CM Punk, Ryback, Attitude Era Draft, Latest WWE News & Rumors on Ring Rust Radio

Ring Rust Radio is the best wrestling show on the airwaves, and this week was no different. With strong opinions on CM Punk, Ryback, the Ring Rust Radio Attitude Era Draft and more, this is where you need to get all of your weekly WWE nuggets.

Bleacher Report featured columnists Michael Cahill, Brandon Galvin, Mike Chiari and Donald Wood give the lowdown on all things going on in the wrestling world. 

With another unpredictable episode of Ring Rust Radio in the books, you can't afford to miss another second of the action. Catch us LIVE every Tuesday at 6 p.m. ET (some language NSFW) or follow us on Twitter @RingRustRadio.

We may just read your questions and comments LIVE on the air. Visit our new website at RingRustRadio.com and you can also email us here: [e-mail]. 

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(Some language NSFW) 

Upcoming Guests/Events

Oct. 23 - Attitude Era Draft card reveals

Oct. 30 - Bleacher Report Video Game Expert Brian Mazique

Ryback to Face CM Punk at Hell in a Cell

Pretty much every WWE fan was expecting to see CM Punk defend his WWE Championship against John Cena at Hell in a Cell, but we were thrown a curveball on Monday as Cena stepped aside in favor of Ryback.

It appeared as though Ryback was a solid Plan B all along and the WWE will have to go with him. We can only speculate at this point, but Ryback's selection would seem to mean that Cena's elbow simply hasn't healed as quickly as hoped.

Question on Everybody's Mind: Was Ryback the Right Choice?

It wouldn't be unfair to call Ryback the hottest thing going in the WWE today as he has been getting massive crowd reactions and is constantly being talked about. The WWE seemed to be building toward Punk vs. Cena again based on the finish at Night of Champions, but Ryback is going to receive a chance to possibly solidify himself as a main-eventer instead.

A lot of people seem eager to see what Ryback can accomplish on the big stage, but does that mean that the WWE was right to give him a WWE Championship match so soon?

Ring Rust Radio's Take

Ryback's inclusion is interesting for sure, but there is too much that can go wrong at this point.

Either Ryback is going to win the WWE Championship, which would be the wrong decision, or he is going to lose to Punk and lose much of his mystique in the process as his undefeated streak goes by the wayside. The likely scenario is that Brock Lesnar interferes on Punk's behalf, but a loss is a loss, no matter how you slice it.

It's still possible that an attack angle is crafted that allows Cena to get in the match if he's ready, but it does look like we'll be getting Punk vs. Ryback.

Brandon Galvin brought up a great point on the show, saying that Punk vs. Cena should have been announced in order to draw more pay-per-view buys, and then he could have been laid out just before the match and replaced with Ryback. It would have been deceptive, but it probably would have been more lucrative as well.

Rumor Mill: John Cena's Affect on PPV Buy Rates from Wrestling News Source (via Wrestling Observer)

TNA Bound For Glory Aftermath

TNA's biggest pay-per-view of the year took place on Sunday as Bound For Glory emanated from Phoenix, AZ. The crowd was certainly hot for the event and it was great to see a venue other than the Impact Zone, but there are differing opinions about whether that actually led to a good show.

There were some decent matches, however, the poor build-up put Bound For Glory in a hole that was tough to dig out of.

Question on Everybody's Mind: Was Bound For Glory a Quality PPV?

Bound For Glory is supposed to be TNA's version of WrestleMania, so the show needs to be judged with that in mind. Bound For Glory should have been head and shoulders above anything else that TNA has produced over the past year. Perhaps some fans believe that TNA did, in fact, deliver, but Ring Rust Radio's panel felt like the event ultimately fell flat.

Ring Rust Radio's Take

As much as it may seem like Ring Rust Radio piles on TNA, it is very difficult to defend Bound For Glory. In a vacuum, matches like Rob Van Dam vs. Zema Ion, Samoa Joe vs. Magnus and Jeff Hardy vs. Austin Aries were good, but a lack of build, poor booking decisions or sometimes even both marred many bouts throughout the night. The biggest theme of the night was TNA booking out of fear.

I firmly believe that RVD and Hardy were given titles to prevent them from going to WWE and Devon was revealed as a member of Aces & Eights for the same reason. The Devon reveal was surprising, but it wasn't impactful at all, so that certainly came up short. Also, if Aries is going to be the next face of the company, then he should have come out on top at the biggest event of the year.

This is the second year in a row where TNA had the chance to elevate a younger star, with Bobby Roode serving as an example last year, and the company has twice given the win to a guy who simply didn't need it. TNA is in shambles and Bound For Glory only proved that even further.

