Rip to the Codyvator although I guess they made up for it with the pyro budget.
The KO/Ezekiel stuff is great.
I enjoy RAW so much more when I just watch clips from Reddit.
Rip to the Codyvator although I guess they made up for it with the pyro budget.
The KO/Ezekiel stuff is great.
I enjoy RAW so much more when I just watch clips from Reddit.
Ezekiel stuff is like “Mr America” all over again. It’s stupid and great at the same time. No doubt rigged lie detector shenanigans to come to drive Owens nuts.
Also yeah like BG said, whatdafuq was that with Styles/Priest? Most random ending ever, what result would you even call that? No outside interference so wouldn’t call it a No Contest. I guess that was him turning into the “Damien” again which would be fine if the match continued. Bliss did stuff like that in her matches but then on this occasion it just ends??
That was a fun episode last night. Not so sure Ciampa is going to end up with Edge & Priest, but liked the stuff with Priest as weirdly timed as it was and the match ending abruptly. I looked away for a moment after the spotlight and shit and looked back and wondered what the fuck happened. Between that and waiting it out for others to join them I'm liking what they've put together so far. Jimmy & Jey being involved in the main event was a good way to end the episode too.
Not really. It was well known that Mr. America and Hulk Hogan were the same person. In this case, Elias and Ezekiel are two different people.Originally Posted by Badger
I don't watch RAW regularly, but I did watch most of last night's episode.
1. It didn't seem like a chore to watch. The 2 and a half hours or so I watched flew by.
2. There really wasn't anything wrong with this episode. The 24/7 stuff is probably the cringe of everything, but that was a very minimal part of the show.
3. Cody Rhodes feels like a major star. Kudos to WWE.
4. Did everyone else see Sonya's reveal coming?
2. Yeah agreed. Seems like they are taking a page out of NXT lately with the comedy weddings. Worked for InDex but this….meh. Probably gonna lead to more cringy farce and Truth getting his title back. 24/7 title has ran its course, just let it retire with Truth.
4. Before the promo not initially, but when Sonya started talking about breaking gender norms on social media in her speech then yeah it was obvious before the attack. Just get her back in the ring full-time already IMO and let Pearce handle the authority stuff.
We all know Sonya is just a temporary challenger. I wonder who the big challenger will be though after Sonya. A returning Becky? I think I'd be most excited for a returning Bayley!
I think Becky will get it back from Bianca down the road then we get Becky vs Asuka so they maybe revisit what happened with the MITB and they fight for it properly. Perhaps Summerslam or thereabouts, possibly add Bianca in a triple threat
Ezekial/Elias is garbage, why does the younger brother look 15 years older than his older brother? This is Fake kane vs Kane vs Fake Undertaker vs Undertaker all over again. Grow a beard because your skin needs it.
Ezekiel/elias is awesome
I wonder if The Usos v. RKOBro leads to Orton or Riddle challenging Roman. Been a grip since we saw Roman v. Randy Orton. Riddle v. Roman is very interesting.
Could be interesting.
I've wondered if something builds to a triple threat at Summerslam, where someone wins the RAW belt without pinning Roman or some such tomfoolery.
This is an interesting thought. With Randy's present somewhat reduced schedule, I could see him stepping up as another placeholder challenger for Roman, but he won't be winning the title. Riddle, on the other hand, has risen to the point where he could really benefit from a title feud against someone of Roman's caliber.
I figure that Roman's torn up arm is keeping him on the shelf for a little bit, so having him play head of the table for the Uso's is a way to keep him on TV while he doesn't have to take bumps.
The Ezekiel/Elias stuff is definitely working. I am not sure it would have worked nearly so well without KO. There aren't that many people on the roster who can handle comedy segments as well - I think maybe Sami Zayn could handle it, but the other comedy guys are basically Miz and R-Truth - and I don't think this angle would have worked with either of them in Owen's role.
Roman has lapped everyone so there's definitely time to build up some people like Cody Rhodes, Riddle, while also reminding us about people like Drew, Seth, and Randy are still top level as well.
Seth is still due a rematch from the Rumble and even before that, he never got his fair one-on-one match for the Raw title anyway after becoming #1 contender. Woods too has a DQ win over Roman and that looked to be going somewhere but unfortunately that ship has sailed for now when he got injured and both moved onto other things. Hope Seth still gets a shot though.
Woods is way too far back in line to be a factor at this moment. I hope the WWE use Woods a lot better in 2022 if he can stay healthy.
