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To be fair to Sky, I think the feed cutting out might have been on WWE's end. I downloaded Raw this morning and it's a rip from some other country/channel and it was the same.

I've been moaning about it for two months but that was a pretty solid show.

Joe is very impressive on the mic. Between him and AJ, you really see the benefits of bringing experienced guys in. Neither are natural talkers, but both have been in high level positions in other companies for so long that they just exude a comfort, confidence and authority that most of the (largely) WWE grown guys don't. (I mean, I guess all I said there was "experience is good!", but it's actually become somewhat rare to get experienced guys who are new to the WWE landscape, so it feels like a bit of a very welcome throwback).

Some of it was fairly poor-to-middling - Miz/Ambrose, the mixed tag, Bayley/Alexa - but overall I thought that was a pretty fun, solid show. A good main event and a couple of other decent matches meant I probably enjoyed it more than any of the other split-brand PPV's since Mania.

The surprise finish of the main event was obviously a delight, but the whole match was pretty damn good, I thought. The running story of the Bray/Joe alliance, Roman looking like an absolute fucking star, Finn showing some aggression; there was a lot to like. The only downside was that I thought, "this should really be for a championship". Obviously, in some sense, the opportunity to fight Brock for it is a big deal in itself, but it could have meant more, and it still feels a bit weird that Raw's stumbling along without a true focal point.

I am pretty gutted about Bayley. The match was poor and, for the millionth time, she was made to look like an absolute chump. To the point where I'm not even sure this win does anything for Alexa. What happens now, I don't know. Much as I want to get behind it, the Raw women's division looks pretty terrible right now. I can't think of a match/feud that would excite me aside from Bayley/Sasha, and I'd even worry about how that would work on the main show.

Neville is tremendous and I hope he holds on to his title for a long time. I echo the annoyance at the ref in that match.

Raw is death for me at the minute. My favourite part by far was that Tracy's lusty looks towards that boyfriend character the whole time he was talking and then her, "who me!?" surprise when he said he wanted to be with her. Neville was alright too. Apart from that it was a real struggle.

I've had a busy week so I ended up fast-forwarding through every match so I could get to watching Smackdown faster. It all seemed fairly meh though.

Heyman and Balor was a mixed bag for me. I kinda hated that it (seemingly) telegraphed the ending of the PPV match, but I actually thought the segment was pretty decent on both sides and Finn really needed some promo time on TV. Since he's been back he's been completely bland and lost in the shuffle. At least having Heyman come out to talk him up sends some kind of positive message out there.

Beyond that, when I've watched Raw the past couple of weeks, all I've thought is, "where's Roman?". Obviously he's there, but he's seemed strangely like a bit-part player. I don't know if he's carrying a knock and they don't want to write the show around him while he does, or they're trying to keep their powder dry and give other guys a chance or something, but it's not good either way. Without utilising his star power, Raw feels flat every week.

It's really not that bad, though, is it? I feel like hardcore, lifelong wrestling fans get much too hung up on what's happened in the past. Everything's so changeable in wrestling. Does it really matter that Jinder was a jobber two months ago? I mean, I agree that as an individual talent there's not a lot there, but that has been true of many champions. What's important in those instances is that they're well booked and well protected. So far I'd say WWE have done a good job there. And I'd argue that the Orton/Jinder match was definitely a step up on either of the Orton/Wyatt matches and the feud building into it was solid enough too.

The only really jarring/nonsensical part of it, for me, is the fact that they're doing that thing where the top talents are fighting over the lesser belt while the midcard guys fight over the top title. That makes no sense and requires a ridiculous logic jump anytime someone mentions it on TV. But Jinder on his own? I can take what they're doing at face value. He'll probably be found out soon enough, but for now, on its own merits, I really don't think it's been too bad.

Other matches:

I think Breezango vs. the Usos is probably in my top five matches I've seen this year. It was so silly, so fun; such a perfect way to follow up the great drama and technical prowess on display at NXT Takeover. The crowd were super into it too.

AJ/Owens was good but not quite what I'd hoped for. Fine with the finish though.

