Raw Discussion 20th September

[tiger_rick]

No thread yet? Unusual.

 

Anyway, for the first time in ages I got up on a Tuesday morning to watch Raw. Was interested to see what would happen coming off the PPV.

 

I thought it was a bit lacklustre if I'm honest. That opening segment, save for a few decent lines, was a bit of a mess. They have no idea how to make Punk "cool" so he comes across as a bit of an idiot, again. Triple H also comes across as a complete moron if he can't see that Lauranitis is the conspirator. No idea why he fired Miz and Truth but that last segment was quiet cool and did create interest for next week. Odd to see a bunch of heels dragging them out though!

 

Having a HIAC PPV in 2 weeks and no long time feuds running does create a bit of a white elephant of a PPV but the Henry-Orton rematch and the Triple Threat both sound good, just not HIAC worthy. Henry was awesome. Where was Orton? I FF'd a few bits to get through it so might have missed something.

 

Great build for Sheamus continues. 8 man tag was fine but they throw these matches out too often now so I struggle to care. The Sin Cara thing was a cool visual but I've no idea where it's going. Did Cody Rhodes just vanish? Not a bad thing if he did. With any luck, no-one will find him. Zack Ryder got some great exposure too. Just hope they don't tire of him in 5 minutes like they usually do.

 

Would have been nice to see them start to build the next challengers for Air Boom last night. Someone in the NOC thread said that Air Boom vs. Miz & Truth felt like a real tag title match which I agree with. They just need to focus on 2 or 3 teams now and they've got cracking PPV openers for months.

[Mr.Showtime]

Although there's always too much "firings" in wrestling it was very amusing when Miz and Truth were told and subsequently ejected from the building.

 

I don't know about anybody else but to me, this can only mean Trips found out they were in on something with Nash. Big Kev, R-Truth and The Miz as the New Outsiders must happen now, with either Johnny Ace or Vince as their higher power. Whoever thought of the idea to stick Nash with Miz-Truth, if it happens, knows what they are doing and deserves a medal. Or a title run.

[Devon Malcolm]

It wasn't lacklustre at all, it was a great follow-up Raw although it did have some downsides.

 

The opening segment was kept brief, which was good because HHH and Punk obviously don't work together on the mic, and Laurinaitis has settled into his weasly heel role really well, I think.

 

The 8 man was another good one, but I love these kinds of matches anyway. They keep giving McGillitunga TV time but keep having them lose and are not advancing this storyline at all, though, so fuck knows what's going on there.

 

The Diva Killers storyline of Natalya / Beth has been completely wasted now and the glimmer of interest I had in that a few weeks ago has disappeared and they can all fuck back off to Superstars now. What a wasted opportunity that was. Phoenix has been utter shit the last couple of nights, too, she's hugely overrated.

 

Sin Cara / Sin Cara is intriguing but I still don't really give that much of a shit about either of them although at least I am slightly interested in them now, which is an improvement. We didn't get any more Cody Rhodes though, so I'm still mad at them.

 

The JR / Mizark segment was pretty good, I thought. Predictable, but Henry pulled it off well.

 

The Ziggler / Jackman stuff was pretty good as well and it's good to see Ryder get a major victory although it only matters if he at least gets a US Title shot now. He doesn't have to win it, but just get at least an opportunity. The Swagger video package was good as well.

 

Del Rio squashing Morrison was great as it completely rebuilds him after NOC. Not sure it should have been at the expense of Morrison, who really is being flushed down the crapper at the moment, but it made ADR look strong by hammering such a decent opponent. I don't care what anyone says, Del Rio is great. His match with Cena was fucking superb.

 

The Cena / Punk tag match was really good and I loved the mannerisms between the two and Punk's subtle arseing around in the corner. Punk has been FAR better in the last couple of nights because he's been wrestling again and largely not being given a chance to be rubbish on the mic. Punk and Cena are absolute magic together, whatever they're doing, and it's a feud they could do different things with for ages to come on and off.

 

The Miz / Truth angle was great, unexpected and really well done and I liked them being hurled out of the building. The only thing is that there was no reference to Nash at all, which was not really that clever, and now there are MORE questions to be answered and they need to start putting the pieces together of this or it's just going to become too convoluted.

 

Enjoyed, though.

[ColinBollocks]

The stars of the show were Dolph and Smart Mark. Dolph looked like a megastar in his segment with Hugh Jackman and I loved the "many years" line from him, plus him confusing Jackman with Christian Bale. I thought Jackman was a great guest host, got the crowd hot and looked like he was having fun, he seems like a top bloke.

Smart Mark rided the "what?!" chants and came out of it looking like a man not to fuck with, WWEs booking of Smart Mark is great. Wish they could do it more often with their roster. Plus we got this visual...

 

I'm glad they're moving away from Triple H and Punk feuding. It's hurt Punk so bad and Triple H is too much of a spotlight hogger as a face (he's booked that way).

 

Ryder was a bit over with the live crowd, eh?

 

The final segment was tremendous, nice change from the normal beat down or promo battle. It's sets up the Survivor Series teams nicely too. The Rock, Cena, Punk and Triple H vs Nash, Truth, Miz & maybe Del Rio. The face team has so much star power.

[big mickey]

I like Miz & Truth's reactions to being fired, wasn't the usual over the top freak out.

[iamtheman]

 

Muppets better bring it next month. (still dont wanna se Real Steel though)

 

good show as well, the last segment was great and i love how their announcing the firings like they would do real ones.

