The Official UKFF RAW Thread...

[TheToeSucker]

Imagine hating Paul Ellering.

[Briefcase]

On 9/17/2019 at 7:18 PM, Callum1993 said:

If The Fiend doesn’t win the title at Hell in a Cell it’ll be such an awful decision. I’ve never really been a Wyatt fan until this but he’s an absolute star. The stuff with Kane across the show was great too.

This bothers me (not your comment) but where they go with this. I would be surprised if Seth loses after going over Brock & Braun but you can't have Bray lose either.

Which leaves either a no contest where maybe Bray takes Rollins out before the bell is rung (still makes Rollins look weak as the babyface IMO) or interference of some kind like a Balor/Kane/Undertaker but again not sure that's a great idea either. 

Then the next show is the Saudi one which I'm not sure I can see Bray doing effectively (unless they do something like Undertaker vs Bray or Bray vs Balor) and then Survivor Series champ vs champ I can't see Bray facing Kofi (or whoever the Smackdown Champ will be by then).

Edited September 19, 2019 by Briefcase

[King Pitcos]

Assuming Brock is the Smackdown champion by them, I can't see them booking him in a match with Bray.

[FUM]

Bray shouldn't even be involved with the title. The Fiend is working as a character that pops up now and then. Now if he loses in any fashion, he's an idiot. If he wins, he's going to get overexposed.

They need to learn not everyone needs to go after the title.

[TildeGuy~!]

They don’t need to use the fiend, they can use his Firefly Funhouse character, they seem to love doing contract signings a lot recently and I’d like to see that part of Bray’s character have that segment with Rollins to see how it plays out. 

[Supremo]

From an in-ring action perspective, this was probably one of the best episodes of Raw in a long, long time. I don't know if it was the result of some type of mandate or if guys were just lucky to be booked with people that they clicked with, but for whatever reason the matches felt way more fun and exciting than usual, which helped the pacing massively. Corbin and Gable in particular had their second straight banger in as many weeks. I don't know if they've tapped into some great chemistry between the two of them or if Chad Gable is just a really talented fucker (probably the latter), but either way, long may this feud continue! It's easily the best thing Corbin's done in his entire career.

These past few years though, the problem with Raw and WWE in general has never been a lack of good wrestling. It's everything else. Everyone being scripted to talk and act exactly the same. Everything feeling so overproduced. No-one being able to stand out or show any type of authenticity. This show highlighted it perfectly. On a three hour show, with loads of good wrestling, what were the two best parts? The small glimpses we got of guys being able to show some proper character, first with the Street Prophets and Miz breaking the Fourth Wall to pull some faces and then with Sami Zayn acting the tit at ringside during Nakamura's offense.

 

 

I know it's not news to say this, but imagine how great this show would be if it were booked or written like it was 1997 and guys were allowed to just throw shit out there and act more like themselves. We see enough of them on Network specials, podcasts and social media to know there's some really funny, interesting guys on this roster. It's criminal that they're all forced to talk and act so weird and uninteresting.

Some other quick thoughts:

- Rusev's fucked already. Nothing kills a return like abandoning the direction one week in. If they were always going to drop the tease that he might have been shagging Maria then they never should've hinted at it in the first place. Everyone knew Rusev wouldn't be announced as the Father in the end, but at least play on it and develop your story. They had Maury Povich offering to come on the show for a paternity test, for fuck's sake! That would've been a right laugh! Instead, they decided to just abandon the whole thing in that super frustrating way Vince drops angles, scripting the announcers to brush it off and act like you're the dickhead for wanting to see things followed up on. Rubbish!

- EC3 needs to leak to Meltzer than he's being buried and Vince will never push him. Appealing to Vince's need to troll and undermine Big Dave is the only way EC3's gonna be able to save his career at this point.

- Nice to see they've breathed some life into the 24/7 thing by giving the women a go. Hopefully they come up with some fun vignettes.

- Big fan of Hogan's name being booed. They obviously weren't expecting that by keeping the crowd mics up. Brilliant. Hopefully that continues. Fuck him.