I honestly thought Seth would be next for Roman. Seth might've lost to Cody, but the Rumble match leaves Seth a way to jump back in to a title shot.
I could see this happening…
The Rhea Ripley heel turn that nobody wanted. Unless you’re setting her up to take the title off Bianca this Summer, what are we even doing here?
Eventually this Deville power trip has to be addressed, no?
Veer Mahaan, another shitty overhyped big man…cool, cool, cool…
There's a lot of purple light showing up so it seems like Rhea is probably joining Edge's stable.
I wanted to see the lie detector test but I missed it. I'll have to find it on Reddit or YouTube.
Heel Rhea's a good move. Rhea joining the Edge group would be dope.
Sure, I’d have time for that, I guess. But if you’re going to put her in Edge’s stable, you need to go all-in and have her start messing with Bianca and eventually taking that RAW Women’s title. Wasting Edge’s time with a talent who’s floundering in the midcard is not smart; if you’re going to put her over, then put her over.Rhea joining the Edge group would be dope.
Same for Damian, he needs to make a big move pretty soon; do something that catches Roman’s attention and puts himself in the mix for the WWE title.
What the fuck was that garbage?
Dig the fact that Rhodes and Rollins brought up the history of Buffalo and them, calling back to the Battleground 2013 tag match between the Rhodes Brothers and The Shield.
Women’s tag match was pretty fun. Saw some good tandem work by Liv 4 Brutality and then some innovative tweaks to regular moves. The Riptide onto the barricade looked pretty gnarly. It had a clunky timing spot by them but that didn’t kill things. This match really could’ve used more time because it was ready to cook. Made sense the champs retained and we got the breakup of the challengers. Liv tried to calm Rhea down and have them reset when cooler heads could prevail and Rhea went for the attack behind Liv’s back. Pretty emphatic Riptide on Liv, too. Crowd didn’t like the split and booed appropriately towards Rhea.
I figured Sonya would get heat but she got more of that than I anticipated. Guess that speaks to how over Bianca is and can be. I guess all the stuff with Naomi on Smackdown was a thorough dress rehearsal for this program. There really seems to be little end game that’s beneficial to the power struggle between Pearce and Sonya, but the bit with Pearce implementing a $1 fine for Bianca’s actions was funny.
These are try hard efforts to get Veer over with the squash matches. It seems to be hit or miss in terms of how effective they are at drawing heat, especially when you see the alternative with GUNTHER squash efforts on Smackdown.
Nice crossover to have Gable involved to conduct the lie detector test. Gable and KO’s chemistry blended together well and really helped keep this segment from falling apart when it easily could’ve gone off the rails. Ezekiel milking things and pausing for impact to get the crowd into was nice. “Who wants to speak with Zeke?” Lol. Ezekiel channeled his older brother in terms of move set as there was nothing discernible with his style, and Gable stood out much more along the way.
Orton really seems to be having a lot of fun with Riddle and that continues to be on display any time the champs are on screen. As for the match with The Street Profits, the champs get booked to lose because they got distracted by The Usos music. Sigh. I guess this opens the door for SP to get added to the unification match, but they really could’ve gone without making the champs look dumb. If they get added, it gets cheap in a hurry because they can easily take the pin and protect the loser.
Last week’s WTF moment with Priest was mind games, according to Edge. A valiant attempt but still dumb. He’s deliberate with his delivery and the context seems to come off as dense or maybe meandering, but he’s just using the traditional beloved face who feels the crowd doesn’t get him so he knocks them and their stupidity. Styles accepted the challenge for the match at Backlash and then dealt with more light work shenanigans before getting jumped by Edge and Priest. Styles is just having bad luck with mystical opponents.
Theory got the spotlight video package treatment prior to his championship match with Bálor. If that didn’t give it away that he was taking the championship, I don’t know what would. It feels like we’ve gotten this matchup a ton and I came to find out this was the fourth singles match between the two of them this calendar year and they’ve crossed paths two additional times in televised tag matches. Theory has had his number as Bálor only one two of those combined matchups. Good match, and a nail in the coffin for Bálor as a singles factor right now as he lost cleanly. Odd coronation as the heels came out and celebrated with Theory, but it made more sense when McMahon came out and eventually joined in a selfie with the champ.
Continuity won the night as Naomi and Sasha helped Tamina with the train for the dress. This crowd really wanted to have their way with the commitment ceremony. It was a wreck in some parts and then silly for the rest of it. The ceremony was over and they all pinned each other and it finished with Dana leaving as champion, again.
