Why the Road to Wrestlemania 28 was Full of Duds and Disappointments

by Brian Phelps

http://wrestlersway.blogspot.com

Well, the early numbers show that Wrestlemania 28 did about the same as Wrestlemania 27 (1.1 million for WM28 vs 1,042,000 for WM27).  This has got to be considered disappointing for WWE and I'll tell you why. Wrestlemania 27 had a HORRIBLE line-up. The main event featured The Miz. Wrestlemania 28 had what was billed as the biggest match in Wrestlemania history as The Rock returned for his first singles match in nearly a decade against John Cena. It also featured the return of Shawn Michaels, and saw CM Punk facing off against Chris Jericho to determine who really is the "Best in the World". So what went wrong? Well, I'll tell you why the Road to Wrestlemania was littered with duds and disappointments.

Some people speculate that Wrestlemania 28 had some weak build up. I have to say that the Road to Wrestlemania this year was awful. There were so many unresolved stories that never went anywhere. In other words, a lot of duds. For instance, when Chris Jericho returned the first words out of his mouth after weeks of silence were "At the Royal Rumble, it's going to be the end of the world as you know it". This had everybody wondering what that ominous statement could mean. However, when the Royal Rumble took place Chris Jericho was pathetically eliminated from the Royal Rumble match by Sheamus and nothing at all happened. This is a perfect example of WWE falling through on a huge promise. I'm sure they duped a ton of people into buying the pay-per-view to find out what the big surprise was only for nothing to happen. It was a dud.

Who can forget the cryptic messages for Chris Jericho's return. Anyone else notice how they never explained who the little girl in the video was or what she was supposed to represent?

How about Kharma who made her return at the Royal Rumble PPV, and then disappeared right afterward. What was the point? I was looking forward to her possibly feuding with Beth Phoenix for the Divas title. WWE never explained why she was there one night and gone the next at the Rumble.

Think about Kane. WWE never explained why Kane returned with the mask. All Kane said was "This is my true form". Well... ok. That's not an explanation. How did he come to realize he needed the mask back? Why is it his true form? We know what Kane looks like, but he decided to wear a mask any way? Another example of WWE not explaining something.

Speaking of Kane, anyone else notice that John Cena never embraced the hate, and that Kane was thrown into a random feud with Randy Orton that had little rhyme or reason to it? Zack Ryder should've fought Kane at Wrestlemania, but WWE thought it would be a better idea to injure Zack Ryder every week for like 2 months.

Is it just me or did Mark Henry never get a one-on-one rematch for the title after dropping it to the Big Show? Mark Henry just sort of went back to upper mid-carder.

Now, let's not forget how John Cena told the world that at Wrestlemania 28 it was going to be John Cena vs The Rock for the WWE Championship. Funny how at Wrestlemania 28, John Cena wasn't even the WWE Champion.

Or, how about Daniel Bryan telling the world he was cashing in Money in the Bank at Wrestlemania 28? Well, not only did Daniel Bryan NOT cash in at Wrestlemania... he got squashed at Wrestlemania 28 in 18 seconds in what was a waste of talent.

(Note: This isn't the first time WWE has pulled something stupid with Daniel Bryan at Wrestlemania. Last year at Wrestlemania 27, WWE advertised Daniel Bryan vs Sheamus for the United States Championship only to not show the match on the PPV. It was a dark match (non-televised) so anyone who ordered Wrestlemania 27 to see Daniel Bryan in a US title match were ripped off)

How the WWE Dropped the Ball With CM Punk

by Brian Phelps

http://wrestlersway.blogspot.com

CM Punk set the world on fire this past Summer with what may eventually be remembered as the greatest shoot promo in wrestling history. CM Punk caught fire, and even crossed over into the mainstream. However, since his shoot promo, and his appearance at Comic-Con... CM Punk's momentum has been entirely snuffed out. The WWE allowed him to cool off, and it's a shame because I don't think Vince McMahon realized just how big CM Punk was this past Summer and how big he could continue to be. I'm here to highlight the several mistakes WWE made that has led to CM Punk losing all the momentum he had. They had a once in a lifetime opportunity on their hands and they totally blew it. Here's how.

1) Having CM Punk come back after only a week when he "walked out" of the company with the WWE title. When CM Punk won the WWE Championship at MITB, he made good on his promise that he was going to walk out of the WWE as the champ. This was one of the most unique and original situations the WWE has ever had on their hands. CM Punk had threated to win the title and walk out and go defend the company in New Japan Pro Wrestling or Ring of Honor. Do you have any idea how huge that would have been if they kept CM Punk off of WWE tv for a couple of months, and showed up on ROH with the WWE title and defended it at a ROH event? Or if he would've went to New Japan and defended the title against Yuji Nagata? The WWE could've shown kayfabe news updates on Punk's appearances and threatened kayfabe lawsuits against him, etc. This could've been the biggest storyline in wrestling history. Instead, the WWE had him come back after a week and crowned another WWE Champion. Ok, so they took the safe route... why would you have Alberto Del Rio cash in MITB after Punk unified the titles? Punk was the hottest thing in wrestling, and instead of letting him have his night you have a guy that's not even over yet beat him for the title? It alienated CM Punk's entire "struggle" to get to the top. It was lame and silly. Then, Kevin Nash who costed him the belt at Summerslam never ended up feuding with CM Punk. So, CM Punk never exacts revenge on Nash. Instead, he gets into some seemingly random feud with Triple H. Why does Triple H have to insert himself into everyone else's success and make everything about him.

2) Triple H spinning the CM Punk phenomenon into a storyline about himself. This one made me so frustrated because it went from CM Punk getting back at Kevin Nash for costing him the title to let's have CM Punk insult Triple H's wife (I mean really this isn't 1999) until Triple H gets tired of it and fights Punk. Triple H had to take the CM Punk phenomenon and find a way to make it all about him the same way he's made the Undertaker's streak all about him. This is what really snuffed out CM Punk's avalanche of momentum.

3) CM Punk always playing second fiddle to John Cena. Why does CM Punk always play second fiddle to John Cena? Why is CM Punk the WWE Champion, yet always defends his title during the middle of the show? Why is John Cena and Kane main eventing when CM Punk is the WWE Champion? WWE's biggest issue is that they can't get past John Cena long enough to really build CM Punk up. He's always being seconded to Cena, and until they change that he's always going to be the number two guy despite being the WWE Champion.

4) WWE constantly puts CM Punk in unappealing matches and then blames him when it doesn't draw. WWE needs to stop putting Punk in matches with Del Rio, and six-man tag matches. It's like Punk is the WWE Champion, but he's always wrestling mid-card caliber matches. John Cena is still the one getting all the main event matches with Kane while CM Punk fights Dolph Ziggler.

CM Punk should be the most important star in the company right now, but instead they are still stuck on Cena. Until the WWE realizes that CM Punk is the future of the WWE, and starts to move on past Cena... I fear Punk will constantly be playing second fiddle. Since becoming the WWE Champion, he hasn't really had any "defining" moments. I hope the Punk/Jericho feud changes that.