With that kind of show, I really don't have a problem starting this week's thread.
After nearly 20 minutes of intense PPV-caliber action, Cena/Cesaro is an immediate MOTY contender. Both guys were busting out insane new moves to try and outdo one another, from Cesaro's dead lift superplex (!), to Cena's sit-up counter DDT for the Giant Swing (!!!), to Cena's forward roll into the Attitude Adjustment. The reversal sequences between the STF, the Giant Swing, the dead lift gutwrench, and everything else was just nuts! I absolutely DEMAND a PPV program between these two, even if it means aborting the planned Cena/Wyatt feud on the horizon. Heck, just let the Wyatts keep feuding with The Shield, since that feud's going so excellently.
Bryan/Christian was nothing to sneeze at, either. Best part was Christian immediately recognizing his role and switching to heel at a moment's notice for the greater good of getting Bryan further over. This was a pretty fine match in itself and I wouldn't mind seeing more of these two.
The rest of the night was average Raw fare, but it's a good show based on the aforementioned two matches alone.
If we believe in the rule of 3's, whose name gets dropped next? We lost "Antonio," we lost "Langston," but who gets dropped next? Personally, I think they should go against the grain and fool everyone by re-adding "O'Shaunessy" back to Sheamus.
That's all I've got for this week. Carry on.
"Playing guitars. It's hard to sing while playing...guitars."
Cena Cesaro Cena Cesaro Cena Cesaro Cena Cesaro Cena Cesaro Cena Cesaro Cena Cesaro
Holy moly. What's in a name? Cesaro vs. Cena was the best match since SummerSlam, a gripping and spectacular battle of thrashes and wallops. Cena took all of Cesaro's shit, including the swing they've been teasing since November, but even more 'git jaw-dropping was the uppercut to the floor and the superduperplex back into the ring. Plus he contributed his own stuff, like the hardcore ab workout counter to the swing and the huracenarana for special occasions.
Cesaro is the Next Big Swing and a significant solution to the depth problem, if they let him be. So far so great.
Nothing left to say about how much I love Shield/Wyatts. Going off the air with them finally colliding was a better hook for the PPV than the Chamberians' brawl.
Christian demonstrating wild personality swings such as his split-second (one night?) heel turn is a scary sign that his disease may have progressed into his neural tissue. Cerebral Lissencephaly of the Brain, or CLB.
Originally posted by It's FalseI absolutely DEMAND a PPV program between these two, even if it means aborting the planned Cena/Wyatt feud on the horizon. Heck, just let the Wyatts keep feuding with The Shield, since that feud's going so excellently.
Yeah, Fantasy Wrestlemania Built Out Of Stuff They Did On Raw To Fill Time is getting more and more stacked. You've got Cena/Cesaro, Shield/Wyatts, and Bryan finally pinning Orton to win the title.
If we believe in the rule of 3's, whose name gets dropped next?
Originally posted by JustinShapiro Apparently Randy deleted two of Triple H's Hs.
Anyone else picturing him saying "Please -- just call me H"?
Actually, calling him Triple H all the time sort of lowers him to the level of the rest of the wrestlers. Randy should start referring to him as Mr. H to show his deference to the boss. And they should introduce the Authority as Mr. and Mrs. H.
Cesaro has gotta be, legitimately, the strongest pound-for-pound guy in the wwe. It's also an amazing story arch for him, coming from a stereotypical heel with pepperoni nipples and little heat to the newest apple of the eye of the fans and VKM. I feel that we all owe a debt of gratitude to Dave Taylor.
I love when Cena expands his work by trying new things. This is the guy who should be around all the time instead of the live via satellite version.
If "Cesaro's" dumb new name gets him a smart new push, it's something I can definitely live with. Damn, two WWE MOTYC in Bryan/Wyatt and Cena/Cesaro now. Cena/Cesaro was everything you would dream it would be and then some, except that it wasn't happening on PPV and there were no real stakes. That should change next time they meet.
