denzel_maggiore Posted April 6, 2011 Share Posted April 6, 2011 Few thoughts..... Â 1. Really enjoyed Raw. Whether or not that was because Mania was awful or because it was a good solid show with decent matches and promos...I don't know or care, but thought it was structured really well (Unlike Mania!) Â 2. Somebody mentioned on here that they can see The Rock/Cena feud ending up with them both facing each other at Summerslam, I can also see this happening where the feud reaches boiling point where they will say something like 'Lets not wait until WrestleMania....lets go at Summerslam' which wouldn't be a bad thing with the rematch being at Mania, they could also maybe do a Cena heel turn somewhere down the line although even if he turns heel I think the WWE universe will then cheer for him, a heel Rock would still be cheered anyway so not sure where they will take it, unless Cena goes full out heel and takes The Rock out for six months at Summerslam. Â 3. Lets applaud the WWE for trying something different with the yearly booking of the mania main event, it will either have a really good payoff next year or it will flop completely who knows but its different and gives the WWE some direction to play this feud out, things like the Rumble could still be altered (e.g. if Cena wins he has his title shot at any time he likes rather than at Mania...which could be why there was no MITB) so think it could turn out really well for the WWE. Â I haven't watched much WWE the last few years just the odd shows here and there but its good to see something a little different...lets face it its been the same product the last 8 years at least. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vito Posted April 6, 2011 Share Posted April 6, 2011 I happen to enjoy complaining about wrestling though. Y'know, I'd love to watch a wrestling event and not find a single thing to complain about, unfortunately wrestling these days is stale, predictable and has the bizarre ability to time after time take "can't fail" ideas and storylines and sabotage them. Until wrestling pulls itself out of the quagmire its currently in I'm going to entertain myself by complaining about it. If you don't like it, utilize the handy block function, I really couldn't care less because my opinions are no more or less valid than anyone elses here. Try going to the Wrestlecrap forums then, you'll fit right in. OH WOW. So anyone who doesn't fall in line with your views should go elsewhere because you say so? Please tell me more, King of the Internet. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members tiger_rick Posted April 6, 2011 Paid Members Share Posted April 6, 2011 I thought it was a good Raw. Knew something major had happened because of the number of pages on here! Â Trips interview to start it off was a bit shaky but got going eventually. I guess he's getting his win back somewhere along the line. Rock/Cena is gonna be bloody awesome. That Tough Enough segment was pretty great too. Austin busting out the Thesz Press gives me hope for one more match. He did look shagged though. Â Sin Cara nearly fucking up his ring entrance was a 'mare but he made up for it immediately with one of the most beautiful cross body's I've ever seen. Â Some decent wrestling on the show, it was a nice blend actually. Only criticisms I'd have are that I'd like to see them reset the Raw/SD boundaries now so they can try and make money off it at some point in the year. I'd also like it if Michael Cole fucked off back to being a war corespondent. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThePhenom Posted April 6, 2011 Share Posted April 6, 2011 . I'd also like it if Michael Cole fucked off back to being a war corespondent. I agree, I want him off of commentary (On Raw at least) now. I want the Cole/Swagger Vs JR/King feud to finish as soon as possible, then get JR back to doing play by play with Lawler on Raw. I wouldn't mind if Cole became Jack Swagger's manager, but I'm starting to find his commentary distracting, and for no reason after the Wrestlemania match. If he isn't gonna do that, then he can just sod off for all I care. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members ColinBollocks Posted April 6, 2011 Paid Members Share Posted April 6, 2011 Meltzer made a great point on the last Observer Radio show. He says that if WWE want to draw 10,000 people at house shows instead of 5,000 (they're doing great business since The Rock returned) they're going to have to accept that the crowd that make them a bigger money company (male adults), are always going to hate John Cena in his current gimmick. WWE is hot right now and it's no coincidence that John Cenas is getting booed like crazy. The people even turned on The Rock when he put John Cena over. Â The next 12 months will be interesting because we'll see what WWE decides to do with their company direction. If they do 12 months of shaking hands and 'respect' (like Raw) then the fans will piss off again - and will turn on The Rock. Since the Raw go-home show for 'Mania they appeared to have cut the balls off The Rock too - maybe they realised he's killing John Cena and tamed his schtick down A LOT. This will also turn fans off, as they see John Cena as a geek that isn't is The Rocks league. Â WWE need to give the people what they want. They want to see The Rock going full out and owning John Cena. Not shake his hand and give motivational speeches. The Rock everybody loves is an arrogant shite with a big mouth that takes the piss. Â It's a shame they are allergic to pushing people to the moon because if they had a decent babyface - I'd turn Cena at Summer Slam. It will make this