Yeah, i find the thigh slapping thing hard to believe, as well. Still hearing plenty of them on NXT.
Yeah, i find the thigh slapping thing hard to believe, as well. Still hearing plenty of them on NXT.
Really random to have MVP sit in place of Samoa Joe on commentary, especially in light of the events to start the show. He was fine in this role.
The Hurt Business promo
Well, the writing was on the wall last week with the implosion of The Hurt Business and we got it here in full form. While there are reasons to suggest breaking them up now doesn't do a lot of good THB lost a fair amount of mojo (mainly due to Alexander and Benjamin) over the last several weeks. To be clear, that's not their fault. That's entirely on the booking for not building a division that allowed them to rise prominently like Lashley did. It was compelling to see Benjamin and Alexander confront Pearce for Benjamin to get a match with Lashley. Certainly showing the hierarchy of champions for each brand, too.
Sheamus vs. Riddle: Non-title Match
This felt problematic in a lot of ways. First, the logic from going away from 3D slides to 3D birds for Riddle's entrance is beyond me. The micromanaging is well on display here lol. The match was pretty much what you would expect: physical and entertaining. I could have sworn these two fought each other recently but it was November when they squared off. The bigger problem was the fact that we got a clean finish (albeit there was the fact Sheamus attacked Riddle before the bell) in a match we're going to see again in two weeks. The fact you had a match here made it painfully obvious that Sheamus was going to win tonight. They could have just bickered for another week to build a match and leave some double there with a fresh match at Mania.
Shane McMahon promo
This was still really bad and really stupid. Prior to the commercial, McMahon said he had some interesting things to share in regards to Strowman. He's clearly a heel because he lied, because bringing up childhood report cards to further illustrate the lack of intelligence Strowman possessed was not interesting.
Strowman vs. Ryker
My word. They seemed to work backwards here as Strowman faced a higher-level lackey in Ellias before facing the real jobber in Ryker. I guess it worked in the sense because Ryker sure as hell wasn't going to be in a PPV match but still, it didn't fit how you would formulaically see a series of events leading up to a "big" match. This match was nothing but filler. Two wrongs didn't make a right here. I guess the progression came in the sense that Strowman announced the match they were going to have at Mania. It is a Steel Cage match, but I guess Strowman proved McMahon right about intelligence. He cited that this cage was going to help keep the goons out and McMahon wouldn't be able to run. This is WWE, so the cage is cheapened. It also calls into question what kind of stunt McMahon is going to do.
The Dirt Sheet, with the world premiere of 'Hey Hey, Hop Hop'
Pretty straightforward segment with Miz and Morrison hyping themselves up leading up to the video. They certainly put effort and extra level of corniness into these music videos they make. It's a good way to build silly heat on them. I like how it played out when Priest and Bad Bunny came out. They talked their smack and then there was the tease that Miz and Morrison (stupidly) were going to be held back because Priest stood in front of Bad Bunny then Priest stood to the side so Miz could put up or shut up. Miz confronted Bad Bunny and we either got an incredibly solid working punch or we caught the B-side with 'Hey Hey, Potato'. Seems like it was the former.
Lashley vs. Benjamin: Non-title Match
The ringside announcer botched his intro because he announced this as a 2-on-1 handicap match when it clearly wasn't. Lashley keeping his backed turn to Benjamin seemed like a move awfully full of hubris or stupidity. You can be the judge. Lashley regained dominance early in the match, highlighted by that cool spot he does on the outside with the opponent's head being darted into the ring post. Benjamin looked good in his hope spots with Paydirt and the running knee when Lashley was in the corner. The added wrinkle was there when Alexander ran at the first hint that Lashley was going to strike him.
Game Night between New Day and Styles/Omos
Funny how Woods got his cheap plugs in via sketch book in the segment before the break. This thing should have suffered a cruel and painful death but, the segment probably was salvaged by the comedic charisma Styles and New Day have. It made Styles look a fool but it was a fitting explanation that Omos provided by saying it didn't matter if they won the games to show they're worthy of being the tag champions and he'd show what he's made of at Mania. If you watch Styles on UUDD, his reactions to losing were very on brand for him.
Styles vs. Woods
I do like how commentary made note that Styles suffered his first loss last week since he's been aligned with Omos. It was a passing comment but I do appreciate the attention to detail there. This match didn't slap the same way as the match with Kingston did last week. It certainly didn't help we didn't get a clean finish here but again, this was the second segment in a row that was utilized to show Omos isn't here to mess around. New Day kind of got what was coming to them as they were being silly and defiant towards Omos, which led to them paying the price. It was pretty simple physicality from Omos but effective. Good progression here.
Alexa's Playground
Took a little while to get the first women's segment of the night. The prologue was Orton saying earlier that he knows he and The Fiend are cut from the same cloth and what it's going to take to eliminate him once and for all. Alexa talked about the history of the Jack in the Box and said the Legend Killer was going to die. That's about it. Part of me wonders if this kind of course corrects what will happen with The Fiend going forward. Part of the intriguing hook before was that we got Fire Fly Funhouse Wyatt and that was fun. It kind of feels like that's gone now and the Playground is taking over. Wyatt isn't going to talk and Alexa is going to handle all of that. If that's the route they actually take, that doesn't seem like a good move.
Shayna (with Nia and Reginald) vs. Naomi (with Lana)
Seems weird Nia's theme played as Shayna was the performer but oh well. Mandy and Dana were at the commentary booth and that went better than Lana and Naomi the week before. There was too much chaos going on with Reginald, Nia, and Lana. That mess led to a distraction finish win for Naomi. I guess we're leading to a triple threat or four-way tag match (with Tamina and Natalya) for Mania. Not inspired about that.
A Flub
Asuka was walking backstage towards the ring to see Riddle pull up on his scooter. They talked about how they were feeling and then Riddle asked if he thought scooters were popular in Japan. Then he chuckled, looked at the camera and said, "I'm sorry, I forgot what I was saying" and then walked off camera. It feels like he certainly got his Sid Vicious moment of forgetting he was live and what he wanted to say but his character absolutely fits to allow for this flub.
