It's made the match redundant. There's no way Taker is going to lose now, so why bother watching it? I was fine with Punk doing it in the first week to get some heat, but there's no need to keep doing it. It's cheap and lazy. What would they have done if Bearer hadn't died?

The result may well be redundant, but I reckon it'll still be a match worth watching (as it always was imo). Taker is 5* WM material and Punk has a habit of pulling it off on PPV too. Sure it looks like Taker will win, doesn't mean the match itself won't be a good one, though.

I think the point is Punk trying to play mind games with Taker and will eventually lose out. If Bearer hadn't died, the story would be non-existent, but I do think they've played it the right way. It's upped my interest in the feud, anyway.

I thought WWE handled his death and brought it into storyline very well last week and this week.

They've done nothing to degrade the memory of Bearer imo. Punk is heel and it's working well imo.

Mr Fuji did it to Bret Hart at Wrestlemania 9. Those were the days.

Not quite the same, but more recently (think it was about 10 years ago he came to WWE, but has left since) I always used to enjoy Tajiri's poison mist. Not a manager, but a wrestler!

So spitting 'poison' in an opponent's face is a 'legal' move and an eye poke is fine (wooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo) but a punch to the head is illegal (despite Big Show's WMD and Kane's uppercut being just that).

Part of the joys of wrestling (imo) is the lack of logic. It's just pure entertainment haha.

Christ.

Yes?

Fairly heavy rumour RVD may be coming back to WWE. If used in a jericho-style way (to help the younger guys develop), I'd be up for that.

Love to hear that theme again in WWE.

Indeed it does sound quite good. Will give it a watch one night. Heard good things about it recently. Whatever happened to Ascension? I know Ricardo Rodriguez is ADR's 'personal announcer', but surely there'd be a way to bring that into WWE? It seemed cooler than the Brood (for the sake of an easy comparison).

Agreed there DE. I'm hoping that HHH can bring more a 'wrestlers' approach to the business again. Maybe even set up a loan system, whereby wrestlers in WWE developmental are sent out for a year to Mexico or Germany or Japan or wherever to at least experience other crowds.

Swagger will (I assume) be getting a suspension for his DUI charge as part of WWE;s wellness policy (brought in after the deaths of Eddie Guererro and Chris Benoit). The tricky thing is that Wayne Keown's (Zeb Colter's) daughter was killed by someone driving under the influence. While I'm not privvy to backstage info, I'm sure that put a strain on their relationship. A shame as it's one of the 'edgier' things WWE have done in recent years.

Guys , you take Wrestling seriously ?

I find it entertaining. Before this turns into 'hur-hur its fake', we know that

Ofc some of it is laughable in terms of the matches, but some of us invest in the characters in a similar way to Corrie or Eastenders.

And occasionally we see an incredible feat. It's the one place you can see the son of a billionaire leap 50ft onto a fat bloke with foam all around him.

Could we make this a general wrestling thread?

Still remain shocked to learn of the death yesterday of William Moody (more commonly known as Paul Bearer or Percy Pringle). His character as a wrestling manager was fantastically cartoonish and his skill and charisma helped build 2 of the greatest 'big' wrestlers of the modern era: Kane and (more famously) The Undertaker.

Rest In Peace, Paul. The Hall of Fame beckons.....Ooooohhhhhh Yeeesssss!!!!

A bit late, but I went to see Les Miserables on Saturday with t'other half. Not been a big fan of musicals apart from Mary Poppins for nostalgic reasons. But I really enjoyed it. Hugh Jackman was awesome (even if he did look like Kevin Keegan) but Russell Crowe left a lot to be desired (should've been Gerard Butler imo).

Freddie Mercury's in there too (3rd right, 2nd row from bottom)

I always go much more local (I'm a Darrener) for my curries.

Eat in? Anaz, with the cleanest windows you've ever seen.

Take out? India2U, easily the best curry takeaway in Darwen (not saying much but still.......)

'That' Rovers fan has probably forgotten more games than you've attended LeChuck.

'That' is irrelevant. Completely irrelevant.

Saw American Reunion (4th American Pie) and it was pretty good. More for nostalgia than anything, but in terms of laughs I reckon it's the closest you'd get to the first (the best of the lot imo).

Hoping to catch MenInBlack3 this week. Though Will Smith (judging by the trailers) doesn't appear to have aged since the first one in 1997......

As you probably gather from my username, I'm a darrener.....called Mike.

Likes: Rovers (footy in general, although I'm rubbish as a player), golf (love it!), stand-up comedy and unfortunately, I confess a liking for WWE.

Dislikes: Kean, Venkys, media bandwagonry and every politician that isn't Boris Johnson. I don't particularly like him either, but he's hilarious.