Everything else was pretty mediocre, I thought. Nakamura/Ziggler, Zayn/Corbyn, Harper/Rowan and the women's match passed by without much note. The only thing that pops to mind is that Sami really sold that back injury fantastically. I've never been mad on him because I never saw him on the indies and I only saw a match or two in NXT, but there I got a quick glimpse of why he's such a beloved babyface.

I think it's fair to debate which was better out of the UK Title and Tag Team title matches. They were both absolute corkers that offered different things. I think maybe I'd edge towards the ladder match just because it meant more in story and emotional terms. The UK Title match was as fun a match as you're likely to see two guys have, but it did have the the faintest whiff of "two guys who know each other really well putting on an exhibition". The clash of styles in the ladder match, however, coupled with DIY's typically creative, engaging style and the heel turn in the end: it kinda had everything you could want from pro wrestling.

Honestly, as I was watching DIY in that match, before the turn, I was thinking, "these guys are absolute stars". As a team they're so fantasic. Every time I've seen them, which has mostly been on Takeover events, they have stolen the show. They're likeable, believable, they're creative and fun to watch in the ring; I can't think of a tag team I've been even half as impressed by in a very, very long time. And just as I was thinking, "these guys need to be on the main show and given a spotlight", Ciampa goes and destroys Johnny. I guess it kinda makes sense for NXT because down there this will play as an epic, awesome feud on a brand currently lacking in established stars, but long-term I hope they find some way back together.

Raw's so weird at the moment. It's like they saw SD improving in the ratings, read it completely wrong and somehow concluded, "people must really care about Bray, Ambrose and The Miz". As much as I disagree with people generally when they complain about WWE/wrestling not having any good stars anymore, watching Ambrose and The Miz carrying the show gives a lot of credence to that argument when it comes to Raw specifically. Reigns is the only guy there who feels like a true main eventer.

4 hours ago, MVP RULZ said:

Owens is still on Smackdown, just that Jericho is also joining him, it was never said Owens was going to Raw if he lost not sure where you got that from

Damn. I must have gone mental. I guess for some reason I thought it was like the champion/championship had been moved to Smackdown and whoever came out of that already scheduled rematch would be the guy who moved permanently to SD. I guess not. In which case, bloody hell, I can't believe how shallow Raw looks now.

I think some of the duelling chants, as the match went on, turned from "Let's go Roman! / Roman Sucks!" to "Let's go Strowman! / Roman Sucks!". It felt like the more he got beat up, the more of the crowd got into it.

I didn't think much of the PPV, to be honest. Strong main event, from which Braun and Roman can come out better, and an absolute debacle in House of Horrors, from which there were never going to be any winners. Everything else was just alright. I'm a bit disappointed in both title changes though. Bayley just because it happened so fast - I'd rather have seen it happen in a feud with some heat - and Owens because I'd much rather Owens be on SD.

That said, I think it's probably a good thing all in all that Owens will be on Raw. I'd rather him on SD just because I like that show more and I'd like to see more of him with the likes of AJ and Nakamura, but since the shake-up I look at Raw and I barely care about anyone on the roster. One more guy I like will hopefully make the three hours go slightly faster.

45 minutes ago, tiger_rick said:

Jeff Hardy looks like he has every time he's ever come back. No one else in the world could look like a star dressed like Jeff Hardy, then or now. And in no way at all is it "actually worse" than the Dudleys return. People fucking adore these two. As long as that continues, this is far better. Plus, neither Dudley has ever been a star on the level of Jeff Hardy so he'll win on that score for as long as he wants to be around.

Yeah, I'm not really disputing any of that or speaking in any "WWE should..." kind of way. I don't blame WWE for riding what's hot. I'm speaking on an entirely personal level. I was more than tired of the Hardyz before they left the last time and within weeks I'm deathly bored of them again. In-ring and out, it's everything I was done with before, but slower. If other people enjoy it, fair enough, but I feel like I've had enough of these Hardyz to last me a lifetime.

What mostly struck me during this episode was how bereft of star power it felt. Without Roman, there was no-one on the show who felt like a legit main eventer. Ambrose, Miz, Balor, Rollins, Joe, Jericho: I like some more than others, but they're all guys I'd place in that mid-level to upper-mid bracket at the moment. Braun, too, despite the current good work building him for his eventual fall. I don't know if Raw's ever been so weak.