Contract signing between Rhea and Asuka
The talking between Asuka and Rhea was fine enough. I like how Asuka talked about how Rhea's overconfidence was going to get her burned but Rhea responded in a pretty fitting way just by throwing the table onto Asuka. The champ sold that spot like she received instant death lol. The segment was a women's segment so it obviously got sideswiped by Nia, Shayna, and Reginald. CAN THEY COEXIST? That's what we're going to find out next week in a tag match between the tag champs and Asuka/Rhea. Ugh. Shayna didn't have a leg to stand on because she literally just lost to Naomi. The early portion of this got ruined with lazy booking.
McIntyre vs. Ricochet
The segment earlier in the show with McIntyre calling out the 24/7 locker room (with Strowman and Riddle in there) was a good display for McIntyre. It made literally everyone but Ricochet look bad. Ricochet came off a little timid but I thought he conveyed that he was up for a fight and wasn't going to sneak up on McIntyre to get it, so I'm fine with that. Ricochet being defiant to MVP prior to the match was fine, as well. Ricochet knew it wasn't about currying favor but making a name for himself. The match was good for some small hope spots for Ricochet but he was there just to bump for McIntyre. It was kind of set up for a weird timing finish for the show with this finishing with 19 minutes left but it made sense (I guess) when Ali jumped McIntyre after he won.
McIntyre vs. Ali
Well, there wasn't immediate followup last week to the severing of Retribution but at least we saw Ali here. Ali working over McIntyre's knee is clearly something they can build off of for the next week or so, if they want, but I don't have high hopes there. The mid-air Glasgow Kiss was a very cool spot and totally turned the tide for the match. These two matches harkened back to how McIntyre was getting over before he won the championship at Mania. That certainly helps when you're building to the big match for the brand.
Confrontation between Lashley and McIntyre
This wasn't particularly a good night on the stick for Lashley but I guess he was serviceable there. I certainly like seeing Lashley and McIntyre beating the crap out of each other. We had one more surprise for the night as Baron Corbin, of all people, snuck up and attacked McIntyre. That led to a beatdown both by Corbin and by Lashley. Why Corbin was here wasn't explained but I imagine this is a silly one-week placeholder for McIntyre. Hey, Corbin had a king's ransom for Riddle back in the day so he knows a bounty when he sees one. The grouping of these three was an unexpected callback to 2019 when they teamed together at Fastlane to face (and lose to) The Shield. This was...okay.
Positives:
-The Sheamus v Riddle match.
-Orton’s promo.
-The New Day.
-The Styles v Woods match.
-Omos getting physical, finally.
-Alexa Bliss’ promo.
-Drew McIntyre snapping.
-Baron Corbin’s appearance.
Negatives:
-The paranoid Bobby Lashley disbanding The Hurt Business, it’s way too early for this to happen.
-Poor Braun Strowman.
-“Hey Hey Hop Hop”. Mike and John deserve way better.
-So they’re really not going to get Damian Priest a match?
-AJ really deserves one last run with one of the big belts before he retires.
-Games night.
-Why does Jax get protected like this?
-Putting Rhea/Asuka in the ring with The Botch Sisters one week before Mania? Such a stupid idea.
-Corbin immediately becoming subservient to Lashley.
Not a bad show, but not great.
Riddle walking off was funny, I can't imagine how annoyed Vince or someone will have been over it. He even looked at the camera! Worse than thigh-slapping?? Maybe they loved it.
"You know what'll make this feud better? Baron Corbin" - said no one, ever.
Im sure it was just the camera angle but it looked like Fiend’s right hand was burned off.
How could they have f'ed up the build to Lashley/Drew so badly over the last couple of weeks and disbanded a stable in the process in favour of Baron friggin Corbin? Went from an intriguing powerhouse vs powerhouse to this. However I'm sure it will still be a slobberknocker.
Plus Alexa's doing her best but I got sick of that feud ages ago.
I almost thought that the walkoff was intentional, as Riddle was stopping himself from saying something about "Well of course they are, there are millions of scooters in Japan" and he didn't want to come off as a culturally insensitive jerk. But the incident fits his airhead/stoner character.Originally Posted by HHHnFoley_Rulez
The better question is, how could they not eff up the build? Most of the builds this year have been botched beyond belief. They lucked into the triple threat between Roman, Edge, and Bryan because it's infinitely better than just Roman vs Edge. This will be the first year in a long time I won't be watching 'Mania and I can't say I'm disappointed.
I'm disappointed you will not be watching wrestlemania
Poor Braun.
Positives:
-Drew McIntyre’s promo
-McIntyre v Corbin
Negatives:
-the Miz/Morrison and Bad Bunny/Damian Priest storyline
-Rhea’s heel turn
-Asuka taking the pinfall against The Botch Sisters
-the premature end of The Hurt Business
-so much time wasted on feud updates
-Bobby Lashley becoming a scared coward
That was a terrible episode, let alone the go-home RAW before WrestleMania.
Not sure of the logistics of last week being live and this week's episode being taped last week but Joe was here for the taped show (one day after being absent). Just glad to see he's alright.
McIntyre Promo
The most telling thing of the segment was that commentary kept hammering home that Lashley/McIntyre was going to be the main event of Night One. There goes the dream for those that wanted Sasha/Bianca to hold that spot. I figured one of the two matches would main event and while neither are hot, the men's feud is in much better shape. It's hard for McIntyre to convey the same type of promo that he had last year in terms of making up for all the time he had lost before climbing back up into championship contender status but I thought he did a pretty good job cutting an emotional promo. Lashley did a much better job this week delivering a promo to refute McIntyre's claim. I thought both guys put themselves over and McIntyre took an extra step in putting over Lashley's power, so now it's time to see who is better in a one-on-one setting. Corbin's inclusion (the promo and the need for a match) weren't that appealing but I thought the key figures here did well.
