[ALL CAPS]

Ugh. Fucking UGH.

From pwinsider.com
Joe's situation in TNA seems to be getting worse. Contract talks have stalled and Joe is aparently unhappy with the direction Kurt Angle and Jarrett are trying to steer the company. Current plans are for Joe to lose his MMA style match against Angle at Lockdown and walk away from TNA as promised. Joe has been in talks with WWE management recently and will wait out the rest of his contract with TNA and sign with WWE in July. He's expected to debut on or around Summerslam. More information as it becomes available.

[bdbdbd]

April fools?

[ALL CAPS]

I wish, man. Check pwinsider yourself. Seems too "legit" to be a joke. If they were gonna fool around they would have made it a little more obvious, I think.

[eliasvict]

Also, Brett Hart is coming back at Backlash...

[ALL CAPS]

Holy shit! Bret Hart! SaWEEEEEET!

[bdbdbd]

I have to go to Edmonton! Bret Hart wouldn't lie to me.

No one should have the date Bret Hart retired committed to memory.

[National Champion Chris Cole]

I'm assuming April Fools until after Lockdown. I thought Joe signed a long term deal with TNA awhile back.

[Attitude Adjuster]

In other news, Herschel Walker is coming back to the University of Georgia for his senior year.

cfn.scout.com/2/742391.html

[jetskid48]

And Lucky laughed!

[Angle]

I hope this is just some cruel sick April Fool's joke. It is, right?

Right? ???

[nOOb]

It's gotta be April Fool's for one reason: they think he's signing in July and showing up by Summerslam. You kidding me? They'd send him down to one their developmental territories to make him unlearn most of his style and learn that shitty WWE style for 3 months, then another three months to decide whether to package him as someone else or just send him to ECW to rot away as himself.

[Mr. Dashbee]

noob said:

They'd send him down to one their developmental territories to make him unlearn most of his style and learn that shitty WWE style for 3 months, then another three months to decide whether to package him as someone else or just send him to ECW to rot away as himself.

Like they did with that CM Punk guy, right?

[Ultimatejobber]

Isn't like the third or fourth time pwinsider has reported that Joe is leaving TNA? I'll believe it when I see it.

[nOOb]

gb said:

Like they did with that CM Punk guy, right?

Hell if I know. I never watched ECW to ever care to pay attention ever.

[Lucky]

gb said:

noob said:

They'd send him down to one their developmental territories to make him unlearn most of his style and learn that shitty WWE style for 3 months, then another three months to decide whether to package him as someone else or just send him to ECW to rot away as himself.

Like they did with that CM Punk guy, right?

Ok, I'm not sure how I'm reading this. Either you're saying "Like that CM Punk guy, right?" in a sarcastic fashion to show that WWE doesn't do that, or you're pointing out that its exactly what they did with CM Punk and he's just fine.

If its the first then you should think about it because that really is EXACTLY what happened to Punk. I mean, it was 9 months in development as he unlearned his style, learned the WWE style, and they toyed around with a few different moves for him before Heyman got his hands on him. And "rot" may be an unfair way to describe his ECW tenure considering he's a former ECW champ and the MitB winner, but considering he's been on WWE TV for 2 years and has no good feud to show for it and very few memorable matches or promos I'm not sure "rot" is a horrible word either.

I mean, Punk's fine in the end and is obviously in a fine place in WWE. But I don't think he's gained a damn thing over the last 20 months or so. And I still find his WWE style shitty and unbelievable with very sloppy looking strikes, a retarded looking submission, and a finisher he can't do well half the time. And I'd be lying if I said that 2 years of Joe doing nothing and not entertaining me in anything more than small doses on ECW wouldn't make me pretty damn depressed. Even if he was holding the MitB breifcase at the end of it.

[ALL CAPS]

Pwinsider didn't report shit. I made the whole thing up. Still managed to get 3 paragraphs outta Lucky though.

[Batman]

Which he wrote because he was totally fooled!

(Or maybe because he disagreed with G-B's take on the hypothetical situation neither of them actually believed was real. Your call.)

[bdoriginal]

And that's what truly matters in the end.

I agree with Lucky though. I still don't care much about Punk. I think the only thing I like from him is his spin kick to the gut and Chris Sabin does it ten times better. The G2S is only good when a guy like Shelton or Morrison sells it. And I still blame him for me getting into an argument about the Vice and how it and most legit submissions just don't look impressive enough for wrestling.

[Lucky]

I think its safe to say that on April 2nd I knew what was up. Trust me, if I thought that was real I would have given you more than 3 paragraphs.

