The Official Monday Night RAW Thread

[Nash Diesel]

Kross isn’t good, that’s why.

Big fish in the small pond in NXT, then became just another average big man in the bigs.

He is good, he just gets that start and stop push that makes no sense. When he came back and was in the mix with Drew, even Roman Reigns, it was very interesting. Then he gets taken off tv for 6 months for no reason. Big fish/small pond argument doesn't work when in NXT they were giving him the ball and doing well with it, and then the main roster hits and it's like simply booking went out the window. This isn't like Kross showed up and Vince had him lose to Jeff Hardy in a minute. He's up there now with a guy who knows that he can carry the ball because they don't just give the ball down in NXT to anyone.

But then again....Look at Carmello Hayes. They damn near built NXT 2.0 around him and Breakker and Hayes is barely a factor. Is it because he was never that good and Shawn and Triple H got it wrong?

[Badger]

I think part of it is that the roster’s so bloated that there’s just not room to feature everyone every week. Melo will have his time again probably, could be one of LA Knight’s challengers.

Kross is okay but digged his NXT character much more. I mean New Testament is a big step up from the gimp outfit lol but still not the biggest fan of the stable so far tbh. I mean you got one of the best talkers and legends in Ellering and it’s just empty preaching. Not the most captivating.

Wyatts Sicks are captivating. Final Testament not so much.

[virms]

I didn't really know about Kross except for comments on here as i never watched nxt. His vignettes were interesting enough and I liked the 3 way they initially put him in but he never landed for me. Not just his on and off push but he never really interested me while in a match. Plus I wasn't big on scarlett. She's easy on the eyes but damn she makes some of the most annoying facial expressions I've ever seen. I think some of the plastic surgery just makes her face not be able to move a certain way.

[Tyson]

If a heel turn means Xavier Woods can get a singles title run, I’m here for it.

Beyond Breakker/Knight, there’s a pretty long list of athletes who need their first WWE singles title, in no particular order: Uso (x2), Ford, Dawkins, Woods, Gable. That’s not even accounting for any of the Bloodline 2.0 members, who will undoubtedly soon be included in that group. The upper midcard is about to get crazy interesting.

While we’re at it, two midcard women’s titles are long past due…

[casselmm47]

I'd be there for a Gable/Breakker title battle.

[Hero!]

I didn't really know about Kross except for comments on here as i never watched nxt. His vignettes were interesting enough and I liked the 3 way they initially put him in but he never landed for me. Not just his on and off push but he never really interested me while in a match. Plus I wasn't big on scarlett. She's easy on the eyes but damn she makes some of the most annoying facial expressions I've ever seen. I think some of the plastic surgery just makes her face not be able to move a certain way.

I’ve been watching Karrion/Killer Kross since his Lucha Underground days.

he is awesome in character work, but the absolute definition of the phrase “and then the bell rang”.

hes just not good in the ring. Also needs to shave the head again.

[3puppies]

The definition of "then the bell rang" was Jinder Mahal. He had enough moveset to be part of 3MB enhancement talent, then was rocket strapped just as the tour to India was announced. The audience is not dumb enough not to see through that.

But Kross and Jinder have similarities beyond merely being adequate at best in the ring, despite their ability to talk and having good enough look. Both lack the ability to get the crowd to care about anything they're doing in the ring.

And both suffer from the attempt by WWE of forcing them into the role of leading a stable when they haven't showed that its deserved. Jinder was at his best with the Bollywood Boyz, because Veer and Shanky physically overshadowed Jinder's own impressive physique. The Bollywood Boyz clearly understood their role was to help Jinder succeed. It never felt like that for Veer and Shanky.

Meanwhile, Kross' pairing with AOP/Ellering has been a disaster. There's never even been an attempt to talk about why they are together, they completely waste Ellering's ability on the mic. AOP has a history on their own, so this feels completely forced.

Sometimes, putting otherwise wasted talent together can really click - look at the Wyatt Sick6, or going back, the "B Team" worked for a while. The New Day is maybe the best example.

[Nash Diesel]

Well see that's what Kross needs is the Jinder push lol. Have him beat Gunther for the title next month, give him 6 months on top and see what happens.

[VHS]

Karrion is one of the most boring wrestlers on the planet.

[3puppies]

Carmello Hayes should be feuding with Shinsuke Nakamura. Both are doing nothing, and I think their styles would match well together.

[Badger]

Nice tribute for Sid plus battle of the Brons was a great meatslapper and outside brawl. Glad there wasn’t a clean winner so they can run it back.

Also fun main event for Uncle Bowdy. I was hoping for a spider walk but yeah I’m sure that will come in time. I did wonder why Nikki didn’t show up to peel Ivy off Rowan’s back though.

[Alcoholocaust]

Was expecting Nikki but I loved the fact the Rowan just continued on unphased by her on back. The spot has been seen in the past with bigger guys and smaller or female but usually with a pause for emphasis that it's having no affect before throwing or shrugging them off. Rowan just kept going as if it was nothing more than a fly that landed on him.

[Murphy]

Solid start for Joe Tessitore. 'That's Drew McIntyre in a hoody'.

Will miss Cole and McAfee loads though, massive shoes to fill.

Tessitore reminds me of Ranallo and I imagine loads of others will feel the same.

I know nothing of the guy, not aware of him from the sports world. Assume he's well known from how he was presented.

[3puppies]

I enjoyed the Alpha Academy v. American Made six-person match. It was nice to see Tozawa get some offense in for a change, as the guy is so talented at selling. Maxxine's dive off the top corner to the floor was impressive, as was her reverse caterpillar. I didn't mind the result, as Dupri tapping to Nile is certainly fair after the amount of offense Ivy took from her. The Creed Brothers seemed to work much better when they were faces, but from a storyline perspective, I can understand them looking to get advice from a veteran like Gable.

Zelina Vega deserves better. Zoey Stark bores me, and Shayna Baszler feels like she's only there to fill out the roster. I like Sonya DeVille, though, and I will tune in for Lyra. Since next week they're in Calgary, it seems the faces will get much-needed help from the returning Nattie.

Drew knows how to get heat, and making Punk eat the bracelet is the kind of stuff we may talking about years from now. Best part of the show.

I liked Kofi complaining to Pearce that the Judgment Day haven't defended the tag titles for 2 months, but I liked his stare down with GUNTHER even more.

But of course, we will more likely get GUNTHER vs. Zayn since Sami is the last guy to beat GUNTHER. Sami seems to have cooled off quite a bit since then.

Having two triple threat qualifying matches end due to one guy being distracted by someone outside is lazy writing. Plus, I have never been a Butch/Dunne fan, and it seems like his recent push out of nowhere, here on RAW as well as on NXT, is overexposure. He simply doesn't look like he belongs as a credible threat when he's next to guys the size of Sheamus and Strowman.