El Nastio Banger Level: 105 Posts: 2373/2576 EXP: 11952641 For next: 309659
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#1 Posted on 31.3.16 0926.14 Reposted on: 31.3.23 0929.01
After TLC 2011, a photo was taken, with it soon circulating online. The photo brought about many things; excitement. Hope. Bold proclimations that the future has arriven. As the years have passed, different emotions have taken root;, although none more prounced than all the rest; bitter dissapointment.
Come with me now, as we journey down the path that followed TLC 2011, as we look at what happened to those who were to become our present day.
Evan Bourne: It's safe to say that out of all the people in this photograph, Bourne was probably the least surprising to not progress any further than he did. Bourne received a Wellness Suspension and subsequent injuries. Awkwardly, the WWE then signed stars who could do more than just one solid aerial move - ones that could do said move themselves but do it better. His ceiling wasn't very high to begin with, so when all of this was added up, it resulted him being released. Since then he continued his career, expanded his moveset, and currently, is wrestling out of NJPW. According to Wikipedia, he's currently a tag team champion over there.
Beth Phoenix: With recent news that the WWE may get rid of the Diva's belt for a Women's title, it reinforces that out of all the people in this photo, Beth is probably the biggest victim of timing. You transport her into today's landscape, she'd have killer matches with Charlotte, Becky, Bayley, Sasha, Alexa Bliss, Asuka. Instead, she was in ring with less talented wrestlers, so we never really got to see her cut loose. After TLC 2011 she teamed with Natalya to form the Diva's of Doom, retiring soon thereafter. Currently not actively wrestling.
Cody Rhodes: Rhodes has had many ups and downs since TLC 2011. His face turn following Team Rhodes Scholar wasn't going so hot, until he and his brother started a killer program with The Shield. Afterwards, they began a losing streak gimmick, until he made his debut as Stardust. That took off in a spectacular fashion.....only for him to now be stuck in a rut again. Even his personal life had ups and downs; Cody got married, however lost his father. He'll be at Mania this year, although again; as an afterthought. A waste, because Rhodes generally makes the most out of everything that he's given; much like his brother and old man.
CM Punk: At the time he seemed like the "sure thing", especially after MITB. Little did we know things peaked at MITB, and went down from there. He challenged the Undertaker at Mania, had the longest WWE title reign of the modern era....yet it always seemed like there should have been more. And now it looks like there will never be “more”, as Punk walked out of the company. He's now training to fight in UFC, although it's beginning to look more and more like his fighting career may turn out like Duke Nukem - taking forever to be released, underwhelming once it happens.
Zack Ryder: Say what you will about Ryder, few put as much effort as he does. He built up a fan base all on his own, and seemed poised to stay in the upper mid-card. Instead, he lost the US title, got roped into a terrible Cena/Kane feud, and fell off the face of the planet. Currently on a team with Mojo, he also gets to have a Wrestlemania entrance this year. Also currently dating Emma, so perhaps things are starting to look up in general for Ryder.
Daniel Bryan: I'd argue he's reached the highest of anyone on this picture, but he crashed the hardest. The inexplicable run from Mania 29 to Mania 30 remains one of the most gripping, with Mania 30 ranking near the best of all time. But, injuries. Now retired. Not only retired, but his wife is retiring earlier than expected, possibly due to Bryan's continued health woes.
Kofi Kingston: Somehow, some way, Kofi is currently in the best place out of all of the photographed. He toiled around in the mid-card, until magic was recently struck with the New Day. Now he's having a good time, solid tag title runs, and has their merch selling quite well. The question remains; will this be like Ryder, where people got themselves over and came crashing down? We'll see. We'll see.
#2 Posted on 31.3.16 1014.59 Reposted on: 31.3.23 1015.41
This picture was taken the afternoon of a Philly RAW I went to...
Bourne has been pretty successful on the indie circuit wrestling as "Matt Sydal" and he's a regular in Ring of Honor. I just saw him main event a ROH show wrestling for their world title a month or so ago.
The Goon Banger Moderator Level: 104 Posts: 2469/2519 EXP: 11566343 For next: 295822
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#3 Posted on 31.3.16 1227.27 Reposted on: 31.3.23 1228.38
Interesting side note: Beth and Edge had a baby a year or so back.
