The Official UKFF RAW Thread...

[Tim Healys Chutney Spoon]

Won't it all be forgotten about in a few weeks when we'll all be discussing some other piece of lazy crap writing? 

[Bettencourt]

Excerpts from Ric's podcast.

 

 

 

 

 

"Obviously I have an opinion, but I'm afraid to voice it because I don't want anything to affect Ashley's career" 

 

 

 

"I know that Hunter and Stephanie and Michael Hayes have her back"

 

 

 

"I don't think she feels she's comfortable enough to say 'no' to anything yet, she's only been up there three-months" 

 

 

 

"If I was a fan I wouldn't like it"

 

 

 

Apparently he'll be at Survivor series and thinks it will be "old news" by then anyway.

[Benno]

I'd recommend listening because what he doesn't say, skirting around the issue of it being the decision of "one person", is telling in itself, but there's a decent transcription from Cageside Seats here:

 

http://www.cagesideseats.com/wwe/2015/11/18/9753464/ric-flair-cried-watching-charlotte-paige-angle-raw-wwe

 

 

 

 

The controversial angle that closed this past Monday night's episode of Raw in Greenville, South Carolina, featuring WWE using Charlotte's brother Reid, who died of a drug overdose in 2013, in an angle with Paige, just got more controversial.

 

That's because their father, WWE Hall of Famer Ric Flair, says he wasn't told about it beforehand and cried while he was watching it.

 

There's a lot more, and it's damning. From his latest podcast:

 

"You know, here's the problem: I obviously have an opinion but I'm afraid to voice it. Because I don't want anything to affect Ashley's career. I would just say that I know that Hunter, and Stephanie, and Michael Hayes have her back. I think if anything that could be considered a negative, I don't think she feels like she's comfortable enough to say 'no' to anything yet. She's only been up there three months and it's a pressure cooker. It's a tough spot to be in. Even though she's the champion doesn't mean she goes 'hey, this is what I want to do and what I'm not going to do.' I think if they asked her to do something, that's pretty much the way things operate up there.

 

"I just spent 10 days in Europe with the Raw group, the red tour, which is half the guys and I just think that they're walking on pins and needles. Just because you're the champion doesn't mean that you have the right to say no. If somebody writes it down, one person approves everything. Does that make sense?

 

"So, I really don't have an opinion.

 

"I was very sensitive to it, obviously, because it's a very sensitive issue. It's still very new. I know her mom is on fire. But I'm not going to... I can't just go out on a limb and say what I think. For what it was and what it... I think it was intense. I think the pull apart was as good as Brock Lesnar and 'Taker considering it was women. I think Ashley's interview -- take some of the words out of context -- Ashley's interview may have been the best I've ever seen from a woman and a Diva of all time. She was on fire and she stayed in control. She dealt with the emotion of it. She, once again, demonstrated her physical skills as being second to none, man or woman, in the company."

 

When asked how he would feel if he wasn't personally involved in it:

 

"I wouldn't like it. Obviously it's... I mean, I got mad. I told this story on the show, I was upset when Jerry Lawler was verbally abusing Bret Hart's parents, much less touching on something as sensitive as that. You know, it's still new. It's not even three years old. It's something we deal with as a family on a daily basis. As you know, I share if I'm upset about something and it comes to mind. I'm doing 30 for 30 right now for ESPN and that's one of the things they wanted to talk about and it was a very emotional part of the interview. It's just something... Do I... If I was a fan I wouldn't like it, no. But I've seen a lot of things I didn't like before. I'm personally attached to this but let me reiterate that I know that Hunter, and Stephanie, and Michael Hayes have her back and they wouldn't go out of their way to hurt her or put her in a position to be hurt."

 

When asked if he was told about it:

 

"I never heard a word about it. I started crying while I was watching it. Nope, nobody called me and nobody has called me today. That would indicate that they just assumed that that's good. So I don't have an answer for that."

 

He if he trusts that Charlotte has good judgement and maybe he just wanted to have liked to have a heads up on it happening:

 

"No, because I don't think it would have made any difference. If they ask you to do something, what is she going to say, 'no, I quit'? I don't think that anybody has... I listened to a lot of the interviews with a lot of the kids. Forget anything personal, it doesn't mean I have to like the verbage of them. They've written down stuff for me that I wasn't comfortable with and I can go ask and they'll change it. It's nothing sensitive like that but they've brought stuff to me and I've said to Hunter 'this doesn't make sense' and Hunter goes 'well, write something down that does' or 'go talk to the writer' and I will. But it's never anything of that level of sensitivity.

 

...

 

"...I do know that she would never be comfortable rocking the boat right now. She's in a very unique and great position with them and she'll be there as long as she wants to be because they think that much of her, not only because of who she is but because of her skill set, her workrate, her work ethic; there are a thousand reasons why she'll be there forever. But I don't think she feels comfortable saying no to anybody about anything."

