WWE Raw Thread - 6/24 "Trouble in Paradise?"

[Kimura Kid]

http://www.wwe.com/f/wysiwyg/image/2013/06/20130619_LIGHT_RAW-preview_C-homepage.jpg

– Last week, Mark Henry faked his retirement to get one over on WWE Champion John Cena. Now, Henry has a WWE title shot against Cena at the July 2013 Money In The Bank PPV. How will Cena respond to Henry’s ruse?

– Meanwhile, Brock Lesnar nailed CM Punk with an F5 to close Raw, sending Punk into next week. Well, it’s now next week, so how will Punk respond to Lesnar’s shot against him?

– Daniel Bryan and Randy Orton traded wins against each other on Raw and SmackDown last week. Tonight, they face each other in the rubber match as Bryan tries to continue to prove he is not the weak link.

– An unfavorable medical report did nothing to stop The Showoff from jumping Del Rio on Raw, but a similar attempt on SmackDown ended in calamity. Forget about will Ziggler make an appearance on Raw to address his loss; the more pertinent question is can he?

– Vickie Guerrero promised severe consequences for The Shield if Seth Rollins & Roman Reigns interfered in Dean Ambrose’s U.S. Title defense against Kane on Raw. A sideways endorsement from The Chairman himself probably did nothing to shake their confidence that they’d walk away clean from the incident. However, with Triple H expecting a penalty for the troika of titleholders (and the McMahons seemingly angling to accomplish their own agendas), Vickie may be compelled to make these “Hounds of Justice” pay for putting her in the doghouse.




All that and more on Raw … tonight!

[Psycho666Soldier]

I'm really looking forward to the show tonight. Bryan/Orton is bound to be off the hook, and I hope it comes to a conclusive finish if there are no plans for him to feud with Orton past this. Give them a good 20 minutes tonight, and I guarantee we'll have a classic.

Whatever The Shield is involved with should be fun. Really hoping to see some kind of awesome match-up. Perhaps Dean vs. a great midcard challenger for about 5-8 minutes before Kane comes in and does something. Or just give Dean mic time. Seeing Reigns or Rollins in solo competition would be awesome, too.

I just hope Mark Henry gets a lot of mic time, and looks like a beast. Cena can do whatever.


Oh, and of course MORE ZIGGLER THE BETTER!!!

[Jacknife]

I hope Henry goes over Cena.

[VHS]

Me too, but it's John Cena. :\

[InsertItHere]

Does anyone think that the Bray and his lovely crew will be debuting tonight? I'd LOVE for them to debut at the end of the episode, just destroying a few main eventers. Help establish their presence immediately. More than likely, though, they'll interfere in some mid-card match and build them from there.

If they do debut at the end of an episode, it'd probably make sense to hold off until after MITB. There are just too many "big" storylines going on right now, to realistically think that Wyatt could end the show.

[StoneColdWWE316]

Should be a good one and I have read The Wyatts may debut tonight as well.

[JT4104]

that's what I do!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!1111

[Zacharie]

I hate these Sheamus feuds. Christian makes this match watchable though.

[JT4104]

with that reaction...dont expect these boring Sheamus fueds to end anytime soon.

[Hero!]

Sheamus is so pale that Christian looks like a rotisserie a chicken next to him

[Hero!]

Also, where the fuck are you fucks MONDAY NIGHT RAW IS ON

[Hero!]

AJ wins RAW

[JT4104]

Not sure why layla would hold her back and actually why is Layla even out there with Kaitlyn?

[evilyn]

It's great to see them actually do something with the diva. I love what AJ is doing.

[Kimura Kid]

This Henry promo is money!!

So excited to see this play out!

[The Law]

They need to let Dolph talk soon. Solidify himself as a face with a promo.

[JT4104]

please give these 2 about 15 mins

[mr sabu]

i just woke up... have i missed anything

[JT4104]

i just woke up... have i missed anything
AJ got really buff in a week....

