"Wait, only one day left in June? The Surprise, trigger the Surprise, damn it."
After they booked such a moribund PPV main event -- we knew there were few options, but my god -- I was not expecting such a loaded show. Hot and hotshotted. My favorite of the many overdeliverings was actually babyface WE THE PEOPLE, just the insane atmosphere for something with that collection of participants in those roles being that remarkably well-received, but that was just the tablesetter. (Okay, maybe Triple H's thuganomics bit was the tablesetter.)
It's tough to accept my man Chris Jericho with that haircut -- has it truly come to this? -- but I'll always be his friend. He 100% needs to win the first match with Wyatt before repeatedly losing to him just to make this one different.
The AJ return was cool, and Paige should be great doing her mom's wycked banshee heel gimmick, but for the second time I'll say that doing these title switches without chases and full matches is pointlessly handicapping what should be the marquee women's feud in years and years.
Hopefully Inside The Actor's Studio Miz means they aren't going to try the Miz and Flair act. Hopefully it means they will try the Dolph and Flair act, but he seems to have made a different friend.
Shouldn't Sheamus just win the IC battle royal and put an end to this madness.
Originally posted by JustinShapiroIt would be a betrayal of character ethos to not do BABYFACE ZEB and the All-American American American.
Originally posted by El NastioBefore the MITB match last night, I said I wanted Ambrose to win because of the concept of him cutting promos while having the brief case.
Now, I see that just as much fun can be had with Rollins having it.
Roman Reigns may be the heir, but Dean Ambrose is going to be a superduper star. No question.
(edited by El Nastio on 30.6.14 2326)
I got goosebumps at the thought of Ambrose chasing the chaser for the next several months, throwing monkey wrenches into the Authority's 'Plan B' every time they try to put it into action. Having seen a little bit of their earlier work feuding with each other, I look forward to some stellar matches and lots and lots of run-ins.
Did anyone else find the crowd chanting 'One more time!' at Kane after the Tombstone to be both entertaining and indicative of how the Universe is going to react to Cena's latest reign? May it be ever so brief.
I wonder if the 4-way has a Fingerpoke of Doom finish planned, with Kane laying down for Orton (since they made sure to point out twice just in the first night that Cena wouldn't have to be involved in a decision). Reigns will probably be the one who stops that from happening, though.
Three big returns tonight, and the first one was the least of them! The Miz is back, then OMGWTF Y2J is back! It looked at first like the two returnees would be feuding with one another, but then the Wyatts made their presence known. Why they're gunning for Y2J who can say, Bray Wyatt's nuts enough that he could decide anyone is a target.
AJ Lee turned the tables on Paige, returning as a surprise, challenging Paige on the spot to a match, and then beating her out of nowhere. I'm not sure about how this got handled, I'd have preferred a title switch to happen at Battleground after some build-up, instead of an out of nowhere switch. Maybe the two will trade the belt back and forth for awhile?
I may not be believed, but I was pondering to myself just last night about whether or not the Real Americans would end up feuding with Rusev, since they're the most 'patriotic' guys on the roster. Of course, if this was true to life Zeb would secretly be supporting Rusev for making his (also American) political enemies look bad, since they're supposed to be Teabaggers and all. Not sure how I feel about these guys turning face for no apparent reason.
I expected the show to go from Boiling Over to Absolute Zero after the PPV, as they have the last few months, but they actually started the buildup immediately. So far we have the Fatal Four-Way, an Intercontinental Title Battle Royal, a likely rematch between AJ and Paige, and probably Swagger/Rusev and Wyatt/Y2J, probably with more matches to come as the month rolls on towards Battleground.
Why does every Cena challenge have to be him beating the odds? Can't they just be subtle for a couple of weeks and let The Authority give Cena breaks and handouts until his head pops? They don't have to rush from A to B in the first five minutes.
Is it cool if Reigns wins the belt now or something?
The RVD renaissance tour stops at one.
Tonight will be the high point of the Wyatt/Jericho feud.
I want to see more of mean Paige, but I don't know if I am ready for more AJ yet.
If those Twisted Tea spots add revenue and keep Adam Rose busy it is a win for everyone.
Miz didn't look so good.
Cesaro, about time you found that mean streak again. Plus he took out Michael Cole, which I missed, but Cole looked rattled so nice work.