Woods vs. Styles
LOTS of weed references between Riddle and New Day with their conversation in the back before the match lol. This wasn't very much of a match as Styles caught Woods in a Calf Crusher but Kingston talked trash on the mic at Omos and that caused a rollup win for Woods. Styles was so unbeatable for so long and now he's lost his last three matches. Not a solid way to build here. Despite that, the way this has been framed, it seems like it would be foolish not to have Styles and Omos win the titles this weekend.
Strowman vs. Elias and Ryker in a 2-on-1 Handicap Match
Ugh. Three weeks of matches we didn't need to build to the Mania match no one really needed. I didn't really need Strowman's promo either. Be A Star Strowman doesn't really come across as an avatar for those who feel like they've been bullied and ridiculed most of their lives but that's what they wanted to do here. This match was a waste of time. I'm quite curious to see if they're silly enough to book the match where Strowman just pulverizes McMahon but does so in a way where Strowman suffers a fluke loss. That would be catastrophically hilarious and prove Strowman is stupid but I doubt they go that far.
Asuka & Rhea vs. Shayna & Nia
This match exemplified how the booking can be so convoluted. If Lana/Naomi, Dana/Mandy, Tamina/Natayla, and The Riott Squad were going to be in a Tag Team Turmoil Match Saturday to face the champs Sunday, why wouldn't you spend more time building those teams up? If Rhea and Asuka is your big women's match, why would we only see Rhea in the ring for a match once (via a tag match) before Mania? If she's getting this spot, you'd want to build her up and make her look different rather than what we saw in this match (which was very run of the mill). The coexisting stuff was really dumb and didn't really didn't help Rhea or Asuka here. Rhea decking Asuka has her looking heelish (that's okay) but you had Asuka pinned again (not okay). I guess the only positive is maybe this was more deliberate or physical than what we saw between Sasha and Bianca but that just feels like grasping at straws.
Lashley vs. Alexander
I liked the stuff with Alexander and Benjamin confronting MVP prior to the match. Those two should be mad at MVP calling them failures as they were kicked to the curb. At least Alexander knew he was going to get destroyed by Lashley but he said he was going give Lashley something to remember after the match. They may not be a faction anymore but The Hurt Business was collectively awesome in this whole segment. It was kind of weird though to see Alexander and Benjamin jump Lashley before the match only to see Benjamin okay to stay outside after he got tossed that way lol. It was pretty much a squash win for Lashley that was dragged out for time. Even with the lopsided nature of the match, I thought it helped Lashley out heading towards Mania.
Priest and Bad Bunny promo
Not going to lie, that Bugatti Bad Bunny rolled up in looked incredibly nice. I guess it should, if it really costs $3 million. I imagine Priest wasn't very comfortable in there, but they both looked cool. Miz and Morrison did the tried and true tradition with WWE ruining cars. That said, it was still really crappy to see such a beautiful car suffer the fate of a terrible paint job by them. Priest wasn't the best friend in the world by not being there as Bad Bunny got jumped after he saw what happened to his car. That did provide the opportunity to get what we needed here: Priest and Morrison being added to make it a tag match. Bad Bunny certainly came off as genuine with his promo. Simple approach to talk about being a childhood fan and wanting to be respectful while being within the company but being pushed too far by Miz and Morrison. It was a little long but I think it did just enough to make him endearing to the collective audience and create a sense of curiosity to see how he's going to do.
Riddle vs. Ali
Ali didn't get a jobber entrance, which was good. His original entrance got a facelift, probably doing a hybrid of his initial one in terms of the color scheme but then having a Retribution-like flair to it with his logo and the theme, though the song was fairly generic. I guess the remains of Retribution is just getting retconned. Sheamus was on hand for the match, joining the commentary table, and it felt like he dialed his accent up a little more lol. This match probably made me intrigued to see a triple threat, with Sheamus added, but this actually did what I wanted to see in other instances earlier in the show: Someone (Riddle) had to be pushed to the limit a bit and ultimately got to look good heading into Mania.
McIntyre vs. Corbin
The solid work Lashley did earlier in the show kind of faded away a bit with his backstage interview. It wasn't dreadful but notably a step down. I'm not sure what to make of Corbin's jacket that he wore. It was a dark colonial-like, marching band jacket without a left sleeve so he could show off his tattoos lol. I do appreciate the fact commentary brought up the fact that these two were running buddies a few years back. With this match filling 18 of the last 20 minutes of the show, that just set things up for this to be way too slow. I guess they wanted to tease that Corbin really could throw a monkey wrench into the Mania match. That's fine, as was the match itself, but at a certain point it became apparent Corbin really couldn't do anything to put McIntyre away. We go home with a staredown between Lashley and McIntyre.
Outright shocking to see that they didn't do anything new for Orton and The Fiend. It was literally just a long rehash of what's happened for them since The Fiend was set ablaze last year. Yikes.
From my understanding, McIntyre would've lost his WM title shot if he would've lost to Corbin, is that correct?
It was implied that Corbin was going to "take out" McIntyre, thus filling the spot.
Sheesh. I would've just preferred a contract signing. It makes zero sense to involve some random in the feud less then a week from the event. Such bad booking.
I wish there had been more of a story leading to Drew getting his title shot instead of automatically getting it.
I would've loved it if Corbin won. But there was 0 chance. Really they shouldn't have broken up the Hurt Business and they could have had McIntyre face Alexander and Benjamin leading up to the PPV.
So they're replacing Tom Phillips with Adnan Virk and Samoa Joe with Corey Graves on Raw. Phillips will do 205 Live and keep his backstage job and there's a suggestion that Joe will be back in the ring which would be welcomed. I very much doubt that the commentary gets any better or even changes much at all.
Sadly, I think the odds may be that Joe is better off in a commentary role rather than a wrestling one. That’s even with the implication that he has a full bill of health.
Who??
I hope this guy becomes something worth a damn because other than Jim Ross, the only good play by play announcer they've had in 10-15 years is a tie between Styles and Mauro. Mauro in NXT=amazing, Mauro on main roster....Still 100x better than Michael Cole and everyone else in that role.
OHHHH MY GAAADDDD Joey styles is the worst commentator in the history of the English language.
Ugh yeah styles was hot garbage
I would agree with this if the only commentary you heard outside of Styles was Jim Ross.