[mr sabu]

does she still have an ass

[Kimura Kid]

They need to let Dolph talk soon. Solidify himself as a face with a promo.

Seriously.....I feel like their killing him right now. He had all this Hype over his title win and they ended it immediately and are giving him more time out of the ring after that awesome match at payback......I don't feel like this angle has solidified him as face at all or even given us MORE of a reason to believe or cheer for him. It's fucking brutal


I feel like their derailing his current run.....But I know they have bigger plans. THEY NEED TO PULL THE FUCKING TRIGGER.

[Kimura Kid]

Yippeee another run in!! This is not how they should of handled this situation at all. He gave them gold and they do nothing with it.

AND WTF Are they doing with Ziggler & Y2J??

They must have other plans for the WHC title outside of Ziggler and ADR. Not sure whats going on

[The Law]

I'm usually a fan of faces feuding with faces, heels feuding with heels, and shades of gray, but having Dolph and Jericho feud during Dolph's nascent face turn isn't a good idea.

[Matthew]

great segment. keep him tweener-ish like punk was for awhile.

[Hero!]

IM HERE TO SHOW THE WORLD

[Tainted Eclipse]

i dig the jericho/dolph stuff, i just hope they dont turn MITB into a 3 way or something.

[Kimura Kid]

Doesn't anyone even fucking realize that they are moving Ziggler away from the championship? lol

[TooCool]

Just tuned in. Yeah, I know I'm 70 minutes late. I just got this weird feeling that tonight's RAW is going to suck again after the awesomeness last week.

[The Law]

I wouldn't mind Jericho turning heel. I find his heel character much more engaging than his face character. Also, he would be much higher on the food chain as a heel than he is as a face.

[mr sabu]

zepplinnnnnnn

[JT4104]

I dunno...Dolph is looking somewhat deranged.

Maddox is also fantastic in the background with the faces he makes.

[JT4104]

So....who is the poor victim who gets to flop around for Ryback tonight? Gabriel, Bourne?

[Matthew]

Doesn't anyone even fucking realize that they are moving Ziggler away from the championship? lol
...they aren't

[mr sabu]

i would have prefered brad on the cover then the rock

[JT4104]

and still ZERO reaction...wow. At this point I kinda feel bad for him.

[Kimura Kid]

...they aren't

Ok, I could be wrong.

But are you fucking Nostradamus?? How bout giving me some foundation for your argument.

Cuz the way they've been booking Y2J & Ziggler seems to me like they are slowly moving him away from the belt. especially after taking the title off of him in his 1st defense. And not booking him in anything worth while since his turn at payback.

He had a few run ins, 1 of which resulted in him getting deaded and looking weak.

[The Law]

They did announce before that match that he's facing Del Rio for the title at Money in the Bank.

[Hero!]

GREAT KHALI WITH THE BIG ELBOWS JESUS CHRIST

[JT4104]

Ok, I could be wrong.

But are you fucking Nostradamus?? How bout giving me some foundation for your argument.

Cuz the way they've been booking Y2J & Ziggler seems to me like they are slowly moving him away from the belt. especially after taking the title off of him in his 1st defense. And not booking him in anything worth while since his turn at payback.

He had a few run ins, 1 of which resulted in him getting deaded and looking weak.
Mark my words.....Ziggler will be World Champion on the Raw after SummerSlam.

[Matthew]

Ok, I could be wrong.

But are you fucking Nostradamus?? How bout giving me some foundation for your argument.

Cuz the way they've been booking Y2J & Ziggler seems to me like they are slowly moving him away from the belt. especially after taking the title off of him in his 1st defense. And not booking him in anything worth while since his turn at payback.

He had a few run ins, 1 of which resulted in him getting deaded and looking weak.because they are building up his face-ish side. crowds pop when he comes in, making them want more. that is how you build for a big payoff. are you nostradamus either? you are surely saying things as fact here as well.

jericho and ziggler have had bad blood for a long time. so having them not be pals after a (somewhat) face turn is actually refreshing and logical.

how is he being moved away from the title if the last 2 weeks he has come out solely to attack the champion? you seem to be over-analyzing.

