Poor Triple H, he can't take Ric Flair anywhere anymore.
I've now seen two people bust through the ring in three days. Granted Vampiro doing it was retro crap, but this was only one step up. Kane being put back over as a crazy rape monster is great and all, but seeing Danial Bryan parading around with #mywife everywhere is kind of dorky, and not the cool dorky. I mean we get it, but do you have to ruin our guys night out by bringing her everywhere now?
The Cena/Wyatt segment was a cool twist. It's going to be tough to photoshop a comeback to that. I have faith that Cena will shake it off and e his old self again by next week.
Dead crowd, with very little wrestling. Then you trot out Ric Flair and give him a Mic, and then get a rambling Flair promo where he kind of forgets he's talking and he just sort of ends it like he passed out on a bar stool was the nail in the coffin for St Louis.
It's been a tough couple of episodes, and kind of a lousy build to the PPV. I like a lot of the ideas, they just found the clunkiest way possible to present a lot of them.
Originally posted by BigDaddyLocoPoor Triple H, he can't take Ric Flair anywhere anymore.
Oh man was that painful to watch.
They need to re-hire Jim Ross so they can fire him again for this.
I'm probably going to write much less than the 5 page essay it deserves, but Flair was very visibly out of it tonight. He slurred just about every key word in his monologue. Maybe he's just been away from the crowd for too many "ears."
HHH was very visibly holding back some anger. There was that moment where Flair said "You too, buddy," and probably meant to point to Orton and Orton looked over at the ref which was great. Lots of good Orton improv tonight, including when he got miffed at the fan at ringside taking a photo of the shield and not him.
And then the total ineffectual handshake at the end and anticlimactic walk-off? I don't think I've seen anything like that since Jake "The Snake" Roberts at Heroes of Wrestling. Hard to watch, but I just couldn't turn away.
Had Evolution just attacked Flair it would have all worked out. Either right after he shook their hands or during the match. Actually, no. No match should have taken place. Evolution should have nailed Flair and the show should have ended with a pull-apart schmozz. They could still do the beat-up Flair thing to sort of save it (at Smackdown or online).
Orton (I think) casually tapping Big Dave on the shoulder to tell him the Shield are regrouping (whilst Batista is stomping one in the corner) was funny (could have been the other way around).
Basically, for now there are two separate feuds. One between Bryan and Steph and the other between the Shield and Evolution. After Extreme Rules does it all come together? Does Steph have someone else to throw at Bryan that's not in Evolution? A hired gun?
It would probably be reaaaaaaallly wrong to do but having a Make A Wish kid turn on Cena would be sort of awesome.
I thought the tag match between the Usos and Rybaxel was pretty good, but I'm not sure why they gave it away here instead of waiting for the PPV. RVD/BNB was also better than I expected it to be, and Barret's really making the most of the opportunity he's generated here.
Sad-face Cena finally yelling "WHY DID YOU DO THIS TO ME?!" to the crowd was good. John Cena: Guy Who Likes All The Guys You Like So You Like John Cena continues to be not so good. (Since SummerSlam, the people, in order, who have gotten the biggest rub from the Daniel Bryan push: John Cena, Daniel Bryan, Big Show). Loved, loved, looooved the Evil Children's Choir, though. So ridiculous, so great. The only downside was accidentally showing the kids carrying the masks on the way down (that's two weeks in a row of shoddy directing, don't make me start a "Kevin Dunn On The Outs?" rumor that I'll forget I started and then cite later as a thing that exists), but man I loved that, especially Wyatt letting the kids know which verse he wanted them to sing and the crowd (which mostly sucked) actually BOOING the Wyatts because of how weird the whole thing was.
The only way they could have booked that better: Bray orders the Wyatt Choir (the Cwyarr?) to get in the cage and beat up Cena, because he knows that John Cena will not defend himself against children, and so we get a repeat of the eight minute Nexus beatdown on Cena only it's a bunch of ten year old kids.
So, am I mistaken that they are now booking the Wyatt/Cena angle as if it was the last season of Lost only not terrible? The "if Bray Wyatt escapes this cage, his evil will be unleashed on the world!" development is pretty much exactly the "if this black cloud gets off the island, its barely-explained evil will be unleashed for...reasons!" plot. I think Cena is making a terrible strategic error here: there's no way the modern cage can hold Bray's evil within no matter who wins. The blue bar cage, though, that would be able to do it.
Serious speculation: Bo Dallas is debuting next Monday, right after Extreme Rules, and right when John Cena is finally, fully at a low point (assuming he doesn't just beat Wyatt and smile at the camera, which is possible). Bo is doing a faux-inspirational speaker gimmick. I ask you, The Ws, is it possible that we're going to get Bo Dallas mentoring an emotionally crushed John Cena, with Cena not realizing that Bo is related to Bray? And if this happens, will it be the greatest angle of all time?
