Surprised there isnt a thread here to talk about Raw, but I'll be giving it a go here for the home stretch to Mania and now with Shane back I'm very intrigued.
hahaha, yeah, that'll work. lol
Shane O'Mac coming back was a shocker. Midas pushed me when he came out. :(
Shane is a legit top 5 favourite WWE/F wrestlers for me so as weird and clusterfucky the HIAC vs Taker sounds, Shane ALWAYS puts his body on the line every time he has a match.
Yeah, but this was then. He's like 45? now.
When I saw there was a separate Raw thread, I thought Fnord took the idea of an upcoming brand split too seriously lol.
Tonight's WWE RAW takes place from the Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, Tennessee. Sasha Banks vs. Becky Lynch in a #1 contenders match has been announced for tonight. Other Superstars scheduled include The Undertaker, WWE World Heavyweight Champion Triple H, Roman Reigns, Dean Ambrose, The League of Nations, The Wyatt Family, Chris Jericho and WWE Intercontinental Champion Kevin Owens.
WWE is focusing on the following points for tonight's show:
* Will The Deadman shed further light on his historic 24th contest at The Showcase of the Immortals?
* How will Triple H continue to assert his power on The Road to WrestleMania after injuring Roman Reigns?
* Who will face Charlotte at WrestleMania 32?
* How will Dean Ambrose respond to Brock Lesnar?
* Expect The Dudley Boyz to continue reminding WWE fans and the locker room that they're no mere nostalgia act
aaand Y2AJ is the worst tag team name ever.
Love arguably the top singles wrestler on the main roster getting teamed with cool dad himself Jericho for no apparent reason that screams we have no idea what to do with you.
Quote from: Cory on February 29, 2016, 09:58:47 PM
aaand Y2AJ is the worst tag team name ever.
Love arguably the top singles wrestler on the main roster getting teamed with cool dad himself Jericho for no apparent reason that screams we have no idea what to do with you.
Really?' Didn't scream that to me. It screamed "AJ/Jericho isn't over and Jericho is going to shaft AJ". I think they have plans, but this is more of a period of "let the casual fans acclimatize to AJ" before they pull the trigger.
WWE has announced AJ Styles and Chris Jericho vs. WWE Tag Team Champions The New Day with the titles on the line for next Monday's RAW from Chicago.
WWE has also confirmed Shane McMahon for next Monday's RAW. Shane will be there to respond to what The Undertaker and Vince McMahon said on this week's show.
....and still no explanation.
Tonight's WWE RAW will take place from the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia, PA. No matches have been announced for tonight but it's believed more WrestleMania 32 matches will be confirmed.
Superstars advertised include WWE World Heavyweight Champion Triple H, Roman Reigns, Dean Ambrose, Chris Jericho, Sheamus, The Wyatt Family, AJ Styles, WWE Intercontinental Champion Kevin Owens, Stephanie McMahon and Vince McMahon.
WWE is focusing on the following points for tonight:
* Will Dolph Ziggler instigate himself into another all-or-nothing match?
* Expect the Charlotte vs. Sasha Banks vs. Becky Lynch rivalry to kick into gear in a big way
* How will Lana and Team BAD make their presence known?
* Who will enter in the third annual Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal?
* Will The Authority settle their Roman Reigns problem in the ring or with a mountain of litigation?
Outside of the AJ/Owens match, that was one of the worst Raws I've seen, especially for the second last to Mania.
Quote from: Cory on March 22, 2016, 02:48:36 PM
Outside of the AJ/Owens match, that was one of the worst Raws I've seen, especially for the second last to Mania.
I agree...
Man, after that RAW I am just sooooooo happy that I dropped 250 bucks on a Wrestlemania ticket. ::)
and looks like another injury to one of the few good workers left in Luke Harper, heard he fucked his knee up in the dark match...add this to Neville in the last 14 days and jesus.
Well hey, at least there's Takeover: Dallas.
AJ/Owens was one of the best RAW matches I've seen in ages. AJ's finally got used to the ring and I'm so happy they gave them almost 20 mins to show what they can really do. Crowd were really buying into the match.
Aside from that.... meh. I'm more excited about NXT Takeover and what happens *after* Mania. I'll admit I'm interested in Taker/Mania, but a 1 month build for something of this magnitude (Which essentially comes down to Ownership of WWE Vs. Career) feels rushed and a little bit "panic-buttony".
It's kinda sad actually, the thing I'm most looking forward to abotu 'Mania is really the NXT before it and the Monday after it.
The NXT card really isn't that spectacular, either, IMO. I am looking forward to Nakamura and Joe/Balor should be a decent match, but other than that... I looked it and really thought "who cares".
I'm interested in the results and outcome of Shane/Taker, but other than that... not much excitement IMO.
Austin Aries in-ring debut, Shinsuke Nakamura debut, Joe/Balor for the title, Asuka/Bayley for the womens... that'll do me :)
Quote from: BamBamBunglow on March 23, 2016, 09:07:48 AM
Austin Aries in-ring debut, Shinsuke Nakamura debut, Joe/Balor for the title, Asuka/Bayley for the womens... that'll do me :)
Not to mention American Alpha Vs. The Revival, both of which have quickly become favorites of mine. Those 4 will no doubt go all out trying to have the match of the night. The 3 titles matches, Zayn Vs. Nakamura and Aries Vs. Corbin (who has improved massively), all sound better than any match on the Mania card.
Hold the freakin' phone.
Sami Zayn wrestles Shinsuke Nakamura and gets an IC Title shot, all on the same weekend?
(http://kocosports.net/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/El-Generico-nologo.jpeg)
#OLE
Hate how they are rushing him into everything and giving him little to no time to explain why he arrived. I think it would help his crowd reactions (which have been less than ideal IMO) if they let him/KO re-tell some of their NXT storyline.
Well, I think their feud could go past WM to a one-on-one match.
Tonight's WWE RAW will take place from the Barclays Center in Brooklyn with the final hype for WrestleMania 32. WWE will also tape a few SmackDown matches tonight, which will air with highlights from Axxess.
Tonight's show is an "all hands on deck" event with Shane McMahon, Vince McMahon, Stephanie McMahon, WWE World Heavyweight Champion Triple H, Brock Lesnar, The Undertaker, Roman Reigns, Dean Ambrose, Sheamus, Alberto Del Rio, Rusev, WWE United States Champion Kalisto, WWE Intercontinental Champion Kevin Owens and Dolph Ziggler advertised.
* Who is the true authority in the WrestleMania main event?
* To what extremes will Ambrose go to slay The Beast?
* Are we approaching The Undertaker's final WrestleMania?
* Will Chris Jericho accept AJ Styles' challenge?
* How will the "Total Divas" even the odds?
* Who will gain the upper hand before WrestleMania's Intercontinental Title Ladder Match?
Loved that Shane McMahon spot, great promo too between the two.
lol, what a go home Raw.
"Hey, it worked for Taker/Brock.....lets just use that again!"
I can't believe Shane botched that elbow. Technically it was a fist drop, more'n an elbow. If he hadn't extended the hand out he'd have missed altogether. Was surprised that they showed the slow-mo.
Aside from that, I managed to watch the whole thing without skipping anything. Wasn't greast but wasn't bad either.
Favourite moment had to be Dean Ambrose trundling out his little red wagon to go weapons shopping. I giggled.
Quote from: Cory on March 28, 2016, 11:04:55 PM
lol, what a go home Raw.
"Hey, it worked for Taker/Brock.....lets just use that again!"
What exactly were you expecting?
Quote from: BamBamBunglow on March 29, 2016, 11:10:14 AM
I can't believe Shane botched that elbow. Technically it was a fist drop, more'n an elbow. If he hadn't extended the hand out he'd have missed altogether. Was surprised that they showed the slow-mo.
Aside from that, I managed to watch the whole thing without skipping anything. Wasn't greast but wasn't bad either.
Favourite moment had to be Dean Ambrose trundling out his little red wagon to go weapons shopping. I giggled.
I dont think you can knock Shane....with the injury bug risking that on a move on a Raw that had very little substance I credit him for the effort.
Quote from: Jon on March 29, 2016, 11:25:17 AM
What exactly were you expecting?
I hate talking about what I want because I've only started paying attention to the product (outside NXT) for the last month so I dont know if Im just missing something but
- Taker/Shane was great. Promo wasn't botched and was as effective as a promo not featuring Paul Heyman could be. The bump wasn't totally clean but it was old school Shane and Taker had some color. For as much as this match will probably be a clusterfuck, it still should steal the show with some crazy spots come Wrestlemania. HOWEVER, we still have no idea why Undertaker is helping Vince...or a reason to cheer for him aside from not wanting him to lose at Mania. The "he'll be fired" stipulation Vince said two weeks ago makes no sense...if Shane wins he can hire him back. I think they should have done: Taker is paying back the debt to Vince that he owes after Vince "gave" him his rematch with Brock Lesnar after losing to him at Mania, but thats just me.
- Jericho/AJ just isn't doing it for me. On paper its a fantastic matchup but all of their encounters so far have looked meh....their chemistry isn't great and I don't think Jericho can keep up with AJ, though I hope i'm surprised at Mania. I cant knock the segment as its the direction they're going and it was alright....but the force chanting of either AJ Styles or Y2Jackass is cringeworthy....especially with how the crowds have been. They have been dead this entire "road" to Mania and I don't blame them. It's been pretty brutal to be honest. I think adding a stipulation to this match....say a Submission match would have gotten a pop. Walls vs Calf Crusher.
- Becky Lynch vs Charlotte is so damn repetitive, having 'X' diva on commentary and then shenanigans from said Diva and Flair. Its the most undeserving stale feud heading into Mania. We've seen what these ladies can do and their ring work is arguably the top female wrestling in the world, let them do it, focus on the wrestling. They didn't add anything fresh to this to entice the viewer more for the Mania match.
- Andre Battle Royal....I still cant and will never forget two weeks ago Big Show yelling "KANES THE MAN!". With a depleted roster this match is as pointless as ever, it'll come down to Kane/Show/Strowman and Kane will go over is my prediction. Lets get over all of the "old giants" and forget how we thought by Cesaro winning it he was getting a big push.
- HHH Promo 1. We'll at least it wasn't a half hour promo to start the show. There's nothing the HHH can do to turn the crowd on him, especially not a smarky NYC crowd.
- New Day / LON is what it is. New Day is probably the most over thing along with Ambrose...and their matches with LON are pretty good....its just the way LON has been booked for the last two months....there's just no reason to care about them. This feud, much like the DIVA's is incredible repetitive and stale. They didn't do anything to make me want to see the most over team at Mania with this segment, bad writing.
- US Title, Kalisto is one of the better workers regularly and now with all the injuries he's the main high flying spot guy. Ryback is a decent big man....but again I dont care about this feud and I have been given no reason too. Nothing was done on this Raw to change that. I think their Mania match could be fairly good but there's a reason its on the pre-show....because its been booked badly. Why not have Kalisto and Sin Cara feud? There's actual history and they'd have a fantastic (botchy) match. Nope, lets have Ryback randomly quit a 6 man tag with Kane/Show that went over on the Wyatts at a PPV then disband the next night...and THEN give him a Title match at Mania with Kalisto because one guy is big and one guy is small. Ugh.
- Lesnar/Ambrose was even kinda weak by their standards. Overall, it was the second best segment of the night behind Shane/Taker but going from cool cameos and getting weapons from legends past to having a wagon and for some reason these weapons behind under the ring? And ignoring Brock lesnar while you go to the ring, fill up wagon and leave? Are you kidding me? Heyman's promo was A+ but there could have been so much more done with this, I get the mindgames idea but when the two most over guys in the company do NOTHING on the go home Raw.....
(https://i.ytimg.com/vi/N1NwW3GCn7k/hqdefault.jpg)
- Paige/Emma...like seeing Emma on the main roster as her, Paige and Natalya are the forgotten 'good' females workers in the Divas revolution....but this match....alright. Lets have the same shit piss break battle royal that made the women's division a joke over the last decade and hurt everything we've tried to chance with one of the top angles of the year. Then they brought that Red Haired chick who got shit on by the crowd to help the faces. My god this is gonna be a trainwreck at least its on the pre-show.