Not that I was ever seriously considering it, but I'm definitely not ordering Elimination Chamber, the last event that will mean anything as a literal PPV that you would have to pay per view (unless you steal it) without a WWE Network option. It looks like status quo all around with Orton's win being too obvious now, and I hope I'm wrong on that for the sake of a more interesting WrestleMania.
Originally posted by JustinShapiroCesaro is the Next Big Swing and a significant solution to the depth problem, if they let him be. So far so great.
It's really interesting, because CM Punk's entire pipe bomb deal can be interpreted as a guy with a messiah complex, but the case can be made that he sacrificed himself for the greater good. You'd be hard-pressed to make the case that Cesaro, Reigns, and Bryan don't end up as the biggest beneficiaries of a Punk-sized vacuum in the main event scene.
"Playing guitars. It's hard to sing while playing...guitars."
The Batista situation is just getting embarrassing now. They should probably just tape his WrestleMania match the night before and splice in some crowd shots.
Between Cena/Cesaro, Orton/Cesaro, and Bryan/Orton from two weeks ago, the push to EC has produced the best string of tv matches I can remember. Even Orton/Sheamus, Orton/Christian, Christian/Bryan, and Orton/Cena were good matches, just not as good as the other three. I could probably spend a couple months just watching these guys go at it. Cena/Cesaro was so good that the crowd didn't even mind Cena going over at the end (although they got pretty mad the first time he countered the big swing). Watching the match, I realized I didn't know who I wanted to win either, which is always the sign of an excellent match to me.
The low point for the show has to be Batista, though. They have just botched every element of his return. We liked him when he went away, but his return has just been so lackluster that it's impossible to get behind him. He needs to cut a promo in the ring for the benefit of the crowd, just so that people can invest in him, as a face or as a heel.
They won't give Batista a live mic, because they don't want people to invest in him as a heel. They really seem to be panicking and hoping that the problem will just go away and people will start cheering him in a week or two. It's just not going to happen.
I think going with Cena beating Cesaro was a bit too soon, I would have saved that for the end disqualification match instead of Orton/Sheamus. Orton could go over Sheamus. I still think Orton is going to win and they will continue to troll the fans with the Bryan win or just pray the IWC forgets about Bryan and pushes Cesaro to a good match at Mania thus no more fan backlash.
Batista coming back is a joke. Yes, an outside force ruined the surprise, but it still doesn't mean this was a surprise worth caring about. They may turn him heel between now and Mania which is going to feel like forever.
The Wee Baby Sheamus.Twitter: @realjoecarfley its a bit more toned down there. A bit.
I feel bad for Dave. Wrong guy at the wrong time. Loving Cesaro and the Shield/Wyatt's. I miss Punk but the future looks good. Question: if every ppv will be on the network, I wonder how soon Elimination Chamber will be? Monday night?
Here are some more thoughts from a demented mind in Central Florida:
Originally posted by kentishQuestion: if every ppv will be on the network, I wonder how soon Elimination Chamber will be? Monday night?
I'm imagining that, outside of the live feed, PPVs wouldn't be archived much before perhaps the Wednesday following the PPV. PPV providers still get $ out of the replay, which are usually Tuesday nights if not immediately following the event. It's possible the E might want to throw them a bone, not unlike the delay between movies appearing in theaters and then becoming available on Blu-Ray/DVD/Netflix.
Why yes, I am both a musician and a lawyer. Thanks for asking. :)
It's possible the E might want to throw them a bone, not unlike the delay between movies appearing in theaters and then becoming available on Blu-Ray/DVD/Netflix.
It sounds like you're right. Meltzer was told Elimination Chamber won't be on the network for a few weeks - about the same time it turns up on DVD. It would still be under the same exclusive time period to the PPV companies as the current deal.
Everything after Elimination Chamber should be up right after it airs (and will probably repeat on the stream immediately following the post game show anyway.)
