The Official UKFF RAW Thread...

[air_raid]

As hes wheeled out as an attraction every year, it would damage the aura of The Undertaker character slightly if you have him suited and booted at the Hall of Fame one night then back to being a deadman the next.

 

How's that? Plenty of the people that go berzerk for him at every WrestleMania - and did so last week on Raw - have been exposed to the man behind the character many times in the instances described by dopper and Benno, among others. They still go berzerk.

 

I expect Undertaker to induct Paul. I expect him to ask to be the one to induct him, if WWE don't broach it with him first.

[Scott Malbranque]

The funny thing is, I don't think anybody - except maybe young children and a select few of the mentally handicapable - believes that The Undertaker is really a deceased person/superhero who rises once a year in Spring to defend a win record on a show based on a predetermined sport.

I think his aura and character will be just fine if he breaks character to induct a close friend of his into the Hall of Fame.

 

EDIT - Sorry, Raider got in there first!

Edited March 5, 2014 by Scott Malbranque

[IANdrewDiceClay]

Everyone gets the Undertaker character. Nobody would be up in arms if he broke from the character for one night. He used to do it all the time in 1997. Wearing his bandana and collecting his Slammy awards and shit. Now more than ever he's a real man who lives on the dark side, as opposed to a bloke who died and is walking about like a ghost (like they were doing in 2005). If he showed up dressed in a black suit with his shades on and did a speech from the heart (because he really gave a shit about Paul Bearer in real life), that would be chillingly fitting. Nobody is asking him to be telling stories about the time Bearer put a cucumber in his hat and he was sick on the dressing room floor or anything. Just introduce his family and say something nice. The more Undertaker ages, the more he can pretty much do whatever he likes with his character. He's untouchable.

Edited March 5, 2014 by IANdrewDiceClay

[Guest]

It'll be his own family who do it.

His family will accept his award, they still need someone else to induct him

[Chris B]

I'm not sure where I saw it, but I have read somewhere that part of the reason Undertaker doesn't do the Hall of Fame isn't just because of breaking character, but also because he feels there's an element of his character being potentially disrespectful, especially when it comes to posthumous inductions. However, Bearer was so into his macabre humour, by all accounts, I suspect it's not an issue, especially considering all the urn stuff last year.

[Chest Rockwell]

Nobody is asking him to be telling stories about the time Bearer put a cucumber in his hat and he was sick on the dressing room floor or anything.

 

 

Well.. if you're asking. I would quite like him to do that.

[Arch Stanton]

WWE.com Michael Cole interview with Triple H.

 

Nice little follow-on from Raw, as these web interviews usually are. I think Triple H is brilliantly smug and condescending here, but worryingly, I also think he's sort of right. Why should he wrestle Bryan? There's not much in it for him. All his reasoning, from a kayfabe perspective is pretty sound. He is the CEO, he's got all his corporate responsibilities now and he's semi-retired from the ring. The idea is that he is playing a cowardly heel by refusing to accept the match, but this isn't the same as when you have an active champion ducking challenges for his belt. I know that the idea is that eventually Bryan will piss him off so much that Triple H flips and makes the match, but that sort of booking doesn't really help Bryan's whinger image.

 

Still, the end result should be a brilliant match.

 

On another point, it has to be Vince in JBL's ear telling him to take the piss out of Christian. He was laying in the digs during that match with Sheamus, seemed completely unnecessary.

[King Pitcos]

Any digs at Christian are necessary. He's so, so shit. His nickname should be Captain Diminishing Returns. He's like if Mick Foley had aids, worse hair, a rat face, was on the active roster, was turning into a Simpson, and was really shit and boring.

[Chest Rockwell]

Finally caught up with RAW.. does anyone else get the impression that, because of the Batista turn, they're now still actually not sure which match they want to put Bryan in?

 

They seem to be seeing up both, but for the good reasons posted here, it seems unlikely he'd do both..

Edited March 5, 2014 by Chest Rockwell

[ShortOrderCook]

Although Iuns points on Triple H vs DB+ happening are very true, their interaction this week was also very much Bryan saying, every time I have the title or i'm about to have the title you fuck me over in some way because you think i'm not good enough and not worthy of being your champion, to prove myself I will beat you, the King of Kings himself and once I do that and have proved that I'm better than even you, you can't tell me i'm not WWE World Champion material. That's how Bryans message came across to me. Which leaves it open for him to be inserted into the title match upon beating Tripper but could also just lead into Extreme Rules I guess. I like Pitocs' idea of Triple H fucking him up post match with a sledgehammer.

 

Anyway, cracking show this week. That felt like a proper Road to WrestleMania Raw that we should be getting at about this time. Good shit. Perfect crowd manipulation, great shit with the Heyman bit, really liked the story there. And Triple H and Stephanie were sensational throughout. Chris Bs point about the crowds big thing is 'lets cheer for the goodies and boo the baddies' is so very true. Which is why I don't particular mind this whole situation too much. It's given somewhat of a sense of kayfabe and markdom back to wrestling. They wanted to shit on matches that had no consequence, which is actually fair enough as it happens far too often. They got that well wrong though, attempting to shit on Sheamus vs Christian which was actually a nifty little match and was leading somewhere, sort of. Vince blatantly getting in JBLs ear did amuse me too, I bet he proper can't stand the yellow rat faced bastard. The match of no consequence was in fact Ziggler vs Del Rio. Nice move by WWE putting Dolph in this spot, that was a big fuck you to the fans that I don't think they realised, not getting a celebrity rub, rather just having his time used to shill Need for Speed.