- Alright so throwing out the fact that we can assume it was supposed to be Owens/Zayn/Neville match and they made it the spotfest ladder match after Nevilles injury aside.......why for the last match on the go home Raw are you having the same fucking 6 man tag team matches that we see every week? The crowd always shits on it, it never accomplishes anything and this situation even makes less sense. Why would these guys team with each other? They're facing each other for the #2 title in the company......HORRIBLE booking and it brought a smile to my face that the crowd absolutely shit on this. I feel bad for Zayn/Owens....they should have booked this as a singles match and carried their storyline over from NXT so the fans would know/have a reason to cheer Sami. His reactions are luke warm because the casual has no idea who he is and the awful commentary team hasn't sold his story at all.
- Lets finish the show after the crowd is super dead with the exact same angle we used for Taker/Lesnar, except do it worse....between two people the crowd aren't into. Reigns had a sick dive to the outside (ok ok, are you trying to reinforce that you're reusing the Taker/Lesnar feud now?) and the crowd still chanted "you still suck". Yikes, Sunday is going to certainly be interesting.
Quote from: Cory on March 29, 2016, 01:49:06 PM
I dont think you can knock Shane....with the injury bug risking that on a move on a Raw that had very little substance I credit him for the effort.
Oh I can, and I will. My view on it;
A guy who's not been there for 6+ years is going to get into the main event, against THE biggest attraction of Wrestlemania. There's only one guy who's allowed to do that, and it's The Rock. The reason he's allowed to do it is because he's the biggest star made in the part twenty years. I don't even like the Rock, but I at least recognise what he's done for that company.
Shane... what's he done? "Bought" WCW so that Vince could humiliate the brand name for an additional year on TV and Jumped off a lot of shit. Now he's being presented, and I quote, as "The most formidable threat The Undertaker has ever faced". I call bullshit. The entire angle smacks of panic button;
They've booked themselves into a corner with NO GOOD WAY OUT. If Shane wins over the Undertaker, you're presenting the fact that THE guy at Wrestlemania has just been beaten by a guy who hasn't stepped into a wrestling ring in 6 fucking years! Taker's beaten HHH, Kane, Shawn Michaels, Ric Flair, but can't beat SHANE MCFUCKINGMAHON?! irrelevant that it could freshen up the product or get a brand split/brand war on the go - it makes no sense in any way, shape or form!
On the other side of the coin, Taker wins and the last month's worth of TV time has been a complete damned waste. Whoop dee doo. Rather than taking an up and comer and using Taker to get him over, they instead fly in Shane with a rushed story about wanting control of RAW, which fizzled out within 2 months.
So don't tell me I can't knock Shane when his first "big move" since coming back he comes within a bollock hair of botching. He shouldn't be in this situation *anyway*, and if he wants to be, he'll be scrutinised just like anyone else, regardless of what stupid shit he pulls. He fucks up, I'm knock him for it.
Quote from: Jack on March 30, 2016, 06:09:01 PM
I usually don't get into booking decisions or say 'this guy shouldn't beat this guy because of this and that...'
But if Shane beats Undertaker, even with TONS of outside interference, then the Undertaker character is gone for me and will have lost all the mystique that makes him still fun to watch in this day in age.
Im thinking Taker wins, Vince comes down after the victory....
*flashback*
"Vince's blood will be on my hands" - Undertaker
....and somehow gets Vince to hand the company over to Shane, insert Tombstone after that and yeah, get ready for Roman.
Back in the day, Taker was so much more than the streak, but if I'm honest, my interest in seeing him now has waned significantly since that day two years ago. The fact that Bray Wyatt lost to him, despite there being no streak on the line, just made Wyatt look like a regular old midcarder.
And as for the story going into this match (granted I have not watched, only going by what I've read) but "control of the company" has become as meaningless as the US and/or IC titles and is a storyline that has been done so many times, the only exception this time being it was the express version of the angle, going from start to finish in one month.
Pathetic.
Alexandria's showdown with Negan on the other hand has been building very nicely and for the most part in logical steps, with characters remaining true to form over the entire season.
I am looking forward to the main event (assuming the main event is HHH vs Reigns) out of a certain morbid curiosity. I am wondering if they are going to pull a major swerve like last year... the MITB is cashed already, but maybe Rolling comes back with a reveal that he had an anywhere/anytime title match clause as part of him being stripped of the title? (I have no idea if he is anywhere near to coming back physically yet.)
Quote from: Drama Queen on March 30, 2016, 07:21:54 PM
I am looking forward to the main event (assuming the main event is HHH vs Reigns) out of a certain morbid curiosity. I am wondering if they are going to pull a major swerve like last year...
[spoiler]Roman is setting up for the spear when dastardly manager Stephanie McMahon throws powder in his eyes!
Roman is blinded! Oh noes!
Triple H uses the distraction to hit the pedigree and win the match!
But what is this?! Here comes all American hero John Cena! He comforts Roman and protests the dastardly cheating
Evil foreign manager Stephanie McMahon gloats about her husband's superiority and throws down a vague challenge that is interpreted as a title match, right here, right now!
Roman is TOTALLY behind Cena avenging him and give him his blessing as he leaves ringside
Stephanie goes to throw powder in Cena's eyes, but she misses and hits HHH instead!
AA! New Champion! Cenamania is running wild brother![/spoiler]
Quote from: Goldferg on March 31, 2016, 05:33:38 AM
[spoiler]Roman is setting up for the spear when dastardly manager Stephanie McMahon throws powder in his eyes!
Roman is blinded! Oh noes!
Triple H uses the distraction to hit the pedigree and win the match!
But what is this?! Here comes all American hero John Cena! He comforts Roman and protests the dastardly cheating
Evil foreign manager Stephanie McMahon gloats about her husband's superiority and throws down a vague challenge that is interpreted as a title match, right here, right now!
Roman is TOTALLY behind Cena avenging him and give him his blessing as he leaves ringside
Stephanie goes to throw powder in Cena's eyes, but she misses and hits HHH instead!
AA! New Champion! Cenamania is running wild brother![/spoiler]
That's money right there. Book it, book it now.
- In an update on Doc Gallows and Karl Anderson, they reportedly flew into Dallas on Sunday. There are still rumors saying they could debut on tonight's WWE RAW in Dallas but that hasn't been confirmed.
Tonight's WWE RAW is the biggest Monday night show of the year and will take place from the American Airlines Center in Dallas with WrestleMania 32 fallout.
Surprises are expected for tonight's show but talents advertised include WWE World Heavyweight Champion Roman Reigns, WWE Women's Champion Charlotte, Triple H, Brock Lesnar, Bray Wyatt, Dean Ambrose, Alberto Del Rio, Sheamus, Kane, Chis Jericho, Vince McMahon, Stephanie McMahon, Rusev, Dolph Ziggler, King Barrett, AJ Styles, WWE United States Champion Kalisto and WWE Intercontinental Champion Zack Ryder.
WWE is focusing on the following points for tonight:
* What does the future hold for Raw after the WrestleMania main events?
* Who's coming after the all-new WWE Women's Championship?
* Is John Cena returning to Raw?
* How does Ambrose come back from the carnage?
* How long can WrestleMania's Cinderella Man Zack Ryder make the moment last?
hey at least Shane is there
Reddit spoiler FalconArrow says that [spoiler]there will be a title change tonight.[/spoiler]
Quote from: Mike Powers on April 04, 2016, 03:57:30 PM
Reddit spoiler FalconArrow says that [spoiler]there will be a title change tonight.[/spoiler]
[spoiler] Well, yeah.... Zack Ryder has a belt.... [/spoiler]
[spoiler]He didn't outright say it, but reading between the lines it looks like Ryder will lose it to Miz, who will have Maryse with him.
Also multiple NXT call ups. [/spoiler]
Roflmao! The announce team literally kicked off raw with a disclaimer that the post mania fans often cheer for those they normally boo and vice versa!
Guess they are preemptively explaining the inevitable reaction to Roman
Quote from: Drama Queen on April 04, 2016, 08:08:42 PM
Roflmao! The announce team literally kicked off raw with a disclaimer that the post mania fans often cheer for those they normally boo and vice versa!
Guess they are preemptively explaining the inevitable reaction to Roman
(http://i.imgur.com/iWKad22.jpg)
Hey at least they're letting Shane "run" Raw for some damage control.
THEY DON'T WANT NONE
HOW YOU DOIN'?
What a great main event!!
Cesaro returns and now Styles? Damn...
It's going to be interesting if they can build off that ending + momentum next week.
So they're acknowledging that Reigns is a heel right? Why else would they match him up against Styles?
Styles winning or the final of March Madness?
Hmm
Huh?
So...
Shane was in charge of RAW despite losing.
Ryder lost the IC belt.
Roman got booed out of the building.
Despite losing to Jericho at Mania, Styles is the No.1 contender.
Baron Corbin's RAW debut after winning the Battle Royale ended in No Contest.
Wyatts face turned again LON, despite trying to mess up the Rock.
People were expecting Bayley, got Natalya.
Yup, what a way to render Mania completely and utterly pointless.
Plusses - AJ in the title scene without having to fight through the mid carders. Apollo Crews had a pretty good debut. Enzo & Cass are on main roster. Corbin can be a big bad guy who isn't Kane or Big Show.
Negatives - If they want Roman over as their top Face, do NOT put him with AJ Styles. I mean... Jesus Wept. Styles is over, his merch was unobtainable for his first month in WWE. HE IS POPULAR! Why are we putting Face Vs. Supposed Face? HOW WILL THIS GET ROMAN OVER?! It will be a good match. Cena had great matches against Owens, Cesaro, Zayn et al. and STILL GOT BOOED. If this doesn't lead to a Roman heel turn, or an AJ/Bullet club heel turn, then this is a ridiculous booking move.
Actually... I made that last comment offhand. But I could see that happening. PPV, Anderson & Gallows (Maybe Balor)take out Roman, Bullet Club V2.0 as the new heel group. Yeah, I could see that actually working.
OK, now I've had three mahoosive cups of coffee, I'm feeling a it more optimistic about the show.
- First, no Authority any more. YAY! Despite the fact that Shane running RAW basically rendered his match Vs. Taker moot, if it gets rid of 20 minute HHH/Steph ramblings, I'm happy.
- Apollo Crews had a good debut. I know, no build up, etc. etc. but he showed the crowd that he can basically do *everything*. He's like an inverse Neville - rather than a speedy gynmast doing freaky power moves, he's a powerful guy who is a REALLY good gymnast too. Him Vs. Neville I'd loooove to see. Sadly I don't see Tyler Breeze getting much more than this.
- Zack Ryder actually got some TV time. I know, he lost the title, but he's got a feud. ON TV. He's a solid worker, the fans are still behind him some, lets hope his chance keeps going past smackdown.
- Enzo and Cass turned up. THOSE BOYS ARE ENTERTAINING. They are great trash talkers, and they back it up in the ring. Give it a few months, they'll be big players.
- Wyatts face turn seems to be on the cards. This is a great move. Rather than being put to use putting over the good guys "TO MAKE 'EM LOOK STRONG!" They might now get a decent winning streak with some crowd support behind them.
- Cesaro is back! CESARO IS BACK! And went straight into the main event scene. Granted, I've got my doubts that he'll stay there, but he works very very well and always gives us a great match.
- AJ Styles is the No.1 contender. AJ. STYLES. NUMBER. ONE. CONTENDER. Lets be honest, in our hope bookings, we said it should happen. We never thought it *would* happen. I doubt he'll win it straight off Reigns, Reigns is gonna have that belt until at least summerslam (Vince giveth not a shit about what we want, he wants Reigns on top, reigns WILL BE on top), but AJ Styles at least has the chance. He can go to... what's the next PPV? MITB? Payback? Whatever, AJ Styles can now go there and prove he damn well deserves to be there, and can keep himself in the mix. This is an opportunity - not to win the belt - but to prove to Vince that he's worth it later on.