[Kimura Kid]

They did announce before that match that he's facing Del Rio for the title at Money in the Bank.


And once he loses possibly due to Y2J and you've officially moved him away.

[The Law]

I thought that was surprising entertaining for a one minute squash match.

[Kimura Kid]

because they are building up his face-ish side. crowds pop when he comes in, making them want more. that is how you build for a big payoff. are you nostradamus either? you are surely saying things as fact here as well.

jericho and ziggler have had bad blood for a long time. so having them not be pals after a (somewhat) face turn is actually refreshing and logical.

how is he being moved away from the title if the last 2 weeks he has come out solely to attack the champion? you seem to be over-analyzing.

I never said anything was fact. The quote that you just quoted me on started saying "I could be wrong" lol

Anyway I see what your saying with building a payoff but what does including Y2J do? I could very well be over analyzing the situation.

[Kimura Kid]

Just looking for someone to make sense outta all this for me. Cuz it looks like they are fumbling all over the fucking place here.

[Matthew]

I never said anything was fact. ..
Doesn't anyone even fucking realize that they are moving Ziggler away from the championship? lol
comes off as fact. like you know exactly what is going on. no need to play coy here.


Anyway I see what your saying with building a payoff but what does including Y2J do? I could very well be over analyzing the situation.possibilites:
- set up a double turn, completing ziggler as face and "shock" jericho heel turn giving another feud for ziggler if he is the champ
- give someone for ziggler/del rio to pin in a possible 3-way match that may still be booked for the ppv. it would allow for y2j to take the fall, giving ziggler or del rio the title, continue to build up to a bigger payoff at summerslam

[mr sabu]

kahli > ryback

[The Law]

I'm confused by the inclusion of Jericho in the Del Rio/Ziggler feud. It seems like they had a straight-forward issue and a double turn. Ziggler would get sympathy from losing his title and being concussed, while Del Rio would get heat from it. Including a beloved veteran face and having him and Ziggler have an issue is an odd move. If your objective was to put Ziggler over as a face and get the title back on him, why include Jericho? Unless it's a springboard to turn Jericho heel.

[Kimura Kid]

comes off as fact. like you know exactly what is going on. no need to play coy here.

possibilites:
- set up a double turn, completing ziggler as face and "shock" jericho heel turn giving another feud for ziggler if he is the champ
- give someone for ziggler/del rio to pin in a possible 3-way match that may still be booked for the ppv. it would allow for y2j to take the fall, giving ziggler or del rio the title, continue to build up to a bigger payoff at summerslam

I apologize for my opinions coming off as I was trying to spew facts. That wasn't my intention.

I like both of those possibilities and hopefully that's the route they are going. Appreciate the feedback.

:yes:

I just feel like they are pushing the title to someone else....slowly. Getting everyone involved in the Y2J vs Ziggler and make em forget about the title and Ziggler

[Matthew]

all good

[The Law]

In his entire career, I don't think Mark Henry has ever had a shot at the WWE Title. I hope that gets mentioned in this feud.

[JT4104]

Going to be hard to "sell" Ziggler as a full face while he is still associated with AJ/Big E, they got time to burn until SummerSlam and I dont have a problem with Jericho being involved right now, maybe they feel Ziggler/ADR can't draw a lot and included Jericho for that reason alone.

[Hero!]

Blahahaha look at this guy

[JT4104]

that dude just entertained me more than a few of the guys in the back can. :lol:

[The Law]

The Usos are going to get over. That entrance is awesome.

JBL: "Big week for Tons of Funk. July 14 they could win the tag team championship. July 15 Twinkies are back on the shelves."

[TimeSplitter]

If only JBL could give funny one-liners all the time. I literally choked on my beer at that line.