I would be shocked if you even knew who Joey Style was.
This new guy sucks. I miss Joe.
Why?
So...the new Charlotte is the same as the old one? I have to say, insufferable is her best trait. I expect her to interfere in the title match, because Asuka losing clean twice is bad.
As far as this Adnan guy. I don't hate him. You can tell he's used to calling a different sport. I actually quite like his wide eyed enthusiasm so far. At least he's not Mike Adamle. Although in fairness to Adamle, I rather liked his voice for commentary, though. Adnan kinda sounds too similar to Saxton. Maybe they just need a two man booth. Or bring Beth over and have her do Raw and NXT since the latter is going to be on Tuesdays now. Continuity of voices.
I will cut you.
Not you too Donald
Kind of lackluster for a Raw after WM so far, but I was there in 2013 so anything after that is hard to top.
Positives:
-Rhea v Asuka. The match, at least.
-Alexa Bliss’ promo. She is so good.
-Priest interrupting Miz and Morrison, dude can talk.
-The triple threat. I’m fine with Drew going over, but kind of want Bobby to retain.
-Mace and T-Bar with MVP. Interesting...
Negatives:
-WrestleMania Backlash? LOL.
-Bobby squashing Riddle.
-Alexander/Benjamin jobbing to the Viking Raiders.
-That Charlotte Flair promo. Yikes. Are they really going to try and sell Charlotte as unappreciated when she’s had damn near everything she’s wanted? Fuck out of here.
-Charlotte ruining Asuka v Rhea.
-Adnan Virk was not good, nor was the three man announce booth as a whole. I’ll chalk it up to first night jitters, but damn. Hopefully Joe being taken off the announce booth means he’s close to an in-ring return. If this means Joe becomes one of Reigns henchmen, I’ll be beyond pumped.
-The handicap match.
-The Botch Sisters. What the fuck was that ending?
-New Day v Jobber Bros
-This Bray Wyatt direction.
Not a good show, at all.
Clock might still be ticking for Lashley.
Raw's fallout from Mania:
Man, watching this year's WrestleMania and the following RAW, it's like night and day. For all the dumb things from Night 2, it was still a very enjoyable show.
What I saw and read from this show...it feels like the same ol' same that's been going on for the last 5 years, and it's just a fucking chore to sit through.
So basically the new Charlotte is the old Charlotte? Got it got it.. Raw is pretty dreadful man.
Raw was just awful. More Drew and Lashley. Was hoping for Orton vs. Lashley as that's fresh. Why was McIntyre even put in the match, he lost. He should need a program or two that he wins before getting another title shot.
I like Rhea, but I don't think she's going to last long on the main roster. She seems better suited for the NXT world.
Surprised no NXT call-ups. Perhaps they are waiting for next week, so they have everyone available for tonight's NXT premier on Tuesdays.
I was pleased to see the Viking Raiders return.
I thought Charlotte's promo was well done, if a bit long.
I really enjoyed the Miz segment with Maryse / JoMo, and I wonder if Maryse's return is meant to make JoMo a third wheel, leading to their breakup. Both Miz and JoMo deserve something better. Miz taking credit for Bad Bunny's surprisingly really good match was inspired, and Priest did really well in his promo. I was afraid they'd have Priest win a handicap match, further making Miz/JoMo look like jabronis, so the heels cheating to win was the right call.
I didn't like Strowman rolling out of the ring after McIntyre broke up Randy's pin attempt, but other than that, I enjoyed their 3-way match. I would have preferred Randy going over but this was still good.
Will there be a Superstar Shakeup soon? It may be a way to split up Alexa and Bray on different shows, as their segments have been generally very entertaining, but we don't need both of them. If Alexa moves on to shake up the women's division with some of this evil/supernatural stuff, who will she target first? Most of the women on the roster are not good enough actresses to pull it off.
The change to Orton winning makes zero sense on all levels. Wyatt was the face and he was looking to get revenge for being burned. He came back with a vengeance but then Alexa distracts him only to lose from one RKO? The storyline afterwards makes zero sense. So the Fiend is ok letting Orton off without any measure of revenge? So he wants a reset but doesn't care about Alexa costing him? It's horrible writing. Wyatt needs to speak the hell up. He's back to the same shitty booking he was in 2 years ago.
They have potential to be the best wrestling anywhere, but stupid decisions and rules and the presentation is going to stop it from ever reaching that potential and it's so frustrating. WWE is frustrating.
I will say this....It's only been a day. Was he supposed to come out and answer all of these questions we have in one segment? Especially THAT segment?
Like with most angles involving Bray, they're playing the long game. It's nice he's one of the few characters they try to connect old storylines and really give you something you can go wow, they tied all those former enemies back to the present form of Wyatt (The Fiend).
I'm not even sure we were supposed to boo Orton. What exactly made The Fiend the babyface? Because he was set on fire? It was kind of confusing but I truly think Orton was actually supposed to be the one people were supposed to get behind.
Orton was coming off being a heel against Edge and then Drew. My guess is Fiend was the face according to piped in crowd noises. It sure seemed like the Orton feud was done. Bray would've at least mentioned Orton no instead of saying it's a new season?
It's hard to give WWE credit with this storyline so it's tough to give them the benefit of the doubt.
It was extremely confusing trying to make heads or tails of who you were supposed to be supporting through any stage of their feud. That was pretty much the same situation for Strowman/Fiend too but this go round with Orton was fairly more pronounced.
You can probably given them the benefit of the doubt (though it's a very short leash) with this chapter of the story. They definitely didn't earn any of that with the rollout of the Orton/Fiend stuff once they got going though.
That Brooke & Rose/Jax & Baszler finish sounds like an all timer. Wow.
They seem to love their dumb angles with the women: Natalya with the farts, Lana through tables, Nia and "my hole!" now this. Christ. They have the wrong person paired up with Baszler, should've been Natalya.
I feel like this Alexa/Bray thing is going to have her turn someone to fight for her against Bray. I would bet on Braun.
Charlotte looked like a 40 year old divorcée on her way to a PTA meeting. I think it was mostly the hair.