 

 

Shield and Wyatts do it again. That match and how it played out was booked perfectly. Loved the twist of Rollins having enough of being peacekeeper. Someone mentioned (rick I think) that Reigns was wrong for being annoyed at Ambrose initially getting involved. Not really, Ambrose has previous for doing that when his mate was in control and causing a loss. Reigns weren't prepared to let it happen again. Just loved the story of this match, utterly perfect for The Shield story progression. I fucking love these lads, I desperately don't want to see them go but I also want to see their careers flourish individually. Part of me would absolutely love them to continue on as a face unit but I think that not happening would make a potential reuniting some time in the distant future all the more special. I'd be well up for Shield vs Evolution post-Mania though. Agree wasn't keen on Rollins top rope spot being repeated but other than that Rollins was tremendous here throughout. Loved that when he left the match how Ambrose and Reigns suddenly put all their shit aside and came together. Ambrose holding one of the Wyatts in position and calling for Regins sweet apron dropkick signifying that. Great moment there. Almost as if Rollins actions actually solved the issue that caused him to walk away to begin with. Loved all this shit hard and long and all over the fucking place.

 

In comparison, despite his welcoming of a new age and insisting they must go through him first, Cena actually felt so very insignificant here and as if that time is already upon us. 2014 could be a very interesting year for how the main event scene develops.

[Devon Malcolm]

I didn't actually think Bryan did all that well in the promos on Raw. He's a good level below CM Punk when he was at his promo best. He just shouts too much and makes the same point over and over. He's alright to a point but I just kept thinking to myself that HHH was murdering him on the mic, even if his ignoring Stephanie was really funny. The end segment was fantastic, though, and HHH and Steph were brilliant throughout. The way they didn't care one bit about the booing was fantastic and almost superhumanly professional.

 

Paul Heyman's opening promo went on too long and drifted off on tangents too much for it to deserve all the credit it's getting, but it was a nice idea and well delivered as you would expect. Still would have preferred Barrett.

 

I'm glad that they're sticking to their guns with Emma and that she's still fully committed to her daft gimmick. I really like her, I don't care if she gets over, and her NXT/Raw feud with Summer Rae has been the best Divas thing in years. I'd rather watch her than Paige, to be honest.

 

I love Rusev's entrance but I doubt I'll ever care about his matches. It has such a 1980s Cold War espionage thriller style to it that I couldn't help but love it and not just because that woman is stunning.

 

They should have not bothered with Sheamus vs Christian even though I really love Sheamus's matches. They should have just let Christian batter him during an interview because that was far more effective than anything Christian's done for years.

 

The Real Americans stuff is really disappointing as that had been getting over nicely to the point where even Swagger was getting decent reactions. I suppose this means they're about to do something with Cesaro but I hope that Zeb Colter's job isn't in threat

 

I think I may actually have preferred this Wyatts vs The Shield match to the first one. The pace of this match was unbelievable. They have been star-making matches for Rollins, Rowan and Harper, too. All three have been fantastic. They shouldn't have had Rollins stood on the ramp for ages, though, because that looked daft. Amazing match, mind you.

 

The worst thing of the night was having Del Rio jobbing to shitty Ziggler. I bloody love Del Rio and I don't care and I liked Ziggler for about 5 minutes and now I just wish he'd piss off.

[Chest Rockwell]

Yeah, between Christian's post-match beatdown and his showing in the Chamber, this is the most I've cared about him in forever.

 

Not super sold on Rowan, but Harper continues to really impress me.

[Van Dammer]

WWE.com Michael Cole interview with Triple H.

 

Nice little follow-on from Raw, as these web interviews usually are. I think Triple H is brilliantly smug and condescending here, but worryingly, I also think he's sort of right. Why should he wrestle Bryan? There's not much in it for him. All his reasoning, from a kayfabe perspective is pretty sound. He is the CEO, he's got all his corporate responsibilities now and he's semi-retired from the ring. The idea is that he is playing a cowardly heel by refusing to accept the match, but this isn't the same as when you have an active champion ducking challenges for his belt. I know that the idea is that eventually Bryan will piss him off so much that Triple H flips and makes the match, but that sort of booking doesn't really help Bryan's whinger image.

 

Still, the end result should be a brilliant match.

 

Exactly why i havent particularly enjoyed the angle at all. Despite months and months of put downs and degradement Bryan hasnt done anything to retaliate other than by winning matches and being good. The Bryan character hasnt really developed to the point where he should be trying to physically force the issue of trying to get HHH in the ring. Despite months and months, well over half a year actually, of constant screwjobs and sneak attacks he hasnt actually done anything about it. Hopefully it moves forward in that sense in the next few weeks.

[Chest Rockwell]

I think it made Bryan kicking Trips in the head seem like a much bigger deal because they've built to it slowly. I like it.

[hallicks]

I love how, after jobbing Ziggler out Del Rio thousands of times, he FINALLY gets a win back and instead of showing the three count, they showed the celeb bloke standing on the table, arms aloft. I know the direction can be pretty shoddy at times but this is pretty low. Or they really, really hate Ziggler.