feud all the more compelling, as they don't have to worry about The Rock outshining John Cena as a babyface - so we don't get The Rock circa 2002 and get The Rock circa 98-00. The Rock people are interested in seeing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members tiger_rick Posted April 6, 2011 Paid Members Share Posted April 6, 2011 WWE need to give the people what they want. They want to see The Rock going full out and owning John Cena. Not shake his hand and give motivational speeches. The Rock everybody loves is an arrogant shite with a big mouth that takes the piss. They've already done that. They are a year away from the match. The Rock is going to piss off for 11 months leaving John Cena to carry the load. They need The Rock to put John Cena over as being on his level, a) to draw in the short term and b) to draw a buyrate when they face off. When The Rock comes back next march, he'll go full out on the attack again. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members ColinBollocks Posted April 6, 2011 Paid Members Share Posted April 6, 2011 WWE need to give the people what they want. They want to see The Rock going full out and owning John Cena. Not shake his hand and give motivational speeches. The Rock everybody loves is an arrogant shite with a big mouth that takes the piss. They've already done that. They are a year away from the match. The Rock is going to piss off for 11 months leaving John Cena to carry the load. They need The Rock to put John Cena over as being on his level, a) to draw in the short term and b) to draw a buyrate when they face off. When The Rock comes back next march, he'll go full out on the attack again. It didn't really work though, the people WWE are hoping will stick around for a year booed The Rock when he dare put John Cena over. These people fucked off during John Cenas 'era' because they can't get into him - the chances are they'll do it again when they realise The Rock is away for a few months. They were right into The Miz though, so WWE need to do their best to keep that going. Â The part that worried me was they tamed The Rocks schtick down a lot Wrestlemania week. Who knows maybe the writers had a bad week. But they can't get away with that when they re-heat this thing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FutureMrsTarver Posted April 6, 2011 Share Posted April 6, 2011 I wouldn't mind if Cole became Jack Swagger's manager, but I'm starting to find his commentary distracting. Â I don't really know why you'd say that. His indignant, pro-heel rants have given vitality, passion and perspective to otherwise lifeless feuds such as Edge/Del Rio and Punk/Orton, and he was the secret MVP in the Mysterio/Rhodes program. He reminds me of Jesse Ventura in his prime. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members Green Posted April 6, 2011 Paid Members Share Posted April 6, 2011 I happen to enjoy complaining about wrestling though. Y'know, I'd love to watch a wrestling event and not find a single thing to complain about, unfortunately wrestling these days is stale, predictable and has the bizarre ability to time after time take "can't fail" ideas and storylines and sabotage them. Until wrestling pulls itself out of the quagmire its currently in I'm going to entertain myself by complaining about it. If you don't like it, utilize the handy block function, I really couldn't care less because my opinions are no more or less valid than anyone elses here. Try going to the Wrestlecrap forums then, you'll fit right in. OH WOW. So anyone who doesn't fall in line with your views should go elsewhere because you say so? Please tell me more, King of the Internet. Well judging by your witty zingers and general intelligence level, the IMDB forums may also be worth a look. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members Supremo Posted April 6, 2011 Paid Members Share Posted April 6, 2011 Now, lets get down to how Cena reacts to losing his shot at the World Title at the on the biggest show of the year. This fucking plank comes out on RAW after what was supposed to be a shot he had went through the Rumble to try and get, then subjected himself to the brutality of Elimination Chamber to finally get the match. Does he come out angry that he was robbed! Is he devasted that his shot has gone! No, this dip-shit comes out smiling and starts cracking jokes treating the title like its totally un-important, it doesn't matter to him! If it means so little why the fuck did he put himself through so much to get the bloody shot! He should have come out, fired a slavo against the Rock, demanded a cage match at Exteme Rules and called out the Rock. This man is a fucking clown! If he doesn't care, why should I. Why should I pay good money to see a title match, when the bloke challenging for the title doesn't give a fuck about!! My thoughts exactly. As an example, what with everyone drawing similarities between this Wrestlemania and Wrestlemania 14 leading into it, can you imagine how Stone Cold's character would've reacted if Mike Tyson had cost him the match and the title at Mania 14? Do you think he'd have been smiling on the following RAW? No. He'd have gone absolutely mental, and probably attempted to fucking kill someone. It's night and day between then and now in terms of being made to care about something as a viewer. The characters themselves need to act like everything's super important, or else why would we? John Cena doesn't give a flying fuck about anything, so accordingly it's no wonder nobody gives a fuck about him. Â They need The Rock to put John Cena over as being on his level, a) to draw in the short term and b) to