Big G Sujuk Level: 68 Posts: 707/977 EXP: 2692406 For next: 36408
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#4 Posted on 31.3.16 2002.30 Reposted on: 31.3.23 2006.12
Imagine if the Buckingham Palace changing of the guard was booked by Vince MacMahon?
Since: 4.1.02 From: The Hague, Netherlands (Europe)
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#5 Posted on 1.4.16 0226.12 Reposted on: 1.4.23 0226.31
It'll be interesting to see pictures like this every year or maybe after/at each ppv just to see how stuff changes (yet always stays the same?) (and yes I know there's plenty of title history sites I can find the info)
Oddly enough I'm not surprised by seeing how many of these are no longer around and/or are not in the best spot. I don't even mean that in a bad way. It just seems that guys are either with WWE for a long time or a pretty short (2 years or so) stint. I mean, the Spirit squad was over ten years ago. Ryder was an EdgeHead about eight years ago. wtf. Guys that stay for a long time either belong to the Ziggler/Ryder group (up and down and up and down the card) or HHH/Cena (perennial contenders)
The current champions are a good bunch too. HHH, Owens, Calisto, New Day, Charlotte. If it wasn't for mainstays HHH and Kofi(!) you could say that's a whole new generation too. Lots of young/new contenders too.
Texas Kelly Lap cheong Level: 84 Posts: 1520/1528 EXP: 5464054 For next: 197922
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#6 Posted on 1.4.16 0806.25 Reposted on: 1.4.23 0811.03
This is not Ryder's WrestleMania debut. In between getting roped into the horrible Cena/Kane feud and disappearing from the face of the earth, he took the pinfall in the multi-man tag match at WM28 that gave John Laurinaitis control of both RAW and Smackdown, when he was punted in the family jewels and then emasculated by his heel-turning on-screen girlfriend at the time (Eve Torres). It was the final insult of three months of shit booking that Ryder never deserved.
El Nastio Banger Level: 105 Posts: 2375/2576 EXP: 11952641 For next: 309659
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#7 Posted on 1.4.16 0854.14 Reposted on: 1.4.23 0855.03
Originally posted by Texas KellyThis is not Ryder's WrestleMania debut. In between getting roped into the horrible Cena/Kane feud and disappearing from the face of the earth, he took the pinfall in the multi-man tag match at WM28 that gave John Laurinaitis control of both RAW and Smackdown, when he was punted in the family jewels and then emasculated by his heel-turning on-screen girlfriend at the time (Eve Torres). It was the final insult of three months of shit booking that Ryder never deserved.
I stand corrected, good sir! I think I mistook "getting an entrance with his music" as "his debut".
The treatment of Ryder to this day baffles me, and it's a testament to his character as a person he's stuck through it. Sure he's in the ladder match because someone got hurt; who cares? He'll work a match at Mania, hopefully turn some heads, and at the very least got to defeat one of his heroes (Jericho) on RAW.
I think I'll do these every few months or so. Take a little trip down memory lane.
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#8 Posted on 1.4.16 0856.15 Reposted on: 1.4.23 0859.01
If you took a picture of the champions after Wrestlemania last year (Seth Rollis, John Cena, Daniel Bryan, Nikki Bella, Tyson Kidd/Cesaro) you wouldn't even be able to find them this year because everyone of them is injured.
Texas Kelly Lap cheong Level: 84 Posts: 1521/1528 EXP: 5464054 For next: 197922
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#9 Posted on 1.4.16 1119.14 Reposted on: 1.4.23 1122.17
Originally posted by El NastioI stand corrected, good sir! I think I mistook "getting an entrance with his music" as "his debut".
The treatment of Ryder to this day baffles me, and it's a testament to his character as a person he's stuck through it. Sure he's in the ladder match because someone got hurt; who cares? He'll work a match at Mania, hopefully turn some heads, and at the very least got to defeat one of his heroes (Jericho) on RAW.
I think this is why Ryder stuck around even though all the logic in the world screamed that he should have bailed and taken his talents to TNA or the indies. He was willing to dig through the river of shit to find his diamonds, regardless of how small they ultimately turned out to be.
That Team Johnny/Team Teddy match was aggravating on SO many levels. Not only was it the apex of Ryder's mistreatment, but time and perspective have shown what I said from the moment it was booked, that Team Teddy should have won the match and then told a story of Teddy getting corrupted by the RAW GM job like everyone else who ever had it prior to him, with Johnny sneakily lending a hand in a good old-fashioned Othello/Iago dichotomy.