So, all in all, I'm kinda optimistic. It wasn't the best RAW I've ever seen, but it was a different Raw - and it wasn't change for change's sake. We'll see how it goes, but I think there's some good seeds planted here.
I've come to expect WWE to make Mania moot the next night on RAW...better to treat WM as a one off, because there is no consequences from the show ever.
Also asshole Reigns is entertaining, hopefully they are letting him turn finally. He can still be THE guy Vince wants...just as a heel instead...
Quote from: T-Long on April 05, 2016, 10:57:32 AM
Also asshole Reigns is entertaining, hopefully they are letting him turn finally. He can still be THE guy Vince wants...just as a heel instead...
I'm glad someone else noticed, I thought I was seeing things. The dismissive little "Shoo" motions to AJ Styles screamed "I'm on my way to Heelsville".
Quote from: Mike Powers on April 04, 2016, 11:46:02 PM
Huh?
What was more exciting/satisfying.
Quote from: T-Long on April 05, 2016, 10:57:32 AM
Also asshole Reigns is entertaining, hopefully they are letting him turn finally. He can still be THE guy Vince wants...just as a heel instead...
Never understood why he couldn't be that...my guess is Vince wanted a babyface until Cena could return, but with Cena back in a months time it doesn't make sense to have superCena and superReigns at the same time.
- As seen on RAW last night, Triple H and Stephanie McMahon were absent from the show. They both are advertised for next weeks RAW from the Staples Center in Los Angeles, CA. The advertised (likely dark match) main event is WWE Champion Roman Reigns, Dean Ambrose, Dolph Ziggler and Kalisto vs. Kevin Owens, Alberto Del Rio, Sheamus and Rusev. Vince McMahon is also advertised to appear.
Source: Showbuzz Daily
Monday's episode of WWE RAW, the biggest show of the year with the WrestleMania 32 fallout, drew 4.094 million viewers. This is up 9% from last week's 3.764 million viewers for the go-home episode.
For this week's show, the first hour drew 4.287 million viewers, the second hour drew 4.178 million viewers and the final hour drew 3.816 million viewers.
RAW was #4 on cable for the night in viewership, behind the NCAA championship, post-show and tipoff on TBS. They were also #4 in the 18-49 demographic.
The post-WrestleMania 31 RAW last year drew 5.364 million viewers but did not go up against the NCAA. The post-WrestleMania RAW last went up against the NCAA for WrestleMania 30 in 2014. That episode drew 5.146 million viewers.
The show had a hot start and end, but dragged badly in the middle.
Plus the crowd crapped all over the big Woman's Title segment and a few of the matches. That after WM crowd, while some of my own smarky types, really are getting a bit lame. "We are awesome" chants 30 mins into the show? The wave? Let's get some new material smarks.
It's so funny watching which guys Vince brings up from NXT - Corbin (big and tall), Crews (short but great body), Enzo and Cass (big tall dude) - I don't think Corbin or Crews are ready for the main roster, certainly not more ready than say Balor, Nakamura or Joe, but they've got the look Vince likes.
Still Enzo was great on the mic and that was the perfect crowd to debut them in front of. Let's hope the act stays over when it's the usual RAW crowd in attendance (I think it will because people love singing along with catchphrases and Enzo is so good on the mic).
Not a blow away show, but it was ok. Better than the usual dross they serve up on a Monday night and the main event match was really good.
Let's all come back in 2 months time, once they WM after glow has died down and we'll see how the new guys are doing and if the show feels any fresher than it has in recent months.
The problem with bringing up Nakamura, Joe and Balor is it could lead to a drop in subs due to lack of interest. Word has it Joe is due a call up soon and they want to give him a monster run. (COME ON JOE VS. LESNAR! WM33!)
Nah man, the WWE Network number isn't that reliant on NXT. It's still the PPVs that get the most viewers. NXT is a big part of the network, but moving those guys up to TV now isn't going to cause a big drop in subscribers. If anything it should increase the number because more people will see them on TV on Monday and then get the Network to watch them work the PPVs...or at least that should be what happens.
All 3 of those guys and American Alpha and Bayley are more than ready for the main roster and should be on there now. I get why they aren't but it's still not right.
Add those 3 to the WM card, put Bayley in the women's match for the battle of the horse women, along with say American Alpha v New Day for the Tag Titles - and the show would've been so improved.
I'm not real thrilled with the Crews debut as I am the others. He's a spot-monkey to me, IMO, and will spend the rest of his career feuding with Neville.
I was ecstatic to see Enzo and Cass debut. I think the Dudley Boyz are the perfect team to get them over. I hope the WWE gives them both mic time to go at it.
Quote from: Jack on April 06, 2016, 12:35:11 PM
This is one of the reasons I don't follow NXT! I would be gutted if my wrestling show lost this many people!
Its starting to get cluttered....and honestly I would have expected this sooner. Corbin is gone as the monster heel, but I assume this will let Austin Aries move to his natural heel role. Crews is gone so there's more time for a babyface so room for Itami when he returns, Zayn gone -> Nakamura in. Assuming Balor Club goes to NXT First, Bobby Roode, Cruiserweight Tournament guys getting signed, I think they'll be more than fine with recent losses. The signed two new tag teams too to replenish what they lost with the Vauldvilans/Enzo+Cass
When the injury bug hit I'm not sure with 5-6 main roster ready guys they didn't bring them up....shouldn't that be WWE's luxury? They have a talent pool they can draw from so we get Balor/Joe/Zayn/Corbin instead of League of Nations or Zack Ryder nonsense? So that time has passed....
....But Crews is a rush, I saw on Breaking Ground of whatever that Crews still is awful on the mic and is one of the few dudes who would benefit from being in developmental, but he's clearly there to fill Nevilles void. I'm not sure why the Vauldevilans either....I'm a fan of the champs dropping the belt then going up....rather all the random ones. Enzo and Cass we're more than ready.
Well, I'm shocked...
Two better than average... dare I say it? Even "good" RAW's in a row?!?!?
- Two good matches in Cesaro/Owens and Styles/Zayn.
- one decent match in Charlotte/Natalya
- Another Crews Squash Match, making him look pretty strong,
- Gallows & Andreson debut - wasn't as "impactful" as I was hoping, but it made them look like a pair of real killers.
- Tag Team division getting some love. Is seems to be a running theme that they work on something in NXT, then bring it up to the main roster (First the Women, then the Tag... what's next?).
- Enzo & Cass appearing just makes things better from the word go.
- Wyatt face turn seems to be on... I think... Or is it? I'm not sure.
The Wyatt's situation is actually intriguing me at the moment. I'm not sure where it's going, with him tagging with Reigns of all people. It's making the forward booking plans unclear which, to me, is a good thing. It gets people guessing, second guessing and discussing it. It may end up flopping, but I'm cautiously optimistic about this now.
Overall.... yeah, one of the most watchable shows in ages. Felt fresher, less obvious, less... stupid.
Quote from: BamBamBunglow on April 12, 2016, 04:07:59 AM
Well, I'm shocked...
Two better than average... dare I say it? Even "good" RAW's in a row?!?!?
- Two good matches in Cesaro/Owens and Styles/Zayn.
- one decent match in Charlotte/Natalya
- Another Crews Squash Match, making him look pretty strong,
- Gallows & Andreson debut - wasn't as "impactful" as I was hoping, but it made them look like a pair of real killers.
- Tag Team division getting some love. Is seems to be a running theme that they work on something in NXT, then bring it up to the main roster (First the Women, then the Tag... what's next?).
- Enzo & Cass appearing just makes things better from the word go.
- Wyatt face turn seems to be on... I think... Or is it? I'm not sure.
The Wyatt's situation is actually intriguing me at the moment. I'm not sure where it's going, with him tagging with Reigns of all people. It's making the forward booking plans unclear which, to me, is a good thing. It gets people guessing, second guessing and discussing it. It may end up flopping, but I'm cautiously optimistic about this now.
Overall.... yeah, one of the most watchable shows in ages. Felt fresher, less obvious, less... stupid.
This. Enjoyed it a lot.
I did not see it this week, but judging from the bit I saw last week, the time seems perfect to make Roman Reigns a heel... and I mean a legitimate heel... not one of these guys we enjoy as a heel so we cheer him anyway, but a guy we really want to boo.
This occurred to me as they are no doubt feeding AJ to him at the next PPV... and it's perfect. Look at the line of really over fan favorites they have at the moment that they can feed to him... AJ, Zayn, Cesaro, and apparently now Bray Wyatt, and of course Ambrose.... then Rollins could come back as a face. You could have him going through them all, some of them being bigger feuds than others (Ambrose, Rollins because of the history).
I realize the people I mentioned above might only appeal to the smarks or whatever (although they seem to be pretty over in general these days? but you can also throw in guys like Ryder, Ziggler, Kalisto etc.)
And most of those guys would make him look like a million dollars in the process.
The wrench in the heel Reigns plan comes from the debut of the bullet club...it's the WWE thing to do to take a hot group like that and turn AJ heel to run it...
I enjoyed RAW a lot this week. I think the babyface authority figure is a breath of fresh air. It's nice to watch a wrestling show and not be told for 20 minutes every week that we suck, our favourite wrestlers suck and nothing else matters apart for two members of upper management of the company. Truth be told, I'd much prefer no authority figure because they've been using that same storyline for nearly 20 years now and it's beyond stale.
I thought the matches with Zayn v Styles and Owens v Cesaro were great. I like the fact they're doing a tournament for the tag title no 1 contendership. I like Enzo and Cass getting more mic time. I even enjoyed the main event and liked the tease of Bray going face and his interactions with Roman. It's all new and feels much fresher.
Nice impactful debut by Gallows and Anderson too. I know this sounds dumb, but there's something great about the way Anderson moves. The way he jumped through the ropes to the floor - I don't know, it just seemed better than the way other guys move. More intense and focused on beating someone up. His line to the refs when they were backing off about "you guys have got a nice place here" was really good too.
The in-ring talent depth is good in WWE at the moment and all the babyface characters looked good, didn't get made to look like fools and didn't have to back down or be verbally torn apart by Steph for a change. Do this more.
The women's match was also good and the crowd were really into it. Like a lot of people on the roster, Nattie is much more over than her push.
Even the bit with Owens getting booted was good, it made sense to kick him out and when it's a heel backing down from a babyface in charge it just works so much better. Plus you know Owens is coming for revenge in the next week or two.
All in all, while 3 hours is still an hour and a half too long for a wrestling show, this one had me fast forwarding a lot less than normal and overall I enjoyed the show much more than I have done in a long, long time.
Long may this focus on newer characters, faces not looking like dopes and longer well worked matches continue.
That said, the whole Shane being in charge thing makes no sense and totally undermines the whole point of the biggest match at WM this year. Plus it's kind of rich to have him telling Owens he can't have a IC title match because he LOST at WM! It was some delicious irony for sure.
Just hope they keep Steph and Hunter off TV for a few more weeks before their inevitable return.
Quote from: Duckman on April 13, 2016, 06:03:08 AM
Nice impactful debut by Gallows and Anderson too. I know this sounds dumb, but there's something great about the way Anderson moves. The way he jumped through the ropes to the floor - I don't know, it just seemed better than the way other guys move. More intense and focused on beating someone up. His line to the refs when they were backing off about "you guys have got a nice place here" was really good too.
I noticed this too.....just looked like a killer in there.
Also, Dr. Phil didnt suck IMO. I saw the guest host kinda thing and thought oh great here we go again with this lame ass shit, but his interaction with Flair was great (woo-off) and he actually advanced the storyline between Charlotte and Ric.