(If it doesn't happen, I retract all my love for this segment.)
Originally posted by LostInUbeIt would probably be reaaaaaaallly wrong to do but having a Make A Wish kid turn on Cena would be sort of awesome.
This would definitely be the ECW Classic finish to the Extreme Rules match. Maybe even the Russo WCW finish, with the twist that it'd be Russo disguised as the kid, and then Cena would turn heel a week later anyway.
Favorite part of the Kane/Bryan segment: Brie safely rolls out of the ring, realizes (if she wasn't outright told by Bryan or one of the refs) that she still needs to be in the ring for the ending, and helpfully rolls herself back in and starts cowering in fear again. It wasn't quite NXT Season 2 Finale great, but it was still pretty, pretty good.
Conspiracy theory: Cena and the Bellas hatched a plot to hook Bryan up with Brie with the hopes of Brie siphoning off Bryan's momentum. Mission accomplished. I hope the Wyatts see what Kane did and try to do the same to Nikki, but a stone-faced John Cena directs them to Page 31 of the John Cena/Nikki Bella Legal Living Arrangement pdf on the WWE app, where it clearly states that, if kidnapped, the Party of the First Part is not only under no obligation to save the Party of the Second Part, but also it is legally recommended that the Party of the First Part not save the Party of the Second Part so as not to remove any agency from the Party of the Second Part or create a situation that would inhibit their growth as legally-recognized separate, co-habitating individuals.
Man, Bryan and Brie are gonna feel really terrible for verbally abusing Stephanie like that when they learn that she had nothing to do with Kane escaping the Ecto Kanetainment Unit, and that he was only able to escape because some jerk from the EPA (possibly Palmer Cannon?) forced them to shut it down for violating safety codes.
Also, does Kane now retract into the mask when he's banished to the Phantom Zone cube?
Flair at the end...oh brother. Is Extreme Rules the last time we ever see Ric Flair on live TV? If so, I hope he comes out in sequined riot gear as part of the plot to fool The Shield. The only thing missing from that segment was Flair actually saying the word "WINK!" into the mic when he turned around and hilariously winked to Evolution. I am in a much better place re: HHH since he came around post-Rumble, so I did have - hmm, what's the opposite of antipathy? Empathy? No, not that. Less antipathy? Yeah - less antipathy for him as he stood there not reacting to that trainwreck when I can only imagine the roiling emotional storm going on underneath. I think I'll choose the coherent, charming Ric Flair of the Steve Austin Show as my final memory of the Nature Boy rather than this and Flair being triple powerbombed after screwing/trying to screw the Shield at the Extreme Rules special event.
As bad as that whole segment was, though, I did like the Evolution beatdown and Shield comeback, though. Still not 100% sold on Reigns being ready for a megapush as a solo act (oh, but how much he'd benefit by being thrown into the glorious, Sheamus-led Intercontinental field of super brawlers right now...Reigns/Sheamus could make him if he can keep up), but Reigns as #1 comeback guy and Rollins as the secret greatest hero in the WWE Universe haven't gotten old, and face Ambrose is still weird but I don't care, because I'm not sure Ambrose can do anything I don't want to see right now.
Originally posted by Dr UnlikelySo, am I mistaken that they are now booking the Wyatt/Cena angle as if it was the last season of Lost only not terrible? The "if Bray Wyatt escapes this cage, his evil will be unleashed on the world!" development is pretty much exactly the "if this black cloud gets off the island, its barely-explained evil will be unleashed for...reasons!" plot. I think Cena is making a terrible strategic error here: there's no way the modern cage can hold Bray's evil within no matter who wins. The blue bar cage, though, that would be able to do it.
Imagine that this wine is what you keep calling Heel. There are other names for it. Laziness. Treason. Disrespect. And it's all down here swirling at the bottom. Unable to get out, because if it did it would spread. Now, the cork is this cage. And it's the only thing keeping the darkness where it belongs.
Originally posted by Dr UnlikelyMan, Bryan and Brie are gonna feel really terrible for verbally abusing Stephanie like that when they learn that she had nothing to do with Kane escaping the Ecto Kanetainment Unit, and that he was only able to escape because some jerk from the EPA (possibly Palmer Cannon?) forced them to shut it down for violating safety codes.
That is amazing. CJ Parker would also work for the EPA in a heartbeat.
Okay, so now that I have the Network (pretty much just for the "Special Events"), a Cubs rainout meant I had the show on, just to try and keep pace with whatever they're pushing.
A children's choir on Raw. There's something you don't see every day. Effective though, what life the crowd had was anti-Cena, and you could tell something was up when Cena was trying to "act". After WM, I don't really have much hope for anything besides LOL, CENA WINS.
