The Official UKFF RAW Thread...

[RIDDUM_N_STYLE]

2 hours ago, Snitsky's back acne said:

Finn Balor returns as The Demon, costs The Fiend the match - we get The Demon v The Fiend.
Calling it now

I can't see Finn costing him the match because the next PPV after HITC is the next Saudi show so will be a throwaway match followed by Survivor Series which will be Champion v Champion presumably against Kofi

[King Pitcos]

27 minutes ago, tiger_rick said:

The answer is Brock Lesnar. They already missed the boat on Rollins. It takes so fucking long to get from Rumble to Mania these days, about 470 million hours of TV, that it kills everyone. They were telling the story better with Kofi on the other side and had no heels lined up for Rollins. Just stick with Brock.

Realistically, it wouldn't have made a difference anyway, would it? Rollins vs Corbin would've still been the main event feud on Raw for months, it just wouldn't have been for the title. 

From Raw highlights, the thing that has annoyed me most is that they've got Cesaro and Mike Kanellis both being bald, bland blokes wrestling in their trousers with no top on. Why did they do the "wrestle in your trousers" storyline twice on the same show, let alone with two nondescript wrestlers who look alike?

Edited September 17, 2019 by King Pitcos

[tiger_rick]

4 minutes ago, King Pitcos said:

Realistically, it wouldn't have made a difference anyway, would it? Rollins vs Corbin would've still been the main event feud on Raw for months, it just wouldn't have been for the title. 

Week to week, probably not. But they'd be in a far stronger position with Lesnar in the midst of a long run and all their most popular wrestlers being smaller babyfaces. I get why they went to Rollins, because months before Mania, it felt right for a bit, but the moment passed and what little money there is, is in the chase.

[DCW]

They couldn't have used some of the Saudi blood or Murdoch money for once off pyro for Kane's surprise entrance? for fuck sake like.

Duelling chairs between the women was shite looking too, at least give them weapons that they can lift comfortably.

[Ricc1PW]

as much as I didn't like him never being on the show, I'm starting to think they should put the belt back on Lesnar. he's the only one that really feels like a star.

Seth Rollins has beaten Lesnar twice, beat Braun, beat everyone who's challenged him, he's presented as the top babyface...and it still feels wrong. he just doesn't feel like the top guy. whether it's him, the booking of him, or a combination of both. it isn't working. for all the criticism of Roman getting shoved down our throats.... he feels a level above Seth at the minute, and would be a better Champion. I can't imagine he'd sit whimpering in the corner while The Fiend stares at him either.

[GeronimoJacksBeard]

18 hours ago, Supremo said:

The moment they knew he was in remission they should've called the audible and fucked Seth off. Have Brock go apeshit and kill Seth in mid-February, injuring him to the point where he can't get the Title shot he earned at Wrestlemania. Then, bring in Roman to take his place and get revenge. The man beat cancer, for fuck's sake. The babyface of all bayfaces. This was his moment. After years of them trying to make him the hero and after years of making people want to see Roman vs. Brock, life handed them the ultimate opportunity. It couldn't have been more perfect. And then he just existed in limbo for what felt like forever until all momentum and potential upsides had worn off and - unbelievably - he was just another guy. Seriously, can anyone even remember what Roman did between coming back in one of the greatest segments of all time and then having some stuff sort of fall on him in the Summer? Fucked if I can.

 

17 hours ago, King Pitcos said:

If WWE had booked Roman to come back and take the WrestleMania title shot from Rollins, dey’d have had a shitfit. And Seth wouldn’t have lost all his internet points.

Yeah, that would have probably have done more for Seth getting the audience behind him. When Roman returned there was still plenty of pillocks calling it a work to gain sympathy for him when all else had failed. Had he swooped straight in and taken Seth’s WrestleMania spot it would have only had convinced them more so and made them all the more vocal about it.

It’s a tricky one. On paper it’s an incredible story and everything Supremo said should be right, but due to the shady as fuck, carny nature of pro-wrestling/WWE, angles they’ve ran in the past and the large number of entitled dickhead fans who like to make their opinions heard and think they know better than nottheirrealDad it’s probably been a good decision not to insert him straight back into the title picture.

[HarmonicGenerator]

For a guy who so many have railed against for being the 'chosen one', Roman hasn't even had a memorable run as the Champion. First reign was barely any time at all, second one lasted slightly longer until he lost it to Triple H in 2016, third one was a couple of uninteresting months til you got that 'all the Shield win the belt in one night' bit, and fourth one he had to vacate. I couldn't name what Cena did in all 16 of his reigns but his first, at least, lasted the better part of the year.

[BomberPat]

5 minutes ago, HarmonicGenerator said:

For a guy who so many have railed against for being the 'chosen one', Roman hasn't even had a memorable run as the Champion. First reign was barely any time at all, second one lasted slightly longer until he lost it to Triple H in 2016, third one was a couple of uninteresting months til you got that 'all the Shield win the belt in one night' bit, and fourth one he had to vacate. I couldn't name what Cena did in all 16 of his reigns but his first, at least, lasted the better part of the year.

They've really consistently shot themselves in the foot on this - they seem to try and book Roman in such a way that they can say, "look, he's losing matches, he's not overpushed at all!" to sate the fans who think he's forced down their throat, but then they still need him to be a focal part of TV, so still gets the big stories in spite of losing as often as he wins, and he ends up looking weak on either side of the argument. 

At least, I've always put it down to them struggling to find that balance, but then they've booked Seth so badly that at one point I thought they were genuinely striving to emasculate him, so maybe they just can't book main event babyfaces?