POTENTIAL SPOILER
[spoiler]Some of you guys already know about the Falcon Arrow reddit account - the dude who's either a legit WWE insider or the wrestling equivalent of Nostradamus. Numerous twitter's have popped up over the last few months, but one has just been created (FalconArrowWWE), saying Finn Balor is debuting tonight and there'll be a segment with him and AJ Styles. Whether it's true or not is a different story, but with yet another injury (Wyatt), and the fact that London Crowds are usually white hot for anything cool, this is very much a possibility. Also, he says that Gallows/Anderson will attack Enzo & Cass, that he'll reveal his identity and "It won't affect his future in any way shape or form"
I'm dubious this is legit, but we'll find out tonight, I guess.[/spoiler]
Quote from: BamBamBunglow on April 18, 2016, 03:27:00 AM
POTENTIAL SPOILER
[spoiler]Some of you guys already know about the Falcon Arrow reddit account - the dude who's either a legit WWE insider or the wrestling equivalent of Nostradamus. Numerous twitter's have popped up over the last few months, but one has just been created (FalconArrowWWE), saying Finn Balor is debuting tonight and there'll be a segment with him and AJ Styles. Whether it's true or not is a different story, but with yet another injury (Wyatt), and the fact that London Crowds are usually white hot for anything cool, this is very much a possibility. Also, he says that Gallows/Anderson will attack Enzo & Cass, that he'll reveal his identity and "It won't affect his future in any way shape or form"
I'm dubious this is legit, but we'll find out tonight, I guess.[/spoiler]
God, I hope so.
Tonight's WWE RAW will take place from London, England with more hype for the May 1st WWE Payback pay-per-view. As a reminder, we will have live spoiler coverage today around 2:30pm EST.
Superstars advertised include WWE World Heavyweight Champion Roman Reigns, Dean Ambrose, AJ Styles, Chris Jericho, WWE Women's Champion Charlotte and more. Matches confirmed include The Usos vs. The Vaudevillains and The Dudley Boyz vs. Enzo Amore and Colin Cassady.
WWE is focusing on the following points for tonight:
* Will rivalries with Jericho, Zayn, Owens and Ambrose reach a boiling point?
* Can Reigns continue to silence his critics as "the guy" in WWE?
* Might Shane McMahon run his third consecutive Raw?
* Is Emma in for an Irish Lass Kicking?
* Who will advance in the No. 1 Contenders' Tag Team Tournament?
Well, not quite as good as the last two weeks, but very watchable all the same. Three watchable RAW's in a row... I'm keeping an eye on the skies for the arrival of the four horsemen (no, not Flair and Arn :P )
Two NXT teams in the finals, that's good!
Trying to turn AJ heel over Reigns though...
Quote from: T-Long on April 19, 2016, 07:22:17 AM
Two NXT teams in the finals, that's good!
Trying to turn AJ heel over Reigns though...
I actually quite like the way they're playing it. Uso's out, Reigns out, friendly friendly with a reluctant AJ. It gives multiple outs and makes it very hard to predict. Granted, I can't see either AJ winning nor Reigns heel turning (SWERVE!), but I like the idea of maybe even Anderson/Gallows turning on AJ and costing him the match, with Balor being the overall string pulling mastermind.
Also, Jesus take the wheel, Gallows is a scary mo'fo. His arms were wider than AJ's head. I wouldn't spill his pint.
Quote from: BamBamBunglow on April 19, 2016, 08:05:26 AM
I actually quite like the way they're playing it. Uso's out, Reigns out, friendly friendly with a reluctant AJ. It gives multiple outs and makes it very hard to predict. Granted, I can't see either AJ winning nor Reigns heel turning (SWERVE!), but I like the idea of maybe even Anderson/Gallows turning on AJ and costing him the match, with Balor being the overall string pulling mastermind.
Also, Jesus take the wheel, Gallows is a scary mo'fo. His arms were wider than AJ's head. I wouldn't spill his pint.
That's the kind of unpredictable booking that's been lacking... and it actually, you know, makes sense.
You give Reigns a spot-monkey to throw around and make him look good in his first defense. You give Styles a chance to show the rest of the WWE universe that doesn't really know anything about him to shine at a major event. His losing doesn't hurt him a bit. You use Anderson/Gallows to cause him to lose the championship, and then you introduce Balor to the main roster, and you've immediately created a feud that could potential last through SummerSlam in Balor/Styles.
It's like someone who knows wrestling is booking.
Tonight's WWE RAW will take place from the XL Center in Hartford, CT with the final hype for Sunday's WWE Payback pay-per-view. Superstars advertised include WWE World Heavyweight Champion Roman Reigns, Chris Jericho, Dean Ambrose, AJ Styles, Kevin Owens, Sheamus and WWE Women's Champion Charlotte. It's believed that one or more of the McMahon family members will be appearing but that's not confirmed.
The only match announced for tonight is Luke Gallows and Karl Anderson in their debuts vs. The Usos. WWE is focusing on the following points for tonight:
* Styles' longtime friends Gallows & Anderson to make Raw debut
* How will Dean Ambrose retaliate against Chris Jericho?
* Has Baron Corbin stolen Dolph Ziggler's spotlight?
* Will old-school fisticuffs trump new-school smacktalk with The Vaudevillains and Enzo & Cass?
* Is Shane McMahon's tenure as Raw showrunner coming to an end?
Well, another "not bad" show! I watched the whole thing without skipping anything!
Was a hell of a drag in some places, but that's mainly due to the 3 hour format, I think. It's good to see the independant guys mix it up with the WWE guys (EG. Zayn/Rusev). I can't believe I'm gonna say it, but I'm kinda looking forward to Payback!
I will say though, they're laying this whole KA/LG/AJ thing on a bit thick. It's either gonna be KA/LG turning on AJ with Balor in charge, or Roman Reigns being superman and killing 'em all. He ain't going to turn heel, lets face it.
Still, I'm nit-picking. decent show again!
Oh its too obvious that Anderson/Gallows are turning on him, I think they've been too overboard with "hey were your friends" but then again they need to connect with the younger audience to get them to understand so I get it. 100% Balor costs AJ at Payback....but I wonder how happy Vince will be that his top angle is that and not the WHC.
This was the weakest Raw since Mania IMO, I watched for a bit but turned into background noise....so damn long, at least Lana was there.
Anderson/Gallows VS Usos was just kinda bleh.
Quote from: Fnord on April 26, 2016, 12:59:20 PM
Anderson/Gallows VS Usos was just kinda bleh.
It was smart wrestling that you usually dont see, working over buddies shoulder but I agree. As someone who has never really seen Anderson/Gallows work, they seem like a more over version of the Revival.
Tonight's WWE RAW takes place from the Scottrade Center in St. Louis with the fallout from Sunday's Payback pay-per-view. Tonight's show will be the first with both Shane McMahon and Stephanie McMahon running things with equal power.
No matches have been announced for tonight but WWE is advertising WWE World Heavyweight Champion Roman Reigns, Dean Ambrose, Chris Jericho, AJ Styles, Sheamus and Kevin Owens. The arena has Triple H, Vince McMahon and Stephanie advertised but it's a dated listing as Triple H was referred to as champion. They also have Alberto Del Rio, Cesaro, Dolph Ziggler, Sami Zayn, Ryback, Sasha Banks, WWE Women's Champion Charlotte, WWE Intercontinental Champion The Miz and WWE Tag Team Champions The New Day advertised.
WWE is focusing on the following points for tonight's show:
* Can Shane and Stephanie McMahon coexist as Raw showrunners?
* Will Styles and Reigns go to new 'Extremes' tonight?
* How will Natalya respond to the 'Chicago Screwjob'?
* Who will be next to challenge The Miz?
* What's next for the tag team division?
Chicago screwjob ... wtf. Come on , disappointment building in gut ...
They repeat the stunt like every other year, at this point it's just eyeroll inducing.
In regards to last nights Main Event I was fine with everything except the finish. Reigns kicks out of how many of AJ's 'finishers' but one spear does AJ in? C'mon man. That's why people fucking hate the guy.
Quote from: Cory on May 02, 2016, 10:16:15 PM
In regards to last nights Main Event I was fine with everything except the finish. Reigns kicks out of how many of AJ's 'finishers' but one spear does AJ in? C'mon man. That's why people fucking hate the guy.
None. AJ's finishers being the Calf Crusher, P-Forearm and Clash. Calf crusher was around midway through the match - The one time he hit the Forearm, it was barely a foot on the ropes. Crowd ate it up as a false finish.
Personally, I thought it was a tad over booked. The double restart + Uso/Club interference was a bit TOO much for me, if I'm honest. Thast said, it was a well worked match - Roman did his bit, AJ made him look pretty damned good. When reigns countered the forearm with the superman punch, AJ sold it like he's been shot, fantastic working.
Haven't seen RAW yet, I hope AJ starts putting over the fact he actually did beat Reigns... twice.
Just finished watching RAW... again, a watchable episode. I could get used to this. Some thoughts;
- The Shane/Steph story needs Steph to DEFINE her role. We know Shane. Steph has flip flopped many many times over the last 2 years, she needs a definite role and character and damned well stick to it.
- Truth/Goldust/Fangado/Breeze needs to stop. Just, stop.
- Zack Ryder has a beard, stopped the stupid hairdo and has TV time. I'm anticipating he's actually going to go somewhere this year. I know, I know, this sounds crazy... But I can see titles and opportunities being dangled infront of him repeatedly until he snaps. Did you hear the WOO WOO WOO's from the crowd?! GIVE HIM THE DAMNED BALL!
- I am LOVING the Bullet club Vs. Samoans dynamic. That match was Gallows/Anderson doing bad things with AJ being the good guy doing good guy things Vs. Uso's doign bad things (walloping Styles with the chair) and Reigns beign dragged into doing bad things because of his cousins actions. It's actually really interesting to see how this unfolds. I R INTRIUGED.
- Owens/Cesaro was great, I am loving the amount of NXT/Indy guys on the roster. We get to see, y'know, WRESTLING!
I'm glad Rusev got a push, the dude has charisma from all the videos I've seen off-camera on Reddit, Lana is over and hot as hell and he's a very good worker.
I think they are going to go for the verrrry slow burn for the Balor debut....I could see them waiting another month or so before they green light his debut, get it to the point where people are fed up with the wait which could slightly hinder it since its inevitable. Plus his rematch with Joe for the title at the next Takeover? (i think) I dont know if thats before/after Extreme Rules.
I dont know if they'd have him pull double duty like KO/Zayn, so that could help determine his timeline.
Extreme Rules - May 22nd
NXT Takeover - June 8th
Dare they wait till Summerslam to pull the trigger? I think having the actual Styles/Balor match at Summerslam makes sense but who knows
- On last night's Monday Night Raw, the main event segment featured Dean Ambrose ripping into Chris Jericho's light-up jacket that was said to cost $15,000. As it turns out, the jacket is worth much more than that at Jonathan A Logan, where it retails for a whopping $25,000.
Tonight's WWE RAW will take place from the Greensboro Coliseum in Greensboro, North Carolina with the final hype before Sunday's Extreme Rules pay-per-view. Superstars advertised for tonight include WWE World Heavyweight Champion Roman Reigns, AJ Styles, Luke Gallows, Karl Anderson, Dean Ambrose, Chris Jericho, Kevin Owens and The Usos.
No matches have been announced for tonight but we know "The Shining Stars" Primo and Epico will re-debut. WWE is focusing on the following points for tonight:
* Will Roman Reigns be able to make a dominant display against AJ Styles with The Club lurking?
* The New Day might need some extra P.O.P. to gain ground on The Vaudevillains
* Could a tag team partner help Becky Lynch against Emma and Dana Brooke?
* Does Chris Jericho have Dean Ambrose's number?
* The Shining Stars return to the mainland for RAW debuts
Quote from: Fnord on May 16, 2016, 11:32:05 AM
* Will Roman Reigns be able to make a dominant display against AJ Styles with The Club lurking?
lol.
Will the McMahon show continue to be about the McMahons, or will the McMahons have something to say about it to stop the McMahons McMahoning all over the show? Tune into Monday Night McMahon to find out more.
Same McMahon time, same McMahon channel.