I think the same skepticism transfers to the Bryan situation. Maybe the biggest 'tell' that the fans actually forced a WrestleMania rewrite is that they have no earthly idea where to go with him after the huge push to the title. It's like they condensed two years of "Austin vs McMahon" plot to have Bryan overcome everything they could throw at him in two months - and now... Kane.
Otherwise I noticed the tag match got a lot of time, and that Flair was less than atop his game [they way they set it up, I felt the swerve coming, we needed JBL to blurt out "but whose side is he on?"]
That was about it for getting me to look up from the computer, with one other exception. I thought St. Louis was a wrestling hotbed? Crowd seemed dead all night..
.. and it may have happened in that Gob-smacking Hugh Jackman plugola segment, with Damien Sandow playing Magneto in a costume that appeared to have been thrown together when the last re-write added this... segment 30 minutes before the show went live. Vince must have either thought of this one himself, or been away from his headset because I can't remember the last time the talent in the ring was burying a segment in progress, while the announcers were letting it go.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
"Knock knock"
WHO'S THERE??
"Mike."
MIKE WHO???
Mike Client.. who BEAT THE UNDERTAKER AND HIS STREAK AT WRESTLEMANIA!!!
Could have been the crowd again, but I wonder if they married Cesaro to Heyman because there was no other chance to keep the fans from making Cesaro a face. It may grow on me, and it's probably better this way in the sense that you don't want to cheer sirens - but I still wish Cesaro could have won the entrance music from Swagger.
I love Paul Heyman, but he hasn't helped Cesaro one bit with his presence so far.
Screaming, "My Client, Bork Lazer, Conquered the streak" over and over again (which he literally did for the whole commercial break on last weeks raw on the second screen WWE app) does not get Cesaro over, it make him look like a second fiddle.
On top of this, Heyman is "fueding" with Coulter, further taking the spotlight of of the king of swing.
Right now I would say that Heyman has actually hurt the momentum that the Swiss Superman had going.
I hope this turns around soon.
----------
Look here Mr TV announcer. I'm 6'9", over 300 pounds, size 17 shoe and I'm no coward! I'm gonna go post on THE-W and if all these egg suckin' dogs talkin' out the side of their necks don't like it, I will whoop them just like I whooped Dirty Rhodes, Andre the dummy, the masked varmint, Thundermouth Patterson and that drunkin' indian Jay Strongbow!
Originally posted by VaderbladeI love Paul Heyman, but he hasn't helped Cesaro one bit with his presence so far.
Screaming, "My Client, Bork Lazer, Conquered the streak" over and over again (which he literally did for the whole commercial break on last weeks raw on the second screen WWE app) does not get Cesaro over, it make him look like a second fiddle.
On top of this, Heyman is "fueding" with Coulter, further taking the spotlight of of the king of swing.
Right now I would say that Heyman has actually hurt the momentum that the Swiss Superman had going.
I hope this turns around soon.
I think that's part of the gimmick. Boo Heyman, cheer Cesaro. They split. Cesaro faces Lesnar to establish an upper-card presence.
"To be the man, you gotta beat demands." -- The Lovely Mrs. Tracker
Conspiracy theory: Cena and the Bellas hatched a plot to hook Bryan up with Brie with the hopes of Brie siphoning off Bryan's momentum.
I like your theory. I think Brie is only there to be the scared girl who has balance issues whenever Kane is around. They stop appearing together once the horror movie is over...
...which might not be Sunday? There doesn't seem to be another contender being set up, which is the problem that created Kane versus Bryan in the first place. It's possible to come up with options - someone from Evolution, the winner of the three way - but Kane and Bryan have had zero matches leading up to this show, which often means they're going to have a lot more matches after the show.
(Paige was there to be the invisible girl. I kept waiting for something to happen to explain her inclusion in this segment, like Kane grabbing the wrong dark haired girl in the dark, but nada.)
.. and it may have happened in that Gob-smacking Hugh Jackman plugola segment, with Damien Sandow playing Magneto in a costume that appeared to have been thrown together when the last re-write added this... segment 30 minutes before the show went live.
I'm guessing the idea was Sandow's costume was designed to be ludicrously poor, so Dolph and Jackman (and the announcers and the fans) could mock it.
I'm more curious about the timing, right at the top of the hour, where something much more important usually happens. Is Hugh Jackman a ratings draw? (Maybe?) Did whatever money they got to do this ad require them to put it at a certain time? I dunno, but Dolph was in a segment on RAW where he didn't lose, 3MB won, and Zack Ryder's music even played after a win (from a long ago show via archived footage), an incredible series of outcomes which may never repeat.
