I skip the show for Monday Night Football, it drags on longer than...er...a 3-hour Raw, I catch up on almost the whole show through DVR...and I STILL wind up starting the thread? Man, these shows must be brutal!
The pedestrian tag main event was what it was. The ending was kind of silly and I could have lived without it. At this point, they're just moving along at a leisurely pace until we get the Cena/Punk rematch at Hell in a Cell. The fact that Cena STILL won't even give Punk a token "I respect you for giving me a hell of a match last night" just serves to make Cena look like an insufferable douchebag yet again.
That three-man announce team of Cole, JR, and JBL was really fun. JBL is such a breath of fresh air on commentary and his heel color work got a lot of laughs from me throughout the night.
Hell No is amazing, so much so that Kane nearly started laughing after the end of the match. It's honestly amazing that they can do this stuff with a straight face to begin with. Their inevitable match with Team Luchadore is going to be fantastic! Air Truth has run its course as a team. That crowd was dead silent for them tonight and so was last night's crowd. Time for them to move on, preferably not to join the overcrowded jobber brigade.
Speaking of the jobber brigade, nice of them to take the good match that Zack Ryder had last night and waste no time in pissing it away. There isn't exactly a shortage of guys they can feed to Sandow. Did it have to be Ryder?
Miz/Ryback...is not a direction I would have gone in. That match is going to be a trainwreck.
They get points for effort on the Wade Barrett repackaging, but minus a million for execution. His matches went from mildly entertaining to boring as hell. This new style needs to go.
I'll give this show a pass, solely because of Hell No and because of AJ in shorts. (Yowza!)
If they just want to put AJ and Layla in shorts every week, that would be superb.
Wade Barrett specifically removes his elbow pad and drills Gabriel in the face with the short elbow strike. Cole and JR: "Look at that big right hand!" Sigh
"It breaks your heart. It is designed to break your heart. The game begins in the spring, when everything else begins again, and it blossoms in the summer, filling the afternoons and evenings, and then as soon as the chill rains come, it stops and leaves you to face the fall alone." --- Bart Giamatti, on baseball
I liked having JBL on commentary, but even if it's him, Cole, and JR, I think 3 men is overcrowding the booth. I'd rather they left JR at home. Despite the finish, I did enjoy Ryder's match with Sandow, which was a good, competitive match. The most surprising thing on the show, though? The PTP start a feud with another tag team who aren't the champions. That's right - the tag division has been granted multiple angles!
3-hour RAWs are just brutal, though. I truly envy everyone else who can time-shift with a DVR, because it's impossible for me to pay attention to the whole show at this size.
Yeah, I'm surprised to find myself saying it, but the team would've been better without JR tonight. With Cole back in basically face mode (he slipped once or twice, probably out of habit, but mostly reverted to old school Cole), he and JR kind of stepped on one another's toes a few times, and it's just easier to have a point/counterpoint with the two man team. Plus, JBL and Cole seem comfortable together, and JR just seemed kind of wedged in there.
I liked the increased attention to the midcard. I thought JBL did a great job, especially during the opening tag match (Primo and Epico as former Puerto Rican champs at least gave lip service to them being formidable, although, of course, their performance didn't). I'm hoping Miz gives Ryback his first losses, rather than setting him up to be a victim, but...crapola, he's doomed, isn't he? They just gave him a talk show so Skippy could throw furniture...
I can't get into Sin Cara. I usually like flippy floppy wrestlers and the whole lucha thing, but he is just the most generic, boring version of that I've ever seen. Maybe he's being held back by the "WWE style". All I know is, I really just don't give a rat's ass about him.
Tensai I just straight hate. Always have, always will. Maybe my least favorite wrestler of all time.
"Never piss off a hawk with a blowgun" - Conan O'Brien
I miss The Nexus. Also, whenever Sheamus and Cena hang out together, I'm reminded of my favorite ever Sheamus moment: When he was a heel and the Nexus confronted him in the hallway that he got so scared he went running looking for Cena. Those were the days.
A show with only one AJ appearance and no Dr. Shelby is not a RAW I can endorse.
(edited by John Orquiola on 18.9.12 0447) @CMPunk “@ZackRyder: @CMPunk She played me bro” I got your back.
I kind of want Ryback to destroy Miz, actually. If you want to push him as an unstoppable machine, then DO IT. Stop pussyfooting around and make it clear that this guy is a beast.
I actually want Kane and Bryan to destroy Rey and Sinn. Wade is back, so I guess that is good. Why he didn't attack Orton, I have no idea. The one thing I did like was when Josh interrupted Punk and Heyman and apologized for interrupting, Heyman asked then why did you interrupt? Classic Paulie.
