After an emotional Raw last week, we get...this. Steph berates another male WWE superstar without any consequences. Because, as if we learned anything this week if you touch a McMahon, its a suspension or your job or whatever this senile old man wishes. The highlight is Owens gets back the IC title for him and Ziggler to steal the show at the always magical Fastlane. AJ continues to be the best free agent get since LeBron to Miami. Suck it Cleveland.
The Divas continue to tread water til the inevitable Sasha/Beck/Charlotte feud at Mania. The Dudleys are going to be Heyman's henchmen which is better than jobbbing out to new hot talent like the Uso and the guys that wear masks. So, they upgraded. The downgrade was the main event featuring Big Show, Kane and Ryback. Those three in a ring together is a massive yawn.
Fastlane is this week, right? If not, I guess this ending makes sense, because there is not a lot to get excited about.
I came to the realization that I don't like Dean Ambrose. Over the last 6-12 months, he has cut one good promo. His in-ring work is so fucking cookie cutter and non-sensical (not in the good crazy unpredictable way they intend) that it takes me out of whatever match he's in. The gentle push through the ropes to the outside is awful. The rebound clothesline spot is overused and stupid. It works as a change of pace but not every fucking match. He runs like he's running on ice, his punches look like shit, and his attempts at comedy and/or cleverness fall flat nine times out of ten. It hurts to say this because I've been wanting to love him since he showed up. I really tried. Everyone had all these great things to say about him but I just don't get it. I don't even know what the Ambrose Asylum is, let alone lunatic fringe or air lunatic. I have nothing against the guy and wish him all the best, but I would absolutely love more of what we got last week from him and much less of what we get every other time he's out there.
Highlight of the night was the SCSA podcast with Show. I put it on as background noise and within 3 minutes, I was glued to the screen. I had to watch it again to decide if it was good because it was actually good or if it was good because it far exceeded my low expectations. It is actually good. Highest recommendation.
Actually, kudos to WWE for not putting another Ambrose/Reigns/Authority segment last. Just sucks it's with Show/Ryback/Kane who are in the twilight of their careers or in Ryback's case treading water for a long time now. Nobody's going to care all that much about them anymore.
I get the idea. Let's build up these guys for the Wyatts to knock down. But they never follow it up by keeping the Wyatt family strong. I've always said that Bray (and the family) is pretty much bullet proof as far as generating a response. But that doesn't mean they should be in random feuds-of-the-week every time, never doing anything significant.
I have no trouble with the Divas treading water btw, the matches deliver. And they are still building up the characters. Becky is plucky, Sasha is a bitch. Charlotte is...erhm yeah Flair.
Any indication on this Vincent J. McMahon trophy? I'm torn on if it's actually going to be quasi-legit or if it's a storyline thing.
If it weren't for the expectation of Bray Wyatt taking out Brock on Sunday to set up WM, I'd think that last night's main event was set up to lead to a four-on-four tag match at WM, with The Undertaking completing Team Hoss.
I don't know how to stay interested in what is happening in 2016 Raw anymore. As I have probably mentioned before, I am working through old Raws on the Network. I just finished the Raw before WrestleMania 14, and it is night and day. Even the stuff that wasn't great then - the NWA angle, mostly - was covered up by decent commentary, decent backstage stuff, and a super hot main event scene.
We don't have any of that now. We all know where the main event scene is going. The Roman Empire must excel, despite the fans being behind Brock and Dean. We know who WE want to see, but it isn't who Vince wants to see so it doesn't matter. This show ended with Big Show and Braun Strowman. That is a main event in Vince's eyes and Vince's eyes only.
Commentary sucks on Raw because, well, probably Vince. Michael Cole can be good when he isn't being micromanaged into what we usually hear. Bryon is boring but serviceable. JBL is straight terrible. His volume gets louder and louder as every segment ends. And he is only going to get worse once we get WWE Hall of Famer JBL.
And even the backstage stuff... blah. Goldust & R-Truth is a poor remake of Goldust & Booker T and it has gone on about two weeks too long now.
The few highlights:
AJ continues to be going in a great direction, though the WWE had AJ-Y2J featured as an official Fastlane match on Facebook Monday afternoon. Not sure why the social media team doesn't communicate with the writer monkeys that are trying to drag this out into SmackDown with the "Will Y2J accept the challenge?" deal.
Paul Heyman as always is great, and the Dudleys having any direction at all is good.
Big E is always good.
Even if they are all together jammed in one segment, totally okay with Ryder and the Outcasts all together. Maybe this is a reason to bring in the Hype Bros?
I'm ready for next week when we can start pushing Sasha and Becky towards WrestleMania.
It's cool they set up the Stephanie McMahon/Dean Ambrose co-main event at Wrestlemania. As the biggest heel, I thought they would put the title on Steph, but I guess they want to spread the wealth around...
Kevin Kelly: "Mr. Austin, would you like to comment on Wade Keller's Take that endorsing the XFL hurts your anti-authority character?"
