Raw Discussion

[JLM]

Some good stuff tonight in amongst a lot of filler and nonsense. I thought Cena, Punk, Rock and The Shield beat down were all excellent. Heyman was outstanding as usual in the last segment too. Vince having a chat with Paul being advertised as the main event obviously telegraphed the ending but it was still tremendous and I almost did a little squeal of delight when he picked up Vince for the F5. The whole performance review thing seemed a bit stupid too, as I feel like Heyman has been presented as not working for Vince and I assumed he was meant to be employed by Brock/Punk as their advisor.

 

Decent show, though I'm definitely going back to my usual routine of watching it later in the week in skippable format for next week as there was plenty of stuff in there I could happily have missed.

[Shane O' Mac Version 2]

There was a lot of talk in the Rumble thread about predictable not always meaning bad, and that was definitely the case here. From the moment a performance review was advertised as a main selling point of Raw, I knew Brock would be back. I still got hard when the music blared, and jizzed when he hit the F5 on Vince. Glorious.

 

Nice to see the Shield/Maddox stuff get sorted as well. I'm really surprised, in kayfabe terms, that they haven't addressed why Vince hasn't fired the Shield.

 

Another logic hole (not Shield related): why was Bo Dallas at Raw, as a member of NXT, which is been presented as a developmental promotion, and why was he just ready in his wrestling gear? I know next to no one cares, but it bugged me.

 

As far as the overall show, the Vegas gimmick provided a lot of crap, but the big things were done right. The performances of Cena, Punk and Rock were on point, Jericho made a post-Rumble return which is encouraging. Y2J could be back for the long haul, save 2 weeks for the Australian Fozzy shows. And Trish, my favourite all time Diva, is in the HOF. Happy day all around.

[Mr Butternut Squash]

When I caught a glimpse of Tensai's lingerie in the dance off I really felt for the bloke. What's he done to deserve this? But then he started dancing and, my word, that was awesome. Albert has been a non event his entire career but I think he earned a place in all our hearts last night. The commentators can fuck off though - the crowd clearly loved it so why not sell it as a fun moment instead of treating it with the kind of contempt they usually reserve for the Diva's matches? In fact they were shitting over a lot of these 'comedy' bits. Why are they actively trying to tell us that we're watching shit? More to the point, why give us lazy lame shit when you already know it's lazy lame shit? Ditch the divas and the great fucking Khali, put Hornswoggle to good use and bring back the midget division already.

 

Not much wrestling tonight but I'm fine with that cos at least angles were progressed. For the most part an enjoyable show. Punk in a rage was classic, a quality table match, Orton/Cesaro clubbing the shit out of each other, Ryaback messing up that Striker goon, Big show getting the heat back in a smart segment for Del Rio getting over (for a moment I thought we'd see the Ziggler cash in) and, fuck me, The Shield. Bit better than Ace's and 8's eh?

 

The ending segment was class, loved the video, and them turning on Maddox was a nice touch. I could actually see Brad doing pretty well as a face. I was afraid it was gonna turn into the usual Vince ego stroking with him humiliating an old foe so I was chuffed when Brock came out and F5ed the shit out of the old fucker. Be interesting to see where Punk stands in all this. I can't say I'm keen on the prospect of him eating another pin via the Rock at Elimination chamber or the return of HHH for that matter.

 

Liked Bo Dallas getting the underdog victory over Barret. Don't like what they're doing with Big E though. Don't give him the mic for fucks sake. They couldn't turn him face soon enough - the 'five count' gimmick from NXT was perfect for him and it was his own little thing and it got over easy. STOP MAKING EVERYONE LIKE EVERYONE ELSE.

 

The biggest negative about this show was their schizo treatment of Ziggler (and Cody) which I guess I should be used to by now. He is the iron man in the Royal Rumble. And instead of putting over that achievement, he comes to the ring with Cole saying, "Dolph drew no.1 in the rumble . . ." and that's it? No mention of the duration? And he gets pinned again? You're gonna make him your World Champ in the near future. Why make more hard work for yourselves in trying to make him look credible when he holds the belt when you can make him look credible (and by extension the belt) now? Oh yeah . . . he's a heel.

[quote the raven]

I guess this means the HHH will be back next week?

 

I do wonder if we will see punk and Brock together from now on then?

[The Chiefdog]

3 questions for someone who doesn't watch that much wrestling (Rumble was my first since last years mania)

 

1. Is Cena v Rock II locked in 100%? If not what is the realistic % chance of it happening barring injury

2. Will WWE mention the 'once in a lifetime' if it does happen or just ignore it?

3. If the match does happen, what are the chance sof the Rock refusing to lay down for Cena?

[CurryAngel]

Great to see Brock back and I loved him pointing Heyman into the corner like a dog. The WWE really do make Brock seem like the toughest guy on the planet when booked like that.

