they could get that from having him tease showing up via video segments while still selling the "gone forever" part of the story. I'm hoping they have another shocking moment or interesting twist in their pockets, but the way they've played it since MITB is cooling my interest quickly.

I'm on the outside looking in.

That angle had so much potential, and as usual the soap opera writers botch it. Truth is, if Punk was never allowed to ad-lib, this would have been completely run-of-the-mill WWE crap. What a shame.

They're losing me again.

I knew the lockout was over when the first Brett Favre return story came out. Oh well, it was nice while it lasted.

obligatory post in green font from The Critic with a smiley at the end.

QUOTE (KyYlE23 @ Jul 19, 2011 -> 06:19 PM) Vince is 65 years old, Im sure this has been in the works for quite some time and he just wants to step back and be the small part time megalomaniac character and just bounce from island to island until he goes to the great wrestling heaven in the sky Don't you mean "sports entertainment heaven"??

QUOTE (Rowand44 @ Jul 19, 2011 -> 10:59 AM) That would have absolutely worked as well. All I'm disagreeing with you about is that I don't think this squashes the Punk angle at all, if they do this right everything can still all tie in very nicely. I just didn't want anything drawing attention away from it so soon. To have that happen the next day feels like a blowoff. We'll see how it progresses, I just thought it was a step back.

I'm too lazy to type it again, so I'll copy/paste what I wrote at WSI about it: I would have done things a little slower. Last night would have been Vince upset and despondent about Punk leaving with the title. Then on Raw, I would have had Punk send an email to the Raw General Manager with a video file of himself hanging out at Wrigley Field with the "championship". Over the next couple weeks, Punk sends videos of himself on vacation with the belt, making Vince more and more furious. Vince can then order the tournament to crown a new champ, which Punk would mock in subsequent videos. Finally Vince snaps and starts punishing everyone responsible - he puts Cena and Del Rio in handicap matches to get squashed, he gets more and more belligerent with guys like Slaughter and Laurinitas, and then finally, he orders Laurinitas to have a match against Kane or Henry. THAT's when I have HHH step in and relieve Vince of his duties. Then HHH can start to reach out to Punk, telling him that he may carry a belt around, but the real champion is the one who's in WWE defending the title. Tell him stuff like right now he's the same as some guy who bought a replica title on wwe.com, stuff like that. Play on his competitive spirit and ego and eventually Punk comes back to show who is the true champion. That's how I would have booked it, anyway.

It's an interesting turn of events, but it kind of s***s on the Punk angle a little bit. Vince has made this about Vince. Kind of reminds me of Hogan/Dixie. Not sure I like it, I'll have to see how this plays out. It's nowhere near what I would have done, though.

Uh oh....this smells like a wrong turn for this angle.

QUOTE (fathom @ Jul 18, 2011 -> 04:52 PM) Critic, you don't have to worry about Sin Careless for a while I know - there are rumors that they won't even bring him back to TV after the suspension. All over the WWE Universe, Superstars are relieved that they won't suffer any moves from The Man Of 1,000 Botches".

Punk's latest Twitter: "Unemployed WWE champion. Often confused with Batman. Once tipped a stripper with a filet-o-fish." Wonderful.

I was another who said he was done watching, and for a good while I did stop. I read spoilers and results and not much was keeping my attention. Two guys who did were/are The Miz and Punk. When I saw that promo Punk did on the ramp, it brought back everything I love about wrestling and I was sucked back in. There is still a TON of garbage in wrestling (Sin Careless, 99% of divas matches, 87% of TNA) but when something is based in reality, built up carefully and executed perfectly like this whole Punk angle is, it's easy to love it. CM Punk is the best thing happening in wrestling today because he loves wrestling and it shows - he was a fan, still is a fan and is not ashamed of it. He's the best talker in the business right now, if you ask me. His only drawback in my opinion is he's not good as a face. Vince has to be careful not to weaken his heel elements if he wants to turn him good - he has to be that Austin-style good guy who gets cheered because of his own personality and the fact that he fights bad guys. Oh, and I read on Punk's Twitter that he's going to the Cubs game today, so no Punk on RAW - which is the right move to further the storyline. Tonight is Cena's day of reckoning.

Cena was right when he said people will be talking about this for years, but he has very little to do with it other than being the right "hated face" for Punk to vanquish. He's been a passenger - Punk's driving this car. I read that after the PPV went off the air, Vince waited around for Johnny Ace to be helped up the ramp, then decked him with (reportedly) a very stiff right and walked out. Even THAT is very satisfying. So far, there is nothing to complain about with the way creative has handled this. Oh, and that video of Punk and Cena's entrances was hilarious! That pop made him seem like Punk Hogan!

QUOTE (whitesox91403 @ Jul 18, 2011 -> 08:22 AM) All State was pro heel last night I thought. Punk of course was over but so was Sheamus, Bryan, Christian and probably Miz. Best show I've ever been too. I don't think anyone had any clue what was going to happen at the end. Bryan's not a heel, is he? I think he gets cheered in Chicago at least partly because of his "indie hero" status.

Anyone pick up that limited-edition Punk "Best In The World" t-shirt last night? I'm seeing it going for $300 on eBay right now. Crazy.

QUOTE (Brian @ Jul 18, 2011 -> 07:18 AM) The SD MITB match was great. Bryan winning was shocking. So many people pulling for Sheamus. I can't stand that guy. I have to start DVRing SD again. Be careful what you say about Sheamus, there, FELLA!! I've always liked Sheamus. I find him very amusing, and his matches keep my attention.

Kudos to Vince for not only not messing the angle up, but apparently making it pretty damn good! From the attempted screwjob to ordering del Rio to cash in the case, to Punk booting him and escaping before the case could be cashed in, it all makes sense and was well done! Now to see what VinnyMac does from here - so far, so good! Also, a big HELL YEAH for Christian winning the belt - even better IMO that he won it on a DQ! Furthers the chickens*** heel persona and gives him the shine he kind of needed to keep the character hot.

QUOTE (SoxFan1 @ Jul 15, 2011 -> 04:45 PM) I see it as the opposite actually, where Keith needs to step up way more than Seabrook. Keith was awful at times last year. Hopefully he's rested up and in good condition once the season starts. The nice part is that the added depth on the blue line, hopefully, will prevent him from playing an insane amount of minutes per game. That's the biggest key by far for me. Our offense, while sometimes inconsistent, wasn't the problem last year. If the D plays like it should, it takes a lot of the pressure off Crawford to be Crawesome every night, and everything from then on is gravy. I thought Keith was bad about as often as good - maddeningly inconsistent. I thought Seabrook was awful almost every night. His passes looked like he didn't know what team he was on.

QUOTE (SoxFan1 @ Jul 15, 2011 -> 04:28 PM) I gotta give it to Stan, his offseason has been phenomenal. Like many others, outside of the Carcillo signing, I love just about every move. That Frolik/Bolland/Bickell line is ridiculously fun to watch on both ends of the ice. Lepisto is a nice depth signing as well. I liked him in PHX. Just a solid dman. Our roster looks pretty much set, with Bowman going into the season with about 3.1 million left in cap space. Kane Toews Brunette Smith Sharp Hossa Frolik Bolland Bickell Mayers Kruger Olsez Keith Seabrook Montador Hjalmarsson Leddy O'Donnell Crawford Salak Extra skaters: Lepisto, Carcillo, Stalberg Keys to the season as I see them: Seabrook (and to a lesser extent Keith) rebounding from last year's struggles How Kane's wrist responds to surgery Two younger goalies, no veteran backup Keeping that idiot Carcillo far from the ice