Steve Austin: "Oh shit, he actually said that? I thought the boys in the back were ribbing me!"
Kelly: "No, he really said that. Did they tell you the part about you sitting in the stands, looking all skeptical?"
Austin: "AHAHAHAHAHAHA. Yeah... oh man that was too much."
If the show ended after the Reigns and Heyman segment it would have been a terrific two hour show but the third hour was utter garbage. I feel bad for Zack Ryder getting no reaction after being so after just four years ago.
The five way IC title match was lots of fun as even Tyler Breeze and Stardust got some shine and while he are the pin Breeze didn't look like a total loser in the match as he hit some nice spots in the match. I'm fine with Zowens winning the title as it was a complete afterthought while Ambrose held it. I'm really hoping that Sunday is the last time we see Zowens and Ziggler have a match in a long time, yes the match will be excellent but I'm tired of them facing each other.
AJ vs Miz was a terrific match better than their Smackdown match and it makes sense since they've been wrestling each other on house shows the past few weeks. Miz showed a more vast move set than usual and has really been reinvigorated since his mini feud with AJ started. Jericho was flat out great on commentary and put AJ over strong and if he ever wanted to be a full time commentator(doubtful) he'd be a pretty great one. The skull crushing finale was a great false finish that had me all the way and the closing minute of the match was tremendous. My only slight complaint is that Miz went to two chin-locks in a twelve minute match, come on man. The crowd was hugely into AJ giving him a big reaction when he came out and chanted his name during the match, but the ruined it by chanting what when he started his promo, idiots. The promo was fine btw and AJ has improved greatly on the mic the last few years. You can't complain how AJ has been booked and he is in the best built feud in the promotion and got around twenty minutes of airtime last night.
The Dudleys promo was a bit of a rehash from Smackdown but still a very good heel promo.
Heyman was great on the mic but Reigns annoyed with his infuriating smirk and the crowd didn't like him much and him taking no offense to Dean going after him was uh strange. The Dudleys getting involved was fine use of them and they've done a good job of making the Dudleys no longer feel like a nostalgia act and I hope they go over on Smackdown but I doubt it.
The finish of the show with Kane and The Big Show standing tall was pretty sad considering Big Show peaked back in 1996 and Kane in 1998, I expect the third hour rating to be well under three mil.
All in all some good stuff but the third hour really dragged the show down big time.
Originally posted by Stefonics Highlight of the night was the SCSA podcast with Show. I put it on as background noise and within 3 minutes, I was glued to the screen. I had to watch it again to decide if it was good because it was actually good or if it was good because it far exceeded my low expectations. It is actually good. Highest recommendation.
Agreed. I thought it would be garbage but my friend txt-ed me to check it out and I am glad I did. They kinda explain why Show as so many heel turns and Austin sounds like a dick when he was on top. LOL Check it out.
Originally posted by graves9AJ vs Miz was a terrific match better than their Smackdown match and it makes sense since they've been wrestling each other on house shows the past few weeks. Miz showed a more vast move set than usual and has really been reinvigorated since his mini feud with AJ started. Jericho was flat out great on commentary and put AJ over strong and if he ever wanted to be a full time commentator(doubtful) he'd be a pretty great one. The skull crushing finale was a great false finish that had me all the way and the closing minute of the match was tremendous. My only slight complaint is that Miz went to two chin-locks in a twelve minute match, come on man. The crowd was hugely into AJ giving him a big reaction when he came out and chanted his name during the match, but the ruined it by chanting what when he started his promo, idiots. The promo was fine btw and AJ has improved greatly on the mic the last few years. You can't complain how AJ has been booked and he is in the best built feud in the promotion and got around twenty minutes of airtime last night.
I agree with all of this, and I think people under-rate Miz a lot. He's not the world's greatest wrestler on his own, but when you get him in the ring with somebody that can go, he consistently turns out high-quality matches. This was easily the best segment of the night.
I'm a little surprised they were so shortsighted to book Show in the main event on Raw when he's going to be the guest on Austin's podcast. Austin having to fill and Show showing up out of breath and unprepared was a bit awkward. That being said, the podcast was great. I liked the honesty Show had when discussing his endless terms and if he thought he'd been booked correctly.
Still surreal to see AJ Styles in a WWE ring, working a pretty good program. I like what they're doing with him.
Originally posted by HokienauticIf it weren't for the expectation of Bray Wyatt taking out Brock on Sunday to set up WM, I'd think that last night's main event was set up to lead to a four-on-four tag match at WM, with The Undertaking completing Team Hoss.
Whoa, whoa, whoa, Barrett's contract hasn't run out yet. Let's not reassign his gimmick quite yet.
You wanted the best, you got... the Out of Context Quote of the Week.
"I got the email that my sub rubs out in a month..." (thecubsfan)
First off, it's Flair. Using real names (and misspelled) just looks dumb, especially when you're talking about Ric Flair the CHARACTER, and not Ric Flair the PERSON. Second off, no, Flair never joined the nWo or even came close.
Thread rated: 5.85
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