 

not sure about the triple threat match and really hope henry doesnt lose the belt straight away

[IANdrewDiceClay]

Is Ryder the new Santino? They usually bring him out for a bit of comic relief. He's never in storylines or anything, and he's always put in a special attraction type situation, like the Lawler angle or the Hugh Jackman thing. He'll probably be doing something different again next week.

[ColinBollocks]

Is Ryder the new Santino? They usually bring him out for a bit of comic relief. He's never in storylines or anything, and he's always put in a special attraction type situation, like the Lawler angle or the Hugh Jackman thing. He'll probably be doing something different again next week.

Shame for Santino but Ryder deserves his TV time. He's went above and beyond what 'going nowhere' WWE talent do and now has a good following.

 

Santino needs to move to Smackdown. He's too talented in his role not to be featured. Nine months or so months ago we all thought he was going to Wrestlemania.

[Loligan]

I loved the ending on Raw last night, especially the noises that were coming from The Miz when he was rolled out the door. Also loved William Regal and the look on his face as he was ragging R Truth out, he would be great doing HHH's bidding for him and they have a connection as apparently he was his mentor back in the day.

 

I think Triple H will be exposed as the mastermind behind all this in the end as he turns heel but I'm digging him in his current role, he suits it perfectly.

[PowerButchi]

How great was Hugh Jackman last night? Easily the best WWE guest since Bob Barker. No body prior Bob Barker, or post Bob Barker ever will be anywhere as good as Bob Barker, so Hugh Jackman did really well. He really got into it and seems to love his wrestling,

[iamtheman]

How great was Hugh Jackman last night? Easily the best WWE guest since Bob Barker. No body prior Bob Barker, or post Bob Barker ever will be anywhere as good as Bob Barker, so Hugh Jackman did really well. He really got into it and seems to love his wrestling,

 

he put on his twitter a picture of him and the brooklyn brawler who he said he saw live in sydney in 1986 so i think he's been a fan for a while

 

 

He's one of us

[The Cum Doctor]

I'm gonna agree with the Jackman love. He really helped the crowd get into the match, leaping all over the place and firing the crowd up on the floor. Then you had the promo where everyone, other than Vickie, played their part pretty well. Really enjoyed the bit where Vickie points out that he was the sexiest man in the world, to which Jackman said it was years ago, and Dolph chipped in with "many years". Also liked Jackman's initial reaction to "EXCUSE ME!". All in all one of the better RAW guests.

 

I didn't really like the delivery of the promo that opened the show, but I did like that it was the first time that it has felt like there's actually something really big that's coming when the whole thing is exposed, and that made the promo feel significant. Lauranitis has played his role well. I can't stand the constant mocking of his voice though. It was funny the first time, but we get it now. He has a funny voice. Move on for fuck sake.

 

Mark Henry is an absolute beast at the moment. Before the weekend, Mark Henry was good on the mic. Not amazing or anything, but he got his point across and sounded like a badass doing so. Then the last couple of nights he has came out with a couple of brilliant promos. It's the kind of thing that makes you think "what has he been doing all these years?!" and he's been a complete revelation.

 

The Sin Cara duels have been, quite frankly, shit. I don't care and I have zero reason to care either. As far as I can tell it's just two guys in masks, and one of them is a wee bit nasty.

 

The Diva Killers storyline of Natalya / Beth has been completely wasted now and the glimmer of interest I had in that a few weeks ago has disappeared and they can all fuck back off to Superstars now. What a wasted opportunity that was. Phoenix has been utter shit the last couple of nights, too, she's hugely overrated.

 

I thought both Kelly Kelly and Beth Phoenix were very good at the PPV. Last night was a shower of shite though, and Beth Phoenix has gone from being the Glamazon to being someone who can be beaten at will. Like you, I just don't give a shit about them again.

[King Pitcos]

Great Raw! Jackman was brilliant, really got into the spirit of things, and Ryder was clearly having the time of his life. And Ziggler and Swagger actually have a storyline that develops.

 

Henry vs Commentators was tremendous. "Pass out! I'm gonna pass out!"

 

The four-on-four was pretty bland and a missed opportunity (I hoped for more emphasis on the Nexus reunion), but it was a good showcase for Sheamus. And Air Boom's matching gear is still superb.

 

Morrison tapped like a bitch in what must be a motivational tool to make him... Well, make him stop being a bitch. The lad has so many of the qualities needed to be a star, it'd be fantastic if he got his head on right.

 

The "Divas of Doom" essentially being clueless losers like Michael Tarver or Planet Stasiak is hilarious.

 

The main event, and everything involving Miz and Truth, was awesome. I love the prospect of these two as outsiders. The ending with everyone ganging up to throw them out was weird, but fun. Looking forward to seeing what they do next week.

 

The Sin Cara stuff was crap, though, apart from a couple of the counters.

 

And there's a chance this whole conspiracy thing could end up like Lost, never resolving anything because nobody's got a clue where they're going with it. I think I'd prefer a Punk vs HHH cell match rather than a triple threat for the title, as well.

[ozzfan]

If there's anyone else out there in the wrestling world that's having more fun than Miz and Truth during their entrance, I'd like to see them. Dolph, Ryder and Huge Action looked like they were having great fun too.

[The King Of Swing]

The final segment where Triple H fired Truth and Miz left me scratching my head to be honest (hope we get a good explenation next week or on SD) still though I loved Miz and Truth's responce.

 

Was I alone in wanting them to batter Triple H though?