Post-Mania RAW Discussion thread

[textonly]

When is the draft usually?

[PowerButchi]

When they need a ratings spike.

 

May Sweeps is a good bet though.

[JPC]

Post mania discussion? How about this fucking thunderstorm in downtown Atlanta?! It chased us from the arena to the hotel and i'm soaked through! Now i have read there is a tornado warning!

[Dazz]

Post mania discussion? How about this fucking thunderstorm in downtown Atlanta?! It chased us from the arena to the hotel and i'm soaked through! Now i have read there is a tornado warning!

 

Man! scary stuff. Got to the MARTA station. Power went off. Got on a train, got to Midtown station. Ran from midtown. SOAKED is not the word..

 

I've never experienced weather like this!

[gadge]

Booking Rock vs Cena has clearly angered God!

 

362 days to WrestleMania...

[The Dart]

Yes the weather in Atlanta is strange. It was an incredible day, amazing weather. It was so sunny when we went into Raw, then came out to amazing rain thunder and lightning. We tried to go back into the Arena, they wouldn't let us, until people really started getting angry so they let us back in. Got to the station, no trains came for aaaaaages, eventually we got on a train, but like tits we got off the wrong station (my fault), which delayed us another 20 minutes.

 

Apparently some people were in the CNN Centre after the show and police wouldn't let them out because of the weather!!

 

Raw was real fun though.

[d-d-d-dAz]

Unless they're booking Cena in pillow fights for the rest of the year, they've perhaps wrote a cheque they won't be able to cash. Which will be no good for nobody.

 

I don't think they anticipated the crowd reaction to be so muted and negative, but I think when you announce a Rock match one year in advance, you are inadvertently making the corollary announcement that he won't be wrestling for a year.

 

Oh, I almost forgot, Sin Cara was so, so close to botching his entrance. Which would have dogged his whole WWE run...

[jonnybgoode82]

On the surface it looks like they've sown the seeds for pretty much all the top matches at WM28.

 

Aside from Cena-Rock, it looks like we're going to get Miz/Austin and Taker/HHH III.

 

I'm calling Taker/HHH Hell in a Cell next year. It's brought across as both guys' speciality match and would make sense in the grand scheme of things.

 

As of now, I have no confidence in WWE to keep a Cena/Rock feud brewing and fresh for a full 12 months. It just screams of them getting desperate in the summer and having the old 'why wait 'til Wrestlemania?' line going and pull the trigger on it at SummerSlam, knowing full well they can then have the rematch at Mania 28.

 

It's intriguing though because I can't recall a time when they've actively booked a match 12 months in advance. There were times when they had planted seeds for matches well in advance and the Hogan/Savage WM4-WM5 deal, where you kinda knew where they were headed without anyone saying it.

 

I think essentially what I'm saying is that WWE leaves us with more questions than answers at the minute. It looks like Ziggler and Morrison are going to move their feud up a notch. It's a good first feud for Ziggler on the RAW brand because Morrison is firmly in that face below the Main Event slot and it immediately brings Ziggler up to that level.

 

It looks like Punk-Orton will carry on until Extreme Rules but Nexus are done. The only guy I would keep around on the main brand at the minute is Mason Ryan and that would be in a bodyguard role for now.

 

So Sin Cara is going straight in at the US Title level, what that means for Bryan I don't know but I'd say he's ready for a switch to the blue brand, if the draft goes ahead on 18th April.

 

The Corre are pretty much a joke at this stage. They need to split those guys and let them sink or swim on their own ability and characters. Barrett would benefit from having William Regal as a mentor-type, Zeke needs to be pushed as an unstoppable monster on Smackdown and plough through the lower card and I really think Gabriel and Slater could work as a face tandem going forward.

 

Aside from that it feels like they've run out of challengers for Miz. I presume Cena gets a rematch at Extreme Rules but how they book Cena for the next 12 months is a massive question mark in itself with the Rock match always looming in the distance. After that, another Orton feud would be mind numbing and I don't see anyone in a position at the minute to step up into the title picture.

 

A massive change this year in the WWE landscape is the lack of a Money in the Bank match at Mania. There was always that guy to fall back on, stick in the mix to freshen things up or pull the trigger on immediately. This year they don't have that at their disposal.

 

Obviously we're expecting cuts in the next few weeks as well, so that will probably open up some roster spots. And I am looking forward to the draft because I think some guys would benefit from a move and I think the next month's TV will be a complete cluster whilst everything settles down.

 

As for WWE offering more questions than answers at the minute. It's that intrigue that should make me want to tune in but at the minute the writers have not done enough for me to invest that faith in them.

[GlennCullen]

Quality save by Sin Cara with his entrance, very nearly fucked it up big time. Looked impressive taking out Sheamus and that dive to the outside was beautiful.

 

The crowd was strangely muted to the Rock/Cena announcement but that very well may be down to the fact its so far away and happening in Miami. Will be interesting to see how they plot it out over the next year.

[Magnum]

Assuming everything goes to plan and injuries don't intervene, I'm going on record now and saying that next year's Wrestlemania will be the most excited I've been for a WWE event since the Invasion PPV, and I think it makes the match all the more unpredictable and special than if they'd just had it at Summerslam (where the crowd may have been split down the middle, and they'd have likely just gone for the 'respect' ending). Just please, please let them turn Cena properly either in the run-up to the event or during the match - the thought of another 18 months or more of babyface Cena is nauseating, and he'll get insane heel heat at the event anyway, so he may as well play up to it.

[Skull]

Sin Cara almost had a Shockmaster debut, I actualy marked "shockmaster enterance!" was I the only person who thought the crowd was dead for his debut? yes they have put endless amounts of promo vids for him, and yes no one knew it was him when those drums hit, but when he went through the curtain there wasnt much of a reaction, until he hit those spots

[Ron Simmons]

Cena/Rock at next year's Wrestlemania? There's A LOT of variables regarding whether that match will happen. Particularly the physical well-being of Cena, I'd suggest they write him off TV for a while or at least handle his matches with kid gloves. I'm thinking we might see a Rock/Cena Vs. The Corre match at whatever Backlash is called now, though.

 

As for Austin, I don't expect to see him return to the ring. I think it was a segment to promote Tough Enough, nothing more, nothing less.

[Magnum]

Sin Cara almost had a Shockmaster debut, I actualy marked "shockmaster enterance!" was I the only person who thought the crowd was dead for his debut? yes they have put endless amounts of promo vids for him, and yes no one knew it was him when those drums hit, but when he went through the curtain there wasnt much of a reaction, until he hit those spots

 

Wouldn't expect there to be that much of a reaction on his debut, tbh. He's not a 'name' to the majority of the WWE audience, and as he hasn't done any talking in the vignettes he's the sort of wrestler who'll only get over once fans have seen him in the ring.

[JohnnyChimpo]

.

[IANdrewDiceClay]

This is going to sound like I've nicked it off Bryan Alvarez, because he said it today as well and I think he's spot on, but you wouldnt have thought John Cena had just lost in the main event of the WRESTLEMANIA. He came out with a big fuck off grin on his face like he'd won. That didnt sit well. He didnt seem to fussed.