[JT4104]

Brodus with an apron plancha.....nice

[The Guy on the Couch]

I miss Otunga. Can't believe i am saying that, but it's true

[The Law]

Otunga would make a fantastic manager. So would Vickie and Brad Maddox. It's nice that WWE has started to bring back managers, but they need to go all the way.

[JT4104]

here we go...been waiting on how this plays out

[JT4104]

Heyman.......:lol:

[JT4104]

come on darren, get your revenge from the first NXT.

[Zacharie]

fresh match up

[JT4104]

that was a nice little twist with Axel making a run in....they got 2 months so slow build time it is.

[Kneeneighbor]

Is that War Games DVD going to have them all full length? I may have to buy it.

[mr sabu]

it's not haymen who sent brock it was rey

[JT4104]

Is that War Games DVD going to have them all full length? I may have to buy it.
Probably not, would have to dub over a lot of music. Probably 2 or 3 matches from the 80's and a few from the late 90's

[mr sabu]

heres the raw money in the bank

bryan, yoshinko, a posted of a cat, a bowl of soup and a papper bag

[JT4104]

Punk/Bryan/Christian/RVD in a MITB match, sure I'll watch that.

[VHS]

These backstage segments are so bad.

[The Law]

Is that War Games DVD going to have them all full length? I may have to buy it.

There were 30 WarGames matches, so I don't think there's any way they'll all be on there. About half of them were untelevised on the Great American Bash tour in 1988, so maybe one of those will be on there. Most if not all of the ones that were on PPV will probably be included.

[JT4104]

safe to say in Philly...Punk/Bryan/RVD will be the "faces" for the MITB match.

[Fanny]

I want Mizark to fake an epileptic fit, take up the whole rest of RAW, be carted towards the ambulance only to WORLD'S STRONGEST SLAM the ambulance off of the stage

[Fanny]

vintage shot of the crowd watching the backstage segment

[Fanny]

this Heyman/Punk 'relationship' verges on a bit weird at times. Like the well/overly-trod 'joke' in sitcoms where two guys' conversation mimmicks that of a married couple. Only this is...weird.

[Fanny]

MAWK HENRY UP IN HYEEEEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

Fucking love Mark Henry. Fuck John Cena.

[The Law]

That was a surprisingly poor promo.

[Fanny]

Mark's? You're demented - that was fantastic.


"I know I look goood, this ain't no men's warehouse" :lol:

[TimeSplitter]

Every Wyatt Family promo is better than the last. I'm soooo excited!!!!!

[Fanny]

yeah these Wyatt family vignettes are incredible, what an awesome gimmick. Almost makes me sad when I see them given that it very likely means they're not going to be on the show

[Fanny]

Wyatt Family here, please. Kill Randy Bore-ton

[The Law]

Chair shot to the head! Did I see that right?

[Zacharie]

head chair shot omfg, bad randy

[G-Fresh]

FUCKIN A MUDDAFUCKA

[Kimura Kid]

HAWKS WIN THE CUP!!!!!

[JT4104]

HAWKS WIN THE CUP!!!!!
Guess this means the end of Punk's chops.

Also, Bryan/Orton has been really fun.

[Anaconda Sniper]

Holy shit! FUCK YES DBRY!!!

[TimeSplitter]

Awesome spot for the finish!!

[Kimura Kid]

1ST time I've seen orton lose clean since I started watching again.....

[JT4104]

great f'm main event, Bryan delivers and I love watching a motivated Orton.

[The Law]

Pretty great match there. Tremendous victory for D-Bry. They're going all the way with him. He's winning Money in the Bank and facing Cena at Summerslam. I was hoping for a Randy heel turn there, but that would have stolen the spotlight from Bryan's big moment. Hopefully he turns soon.

Another solid episode of Raw. Just lots of intriguing things happening up and down the card. I like that guys are having feuds that don't get settled on PPV-Jericho/Ziggler, Orton/Bryan, Punk/Axel.

