I'm hoping for a Submission match at No Way Out, given the finish with Punk tapping. I hope they don't stick these two in a cage just for the hell of it.

I'm hoping the WWE will see the buyrate these two drew and send them both to NXT where they belong. That was a horribly boring match.

Cena v. Laurinaitis was the main event, you know. It was booked as such leading up, too.

That one match can only do so much. People like Punk, Bryan and Orton need to pick up the slack too.

How do you not get bored with yourself?

I'm the anti-Daniel Bryan.

Orton does just fine with his slack.

It technically would still fit the "No Way Out" name.

I'm thinking that Bryan gets Punk in The Yes Lock at No Way Out, and out comes AJ to throw in the towel for Punk, costing him the WWE Title. Bryan is the new champion heading into a Money in the Bank match between the two, with Punk weary of AJ -- perhaps with her declared Special Guest Referee for the match.

A cloudy finish there would take us right through to SummerSlam, where I could see some sort of blow-off between the two. I'm not sure what it would be, but it could just be a good, old fashioned wrestling match between the two men at that point. Perhaps some sort of "wager" is included in the match.

Why would AJ have the power to throw in the towel for Punk?

I could see it happening where she "reconciles" with Bryan only to watch him get put in the vice for a couple minutes and then throw in the towel. It would make sense. She would be so worried about his health, she costs him the title but he's ungrateful and just belittles her more for it.

Also, it would make sense that she would have the power to throw in a towel since she's actually managing him.

AJ has moved on from Daniel Bryan and is now seemingly starting up a relationship with CM Punk. Apparently Punk "Kind of digs crazy chicks" and AJ "Kind of digs guys who kind of dig crazy chicks." If Punk and AJ become an "item" by No Way Out, AJ would have just as much power to throw in the towel as Helen Hart did for Bret.

Also, if AJ screws over Bryan, then it gives Bryan a legitimate gripe, and that makes him sympathetic. You don't want Bryan to be sympathetic -- you want him to get his due in the end.

Sadly, I could see that, too. I would love No Way Out to be the continuation of a great rivalry between the two, but I could very easily see it ending with Bryan cleanly tapping out.

I see the same thing except without the "meh" face.

Let them put on a great match and then move Punk on to someone he seems like an underdog against. They could make big strides in getting Punk over by having him defend the title on PPV against Lord Tensai and having him hand him his first loss. Hell, I wouldn't even be against Punk losing the title to Tensai at MITB just so Tensai can look that much more unstoppable before Punk takes the title back at Summer Slam.

If Punk actually does join forces with AJ, I think everyone and their mother is going to know she's gonna turn on him or at the very least "unintentionally" cost him. It would be against Punk's character to be so naive and clueless to what's going on. He's supposed to be that "one with the fans" guy.

And Bryan getting screwed out of the title by AJ would only be the payback that's been coming his way for so long finally happening. No one would actually feel sympathy for the guy. It would be a great "heel gets his long awaited comeuppance" moment.

I'm sure Punk and Tensai could work a really great match together, but I have no interest in seeing it, just because Tensai's character is boring. Yes, it might make people care about Tensai, but I think that they should make people care about Tensai first.

Also, as a rule, I absolutely hate it when the World Champion is booked like an underdog. I hate it. If he wasn't good enough to beat that guy, THEN HE SHOULDN'T BE THE WORLD FUCKING CHAMPION!!!

To make myself care about a storyline between Punk and Tensai, the only way I could see it being remotely interesting is if Tensai plays the role of Bane and Punk plays the role of Batman from Bane's debut comic where he broke Batman's back. Tensai would destroy Punk, and put him on the shelf as Punk contemplated retiring or going back to the indies, or whatever. Gertner would be pissing himself with excitement. Punk then returns and kicks Tensai in the head and it's on again. Punk manages to out-smart Tensai in their next match and wins the championship back. There's absolutely no reason that this cannot happen post-SummerSlam, though.

You must have hated a lot of main events then because this has been a pretty common method of getting the fans behind the face champion for a really, really, really long time. It's effective.

Would Hogan and Andre have been nearly as effective if Andre wasn't booked as the unbeatable monster favorite?

By "booked like an underdog", I do not however mean "have him lose in tag matches so that he looks weaker" which is a ridiculously fucking stupid formula.

