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Monday Night Raw Thread, London, 16th April 2012


NEWM

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One of the high points for me was seeing Ambrose do the dark match. Can't wait to see him called up properly to television now.

 

Lots of Punk shirts (both white and grey) while Cena and Ryder shirts were also popular. Also, they had a Trips and Rock shirt at the merch stands but no Daniel Bryan ones? Seriously, wtf?

 

First time seeing WWE live, and loved it. Seats were cheap and a last minute buy with a mate last Thursday but we're were directly in line with the tron at the side, so we couldnt see video packages but still had a great view of everything.

 

Anyone know why Miz was nowhere to be seen?

 

Best use of "Yes" was in response to Rosa Mendes wearing from what we could see from afar as fish-netting. The timing of it made it great.

 

So generally, yeah awesome time and wasn't really put off by the starting and stopping aspect of the TV taping like I thought I would.

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That wasn't a bad show. Decent use of the international show for a change. Lesnar wasn't there but they kept him in the frame with a very strong video. Cena's promo was very decent too. I'd worked out that Tensai had cut a promo and not had a match and yet still didn't put 2 and 2 together about the mystery opponent. Probably because it just felt far too soon to be likely. The match was decent. I'm quite stunned that Cena lost. Are we supposed to buy him as a threat to Brock Lesnar now? Like Tensai or not, you can't say they haven't put him over properly.

 

Punk and Henry did OK again. Jericho was shit, as usual. Fakest "bar" ever too.

 

They're making a complete mess of Sheamus. Yet again he looks like some nobody with his 25seconds of TV time. Brodus no contest was only OK if it leads to a proper match somewhere. Sick to death of having to fast forward through Vickie's shite every week. Hate R-Truth at the best of times but this was utter nonsense. Bring back the 3 stooges. Pleeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeease!

 

The tag champs getting murdered shouldn't be a surprise. Why not just switch the title if you have so little faith in the Colons?

 

What was the atmosphere like live? On TV none of the chants were really audible. Like the "fish and chips" chant, I wouldn't have known what that was if I hadn't read it on here. reactions for Punk and Cena were disappointing too. Crap mic work, quiet crowd or arena with poor acoustics?

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I was there last night and the crowd were pretty loud for most of it. The 'Fish and Chip' chant was amusing but no where near as loud as all the Yes!Yes! chants.

I really enjoyed Punk/Henry. It was nice that we actually got a proper match considering the last 2 weeks their matches lasted no more than 2 minutes each.

I think one of the loudest reactions was for Jericho when his music hit for the dark match main event.

 

I felt incredibly bad for the tag champs, when i saw Khali/Show come out i thought their opponants would have been Rhodes/McIntyre. But as soon as the tag champs came out i knew it would be a total squash.

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Who was the cunt with the Dillkid sign?

 

You ruined my night having to see that every time I looked at the ring.

 

 

I've never understood that. Signs are irritating enough anyway, but at least bring something witty or funny. Holding up a sign with a wrestlers name, or worse your own name, let alone your internet forum username, is pretty fucking lame tbh.

 

EDIT: Not intended as a specific swing at Dill, I was talking more broadly about the problem in my opinion, not just this specific instance.

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That show was utter gash. Gash Bandicoot.

 

Jericho's shit. Fucking awful. And, he's not even being booked to look clever or smart like they usually do with the 'heels-that-get-in-the-mind'. It's like;

 

'YOUR MUMS A WHORE, YOUR SISTERS A DRUGGY'

 

'...erm, no they're not'

 

'YOU'RE A DRUNK'

 

'...erm, no i'm not'

 

'I BET YOU SMELL OF DRINK'

 

'...erm, no I don't'

 

'HERE'S A PICTURE OF YOU ENTERING A PUB'

 

'...quite reasonably, I met some friends'

 

'YOUR MUMS A WHORE, YOUR SISTERS A DRUGGY'

 

'...oh, we're on that ride again'

 

It's beyond shit. And, whats worst his execution is ten times worst than the content. Considering they haven't even slightly pushed him as a flamboyant rock star there is no need for him to wear that ridiculous jacket whilst at the same time cutting promos like he did before he went away, dry and supposedly sinister. There's a massive disconnect between how he looks and how he presents himself and that's only the first problem. Second, and perhaps even more importantly, he's a fucking terrible actor. He doesn't sound like he believes what he's saying. He's like a perma-tanned, sneering Ron Burgundy. I imagine you could write anything on the script and he'd repeat it, you can almost see his mind ticking over as he tries to remember what he's saying. Oh, and whilst we're on the subject of that all purpose sneer; it does my fucking head in. Happy? ...flash a sneer! Sad? ...flash a sneer! Angry? ...flash a sneer? Got wind? ...flash that stupid fucking bad-guy-101 sneer you useless, useless prick.

