raw Discussion Thread

[Loki]

It's not a bad idea, Daz, and it clears the way for Cena to start building back up to a WM clash with The Rock.

[Allstar69]

I loved raw it was great. I hope reys win and Cenas win aint put in the record books as that wasnt the real championship Punks still got it. Cole in Triple H gear was funny as fuck and anything to get Ryder on tv.

[wwffan2]

I loved raw it was great. I hope reys win and Cenas win aint put in the record books as that wasnt the real championship Punks still got it. Cole in Triple H gear was funny as fuck and anything to get Ryder on tv.

 

I really loved this weeks raw, I like the way that they keep teasing Del Rio cashing in on his money in the bank title shot and i was very surprised to see Punk at the end of the show i didnt think we would see him until at least at Summerslam.

[Allstar69]

So has Punk turned now is he a face?

[wwffan2]

So has Punk turned now is he a face?

 

I think he is still a heel but has been getting face reactions from the crowds. This angle is the best thing WWE has done since the Nexus.

[NEWM]

You have to think they wanted a better pop for Ryder's entrance mind. Virtual silence apart from small (very small) pockets of the crowd. Poor work from Ryder too, he rushed that finish with Cole, had he waited about ten more seconds, the "Lets Go Ryder" (or whatever it was) chant that was bubbling under would have actually picked up and ended the match for him on a bit more of a high.

 

In what was effectively the in-ring debut of Internet Superstar Zack Ryder, the whole thing spluttered a bit. He needs way more to work with if he's going to get over. The sound of a bazillion people clicking open Youtube videos and shouting on internet forums can't be heard in an arena of TV viewers. They were only just starting to explore that avenue with Punk - and he's a top guy doing World Title stuff. Ryder's miles away from that.

[Baz Windham]

From a personal point of view I might have liked Punk to be off for a few more weeks yet, perhaps until Summerslam itself or just after as Raw seemed like a couple of shows in one. However I can't say that what the WWE has done both from a story and business perspective is illogical.

 

Storyline wise they were rightly not mentioning him and moving on but enough has changed for there to be a way back in the form of HHH and Punk is the type that would want to interupt a new champion because he's the real champion. Exactly what the situation is and why he returned will be answered next week I assume, lots of questions at the end of a show is good, let's hope the answers are worth waiting for.

 

Also with no mention of Punk and rightly so (why would they show footage of someone they are moving on from) whatever they booked for Summerslam and stuff up until that would have likely felt flat and a bit of a waste of time because of what was anticipated further along. It certainly felt that the feeling last week was that it was a comedown from the past few weeks. So it makes sense for WWE to have the current main player there to build probably what they now see as their 2nd biggest show of the year.

 

So yeah looking forward to next week to see how everything is explained. If there are reasons for things happening in a story, it makes sense and I really enjoy I'll soon forget how I might have done it and how quickly it was done. I hope and i'm sure there is plenty more to come.

 

P.S I hope the GM is explained soon or at the very least he carries on chiming in.

[ColinBollocks]

Forgot to mention how much I enjoy Dolph Zigglers new music. Nice.

[ShortOrderCook]

Like others, i'm not sure how i feel about this new Punk development just yet. It's not entirely clear what the circumstances are behind him being back are just yet but as things stand, currently...i'm a little disappointed and generally disagree with a lot of the points Triple D-Daz is making. But this is mainly because i was really liking Raw and the direction it was going in. I liked the subtle and not-so-subtle references to the Punk situation and thought if they keep this up, it'll be tremendous. The bait and switch with JR (likewise i thought that was handled really well, as when they first announced a blockbuster return, i assumed it would be Morrison and due to the circumstances he'd have gotten a lousy reaction but, that was pulled off very nicely) Miz' promo and what i thought was a real nice touch was Zack Ryder appearing on the show. Going by the thought process that Punk hadn't been signed but Triple H would be happy to resign him if Punk wanted to give Triple Hs regime a chance as alluded to at the ComicCon, i thought this was a nice touch as the Ryder-Cole match was a match Triple H made a point he had put together espeically. And one of Punks questions at ComicCon (even if in a joking manner) was 'When are you going to put Zack Ryder on Raw?' So it was a subtle wink at those who had seen that of Triple H saying to Punk 'see, i'm willing to work this out, this is a new regime'. As Ryder being Coles opponent must have seemed odd to some. But, alas if it's as simple as Triple H has resigned Punk it makes that thought process redundant.

 

 

That 'shooting their load early' thing is nonsense. WWE is a business, a business designed to promote its pay-per-view broadcasts (through the medium of television) to demand the highest possible revenue; with only TWO Raw's to go until Summerslam, when do you honestly suggest they bring back their current hottest property, in time to stoke the fire for the title rematch...?

 

We really need to disconnect our ideal expectations of the feud from what the business can reasonably deliver. It would have been lovely to have a few more weeks of CM Punk's world tour, and thinly veiled wink-wink-nudge-nudge references but, realistically, they need to have him back on TV, in person and interacting with his nemesis ASAP.

 

I'm not in complete disagreement here. I'm not suggesting bringing Punk back to tv when he's so red-hot is a 100% terrible move, of course it isn't. But, what's to say they couldn't have done better business down the road if the angle was really stretched out? You say the 'shooting their load early thing is nonsense, when should they book it to capitalize on the currently hot angle if not now?' Well, didn't they have their hottest angle and potential match in Rock-Cena and decide to let it simmer for a year and do it at WrestleMania in Miami? They could very well have shot their load early there and pulled a switcheroo and had the match at this years 'Mania like many were gagging for. Instead, they're wisely doing it in Miami a year later, even though the hype and momentum from this years interaction will be long gone i'm sure they'll pick it back up again and still do huge business and a lot of that will be built up through a) little mentions and references on tv and 2) through social networking - where the majority of it is occuring.