Also, Stephy slapping Ric Flair in Greensboro and him taking a bump for her is one of the saddest things I've seen in WWE for a while. Totally expected, but still. Stone Cold Steph just keeps kicking ass.
On the plus side, the styles clash on the chair brought a tear to my eye. That feud has been built in a really, really good way - to me anyway. I love that Roman is doing heelish things for good reasons (IE Attacking Styles for attacking the Uso's, who in turn were attacking the Club) and that AJ's actually got the reluctant babyface having to do bad things against his better judgement. The two could have done with a bit more distance, but overall I'm happy with that feud.
Third hour dragged something horrible after that, but overall I quite enjoyed the show again. Let it long continue, says I!
Heel Rollins?
(https://memecrunch.com/meme/155YV/c-mon-man/image.png?w=400&c=1)
Why oh why are people surprised Rollins came back heel? Like... really, why?
He was a heel. A pretty good heel. The top heel in the company (positionally anyway). Then he got injured. Do people purely think that an injury = alignment change?
They need him heel, simple as. They have no top flight heels at the moment. Wyatt is injured/seems to be turning face. Miz is IC. Rusev is US. Cena's coming back face (D'uh), Orton's still out for a while. Owens is seen as upper mid-card at most. Sheamus is... well, Sheamus. Jericho is part time. ADR can't be pulled out of Paige's bed with a crane (and who can blame him)
They have no inclination to turn reigns full heel and no top shelf heels to fight him, or anyone else. Like it or not, with a roster stacking at the top with top flight indy guys, SOME of them have to be heel, and Rollin's is one of them.
On the subject of the show itsself, sound watch. Didn't skip anything again. I'm actually finding myself enjoying RAW. Even the talky segments this week were good. My ONLY gripe is the way the Club/AJ interactions actually made AJ come across as the bad guy, putting his title aspirations over his friends. That's purely me nitpicking though. Decent show :D
Quote from: BamBamBunglow on May 24, 2016, 06:39:59 AM
Why oh why are people surprised Rollins came back heel? Like... really, why?
He was a heel. A pretty good heel. The top heel in the company (positionally anyway). Then he got injured. Do people purely think that an injury = alignment change?
They need him heel, simple as. They have no top flight heels at the moment. Wyatt is injured/seems to be turning face. Miz is IC. Rusev is US. Cena's coming back face (D'uh), Orton's still out for a while. Owens is seen as upper mid-card at most. Sheamus is... well, Sheamus. Jericho is part time. ADR can't be pulled out of Paige's bed with a crane (and who can blame him)
They have no inclination to turn reigns full heel and no top shelf heels to fight him, or anyone else. Like it or not, with a roster stacking at the top with top flight indy guys, SOME of them have to be heel, and Rollin's is one of them.
I thought Rollins promo was fantastic. The crowd was eating up his seeming face turn and then he turned on them by using sound logic; which is seemingly forgotten in the WWE sometimes. They need the chicken/cowardly heel that Rollins provides. He isn't brooding, he isn't some monster, but he's the guy that's going to do whatever it takes to win. They really don't have anyone like him at the moment.
Other than that, RAW was meh to me. Enzo got the loudest pop of the night and as much as I like him, he's got about as much chance of doing anything apart from Big Cass as I do.
Rollins was like a breath of fresh air.
It's funny how Reigns is the face getting boos and Rollins it the heel getting cheers.
Quote from: Fnord on May 24, 2016, 10:14:58 AM
Rollins was like a breath of fresh air.
It's funny how Reigns is the face getting boos and Rollins it the heel getting cheers.
Well that's the thing, I get why he is a heel....he's a great heel....but everything was in place for a swap.....make the full change for Roman to be a heel and Rollins to be away from the authority and now a face. The reactions dictate that should be the alignment and with Cena returning how more much stale will the upper card look with 2 unbeatable hand picked company guys?
Quote from: Cory on May 24, 2016, 11:02:15 AM
Well that's the thing, I get why he is a heel....he's a great heel....but everything was in place for a swap.....make the full change for Roman to be a heel and Rollins to be away from the authority and now a face. The reactions dictate that should be the alignment and with Cena returning how more much stale will the upper card look with 2 unbeatable hand picked company guys?
Everything was there but the story. Wrestling fans always clamour for consistency in storylines - it's one of the big bug bears of the ages. Well, in this storyline, Rollins was a heel, got injured and came back a heel. They have consistency. It's the storyline people don't like. When has that ever been a shock?
Cena isn't going to be upper card anymore, dude - not for a while. He'll come in at the mid card, put on some good matches - and he's more than capable, the guy can REALLY go - then in a couple of years, we'll get Cena/Reigns, just like we got Rock/Austin and Rock/Cena. They'll run them parallel, cashing in on both of them.
Remember - TV/PPV crowd reaction means dick. On the house shows - a fairly big cash cow for WWE - Reigns gets a majority of cheers (Shows shows tend to be families and kids) and shifts a fair amount of merch. That's the reason he's on top, that's the reason he'll stay face. It's the same thing as Cena.
I call mularky on this idea that Romans has to be a face to keep selling merchandise. This isn't the 80's anymore. If Romans turns "bad" - the same people who are rooting him on now aren't going to suddenly change their mind because the WWE told them to and not buy a t-shirt.
Think the nWo didn't make bank?
Unfortunately, the current product doesn't lend itself to a proper "turn." The WWE would rather take the lazy approach and just have the random run-in at the end of a PPV with a "BOO THIS MAN!" on a silver platter.
Quote from: J-Reb on May 24, 2016, 12:06:47 PM
I call mularky on this idea that Romans has to be a face to keep selling merchandise. This isn't the 80's anymore. If Romans turns "bad" - the same people who are rooting him on now aren't going to suddenly change their mind because the WWE told them to and not buy a t-shirt.
Think the nWo didn't make bank?
Unfortunately, the current product doesn't lend itself to a proper "turn." The WWE would rather take the lazy approach and just have the random run-in at the end of a PPV with a "BOO THIS MAN!" on a silver platter.
^^^^^
Reigns gets the same reaction as Cena, 80/20 split of Boos to Cheers.
Why not for once have someone organically earn their allignment? Rollins was naturally over as a face and no matter how much they try and rinse/repeat the HHH/Reigns approach where Rollins says all of the classic heel promos and still gets cheered, why not go back to having Cena be the guy people love to boo and Reigns at worst stick with his current tweener alignment and let Rollins be the face.
I've always felt like they NEEDED Reigns to be the make a wish good guy to fill that MASSIVE void while Cena was gone, and now that he's back let the Reigns chips fall where they may, the kids will have their hero again and they can chose to continue to support Reigns regardless (like Reb said) or not. EVERYONE and their dog compares Reigns to The Rock pre-heel turn and when the Rock turned heel I don't doubt for a second that his merch sales declined.
And this storyline writes itself in and out of kayfabe. In, Rollins can distance himself from the Authority and say they didn't have his back while he was hurt and let Rollins go at Reigns the way The Rock went at Cena during their massive Mania hype train, have him say what the 'fans think' and Reigns keeps his nasty streak from Extreme Rules.
Outside of Kayfabe it makes sense as Rollins was the perceived "selected" champion by the company with the Authority angle but in reality its the exact opposite. Reigns is the real Seth Rollins.....work that into the storyline if you will. Reigns could use that to get him over as hell as a boo-able heel rather the adult/child split heel.
Quote from: J-Reb on May 24, 2016, 12:06:47 PM
I call mularky on this idea that Romans has to be a face to keep selling merchandise. This isn't the 80's anymore. If Romans turns "bad" - the same people who are rooting him on now aren't going to suddenly change their mind because the WWE told them to and not buy a t-shirt.
Think the nWo didn't make bank?
Unfortunately, the current product doesn't lend itself to a proper "turn." The WWE would rather take the lazy approach and just have the random run-in at the end of a PPV with a "BOO THIS MAN!" on a silver platter.
When they're kids, yeah they stop buying his stuff
AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA
Who's watched the 24 episode of Seth Rollins?
Did anyone think he came across a little bit of a douche? I know he's portrayed on TV as a heel but the documentary feel of the 24 series suggests it's behind the scenes.
Have you seen any of his episodes on UpUpDownDown? Certainly in his rawest form there as well and yes, he comes off like a genuine dickhead....but there's room for at least one in the group of fellas.
Quote from: Rob on June 01, 2016, 12:43:40 PM
Who's watched the 24 episode of Seth Rollins?
Did anyone think he came across a little bit of a douche? I know he's portrayed on TV as a heel but the documentary feel of the 24 series suggests it's behind the scenes.
You mean like he's the kind of guy who would cheat on his wife with a Nazi chick and have leaked dick pics of himself?
So what I found hilarious was two things. First, AJ's heel face, that is so funny.
Secondly, that they are trying to make Internet darling AJ a heel....at Cena's expense. Oh that's going to backfire hard. Hahahaha
Well Cena did post some stuff on Instagram about AJ around the time before he debuted at RR, and thought we all fear the LOLCenaWins, cant forget Cena has been doing a phenomenal job with the US Title series and putting over new guys to an extent (remember KO's clean PPV victory).
Plus it'd almost make sense for Styles to lose another series, and while he's down debut Balor and have the Club turn to the Balor Club, because Styles isn't good enough to beat Cena or Reigns.
I thought AJ did an AWESOME job there... He sounded pumped up and running back again and again to beat down Cena made him look pretty great
I like it ...It took me by surprise when i watch it , I assume it was going to be a tag team match. aj/ cena vs anderson/gallows ... but once he turn on him. I thought good job . I just hope they book this right. I want AJ to just torture him for least the next few months , were the big blow off is summerslam. I know cena is going to win in the end. but it does not mean it can not be entertaining if done right.
you could see the hatred dripping from AJ . well done in that regard. I love it
I think those 2 will have phenomenal matches together, excuse the pun
Quote from: Rob on June 01, 2016, 01:51:57 PM
I think those 2 will have phenomenal matches together, excuse the pun
I agree with you
I knew he was turning as soon as he came out to his ring gear in white and black.
Quote from: Cory on June 01, 2016, 01:16:13 PM
Well Cena did post some stuff on Instagram about AJ around the time before he debuted at RR, and thought we all fear the LOLCenaWins, cant forget Cena has been doing a phenomenal job with the US Title series and putting over new guys to an extent (remember KO's clean PPV victory).
Plus it'd almost make sense for Styles to lose another series, and while he's down debut Balor and have the Club turn to the Balor Club, because Styles isn't good enough to beat Cena or Reigns.
Soooo tired of hearing that shit about Cena. Who exactly got over as a result of the Open Challenge? Who was in a better spot after than they were before? All it was was a showcase to put on good matches and put CENA over with the smarks....something that happened. Hook, line, and sinker.
And sure, KO got a victory over Cena in their first match....only to fall to him 2-3 more times afterwards. Again, who got the shine there?
hanging with cena is seen as a rub in the wwe circle...kinda like a good showing vs taker at mania
Poppycock.
If you want to make AJ the bad guy he had to do it against someone like Sami Zayn first.
They'll put on a great program, but at the end of the day Cena is going over and that sucks.
You mean.....
(https://i.ytimg.com/vi/P_lv4v4Pbj4/hqdefault.jpg)
Quote from: T-Long on June 01, 2016, 05:08:43 PM
If you want to make AJ the bad guy he had to do it against someone like Sami Zayn first.
They'll put on a great program, but at the end of the day Cena is going over and that sucks.
Couldn't use Zayn because lets be honest....the Owens/Zayn feud is going to be total money once it comes to fruition and they're slow burning it now by having them face off in multi-man matches.
Cesaro is the only other legit face and it looks like he's gonna eventually peel off with Miz when they stop the previously mentioned multi-man matches.
Cena and New Day are the two most face things in WWE right now. I hate that Styles will 90% get buried, but it makes the most sense going against the slow burn....so they can establish themselves and make their stock at an all time high come brand split.
