Raw 26th November (SPOILERS)

[King Pitcos]

Did anyone else bother watching it?

 

Ryback vs Titus O'Neill did its job, I suppose. There were loads of filler matches that went on for ages. The only real exception was Cena vs Ziggler, which repeated the mistake of Orton vs Kofi from 2009 by them having a premature Raw match and thus making their PPV match two weeks later a million times less special. I assume that Cena and Ziggler are having a match at TLC, anyway. And Cena winning didn't make any sense to me. He's got a bad leg! If you can't even beat him with a bad leg, there's no point in trying in a couple of weeks when it's better. Cena winning should be the end of the feud, not the first match. Wasteful.

 

The Shield had their interview. Ambrose was very good, Reigns was cracking, not sure about this Rollins lad though. He sounds like a meek (or plucky at best) babyface. Based on his performance last night, he'd have been one of the forgettable ones back on proper NXT.

 

Wade Barrett was good on commentary during Kofi's match.

 

On the whole, the only thing worth Youtubing is the Shield interview, and not because it's fantastic, just because it's the new boys talking for the first time and setting their motivations. Very missable show.

[Joey Joe Joe Jr]

I was actually surprised that Rollins was that good as he used to be terrible in ROH on the mic.

 

Ambrose was great in what he needed to do this early on and I can't wait to see his progress. Been a fan of his for a few years now. Reigns was fine, though it was a bit silly that a minute after saying he had nothing to say, he suddenly piped up without much expression. Still hesitant on how long it will be till they're just feeding for Ryback but I'm a sucker for an invading force storyline. The moral compass aspect makes it somewhat different.

 

What are everyone's thoughts on the name, The Shield? Someone elsewhere suggested the link with Brock's sword tattoo (shield and sword to protect Punk), but I think that's just the usual grasping at straws that comes with these big starts to storylines; they probably don't know how far it is going at the moment.

 

Wish they had promoted that first time Rey/Bryan match a bit more (unfortunately King just spent the whole match making goat jokes)

[Big Rob]

I'd say the Cesaro/Sheamus match is definitely worth checking out too, but besides that and the rest that Pitcos went over, there's nothing much else to see. Bryan vs Mysterio sounds like it should be brilliant, but it was just ok, and if you didn't see it, you didn't miss much. Ziggler vs Cena was better, as was Cesaro vs Sheamus.

[IANdrewDiceClay]

I'm stunned they beat Ziggler. Even though its common knowledge they don't rate him as anything other than an idiot who wants to kill himself, losing to Cena on Raw just murdered whatever momentum he had. I don't get this strange obsession they have with hammering Ziggler into the ground.

 

The Aces and Eights aren't doing it for me either to be honest. Ambrose is really good, but everyone knew that anyway and the big Samoan is big and Samoan, but surely there were better people to put in the role than Seth Rollins? He's a good wrestler, but has the personality of a dead pigeon. He should be in the Evan Bourne role where he smiles, has a good match and the fans reactions are "I like him, he's a nice lad. He's overcame no being interesting by smiling a lot". Putting him with a big man and a talker just leaves you wondering what he's doing with them and what he brings to the table.

 

Antonio vs Sheamus was awesome though, but Raw is uninspiring at the minute. But it always is around this time of the year.

[Shane O' Mac Version 2]

No love for the Sheamus vs. Antonio Cesaro match? I thought that was one of the better TV matches I've seen in a long time. The torture rack slam and mid-air European uppercut were amazing moves IMO. EDIT: Good to see Ian and I agree on something for once.

 

Right after my criticisms of Ryback, I will say he seems to have improved a notch with his mic and character work. His delivery and tone was much smoother and commanded more attention than his previous attempts at talking, and his little head fake at the security guards, followed by the smirk, was fantastic. Small things like that help add dimensions to his character and make him seem like less of a generic powerhouse.

 

When Rey Mysterio vs. Daniel Bryan was announced, I was excited, but they didn't give away too much. Hopefully that's by design and we get deep into a Team Hell No vs. Mysterio/Sin Cara feud in the coming weeks.

 

The Shield interview was well delivered. Again, not giving away too much in terms of alliegences and storylines, but in this case it is most certainly by design and I can't wait to see what happens next. Mission accomplished.

 

Cena vs. Ziggler was a pretty well wrestled match that really heated up towards the end. It's a pity Dolph messed up a little during that sequence with the AA counter, but overall left me optimistic about a quality PPV performance- although with the result here and the gimmick options at TLC, it seems obvious that Dolph gets by Cena via Cena slipping through another table.

 

I watched this show in fragments, missing the last half hour entirely due to having to leave the house and do things (damn Raw airing at midday here), so I'll try and catch up on the rest via Youtube or something. I enjoyed what I saw of the show quite a lot. It definitely didn't seem to drag as much as usual, although that might be a result of my fragmented viewing.

[Mr Butternut Squash]

I'm a pussy smark that pretty much gave up on this show after Cena/Dolph. Why the fuck would I pay to see a ppv match between these two? Dolph's a loser that couldn't beat hurty leg Cena with outside distractions. The babyface has already overcome the odds so why should anyone care any more? And don't get me started on the 'poll' and wwe's continuing quest to make Daniel Bryan an irrelevance. The only good thing about this show was the Ryback promo and the Shield stuff. But it's hard to get excited when in all likelihood they're just four guys that are going nowhere in this company.