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#10 Posted on 1.4.16 1850.03 Reposted on: 1.4.23 1858.32
Ryder unquestionally got the shaft, but he has really had a decent year. He's fell into the "reliable hand" spot for the company. Not only has he been consistently on the WWE house show circuit and B-shows, but he's also been on the NXT circuit and developed a decent little tag team with Mojo. Also, he is dating Emma, so I'm pretty sure he's okay.
Really, this is his tenth year under the WWE umbrella including their developmental groups. He'll probably stick around and eventually become an agent. It works.
Kofi definitely came out the best, which is weird because I thought HE would be the one forever stuck in the reliable hand spot that wouldn't really go beyond that, as talented as he is. Instead he and New Day are kings.
Beth really would have benefited from being around the current group and push of divas.
D-Bry of course will be in the Hall of Fame, maybe as early as next year.
Punk is happy, so that's good. One day way down the road, he'll be in the HOF too. (Of course, I also think Ryder will be in the HOF one day as one of the lower rung filler guys... why not? He's on par with Godfather.)
Cody has Brandi/Eden, so again he's got that for him. He seems to like Stardust, so good for him. I'm still not sure how we didn't end up with Stardust/Amell at WrestleMania. It's a celebrity match! WWE loves that! Eventually he'll be Cody on TV again and probably get back to the I-C range, which works. He's a talent.
Evan Bourne never would have gone farther than he did, though he would have benefited from a return to NXT for some fun matchups.
Prediction for 2017 version of this picture: World champ - Balor I-C champ - Big E U.S. champ - Corbin Womens champ - Bayley Tag champs - Enzo & Cass
drjayphd Scrapple Moderator Level: 127 Posts: 3981/4035 EXP: 23293852 For next: 432779
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Y!:
#11 Posted on 1.4.16 2234.30 Reposted on: 1.4.23 2234.45
Originally posted by The GoonInteresting side note: Beth and Edge had a baby a year or so back.
Well, he is the Ultimate Opportunist...
El Nastio Banger Level: 105 Posts: 2380/2576 EXP: 11952641 For next: 309659
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#12 Posted on 4.4.16 0035.08 Reposted on: 4.4.23 0036.49
Originally posted by The GoonInteresting side note: Beth and Edge had a baby a year or so back.
Now expecting kid #2!
Originally posted by andy1278Ryder unquestionally got the shaft, but he has really had a decent year.
His year got a bit better last night, me thinks.
Taking suggestions for the next photo write up, post a picture on here with group you'd like to see done. I'll do it before the PPV after Extreme Rules, maybe a bit after.
#13 Posted on 9.4.16 0744.28 Reposted on: 9.4.23 0751.07
Yeah, the only thing I remember from being there live at that Philly Raw was the opening, where CM Punk asks us about who the champs are, and uses that to introduce Ryder, Bryan and himself. In fact, I was thinking about that forcefully when Ryder won the IC belt at this year's WM. Now I don't remember Zack losing it that night in Philly, so his US title run was immediately more effective than the IC run. It was a much more innocent time back then...
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#14 Posted on 9.4.16 2129.58 Reposted on: 9.4.23 2132.24
I was in Hershey when Punk came out as champ during this. He stated we were fans not a universe and used the wrestling word. The fans ate it up. There was also massive Ryder chants and his stuff was selling better than Cena's crap. I have never seen a company seemingly go out of its way to kill something the fans loved. Honest to God, if those shares were worth anything or if the shareholders had any say, Vince would have lost control of this company years ago.
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#15 Posted on 9.4.16 2342.28 Reposted on: 9.4.23 2343.20
I maintain that there was nothing per se wrong with how Ryder was used up until that year's Wrestlemania.
Although it would have been ideal to have him have a strong US title reign on his own, his character played an important part in building up Cena for a few months. For good or bad, Cena was a main character, and it was reasonable for the midcarders to build up him and his rogues gallery. Kane crushing Ryder helped establish heat before Kane v. Cena. Ryder being duped by Johnny Laurinaitis's girl was a fair role in setting up the post-Mania rogues gallery for Cena.
Where they went wrong with Ryder was in not letting him have a real US title reign after Wrestlemania. Santino was having a bump of popularity that year, but I doubt much was gained by his five month title reign.