Haha, HHH just put Roman Reigns in a title match for no particular reason. I guess it's Best For Business(tm) to give your recent enemy, spurned partner of the guy you just recruited, and certainly no friend of The Authority a chance to be champion? It's not even like he asked or earned a title shot or anything, just "hey, here you go guy who hates me, title match."
If this has already been mentioned and I missed it I apologize but Ambrose's music has always sounded familiar to me and I'm thinking motor running--> Chris Benoit remix.
Originally posted by Spaceman SpiffHaha, HHH just put Roman Reigns in a title match for no particular reason. I guess it's Best For Business(tm) to give your recent enemy, spurned partner of the guy you just recruited, and certainly no friend of The Authority a chance to be champion? It's not even like he asked or earned a title shot or anything, just "hey, here you go guy who hates me, title match."
"Vickie, whatever you do, don't you dare let Roman Reigns get anywhere near a qualifying match for a title shot, under penalty of death."
I can see The E has been busy making some phone calls and I wouldn't doubt that the calls came within hours of the PPV last night, because this feels like a totally different atmosphere than last night.
Well...ok, MOSTLY different. The whole deal with Cena vs. Heel Authority Figure of the Month still feels like a rehash to high holy hell, right down to booking him in a PPV main event with Randy Orton and Kane. But everything else felt pretty white hot.
I'm wondering how much money it took to get Chris Jericho back? Because I can't imagine it wasn't anything less than substantial and given the dire straits this company was looking to be in, in terms of star power, I don't doubt that Jericho demanded a high sum for this return tour.
As for The Miz, I think this return has potential. He's had enough time away and enough time to let his heel turn stew and his whole "Hollywood actually appreciates me" spiel could have some legs. Lord knows they need to run with SOMEBODY and there are worse ideas than a guy that's proven to be an effective top heel, no matter what hindsight keeps trying to tell people.
Is this Swagger's first go-around as a babyface? I'm really digging it in the first night and he's made the most sense to be Rusev's foil. Seeing Zeb as a face is kind of weird, but overall, that was a dynamite opening to this feud and I can't wait to see more of it.
This Rollins/Ambrose feud is already shaping up to be one for the ages. Ambrose is so insanely talented, it's scary, and Rollins is playing that heel role to a tee. It still feels weird to see Hunter bash Daniel Bryan for being a tiny vanilla midget while throwing his lot behind 180-lb Rollins, but consistency shouldn't be a heel's strong suit, I guess.
I weep for Damien Sandow.
I'm 100% convinced this company has no idea what to do with Cesaro anymore.
Can we PLEASE be done with the Dust Brothers/Rybaxel feud now?
And I save the best one for last. I was ecstatic to see AJ come back as the conquering hero, in a weird dynamic shift. I don't know who convinced the higher-ups to hit the ABORT button on the Cameron title chase, but that person deserves a cigar. Watching Paige shift back into heel mode should be tremendous fun.
"Playing guitars. It's hard to sing while playing...guitars."
Originally posted by It's FalseI'm wondering how much money it took to get Chris Jericho back?
Pick any two of your favourite released talents (I pick Yoshi Tatsu and Curt Hawkins) + Aksana + Marc Harris = strange we don't see more smark tweets bemoaning fucking part timers in WWE
All I want is the occasional genuine surprise - I did expect Vince upon hearing Vince's music and got Sandow (damn fine impression but everything after that with Stephanie made no sense) AND I took Miz to be the swerve instead of the swerve before the swerve, so I was happy there. The AJ thing made as much sense as the Swagger thing, where they just spin a wheel backstage and whether it comes up face or heel, that's what they are for THAT show at least. At least Trinity - sorry, Naomi - was "conflicted" about taking advantage of a handicap'd Nikki Bella. (Brie somehow still extolls the start of the "second screen experience" over on [Remember] WWEN, by the way) But I have strayed from my point - heck, even Cena's winning was a bit of a surprise, so between last night and tonight I've been mostly satisfied.
Something I forgot to say ... 'Great' Khali has absolutely no business beating Damien Sandow, let alone squashing him with a single crappy-looking chop. I have no idea what the hell they're doing with the poor guy, they keep putting him out there and giving him TV time, but doing the Al Snow retread isn't really getting him over.