 

God, I fucking hate Jericho.

 

I imagine we're going to get some angle with Punk's family, too. I don't really care, though, because if Jericho wins the title i'm going to be the one that hits the bloody bottle. Prick.

 

Some other stuff happened that wasn't very important.

 

The Lesnar video was incredible. Great use of the pre-prepared video package, kept his momentum going without him actually being there. They're making a genuinely good fist of presenting him as something entirely different from the rest of the company. Where The Rock became part of the furniture within seconds, Brock's aura and booking still have him looking like an alternative. I like that he swore, I like that (and, it might just be me) the video was more reminiscent of a UFC build-up video and I like that he's tackling WWE cliches head-on; things like 'superstars' and things being 'fake'. It was really excellent, and for once i'm actually looking forward to a contract signing.

 

Some other stuff happened that wasn't very important.

 

Khali/Show vs. The Colons happened. Presumably because WWE12 randomly generated it on Vinnie Mac's last game, and he thought it'd be hilarious to actually make it something people had technically paid an entrance fee for.

 

Lord Tensai is a fucking abortion. Horrible.

 

He's not intimidating, he's a Power Rangers villain in a polyester dress and a hat I presume he got from a really fucking big Kinder egg.

 

I presume, though, that this was them putting the turbo boosters on what has been faltering start. I think there logic was that using Otunga/Tensai's-ring-guy-whose-name-doesn't-really-stick would allow Tensai to pick up the win without affecting Cena, but I don't think it really worked. I think Tensai's low rent, pleather pants mounted on to Black Y-Fronts, wobbly tits and face paint routine dragged everyone involved into the muck.

 

Poor show.

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Thing with signs is, they're great fun if you do get on telly when you're watching it back, especially if it's just something personal for you or your mates (or in Dill's case, your forum chums). Moreso if they're little in-jokes, rather than just because you took one saying "GAME OVER!!!!!!!!" or some shite.

 

I've dabbled with a few before with varying degrees of success getting them on camera. I got a bloody great "I heart Khali" (with an obnoxiously big red heart taking up a huge portion of the sign) briefly on Smackdown in Birmingham in 2007, but that paled in comparison to getting a thumbs up from the big man himself when I held it up to his departing bus on the way out. We took small pandering "Peep" signs to the Sheffield tapings the other year and got on during Christian's celebration, piece of piss. However, my "Hi King, I'm Chris Hansen" and "Ricky Hatton is fat" signs were both dispossessed before the first segment. I tried to get them shown during the "hold up your signs/banners for our TV cut-in bit of the show, and the bastards got to me before Raw actually started. I really fucking blew that.

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Lesnar's video was fantastic, the "He should be worried what's running down his leg....PISS!" line was amazing. Just a top interview and he's such a different, refreshing and interesting character, i'm chuffed with how they've played his return. Also, we know Lesnar is more of a "just business" guy which adds to it.

 

Punk/Henry and Kingston/Bryan were really good and fun matches. The YES! stuff is good but it's one of those where it means the heel is cheered and the face is booed, but if you turn Bryan it generally automatically becomes a bit naff, see: Austin, What. A tricky situation for them.

 

Tensai just ain't happening for me, which is a great shame. I liked him back in the day and even more so looking back, in a "he was actually pretty good" way, especially as A-Train. Since his return though something just hasn't clicked, perhaps it's a combination of things. The gimmick is bordering on OTT for me, his tatoos/gear make him look a bit less of a beast than the hair did, he's a bit fatter than he was and his ring work is a bit disjointed and awkward at the minute. So all those bit problems make it a bit rubbish overall. I had high hopes because he'd been to Japan etc and I hope it changes but at the minute I just can't see much of a long-lasting appeal with him.

 

Rest of the show was okay and overall it was one of the better recent Raw tapings over here.

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I haven't seen this weeks show so I'm not commenting specifically on this match, but I asked this after Miami too - was he seriously that good in Japan? Because people been getting their dicks out for his work there, and it's not like he was a popular internet guy in his original WWE run to justify that sort of praise without actually earning it.

 

I remember Umaga got the same reports, and he came back awesome, but "fatter, and with less hair" is about the only difference in Albert I can make out from umpteen years winning the Open the Back Gate and Let the Dog Out Tag Titles, or whatever they have over there.

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Giant Bernard was great as a foreign big man wrestler in Japan. Check out some of his matches vs. Yuji Nagata or Hiroshi Tanahashi. I was not a fan of Albert or A-Train in the WWE, probably because there were so many other big guys in the WWE in that time period. In Japan, he stood out and came across as a big man. Lord Tensai? I am not sure if that was the best choice of a gimmick.

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