Originally posted by Dr UnlikelySo, am I mistaken that they are now booking the Wyatt/Cena angle as if it was the last season of Lost only not terrible? The "if Bray Wyatt escapes this cage, his evil will be unleashed on the world!" development is pretty much exactly the "if this black cloud gets off the island, its barely-explained evil will be unleashed for...reasons!" plot. I think Cena is making a terrible strategic error here: there's no way the modern cage can hold Bray's evil within no matter who wins. The blue bar cage, though, that would be able to do it.
That was my immediate first thought. I think, if the idea is for Bray to win by cage escape, they're selling it in the best way possible. WWE cage matches are designed so that the loser saves face, and that's still the case here, but Cena selling it like it's the one thing he doesn't want to happen - assuming it does happen - will make Bray's win mean more, even if it isn't by pinfall.
It looks like the template they're using for this feud is Bret Hart vs Steve Austin. Both were feuds where the established top guy was targeted by an edgy heel that had the crowd on his side, and slowly the heel started getting to the face even as he was beating the heel. I have no idea how serious they are about modifying Cena's character (especially after showing all of that Make A Wish stuff last night) but they did a great job last night making it look like they will.
Originally posted by Dr UnlikelyThe only way they could have booked that better: Bray orders the Wyatt Choir (the Cwyarr?) to get in the cage and beat up Cena, because he knows that John Cena will not defend himself against children, and so we get a repeat of the eight minute Nexus beatdown on Cena only it's a bunch of ten year old kids.
I was actually thinking the opposite, where Cena beats the shit out of the kids and manages to get the crowd on his side. The segment last night was pretty good, especially Cena's pseudo whining and the visual of the kids in goat masks. Wasn't too big on the prolonged singing, and I don't like that they've somehow made this entire feud about singing, but hopefully that part ends at Extreme Rules.
Originally posted by Dr UnlikelyAs bad as that whole segment was, though, I did like the Evolution beatdown and Shield comeback, though. Still not 100% sold on Reigns being ready for a megapush as a solo act (oh, but how much he'd benefit by being thrown into the glorious, Sheamus-led Intercontinental field of super brawlers right now...Reigns/Sheamus could make him if he can keep up), but Reigns as #1 comeback guy and Rollins as the secret greatest hero in the WWE Universe haven't gotten old, and face Ambrose is still weird but I don't care, because I'm not sure Ambrose can do anything I don't want to see right now.
I'm actually a really big fan of face Ambrose. He's got this great, crazy energy that faces are usually lacking. Plus, like you said, you've got Reigns doing the classic babyface comeback, and Rollins jumping in out of nowhere with the boot to the head (which they've given like 5 different names, but which I am still calling Seth From Above), but on the rally Ambrose does this great thing where he's somehow everywhere all at once, just this big tangle of flailing arms. It really sets up Reigns big power stuff really well.
As for your theory on Bo Dallas, as good as it is, I really hope they're not actually changing his NXT gimmick. I love him as the guy that nobody likes who just pretends that everybody actually does like him (hey, that's Cena's real gimmick!). What I love best about that gimmick, and what I'd hate to lose with your idea, is that Bo never, never actually looks at the person he's talking to. I don't think you could do that with the Cena's motivator bit.
It's nice to get reminders of where I come from and why I'm so glad I left there and should never go back. St. Louis, Misery is a a boring boring place filled with malcontent. Great place for a go home hype show to a ppv!
Oh yeah the set up for the future is for Cesaro's face push to be delayed until they are ready to pull the trigger on a Brock feud. I don't hate Heyman going on and on about The Streak being broken, in fact Paul is the only one talking about The Streak being ended on TV. We haven't seen Taker since WM30, the announcers have completely moved on, and Lesnar can't talk so Heyman is doing a greater service by constantly bring up The Streak being conquered than anyone. I can't wait to see the inevitable confrontation between his clients.
I found it interesting that Zack Ryder wasn't shown on RAW live or in the archive footage of the RAW match that he was in which Hugh Jackman punched out Dolph in the first place. He's getting Benoit'd out of WWE history.
(edited by CruelAngel777 on 29.4.14 1315) I believe in The Shield....
Holy cow did I love that opening segment. So creepy, so awesome.
Brie looks totally hot, but boy is she an idiot.
I weep openly for the desiccated husk of Damien Sandow's career. God bless him for dutifully doing his part, but God that was terrible.
Glad to see Barrett getting his push, looking forward to seeing him vs. Big E on Sunday.
"As you may have read in Robert Parker's Wine Newsletter, 'Donaghy Estates tastes like the urine of Satan, after a hefty portion of asparagus.'" Jack Donaghy, 30 Rock
Okay, you folks should know the drill by now, but you can see previous examples here. A few notes this month: It's hard to determine if someone is legitmately injured, hurt as part of a storyline (I swear the jury's still out on Jazz), or simply M.I.A....