He doesn't get his comeuppance. AJ throwing in the towel would show that she still cares about Bryan, and that would continue the angle. The whole reason another match would happen between Punk and Bryan is because Bryan made Punk tap-out after the clean result of their previous one. Why would Bryan let being screwed over go? Also, I think AJ eventually turning on Punk would be more of a shock than Big Show turning, and AJ turning on Punk makes sense, and would be a captivating story that could lead to either a) a full-blown heel turn for AJ, or b) a storyline arc where AJ portrays having some sort of "Stockholme syndrome," and is such an integral part of Bryan's success, despite him not caring for her at all. She wouldn't be a "bad girl" so much as a "good girl doing bad things."

Punk could be weary of AJ from the moment the towel is thrown in. AJ acts like it was out of concern for Punk, and he flat-out tells AJ that she came between him and the WWE Championship, and he doesn't trust that she's not on Team Bryan still. She says that Daniel treated her so poorly when all she wanted to do is help him, and that she is absolutely behind Punk beating Bryan. She tries to prove her worth to Punk in different ways over the following weeks, perhaps even being labelled by Jerry Lawler as CM Punk's "stalker." John Laurinaitis then appoints AJ the Special Referee in their rematch at Money in the Bank, which AJ is absolutely thrilled about, but both CM Punk and Bryan are visibly concerned over.

You have generated interest in the casual fan -- something that a Punk vs. Bryan feud needs to do outside the ring as well as inside it. Which side is AJ on? Is she being honest when she says that she wants CM Punk, and absolutely loathes Daniel Bryan? Or did she cost CM Punk the WWE Championship on purpose by throwing in the towel? Heading into the PPV, you can have Daniel Bryan trying to earn back AJ's love. "Maybe it's time we talked, AJ?" It is made obvious to the "WWE Universe" that Bryan is trying to rig the outcome of the WWE Title match; while Punk tells AJ that the WWE Championship means too much to rig, and that she should do what is fair and allow the match to play out so that we can all know who "The Best in the World" is.

There would be elements of Shakespeare in the storyline -- with AJ in the role of King Lear, and Punk playing Cordelia, refusing to sell-out his morals for a piece of the pie. Bryan (playing the other daughters of Lear), does play to AJ's insecurities and manages to remain in control of the kingdom.

The WWE tried this with John Cena recently. It was really exciting.

I was thinking if AJ purposely costs him the match somehow, he would get his comeuppance. What I actually said does lead to the angle continuing which seems like WWE's style currently because they don't like actually ending storylines properly. I wish they would actually get to a payoff now so it doesn't end up like Ryder/Eve.

There's a segment of the crowd that would find this quote not at all sarcastic...

As for the rest of the crowd, do you really think the marks who ejaculate over Punk nightly would turn on him if he was booked like Cena and Hogan were? Really?

Did you hate HBK when he was facing guys like Sid and Vader during his reign?

I didn't watch during HBK's reign, so I can't comment on that.

Bryan will get his comeuppance at the end of the storyline with Punk beating him. It's just a matter of when they do it.

As for the Eve/Ryder stuff, with John Laurinaitis now in power, it would be befitting if he demoted Ryder to NXT. Get some guys on that show that people care about. Ryder is really over, but he could use a bit more polish on his mic skills. Plus, while being a far more solid wrestler than people give him credit for (remember his matches with Christian in ECW?), it wouldn't hurt to have him working with guys like Tyson Kidd and Michael McGillicutty for longer than five minutes.

Well, point is, it's a common way of building drama. That "oh shit, the good guy is in trouble" thing is effective. If people don't like Cena, it's not gonna work as well though. That's not a knock on the formula, that's a knock on the face character not making the fans give a shit if he's the underdog or not.

Even if you don't ACTUALLY think he's gonna lose, from a dramatic standpoint, booking the good guy as the underdog overcoming is the best way of making the fans love them. Not even just in wrestling. See: Rocky

You do have a point there, but I'd rather Punk remain the driver's seat for now. Do Punk vs. Bane later in the year.

I don't want Punk to lose any non-title matches. I just don't buy Bryan as a viable challenger. Punk and Tensai wouldn't even need to touch each other and Punk could still be booked as being in trouble.

Ideally, I'd have him not lose the title either because I like how long his reign has been and want it to keep going with no gaps. Punk handing Tensai his first loss at SummerSlam with the title on the line would also be awesome as NO ONE in that crowd would be split. I have a feeling, the crowd would be going nuts for Punk. There wouldn't even be that mark split that's going on with Bryan. I miss the atmosphere of the face champion having the crowd be rabid for him.

The thing is, no one really cares about Tensai. Why go rabid for Punk when there's no reason to really go rabid for him. Tensai needs to enter a program that makes people care about him.

Personally, I would go with him vs. Brodus Clay.