[ALL CAPS]

Heheh. Yeah, I didn't really figure that you believed it. I still find it amusing that in a thread started on total bullshit, you managed to construct a legitimate argument.

[BTR]

Man, I don't want Samoa Joe in WWE. I'm depressed now.

[Andy]

Damn. I just saw this thread now and I was really hoping it was true.

[salmonjunkie]

Dear Brad:

I want to have your babies.

Love,
Thai

[Mr. Dashbee]

Apr 2, 2008 6:00:04 GMT -5 Lucky said:

gb said:

Like they did with that CM Punk guy, right?

Ok, I'm not sure how I'm reading this. Either you're saying "Like that CM Punk guy, right?" in a sarcastic fashion to show that WWE doesn't do that, or you're pointing out that its exactly what they did with CM Punk and he's just fine.

If its the first then you should think about it because that really is EXACTLY what happened to Punk. I mean, it was 9 months in development as he unlearned his style, learned the WWE style, and they toyed around with a few different moves for him before Heyman got his hands on him. And "rot" may be an unfair way to describe his ECW tenure considering he's a former ECW champ and the MitB winner, but considering he's been on WWE TV for 2 years and has no good feud to show for it and very few memorable matches or promos I'm not sure "rot" is a horrible word either.

I mean, Punk's fine in the end and is obviously in a fine place in WWE. But I don't think he's gained a damn thing over the last 20 months or so. And I still find his WWE style shitty and unbelievable with very sloppy looking strikes, a retarded looking submission, and a finisher he can't do well half the time. And I'd be lying if I said that 2 years of Joe doing nothing and not entertaining me in anything more than small doses on ECW wouldn't make me pretty damn depressed. Even if he was holding the MitB breifcase at the end of it.

I was really just using CM Punk as an example to show that while the WWE does indeed completely fuck up with some people, CM Punk is proof that the WWE just might be able to use Joe properly if he were to sign.

Punk's style didn't work in the WWE when he was signed. But he adapted, and they finally started to use him, and his natural charisma and ability to connect with the fans has won people over. Now he holds the "briefcase of impending stardom" and just might be moving up from ECW come draft time.

9 months in development for CM Punk is reasonable, IMO. He was the large fish in ROH, but spent little time at a high level of televised wrestling (outside of being a bit player in TNA). As someone who loves Punk's work in ROH and ROH in general, I can admit that he needed some adjusting to work for the WWE audience. And I don't expect the WWE to adjust their style for Punk.

20 months later, I think Punk's bank account is probably in much better condition. And he bagged Maria for a while, too.

[Lucky]

That's fine. But the point is that what noob suggest WWE with do with Joe IS what they did with Punk. He spent 3 more months in development than in noob's sarcastic comment, they did change his style, and he has done very little in WWE. As far as I'm concerned they did NOT use Punk properly. TNA hasn't used Joe properly the last year+. Has he had some great matches and some entertaining stuff? Yes. Is he likely going to be the champ in less than 10 days? Yes. But there's no argument that TNA didn't fuck up quite a few things with him the last 18 months or so and that he could have been so much more entertaining during that time.

Punk's in a fine position for his career. 2 years after being signed he's got money and a briefcase and that's fine. His future looks fine. But I've personally found very little joy in the last 2 years of CM Punk and it would depress the shit out of me if Joe were to go to WWE and get the similar treatment. Even if he came out of it 2 years later with a briefcase and financial security. Good for him, sucks for me. I in no way think Punk was used "properly" by WWE. When his best feud to speak of was against Johnny Nitro or Chavo Guerrero where they beat him a bunch (and where Chavo won it clean) and when a guy who has great mic skills hasn't cut one promo I can remember and when he's had maybe half a dozen matches I would even bother rewatching and when he helped drag a World Title down to the level of the IC and US belts... Just not a year and a half that as a fan I'm gonna even care to remember.


I mean, I don't think WWE is gonna fuck up everyone it gets. Brock Lesnar was done quite well, John Cena was done quite well until they just refused to change him, London & Kendrick after some initial struggles were handled very well for a year before the RAW move. WWE's not incompetent. Even Umaga should probably be counted as a plus since he became WORLDS more entertaining than any of us thought he'd be when Jamal first showed up in ridiculous face paint and with a ridiculous savage cliche. And Punk is far from the worst example of how they handled someone. But noob's scenario seemed to clearly be Punk inspired and to say that Punk has been handled "well" strikes me as crazy talk. Because I still have yet to figure out why anyone who wasn't a fan of him before ECW like you and I gives a shit about a guy who has done almost nothing in his WWE career and has arguably been less impressive than John Morrison and MVP.