The Unknown Poster

So Dana White is stupid? Also, wrestling's audience is not 12 year old boys. Punk was a big star. I find it difficult to believe that Dana hired Punk with zero fight experience just to be a nice guy. He hired him because Punk has cross over appeal and he thought it would bring in new viewers. Whether it does or not is moot. That was the intent.

UFC didnt sign CM Punk because he was the next great fighter or because of his impressive fighting record. They signed him because he was CM Punk, one of the top stars of WWE. The intent was to lure in new fans or those so-so fans that like wrestling and only occasionally buy UFC shows.

Brock brought new fans to UFC. In fact, it's really a little-talked about part of UFC's past that they owe a big thank you to WWE for allowing TUF to follow RAW. In the past UFC has been reluctant to sign fighters with star appeal but no credible fighting ability. But in today's market, they need as many marketable fighters as possible. And Punk is marketable, has a fan base, knows how to talk and promote. Will he bring in a ton of viewers? Probably not. Will he bring in some? Certainly.

He did have the appeal when he left WWE. But I agree its taken too long. However, they are smart with the timing now because I assume they will heavily promote this at UFC200 so the Brock wrestling fans will all see it.

Angle can definitely still wrestle. If he had a part time schedule where he did half a dozen big matches per year, they'd all be Match of the Year candidates. If you said Angle was the greatest of all time, some might argue but no one would call you crazy. Many guys have said Angle was the best they ever worked with. Its a shame WWE doesnt want to bring him back into the fold. Still lots of talk of Goldberg coming in (as early as the draft show in fact) and Roderick Strong & Moose of ROH should be coming in shortly. Moose has a prior domestic violence charge though, back from his NFL days (apparently his wife divorced him when he quit football for wrestling).

Per WWE Kurt Angle will not be returning. What a terrible decision.

Why do you do that? Seriously. Do everyone a favour and dont bother posting if you're intent is that everyone will agree with you or you will sulk.

That's a pretty positive interview. I always worry that people some in and want to change Star Trek so much. Im a traditionalist in some sense but I have no issue with (in fact want them to) modernize things like sets and SFX. For example, I dont mind the look of the new movie Enterprise except its gigantic for no relevant reason. So to me its like, dont make changes just for the sake of change. Dont make a new Starfleet star ship that looks like a plate glass window just because you can "change" things. If I was the studio hiring, I'd want to know that my [producer and showrunner loves Trek, respects Trek and wants to take Star Trek and make it better from a storytelling perspective not what JJ did which was "The biggest problem with Star Trek is that it's Star Trek". If you feel that way, go make a show called Space Trip and you can originate any ideas or designs you want. Star Trek should be Star Trek. So Fuller is saying the right things. I just hope its relateable and recognizable as Star Trek.

Assinine in the sense that if two options exist, the more reasonable one is more likely. Is it a universal truth? Ofcourse not. But parents extorting Jackson doesnt make me think "wow, those parents delivered their kids to an abuser so they can get money". I immediately think, "wow those parents saw a rich celebrity with questionable judgement who had already paid off other parents and they figured they'd get an easy payday too". In reality, even knowing Jackson didnt do anything wrong, it was still subjecting their children to an awful situation when parents forced them give false statements and be subjected to examination by the authorities. So none of those people are winning parent of the year awards.

Common sense tells is that there is a difference between letting your kids do something you deem (correctly or otherwise) safe with the intent of gaining financially and maliciously putting your kids in harm's way for the same end result. Most responsible parents would think twice about letting their children stay with any stranger. That was the loaded question you asked me previously to which my reply was met by you with accusations of dodging. We can certainly drill down to a deeper examination of this. I would say all the parents involved didnt think jackson was a threat to their children. Was it wise to let their kids spend nights there? Regardless, there is a difference between the strange guy down the street and Michael Jackson (or any well known celebrity). The parents were star struck. If Jackson was an abuser, his celebrity status would certainly gain him access. Not being an abuser, his celebrity status means parents were more trusting then they would normally be for a non-celebrity. Keep in mind there are many awful parents who leave their kids with strangers or less than desirable adults. You're reaching to try and find fault in my perspective which is fine but rather off the mark. There are numerous examples of parents who convinced their kids to make false allegations. One in Winnipeg was in the news this week in fact. There are numerous examples of all manner of authorities doing the same. Anyone remember the devil worship hysteria from the 80's? The fact is, no one accused Jackson of anything until that first guy got denied by jackson to fund his career.

Yeah, Iso's remarks are asinine. Parents sending their kids to see Jackson and then asking for money. Hmmmm, whats more likely, that they knew he was an abuser and wanted cash or they knew he wasnt but knew he'd pay? Let's use some common sense. lol

I definitely think he had issues. I think he likely thought the accusations were so absurd as to not even take precautions in the future. Keep in mind, he was surrounded by people and kept in a "bubble". He really shouldnt have paid off the initial extorter but he did and that was one of the issues. But being surrounded by people telling him he's right, doesnt help. He had many issues, stemming from his own awful childhood. But far too much evidence of set ups and extortion to ever take any of it seriously.

It wouldnt surprise me a ton but I still think it's unlikely.

I dont know. I think the players are more talented now than they've ever been.

Its a dream gig for Punk. And for UFC, they see the value in his star appeal. Ofcourse, it would have been a lot better had it not taken this long. Punk will be one and done.

Panarin deserved it. They could add a minimum games threshold if they want, I guess. Its part of the game. If you miss half the season but are the best player over-all you're not winning the Hart either. Plus, McDavid finished 3rd, so its not like it was a choice between Panarin or McDavid. He missed more than half the season so he simply wasnt going to be given a chance. Cant win bling in a sling.

I would definitely be concerned about security. Any group or lone nut who wants to make a splash on the world stage must be salivating at the prospects here. However, given all the concerns, I bet the majority of Olympic Athletes would still go. They train their whole lives for this opportunity. I know some American athletes have backed out or expressed concerns. The article mentioned NBA players and Hope Solo - people who dont "need" to go to the Olympics. Will be interesting to see if individual countries threaten to withhold their athletes or if certain national dignitaries stay away over security concerns. Somehow, these things manage to get pulled together in time. But this one is looking rough.

Interesting

So throwing Morrissey into the mix, even if Toby waives his NMC, we're still back to needing to protect 4 D.

I wasnt hooked for a few episodes. A show like that requires time to get to know the characters. But I did become hooked. The connection between music and action/emotion was tremendous. Anyone watch Orange is the New Black Season 4 yet? Just finished last night. I thought the first episode was pretty boring but it turned into a really good season.

CM Punk to debut in UFC September 10th By Dave Meltzer | @davemeltzerWON | Jun 23, 2016 1:59 am Twitter Facebook Google+ Wrestling Observer: C.M. Punk announced tonight that he would be debuting in UFC on 9/10 against Mickey Gall. Punk said he had just gotten clearance to train after back surgery and would debut on the UFC 203 show in Cleveland, which is headlined by Stipe Miocic vs. Alistair Overeem for the UFC heavyweight title. The fight would be nearly two years since Punk signed with UFC, a time table far longer than expected, with delays due to trainer Duke Roufas not wanting him to fight too early, as well as due to shoulder and back injuries, both of which date back to his days as a pro wrestler.

Not bad. Jets are lucky in the key talent that isn't eligible and doesn't need protecting. If it was 2018 draft we'd have issues