Just from this weeks Raw, how about that Styles/Cena segment? Very well done...screams Punk/Cena all over again
Tag Team Match ...Playa!!!
Dollar Dollar ...make you holla holla
Quote from: Black Death on June 08, 2016, 07:44:03 PM
Tag Team Match ...Playa!!!
Dollar Dollar ...make you holla holla
That....was.....stupid.
I thought it was fun, it's nice to see Teddy Long again.
I hope they bring out John Laurinitis, Vickie Guerrero and William Regal too as former GM's!
Quote from: Rob on June 10, 2016, 04:17:13 AM
I thought it was fun, it's nice to see Teddy Long again.
I hope they bring out John Laurinitis, Vickie Guerrero and William Regal too as former GM's!
agree... people power for the win
kinda surprised they let Seth go at Reigns like that in his promo.
I enjoyed it.
Quote from: Cory on June 27, 2016, 10:36:59 PM
kinda surprised they let Seth go at Reigns like that in his promo.
They're doing everything they can to condition the audience to view Reigns as a face for his return, by having the heel essentially bully him over it thus making an anti-Reigns sentiment he heel position. Seth can sell it for all its worth, but it will all come down to whether or not the fans in attendance want to cheer for Reigns or boo him out of the building.
WWE should follow Kane's advice and "embrace the hate" and use this to turn Reigns and then let the fans turn him face organically. It could be the difference of "Rocky Maivia" and "The Rock." One would think after more than a decade of people rejecting Cena when they try to force stuff on the audience that they would have learned that such an approach would not produce the desired result with Reigns. But... WWE doesn't exactly have the best track record with creating stars, producing far more flops than genuine hits.
I haven't watched a raw since Ambrose became champ and I don't think I've missed anything of importance other than the Wyatts and new day.
Apparently Vince will be on RAW this week and the rumour is he's going to announce who the COOs for RAW and SmackDown will be. Another bit of speculation is due to the appearance of past GMs, coupled with the recent DVD release, WWE might bring in Eric Bischoff to take one of the shows with Shane and Stephanie handling the other. While I wouldn't dismiss it outright, I seem to recall that after his TNA run Bischoff didn't want to be an on screen performer anymore.
Maybe, out of morbid curiosity, i might check out RAW from time to time (provided I actually remember, as I tend not to pay much attention to WWE anymore) to see how things go.
If WWE wants... WWE gets.
Is the draft tonight?
Quote from: Cory on July 11, 2016, 12:04:27 PM
Is the draft tonight?
Nope, next Tuesday on the first Live Smackdown on USA. July 19th.
did the Wyatts find the dilapidated boat?
.....but that was pretty cool tbh
So anyone hoping for Eric Bischoff and Paul Heyman to be GM's?
[spoiler]however my money is on HHH for Raw and Daniel Bryan for SD[/spoiler]
It appears that you're right one of those. looking like the WWE App did another "accidental" spoiler and already said who the SmackDown GM is gonna be.
not gonna lie...kinda underwhelming
Should of been Vince Russo.
Quote from: Cory on July 12, 2016, 10:57:31 PM
not gonna lie...kinda underwhelming
Yeah... why would they use one of the most popular guys of recent years? Makes no sense....
Quote from: jagilki on July 13, 2016, 06:41:03 AM
Should of been Vince Russo.
*have, not of. Never of.
Quote from: Gravedigger on July 13, 2016, 10:41:21 AM
Yeah... why would they use one of the most popular guys of recent years? Makes no sense....
Popular wrestler, I was never really a fan of the YES gimmick solo....he was great with Kane. Would MUCH MUCH rather a Raw Bischoff, Smackdown Heyman.....especially considering the two brands are supposed to be 'competing'.
Heyman I agree with. I've had enough of Bischoff after the TNA stint.
Quote from: Gravedigger on July 13, 2016, 11:31:57 AM
Heyman I agree with. I've had enough of Bischoff after the TNA stint.
Just think of the believable hatred between them though. Bischoff is such a fantastic heel and you get the ECW vs WCW ties, plus with the theme of the new game being Goldberg/WCW, it'd probably help with promotion a bit of the video game i think
Heyman can't be both GM and advocate for Brock Lesnar. In the grand scheme of things, wouldn't make a whole lot of sense. Especially given Shane and Steph are not fond of Heyman, storyline wise.
I think Bischoff is done with on screen personality in WWE.... I think.
I'm fine with Daniel Bryan as I can see that being someone Shane would be for the "change"... not so okay with Triple H, as Triple H in already in a power role as COO. So I'd rather see someone different in that role. But it'd have to be someone that will listen to Steph/HHH and is a heel. I was thinking a returning HBK would be pretty awesome. Or someone from the Kliq. Ric Flair would be a interesting choice too to resume a GM position.
Quote from: Mike Powers on July 13, 2016, 10:42:20 AM
*have, not of. Never of.
I wish we could be as cool and as smart as you. ::)
2004 called they want their GMs back Cory.
Bryan as a SD GM works as a face and would match the roster probably going to smackdown.
If they pulled JBL off commentary he would work as a Raw GM and or having Regal pull double duty. [But man have we seen Regal as GM before].
Swerve. Shane Picks DB as GM, but Smackdown gets first draft pick and JUST before Steph can name H as GM, DB picks Triple H as Smackdowns draft pick.
Quote from: Jon on July 13, 2016, 03:25:45 PM
I wish we could be as cool and as smart as you. ::)
It's a pet peeve of mine.
I believe heymen is going to be on creative team on smackdown ... if what I read is right
Well with Paul being Lesnar's advocate with how limited the dates are he could just be used as the GM's hitman which would add a great dynamic....would mean Heyman would need to be the heel GM, but could work as a tweener.
A fights B for the main angle....and should anyone cross heyman books them in a match with Lesnar.
I dont know, just want Heyman on TV more is maybe the root with my fascination for him to land the GM gig. Bryan wont be bad, just outside of the typically 'Indy guy YOU DON'T WANT ME TO SUCCEED' bit of his promos I always found him kinda vanilla on the mic.
Assuming they go one heel and one face, my list would be:
Heel: Bischoff, Heyman, JBL, HHH
Face: Heyman, Regal, Kurt Angle, Bryan
I was hoping Mark Henry would get it and Shane would become his brown-beaten corporate bitch.
A lot of people are putting some steam behind Kurt Angle being a GM and that would be awesome. Always had a fantastic personality and if him being a GM would let him work like HHH did as the Authority and we'd get 1-3 Angle matches a year that'd be pretty awesome.
Quote from: Mike Powers on July 13, 2016, 03:36:57 PM
It's a pet peeve of mine.
http://www.marksforxcellence.com/boards/index.php?topic=22263.0 (http://www.marksforxcellence.com/boards/index.php?topic=22263.0)
Namaste :)
It won't be Kurt Angle. WWE will never re-sign him to any kind of on air deal.
Quote from: jagilki on July 13, 2016, 06:31:23 PM
It won't be Kurt Angle. WWE will never re-sign him to any kind of on air deal.
I would never say WWE would NEVER to do so and so... because it seems they eventually give in at some point.
I'd love it to be Angle, but realistically the chances are slim. He needs a LONG period of stability and sobriety before they can think about having him back for more than a cameo/HOF nod.
I'd like to see them pick two people who haven't been in that GM/Commish role before.
reason angle not sign is because he still wants to work a full time schedule and E does not want that for him. but I have feeling
before angle hangs up the boots he going to be back in the E
it goes beyond that. Vince is scared shitless that Kurt will do something while under any kind of contract to bring negative attention. Be it another DUI or something worse. Kurt is a liability in that he can't control himself.
Foley is kinda random and Bryan was leaked/expected but all in all coulda been worse.
The WWE Universal Title....
... Sounds like it's from an efed.....
A new star is born.
(http://i65.tinypic.com/2wbs607.jpg)
So is the universal title name a tie in to the WWE universe moniker they've been trying to get over for the last decade?
Raw more than made up for a really shit Battleground.
Impressive show, really. Outside of the awful title name and showcasing they're going to have no clue how to use Owens/Zayn/Cesaro/Enzo & Cass going forward....the matches were great.
Womens title match was fantastic, and honestly thought it was going to be a LOLRomanWins, genuinely surprised which was nice.
Let's see what Smackdown brings to the table.
How did they showcase they have no clue how to handle those guys? It was one week. They equally didn't show if they had a clue how to use everyone in their roles other than Rollins.
Quote from: Gravedigger on July 26, 2016, 12:14:31 AM
The WWE Universal Title....
... Sounds like it's from an efed.....
Even worse, I've BEEN in an efed with that title. Further proving the constant ripping off of talented writers by the corporate machine.
- Enzo and Cass will be against any tag team that's not New Day and The Club isn't a good look, which is the problem with having the top 3 tag teams on one brand...one is bound to be left out. If they had them on SD, they could headline feud with AA and that'd be fantastic television...but now we got Enzo and Cass vs Shining Stars/Golden Truth and AA vs The Usos?. Ugh.
- You can tell how they made each fatal 4 way that the indy darlings are still going to be stuck in the same midcard purgatory that we all feared and pretty much knew with most of the best workers going to Raw...and the same purgatory that's become incredible repetitive over the past year with the multi-man matches and shit. You had some much time to make those matches FILLED with talent to start a new storyline or two...but they didn't. It was pretty much everyone getting their shit in and that's it.
Fantasy Booking Moment:
If Rollins/Balor is going to be an angle (please let it be...but probably won't), then you need Reigns to turn heel (beating a dead horse) and feud with Cesaro/Zayn. Then you're left with Cesaro, Owens, and Rusev....honestly there's no good way to book that....Owens (or Zayn) so BADLY needed to go to Smackdown to have a fine balance between workers and entertainers. Owens and Cesaro need to be in a title picture but two heels (Rusev, Owens) and a face (Cesaro) don't make a ideal situation....at the end of the day I don't see any of this working without something big be in Reigns heel turn or like...The Balor Club forming and adding maybe Cesaro to help this out.
You also have Sheamus and Jericho, Cory. Oh and Lesnar. Who knows what the fuck they have planned with him lately, but he'll be back around next week. They have heels to work with, who can perform just as well as they entertain. I don't know what is planned for Enzo & Cass but having them feud with AA would have made no sense, unless they debuted AA as heels and I can't see how that would work. It seems the segment this week was aimed at a program between the Shining Stars and whatever they call R-Truth and Goldust. I'd love for them to go after Lesnar, I don't see what he comes back into and it is not likely to damage either of them.
My biggest disappointment this week was the lack of talk about the Cruiserweight title. There is a chance I skipped it, as I fast-forwarded parts of the show. I am also struggling to see who they have to push that at the moment, Neville is an obvious choice but I am not sure who he battles for it.
They probably won't talk about Cruiserweights until the CWC is over.
Quote from: Flins. on July 26, 2016, 04:46:09 PM
You also have Sheamus and Jericho, Cory. Oh and Lesnar. Who knows what the fuck they have planned with him lately, but he'll be back around next week. They have heels to work with, who can perform just as well as they entertain. I don't know what is planned for Enzo & Cass but having them feud with AA would have made no sense, unless they debuted AA as heels and I can't see how that would work. It seems the segment this week was aimed at a program between the Shining Stars and whatever they call R-Truth and Goldust. I'd love for them to go after Lesnar, I don't see what he comes back into and it is not likely to damage either of them.
My biggest disappointment this week was the lack of talk about the Cruiserweight title. There is a chance I skipped it, as I fast-forwarded parts of the show. I am also struggling to see who they have to push that at the moment, Neville is an obvious choice but I am not sure who he battles for it.
The CWC had a limit of 205, but with a lack of guys, I'd see it around 210, maybe 215 no more than that.
@ 215, they have Enzo, Finn, Kofi, Neville, Primo, Sami, Sin Cara, and Woods. I'm assuming they're holding off until after the CWC, the winner being named the champion and coming to RAW and they'll bring guys up as time goes on.
