The Official UKFF RAW Thread...

[The King of Old School]

Owens vs a motivated Brock could be a fun scrap for Mania for the belt, along with Rollins vs dare I say CM Punk?For Raw's other top match.

Edited November 26, 2019 by The King of Old School

[King Pitcos]

Really good Raw. Rollins was fantastic, Owens too.

Rusev was a perfect combination of booking and performance - it was a different twist on the bump off the stage compared to how they usually do it, and he played the whole thing brilliantly. 

AJ Styles was on great form, and Rey winning the US title is a decent rebound off losing to Brock but keeping momentum.

[RedRooster]

Credit where credit’s due, I enjoyed this Raw more than I’ve enjoyed almost any episode of Dynamite (and I like Dynamite!) 

Given Paul Heyman’s position on Raw and his relationship with CM Punk I’m becoming more and more convinced that we’re getting Punk/Rollins at ‘Mania. 

[Mr Butternut Squash]

After months of depressingly flat crowds it was great to see Chicago stay fairly hot all night. As dull as Raw has been there's at least been some sense of direction since the draft. The pulling back on hot-shot booking and the increasing use of squash matches doesn't make for the most exciting viewing but it should benefit long-term. And if you stick a couple of strong angles in there along with a big midcard match you've got a solid three hour show, like this weeks. Best of all, everyone is slotted in the right place. Rollins, Owens, Rey, Orton, even Rusev. All in positions where you can get the most out of them.

The opening segment was hilarious stuff. It took near career suicide for Rollins to get some semblance of character and motivation, finally, but it's bloody great to see it. I could do without him talking to open the show every week though. It's like this most recent disaster of a run has given everyone rose tinted glasses. Has everyone forgotten how shit he was as the lead heel during that 2015 reign of terror? Months and months of boring, shitty, whiny promos, Baron Corbin levels of channel-changingly bad. Hopefully they let KO deal with the bulk of the promo work. It's getting clearer every year that Owens, along with Joe and Bryan, are the only people left that come off as authentic enough to stay over, despite WWE's writing and mad booking. Seth with the AOP could be a good combo too, although I'd add one of the struggling ex- cruiserweights to the potential faction as well. He needs the heaters, the dude is still too clueless to work a match without doing crowd popping indie spots.

Awesome to see Rey get so much shine. The US title win is a nice consolation and I'd be stoked if he does an open challenge gimmick.

The Rusev segment was fantastic, best reaction he's got in over a year. The Lana/Lashley stuff has been a proper rollercoaster. There's been some toe curling change-the-channel shit in there, but for me it's been so hilariously bad I can't help but love it. And unlike the Kanellis cuck shit from before, at least it's getting somebody over, and Rusev is likeable enough to get any daft nonsense over. More importantly it's leading to an actual match. Rusev/Lashley sounds like it could be a fun as hell hoss battle.

Did you hear the girls screaming when Drew bragged about his "sexy Scottish accent"? After a year and a half of being stuck in quicksand you do wander if Drew can still flush the lackey stink away, and get over as a main event babyface. The use of him since last years return is utterly baffling. You'd think after being Vince's 'chosen one' back in the day he'd have shot to the top now he's actually good.

It's amazing that despite wrapping up the NXT crossover thing the roster feels as fresh as it has felt in ages. Again, moving and positioning people in the right place has done wonders. The women's stuff is stale as hell though. I wander if they left Becky off tv to serve the Rollins turn or if it was to avoid potential backlash from the main event dud the night before? Either way, it's dead in the water. It's striking how much of Charlotte's superstar aura has dissipated as well. They've made a complete mess of her the last few months, with the contrived title wins and losses, the pointless tag teams for no reason, and another awful, forced babyface 'turn'. I know they're probably waiting for mania season for call ups but they badly need some fresh faces in there.

Oh, and I'm sorry. But you're completely mental if you want to waste CM Punks return on a feud with Seth Rollins. Fucking hell, talk about flushing it down the toilet. I'm not even sure WWE is stupid enough to do that. It’s all about the Game, surely.

Edited November 26, 2019 by Mr Butternut Squash

[Frankie Crisp]

If, and it’s a stupendous if, Punk comes back between now and Wrestlemania, he’s not signing up to scrap with the bloke he hates in real life. He’ll want Brock and nobody less. His ego and terms would demand it.