So there’s an arm wrestling match between Omos and Lashley next week. Sigh.
Made sense for Owens to be Rollins’ handpicked choice as the surprise opponent for Rhodes to close the show. Owens was in his bag as he hit Rhodes with a vintage Goldust taunt. Can’t imagine either guy enjoys where Owens does a swanton but Rhodes has to counter by getting the knees up and that spot looked quite painful. Commercials killed the vibe a bit but this one was definitely better than Rhodes/Miz last week. Rollins agitating Owens on the outside led to KO walking out for the count out win for Rhodes. Seemed harsh by Rollins to urge KO to get his “fat ass” into the ring. Very unfriendly banter.
They have Ezekiel and Veer on the same show. Zeke's eyes are too far apart, and Veer's eyes are too close together.
Not happy that Vince ended MVP/Lashley; a severe lack of enthusiasm about the prospects of watching a face Bobby, feel like it’s doomed to fail. And in an attempt to try to get that two move stiff Omos over? I mean caman.
So they’re trying to establish Veer/Omos/Walter as these unstoppable monsters, but I really only give Walter a puncher’s chance at succeeding because at least he can go in the ring. I’m not overly familiar with Walter’s European work, hopefully someone a little more versed can confirm this. This company royally fucked up Braun Strowman, who was whitehot at one point, so I feel pretty confident both Veer and Omos are future endeavoured by next year’s WrestleMania. After all this is Roman and Brock’s world, to a lesser extent Drew, we’re just fortunate enough to live in it.
Word on the main page/dirtsheets is that Lexi Kaufman is pissed off at Vince, er creative. Ronda got her massive twice-annual WWE cheque though, which is super important. At least Johnny Jackass and Douchebro YouTube Twin #2 got paid, not sure we could have survived without that. I love me some Pat McAfee but he really didn’t need that Mania in-ring time.
Is anybody actually Walking With Ezekiel?
Last edited by Tyson; April 19th, 2022 at 4:48 AM.
*Who wants to hear Zeke speak?
Awww are you a Bliss Stan? Using her government name like you know each other lol.
Not sure what the story is. Did she mention something about being pissed people who are more well known and bigger draws got a Mania payday and she didn't? Welcome to the last 38 WrestleManias.
I think viewers care more about Pat McAfee over Alexa Bliss in a random singles match.
Speak for yourself. Ripley is a much better heel imo. This tag-team bullshit she found herself in was doing nobody any favors including the jobbers she was paired up with. Have her run through Liv and build her up for Bianca in the summer. They'll knock it out the park.
Enjoy the difference in styles between Tyson and BG covering Raw. The hate-watching and segment by segment analysis are superb, guys. Each have your own style, always a fun read from you both.
You gotta think they are going to have Balor help AJ? Maybe as the demon? Let's reunite the Bullet Club
Yeah not sure what the issue is with Ripley being a heel. She can definitely pull it off.
I agree on Rhea. She just seemed VERY bland as a face, time to try something different. Whether it's being a part of Edge's group or not I think it's good for both her and Liv. Funny how two tag pairings with Rhea ended up with her partner turning on her, and Rhea doing the same to Liv now. Lazy booking but kinda put them in a spot of how else do you accomplish it? Separate them and move on.
Rhea's been faffing about in these tag teams which were ok but the women's tag division is pretty meaningless and breaking out of it is only going to better things for her. She already had a run as a face that was alright but far from flawless. Time to try the dark side. Definitely agree she's probably going to go on a tear and head after Bianca and it's gonna be dope.
I was convinced you made that word up. I really Britta'd that one.
That's not very PG.
I could have expected this from NXT but the main roster? Well, I never! Won't somebody please think of the children!
Blood = bad. Drugs = good.
Calm down Calvin Candie don't go all Nancy Reagan on us.
I mean, yeah, I guess if you ignore all the blood.
Bryan Danielson said one of the reasons he left was because he wanted to bleed because he feels like it adds to the matches and Vince said "I can't give you that" so what are you talking about? The one time recently before Mania that Brock was opened up?
Bryan Danielson is also a complete buffoon and nobody remembers a single match of his that he bled.
I hate blood in wrestling. So glad they toned that down in wwe.
I think people remember him vs Omega in a 60 min draw.
Bled against Moxley at Revolution too.
But I apparently seriously don’t watch AEW according to Nash lols
You both are correct. Maybe I was thinking more about his work in ROH and WWE leading up to him saying that to Vince.