 

Oh, there were some matches too. All of 'em pointless.

[ColinBollocks]

Cena lost at Survivor Series, so I can't see him losing to a bum like Ziggler anytime soon - especially with them having an eye on 'Mania. Weird that Cena started the year doing and awful filler angle with a girl lusting over him and is ending it with one; AJ needs to piss off too, she's a pedo's wet dream.

 

This was the first show in a while where I wanted to get behind the Ryback push. It helped that when he cut his promo it didn't seem like he was reciting the lines of a dork. The Shield is probably the best thing they can do with him, after HIAC, it creates much needed sympathy from the crowd while not hurting his monster aura one bit.

 

I agree that Rollins looks out of place, in The Shield, not sure if it's because he looks like a shit teenager or that even shitter hat he was wearing. You can tell the other two have something though, Ambrose came across as a bit of a nutter, while the other bloke has the look of a proper wrestler. Their Bossman attire is quite cool (although Rollins needs to ditch his poofy hat).

 

Sheamus is phenomenal, in the ring. Even though his matches usually play out to silence, I always enjoy watching Cesaro's matches (which never happens with other midcarders, even Daniel Bryan), he's so slick and is quite unique, in certain aspects - as I said, just a shame I'm the only one that's arsed most of the time. Good showing, by both.

[Smegma Cake]

For a long long time now, I've disliked Sheamus. Mainly because of his shit eating grin, please the fans character that does absolutely nothing for him. In the ring though, fucking hell he's great. He's pulled out great matches from Big Show twice, Tensai in his best match since Fat Albert returned and that was another sterling effort against Cessaro. He's fast becoming the guy you want to wrestle because of how you'll look, even when losing. Cessaro got in far more offense than I thought and at times could have won it, if Sheamus wasn't the top babyface on Smackdown. To look at him, you wouldn't think Sheamus would be that guy.

 

As for the name The Shield? Meh, I've heard worse banded around but I've heard better too.

 

Ziggler/Cena was decent too, until the finish. I like how Ziggler is clearly getting more time to talk on his own, which can't be a bad thing.

[AshC]

'The Shield' is infinitely better than 'The Corre' was at least.

[NEWM]

I thought this show was okay, but nothing really went on to get excited about. For those that wanted it (me included), this is what Raw looks like as a jobber show. Khali, Alicia Fox, Tensai and Titus were the jobbers in their matches, for example. I thought the matches were fine but because of the nature of the show, these types of contests one after another after another don't half make an episode seem inconsequential.

 

I'm not surprised Cena beat Ziggler, but as Pity points out, it makes you wonder what they can expect the viewer to care about if that's also the plan for MITB. Appearing to pair Cena and AJ permanently is an odd one to me. Cena's got a very devoted kids and girls audience, and I'd guess you're alienating large portions of both of those audiences by keeping these two together. Women will be pissed off he's unavailable, and some kids will undoubtedly be "urghh...girls?! They smell." I'm not sure what it does to perception of him, but I don't imagine it's overly positive. She's still really over though, so I get the point of keeping them together on screen in the short term.

 

I enjoyed The Shield promo, the middle one was a bit soft but the other two were both excellent. I'm pleased as with last week, they don't just rush to the admittance of an allignment with Punk just yet. They're way stronger looking like they're working for themselves, rather than just being the mates of the stars.

[ryan_of_lord]

Thought Raw was actually really good this week, loving the new influx of guys that they are giving a push too! Hope Chris Hero gets bumped up to the main roster soon and gets a good push!

[1SinN6]

Thought Raw was actually really good this week, loving the new influx of guys that they are giving a push too! Hope Chris Hero gets bumped up to the main roster soon and gets a good push!

 

I agree with new guys being the main focus. Its just sad that every segment has 5 or 10 extra minutes, good or bad.

[air_raid]

I didn't bother watching it, despite still being awake, and remembering it was on. Something's wrong there.

 

having a premature Raw match and thus making their PPV match two weeks later a million times less special

(unfortunately King just spent the whole match making jokes)

they probably don't know how far it is going at the moment.

Very missable show.

Raw is uninspiring at the minute.

 

That's Raw, folks.

 

Hope Chris Hero gets bumped up to the main roster soon and gets a good push!

 

Heads up, we've got another.

[Winston]

Watched the first hour or so, mainly so I could hear what The Shield had to say.

 

Was really impressed with the promo. The whole thing about protecting the WWE from injustice idea is brilliant. Dean Ambrose definately has that loose cannon style to him. A bit of a mix between Brian Pillman and Heath Ledgers Joker for me! Seth Rollins was the main talker last night and I thought he put across him points really well. Roman Reigns though.. I try and keep an eye on NXT, FCW but this guy has came out of absolute nowhere for me. If you talk about having "the look" he's got it in abundance. And his whole "less talk, more action" thing is really cool. This group could really work given time.

 

 

[Van Dammer]

The only reason I can see for Cena going over on RAW is because there will be an AJ turn in the PPV match and end up with Ziggler, probably ending the Guerrero relationship.