The Wee Baby Sheamus.Twitter: @realjoecarfley its a bit more toned down there. A bit.
I see this "why didn't Wade attack Orton?" stuff on every site. Their feud was pretty much done when he left, wasn't it? If anything he should be attacking Miz or Big Show, which I'd advocate as I think they should've brought him back as a face.
Prime Time Players stole the show. If the mic work had been cleaner, they would have come off stronger. But still, the tag scene is getting interesting. I would love to see Las Dos Mascaras feud with The Usos.
"To be the man, you gotta beat demands." -- The Lovely Mrs. Tracker
Originally posted by John OrquiolaI miss The Nexus.
Since the crowd chanted "We want Nexus!" at the Barrett/Gabriel match, prompting Cole to acknowledge it and their past, apparently you're not the only one.
Originally posted by John OrquiolaI miss The Nexus.
Since the crowd chanted "We want Nexus!" at the Barrett/Gabriel match, prompting Cole to acknowledge it and their past, apparently you're not the only one.
That crowd - specifically, the handful of smarky "chant starters" - was working INCREDIBLY hard to make sure RAW never emanated from Bridgeport ever again...and not just from the chants, but from how dead they were for almost EVERYTHING else.
Add me to those who thought JR was out of place last night. It seemed like at times he was reduced to Talking JR Toy -- pull my string and hear one of my cliches! [Pull] He's quicker than a hiccup! [Pull] Business is about to pick up. [Pull] Buy my barbecue sauce!
On the flip side, JBL was fresh, but I think he went a bit too overboard at times. Just my opinion, but I think he may need to dial it back a bit.
Bit of a 'meh' Raw for me, ending kinda sucked, if the tables had been turned, the announcers would be screaming blue murder that Cena got screwed.
Older fans are always going to cheer for him, but I kinda love that Punk is still getting a fairly positive reaction from the younger parts of the audience as well.
Until he makes an effort to garner heat, like with the milking of the belt before the match, still didn't really work though, and I think I know why.....
He's openly said that he feels more comfortable as a heel, and I think he went into this thinking he could simply switch back to pre pipe bomb mode, not really understanding that the 27th of June turned a lot of things upside down, and there really is no going back now.
The hope that Cenas words last week and Punks actions since Raw 1000 could reverse all that, Is a bit misguided.
Originally posted by HokienauticAdd me to those who thought JR was out of place last night. It seemed like at times he was reduced to Talking JR Toy -- pull my string and hear one of my cliches! [Pull] He's quicker than a hiccup! [Pull] Business is about to pick up. [Pull] Buy my barbecue sauce!
And the hell was that crack about Rosa paying Epico and Hunico's taxes right before they went to commercial? Was that supposed to be Vince's Romney reference?
"To be the man, you gotta beat demands." -- The Lovely Mrs. Tracker
Originally posted by Hokienautic (and others talking about JBL)On the flip side, JBL was fresh, but I think he went a bit too overboard at times. Just my opinion, but I think he may need to dial it back a bit.
Somebody with the hook-up (Scott Steiner, or possibly J-Sharp) can verify, but I'm pretty sure JBL isn't sticking around. I think his deal was PPV + Raw. Isn't he climbing Mt. Kilimanjaro soon?
They're not hard up for temporary RAW color guys to keep Lawler's chair warm. They have an in-house bench they can pull from, including Josh Mathews, Matt Striker (ha!), and even William Regal if they wanted. They could get Foley back in for a week and have him relive the joys of Vince screaming every four letter word in his ear. Imagine if Heyman agreed to call a whole RAW for a week even.
@CMPunk
“@ZackRyder: @CMPunk She played me bro” I got your back.
Originally posted by Spaceman SpiffI think his deal was PPV + Raw. Isn't he climbing Mt. Kilimanjaro soon?
He's going on Thursday, so this is it for JBL for now.
My guess is that's why Ross was on last night for people who found him superfluous -- Ross will fill in until Lawler is back, and they wanted some continuity between the teams instead of a revolving chair.
Originally posted by Amos CochranI see this "why didn't Wade attack Orton?" stuff on every site. Their feud was pretty much done when he left, wasn't it? If anything he should be attacking Miz or Big Show, which I'd advocate as I think they should've brought him back as a face.
Yeah, Wade and Randy wrapped their thing up in January. Barrett died the night after Elimination Chamber by the hands of the World's Largest Athlete. Who is apparently coming back from a month's break to work with Sheamus now, in what might be one of those annoying "first match in a Cell!" feuds.