@Badger google works.
I can only imagine how pissed I'd be if I saw a 60 minute match only to have it end in a draw. At least WWE had the decency to go into Sudden Death.
I was being a bit facetious there but yeah good for you.
I want the four of you, Nash Diesel, Badger, Bert, and VHS to pick a place, and I will buy each of you a plane ticket to that place so you can all meet and have a hug.
You'll have to find your own way home, however.
I pick wherever you live and I’m only hugging you.
Maybe if mth is included and we both fly there and have a group hug.
I haven't had a haircut in 2 and a half years, and I haven't shaved since January. Are you sure you want to hug me?
Even more so!!!!
Oh I'll give them a hug.
You can try it. Big and stout here.
I wish Brock would take Tazz to suplex city.
Someone obviously hasn't watched Taz v. Bam Bam BigelowYou can try it. Big and stout here.
I’d take you to Duplex City…in the bed. Twice…or more.
Somehow I doubt you’d have Tazz skills. You’d probably spend more time on a promo about being a Wrestling God and how is all crazy kids are wrong before you tried it and I’d just suplex/hug and reverse it myself.Someone obviously hasn't watched Taz v. Bam Bam Bigelow
Taz always cut a great promo before dumping someone who had no business being involved in wrestling right on their dumpy neck.Somehow I doubt you’d have Tazz skills. You’d probably spend more time on a promo about being a Wrestling God and how is all crazy kids are wrong before you tried it and I’d just suplex/hug and reverse it myself.
Yeah but you can’t do that either because Taz was worth listening to.
At least we can agree a mop would be better on commentary than Tazz.
I will bring root beer
Tazz > Moppy when Tazz was in his prime on Smackdown with Cole.
Moppy > Tazz in AEW….a case could be made.
I mean you do a great job of responding to everything and not to mention let's not forget how sensitive you can be, when you're not being ignorant.Yeah but you can’t do that either because Taz was worth listening to.
Yeah but compared to you, I’m Spongebob Squarepants and you’re Flats. I’d still absorb your blows better and suplex you when tired. Homer to your everything up til he tried Drederick Tatum.I mean you do a great job of responding to everything and not to mention let's not forget how sensitive you can be, when you're not being ignorant.
Actually yeah let’s get back to Raw now.
Truth should’ve walked away with that title at the end of that wedding saga. Another roundabout just to have the same person in Dana leave the champ as walked in.
Seth doing his best but Cody will no doubt overcome again. I hope Seth can remain relevant and strong as he’s taken one too many losses lately. He needs some heat back and a big win.
RK-Bro/Usos will be great. Gut says will go Usos way at Backlash so Roman can heal and kee coaching them while injured but still should be a great one.
Women’s Tag, tbh though Rhea gone heel I think this division either needs scrapped or unifying more than anything else. The depth is just not there.
Last edited by Badger; April 21st, 2022 at 5:39 PM.
I haven't seen anyone report Reigns is injured.
I thought I saw something that his arm/shoulder may have been injured which was why the Brock match was limited.
If he’s fully healthy then fair enough and maybe just taking a back seat at the moment I guess.
Just people hypothesizing based on pictures. Nothing actually was reported that he was hurt and then reports were willing to say he wasn't hurt. They've just been pushing the tag unification for now and Reigns' next opponent (probably Nakamura) will be clearer on Friday.
I shall take your word for now my good man and hopefully you are right as Reigns/Nak would be the fucking bomb and wish they’d done it last year.
You can't trust the dirtsheets but it is a little suspicious that the newly unified World champion has barely been seen. We're 2 Raws and 2 Smackdowns in and no sign of Roman but at the tailend of Smackdown 2 weeks ago doing nothing but talk.
I'm not saying he's hurt but it seems very strange Roman is absent. It's not like he had a honeymoon or an acting gig lined up. Maybe they're waiting to see if Bray Wyatt is going to return.
One time this MMA fighter named James Vick called Justin Gaethje the Homer Simpson of MMA. You should go watch that fight.
Brock opening Orton at SummerSlam. Becky's famous bloody nose. Shayna biting Becky's neck (fake though it may have been). Folks quite regularly get blood around an eye, eye, mouth, as well. People bleed in WWE more than folks seem to realize and I think it's far more impactful than back when Flair and Trips were blading every RAW or AEW where there's a bloody deathmatch every couple of weeks. In WWE, the blood is most often real because they don't blade and i think that makes it more effective as it legitimizes the fight whereas crimson masks from blading seem far more "put on" for effect and if done too frequently, really lose their oomph. if you can't tell a good story without bleeding all over the place, maybe you're not as good a storyteller as you think...
