I didn't watch much, but I saw the Divas segment, and while I usually ignore these parts of the show, I couldn't ignore what was going on with the commentary. I don't know if this was piped in the headsets or just three middle aged men going into business for themselves but they totally did everything in their power to not only kill AJ's angle and belittle the poor girl. Be a star boys, when you feel inadequate, BULLY.
Steph makes people cry and Big Show has the worst iron clad contract ever, but Cesaro spinning Santino around forever was fun.
Originally posted by BigDaddyLocoI didn't watch much, but I saw the Divas segment, and while I usually ignore these parts of the show, I couldn't ignore what was going on with the commentary. I don't know if this was piped in the headsets or just three middle aged men going into business for themselves but they totally did everything in their power to not only kill AJ's angle and belittle the poor girl. Be a star boys, when you feel inadequate, BULLY.
I actually thought AJ was bullying the announcers. She embarrassed them for not knowing that she'd main evented Raws and cut off Lawler hard with that "I'm too old for you" line, in a mean way instead of the usual "tee hee King." Lawler was caught off guard and meekly came back because he had to and it was kind of uncomfortable. But AJ did a great job being disgusted with the Total Divas.
I thought the show was very good because the crowd, Edge, and Goldust were all awesome. Edge was excellent and went ahead in turning the angle's subtext into text by bringing up Triple H's storied legacy of holding guys down, mentioning Jericho (the originator), himself ("gotta get the title off of Edge so I can headline Wrestlemania"), and even John Cena, who, yes, Hunter gave it a shot at undercutting before Cena became too much of a drawing card to be denied. No mention, though, of perhaps his greatest nemesis, the current World title challenger. Anyway, great performances by Edge and Triple H both, leading to Edge's exile and ... immediate advertised return on Smackdown.
The great build-up to Goldust and the crowd treating him (and Renee Paquette) as a legend made his match with Orton come off as a big deal. Goldust was huffing and puffing by the end but they worked a strong match. I thought he was going to counter RKO into the CURTAIN CALL, but he did the CrossRhodes instead.
Things aren't so good for the rest of the prospective babyface alliance. Ziggler didn't interact with Dean Ambrose and lost to Bray Wyatt. :-/ :-/ I guess they could do one more angle to set up the match on Smackdown, but reading the tea leaves it seems like they might do Christian vs. Ambrose instead. Not sure what's going on but I don't care for it.
Miz is also back with Fandango and the Shield tag opponents will be the winners of a pre-show gauntlet, probably the PTPs.
Originally posted by JustinShapiroIf Raw doesn't end with Bryan standing tall and leading the nation of Canada in a frenzied symphony of YES, I'll join the Wyatt family.
I was nervous there for a minute, but I'm in the clear.
I don't know if Bryan's winning the title when Big Show punches Triple H this Sunday -- seems early even if they've both certainly suffered enough -- but I think Heyman is pinning Punk with the help of a new big heel, either Big E becoming a new Paul Heyman guy or Ryback because the big guy hates bullying.
Originally posted by BigDaddyLocoI didn't watch much, but I saw the Divas segment, and while I usually ignore these parts of the show, I couldn't ignore what was going on with the commentary. I don't know if this was piped in the headsets or just three middle aged men going into business for themselves but they totally did everything in their power to not only kill AJ's angle and belittle the poor girl. Be a star boys, when you feel inadequate, BULLY.
I actually thought AJ was bullying the announcers. She embarrassed them for not knowing that she'd main evented Raws and cut off Lawler hard with that "I'm too old for you" line, in a mean way instead of the usual "tee hee King." Lawler was caught off guard and meekly came back because he had to and it was kind of uncomfortable. But AJ did a great job being disgusted with the Total Divas.
I saw it the same way Justin did. AJ debuted a new serious, angry, and facts-driven attitude while the three announcers did their usual best to blow off anything about the Divas that could possibly be construed as important. AJ explained clearly that she was running RAW and "busy actually doing stuff" instead of needing a reality show to get TV time, and then after that King, like a simpleton, asked her if she was jealous about not being on Total Divas. "I've main evented RAW three times. Watch the product." was a serious burn. "I'm 26, Jerry, you like them younger." was harsh and accurate.
I third the opinion that AJ was shutting the boys down on commentary, even if they were trying to bully her. As for the rest of the show, while much of it was stuff we've seen before, Edge and Goldust being guys who don't work here and thus can speak their minds was a nice change of pace, and we finally got a hope spot for Daniel Bryan - that wasn't so hard now, was it WWE? Orton/Goldust was probably match of the night. Goldust is old and hasn't been in a match I'm aware of in 3 years, but damn if he doesn't still have ring sense enough to be entertaining. And his punches make Randy Orton's look like absolute shit.
JBL, Lawler and Cole have been pretty terrible to AJ for most everything she has done. I expect that to amplify going forward. I'm not exactly sure how this will be "Good for the business"
I only saw the last hour, got home right in time for that excellent Orton/Goldust match, but I wish I'd heard AJ put the King in his place...
Originally posted by JustinShapiroThings aren't so good for the rest of the prospective babyface alliance. Ziggler didn't interact with Dean Ambrose and lost to Bray Wyatt. :-/ :-/ I guess they could do one more angle to set up the match on Smackdown, but reading the tea leaves it seems like they might do Christian vs. Ambrose instead. Not sure what's going on but I don't care for it.
I believe Christian is on the DL with a concussion currently. It looked like we were getting Christian-Ambrose a few months ago, and that never happened either...