[StoneColdWWE316]

Pretty good RAW tonight and MITB is looking strong. Good Main Event with Orton/Bryan,Jericho/ADR was really good I thought. Strong promos from Punk/Heyman,Cena,and Henry.

[VHS]

Biggest and most important win Daniel Bryan has had in a long time. A clean win, repeat... clean win over Randy Orton? That is extremely huge news and I couldn't be happier for the man. :)

[Zacharie]

I gave the show 9/10. It was just an enjoyable show tonight. The Wyatts, ADR/Jericho, Henry and Cena's storyline, Divas are doing something, the tag division is doing something, MITB match looks great, McMahon/HHH bs is actually decent, Punk/Heyman, and Bryan/Orton hooooly shit. I usually don't like Orton, but if they give him the right opponent I think he's fun to watch. Orton/Bryan in the WWE Title scene would probably be great, but I think Cena/Bryan will be good too.

[Newf]

I dunno...Dolph is looking somewhat deranged.

Maddox is also fantastic in the background with the faces he makes.

I really hate Vickie. Brad is infinitely more entertaining than her and makes her segments tolerable. I almost wish they'd replace her with him entirely. I realize she generates mega heat, but her schtick now is that she screams "EXCUSE ME!", she's basically incompetent and borderline deranged. She's become very one-dimensional and has almost regressed in a lot of ways. I get that she's getting jerked around by the McMahons and Hunter, but it would almost make more sense for Brad to be the one, given his lack of experience and near-desperation to impress, getting pulled in 3 different directions.

I remember a Raw Active video where Striker asked Vickie how she felt about Dolph winning the title after he'd left her and moved onto AJ and her answer was painful.

http://www.wwe.com/videos/vickie-leaves-angry-wwe-app-exclusive-april-15-2013-26108101

"Dolph had his priorities in a different place when he was with me... obviously AJ has corrupted him in some way... and because he won World Heavyweight Champion, that title is just part of the business, it's just a business decision." Like that doesn't even make sense! So his priorities were anything but winning the title? Winning a title equals corruption? And did she almost imply the title didn't mean anything? Also how is a surprise cash-in a "business decision"? It reeks of someone who A) can't improvise, as I gather Raw Active is done more on-the-fly than other segments and B) doesn't have her character's motivations fully understood/defined for her.

Ever since seeing that video I've really started to noticed how forced and unnatural she comes off in segments. I know Maddox isn't perfect, but he's just got a natural smarmy dickish way to him. I love the whole "assistant/assistant to" thing even if it is ripped from Dwight and The Office. And as you said, his facial expressions are brilliant.

Sorry to go off on a rant but I've been enjoying Raw for the most part, but it's continually jumped out at me recently how awful Vickie really is and I felt like mentioning it.

[McBain]

She's always been terrible. They just have her around because they feel sorry for her.

[greebull]

She's always been terrible. They just have her around because they feel sorry for her.


She generates more heat than half the roster... I know, I know, it's 'X-Pac Heat,' right?

[Jacknife]

2nd RAW in a row I have not watched. It's much more fun just reading the results and watching the YouTube clips of what sounds interesting.

[Slare]

You've chosen two of the strongest episodes of raw in months if not years to stop watching?

GOOD PLAN

[Jacknife]

Like I know they're strong before I watch, :wtf:

[The Law]

Vickie still generates tons of heat, but it's now wasted because all she does is announce matches. She's basically a neutral authority figure at this point, despite getting absurd amounts of heat. It was fine for her to be GM and super over as a heel when she actually feuded with wrestlers and that helped get them over. Or when she was managed Dolph and Swagger and the heat on her could be transferred (to some extent) to them. Her current role is a total waste of her overness. Let her go back to managing. She probably would have been a better fit for Cesaro than Coulter.

[Andy]

Vickie is great you maniacs. She generates heat the likes of Ryback and Axel can only dream of.

[The Law]

What purpose does that heat serve when she doesn't feud with anyone?