To be fair, yeah I think blood should be used more sparingly. With Dustin in AEW, it’s almost a meme at this point like it was with Flair.
Brock/Orton was 2016. Becky's accidental broken nose was 2018. Shayna thing doesn't count. It was also dumb and not well executed and 2020. They don't bleed on purpose very often.
Brock opening Orton at SummerSlam. Becky's famous bloody nose. Shayna biting Becky's neck (fake though it may have been). Folks quite regularly get blood around an eye, eye, mouth, as well. People bleed in WWE more than folks seem to realize and I think it's far more impactful than back when Flair and Trips were blading every RAW or AEW where there's a bloody deathmatch every couple of weeks. In WWE, the blood is most often real because they don't blade and i think that makes it more effective as it legitimizes the fight whereas crimson masks from blading seem far more "put on" for effect and if done too frequently, really lose their oomph. if you can't tell a good story without bleeding all over the place, maybe you're not as good a storyteller as you think...
Did you need to mention each eye individually? I like the matches where HHH bladed. Austin's crimson mask makes the match more memorable. Bryan Danielson's bloody face makes the 60 min draw with Omega more memorable. Britt Bakers bloody face during the lights out match with Thunder Rosa put her on the map.
I will say Cody didn't need to blade every single match in AEW and now I guess he doesn't have to!
*Stands up out of rocking chair, back cracks a little*
Back in my day...you turned on ECW, every match from the opener to the closer had someone bleeding. Maybe they felt that it was obviously more realistic to bleed if you're getting kicked, punched, hit with misc weapons within the first 2-3 minutes.
What I can tell you is that for me, as an old fan who was more of a WWF guy....You didn't get blood on a consistent basis for years. I remember Hogan showing us how to blade at WM 7. Between then and Mania 13 you didn't see much which is why that visual of Austin bleeding was too fuckin sweet. If you look at the last 10-15 years I guess, the lack of blood, made people bleeding here and there in WWE mean way more. It makes AEW bleeding all the time seem more brutal than if this were 20 years ago when everyone was bleeding including Torrie Wilson's dad.
Not to mention, I'm a HUGE HUGE Danielson fan. He wasn't some bleeder in ROH. He wasn't known for having bloodbaths and looking like Ric Flair. It's a weird angle for him to take when many of us who have followed his career for 20+ years knows he didn't bleed that often. It was kind of his thing NOT to be a blood and guts wrestler or did he forget the CZW feud? Did he forget shaving his head wearing the cape? How often did he bleed in the WWE? What was he missing?
I can only speculate as wasn’t there but maybe Bryan being in WWE could’ve wanted more blood moments in his matches despite his backstory prior to WWE to make them more epic and Vince refused.
Whether this was actually true or not and not confirming either way, not the most ridiculous request. Certainly hasn’t stopped either him or WWE since they parted ways.
I'd like to imagine that the fate of WWE and Danielson's careers didn't rest on whether Bryan would be able to bleed. I'm thankful that the fans didn't completely turn their backs on Vince or Bryan over this decision.
IDK maybe Danielson was drunk and thought he was Terry Funk. Or high and thought he was New Jack.
I think it's really just a case of he wants the option for some matches.
Pretty fun opening segment, with celebrating Orton’s anniversary. I feel like the video package could’ve been a bit better but it was quite damn good. I just hold their video production crew to the highest of standards. Just further proof that they’re in this with Rhodes at this point, he got the first entrance to start the parade of characters to set up the main event. Nice of them to connect multiple stories into one main event.
We couldn’t get an entrance for Sonya? Sheesh lol. I guess it was fitting for the effectiveness of the segment. They tried to “stack” the odds against Bianca but she pretty much just crushed Sonya, the former tag champs, and won multiple times haha.
Veer wrestled a jobber and we didn’t see much of anything new.
I’m surprised they didn’t do more stalling during the arm wrestling match but it went about how I thought it would otherwise. Lashley looked tough by winning and then got jumped by the loser after the fact. A couple of weeks in and I’m not sure we’re seeing incremental gains yet in relation to Omos being a bigger threat.
R-Truth has earned a lot of job titles while being in WWE, adding couples counselor to the mix. Dana somehow managed to survive the barrage to retain her championship. Good for her, because I’m not sure if she has a job in WWE if it’s not for this story.