 

A similar thing could have been done with Punk, there's no reason why Punk taking a lengthy absence should affect him coming back and doing massive business. WWE would do decent business for Summerslam without reverting back to the Punk angle. There's probably a decent % that would purchase Summerslam to see if there was a new development in the angle there anyway. If they kept up the subtle references and angles like the Miz promo in his absence as well as the social networking stuff where WWE Superstars will often make reference to things they shouldn't or can't do on TV through that medium, it would keep it in peoples minds and itching for his return. One of WCWs best angles was making Sting even bigger than he was ever before by taking him away from TV then slowly bringing him back in, not giving him any physicality or vocality for ages and it kept people guessing and gagging to see what he was going to do.

 

Business is about taking risks and keeping Punk off TV when he's hot would be a risk for sure but, doing so and using him as a vehicle to really explore just how much social networking and viral marketing (which have proven to be fucking huge for many other businesses) could benefit the wrestling business could have been a worthwhile risk and may well have done them huge business a little further down the line and made Punk even more significant.

 

 

 

Oh and R-Truths delivery of 'You're, you're crazy!' absolutely killed me.

[IANdrewDiceClay]

Here's a question: if Cena wins the CM Punk version of the WWE title at SummerSlam, will he be a 12 time World Champion or will it count as him retaining the belt al la Razor Ramon at WM10? Actually, WWE should just make the match a ladder match, because to recreate this amazing visual:

[spotlightmagnet1]

I've just realised that Summerslam is only two Raw's away. So, in reality, they could maybe have waited another week at most; but it doesn't change the fact that he was needed back on TV soon.

 

*EDIT* Anyone else thinking, at Summerslam, Triple H pedigree on Punk, Cena wins 'both' titles and we move on to ADR/Cena throughout the winter and Triple H/Punk going into next year...?

 

I was thinking that but then I thought it might go the other way, picture it in my minds eye,

 

Punk vs. Cena is another quality encounter, and Punk is about to hit the GTS but Cena reverses it into the STF. The referee's down so here comes HHH, he runs into the ring looks Punk dead in the eye and then boots Cena in the head, hits the pedigree, another two minutes of SuperCena not dying until GTS and Punk and HHH celebrate.

 

Turns out it was a ruse all along. HHH has been a huge supporter of Punk's career (quoting 'I had him on my team in his rookie year') and there are parallels, but while Vince was in charge, Punk was never going to get to fulfil his potential. Being lumbered and cast aside and HHH was put into a corner where the boss wouldn't listen to 'reason' on anything. That's why they came up with the plan to forever show who was the dominant superstar in WWE and oust McMahon from making a mess of they're company. Cue evil laughter and scene.

[King Pitcos]

I liked that show a lot. It was fun throughout. Ryder appearing on Raw -- wrestling Michael Cole dressed up as Triple H, no less -- was great. Mysterio vs Miz was a tremendous match. Bourne vs Ziggler and Kofi vs Del Rio were good as well, even though I didn't give a shit about the results and they were happening for shit/no reasons. Divas stuff held my interest. Just an entertaining show, all round.

 

Not sure how I feel about the CM Punk thing. I'd have maybe had Cena vs Mysterio announced for SummerSlam instead of Raw, since that's definitely a SummerSlam main event matchup. It was a great Raw main event, but it seems wasteful to do the first big Cena vs Rey match on Raw. And maybe have Punk send in a video or something next week or the week after, saying he's bought a ticket for SummerSlam, or even announce him being at SummerSlam to negotiate with HHH. I'm definitely intrigued for next week's show, though.

[The Invisible Boy]

Enjoyable Raw but I too was a bit let down with the way they brought Punk back. He is supposedly not employed by the company yet walks through the titantron without any hassle from security, bringing the proper WWE Title belt which he supposedly took from the company but shouldn't have now as he's not employed by WWE, yet no one tried to take it from him, he came out to new music with a brand new video, which it would have taken them a while to make in production, so they were making a video and sorting out new music for a guy who has left the company. The only thing that could explain that is if Triple H appears next week and announces that he got Punk to sign a new contract, even so it looked like they had so much potential for this storyline but if it is announced that Punk has been brought back and signed a new contract it will have destroyed all of that potential. If it isn't though it just makes it look ridiculous that Punk walked out of the titantron hassle-free with brand new music and a brand new video, so either way the end of Raw last night may have messed things up.

 

Looking past those problems Punk was excellent though and his new (well, old) music is brilliant, I prefer Cult of Personality to This Fire Burns and although his old music did work for him I always hoped he'd get Cult of Personality in WWE.

 

JR and Morrison coming back was great and Zack Ryder was on Raw! Although it was a squash match against Michael Cole.

[ozzfan]

I couldn't give a shit if it was too early to bring Punk back. That ending was fucking incredible. Cult of Personality is just *perfect*.

 

I loved this RAW, the whole show had an air of freedom and freshness about it. Both WWE title matches were fantastic, Dolph's new music was great, the diva's match wasn't horrible, Zack Ryder got prominent TV time, JR's back and the Truth/HHH exchange was hilarious. Business Trips is ace.

[DJ Stevie C]

Cult of Personality.

 

Fantastic, didn't think they could do any better than KSE but, well they proved me wrong.

 

The rest of Raw, I was pleased for Rey as it was a good title match (great work Miz) glad to see JR back and Cole's reaction was fun. The rest of Raw, Meh, when they announced Rey vs Cena I was pissed off, Give Rey a week at least THEN let Cena have another go. But the end almost made up for it. OK show but nothing earth shattering. I agree with others that they should have held off on the trigger for a week or two at least.