Does anyone care about a HHH rematch? I was thinking about it this morning but does HHH really do anything ratings wise? Brock may bring back some of the fans who left for MMA (me included), Rock, Austin and Hogan will always bring a few fans back for a week or two and I'd imagine the ratings are pretty steady with Cena on top but HHH? I've never seen the appeal and find it hard to imagine people who have switched off coming back due to HHH returning. So does he really NEED to get his win back on Lesnar? For what purpose?

[Killjoy_Gee]

Does anyone think there is a realistic chance of Brock and CM Punk (w/ Paul E.) vs Taker and HHH (w/Vince) at 'Mania?

 

I don't know much about the deadman's health, but it is rumoured to be bad - so he wouldn't have to pull full duty and it would fit in storyline wise.

 

Paul E. wants to control WWE - Brock and Punk would back him up, with Punk being "screwed" out of the belt, and Brock being disrespected with a "piss poor contract" last year thanks to HHH.

 

HHH and 'Taker have the mutual respect following the past 2 years at 'Mania. And Taker has the whole respect thing - how dare anyone disrespect the company he loves so much!!

 

And when Brock abandons Punk to take the pinfall (because, lets face it, Punk would be the one lying down in that match) it could lead to a face turn for Brock and a match at extreme rules against Punk.

[Swift89]

3 questions for someone who doesn't watch that much wrestling (Rumble was my first since last years mania)

 

1. Is Cena v Rock II locked in 100%? If not what is the realistic % chance of it happening barring injury

2. Will WWE mention the 'once in a lifetime' if it does happen or just ignore it?

3. If the match does happen, what are the chance sof the Rock refusing to lay down for Cena?

 

1. Cena v Rock is 100%.

2. They will ignore it.

3. No chance that Rock will refuse to lay down.

[IANdrewDiceClay]

Does anyone think there is a realistic chance of Brock and CM Punk (w/ Paul E.) vs Taker and HHH (w/Vince) at 'Mania?

Why would they do that? You cut two money feuds in half by doing a pointless tag match.

 

Also this is a revenge feud between HHH and Lesnar. What are you doing to do in the match? Have Punk and Lesnar work over the Undertaker and have Triple H get the hot tag?

[ColinBollocks]

Yarp, it completely waters down Triple H's victory over Lesnar, after Lesnar ripped Mr. H's arm off and made him get a hair cut.

 

If they do this right they can get three high profile matches out of Heyman's clients v WWE/Blokes that Vince likes; you've got Triple H v Lesnar, Punk v 'Taker and Shield v Orton/Sheamus etc. That's quite the line-up, when you add Rock/Cena II.

[PSF]

Does anyone think there is a realistic chance of Brock and CM Punk (w/ Paul E.) vs Taker and HHH (w/Vince) at 'Mania?

Why would they do that? You cut two money feuds in half by doing a pointless tag match.

 

Also this is a revenge feud between HHH and Lesnar. What are you doing to do in the match? Have Punk and Lesnar work over the Undertaker and have Triple H get the hot tag?

 

Theres always the fact that HHH said he wanted to be the one to end the streak. Would it countif HHH was the one to get pinned in the tag match?

[FLips]

I think the ending segment last night made Raw worth the watch. Not even particularly for Lesnar's return, but that video package with Brad Maddox/Heyman/Shield was fantastic. So brutal.

[IANdrewDiceClay]

Theres always the fact that HHH said he wanted to be the one to end the streak. Would it countif HHH was the one to get pinned in the tag match?

Yeah, swerves for the sake of swerves always work.

[SSJLogan]

3 questions for someone who doesn't watch that much wrestling (Rumble was my first since last years mania)

 

1. Is Cena v Rock II locked in 100%? If not what is the realistic % chance of it happening barring injury

2. Will WWE mention the 'once in a lifetime' if it does happen or just ignore it?

3. If the match does happen, what are the chance sof the Rock refusing to lay down for Cena?

 

1. Cena v Rock is 100%.

2. They will ignore it.

3. No chance that Rock will refuse to lay down.

 

I wouldn't say its 100% until its announced. but i agree with 2 and 3

[MVP RULZ]

Okay So I get the reasoning behind Shield attacking Ryback as they were being controlled by Heyman etc but what is the reason that they attacked Orton and Sheamus not to mention Kane and Bryan as well?

 

Guess they could say it was sort of a bluff to take the scent away from them only attacking Punks opponents but seems pretty Flimsy

 

It was a case of the good bits being really good and the bad bits being really bad on Raw this week