The following are highlights of a recent interview with former SmackDown head writer Alex Greenfield:
On CM Punk: “I know there’s been a certain amount of dissatisfaction from Punk backstage according to the rumor mill anyway. He seems like he’s always got some level of dissatisfaction but it never occurred to me that he would walk away. I’m 70 percent sure this is not a work, that he has really walked away. Which isn’t to say he can’t be brought back but there is a chance that this some sort of high level story telling that they’re trying. Presuming it’s real I kind of understand it. His body’s all banged up, he’s looking at the same creative we are and probably feeling a very similar sense of dissatisfaction. I can understand walking away. It makes sense to me. It also makes sense to me though like I can articulate a story where in which this is a work and we get him together with Hunter and we can all sort of telescope that this is a work version of the story out and if that’s the case I just feel like this is the 2nd time we’ve gone to this well with this character so it doesn’t make sense to me that you would tell that story again which is one of the reasons why i think the preponderance of the evidence is that he’s actually walked away and I can feel it cause just as a fan I’m going to walk away for a little while.”
On Daniel Bryan: “You look at the way Bryan’s been booked since Summer Slam. An argument you see a lot is that Daniel Bryan’s PPVs didn’t increase numbers and neither did his RAW segments well you gave him sh**** booking that involves belittling him every single week. This is something went with Rey (Mysterio). We had Mark kill him and the Great Khali killing him. We were burying our champion every single week. Of course that’s going to turn people off when you don’t give them what they want. Telescoping forward, I have the feeling that this is all going to come to a head and that they will put the title on Bryan in a big of a way as they feel is right and Vince is going to start booking him like Rey. Here’s a guy whose job is to get his ass kicked, and slip over every now and then. I think it’s terrible storytelling, it’s not what the people want and when people bitch about Bryan’s ratings and say well that’s the reason they’re not going with him they gave him a shot already. I don’t think they gave him a legitimate shot. I think they gave him a story that undercut him at the knees from the moment he walked out of the curtain.”
On the Royal Rumble and Bryan not being part of it: “WWE seems to want to fight against the crowd just doesn’t make any sense to me. Why aren’t you taking advantage of the lighting and that’s one of the things that frustrated me so much about the Rumble is I don’t think you can get that moment of triumphing over adversity in that way and there’s so many stories it opens up like did Kane help him get in? So many things you can do. Even if they change plans and give him (Bryan) a big WrestleMania moment I feel like the lightning in the bottle has been lost because now it’s all repairing shit they broke. It’s silly if they didn’t have some idea of what would happen before the world title match started. If you get to the end of that world title match and you don’t call the audible to get Bryan into the match, hell even having Batista eliminating him and having them be the final 2 I think would have sent people home a lot happier. But that you don’t even call that audible just to me indicates the calcified my way or the highway thinking that makes wrestling not very fun.”
Check out the complete interview at MoreLikeRadio.com.
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