The ring collapse spot doesn't do much for me, but then I'm old and jaded. I assume for younger fans in particular it was pretty amazing to see, so that's cool.

Personally my favourite thing of the episode was Alexa Bliss winning the #1 Contender's match. As someone who didn't really watch either in NXT but became a big fan of both, Alexa vs. Bayley is something I'm looking forward to.

Oh, and I hate the Hardy Boyz and feel certain that I'll fast-forward every non-PPV match either of them is ever in unless something changes with their characters. I can't bear the nostalgia act. It's actually worse than the Dudleys' return because so much of the Hardyz' old gimmick was based on youth and cool, and now they just look like two dads who have dressed up as their childhood heroes for a Halloween party. The Dudleys felt stale. These Hardyz feel ridiculous.

I like Lorcan. His weird body reminds me of MMA fighter Phil Davis and I've enjoyed pretty much every match I've seen him in. He needs to find some kind of personality though. He's like a create-a-wrestler where the creator has given him a body and enough moves to start playing, but none of the important stuff around it. When he walks to the ring, poses for the camera or cuts any kind of promo, it's completely default and generic. I hope one way or another he can take the next step.

I'm not particularly amped for Drew. He had his moments last time he was in WWE, but I wouldn't say he was one I ever thought of as a victim of his booking. It was more that he just didn't stand out in any area. I haven't watched any of his stuff over here or in TNA, though, so I hope he's added some strings to his bow.

I don't know if that was Miley's debut or not, but, if it was, I think it might be the most fun, organic debut I've seen in a while. He stood out straight away and even had me thinking that #DIY's win came across as slightly cheap because of how they avoided him. I mean, they don't lose anything, obviously - logically it's fine - but I was definitely left wanting more of Miley. I didn't even hate that backstage segment. Looking forward to whatever comes next.

* Reigns was great last night, but I don't think anything has changed. I hope I'm wrong, but I think ultimately we'll go back to mixed, confused reactions to mixed, confused booking. I've said it before, but I think the consequence of Roman not turning full heel while he's generating nuclear heat is that he becomes a black hole of sorts, sucking energy from his opponents rather than lending it to them. No babyface who goes up against him while he's playing the tweener will get the rub they need because you're splitting the foundation upon which babyfaces are built. I mean, if half the kids are rooting against a Balor/Zayn type in a feud between the two - which is what would happen unless you give them consistent, real reasons to hate Reigns - what chance do those plucky babyfaces possibly have of truly breaking out? It's fine for Reigns - he's good enough, established enough and protected enough to come out okay - but I think everything's going to rumble on just as it has.

* It was good to see Balor back. I'm actually pretty neutral on him right now because I've only seen him wrestle a couple of times, but I'm cautiously optimistic about the possibilities. It was slightly disappointing that he came back for what was essentially a pointless tag team match, but I won't hold that against him.

* The Goldberg segment on Raw Talk was great. I said that I couldn't have cared less when it was announced he was coming back, but it's been a great run. Fair play to the guy. I'm still not certain I'd like to see him come back - I guess I worry lightning won't strike twice - but if it does happen I won't be a misery guts about it. He definitely changed my opinion of him.

* I loved the Hardyz surprise at WM but if they're back simply as the older, fatter versions of what they used to be, I give it weeks before my interest is completely dead. Two matches and a Raw Talk into their new run and it already feels like the Dudleyz last year. Hopefully they can learn from that situation and see it's ridiculous to have your guys leave popular, super-over stuff in the locker.

* I'm quite excited at the prospect of a Charlotte/Nia feud, but I'm interested to see where the women land after the shake-up. Both divisions could use freshening up in a big way.

* I don't watch 205 Live but Neville is impressing me so much recently that I might have to reconsider that. Consistently a highlight.

 

If anything on Wrestlemania touches that tag team match I'll be delighted. It was just brilliant. The story was beautiful, the action creative and every team came out looking like champs. When I first caught a glimpse of AoP I assumed they'd be a couple of big, boring lummoxes, but they've been a huge booking success as far as I'm concerned. I liked their match with DIY at the last Takeover and this one was even better. Maybe there's not a ton of depth in that division right now, but what they're doing with what they've got is fantastic.