Also, Cory, I get what you're saying, but it's one week of a clearly different directed RAW. we had local jobbers, no nonsense at the announcers table. You have to remember, RAW is going to have an entire PPV to itself, it's going to need to give people a reason to care about the shinning stars, who they built up over a month of promos.
Also, Cesaro is going heel so much. He's going to be the bitter guy who just hurts people. Someone had to watch his network shit this past week where he was uber bitter, not over the top like KO, but that real bitterness, especially on the Battleground pre-show. That opens up SOOOO much in terms of that midcard.
Thought Roman was going to beat down Finn but then that wouldn't have worked because yeah, Finn was incredibly over by the end of the show but when he came out and when he won at first, it wasn't that great AND you have to add the "ITS NOT ROMAN!" reaction.
Looking forward to Finn v Rollins.
NINJA EDIT: They talked about it last night Bone. Hyped up the division said "The Cruiserweight division is coming to RAW".
Our main title in G-2 was the Universal Title. I feel like someone's ripped off Jimmy Chisel and me.
I really enjoyed the show. Good to freshen up the look of the show with new set, new commentary position, different ring ropes and some new camera angles.
I thought the main matches - 2 four ways, women's title and the main event - were all excellent. Especially the women's match and the opening 4 way. They made Balor a main roster star in one night and finally have a top babyface the fans will actually cheer. The silly skits were kept to a minimum.
The main plus for me was Cory Graves on commentary. He's got a great style and delivery. He made fun of Byron a little - but not in that over the top way JBL did and he even told Cole to keep up when he said something wrong. Extremely impressive first impression. Let's hope he doesn't get over produced and yelled at by Vince over the coming weeks, which usually turns the good commentators into shells of themselves - Foley, Striker etc.
Given it's week 1, I'm not judging any future direction or feuds because there's plenty of time to get things going. Plus I think there's going to be more roster additions and maybe even some trades between the two shows.
For the first time in ages I thought RAW felt fresh, exciting and the 3 hours flew by. More of this please WWE.
Also, that Title name is horrible and there's already a Universal Title in PR, it's been there for decades and Carlos Colon (Carlito's dad who is in their hall of fame) created it and it's still called that! Not that Vince or the fans will care, but it's weird they took a name from a title that's still around.
Tonight's WWE RAW will take place from the Honda Center in Anaheim, California with more hype for the SummerSlam pay-per-view. Rapper and producer Sean "Puff Daddy" Combs will be tonight's guest star. Combs was just announced as the WWE 2K17 soundtrack curator today.
No matches have been announced for tonight but we know that RAW General Manager Mick Foley has invited SmackDown GM Daniel Bryan to the show.
WWE is focusing on the following points for tonight:
* What does Mick Foley have in store for Daniel Bryan?
* What does Sean 'Puff Daddy' Combs have in store for Raw?
* Is Sasha Banks' dream coming to an end?
* Will Seth Rollins need to rethink his strategy against Finn Balor?
* Is Big E out of action?
* Does Kevin Owens truly have Chris Jericho's back?
I like how they're hinting at Cesaro getting traded to Smackdown.
Raw this week overall was meh, leaving Zayn off the show is exactly why a few of the great workers need to go to SD.
Compared to the last two weeks , this show was weak, but by standards pre-draft it was a good show.
I enjoyed Cesaro v Sheamus, Sheamus does his best work against guys who hit hard and don't mind getting hit hard, I'd love a fatal four way for the US title between those two Roman and Rusev. Speaking of, enjoyed the douche toast of Roman, most seemingly natural mic work he's done in some time.
keep Braun off of tv for a week or two before you stale out his schtick.
More Rambo Apocolypse please
Really it wasn't as good as last weeks? Because I didn't really care for last weeks show. 15 minutes of the most awkward meaningless cringe-worthy dialogue between characters who seem to have no chemistry with each other on the mic (despite all four of them ranging from just fine to highly entertaining at other times, so the scriptwriters take most of the blame for that imo) to lead to a mixed tag match?
The tag match itself was fine. It did NOT however under any circumstances require that horrible 15 minutes (15 fucking minutes... seriously!)
I guess the Divas Revolution can't stand on it's own now, they need the guys getting involved. Because hey, it's not like Sasha and Charlotte gave any indication that they could actually main event a PPV now... right?
Oh and Sasha, the "Boss" is going to react positively to a fucking troll clown like Amore "wanting her to take his deposit?" (I love both characters, but this is killing Banks)
I can deal with shows having their bad spots, but to have this as the opening 15 minutes?
I'm surprised I stuck around for the rest of the show. It was ok, some decent wrestling, but the "heat" between Balor and Rollins paled miserably in comparison to what Smackdown did between Ambrose and Ziggler the following night.
Smackdown actually made me care about Dolph Ziggler! Whereas Raw could BARELY make me interested in Finn Balor.
Paul Heyman's promo was gold. Nothing can change that. The booking of Orton/Lesner is very unrealistic and lacking in continuity if they expect to sell us the idea that Orton has a chance against the man who single-handedly ran through everyone, just because he can "hit an RKO out of nowhere".
I'm going to watch Raw now and I hope you guys are wrong about it not being as good as last week, because I didn't care for last week's episode all that much. Smackdown won last week for me for the Ziggler angle and not offending me with a retarded opening.
I'll see how this week goes for both.
I'm actually surprised I bothered watching the rest of the show tbh. I did, and there were some decent matches, but nothing
1) they're not longer divas thus no longer divas revolution (psst it's been over since mania)
2) yes "the boss" can react to a charismatic guy hitting on her, ya know because she's the boss and can do what she's wants. She finds Enzo charming. She likes the game he's spitting.
I personally enjoyed last weeks episode, you clearly did not as much, and that's okay. I didn't like this episode as much, you may like this one more and that's okay.
Even pre-draft.... this Raw was really bleh.
ANOTHER wedding with cake... female gets cake int eh face segment? Really?
Jericho/Owens was the best part of Raw and that was in the beginning.
Cesaro/Sheamus and Cesaro/Rusev... they were decent matches... but nothing that made anything stand out.
I kind of agree with DQ in the fact that I've sort of lost interest in Sasha/Charlotte feud after last weeks Raw. I know they'll put on a great match at SS, but even with the added stip, it didn't make me really care that much.
I think Sami is left out because they don't know what to do with him now. He doesn't have a feud going on. So I doubt he gets a SS match unless they toss him in some meaningless pre-show battle royal for the keys to New York City.
It was ok... could take it or leave it. I'll probably watch again next week.
I actually enjoyed the wedding segment just because Rusev and Lana played it really well for maximum heat. But even that couldn't get Roman any better than mixed reactions when he came out to interrupt.
I feel bad for Reigns, I really liked him in the Shield and saw the same potential in him that Vince McMahon clearly did... but they fumbled him somewhere along the line and I just don't think he's ever going to reach the heights he could have. To much baggage already it seems.
Sasha/Charlotte is still the match I'm most looking forward to at Summer Slam... though Ambrose/Ziggler is giving it a run for it's money.
The opening segment was a lot better this week.
I'm curious to see if I'll find Smackdown better again tomorrow.
Usually its the extra hour that kills Raw....this was an awful show.
Yep, pretty terrible.
BREAKING NEWS: The Dudley Boyz TO RETIRE tonight at WWE Raw.
"Retire"
'Do you know who I am?'
Also on tap in heartbreaking news Finn Balor has to relinquish his newly won championship not 24 hours after winning it due to injury.
Quote from: Tezmission Black on August 22, 2016, 07:25:25 PM
Also on tap in heartbreaking news Finn Balor has to relinquish his newly won championship not 24 hours after winning it due to injury.
Well fuck... tore his labrum. Terrible news.
You guys think they crown a new champ tonight on RAW? Or will it go ll the way to Clash of Champions before we get a title match?
Quote from: Jon on August 22, 2016, 07:36:24 PM
Well fuck... tore his labrum. Terrible news.
Just saw this could cost him 6 months...
LMAO @ Johnny Knockout.
That belt looks horrendous, worst looking belt of all time in relation to its importance.
I wanna wrestle Braun cause I like big, sweaty men.
What?
Johnny Knockout is wrestler of the year!
Terrible Raw after a terrible Summerslam.
I'm slowly losing interest in WWE again...
Hey, at least this is WWE's 1 freak chance to put the belt on Kevin Owens (I know I know...but MAYBE)
but yeah, shit show. Bayley got a great pop and.....that's pretty much it. I guess they probably had to throw this Raw together last minute but not a good show.
Hopefully Styles starts a world title feud tomorrow to save the state of WWE.
Quote from: Cory on August 22, 2016, 11:55:16 PM
Hey, at least this is WWE's 1 freak chance to put the belt on Kevin Owens (I know I know...but MAYBE)
but yeah, shit show. Bayley got a great pop and.....that's pretty much it. I guess they probably had to throw this Raw together last minute but not a good show.
Hopefully Styles starts a world title feud tomorrow to save the state of WWE.
This guy get it....
You guys are missing the biggest breakout moment in years!
#JohnnyKnockout4Champ
LGBT 4 lyfe (according to what I read of Bleacher Report)
GREAT ending....
Fairly decent Raw.
Minus the Steph / Heyman segment. Good God that was pointless and horrible.
I havent popped like that since Lesnar returned. FUCK YES!
.....who called that too? lol
Quote from: Cory on August 22, 2016, 11:55:16 PM
Hey, at least this is WWE's 1 freak chance to put the belt on Kevin Owens (I know I know...but MAYBE)
but yeah, shit show. Bayley got a great pop and.....that's pretty much it. I guess they probably had to throw this Raw together last minute but not a good show.
Hopefully Styles starts a world title feud tomorrow to save the state of WWE.
Fuck me, Im hooked again.
Yeah, that was sweet.
Can't wait to get home tonight and watch this! Owens has been one of my favourite wrestlers since I first saw him in ROH years ago. Never thought he'd get to this spot because of his look, but man - there he is, top champion on RAW! So great.
And on a purely selfish point - FWL points!!!
Awesome stuff.
Baley with New Day ... what god have I, please.
thank you
WWE has confirmed the following names for the RAW cruiserweight division - Gran Metalik, Akira Tozawa, Jack Gallagher, Johnny Gargano, Tommaso Ciampa, Cedric Alexander, Rich Swann, Brian Kendrick, Noam Dar and TJ Perkins.
It appears this is the entire roster, for now at least, as PWInsider reports that the initial division will feature just 10 Superstars. It's very possible that new cruiserweights will be introduced to the division over time.
The current plan is for the RAW cruiserweights to work RAW TV events as well as WWE NXT TV events and NXT live events. They will likely start working RAW live events soon as well.
The division kicks off on September 19th at RAW in Memphis.
Soooooooooo...... "Old Day".....
I'll just go ahead and assume you gents loved this too?
Gallows and Anderson have to be wondering if the WWE pay checks are worth it...
Quote from: Gravedigger on September 06, 2016, 08:04:14 PM
Soooooooooo...... "Old Day".....
I'll just go ahead and assume you gents loved this too?
Gallows and Anderson have to be wondering if the WWE pay checks are worth it...
Yea, that was painful to watch. I'm not gonna blame Gallows and Anderson though. They can only work with what they're given and those guys aren't comedy guys. Just because they're going against New Day, doesn't mean the uncreative team needs to make them act like New Day.
Why can't they just build a team as two guys that enjoy beating the hell out of other guys without saying much?
I think WWE are trying to make everyone a comedian at the moment given how funny Jericho, Owens, Amore can be.
- Emma, Paige and Luke Harper are all backstage for tonight's RAW in Cincinnati, according to PWInsider. No word yet on if they will return to TV tonight but as noted, Harper and Paige were not backstage for Clash of Champions while Emma was.
Another trash Raw. Clash of Champions was solid enough, but another weak show.
Putting Cesaro and Sheamus in a tag team? What an uncreative, anti-climactic storyline decision, and having the cruiserweights have no time to establish any character isnt helping them get over either.
Thank god for Owens and Jericho....