I was really disappointed by the AJ "match" and title change, especially coming off the fantastic match Paige had with Naomi at the PPV. I get that they wanted a sense of symmetry, but it was bad the first time they did it too. The abrupt change did nothing to get Paige over, and the abrupt loss hurts her a bit as well.
As for the other stuff on last night's show, I am genuinely happy to see the Miz back as a heel, but I think it's weird how Jericho came out to start shit with him, but that was just a setup for the Wyatts. Is there actually a plan for Miz right now, or did they sacrifice his return just to set up part-time Jericho?
As long as there is a point in the Wyatt/Jericho feud where Jericho's wearing the flashing jacket while attacking during the lights out Wyatt entrance, I'll be satisfied.
One would hope that Sandow aping the boss and getting bullied by the Authority would lead to him winning the IC title at Battleground but I think we all know better than that by now. Maybe next week he'll come out dressed like Shane.
Jericho's big demand is probably working with Bray. On his podcast, he views his feud with Fandago as a low point and he was only satisfied when he got the check. I agree with Justin, Jericho needs to win if they are going into SummerSlam. I know he doesn't care about wins or loses, but if people view him as jobber then he will treated by as a jobber by the people. They have to make him a big deal in order for his lose to Bray to mean something.
I wonder if Punk's Gozer is coming tweet was a hint about AJ. Paige/AJ will get their time even though the rumor is Steph/Brie as the big female match at SummerSlam. Sandow being Vince and Steph defending her father should lead to something, but it won't. A face Sandow who mocks the Authority would be a good Mankind to Ambrose's Rock who is going to burn the Authority to the ground. HHH giving Reigns a title shot makes no sense unless he is bought as well.
The only interesting storyline with Cena and the Authority is for them to continually help Cena. Wink and nod at the potential heel turn that everyone wants. Then either trigger it or just ignore it when Brock destroys him or when Rollins cashes it in.
If this company doesn't realize Ambrose is the star of this company than God help us all. I realized that I much rather see Ambrose's actions of ruining Mitb PPV and Rollins' cash in than hearing about it.
We the People. Someone must have realized Friday is the 4th of July.
If Bryan is indeed majorly messed up and will be out until God knows when, what do they do for the big Night of the Champions renew-your-subscription hook? Could AJ returning be an olive branch to try and get Punk back for a return match with Lesnar? Or do they jump ahead six months and do Reigns beating Brock for his first title in September rather than next year?
Am I the only one who thought for a brief second that it was going to turn out Jericho was the brains behind The Wyatt Family? They held the "stare at everyone" pose long enough that I thought it was moving past "take him out" and into "smile and laugh and pat on back" territory.
Hopefully Delusional Movie Star Miz is his newest midcard heel gimmick. Ideally crowing about being a huge star on par with Dwayne, when he's just making The Marine 4 and Christmas Bounty...
Originally posted by lotjxI wonder if Punk's Gozer is coming tweet was a hint about AJ.
Considering the tweet was "If you're in Chicago, look up. Gozer approaches.", I think you're reading way too much into a comment about the weather.
I was surprised how much babyface heat Jack Swagger & Zeb Colter got against Rusev. Never underestimate a wrestling crowd's patriotism.
I figured if Jericho was to return (which was the rumor on Twitter during the show), he would've interrupted the Bo Dallas segment. Interrupting Miz instead was the true swerve but boy did Miz seem inconsequential after his segment.
It was really sad watching the ref have to direct Khali to raise his arms in triumph after the match. I mean, Khali has been doing this long enough that he should know what he's supposed to do out there, but I still couldn't help but feel bad for the guy.
On one hand, I think heel Paige vs. babyface A.J. will be really good. On the other hand, I feel like we got cheated out of underdog babyface Paige feuding with nasty heel A.J. So I'm a little disappointed about that.
(edited by geemoney on 1.7.14 1056) @gregmparks - live Tweeting of Raw and Impact, wrestling thoughts and other slices of life.
Lesner or Goldberg but both are gone. Maybe a continuation with the feud with Kane leading to a casket match. Or HHH vs Undertaker where Undertaker hunts HHH family (Stephanie). Or i Know i would love to see Sting vs. UNDERTAKER. what do you guys think?...
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