And while Nigel admittedly seems poor in comparison to Graves, surely Percy Watson can't have long left trying his hand at this. He is so bad. It's not just that what he says is rarely of any interest, it's that he doesn't seem to understand his whole reason to be there is to enhance the drama and put the people and the action over. There was a part near the end of the Roode/Nakamura match where, with Nakamura laid out and looking hurt and exhausted, Nigel said something like, "I don't think Nakamura could take another one of Roode's DDT's!" and Percy was like, "Nah, I think he could, he's very tough". That seemed ridiculous to me. All my wrestling instincts say that, in that situation, you say, "you might be right, Nigel, Nakamura looks hurt and exhausted... but so does Roode! One Kinshasha and it'd be over for Roode too!". I don't know. It's not great listening at the moment, that booth.

Question about the Witcher series: how much of a jump in quality was there from TW2 to TW3?

 

I just recently finished the GOTY edition of TW3 and I thought it was amazing. One of the best game experiences I've ever had probably. Is TW2 anywhere near that level? Because I had a similar situation when I played Skyrim. I loved that so much that I bought Oblivion straight after, but it felt incredibly dated in comparison and I couldn't get on with it at all. Would the gameplay of TW2 feel familiar? Is there much difference? Is it worth going back to or would I have that Oblivion experience again?

 

I thought the PPV was good overall but what the actual fuck were they thinking with that finish to the Women's Title match ?! If you're going to have Sasha interfere surely a DQ would've made for a better finish ? Shocking

The sensible idea is that Sasha sometime in the next couple of weeks says "The only reason you're champion is because of me, give me a shot" and they do that match at Mania?

 

 

My thinking was that now Steph plays the stirrer and says, "one way to make sure you won't interfere for Bayley is if you've got a chance at the title yourself... your selfish side will come out and prove your friendship is phony *evil laugh*". Sasha vs Charlotte vs Bayley triple threat at Mania (or maybe a four-way with Nia if they're desperate to include her). A bit of growing tension up to Mania, then possibly a Sasha heel turn either at Mania or the night after. In my mind, you've then got the potential to call Asuka up to feud with Charlotte while Sasha and Bayley mix it up. It wouldn't even really matter who had the title out of that lot. Probably pure fantasy, of course.

I really like Bayley and I'm looking forward to the Charlotte feud, but she really needs a bit more pace and explosion in her offence. When whe does her signature elbow into the corner after mimicking the tube men thing, it never looks like it has any power behind it. Ditto for some of her other moves.

 

Also, "sexy pinata". Good ol' Jericho.

I actually enjoyed the finish of the main event. It's one of those loopholes in wrestling logic that's barely ever exploited despite it being flagrantly obvious. Even as a kid you're like, "why doesn't the interfering heel just hit the babyface's opponent so the babyface loses rather than wins?". Seeing a "smart" character like Jericho take advantage of that appeals to me. What I didn't really enjoy was the match itself. Owens and Reigns don't seem to have very good chemistry. I may not be Reigns' biggest fan overall, but there's no denying he's had some corkers this year. And Owens is usually watchable enough in a big match situation. But this felt flat throughout.

 

The women's match was much better. Nothing spectacular, but in 35 mins of wrestling I was never bored, so fair play to them. Delighted to see the belt back on Charlotte. I still don't really see what the appeal of Sasha is. I think of all the female talent on Raw and Smackdown! and I only see her as upper-mid-level. How that's taken her to three-time champ, I don't know. Based on the way the division's been going, though, Charlotte will have topped her daddy's record within a year or two.

Has Marty Scurll really become as good as he seemed last night? I've only seen him wrestle once before, against Colt Cabana nearly three years ago, and he looked like a completely different animal. It was an absolute corker of a match and I wondered if it was maybe just a chemistry/experience thing with Ospreay rather than a true indicator of his talents. If he has gotten that much better, fair play to the man. Certainly I'm looking forward to seeing whatever comes next for him in ROH.

 

But yeah, it was a fun show overall. The Briscoes/Bucks match was pure insane joy, seeing Dalton Castle was a hoot, and the only bad thing about the main event was that it had to follow such a barnstormer TV title match.

