WWE Raw 2nd April 2012 Discussion *SPOILERS*

[Joey Joe Joe Jr]

Does anyone think it strange that there are no mentions of Brock's return on the Heyman Hustle site. I know the site is mainly about promoting glamour models, MMA and the odd Gabe post about DGUSA so I'm not an avid reader of it, but Heyman being one of Brock's confidants, you might think it would be mentioned or even reported on, right?

[PunkStep]

I'm not sure it'll move the needle a huge amount, to be honest. He was never a real draw when he was in pro wrestling before

True, but he was starting to draw just before he left though, wasn't he? I remember Triple H implied this when he said that it was a shame Lesnar had decided to walk away as he was 'just starting to make some real money'.

[PowerButchi]

If the advertising is any indicator this month should be strange, going by F4W.

 

Advertising hit Chicago today for Extreme Rules on 4/29. Surprisingly, the main event they were pushing was C.M. Punk vs. John Cena, not Mark Henry or Chris Jericho, in the WWE title match. Keep in mind the commercials were likely cut last week for them to already be broadcast. The only other match advertised was Randy Orton vs. Kane.

[Up Chuck]

Christ, if that ends up being the case, they're really going slow-burn on the Punk-Jericho rematch. Or they're doing it on Raw next week. Come to think of it, they did have Johnny say Punk was going to defend the belt regularly, so maybe now that they're re-igniting Punk/Johnny, they're gonna have Johnny force Punk into defending the belt every week.

 

Orton/Kane continuing, though, was something I think everyone must've seen coming. A falls count anywhere match would be more fun than their Mania match.

[spotlightmagnet1]

The manager is Abraham Washington who use to have a 'chat show' on ECW (the highlight being Tony Atlas laughing at every guess) and was a wrestler and commentator in FCW. He's as ripped as hell underneath that suit.

 

Anyway, very good Raw to follow a very good Wrestlemania:

 

-Opening with the whole lockerroom was a very good idea, and the Rock pledging to stay around (well, come in and out) was very good. I predict him winning the Royal Rumble 2013. Someone else probably has already but I'm not trawling over 10 pages.

 

- The triple threat match was good and I love the Santino power walk. I like that Brodus has his first feud, but poor Dolph. He was a main eventer a couple of months ago now he's fodder for the Swagger Clay feud.

 

- Tensai looked good crushing A Ry, Riley seem to be over selling a bit, but the whole presentation was good.

 

- Menry and Punk was an excellent match. Henry in particular came out of it looking like a million dollars. How great was 'You move when I tell you!' Great finish too, but a little sad he celebrated and then realise he hadn't won the title. Johnny coming out after and rubbing salt in the wounds was good. But I liked the Jericho touch at the end, yeah it was ballsed up (As well as slipping I'm sure that second bottle shattered while Jericho was holding it.) But it was good imo.

 

- Sheamus and Del Rio was only really memorable for the Si chant. Not a good sign for Sheamus. Bryan was great without saying a word.

 

- Kofi Kingston and Cody Rhodes was short and sweet. The Big Show getting a measure of revenge was a nice touch but Cody still looked great.

 

- Eve is utterly awful on the mic and had it taken away. The Ryder and Miz match was very good too. Ryder looked pissed and I'm hoping they do something with him. Thy've shat on him from a great height but he still got a half decent pop for someone in his position.

 

- The Cena promo I thought was a little underwhelming but the Brock return was fantastic. The ovation was great, he may not have been as big physically but he still possesses that aura. Two things though;

1. The Anomaly is a terrible name

2. The new Cena t-shirt is bloody ugly to me.

[ItsClobberingTime]

Haven't smiled that much at a wrestling show for ages. Top to bottom I really enjoyed it.

 

Thought The Rock was actually a lot more relaxed this show, less forced, and I dunno .. maybe I was imagining it, but it just felt more like him.

 

I don't have any issue with him or Cena saying positive things about the other guy. Why not? It didn't feel shoehorned or anything, more a little genuine and they kept it simple which was the most important thing. They didn't overdo it.

 

It really felt like they packed so much into the show that so many people were missed off, unlike before with Supershows. They clearly don't NEED to use so many guys every week from both rosters.

 

The crowd really did make the event for me. They were into everything and the 'yes' chants didn't ruin anything - some guys played with them during the match and the chant is less annoying than 'what?' which is highly inappropriate at times. The variations were brilliant too.

 

Ricardo is the only good thing about having Del Rio back.

 

Interested to see how Sheamus does going forward. It's obviously hard to tell at the moment, but they need to build him up far better than they have before this.

 

Lesnar's return was epic. It wasn't ruined by the online stuff for me, nor by the signs or the chants. Let's be honest, so many online rumours and fan chants end up being utter bullshit. People can be fooled so easily, even with a simple playing of entrance music etc. I didn't believe it until he walked out if I'm honest, but that pop was fucking incredible. I didn't think he looked 'not bothered' as such. He was hardly going to be jumping around with joy. He looked like a fucking monster.

[Fatty Facesitter]

Excellent Raw, full of great content and an absolute world-beating crowd.

 

I actually screamed "FUCK" at the laptop for Brock. I get what NEWM says, stuff like this has a tendancy to be ruined somewhat by the fact that so many people are already clued in that someone might appear or something in that vain, but I didn't think it would actually happen. I was honestly expecting Rock to come back out and for a handshake type of deal, and a possible challenge for Summerslam or even next year's Wrestlemania, as rumours were floating around all weekend that a match would be announced already for next year again. But I can honestly say I didn't expect him to show up there and then. I f they can keep him fit, happy and interested, he could work real wonders for them. I actualy think keeping him on a lighter schedule will help him sustain a certain aura about him, similar to The Rock although he's been on Raw lots in the recent build up.

