Raw, 10th June. Payback Go-Home Show

[d-d-d-dAz]

If this leads to a HHH/Vince power struggle feud, ill top myself.The opening segment was so bad it was funny, but as a show long narrative it sucked ball. The best thing on the show was D-Bry/Rollins, obviously, but the Kaitlyn segment wasn't far off. AJ was great in her role, and Kaitlyn really beat the piss out of her.Also I'm surprised anyone thought Cena was 'terrible' on the mic last night, I thought he put in a good turn.

[DannRead]

Also I'm surprised anyone thought Cena was 'terrible' on the mic last night, I thought he put in a good turn.

TBH I agree, it was the execution that was poor not to mention the fact that a lumberjack match holds little relevance to modern day wrestling on a pay per view main event and therefore fails to garner any interest from Joe Public.

[Mr Butternut Squash]

AJ was great actually and she usually is. I'm certainly more interested in the divas match now than the shitty wwe title feud. I don't know how anybody could have enjoyed that opening segment and the show long story that went nowhere and made no sense in the first place. The Helmsly's are completely charmless and Vince is more sad than funny these days so that hugging stuff was a bit awkward.

[DannRead]

I don't know how anybody could have enjoyed that opening segment and the show long story that went nowhere and made no sense in the first place. The Helmsly's are completely charmless and Vince is more sad than funny these days so that hugging stuff was a bit awkward.

I know I'm being pedantic here but one thing that bothers me is crappy directing, and I must say I thought it was crappy directing that after coming back from the Vince-HHH-Steph hug they focussed on Kane who looked a bit 'awkward / pissed off' that his gimmick (and the punch line to an earlier segment he was in) was used a in segment he was not a part of. I understand why the director would make that choice but then surely they should have made Kane aware of that so he could react accordingly in a manor that befits him, maybe nodding away happy that a hug solved another problem or whatever. It just kinda made the whole "Kane hugging" thing a little less / odd, if you get me, especially as I said earlier considering it had already been used once in the evening.

[Shane O' Mac Version 2]

Cena was pretty bad in the last segment, just for the way he kept talking over Ryback. Jericho was guilty of the same thing in his exchange with Ziggler. Cutting the balls off opponents by disregarding anything they have to say is heelish in itself, and very counterproductive, as it makes them look unnecessarily stupid instead of dangerous. Cena's intensity was good though, even in using the cliched "Payback's a bitch" line, and I've always felt pull apart brawls are great for making matches seem big-time.I enjoyed this Raw quite a lot. The McMahons and Triple H are far removed from the dominance/exposure they had on WWE programming, it was several years ago since they've had a significant presence (last I can recall was the Orton/HHH feud in 2009, before that Battle of the Billionaires), so I don't mind them having a story going here. The power play story between McMahon and Hunter was intriguing if only because it points to the dilemma WWE has with authority figures, they used that nicely for a good cop/bad cop routine. I laughed rather than thinking Vince was such a bad guy though, the "60 minute ironman match" was ridiculous.The roster is going to look pretty great in a week's time. Henry and Punk are returning, Triple H has become a semi-regular, Ziggler's back and we still have The Shield and Daniel Bryan being awesome. Loved that Bryan/Rollins match, and not just because it was "Bryan Danielson" vs. "Tyler Black", but because it was both athletic and aggressive. That's a hard balance to get sometimes, Sin Cara's offense is very pretty and athletic (when not botching), but it rarely looks impactful and is usually overly choreographed. Rollins and Bryan had a match that looked like a proper fight, and it was supported by a hot crowd. Everyone is loving D-Bryan nowadays.

[IANdrewDiceClay]

it was both athletic and aggressive. That's a hard balance to get sometimes

No it isn't. That's a style of wrestling that's been popular for the last 15 years in the US. Daniel Bryan does it every week.

[Shane O' Mac Version 2]

it was both athletic and aggressive. That's a hard balance to get sometimes

No it isn't. That's a style of wrestling that's been popular for the last 15 years in the US. Daniel Bryan does it every week.

Yeah, he does it fantastically, but there's few others on the current WWE roster that can. As I mentioned, Sin Cara has trouble with the aggression, a lot of the offense is pretty light, Rey is guilty of it as well. R-Truth flies around but barely seems to graze his opponent. Miz is aggressive but not that athletic. WWE used to have a larger amount of guys that could do it, when there was a bigger Cruiser division with guys like Chavo, Helms and Noble, as well as Angle, Eddie and Benoit. Yes it's popular and yes it gets done, but not many today can do what Bryan and Rollins did.

[IANdrewDiceClay]

If they got the time, a load probably could. FCW used to be filled with matches like that. Not many people get almost 20 minutes on Raw, though. And not many people have the personality Daniel Bryan has, so they aren't going to get the time. Its one of the most athletically gifted rosters they've ever had.

