AS I SEE IT
Bob Magee
Pro Wrestling: Between the Sheets
PWBTS.com
One more time....Petey Staniforth, frequent PWBTS contributor and promoter of the UK's Prime Time Wrestling passed this along, regarding Michael Morrice, a brave 13 year old from the UK, who is awaiting a kidney transplant. Michael is currently undergoing dialysis.
If any readers within the business (indies, WWE, TNA, puroresu, or lucha promoters or workers or even staff) or even fans... who would be willing to send a key chain or pen from the country in which they live... or just plain good wishes, please contact Michael and his mom, Sylvia, via Michael Morrice Transplant Support Facebook page. This isn't one of those chain deals....he's a real kid (who happens, as it turns out, to share my birthday)...not a mysterious someone looking to get some magic number of Facebook friends. He's just a 13 year old wrestling fan, with a mom who loves him, and who asked Petey for help. I thought I'd pass it on to all of you...
Some of you have already sent him good wishes, and many other things...if some more of you can be moved to do so, it'd be appreciated.
Now...some belated thoughts on CM Punk's promo heard around the world. There aren't too many guys who could carry off a promo like that...one with such truth-laden mine fields to discuss, with everything from Vince McMahon's mortality and the family connection to mentions of Paul Heyman and Brock Lesnar (keep in mind that there is SOME sort of mysterious business deal being signed involving Lesnar, Heyman and WWE that no one can figure out...so these names became suddenly a little less verbotten).
Lately, there have been few wrestlers being able or allowed to cut promos that will actually make the viewing audience buy a PPV, a fact proven out by lower buyrates. I talked outside the ECW Arena last night (as I write this on Sunday morning) to people at the CZW show who are actually working for the promotion, but tell me they haven't been moved to watch a WWE PPV in years...and that Punk's promo made them order Money In The Bank. I hope that Punk's promo makes people watch...and think it will.
Vince McMahon needs to realize that he employs others who can do it other months in a more conventional way..and yes, to your kiddies and their parents...if you'll just quit saddling them with such shitty scripted promo material. Someone like John Cena is smart on his feet. He's a real life team player. Let him make you money.
Watching Punk's recent success took me back to July 2008, and his first WWE shocker moment; when Punk cashed in his Money in the Bank stipulation and becames WWE "World" Champion, which I watched while on vacation in San Diego. I was at the Gaslamp Tavern, a local San Diego sports bar, watching the various baseball games that were on satellite, when something reminded me that RAW was on at 6:00 pm San Diego time.
I paid my tab, got shrimp fried rice for dinner from a little takeout down the street from my hotel...and sat down, not expecting much...then having my jaw drop as I saw CM Punk, pretty much the secret of the smarts and indie fans all over the country, as a result of the folks from Smart Mark Video, win the belt. After what happened with Chris Jericho and HHH back in April 2000 with the infamous match where Jericho won the WWE Championship from HHH, only to have the decision reversed...I had my doubts that it would stand after JBL challenged Punk for the second hour main event. But then Punk went over on JBL in the main, and I was quite frankly shocked as hell.
Back a few nights ago, Punk shocked me again.
Now to his presumably temporary departure. Dave Meltzer's most recent Wrestling Observer Newsletter has the only ending that makes sense to me: Punk beats Cena for the WWE Title, the Money In The Bank winner (Alberto Del Rio) cashes in and beats Punk. Thus, Punk leaves..Cena isn't "fired" for letting Punk leave Chicago with the belt..and you set up Del Rio-Cena for SummerSlam.
Since CM Punk's name has been trademarked for use in merchandising, logic says the plan is for Punk to come back at some point, or has even been quietly signed already. So what's next? Lord only knows...but it might set Punk up for a tweener turn (ala Randy Orton/Steve Austin0 when he comes back.
Thoughts?
Until next time...
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