RRR Attitude Era Draft

A couple months ago, Ring Rust Radio decided to conduct a draft in which we selected from the current pool of WWE, TNA and ROH stars. After that draft, we each came up with our own fantasy cards and allowed you, the fans, to vote on who did the best job. It was so well received that we decided to do it again, but this time we utilized the Attitude Era of 1998-2001.

Anyone who competed in WWF, WCW or ECW was eligible to be selected and it made for a very entertaining draft. Each of us will formulate our respective fantasy cards over the next week, but here is what everybody's roster looks like currently.

Question on Everybody's Mind: Who Did Everyone Draft?

WWF (Brandon Galvin)

Owner: Vince McMahon

Steve Austin

Bret Hart

Kurt Angle

Owen Hart

Chris Benoit

Mankind

Raven

X-Pac w/ Tori

Ken Shamrock

The Acolytes (Faarooq & Bradshaw)

Harlem Heat (Booker T & Stevie Ray)

Val Venis

Shane Douglas w/ Francine

Sabu w/ Bill Alfonso

Goldust w/ Terri Runnels

Impact Players (Justin Credible & Lance Storm) w/ Dawn Marie

Rhino

Too Cool (Grandmaster Sexay & Scotty Too Hotty)

Rikishi

D'Lo Brown

Yoshihiro Tajiri

The Godfather

Steve Corino

Super Crazy

The Gangstas (New Jack & Mustafa)

ECW (Donald Wood)

Owner: Paul Heyman

Bill Goldberg

Randy Savage

Rob Van Dam

Hardy Boyz (Matt & Jeff) w/ Lita

Dudley Boyz (Bubba Ray & D-Von)

Taz

Diamond Dallas Page w/ Kimberly Page

Jeff Jarrett w/ Debra McMichael

Ultimate Warrior

Arn Anderson

British Bulldog

Bam Bam Bigelow

Terry Funk

Vader

Ted DiBiase

Mike Awesome

Masato Tanaka

Jerry Lynn

Tommy Dreamer w/ Beulah McGillicutty

Mark Henry

Fit Finlay

Jim Neidhart

2 Cold Scorpio

The Great Muta

Kevin Sullivan

nWo (Mike Chiari)

Owner: Eric Bischoff

Hollywood Hulk Hogan

The Undertaker w/ Paul Bearer

Shawn Michaels

Sting

New Age Outlawz (Road Dogg & Billy Gunn)

Rey Mysterio Jr.

Kevin Nash

Curt Hennig

Legion of Doom (Animal & Hawk)

Big Show

Dean Malenko

William Regal

Juventud Guerrera

Perry Saturn

The Sandman

Steve Blackman

Al Snow

Billy Kidman w/ Torrie Wilson

Gangrel w/ Luna

Vampiro

Ultimo Dragon

Stevie Richards

Kaientai (Taka Michinoku & Sho Funaki)

Psychosis

La Parka

WCW (Michael Cahill)

Owner: Vince Russo

The Rock

Triple H w/ Stephanie McMahon

Edge & Christian

Ric Flair

Chris Jericho

Eddie Guerrero

Kane

Scott Hall

Steiner Brothers (Scott & Rick)

Lex Luger

Jake Roberts

Sid Vicious

Rowdy Roddy Piper

Shane McMahon & The Mean Street Posse (Pete Gas, Joey Abs & Rodney)

Big Boss Man & Bull Buchanan

Headbangers (Mosh & Thrasher)

Holly Cousins (Hardcore & Crash)

Konnan

Spike Dudley

Test and Albert w/ Trish Stratus

Chyna w/ Miss Kitty (The Kat)

Chavo Guerrero Jr.

Buff Bagwell

Marc Mero w/ Sable

Ahmed Johnson

Ring Rust Radio's Take

It is important to note that two trades have been made since Tuesday's draft. ECW sent Jerry Lynn, Mark Henry, Fit Finlay, The Great Muta, 2 Cold Scorpio and Kevin Sullivan to WCW for Lex Luger. Also, WCW traded Kane and Big Boss Man to nWo for Big Show.

With or without those trades, everyone certainly has an interesting roster. Feel free to place your vote for who you believe did the best job in the draft, but that won't be the end of RRR's Attitude Era Draft.

Keep an eye out next week for an article that will reveal each of our fantasy cards using our rosters so we can find out once and for all who is truly the king of the Attitude Era.

Check back for more on World Wrestling Entertainment as it comes, and visit Bleacher Report’s Wrestling Page to get your fill of WWE/TNA. For more Wrestling talk, listen to Ring Rust Radio for all the hottest topics.

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