[VHS]

I've been counting the days for Vickie to be gone. Everything she says is horribly forced and unnaturally executed it's like you're watching a school play. Get her off the show!

I expressed a lot of hate towards Brad Maddox, but he's been developing himself very nicely as a smarmy jokester.

The whole "person running the show" has become so stale as a whole. I wish we would have a Raw GM that only showed up once in a while, like every few months, not some stupid heel that makes the matches as the show goes along.

[Andy]

Another really good show.

Intense opening, AJ stuff was great, Jericho/ADR was a good match, not too crazy about Jericho/Ryback though, boring Cena promo, GREAT back and forth between Heyman and Punk - totally captivating, kind of disappointed we're not getting MITB qualifiers, more good stuff from Henry, and a brilliant match to finish off. Lovely stuff.

Does anyone else have a feeling we might get face Brock soon? This feud seems so obvious, I can definitely see a swerve where Heyman turns on Lesnar to help Punk, revealing Punk was in on it from the start.

[Kimura Kid]

Does anyone else have a feeling we might get face Brock soon? This feud seems so obvious, I can definitely see a swerve where Heyman turns on Lesnar to help Punk, revealing Punk was in on it from the start.

I got the complete opposite idea. I felt like Heyman was going to play punk along and eventually scew him to align with Lesnar who's been a heyman guy for longer and outside of the Wrestling business also.

Heyman is aligned with Lesnar...punk will get the backstab from Heyman Not Lesnar. IMO.....

[Andy]

Yeah looks like the way they're going but it just seems so obvious that there might be a swerve.

[Kimura Kid]

Your right it's painfully routine the route their going. If I'm correct in my assumption. Hopefully your right because that would be refreshing & new.

[G-Fresh]

I don't care who plays face & heel as long as Brock wins.

[chatty]

I'm sure Jericho just likes to put everyone over so when he brings his next book out he can say he put them over first and made their stock rise.

[Andy]

I don't care who plays face & heel as long as Brock wins.

Agreed. :yes:

[MMH]

She's always been terrible. They just have her around because they feel sorry for her.


Rubbish! Shes excellent at what she does.

[MMH]

What purpose does that heat serve when she doesn't feud with anyone?

Shes pretty much feuling the McMahons feud right now.

Her character is a bit weird right now though, technically she is still a heel I suppose but she is acting like a face generally and portrays quite the sympathetic character the way the McMahons are treating her.

[Melly]

7.5/10
:yes: for...
- great match between Bryan and Orton (and I don't even like Orton)
- CM Punk and Heyman's chat
- The Hurricane Sandy contest winner dancing with Brodus and Sweet T.
- AJ dressed up as Kaitlyn
- Akasana being on the show and looking hot doing it
And so much more. Very good overall.

[mth]

That Orton/Bryan match was killer. :yes: Really good stuff and a hell of a win for DB.

The Punk/Heyman segment was pretty good if a bit lengthy. Maybe it just felt that way because it was a talk-heavy episode overall. I liked both Cena and Henry's promo bits, as well, but felt like they perhaps could have been combined into one segment with a bit of back-and-forth mic work between them...seemed odd to have them both on but not interact at all.

Very pleased to see the Usos get a tag title shot but wish they could have gotten a bit more build to earning it. Without it, it very much feels like they're just fodder for the Shield rather than that they have any chance of winning the belts. On the plus side, there's still a couple more shows before the PPV they can appear and look good on.

Jericho/ADR was decent enough. Dolph looks good with a bit of a beard, he should keep that going.

The AJ/Kaitlyn stuff continues to roll along nicely and keep the fire of the feud burning.

Wasn't too keen on Ryback being dominated so much and only really hitting one offensive move on Khali. Granted, that one move was a rather impressive Shellshock for the win but it didn't feel like he came back as strong as he should have. Should have mauled the big lug. Pretty excited for Ryback/Jericho at MITB, I quite enjoyed their SmackDown match awhile back.

Just to chime in on Vickie, I still love her.