[Green]

Genuinely can't understand the hate for the opening segment, I thought it was great! Can't remember seeing anything like it before. Not too sure where it's going and can't say I'm really invested but it was an enjoyable bit regardless.

[garynysmon]

Genuinely can't understand the hate for the opening segment, I thought it was great! Can't remember seeing anything like it before. Not too sure where it's going and can't say I'm really invested but it was an enjoyable bit regardless.

I watched the show on Sky + last night and have to agree. At least it felt different and can't remember the angle being done before. Vince McMahon being involved in a meaningful storyline might be enough to bring me back on board for a while at least.

[King Pitcos]

It was an alright Raw. The opening bit with Vince and Triple H was great fun, wasn't too fond of all the stuff with them after that. The group hug thing would've been far better as an in-ring bit. And as shitdull as Curtis Axel is, I prefer him being in the triple threat rather than it being a Miz-Barrett singles again.I don't want Kane, Bryan or Orton to turn heel. WWE is crying out for star babyfaces and Orton and Bryan are two of the most popular. Bryan's hitting his stride as a babyface now, and he's already done the "turn heel, crowd turns him face" deal a year ago. Counter-productive to do it again. Orton as a heel is exactly the same only with even less personality, and it'd end up in him feuding with Cena again. And monster heel Kane is just crap. I've got no interest at all in seeing Kane as a singles wrestler at all, actually.Bryan vs Rollins was very good. Don't care much about the Shield's PPV matches. They're just repeats from matches on this Raw and Friday's Smackdown. They'll likely be good and I'm interested to see what Bryan does, but they could be so much more.Cesaro's still rubbish, and looks even worse with the leg tape gone. Austin used to joke about a bloke in black trunks and black boots not being marketable, but at least he had wristbands, kneepads and some personality. And Cesaro's little booties look stupid. Sin Cara was a bit better than usual, mind.AJ's a pretty great heel. She's a good talker, but her mannerisms are terribly overdone and they add to how genuinely easy to hate she is. Kaitlyn and Big E weren't very good talkers in their bit, they seemed like nervous performers rather than nervous characters. Kaitlyn does this weird thing with her arms when she talks as well, it's bugged me for ages. But that segment ended up really good.Cena was on good form in the last bit, but I'm still not buying his feud with Ryback. I was intrigued to see where it went, and it hasn't gone anywhere in the end. Ryback's choked too many times to pull off the monster thing, but I've not bought the coward gimmick either. He does play a good prick, but I think it'll still take a bit of time and settling for who and what he is to be established.

Finished with Raw now, everyone shitting on Michael Cole for his Puerto Rico comment was the highlight. Also, having watched it now, Zeb praises Cesaro for becoming an American citizen legally, and learning to speak English, as opposed to someone like Sin Cara, who pretty much only speaks Spanish and snuck across the border. The pairing actually makes perfect sense, and was explained.

It doesn't make perfect sense (outside of "hypocritical heel" logic, or outright racism) because there's no indication from anywhere other than Zeb that Sin Cara is an illegal immigrant. Him being an illegal yet having a job in WWE is a mad concept. It's one thing for WWE to make entrance videos and music for the three lads who sneak in in Bossman fancy dress every night, it's quite another for them to go giving contracts to some guy who said he left his work visa in his other mask.

[Big Rob]

It doesn't make perfect sense (outside of "hypocritical heel" logic, or outright racism)

And that's why it makes sense - I should possibly have clarified that it makes pefect sense to Zeb. Granted, the notion that WWE are illigally employing Sin Cara and putting him on Worldwide TV is a bit mental, but Zeb is essentially a conspiricy-spouting racist, and as such his viewpoints might not make perfect sense to a rational thinker.

[PowerButchi]

Yeah, it works under the Michael Hayes heel rule of "As long as the heel feels he's justified and in the right". And he does here.

[ShortOrderCook]

Rollins and Bryan had a match that looked like a proper fight

Always have to lock them in a surfboard during a proper fight. Cracking match though. D-Bry is just on fire, loving the current angle with him. I too hope it doesn't result in any of he, Orton or Kane switching sides.Not enough love in this thread for the AJ - Kaitlyn segment. That turned out tremendous and logical, I bought into the emotion from both and AJs motives. Really good segment, really liked it. I'm one of the few here that seems to like AJ I think, she's a total early WWE Mickie James rip-off but I loved that character so that's probably why I like her in general.And yes, Cesaro really needs his leg tape back. It's getting mental how something changes with him or he has a new quirk each week. He seems to walk like Tajiri now.

[Arch Stanton]

And yes, Cesaro really needs his leg tape back. It's getting mental how something changes with him or he has a new quirk each week. He seems to walk like Tajiri now.

Yeah, what the fuck was that new monkey walk all about?! He just looked completely ridiculous. He definitely needs to sort his ring gear out quickly too, you can't go out there in tiny boots and underpants. He looks less like a pro wrestler and more like a 'wrestler' from a 'special interest' video. You know, probably.