I'll disagree. Nia has probably kept Baszler loosely relevant. I have a feeling Baszler would be totally lost at sea without Nia at this point. For better or worse, Nia is way higher on the pecking order than Natalya.
The reason I took Orton for the face is due to Alexa Bliss. She attacked nothing but babyfaces (Asuka and Nikki Cross). I mean, when Orton burned down Wyatt's house, Orton was the babyface so what he was doing was supposed to be viewed as a heroic act, destroying the evil Wyatt family home.
The Fiend....IDK, he really hasn't fought babyfaces has he? Braun was the babyface in their feud.
I don't remember any piped in noise booing Randy Orton though but I could be wrong.
This storyline felt more like something that went beyond the normal heel-face storylines that we see 90% of the time. There are definitely angles where we see 2 characters that are walking the line and you don't really know without a crowd to help us at home decide. It's weird how that works. The actions of Fiend and Bliss felt more evil than good imo but Orton is also a character who for many years would flip at random. The reality is, face or heel, the ending sucked.
Natalya. Massively overrated because she originally stood out during a time where women's wrestling was probably on the same list we find "hospital" and "wrestler" today. As time goes on, I think we recognize she's a good wrestler but would probably done way better outside the WWE in Mexico or Japan. Hell, even TNA-I would've loved Natalya in TNA against former co-workers Mickie James, Gail Kim, and Victoria as well as Awesome Kong, Angelina Love, ODB, etc.
Shayna is someone who I think would definitely be lost in the shuffle and this pairing works. You know that Shayna is a good wrestler so she'll be able to deliver on that end, Nia is the powerhouse bulldozing little women who sell like AJ Lee (that's a positive) so it looks awesome. Nia isn't that fun to watch on her own and Shayna's alright.
Considering how long Rhea's been in NXT, I was shocked how bad her re-match with Asuka was. She was even struggling to lift Asuka up. That should have been the easiest spot in the world.
I know this is WWE, but portraying the guy mind controlling a young woman as the face in this feud is really weird. When you think about it, Bray got what was coming to him. It's just that the story they were telling was leading to a different conclusion. And Alexa's reasoning for betraying him was weak as hell. "I like being bad, but I don't need him anymore, tee hee". Make it stop.
Mandy slipped because the ramp was wet and they go out of their way to make it an angle. This is WWE in a nutshell.
This is everything I've always thought about Natalya, Shayna, and Nia but couldn't quite put into words. Brilliant.
ThunderDome fans were apparently being directed to boo Randy Orton a few weeks ago, for what it's worth.
----
Happy that the Viking Raiders are back.
Happy that Charlotte is back and back to being a heel. Seems like some people are forgetting the promo is coming from a heel so you're supposed to be ruffled about it.
Seems like Alexa is going to become a Lady Fiend of some sort. There were rumblings about her getting a mask as of recent.
Last edited by mth; April 13th, 2021 at 8:22 PM.
Please don't give Alexa a mask. She's too cute, and too talented an actress.
I thought they were hoping to sell a million Lily dolls - they resemble what we used to try to hit with a baseball at a carnival
If that's too talented of an actress, fuck man I should be in TV/movies, I can do a hell of a lot better than that.
I actaully watched RAW for once.
I am getting to like Riddle now. His character work is pretty good and he's always been fine in the ring. I
Poor Benjamin and Cedric
I don't like the new announcer. His voice just doesn't fit but I will give him time.
Fine promo from Charlotte for what it was.
Personally I thought the Rhea and Asuka match was very sloppy in some parts and to me it looks like Rhea was responsible. I would have to go back and look to fine tune it but personally I don't think she should have won at Mania. With Bianca winning I think it took away a bit from her spotlight some having another brand new call up win the other title. Flair should have done her run in at Mania and caused the DQ and cut her this is why I did it promo on RAW.
I am intrigued to see where this Alexa stuff goes. All signs point to a mask that contains the "darkness" aka the Fiend. Will Bray be responsible for saving Alexa from the darkness? Is Alexa going to go after other people on the roster?
I like the introduction of Maryse but I am not sure how long it will actually last. I think it opens up possibilities but if it leads to their split you might as well call Jo Mo the white Shelton Benjamin.
Alright so this angle with Mandy, Dana and Nia is going to now focus on the faces mocking the heel out of revenge. Im sure we will get a title change somehow with Nia slipping and causing the loss.
I know others won't feel this way but after the Broken Skull Sessions please stick the title on Randy for a good chunk of change. I know its not happening but the dude can make a superstar.
New Day shit was filler it was skipped.
Triple threat was fine. Drew winning is yawn. Hope to good those two from Retribution are hired guns. I don't want a white guy joining the Hurt Business. How fucking stupid would that be?
Where does it say that the Hurt Business has to be black people only?
For the Nia slipping - they should have had Nia pounding on Mandy outside the ring while the ref counted, then Nia throws Mandy back in the ring at 6 or 7. Then they could keep Nia slipping while getting back into the ring at 8 or nine, and she gets counted out. The faces still mock her, the faces get the DQ W over the champs, so they set up a title match, and the faces don't look stupid. The way they did it, the faces look like they don't ever deserve a title shot as it's not worth it to them. They could still have had the faces looking scared as they back away up the ramp, away from Nia in the ring. And they could have had Shayna get mad at Nia for the loss.
I wonder if Shelton's contract is up soon, and that's why they got kicked out of the Hurt Business.
Doesn't but there was a great sense of pride and unity within an all African American dominating group. It struck a nice and powerful image for me. Let's face it, If those two join hurt business it's just not going to look as good as this.
To be fair, Slapjack and T-BAR sound like rapper names to me
Has anyone mentioned it's weird that Retribution who lost to Shelton and Cedric are joining The Hurt Business? Wouldn't you want the winners on your team?
That is the kind of logic that is missing from today's product.
Those two probably could use M.V.P.'s magic more than most on the Raw roster. Let them sit under the learning tree. I'm sure M.V.P. takes it as a challenge to help these guys get over too.
First thing that should be written in is M.V.P. should, if he brings them in, is a promo that changes their names.