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#16 Posted on 10.4.16 1257.28 Reposted on: 10.4.23 1258.08
Originally posted by lotjxI was in Hershey when Punk came out as champ during this. He stated we were fans not a universe and used the wrestling word. The fans ate it up. There was also massive Ryder chants and his stuff was selling better than Cena's crap. I have never seen a company seemingly go out of its way to kill something the fans loved. Honest to God, if those shares were worth anything or if the shareholders had any say, Vince would have lost control of this company years ago.
To this day, I just don't get it. The guy was selling crazy merchandise. Much like New Day do now, he was selling weird stuff - foam fists, spiky hair hats - and selling them well. I never understood the business decision to go from "this guy is making us money, let's make tons of merch for him and make more money!" to "this guy is over, destroy him on TV and make no merchandise!"
#17 Posted on 11.4.16 0137.40 Reposted on: 11.4.23 0142.01
Originally posted by andy1278To this day, I just don't get it. The guy was selling crazy merchandise. Much like New Day do now, he was selling weird stuff - foam fists, spiky hair hats - and selling them well. I never understood the business decision to go from "this guy is making us money, let's make tons of merch for him and make more money!" to "this guy is over, destroy him on TV and make no merchandise!"
It all came down to Ryder going on Youtube and making his humorous videos which enabled him to get over. Vince felt they had to crush him because:
1. Vince was terrified that other wrestlers on the roster would go rogue on them and do the exact same thing to get themselves over and it would turn the crowd against the wrestlers that Vince wanted to push. Vince really wanted to send a message to the other wrestlers to put a immediate stop to this. And boy did he send a message.
2. At the time WWE was pushing their own WWE Youtube channel and they wanted to be the only ones that made humorous videos involving their wrestlers.
El Nastio Banger Level: 105 Posts: 2384/2576 EXP: 11952641 For next: 309659
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#18 Posted on 13.4.16 1431.27 Reposted on: 13.4.23 1431.38
Cole's weekly interview this week is with Ryder. Two things stood out for me:
1) You really get the sense that Cole likes the guy. There's no fake voice or show, it's Cole genuinely thinking/voicing that Ryder is a great kid and wants him to succeed.
2) Ryder not only comes across as authentic and having a passion for the business (which Cole says he's never met anyone who loves the business more than Ryder), but also comes across as a total badass talking about surviving cancer.
Yes, cancer. Ryder is a cancer survivor, he had it in high school. Tumor started on his foot, spread to his lungs, he needed surgery and chemo. Incredible.
That they had a hugely popular CANCER SURVIVOR around and ground him into dust is even more inexplicablke.
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#19 Posted on 14.4.16 0029.37 Reposted on: 14.4.23 0040.43
Originally posted by El NastioCole's weekly interview this week is with Ryder. Two things stood out for me:
1) You really get the sense that Cole likes the guy. There's no fake voice or show, it's Cole genuinely thinking/voicing that Ryder is a great kid and wants him to succeed.
2) Ryder not only comes across as authentic and having a passion for the business (which Cole says he's never met anyone who loves the business more than Ryder), but also comes across as a total badass talking about surviving cancer.
Yes, cancer. Ryder is a cancer survivor, he had it in high school. Tumor started on his foot, spread to his lungs, he needed surgery and chemo. Incredible.
That they had a hugely popular CANCER SURVIVOR around and ground him into dust is even more inexplicable. ----------------------------------------------------
This just proves Vince does not care about anything except what Vince wants. A guy who survived cancer, is a solid locker room guy, showed the initiative to get himself over and is good on the mic and in the ring. But since he was not a Vince creation, to hell with him. What's good for business? What a load of crap.
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#20 Posted on 14.4.16 0800.43 Reposted on: 14.4.23 0803.18
So WWE should have pushed Ryder because he's a cancer survivor? Did they even know he was a cancer survivor? He said in the video that he didn't like to talk about it, this might be the first time they've ever heard of it. Of course, if they had known about it and pushed him because of it and used it in a storyline, people would be complaining about them exploiting it.
I wasn't watching WCW at the time. Did people applaud them for giving Jim Duggan the TV title after he beat cancer?
(I'm not saying they shouldn't have pushed Ryder. I'll take Ryder over Daniel Bryan or Brock Lesnar any day of the week. But decrying them for not pushing him because he had cancer is just stupid.)
Thread ahead: Parts Unknown Next thread: ECW original Balls Mahoney passes away at 44 Previous thread: Nakamura v Styles, Wrestle Kingdom 10, Jan 4, 2016
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