 

Last night also kind of typified why so many people boo Cena. His new T-Shirt really is the absolute pits and a really lazy effort, and he was pretty dull in his promo for the most part.

 

 

I wonder what direction they're actually going with him and I wonder how he feels about putting over two part-timers in two days? Still, while Rock and Brock alternate the shows they appear on, Cena is going to be an absiolutely vital glue that keeps holding everything together.

 

JLM has it dead right with the Sheamus stuff. I've seen him cut promos before where he's actually come across very naturally and very sharp. He usually comes across as quite quick-witted on talk-shows and the like. They're really high on him at the moment and giving him the title was absolutely the right call. It's a pity for him that he was on the recieveing end of the Bryan rebellion, he'll come through it.

 

Without meaning to shit on the last two days, which have been unbelieveable fun, I can see next week's Raw just being a really drab affair. At least the Punk/Jericho stuff will continue and we'll here from John Cena surely, but otherwise surely we'll be waiting an age for a Raw like this. I really hope the YES! stuff sticks and that more live crowds follow suit from the one last night, but we'll see.

[jimufctna24]

Lesnar will not bring any hardcore MMA fans over. Most of the fanbase never warmed to him and only paid to see him get beat. The audience that Brock may be able to bring that is that chunk who followed him to the UFC in 2008 and 2009.

 

Meltzer said at the time that about half of the 650k buys that came from Lesnar first show were first time buyers there for Lesnar. Most of these were either current or former Wrestling fans who watched Lesnar in WWE. By 2009 he was attracting of his own back 1 million buys per show and a insane 1.6 million for UFC 100 with assistance from Welterweight Champion George St Pierre, a record the UFC will never beat.

 

So by the point Lesnar has aquired a great deal of fans for the UFC, now a lot new fans from this period were aquired due to the genral growth of the UFC, but Lesnar did add a good 500k buys of his own back to each show based on him alone. It is a chunk of these fans that Brock could bring back if they are no longer watching WWE programing. Also, maybe he can bring a small amount of casual MMA fans to give him a watch as well. The type of fans who love Kimbo Slice and do not take it that seriously.

 

Time will tell if he can, but Vince is smart for at least trying. I do not watch or follow WWE much anymore and judging by the rating going into Mania I read about, a lot have turned off this year. I did enjoy Mania, but I had no plans to watch again Lesnar has at least interested me enough to see what is going on.

[WWFChilli]

The YES chant might be the nearest thing we ever get that will stop crowds chanting fucking 'WHAT' every time. There is hope.

[ItsClobberingTime]

Watched the Lesnar bit on WWE.com more times tonight than I care to admit. It was perfect.

 

How many times has there ever been a 'holy shit' chant for a return? The crowd for all their crazyness during the rest of the night absolutely made his return.

 

The initial chants of 'we want Lesnar' (never guarantees ANYTHING), the INSANE pop for his music, and the reaction when he actually walked out on stage. Then all the cheering for his silly little dancing and posing. Then the 'holy shit' chant that broke out as he walked around the ring made it seem HUGE.

 

And then finally that F5 .. genuinely perfect from top to bottom that segment. Even the commentary was kept simple and to the point, recognising the moment but without overdoing it.

 

I'm off to watch it again. Fuck it, I love it. Seeing everyone on their feet and grown men jumping in the air in unison is a ridiculous thing to watch but it's bloody brilliant.

[METAL ON METAL]

Don't think it was a Death Clutch tee. Probably a quick knock-up WWE put together than will fly off the shelves due to the buzz of his return, whilst they start looking at some better designs.

 

No, it was a Death Clutch t-shirt. The skull on the front is their template, plus it had his primary sponsors on the back - that being Jack Link's Beef Jerky, Jimmy John's & Rocky Mountain Dealerships.

[Chris B]

Anyone know what the story was with Punk coughing up blood? He was doing it while he was on the ground.

[King Pitcos]

Fell asleep right after the Punk/Jericho stuff last night. Then today, I had the Lesnar return spoilt for me by WWE on fucking Facebook. So that put a dampener on the whole thing. Just watched it, and the crowd of wankwanks chanting for Lesnar all the time would've nixed some of the suspense of it anyway. Although as someone said, that could've been dismissed as nobody knew for sure he was back.

 

Cena's speech was shit. I've already forgotten what, but there were one or two odd mistakes in there. It was boring as well. Rock's was fair shit as well, but I liked it when he danced and then the whistle stuff.

 

It was a good Raw overall. I enjoyed the Jericho and Punk stuff, I'm intrigued by Abe Washington managing Menry, we haven't even scratched the surface of Johnny's reign yet, Miz is back on winning form, and we've had a massive return. And best of all, Santino and Brodus might be a tag team!

 

On a sour note, Albert's still shit. You fuckers who said he was good now lied to me. He's a big fat waste of everything.

 

Anyone know what the story was with Punk coughing up blood? He was doing it while he was on the ground.

AIDS.

[Enrico Federico]

Tensai will be the next star, enough said!

[PunkStep]

Pity you forgot the golden rule- stay away from social networking sites if you don't want spoilers about anything. Schoolboy error.