Originally posted by Spiraling_ShapeI only saw the last hour, got home right in time for that excellent Orton/Goldust match, but I wish I'd heard AJ put the King in his place...
Listening to Justin Roberts introduce Axel last night, something caught me that I hadn't heard before. Roberts pronunciation of "Minne-sooooooooo-taaaa". Quick check of his Wiki pages and he's billed from Chicago. The reason being is THAT pronunciation is definitely an Upper-Midwest thing. Except if you ARE actually from MN.
Absolutely loved Tony Chimel's cameo at the top of the show doing his best Edge introduction ever.
I can't get over the crowd reactions to Bryan. It really is amazing. I think you have to pull the trigger on Sunday and give Bryan the title. I don't know if he can sustain or grow his heat much longer if he comes up short on Sunday, but then, I'm not a TV or wrestling writer, so what do I know?
Is it even remotely possible that we're building to a Rhodes family vs. McMahon family match?
They need to hold off the Bryan title win until Hell In A Cell. But Orton shouldn't pin Bryan this Sunday unless it takes the entire McMahon regime to get it done.
Overall a fun show, but a couple things I didn't think made any sense.
First, HHH pulling the "Yeah, I've been wrong a few times -- I was wrong about Jericho and Cena, but I was right about you. You were a failure." Come on, way to crap on the WWE HOF. At least mention that. "You may be in the WWE HOF, but money-wise you sucked. And that's what it all comes down to in business. Jericho and Cena, they filled the registers."
Second, they made a big deal about telling Big Show that he couldn't lay a finger on The Shield. So why is he unable to lay a finger on Orton afterwards? They keep providing these transparent "outs" for Big Show -- maybe they're supposed to be red herrings, but to me it looks foolish. For example, they spent an entire show last week building how Big Show has to "compete" -- he can't turn down a match -- to keep his contract ... and then the big finale is something post-match, which is completely separate from what they'd been building up all episode.
On another note, I'm curious where they're going (if anywhere) with Booker T's involvement in this angle. He just seems out of place.
There's some good writing (if not booking) going on in the main event. Bryan wants the belt to prove to Hunter he's worthy, keeping his total focus off Orton. Meanwhile, Orton has developed a subplot feud over Cody Rhodes(!). Instead of taking out random midcarders, Orton has a real angle in addition to his role in Hunter/Bryan angle. Wrestling is best when the gimmicks and performers have some angle overlap.
"To be the man, you gotta beat demands." -- The Lovely Mrs. Tracker
RAW continues to be pretty good. I would have liked to have seen Edge come back out at the end but I guess he'll have something to do on Smackdown. I'm also guessing Big Show somehow costs Bryan the match (or at least the title) on Sunday, either as part of a heel turn, or inadvertently.
Orton/Goldust was surprisingly great. I didn't expect the crowd to be as into Goldust as they were but the whole thing was really well laid out and the video packages throughout the show did a good job of making Goldust seem like a bigger deal than he probably is. The Rhodes/McMahon subplot has been at least as good as the Bryan/HHH/Orton storyline, if not better.
I can't remember the last time they had this many inter-locking storylines going on at the same time (probably during the Russo era). For all the shit that "creative" get from internet fans (and usually rightly so), the Bryan/HHH/Orton, Rhodes/McMahons, Big Show/Steph/HHH (Big Show's "ironclad" contract aside), Bryan/Shield, Dolph/Ambrose (I hope they haven't given up on that), and even HHH/Show/Miz/Dolph, have all been really well done.
I dug AJ's "take no shit from the inept, borderline misogynist commentators" attitude.
Cesaro's hour-long giant swing on Santino was the best thing ever.
Booker T seems destined for a heel turn and an alliance with the Facgime.
I like that Brad Maddox is intent on putting Heyman into harm's way. I don't think they've explicitly stated it, but it feels like payback for Heyman setting The Shield on him after he stopped being of use to Heyman and Punk during the Punk/Ryback feud.
The annual "job the MITB winner out until nobody views them as a threat to the title thus making it shocking and momentous when they cash in and win" push is in full swing with Sandow and I have no reason to believe it won't be every bit as successful as it has been in the past.
(edited by TheGreatWhiteBob on 10.9.13 1136)
(edited by TheGreatWhiteBob on 10.9.13 1138) "That's some shameful shit..."
Originally posted by Hokienautic I'm curious where they're going (if anywhere) with Booker T's involvement in this angle. He just seems out of place.
Whatever Booker T is doing is actually one of the most weirdly interesting things to me the last few weeks. He's almost like Just Joe, except he's spouting Triple H's status quo and not squealing to him.
Originally posted by TheGreatWhiteBob Booker T seems destined for a heel turn and an alliance with the Facgime.
I thought Cole called them "The Authority" last night?
The Authority? The Shield? What writer is the big comics fan?
Well, they ran out of Kurt Sutter shows with Aces and Eights. Glad, AJ stood up for herself to a commentating crew that is way past their prime. Bryan is eating a Big Show punch.
The Wee Baby Sheamus.Twitter: @realjoecarfley its a bit more toned down there. A bit.
Originally posted by HokienauticOn another note, I'm curious where they're going (if anywhere) with Booker T's involvement in this angle. He just seems out of place.
I almost expected him to say to him, "D-Bryan, it's hopeless trying to go up against Triple H. you saw Wrestlemania 19, that Pedigree. politics, dawg."
The comments are in the Youtube video linked in the first post. In short, Flair has a lot of praise for him and says he might be the greatest performer around today, though he's not the greatest 'worker'.