- Another great Firefly Funhouse. Bray's really hitting his groove with these now. I wonder if we'll ever see School Teacher Bray in a live setting or if it'll always be in these type of segments? Either way though, there's no denying it any more. If it isn't already the case then this Seth vs. Fiend thing needs to be a double turn. The crowd hated Seth during that opening promo and the way they had him screaming in fear at the end was even worse than last week. Look at this prick!

 

The quicker they start playing on the glaringly obvious unlikable aspects of Seth's character and push him as the heel against Bray the better it'll be for everyone involved.

- It looks like they're going all out next week, with a new logo, set and the return of pyro for the, "Season Premiere." It would be forgivable if people missed the new logo though since it was shown at the same time as that terrifying image of a photoshopped Brock Lesnar.

Major Uncanny Valley vibes!

[TheBurningRed]

They tried to make Seth look better than a crying baby after Raw. The attempt was obviously to make both men look strong with the Fiend getting back up a couple of times. But to me it’s made him look vulnerable. With the multiple curb stomps to beat Brock and Braun and to beat down Bray, you have to wonder how many it’ll take to keep the monster Rey Mysterio down next week. 

[Supremo]

That first spot, where Bray immediately stands up after The Stomp? That should be the finish to Hell in a Cell. Bray jumps back up for the no-sell and wins in devastating fashion. Seth's a completely lost cause whilst Bray's the most interesting and exciting character in forever. He needs to win with ease. You don't have to do Universal Champion vs. WWE Champion at Survivor Series, if that's a reason for them deciding against it. Although, personally, I'd be super interested in Bray vs. Brock simply because they're pretty much the only real stars in the company at the moment.

[ColinBollocks]

Fair play to WWE, they're usually a bit wishy washy with going all out with guys they are sort of pushing, but The Fiend is getting the treatment he deserves. Seth crying in the corner was hilarious, but Supremo is right in that the damage was done months ago, so it doesn't really matter.

We'll probably all be moaning about how dull The Fiend is next year, but right now (going by the YouTube videos) they're doing good work. 

[Wrasslin]

I think you CAN get around him winning the belt (he doesn't need it just now). Just have him do something way over the line to Seth Rollins to the point where people actually have to intervene. Lights out and disappears leaving a bloody battered Rollins.

[The King of Old School]

I think he has to win the belt.

Anything else will be such an anti-climax.

The hope then would be that they can get somebody hot enough to feud and take it off him come Mania.

[Supremo]

There are obviously ways to get around Bray winning the Title. I just can’t think of a single reason why you’d want to. We’ve had years and years of them cooling down their next hot thing by trying to be clever or thinking they know a better way.

Sometimes, you’ve got to just pull the trigger on the cool, hot thing you’ve got.

I always think back to that Goldberg vs. Brock match at Survivor Series. Despite Goldberg coming off as the biggest star in years in the promos beforehand, everyone was so accustomed to how they book that they were convinced Brock was winning. And then look what happened when they stopped trying to be clever and just pulled the trigger. Arguably the best run they’ve had this decade.

Bray’s the best thing going today. And the other option is Seth Rollins continuing this piss poor run where people are turning on him in droves.

Pull the fucking trigger. 

[Yakashi]

This Seth is worse than Jinder. Just fucking awful. 

[WyattSheepMask]

1 hour ago, TheBurningRed said:

They tried to make Seth look better than a crying baby after Raw. The attempt was obviously to make both men look strong with the Fiend getting back up a couple of times. But to me it’s made him look vulnerable. With the multiple curb stomps to beat Brock and Braun and to beat down Bray, you have to wonder how many it’ll take to keep the monster Rey Mysterio down next week. 

Assuming WWE don’t put it on their website/social media, then it didn’t happen, so wouldn’t worry about him looking vulnerable at this point.

If Seth suddenly overcomes his fears and curb stomps him into oblivion on the go-home, then get worried

Edited September 24, 2019 by WyattSheepMask

[Grecian]

My money is on Bray kicking the living bejesus out of Seth at HIAC, and for Balor to return as the Demon to either cost Bray the win or a no-contest ending. Given how easily Bray destroyed Balor at Summerslam, surely Demon vs Fiend is the next step.