They might not even be joining, just working as hired guns to take out Drew.
And takes off their masks.
I mean that's what I hope but all signs points to a handicap match against drew next week that he wins.
Adnan Virk was on Ryen Russillo's podcast and talked about how things came around for him getting into WWE. First, he said they (WWE) reached out to him. That definitely insinuates that his connection to Nick Khan, newly-minted President of WWE and his former agent, helped get this going. He mentioned that WWE was looking for a new direction in regards to their lead voice for Raw and wanted a professional broadcaster. He honestly admitted that he hasn't watched wrestling a lot recently. Virk auditioned with the mindset of 'let's see how this goes.'
His first audition started in February. He would look into the backstory of the performers he called during his three-match audition. He also did interviews in addition to calling matches. "We love your look" was a note he got from the people who were leading the audition. Then he elaborated that his height was another thing they liked because he's small and can make the talent look that much larger.
With the fact he's still working with MLB Network, he's basically flying in on Sunday nights, doing Raw on Monday, leaving Tuesday to go back to work with MLB Network and his other endeavors.
He was asked about how his insertion into this role could play in regards to the audience. Virk mentioned that there's a cross-section of people who may know him but that group is incredibly small. He knows it can go one of two ways in regards to ingratiating himself to the audience.
He was actually hired in late March and was told to keep the news very close to the vest and not say anything once the news started to leak during Mania weekend.
Drew needs to become a heel.
I don't think so. At least not from what I've seen of him. He doesn't need to do the YOU PEEEEPOLE thing. At least not at this point. He's best as a badass face that doesn't take shit from anybody and doesn't need a stable because he can take care of himself. He's a true "wildcard" and you need those in your landscape. From the last promo I saw of his from before Mania, he's pretty much doing this for his mum (for a good part), and how can you boo that? Plus, there aren't any other believable babyfaces on Raw at the moment.
Turning one of the few babyfaces that's been booked relatively solid over the last 16 months seems like a bad idea.
Drew excels as a babyface. The whole time he was working heel it didn't feel right. I knew he had to turn to get any sort of momentum. Besides, WWE has an overabundance of heels with too few faces people care about. When Drew and Roman faced each other at Survivor Series, it was the first time in years that felt like two legit main eventers going at it. It was electric.
Drew was a solid heel minus some of the promos that sometimes definitely sounded like Vince grabbed a thesaurus and went a little over the top. But I would rather see Drew as the badass, take on anyone, friend or foe, that we're seeing now. It's the only way to truly get over in the main event as a "babyface" these days.
I def agree when dude fought Roman it was one of the more recent big fight feel type matches. 2 big badass unstoppable motherfuckers where the smart fans go "Well someone has to take the L-who and how?"
Seriously, when was the last time we had a match on that level at one of the big 4? Yes I know matches like Lesnar v. AJ Styles were great, but I'm pretty sure we all knew the ending we just wanted to see how fast it'd get done lol. I would honestly go back to maybe Cena v. CM Punk @ MITB. Is that too far back maybe? That wasn't even a big 4 ppv so idk.
Good for him, pretty cool just jumping in to see how it goes and wham he's calling RAW.
But overall, his commentary just doesn't fit. His voice has no oomf. Huge step backwards for the booth.
I didn't even notice a difference until I realized his mic was lower than Corey and Byron's by a considerable amount. Then it dawned on me, oh yeah, they have a new guy. He literally sounds like all the other cornball Michael Cole types. I'm not even sure people like Corey Graves are actually good, he's just better and sounds different than Josh Matthews and the like.
I'm sorry but the people in real sports that I like to listen to don't sound like a boring white dude who used to long to be a war journalist. Even Vince himself didn't sound like "Hello this is Walter Cronkite and I'm ready to call Monday Night Raw!"
The last thing I want is to turn on wrestling and hear the same voice that reports on the nightly local news here in Des Moines.
I'll be curious to see how he changes it up this week. With his role and overall personality, I imagine he's going to get a lot of info in his ear in terms of how he has to handle things.
Last edited by BGMaverick; April 19th, 2021 at 2:39 PM.
I doubt it. He sounds like everyone else so what is there to change? They haven't had anyone doing play by play that has sounded different than Michael Cole since Joey Styles and JR left. Everyone else has the same boring way of calling a match that sounds more like selling infomercials than it does a wrestling play by play announcer.
His energy was typical, his cadence was normal, I mean, seriously ask yourselves what on Earth would they change about him?
They want to give the illusion that they're just as polished as the NFL and other sports despite nobody in their right mind ever wanting to listen to the Michael Cole style of announcing that has IMHO completely destroyed the vibe of WWE.
I don't know if it's an age thing, but most of the times I forget RAW is even on. Same with NXT, Smackdown. Long gone are the days of must see WWE. PPVs are a different beast because at least interesting things can happen, like title changes.
I wonder if I was nearly 40 in 1998 if I'd have the same attitude to the product.
If I was a picturing a call still, it would be JR's voice I heard in my mental playcall.
I don't wonder that we might see a change in announcing style over the next decade. People would rather listen to Nantz and Romo over Buck and Aikman.
In 1998 I didn't really know anyone my parents' age that liked pro wrestling. It was actually the opposite they used to go "I liked it when it was real with Rufus R Jones and Bruno Sammartino"......you know, when it was "real" LOL.
I think people just deal with what we're given. It's known top to bottom someone like Jim Ross is considered the GOAT. Nobody has ever one time praised Michael Cole or anyone from his tree like Josh Matthews, Vic Joseph, Todd Phillips, etc. Not one time have ever heard Kurt Angle go "I loved Michael Cole calling my match with Taz against Brock Lesnar!" Nobody is going to personally request a retired Michael Cole to call their last match.
I like people who sound different. Michael Cole actually had his place once upon a time with Taz and even a little with JBL. Why? Because we had Jim Ross. And it wasn't like the announcers of yesteryear sounded the same. Nobody heard Gorilla Monsoon and Vince and thought yep, same shit different body. Nobody confused Mr Perfect with Jerry Lawler.