Becky’s gone off the deep end. But she spun her rock-bottom status to suggest she’s primed for the biggest comeback ever and that she would become invincible. Enter the return of Asuka. She didn’t looked phased at all by Becky, disrespected Becky by flicking her face, evaded an attack and forced Becky to run.
Edge’s message felt dumbed down a bit compared to previous weeks. That probably makes it more of a cliché but it was likely more effective that way. Pretty nifty match between Priest and Bálor but you had to remember this is Pin Bálor so he lost. He got did a texted because Edge literally got up from his throne. I’ve really lost track of finishers for Priest, but he’s now using Edge’s Downward Spirtsl as his finisher. He’s got a little more theatrics to it (and natural height to make it look a little more imposing), so I guess that is good. It could be really interesting with Edge and Pri— sorry, Judgement Day likely having forced a union between the former leaders of The Bullet Club. There’s plenty of creative potential there.
Not that Theory has any issues drawing heat but having him alongside The Miz for a segment helped draw more ire from the audience. Nice to see Ali suddenly reappear here. Guess he’s done with Mansoor and creative has something for him. Obvious to see that they wanted to create dialogue that played off the fact he asked for his release and that has been stuck in purgatory for a while. Ali had some good burns both on Miz and Theory. The all biceps and no balls comment to Theory was good. Miz/Ali was decent enough and there didn’t really seem to be any ring rust present by Ali. He got a notable win and it appears he’ll be tussling with (no longer Tommaso) Ciampa.
Rhea’s motive made sense for her but she didn’t have to be in tag teams so that kind of fell apart. Liv tried to reason with Rhea with her fists so they were separated. Based on the landscape, things don’t bode well for Liv in this feud.
Fun enough main event. Ezekiel stuck out like a sore thumb compared to the other seven guys in terms of work. At least he’s got arm tassels now. Funny how they work so hard to get to the hot tag for Orton and they just stumbled into it by accident from The Usos and it still got a big pop. “Ow, my eye” from KO got a big pop from me before he got planted onto the table. It was obvious best on the setup of the evening’s festivities that Orton was going to be the spotlight guy, he delivered, and he played the hits. The Disaster Kick by Rhodes onto Rollins into an RKO was nice.
ASUKA'S BACK!
ALI'S BACK!(and feuding with Ciampa?!)
Hell fucking yes.
Excited to see Asuka back and Ali. Interested to see how this feud with him and Ciampa works out. And can we please stop with the fucking name changes and tweaks.
Dude was 10-12 years removed from that time in wrestling. I'm not a germaphobe but IDK if this is the time where we should be introducing blood back into the mix to begin with.
I think it's really just a case of he wants the option for some matches.
But I do give WWE props because they're lack of blood helps other promotions who welcome it in spite of WWE.
For what it's worth, I do think AEW overdoes it and would love to see them dial it back a bit. In the least to make it more meaningful.
I agree. I think they do overdo it a bit much. It is like WWE on one extreme of the spectrum of like no blood ever and AEW on the other end where we must have blood in a least one match a show.
I'll speak a little more on Raw but man how cool is it that Orton was born in Knoxville and celebrates 20 years on the main roster.
I teared up watching that opening segment. Randy Orton, imo, is the bar. Modern era Mt Rushmore for sure.
After they had Randy mention he was born in Knoxville, and then they showed Knoxville-raised Bianca talking to Knoxville Mayor Kane, I was surprised that they didn't have one of them lose in front of the hometown crowd.
The opening segment was a predictable enough way to set up the 8-man tag, but it worked, since all 8 guys can handle the mic very well. Ezekiel looked far below the other 7 guys ring-work wise but I am hoping he gets better working with the others.
Count me in among those exited for Asuka's return. I am glad she is stepping in to work with Becky next because the rest of the Raw women's roster seems a good distance behind them both.
I always enjoy how the Miz makes every segment he's in worth watching. Loved his line "I know what this is - You're Moufasa, Mustafa Ali's younger brother!" Theory has become much more comfortable on the mic of late, and his reactions and texting to McMahon worked well. I guess we're supposed to forget that Ali was a heel last time we saw him (tagging with face Mansoor who we also miss), but he was solidly a face, especially after his line to Theory having "all biceps and no balls".
Sorry to have to admit this, but I am kind of bored with Edge/Priest of late.