I think one thing being forgotten from this Raw under the awesomeness that was Cena/Cesaro was Roman Reign's night. Impressive match/win over Mark Henry, Reigns does the live mic speaking in the ring for the Shield and when the Wyatts came out with Bray (as leader) taking the first step forward for the Family, it was Reigns that stepped forward for the Shield.
I really can't wait to see Ambrose's sell of the Superman Punch, when that match finally happens.
It's possible the E might want to throw them a bone, not unlike the delay between movies appearing in theaters and then becoming available on Blu-Ray/DVD/Netflix.
It sounds like you're right. Meltzer was told Elimination Chamber won't be on the network for a few weeks - about the same time it turns up on DVD. It would still be under the same exclusive time period to the PPV companies as the current deal.
Everything after Elimination Chamber should be up right after it airs (and will probably repeat on the stream immediately following the post game show anyway.)
I heard DishTV pulled their sponsorship from the Chamber, so I wonder if that is the first shot towards the network.
The Wee Baby Sheamus.Twitter: @realjoecarfley its a bit more toned down there. A bit.
No, the one thing being forgotten from Raw so far is that Kane totally said "a hard-fart victory" instead of "a hard-fought victory" and it was the best.
I like to think that obviously my sarcasm about Orton legit putting Cesaro over on Smackdown vs. Cena's phony Euro Tour cheerleading is what shamed Cena into doing the right thing on Raw, but I will also allow that Cena is just motivated by spite and boredom and not only wanted to top Orton's match but also Cena's New Thing is to passive-aggressively taunt HHH and Vince every year by doing an amazing free TV match with an internet-approved guy right before Wrestlemania to make fun of the shitty booking (see Cena vs. Punk last year). Either way, yeah, Cena/Cesaro was great. I still think I liked Orton/Cesaro better, but it's by small degrees, and the deadlift superplex (like, holy shit!), Giant Swing DDT Counter (better Sin Caras than Sin Cara: Hunico, John Cena) and the closing exchange where Cesaro landed perfectly on his feet out of the AA, booted Cena and Cena countered with an uncharacteristically awesome lariat were all amazing. Cesaro nailing that AA counter was a shocking reminder that, besides his freakish strength, the guy is just a ridiculous athlete and also whichever person came up with potentially career-ruining garbage like "random rugby player?" and "yodeling guy?" for someone this good should be fired or is Vince and should also be fired.
By contrast, I wish they hadn't booked Henry/Reigns last night, because that came off like a total throwaway match instead of the epic it theoretically could be (assuming Henry is healthy).
People I really, emphatically want to see crush Batista now: Bryan, Cesaro, Reigns, Wyatt, Sheamus, Lesnar.
People I think could actually get a worthwhile feud out of Batista now: Bryan or maaaaaybe, strangely...Christian.
Originally posted by JustinShapiroChristian demonstrating wild personality swings such as his split-second (one night?) heel turn is a scary sign that his disease may have progressed into his neural tissue. Cerebral Lissencephaly of the Brain, or CLB.
I literally had to sit back and admire this for a moment.
Ladies and gentlemen, the following public service message is brought to you by your friends from D-Generation X, who would like to remind each and every one of you that if you're not down with that, we've got two words for you...
Originally posted by kentishI feel bad for Dave. Wrong guy at the wrong time.
I don't feel bad for Dave at all. He didn't have to goad Vince into writing a Rumble win and WM main-event slot into his contract, knowing full well what the fans REALLY wanted if he'd watched but ONE episode of RAW in the past year. He could've just done a Jericho and said "I can give you eight months, use me however you'd like", and we probably wouldn't be hating his guts right now, especially if "use me however you'd like" translated to legitimizing guys like Cesaro and Bray Wyatt. (But of course, that's beneath him now...)
smark/net attack Advisory System Status is: Elevated (Holds; June 18, 2006) While the switch from Cena to RVD should alleviate some complaints, the inevitability of the belt's return to Cena (note where Summerslam is this year) and the poor initial showing by the new ECW are enough to keep the indicator where it is for now. The pieces are in place, though, especially on RAW, for improvements to be made to the IWC's psyche in the near future.