That's why I like hearing Beth Phoenix, Wade, Nigel, and hate hearing the Vic Josephs. It automatically ruins the show for me when these vanilla voices come on. Byron Saxton fuck him too.
This makes me miss Madden and Summerall
Back to back DQs? Excellent booking...
Last edited by BGMaverick; April 19th, 2021 at 11:30 PM.
Positives:
-Orton/Riddle
-Alexa f’n Bliss.
-Braun saving Drew.
-That big hoss tag match; Braun and Drew, I’m totally down for that. Awesome way to get rid of those stupid masks.
-Hopefully Mace and T-Bar can reset their shitty Retribution run and make some waves in the tag division.
-Damian getting a W.
-Charlotte/Asuka.
Negatives:
-Drew falling for the blindside attack, again. Figure it out.
-The Mace/T-Bar “explanation” and MVP denial. If those two were really acting solo, wouldn’t they start with Mustafa?
-Alexander/Benjamin doing the job to The Viking Raiders again. Fucked up.
-Charlotte Flair’s whiny baby act right now. Can she quit and go to AEW already?
-The women’s tag division.
-MizTV
-Put a fucking shirt on, JaKKKson.
-Elias going over Kofi? What the fuck.
-Bobby Lashley being booked like a scared coward.
-This announce team.
-Humberto getting squashed.
-Charlotte snapping on the ref post match. LOL.
Started slow, got better; still a pedestrian show though.
Last edited by Tyson; April 20th, 2021 at 12:49 AM.
Glad to hear the masks are off Mace/T-Bar, hopefully the names follow.Dudes could be a really solid part of the tag scene and shine brighter without the goofy gimmick.
Wonder if Riddle's win over Orton will matter more than Keith Lee's win over Orton...
Dijakovic needs to get the stink off.Glad to hear the masks are off Mace/T-Bar, hopefully the names follow.
Wonder if Riddle's win over Orton will matter more than Keith Lee's win over Orton...
Considering where Keith went after, it can't be much worse
It's funny seeing Riddle beating Orton clean when Bray was the one that needed to get the win. It's interesting booking.
I'd argue that Riddle needed a solid win because he looked weak against Sheamus at Mania, and then the Almighty crushed him last week on Raw. The win against Randy helped, but they all - including him - treated it as a fluke upset. They are trying to fit him in an upper-midcard spot which is where he probably belongs, but he's probably going to get his ass handed to him by taking an RKO out of nowhere next week. Maybe Riddle faces someone like Miz next week, and Randy comes out of nowhere with the RKO.
MVP is so much fun to watch in his current role. His explanation of Bobby downsizing the Hurt Business recently made sense as to why he wasn't involved with ex retribution members. Strowman coming out to save Drew made no sense, but it was still fun. Now that Mace and T-Bar lost the masks, can they drop the stoopid names?
Charlotte's promo was terrific, cutting off Asuka until Asuka finally screamed she will beat her - bitch. Since Asuka's mic skills are limited, this was a good way to use her. I get that Charlotte is supposed to be the heel, and she plays that role better, but it isn't clear what Rhea is. I enjoyed her beatdown of the ref who blatantly missed the interference right in front of him. Asuka did not come away looking any better, but I guess this is how they set up the Backlash rematch even though they already had a Mania rematch last week (of course last week got Charlotte stopping both of them). Will Charlotte getting suspended a couple weeks mean she will come back in time to make Backlash a 3-way?
I liked the Viking Raiders last week, but they should face someone other than Shelton/Cedric, and in a different spot on the card.
I wouldn't say Sheamus made Riddle look weak. He did beat him twice but both matches were very competitive and Sheamus jumped Riddle prior to the first one. No real qualms with the point with Lashley. It should be seen as an upset that Riddle beat Orton. The point got lost because they did the same thing later with Elias beating Kingston. Miz is firmly entrenched with Priest so I doubt that idea you mentioned happens directly. It's all quite weird why they advertised Strowman/Orton, didn't deliver on it and didn't even acknowledge it. At least they came up with a decent starting point for a story between Riddle and Orton. Riddle's character is extremely polarizing but he absolutely brings it when he's in the ring. If he had a less grating character as a face or just was actually a heel, he'd be way higher on the pecking order.
I feel like last night was the ideal way to book Braun Strowman: a relative loner/locker room leader who can and will insert himself as the equalizer when required, a legit tweener who helps out the faces in peril.
When an up-and-comer face needs a little bit of heat, Braun turns heel and ultimately puts them over in their feud. Braun is boxed into Big Show 2.0, he’ll never lose legitimacy because of his physical characteristics and abilities but cannot be booked as totally unstoppable lest he completely buries the rest of the roster.
We couldn't get rid of Charlotte for one week, lol.
Positives:
-That hoss tag match. Getting consecutive wins over McIntyre/Strowman has essentially washed the Retribution stink off Mace/T-Bar.
-Braun’s booking, the past two weeks. Fucking love it.
-That six man tag.
-Humberto coming back for round two.
-RK Bro? I’m down. I’m starting to come around on the Riddle character...
-Alexa Bliss
-The big hoss main event. Two huge dudes who have no right being that athletic.
Negatives:
-Miz TV. Miz and Morrison deserve better.
-Have they ever actually explained the Adam Pearce/Sonya Deville hierarchy? Is Sonya acting insubordinate by bringing Charlotte back?
-Heel Sonya Deville?
-Charlotte’s booking. The bully-slash-whiner.
-Rhea’s booking. “Let’s team one half of the future of women’s division with the women’s tag champs, who are nearing get-the-fuck-off-my-TV heat.”
-Nia Jax gets the pinfall victory? Fuck right off.
-Asuka and Naomi deserve better.
-The announce team.
Probably one of the better RAWs in a while, but still only a 5/10.
Quite a mixed bag of a show
I still don’t know why they switched Omos from Shane to AJ. 1. AJ been booked well as it is. 2. Doesn’t need it. 3. You have AJ to use at your disposal at Mania and you do that? 4. Either way if AJ and Omos split no matter who plays what role, fans cheer AJ no contest.