Raw recap tomorrow.
https://v.redd.it/nnqadqfsy5x81
The camera cuts for this segment are just so bad. Why is there a shot of the crowd in the middle of Balors sling blade? Just purely awful.
The camera cutting thing has been an issue for years and years, one that I used to blather about so hard until I was blue in the face. The show has been unwatchable for so dang long.
I've had this far-fetched theory that they have Kevin Dunne overwatching an AI that cuts when it detects something interesting to cut to, hence all the unnecessary shots during highlight events. I can't imagine why a human being would willingly cut to absolutely nothing during a beatdown in the ring. Remember when Edge made his return to wrestling at the Rumble? They even missed Edge rolling into the ring and barely catching his first spear. There have been dozens of other instances like this, but that's one I always look back on.
It's the worst.
2000s Rushmore is Orton, Reigns, Cena, Lesnar?
I would say the last 10 years that would be a strong argument to make. The first 10, you can't leave off Triple H and Edge imo. I would say 2000-2010 Triple H, Cena, Edge, Batista. After that Yours works for sure. I wish Punk and Bryan had a longer run to make it and they would be on many because I could see a case for them as well.
Orton is just so decorated especially the last 10 years. He unified the brands for fuck's sake.
Pretty good crowd for this show.
Expected intro with The Bloodline getting ready to hold court but it was a nice surprise to see RK-Bro come out and jump The Usos with RKOs. The fact they’re really not addressing the fact that they spent weeks hyping a major moment due to a match and that match is just a thing of the past now is really troubling haha.
KO working with Alpha Academy to tangle with Street Profits and Ezekiel makes too much sense. About 7-8 months ago, the idea of KO working with Gable and Otis would suggest that’s a death knell for KO but KO is rolling as a character and the tag team have really elevated themselves in the meantime. The match was fine and the fact the heels won just keeps things going for all six guys.
Nothing to see with Veer’s squash.
Priest and Styles was fine. Made sense to have Styles win with the stipulation present that if he won, Priest couldn’t be present for the match this weekend. That said, that probably doesn’t mean anything but if it somehow does, Judgement Day could just add a new member or Edge can win by exploiting Styles’ shoulder. Look at them, a day before Bullet Club Day and they go ahead and pull the trigger on pairing Styles and Bálor. Let’s see how long it lasts.
I like that they’re not playing coy when it comes to Ali and the writing isn’t necessarily poking jabs at him but it’s bringing realism to the story and it’s hyping Ali up. Decent Handicap Match where Ali held his own for as long as he could but Miz and Theory were too much. Ciampa jumped Ali again, with no explanation. If those two get time, the match could be really great. As well, if they get promo time, it could be quite captivating.
Nikki Cross dipped her toes into the 24/7 waters and won the championship, before she lost it outright in a regular match to Dana. That would seem to not bode well for Nikki but they teased an alliance between her and Doudrop. That would be a good pairing. Oh, and Dana want a divorce from Reggie.
Rollins/Rhodes has to go down as the best-dressed feud in the history of the industry. Tremendous drip by both guys. Rollins got personal by bringing up Dusty’s shortcomings and related them to his son and that was enough to set Rhodes off. Dude hit a Cody Cutting in full suit attire, didn’t take the jacket off lol. Should be a good one on Sunday.
Lashley’s entrance got a touchup and a timpani drum lead-in and it all worked to make Lashley look even more impressive. Good stuff. Alexander tried to get the jump on Lashley as Lashley was locked in on Omos and MVP but didn’t that didn’t go far. All I ask is that is program is over on Sunday.
Good to see that the ladies got the main event shine here, especially considering how silly the championship picture looked last week. That said, there wasn’t a lot of actual time for the match itself. I see you Bianca, high stepping as she does a suplex on Rhea. That’s good stuff. Likely speaks well to the newfound juice in the division that the third story within the match (Liv/Rhea) had the most steam to it. What a counter by Asuka on Sonya, blocking the kick, stepping under and transitioning to a German Suplex. Smooth as hell, and can’t say I’ve seen that before. Nice hip attack by Asuka onto Sonya on the apron and she fell into the Recoil by Liv. If the faces were going to win, Liv needed the win most so I’m glad they recognized that. She’s been a project for the last 6-7 months and it’s taken time but she’s developing nicely. This win helps her cause and she’s just now waiting for that moment that’s going to take her up to the next level.
Last edited by BGMaverick; May 3rd, 2022 at 4:15 PM.
No recaps this week for me. Smell you later.