 

One thing in defence of the people standing near the front: I wonder how much they paid. It's no excuse, really, but as someone who buys the cheapest tickets available, I'm always gobsmacked that there are people happy to pay two or three times as much as me to sit about six feet closer. I can imagine if you've paid £50+ for a small wrestling show, you're gonna want to see every bit of action you can. I mean, there were times when everyone was sitting down and I still couldn't see what was going on (for example, it looked like Kyle won by armbar, but I couldn't tell you for sure!).  So if you've had a bit of bad luck, paid £45 and just happen to have some tall fucker sitting in front of you, I can imagine wanting to stand up for a moment to see past them. Again, it's not ideal, but unless you've got raked seating it's always going to pop up as an issue. As a £20 cheapskate I know going in that's why my ticket is cheaper.

I enjoyed the main event. Gimmicky as all get out, but that's okay because (a) I don't need to see these two women wrestle a normal match again anytime soon, and (b) it calmed the fears that they'd go easy and have a "normal" match that just happened to be in a cell. I'm very glad Charlotte won too. Sasha, for all the NXT hype and excitement, has completely failed to win me over since she's hit the main roster. So far I see her as a more glam, less skilled version of AJ Lee (and I know what most of this place thinks of AJ). Charlotte is a capable in-ring competitor and a completely mediocre but passable promo. She may as well have the belt and use it to see if Bayley's popularity can carry over into WWE proper.

Aside from that, I didn't think much of the event. I said a while back that I welcomed the new PPV schedule because I looked forward to more matches that felt "consequential". That's still mostly true, but I have to say that even the other two Hell in a Cell matches here felt less than that. Rusev/Reigns was perfectly serviceable but also predictable and familiar. Owens/Rollins was alright but if you swapped the Cell for a cage that match would have fit fine as a Raw main event leading up to a proper PPV match between Rollins and Owens.

No-one's posted the updated cards for the UK tour, I see. They're filling out a bit (well, except London)...

 

Liverpool - 18/11

 

6-MAN TAG TEAM MAIN EVENT

ADAM COLE/YOUNG BUCKS VS. KYLE O'REILLY/MARK & JAY BRISCOE

 

PROVING GROUND

BOBBY FISH VS. WILL OSPREAY

 

JAY LETHAL VS. CHRIS SABIN

DALTON CASTLE VS. MARTY SCURLL

CHRISTOPHER DANIELS VS. ACH

FRANKIE KAZARIAN VS. LIO RUSH

JOE HENDRY VS. DONOVAN DIJAK

 

Leicester - 19/11

 

YOUNG BUCKS (MATT & NICK JACKSON) VS. MARTY SCURLL & WILL OSPREAY

 

CHRIS SABIN VS. ADAM COLE

ALEX SHELLEY VS. JAY LETHAL

reDRagon (BOBBY FISH & KYLE O'REILLY) VS. JAY & MARK BRISCOE

JOE HENDRY VS. ACH

THE ADDICTION (CHRISTOPHER DANIELS & FRANKIE KAZARIAN) VS. DALTON CASTLE & DELIRIOUS

LIO RUSH VS. DONOVAN DIJAK

 

London - 20/11

 

ROH WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP

JAY LETHAL VS. ADAM COLE © (If Still Champion)

 

WILL OSPREAY VS. MARTY SCURLL

 

 

Take the disc out, put it back in and hold onto it as the Xbox tries to grab it for a second then release it. No idea why it works but it recognises the disc 100% of the time if you do it.

 

I saw that working for people on YouTube but it didn't work for me. Cheers for trying to help though.

Okay. I bowed to your advice and went through ShopTo instead. Picking it up tomorrow and should (hopefully) have a new machine here before New Year's. Cheers.

Alright. Cheers for the thoughts. I think I'm just going to send it to get repaired. Shopto have always been good in the past, but this last month has just made me sick to death of dealing with retailers. I'm paranoid they'll send a replacement and have exactly the same issue. At least this way I should be getting back a reliable machine (maybe with a little something extra thrown in, based on what I've read from some people online). At least I haven't sold my 360 yet and I'll have something to play with my family over Christmas.