Also (given I watched it on fast-forward), was there no mention of Lynch and Baszler? Have they shit it and don’t know how to follow it up? I may have just missed in in between pieces of toast.

[Mr Kennedy]

I’d imagine Punk can pick his opponent, should he decide to have another match. And if it’s not Samoa Joe he can fuck off. 

[Jacko]

4 minutes ago, Frankie Crisp said:

 

Also (given I watched it on fast-forward), was there no mention of Lynch and Baszler? Have they shit it and don’t know how to follow it up? I may have just missed in in between pieces of toast.

For me Baszler and Lynch is the main female match on WM this year wouldn’t be shocked to see Bazler win the rumble 

[Mr Butternut Squash]

Baszler winning the rumble is a good shout. Whatever they do with Shanya I hope they establish her to the wider audience first instead of sticking her straight into the title picture. Lacey Evans still hasn’t recovered from that.

[wordsfromlee]

15 minutes ago, Frankie Crisp said:

If, and it’s a stupendous if, Punk comes back between now and Wrestlemania, he’s not signing up to scrap with the bloke he hates in real life. He’ll want Brock and nobody less. His ego and terms would demand it.

I can't see him choosing Brock. He'd go for one of the guys who wasn't in WWE during his time, that he hasn't already wrestled a bunch of times on WWE TV in the past. Someone like Rollins/Balor/Owens/Styles/Joe.

[RedRooster]

1 hour ago, Mr Butternut Squash said:

Oh, and I'm sorry. But you're completely mental if you want to waste CM Punks return on a feud with Seth Rollins. Fucking hell, talk about flushing it down the toilet. I'm not even sure WWE is stupid enough to do that. It’s all about the Game, surely.

I’m not sure whether or not this is aimed at me, but where in my post did I say I wanted that match? 

Having said that, I’m not against it at all, with the kind of jabs Punk would be able to take on the mic the build up could be very entertaining. 

Edited November 26, 2019 by RedRooster

[Frankie Crisp]

2 minutes ago, wordsfromlee said:

I can't see him choosing Brock. He'd go for one of the guys who wasn't in WWE during his time, that he hasn't already wrestled a bunch of times on WWE TV in the past. Someone like Rollins/Balor/Owens/Styles/Joe.

I agree on the second bit, but given his previous with wanting to main event Wrestlemania, I'm going down the lines of him doing so by beating Lesnar, getting his big moment then going on to some fun stuff with the ones you mentioned. Saying that, he might just sit on his arse in an LA studio every now and again and laugh at people his age second-guessing his return.

[Mr Butternut Squash]

2 minutes ago, RedRooster said:

I’m not sure whether or not this is aimed at me, but where in my post did I say I wanted that match? 

Having said that, I’m not against it at all, with the kind of jabs Punk would be able to take on the mic the build up could be very entertaining. 

Nah dude. Just generally. I keep hearing about this Punk/Rollins thing everywhere and I don’t get it.

Forgot about Brock. That could be money what with Heyman involved too.

[Mr Blake]

What's the deal with Matt Harry's return? Losing streak to new gimmick? 

Without sounding all Michael Cole he had vintage Hardy Boyz attire on. 

[RedRooster]

29 minutes ago, Mr Butternut Squash said:

Nah dude. Just generally. I keep hearing about this Punk/Rollins thing everywhere and I don’t get it.

Forgot about Brock. That could be money what with Heyman involved too.

Fair enough, sorry if I sounded a bit pissy!

I’m possibly in the minority, but Punk/Lesnar doesn’t interest me much as a return match. The reason I’m OK with Punk/Rollins is the build-up. I feel like it would have the same potential as Rousey/Lynch to deliver the kind of barbs and jibes that feel real. 

Punk/Reigns could be fun, but I’m not sure I’d get the same joy out of seeing a verbal takedown on Reigns as I would on Rollins. 

[Yakashi]

2 hours ago, Mr Blake said:

What's the deal with Matt Harry's return? Losing streak to new gimmick? 

Without sounding all Michael Cole he had vintage Hardy Boyz attire on. 

The story seems to be that his wife is about to give birth any day now, so they booked him for lols. Because they’re malicious cunts. Normally I’d think it’s nonsense, but after the last couple of days I wouldn’t be surprised at all.