Quote from: Cory on September 27, 2016, 11:27:44 PM
Another trash Raw. Clash of Champions was solid enough, but another weak show.
Putting Cesaro and Sheamus in a tag team? What an uncreative, anti-climactic storyline decision, and having the cruiserweights have no time to establish any character isnt helping them get over either.
So CM Punk chants are still a thing? Can't believe they Shit on TJP
Quote from: ¿PapaPancho? on September 28, 2016, 01:06:42 AM
So CM Punk chants are still a thing? Can't believe they Shit on TJP
Also hate that they're not chanting all night long during Rich Swann's matches either.
Most of the Raw audience doesn't know who the hell the Cruiserweights are...
Quote from: Gravedigger on September 28, 2016, 09:37:10 PM
Most of the Raw audience doesn't know who the hell the Cruiserweights are... their multiplication table.
That too...
I dont care how shitty the 2nd match is gonna be...
Im gonna pop like a motherfucker hearing/seeing that Goldberg entrance monday.
3 He'll in a Cells?
Seems like overkill though in excited for the ladies match.
Great comeback.
Incredible reaction and very good promo.
I'm in.
Goooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooldberrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrg
had me crine :(
the feels man
It was nostalgic and everything...
But I'm really not interested in seeing a Goldberg/Lesnar match at WrestleMania.
Quote from: Jon on October 18, 2016, 03:26:10 PM
It was nostalgic and everything...
But I'm really not interested in seeing a Goldberg/Lesnar match at WrestleMania.
Word is ... it going to happen at Survivor Series
did they actually think that Brock was gonna get shit on in Minnesota? C'mon man.
If they claimed that he's Canadian now they coulda got some heat, but other than that no dice.
Reigns did not turn? So what was him coming out at #30 for? Im actually starting to feel bad for the guy. Now he's gonna work a program with Strowman where he's the assumed face but the fans shit on even more cause of the RR shenanigans.
I feel like Reigns coming out at 30 was just so the crowd wouldn't shit all over Orton winning, which they definitely would have had it been anyone else in the final 2 with him.
Joe, Joe, Joe!! Great to see him on RAW and into a main event feud right away. More of this please WWE.
I much prefer Joe debuting on Raw, doing what he did, then come in at #30 in the Rumble.
Quote from: Kieran King on January 31, 2017, 04:49:15 AM
I feel like Reigns coming out at 30 was just so the crowd wouldn't shit all over Orton winning, which they definitely would have had it been anyone else in the final 2 with him.
Bingo.
But Orton is being praised more so than anytime in the last several years since this Wyatt angle started?
Balor was slated for #30, but had to get cleared by the medical staff. I guess he wasn't cleared.
Quote from: T-Bonizzle on January 31, 2017, 01:14:57 PM
Balor was slated for #30, but had to get cleared by the medical staff. I guess he wasn't cleared.
Source?
Quote from: Mike Powers on January 31, 2017, 12:06:01 PM
But Orton is being praised more so than anytime in the last several years since this Wyatt angle started?
True. His in-ring work is superb (I can't wait for him and AJ to finally work together) and his character is more interesting than it has been in years. But people still have a mindset that the Rumble should be making a new star, or at the very least not being given as often to people who have already won it. The only person in the last 5 years to win the Rumble for the first time was freaking Roman Reigns himself. Otherwise it's been Cena, Batista, Triple H and now Orton. Plus, the Rumble crowd is fairly smarkish. You could feel them deflate when guys like Jericho and Zayn were eliminated. For a moment I allowed myself to think that Wyatt was going to win, and I would rather see the Orton vs. Wyatt storyline play out at WrestleMania that way. But alas, it was not to be.
Don't get me wrong, I don't actually hate that Orton won. Out of the last 5 winners, his was the most surprising, and he's great at what he does. But the only other way aside from Reigns I can think of to not have had the crowd groan that it wasn't one of the smark-favourites would be to have had someone like Lesnar or Goldberg the last eliminated.
Here's my thing now being about to look at what they did on Raw with Joe.
Firstly the overwhelming point isn't who won, or even Reigns coming in at 30....it was more so with this being branded as the most unpredictable rumble of the decade and literally outside of a gimmicky Ty Dillinger #10 entry which everyone knew was gonna happen there was zero surprises and thats why the Reigns at 30 sucked because that final spot SURELY was going to be the big surprise and it ended up being the troll of all trolls...even more than when Rey came out a few years ago when everyone thought Daniel Bryan was coming out.....also cant make light of Enzo Amore coming out at 27 being bullshit too.
I get why put Joe/Finn in the rumble if you're not going to have them win....but in regards to Joe if Finn WAS injured as Bone said why not let the HHH/Rollins storyline filter into the rumble and have Rollins in the rumble (LOL love the Seth is banned from the arena storyline at the beginning of the PPV and he actually did not show....the first time in 40 years the event security prevent someone from entering the building) and have Joe debut....get a crazy pop and just take out Rollins, self eliminate himself and just kill rollins on the outside as HHH watches. Woulda have been 10000x better than Joe debuting in front of a horrific crowd last night that was asleep the whole show and didnt give Joe that big of a pop....the crowd was silent when Joe was choking out Rollins.
We knew at 25 that we had no surprises or unpredictable moments and there still was going to be Taker, Brock, Goldberg so 2 picks that we were hoping we're going to make this rumble memorable and they were Enzo and Roman, while everyone wanted to have a reason to pop like we got to last year when AJ Styles debuted.
The storytelling from the Reigns also continues to be a weakness after he went though hell in a very good match with Owens and then came to the ring with no selling and eliminates Undertaker, Jericho, Wyatt. Post rumble, surely the troll at 30 was going to be the beginning of the heel turn and now after Raw he's still the face as he enters a program with Braun Strowman, so let's get ready for another road to mania with Reigns getting shit on. (Sidenote: Man, Braun is being booked how Reigns should have been)
As for the winner, if the plan is going to be Orton vs Wyatt why in the hell don't you have Wyatt win the rumble? Orton is already one of the most over guys on Smackdown, he's a future hall of famer, he's won the rumble before and doesnt need a rumble victory to draw. Wyatt has been booked like shit since day 1 and the rumble win would have been EXACTLY the kinda thing he needed. Have Randy/Bray be the final 2 and Randy to self eliminate himself for Bray....that's more storyline filling, equally bullshit finish as having Orton eliminate Reigns because Vince knew that was a way to get the fans to cheer Orton.
Without going into the fact that other than the finish the main objective of the rumble outside of that was filling the ring with the full time upper mid-carders/main event bodies for Taker/Goldberg/Brock to eliminate unimpressively the rumble was a colossal failure on what was a very good PPV. Poor storytelling, poor booking, unpredictably predictable.
Quote from: ¿PapaPancho? on January 31, 2017, 03:15:49 PM
Source?
I suppose saying 'Balor was supposed to have #30' was more speculation BUT Balor did undergo evaluations to see if he could compete in the Rumble. Multiple outlets reported that including PWI.
Quote from: Cory on January 31, 2017, 06:15:16 PM
Here's my thing now being about to look at what they did on Raw with Joe.
Firstly the overwhelming point isn't who won, or even Reigns coming in at 30....it was more so with this being branded as the most unpredictable rumble of the decade and literally outside of a gimmicky Ty Dillinger #10 entry which everyone knew was gonna happen there was zero surprises and thats why the Reigns at 30 sucked because that final spot SURELY was going to be the big surprise and it ended up being the troll of all trolls...even more than when Rey came out a few years ago when everyone thought Daniel Bryan was coming out.....also cant make light of Enzo Amore coming out at 27 being bullshit too.
I get why put Joe/Finn in the rumble if you're not going to have them win....but in regards to Joe if Finn WAS injured as Bone said why not let the HHH/Rollins storyline filter into the rumble and have Rollins in the rumble (LOL love the Seth is banned from the arena storyline at the beginning of the PPV and he actually did not show....the first time in 40 years the event security prevent someone from entering the building) and have Joe debut....get a crazy pop and just take out Rollins, self eliminate himself and just kill rollins on the outside as HHH watches. Woulda have been 10000x better than Joe debuting in front of a horrific crowd last night that was asleep the whole show and didnt give Joe that big of a pop....the crowd was silent when Joe was choking out Rollins.
We knew at 25 that we had no surprises or unpredictable moments and there still was going to be Taker, Brock, Goldberg so 2 picks that we were hoping we're going to make this rumble memorable and they were Enzo and Roman, while everyone wanted to have a reason to pop like we got to last year when AJ Styles debuted.
The storytelling from the Reigns also continues to be a weakness after he went though hell in a very good match with Owens and then came to the ring with no selling and eliminates Undertaker, Jericho, Wyatt. Post rumble, surely the troll at 30 was going to be the beginning of the heel turn and now after Raw he's still the face as he enters a program with Braun Strowman, so let's get ready for another road to mania with Reigns getting shit on. (Sidenote: Man, Braun is being booked how Reigns should have been)
As for the winner, if the plan is going to be Orton vs Wyatt why in the hell don't you have Wyatt win the rumble? Orton is already one of the most over guys on Smackdown, he's a future hall of famer, he's won the rumble before and doesnt need a rumble victory to draw. Wyatt has been booked like shit since day 1 and the rumble win would have been EXACTLY the kinda thing he needed. Have Randy/Bray be the final 2 and Randy to self eliminate himself for Bray....that's more storyline filling, equally bullshit finish as having Orton eliminate Reigns because Vince knew that was a way to get the fans to cheer Orton.
Without going into the fact that other than the finish the main objective of the rumble outside of that was filling the ring with the full time upper mid-carders/main event bodies for Taker/Goldberg/Brock to eliminate unimpressively the rumble was a colossal failure on what was a very good PPV. Poor storytelling, poor booking, unpredictably predictable.
Classic case of sucks to suck. This is my problem with most critiques of wrestling these days. Most revolve around what didn't happen because that's not what I wanted. After listening to the podcast of Keller and Stone Cold I appreciate his take on Reigns being thrown in as a red herring because EVERYONE assumed he would win when in fact he actually sold it for Orton.
I won't throw out a Rumble because of a 30th entrant when I enjoyed so much of it so immensly. Gallaghers comedy act was hilarious (something I wasn't saying before) Strowman is the best built monster in a LONG time and Corbin eliminating him and only getting eliminating by the Undertaker bookcases where he is on the echelon of big men.
Did I want Joe in the rumble? Hell yes I did ... but that doesn't mean I get to throw a Christian sized tantrum about it ... well it does it just doens't make me right though.
News For Tonight's WWE RAW - WrestleMania 33 Fallout, Hardy Homecoming, Brock Lesnar, Roman Reigns
The post-WrestleMania 33 RAW will take place from the Amway Center in Orlando with the fallout from Sunday's Ultimate Thrill Ride. The post-WrestleMania RAW is now one of the biggest WWE shows of the year and tonight's RAW should be no different.
WWE does not have The Undertaker or Bill Goldberg advertised for tonight's RAW but new WWE Universal Champion Brock Lesnar is scheduled. Stay tuned throughout the day as we keep you updated on potential spoilers and notes from RAW.
No matches have been announced for tonight but WWE is advertising The Hardys' first RAW appearance in almost 10 years.
WWE is focusing on the following points for tonight's show:
* "It's my yard now"
* Bow down to "the Kingslayer" Seth Rollins
* Hardy homecoming, new RAW Tag Team Champions The Hardys
* The List of Owens, new WWE United States Champion Kevin Owens
* Champion of the Universe, new WWE Universal Champion Brock Lesnar
Tonight's WWE RAW will take place from the Nassau Coliseum on Long Island with night 1 of the two-night "Superstar Shakeup" event.
No matches have been announced for tonight but WWE is focusing on the following points:
* How will the Superstar Shake-up impact Team Red?
* Finn Bálor is back!
* Who will challenge The Beast Incarnate?
* Cesaro & Sheamus lock onto The Hardys' titles
* Will Chris Jericho get payback against Kevin Owens and Samoa Joe?