Shane should have had Omos interfere at Mania. At least you get a Godzilla/Kong spectacle there.
Last edited by ProblematicRoss; April 27th, 2021 at 1:16 AM.
I'm trying to figure out Alexa's new gimmick. Whenever she's in the Playground now, she's wearing the white contacts with black makeup. That's always signified that she's using her power/channeling the Fiend's power. When Bray's in the Funhouse, he's himself 99% of the time, so shouldn't Alexa be herself in the Playground? It's like she's in the transformed state all the time now which doesn't follow what's already been established regarding how this power works. You remain as yourself in your safe space, but transform when you wrestle
I think the idea is she’s always been sociopathic deep down seeing as she had for lack of a better term a childhood voodoo doll.
She didn’t return to “normal” because there is no “normal.” The Fiend tapped into that but then Alexa remembered her spiteful childhood past with Lily and tossed Fiend aside.
RKBro
Simple. Shane shows up a handful of times a year and AJ Styles is one of the greatest of all time.
AJ's had a wonderful career and right now he should be doing what he's doing because it gives us something totally different. More often than not the Kane-X Pac style tag teams work really well and again, AJ has done so much in his career we needed something beyond a great match. He's in his early 40's now and this has done more for Omos than standing outside the door of Raw Fight Club.
But that doesn't explain why Bray isn't always in his Fiend persona. They established rules as to how the power works, but now they've changed them for Alexa. We still haven't seen Alexa's final form, so if she's wearing contacts all the time, it won't have the same impact when she turns into Lily. I know it's a bit much to expect consistency from this company, but it still bugs me.
I don't think they've ever established how these powers actually work. Going back to The Wyatt Family. It seems like Bray himself has different powers at different times.
With Alexa they're establishing that she was twisted long before she met Bray. Bray has nothing to do with Alexa's powers at the core. We can't speak on what will or won't have an effect on something that we haven't seen yet. Trying to blame this on WWE's lack of consistency when it's more your lack of patience.
Look at the Undertaker and Kane. They've tweaked and twisted their powers and backstory plenty.
Ha! She's reverse Cena at this point. Has a ton of championships (many of which debateably should have gone the other way), can have a good to great match with just about anyone. People actually do like her as a person, but her on screen presentation is either cringeworthy or eye rolling. And would appreciate it more if she just did go away for a while and not immediately get inserted into title spots upon said return. But since she's been built up as a nigh unstoppable force, she can't help but be those spots.
I'm still shaking my head at them breaking up Fire & Desire. They could have been a good intermediate tag team that could have gone up against Iiconics or a Dana and Nattie duo. Although I do like how Sonya has made it out better in the deal.
Obligatory Dragonball reference. Perhaps the playground is like the time chamber. The longer you stay in it, the stronger you can become. Now she's ready to re-enter the real world and maintain her super form with no effort
Last edited by Supernovametalstar; April 28th, 2021 at 6:54 PM.
Her on-screen persona is absolute cringe. I have no doubt she works with Stephanie on her promos because also has that non-selling, condescending Triple H style of interacting with people. And you're right, if I'm following you, that she has been built up so much that it's almost impossible to not have her in the title picture.Ha! She's reverse Cena at this point. Has a ton of championships (many of which debateably should have gone the other way), can have a good to great match with just about anyone. People actually do like her as a person, but her on screen presentation is either cringeworthy or eye rolling. And would appreciate it more if she just did go away for a while and not immediately get inserted into title spots upon said return. But since she's been built up as a nigh unstoppable force, she can't help but be those spots.
I'm still shaking my head at them breaking up Fire & Desire. They could have been a good intermediate tag team that could have gone up against Iiconics or a Dana and Nattie duo. Although I do like how Sonya has made it out better in the deal.
Obligatory Dragonball reference. Perhaps the playground is like the time chamber. The longer you stay in it, the stronger you can become. Now she's ready to re-enter the real world and maintain her super form with no effort
Even though I'm sure the Evans angle was going to lead to Charlotte winning the title from her it at least had potential to give Charlotte something with a little more depth. The angle going down a path where we find out Evans was using Flair, then Charlotte gets the last laugh when Ric turns on Lacey, reunites with Charlotte and off we go for reign #11.
I have to somewhat disagree about Sonya doing better than Mandy. As a fan, I'm not really feeling Sonya the non-wrestler. It reminds me of AJ Lee as the GM. It's interesting, but I don't have faith in the storytelling that it'll end well. Mandy might be in a lame tag-team with Dana, but they're usually always on Raw and she's actually getting to wrestle. I think right now both are kind of in the same boat, they could be doing much better.
The way Charlotte is portrayed, I just want her off my TV. I'd already had enough of her when she took time off last year, but somehow they've made her even more unbearable. Monday's segment where she made the Ref apologize was too much. I get it, she's a heel. They don't need to try so hard to convince us.
I'd also disagree that Sonya is better off in her non wrestling role. In my mind, she was on the verge of becoming a break out star, but had to change plans because of what happened in her real life. This assistant GM role just feels like a consolation so she can continue working and not sit at home.
Did they ever explain why/how Sonya found herself in a backstage power role? She just suddenly showed up talking to Pearce - and she's now in an authority role? They had Pearce kind of do the same thing until they finally had Shane acknowledge Pearce in a de facto GM role several months later.
I don't have any problems with Charlotte - she is that good and deserves her spot. It isn't her fault Lacey Evans got knocked up and squashed their story, so at least they are trying to give Charlotte some storyline reason to transition to a new opponent. I actually enjoyed her promo this week - especially her calling last week's ref "good boy" for apologizing. An arrogant character who can back everything up still works in this business.
As for Mandy/Dana, one thing they don't get enough credit for is helping to get us to care about Nia Jax's story. Nia has had a lot going on lately, and it hasn't been the same thing every week.
I'll be real about Nia and say that everything she's been doing for the most part has been interesting. Heavily featured across two shows, at least 2 segments on Raw and Smackdown. I'm not saying it's 100% great, just interesting and not in a bad way.
The Bash Sisters really should have put over The Riott Squad at WrestleMania...
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