 

He goes on to say that by the time they get to Survivor Series, this will be old news and he'll be at the show. What's more, they clearly established a heel and a babyface and they'll have the match accordingly.

 

 

Edited November 18, 2015 by Benno

[PunkStep]

I think that's spot on from Flair, he's still capable of talking sense at times then. That interview just further strengthens my opinion that everyone is walking on eggshells in that place. You dare not say shit.

 

But again I still think that aside from the Reid stuff it was a good skit that helped build the match well. More intensity that I'm used to seeing from the WWE divas.

[The Clint]

I think that's spot on from Flair, he's still capable of talking sense at times

 

Apart from the fact that he obviously still thinks the roster is split into two brands.

[air_raid]

"Ric Flair cried watching the Charlotte-Paige angle on Raw"

 

Sure, but he also cried during three other segments and once when the ad break started.

[tiger_rick]

 

I think that's spot on from Flair, he's still capable of talking sense at times

 

Apart from the fact that he obviously still thinks the roster is split into two brands.

 

It is, Raw and NXT.

[The Clint]

 

 

I think that's spot on from Flair, he's still capable of talking sense at times

 

Apart from the fact that he obviously still thinks the roster is split into two brands.

 

It is, Raw and NXT.

 

 

So in that case Reigns and Wyatt etc must've been on the NXT side of the tour then. Ric even still calls Raw the "red" brand.

Edited November 18, 2015 by The Clint

[TildeGuy~!]

He makes sense in a way though

 

Who really gives a fuck about what happens on Smackdown? I haven't watched it in about 2 years.

Edited November 18, 2015 by TildeGuy~!

[Linus]

 

I think that's spot on from Flair, he's still capable of talking sense at times

 

Apart from the fact that he obviously still thinks the roster is split into two brands.

 

The tour is split into two teams, colour-coded. I don't know this from watching Total Divas, honest.

[Murtz]

It's almost as if the writers thought that a distasteful comment would make most viewers forget that a frigging women's title contract signing main evented the show before Survivors Series!

 

I know there really isn't a big 4 anymore, but seriously, what a joke

[Nick James]

"Ric Flair cried watching the Charlotte-Paige angle on Raw"

 

Sure, but he also cried during three other segments and once when the ad break started.

Brilliant. That's just made me laugh way more than it should have. Imagining Flair welling up just as The Big Show raises his bottle of Rolaids.

[gadge]

Lana is ace. I love non-ingrained wrestling people in the business. She's an actor/singer. As a performer she's dead in the water. Like I said, Rusev will be working Dave Mastiff soon.

I want to see Rusev vs Mastiff now. Argh!!

 

The first 3 quarter final tourney matches were all really good, Ambrose getting frustrated with Ziggler being too quick, neutralising his unpredictable style, was particularly fun. Long wrestling matches on Raw make sense in the context of a major title tournament. Wrestling YAY!

 

Shame Del Rio vs Kalisto couldn't maintain the standard. What a mess.

 

The final segment was executed alright, disagreeable content or not.

[Arch Stanton]

Saw a Tweet from Tyson Kidd on Tuesday afternoon before I'd watched Raw that I interpreted as implying that Cesaro had advanced in the tournament at the expense of Roman. I was pissed off that I'd inadvertently spoiled a shock result for myself but figured that there was some proper storyline development afoot, perhaps with some Triple H shenanigans costing Reigns the match. Nevertheless, I was suddenly quite excited to see exactly what went down and pleased that they weren't taking the most obvious route to the tournament finals. Was gutted when I got round to watching the show last night.

[Metallica]

I know wrestling is a weird business, if not the weirdest, and that the WWE is where every wrestler wants to be, but imagine if your bosses where you worked asked you to do something that you not only felt uncomfortable with but publicly and internationally disrespected your dead brother. Would you want to work there? Would you feel comfortable working for a boss that felt that was acceptable? Would you feel like you did a good job there?

 

It's an awful position to be in and there's a lot at stake, but would a company really fire you for saying no to something so personal to you? And what if they did? I can't see many courts in the US saying it would be fair treatment.

 

I have no idea what it's like working for the WWE, but if employees (although I understand they're technically contractors) are willing to sell their soul and literally do anything regardless of taste or decency, they need to take their fair share of the responsibility. They must have realised that the script they had was in very bad taste and I can't believe the outcome of this has come as any shock to them.

 

It's an old one, but if they were asked to jump off a cliff, would they do it?

 

Well said.

 

If Steph, HHH and Michael Hayes "have her back" then surely a team of writers could come up with a different reason for her to finally snap and attack Paige. It's poor that no one called Ric to tell him they planned on insulting his dead son on TV...or to apologise afterwards. 

 

Side note - did it seem like either Charlotte or Paige forgot their lines during that segment? There were some weirdly long pauses where no one was speaking as if they were waiting for the other to say something.