[WyattSheepMask]

12 minutes ago, HarmonicGenerator said:

For a guy who so many have railed against for being the 'chosen one', Roman hasn't even had a memorable run as the Champion. First reign was barely any time at all, second one lasted slightly longer until he lost it to Triple H in 2016, third one was a couple of uninteresting months til you got that 'all the Shield win the belt in one night' bit, and fourth one he had to vacate. I couldn't name what Cena did in all 16 of his reigns but his first, at least, lasted the better part of the year.

The ‘Sheild are the WWE Champion’ thing only came about because he got busted for a Wellness violation. They did seem to have put their eggs in the basket at that point and that would’ve been his first ‘proper’ run with the belt, who knows how it would’ve turned out hadhe not had to disappear for 30 days.

Reigns should’ve been the biggest babyface going after coming back, but I do think it was the right call to not put him straight into the title picture because even though ‘that section’ are the minority, they’re loud and as you mentioned, there were some that are so jaded with everything that they thought it was an angle to garner sympathy. A strong rebuild over the course of the year leading to Wrestlemania 36 could’ve been a proper fairytale, but as @BomberPat mentioned, they can’t seem to book a main event babyface and would’ve bottled it at some point anyway

Edited September 18, 2019 by WyattSheepMask

[Mr Butternut Squash]

I can't say I agree with any of the praise heaped on that gender reveal shite. I would rather have had Ricochet in a proper match with Mike Benett over that. Between the 24/7 skits, the awesome AOP promo and the fantastic, creative Bray Wyatt segments, this show had enough to fill it out. This lousy Vince Russo horseshit can get in the bin. The show came to a screeching halt with that nonsense. The crowd couldn't be arsed with it and it killed them dead. The Street Prophets have become 100% obnoxious, Ricochet looked like a clown, and Rusev came back in the flattest, most underwhelming way possible. The crowd didn't react to him at all. It didn't help that he was unrecognisable. It seems like I'm alone in this, God help me, but I'm not into his new look. Give me the thick, hairy, Bulgarian brute over this trim Rusev any day. That guy stood out. It's like Chad Gable. Lord knows why he cut them precious locks off. Now he looks like just another guy.

Maria is better than this too. She's good enough to generate real, genuine, heel heat. Rather than this bollocks, which does nothing for nobody.

Raw was great apart from that. Hilarious that, after all that, Baron Corbin is King Of The Ring, and it doesn't feel wrong in the slightest. I thought they'd brought him back to TV way too early, but fair play to him, he's turned it around for himself with some great performances. He's become a good base for the little guys to work around and the Deep Six and End of Days are two of the hottest, coolest moves in the company. He's much more palatable now he's finally out of that dress shirt and the main event. Gable's bumping and selling was tremendous in this as well. There was a few missteps but KOTR was worth it for the growth of Corbin alone. Plus the crowds were into the entire thing so you'd have to call it a success.

For the first time since Mania the women feel like stars again instead of scrambled together time-filler. The tag and the chair brawl were sloppy as hell, and it looks like Bayley is the only girl they have that's good in tag team matches. I enjoyed this though, because the women have some semblance of character to hook onto. Too many of the guys feel like dudez doing movez, going through the motions. There's nothing to distinguish them from each other. Bayley, Becky, Charlotte, Sasha, Alexa and Nikki all have identifiable character traits and it makes their stuff more fun and purposeful.

The Fiend continues to be excellent. I got a kick of how they weaved the Funhouse segments throughout the show. It's the boldest thing they've done in years. It's so cool to see that Bray is smashing it every step of the way so far. I loved how they had him piss around with the graphics during the show. I wish they'd think outside the box and play around with the 'TV' aspect of their TV shows more often. I remember NWO used to do shit like that way back when. It brings a real sense of urgency and chaos when it's done properly.

[The King of Old School]

Rusev coming out to zero reaction after a few months out was a bit sad.

Edited September 19, 2019 by The King of Old School

[Ricc1PW]

I'm not sure there has been any 'praise heaped on it' has there?

 

it was pretty hokey nonsense, and I don't think anyone is delighted that Rusev is involved in it in his big return.

[The Gaffer]

The only time Reigns seemed to be on a 'run' with the title, doing his own thing, was those defences against A.J. in his debut year, after WrestleMania. It didn't have a storyline that set the world alight, but it felt like a real eyes wide open program after what was a pretty underwhelming 'Mania. 

Edit: Payback and Extreme Rules 2016. Cracking matches. Remember when A.J. Styles debuted and was the best wrestler on the planet for about a year? 

Edited September 19, 2019 by Gay as FOOK

[Supremo]

That first AJ run was great. You could see were they wanted to slot him, sticking him with Jericho at Wrestlemania quite low down on the card, but then almost immediately you could sense someone going, "fucking hell, this lad's brilliant! Why did we let TNA have him for all these years?!"

[WeeAl]

That Corbin Vs Gable match was a bit good, wasn't it? Easily Corbin's best match yet and Gable's best on the main roster. Both men have actually grown in this tournament, which I didn't expect. I always had Corbin down as one of the favourites but I expected him to stink up the joint, which he didn't at all. Gable I thought might have even gotten beat by Benjamin in the first round. A lovely match it was. I'd have preferred Gable to win, but Corbin will probably get more mileage out of it. 

Maria and Mike Bennett from they got back on TV a few months ago, and everything surrounding their story, has been dogshite. 

I really liked the AOP talky bit with the subtitles and them both understanding each other speaking in two different languages. Intelligent lads the pair of them. No wonder they kicked Paul Ellering to the kerb.