I enjoyed RAW again this week. Since BG needs / fully deserves a recap week off, here are my thoughts for this week's RAW.
The opening promo from RKBro where they talked about what I thought was the match of the night at WM Backlash was fine, and the Street Profits handled their promo saying don't forget about us. I thought commentary talking about how spent Riddle and Orton must be after last night was a little much, but anytime RKBro and Street Profits get a good amount of time, we know they will deliver. And they certainly did again here. I often notice little things that guys do in transition that will get the live crowd invested just that much more in the story, and Randy is absolutely the master. At one point, Riddle lands in their corner after having taken a face beating, and Randy pauses just perfectly before he exaggeratedly makes the hot tag. After Riddle inadvertently took Randy out after a flip off the apron hit Randy instead of Ford, Randy smoothly turned his back to the ring, selling that he wasn't aware of what was going on - leading to the first Montez Splash - this made his breakup of the pin that much more satisfying. Riddle with the RKBrOuttaNowhere on the second Montez Splash in progress was fantastic. Randy's reaction to watching that - I can only imagine how good a view Randy had - was also terrific and genuine.
Another solid promo from Theory. Dude is getting better every week.
Edge is always solid on the mic but I am getting bored with the "you fans should only blame yourselves" shtick. Rhea needed a win in her new role, but I feel bad for Liv as I think she deserves better. I am looking forward to Styles/Balor vs. Edge/Priest.
I am also liking how MVP runs away from Lashley at every chance. When Lashley finally gets his hands on MVP for a beat down, it will mean that much more. Good story telling. I like how Cedric played it as if he was the only person in the arena who didn't know he was coming out there just to get beaten up by Lashley.
I am feeling Bliss, now that Alexa is back. Happier even that Sonya's duties as an official have been terminated.
Ken Owens may be my new favorite WWE superstar. I absolutely love how Owens oversells his frustration at Ezekiel.
Frank Lowman made Veer look better than he has to date. Lowman is a big dude who did okay talking about his triplets, and he knows how to sell. It wouldn't surprise me if we see him again somewhere, perhaps he bleaches his hair, and returns under another name and says he's from another town? Maybe he's Frank Lowman's younger brother?
I was enjoying the Cody/Theory match and hope we get more from these guys another time. I would like Cody to say that even though Theory is the youngest person to hold the US title, that only means he will be the youngest guy to lose it. I fully expected Seth to interfere but I got caught up in the match itself and was surprised. I am glad that means we will get more from Seth and Cody.
GlowBoss vs. Doudrop/Nikki ASH was okay filler. This seems like a decent way to rebuild heat on Doudrop. Not sure whether or not they will use this to try to turn NikkiASH back to a face.
Miz as ref overshadowed the Mustafa Ali / Ciampa match.
I am glad to see Asuka back in the ring. Not thrilled with Becky's interference on Bianca, and then her beat down on Asuka, but it seems they are heading towards a triple threat match next?
Asuka's backstage segment was proper cringey. But she gives it her all, I'll say that.
Ciampa looked stupid out there, the way it was made to look like he'd have lost via numerous rollups had there been a proper official in charge. That could have been done a whole lot better. Don't hold out much hope for him or Mustafa, sadly.
Their feud has barely had a chance to breathe and you're giving up? I guess if this is all you took from Raw was a cringe segment from Asuka and a midcard match...maybe WWE isn't for you anymore.
Some of us are willing to wait six months for a payoff and some want a payoff in the first six minutes.
You just gotta let it play out a little longer than a couple weeks lol. There are some storylines that promotions do I want to grab the Wrap It Up box. Other times I'm like damn wish we had a little more time with that.
I'm definitely willing to see how this whole Miz-Ali-Ciampa thing plays out. If you're working with The Miz the WWE thinks there's something worth a damn about you. The Miz isn't Hogan but he's one of their best heels and tenured wrestlers who actually have credibility. So if I'm seeing Ciampa and Ali working with The Miz, I'm thinking ok-Ali is getting in the mix. No different than when Ali was working with Randy Orton. Orton is willing to work with pretty much anyone to help them get over. Miz isn't Orton but he's in that same category of vets who have cred that can elevate you.
It's a pretty solid US title scene if that's where they fall under. Theory, those 3, we're already seeing Cody challenge for the belt so that helps. It's a little heel heavy because there's also guys like Apollo Crews, Omos probably isn't getting the Diesel push just yet, I'm sure I'm missing a few guys.
Posting Permissions
Reply With Quote