draw a buyrate when they face off. When The Rock comes back next march, he'll go full out on the attack again. Therein lies the problem though; thanks to the way in which Cena's character has been completely mauled throughout this whole debacle, The Rock suddenly shaking his hand and endorsing him doesn't help Cena or bring him up to The Rock's level, it just harms The Rock and brings him down to Cena's. When The Rock and Hogan squared off the crowd went apeshit because both guys were considered huge stars. Right now, thanks to everything that's happened, Cena's stock has fallen massively, hence the complete lack of response from the crowd on Monday. Had they squared off and announced a match in February, I guarantee it would've got a much bigger response because that was before they systematically tore Cena apart. Â In fact, now that The Rock's fucking off for a while and the current incarnation of the angle is over for the foreseeable furture, I'd say we've definitely got enough perspective at this point to call this angle for what it's been; a complete and utter mess. In concept, I can understand why people thought it'd be similar to Wrestlemania 14; a big star did bring loads of new eyeballs to the product, but unlike back then, when they gave Austin the mega-rub whilst delivering a tremendous product that hooked a load of new people, this angle has been the absolute antithesis. Â Nobody's been given the rub. At all. For starters The Miz has had the shit beaten out of him at every opportunity, so despite being only the second heel to walk out of a Wrestlemania main event with the belt, he's still a complete chump. Meanwhile Cena's came out of this feud getting booed more than ever before, having had all of his weaknesses completely exposed either by way of The Rock flat-out highlighting them or by forcing the audience to draw direct comparisons between them in terms of promo ability. Even The Rock himself has been somewhat damaged! Back when he cut that first promo it was like the second coming, but thanks to the horrible way in which this angle has been written and paced even The Rock's lost a lot of luster. The novelty of having him back wore off way sooner than you'd imagine thanks to the live-via-satellite bullshit, he was way too physical on the go-home RAW whilst simultaneously not physical enough at Wrestlemania, and ultimately he ended coming across as a bit of a dick. He was booked to first ruin the Mania main event like a knobhead, making everyone look bad, then did a complete 180 the following night by sucking up to the guy he's buried six feet under the past few months, before seemingly running away for a year rather than face up to the consequences of his actions. All three of them have came out of this worse off than they did going in, and anyone who started watching again thanks to The Rock's return will undoubtedly be leaving in the next few weeks after having to endure a dog-shit Wrestlemania and having no-one to root for now The Rock's gone other than John Cena, a guy who was completely destroyed over the past three months, with little to no comeback throughout. Â I mean, fucking hell. Imagine if, in 1998, instead of doing what they did with Autsin and Tyson, in turn creating the boom period, they'd done something similar to this? Tyson would've spent a month bad-mouthing Austin, Austin would've been scripted to have almost no come-back, they'd have done loads of physicality on the go-home RAW, Tyson would've cost Austin the match by punching him in the face, then knocked out HBK for good measure, Austin wouldn't have cared the following night and then they'd shake hands like a pair of twats, with Stone Cold getting neither a come-back, or any moment of success whatsoever. Â Not that any of this is surprising considering it's how they've handled every potentially great angle since around 2001, but still, it's quite amazing when you think about it; The fucking Rock came back to feud with John Cena and they managed to fuck it up! Incredible, really. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members tiger_rick Posted April 6, 2011 Paid Members Share Posted April 6, 2011 I mean, fucking hell. Imagine if, in 1998, instead of doing what they did with Autsin and Tyson, in turn creating the boom period, they'd done something similar to this? Tyson would've spent a month bad-mouthing Austin, Austin would've been scripted to have almost no come-back, they'd have done loads of physicality on the go-home RAW, Tyson would've cost Austin the match by punching him in the face, then knocked out HBK for good measure, Austin wouldn't have cared the following night and then they'd shake hands like a pair of twats, with Stone Cold getting neither a come-back, or any moment of success whatsoever. When did anyone compare this story to WM14? I've not seen that once. It's nothing like 1998. Mike tyson wasn't a massive babyface. John Cena isn't the greatest babyface in wrestling history. The Miz isn't a classic heel. It doesn't compare at all. Â I'm not set on John Cena not being pissed at losing. That's the character though. He doesn't get all pissed very often. He hasn't for years. He handles most things the same way. Â I don't think they've done the whole thing much harm with the handshake 'n' shit. Rock will come back next year, rip the shit out of Cena and we'll have the same anticipation we had a month or so ago. Guaran-damn-teed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThePhenom Posted April 6, 2011 Share Posted April 6, 2011 I wouldn't mind if Cole became Jack Swagger's manager, but I'm starting to find his commentary distracting. Â I don't really know why you'd say that. His indignant, pro-heel rants have given vitality, passion and perspective to otherwise lifeless feuds such as Edge/Del Rio and Punk/Orton, and he was the secret MVP in the Mysterio/Rhodes program. He reminds me of Jesse Ventura in his prime. Maybe it is because he is doing it as the play by play guy, or that I would rather see JR in his old chair doing his stuff with the King. It would be alright if he stayed on Smackdown I guess, but I would still wish he would tone it down abit. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members Supremo Posted April 6, 2011 Paid Members Share Posted April 6, 2011 I mean, fucking hell. Imagine if, in 1998, instead of doing what they did with Autsin and Tyson, in turn creating the boom period, they'd done something similar to this? Tyson would've spent a month bad-mouthing Austin, Austin would've been scripted to have almost no come-back, they'd have done loads of physicality on the go-home RAW, Tyson would've cost Austin the match by punching him in the face, then knocked out HBK for good measure, Austin wouldn't have cared the following night and then they'd shake hands like a pair of twats, with Stone Cold getting neither a come-back, or any moment of success whatsoever. When did anyone compare this story to WM14? I've not seen that once. It's nothing like 1998. Mike tyson wasn't a massive babyface. John Cena isn't the greatest babyface in wrestling history. The Miz isn't a classic heel. It doesn't compare at all. I saw the comparison made loads. On here, on other sites, and I even justified it myself to a degree when I saw how many former fans I personally knew who'd come back after hearing about The Rock's return. Business picked up, both literally and figuratively. Like Tyson before him, The Rock brought with him a huge amount of press and new viewers and like they did in 1998 they had a chance to capitalise on it by giving people the rub and showing those new viewers what they were missing. Unbelievably though they didn't give anyone the rub, in fact going as far as to bury their main stars along the way, whilst delivering a piss poor product that actively discouraged people from sticking around for the long term. Â I'm not set on John Cena not being pissed at losing. That's the character though. He doesn't get all pissed very often. He hasn't for years. He handles most things the same way. Oh, I know this isn't the first time he's laughed off what should be an important matter, it just grated more here than ever before because it's concerning what's supposed to be the most important moment of the year; the main event title match at Wrestlemania. He's supposed to have spent the year trying to get to that moment, and when someone ruins it he acts like he doesn't give a shit. It's fucking retarded. Â I don't think they've done the whole thing much harm with the handshake 'n' shit. Rock will come back next year, rip the shit out of Cena and we'll have the same anticipation we had a month or so ago. Guaran-damn-teed. In the meantime though, now The Rock's gone, we've been left with two guys in The Miz and Cena who've been made to look like complete dickheads. If you came back due to The Rock's return, why would you stick around now? This whole angle has existed to make the pair of them look bad, neither have been allowed to prove otherwise, and now it's just put on hold for a year? Jesus Christ. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members tiger_rick Posted April 6, 2011 Paid Members Share Posted April 6, 2011 I don't think they've done the whole thing much harm with the handshake 'n' shit. Rock will come back next year, rip the shit out of Cena and we'll have the same anticipation we had a month or so ago. Guaran-damn-teed. In the meantime though, now The Rock's gone, we've been left with two guys in The Miz and Cena who've been made to look like complete dickheads. If you came back due to The Rock's return, why would you stick around now? This whole angle has existed to make the pair of them look bad, neither have been allowed to prove otherwise, and now it's just put on hold for a year? Jesus Christ. I'm not sure I agree. John Cena stood up verbally with The Rock, would probably have beaten The Miz if not for the interference and then offered The Rock a fight. The Miz proved himself a sneaky, viscious bastard before WrestleMania and fought out a gutsy draw before the restart on the show. Â The only drawback is that they've highlighted how uncool John Cena can be and reawakened a lot of the hatred towards him (though plenty of that comes around each WrestleMania anyway). Â I don't think they've given anyone who tuned in to watch The Rock a reason to stick around but nor have they driven away their core audience. They've done what they set out to do which is sell WrestleMania. They've also set up an absolute dream match for next year, which I never thought possible. I actually got goosebumps when Rock agreed to it. Â My only worry is that now we won't ever get Undertaker/Cena at WM which I just have to see. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
godisfoley Posted April 6, 2011 Share Posted April 6, 2011 My only worry is that now we won't ever get Undertaker/Cena at WM which I just have to see. Â Â Â my thoughts exactly if cena is busy with the rock at mania who else could look like they had a cat in hells chance of ending the streak at least with cenas record u could buy into someone like him ending the streak. who else could convince us of that unless they wait till mania 28 for the hhh taker rematch Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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