The Official UKFF RAW thread (part 2)...

[Kfogg1991]

Just announced

The first hour of raw will be ad free.

PUNK to open the show and have a uninterrupted period of time too give a promo only punk can do so fucking well 

[Loki]

Christ, that sounds awful.

The fantasy booking over the last few pages makes me less interested in this whole thing.  Much as I'm not a fan of Rollins, does it really make sense for WWE to bring in Punk to shit all over a guy who is undoubtedly over, the top babyface in the company, and I presume a lynchpin of plans over the next few years?

Punk's promos almost never serve to elevate his opponents, they are generally a live version of the sort of arguments you get on the internet where one party just HAS to get the last pwning in.  I actually thought a number of his feuds in AEW derailed people's careers.  Did he leave Hangman Page and Eddie Kingston in better places after beating them?  I'd argue both are only just recovering now.

Car crash tv can be entertaining but it's rarely sustainable.

[Devon Malcolm]

27 minutes ago, Loki said:

I actually thought a number of his feuds in AEW derailed people's careers.  Did he leave Hangman Page and Eddie Kingston in better places after beating them?  I'd argue both are only just recovering now.

Page's crappy title run, which admittedly was only partially his fault, can't be blamed on the bloke who ended it. Whoever ended it, Page wasn't coming out of the other side well. As for Kingston, isn't his whole act based around him being a self-doubting loser who can't crack the big time? He just reverted to type afterwards.

[simonworden]

It's going to be a long drawn out rant isn't it? They know that's what's expected. Would be a nice surprise if he says too words a sods off. 

[RedRooster]

1 hour ago, Loki said:

Punk's promos almost never serve to elevate his opponents, they are generally a live version of the sort of arguments you get on the internet where one party just HAS to get the last pwning in.  I actually thought a number of his feuds in AEW derailed people's careers.  Did he leave Hangman Page and Eddie Kingston in better places after beating them?  I'd argue both are only just recovering now.

As far as Hangman goes, his title run was a bust and felt that way long before the Punk feud - through no fault of his own. He recovered pretty quickly, with an excellent feud with Jon Moxley.

As far as Kingston goes, that feud and match felt red hot. Kingston was damaged - like many others - by a never-ending feud with Chris Jericho, then a move to the ROH brand. He’s been underutilised and perhaps even devalued, but I think you’d struggle to pin that on Punk.

[Lion_of_the_Midlands]

4 minutes ago, simonworden said:

It's going to be a long drawn out rant isn't it? They know that's what's expected. Would be a nice surprise if he says too words a sods off. 

Wasn't there a time that Jericho came back in WWE with a light up jacket, made his ring entrance, posed around the ring and then fucked off to the back, or am I misremembering? A version of that would be great. 

[JLM]

 

 

[David]

2 hours ago, Loki said:

Much as I'm not a fan of Rollins, does it really make sense for WWE to bring in Punk to shit all over a guy who is undoubtedly over, the top babyface in the company, and I presume a lynchpin of plans over the next few years?

You're assuming that Punk is coming in as the face in any feud between them I assume? He had some proper mixed reactions latterly in AEW, so what makes you think the crowd will suddenly jump to supporting him against a guy whose theme song they were all singing back at him five minutes ago?

I don't see them going down that route with him. I mean, I don't really know how they're going to use him, which is what has gotten me interested enough to watch a Raw that isn't a reunion special for the first time in many years, but while bringing him back is a big deal I don't think it's big enough to tear up the current playbook.

No, I don't see them doing any of the stuff I've read on social media, such as retreading old ground, I don't see them allowing Punk to make sly digs at the competition, or allow him to "shoot" at anyone without it being agreed upon by all parties beforehand.

I'd hazard a guess that he's going to be given no more leeway than any other talent at the company, and you know what? I think that's what he wants. I said when he was fired from AEW that he more than likely respects and understands the corporate structure at WWE now more than he ever did. 

He might just be happy to be working at a company where mid and lower-level talent isn't going to fuck with him backstage or "go into business for themselves" on live television and chat shite. 

He can come to work, do what he has to do, get paid, and go home. 

[air_raid]

7 hours ago, Loki said:

Much as I'm not a fan of Rollins, does it really make sense for WWE to bring in Punk to shit all over a guy who is undoubtedly over, the top babyface in the company, and I presume a lynchpin of plans over the next few years?

[d-d-d-dAz]

So, he didn’t really grind any axes or do any insidery shit. They just did the clean slate/fresh start thing, presumably to get him moving into his actual wrestling angle from his next appearance.

Naturally people are furious that it was bland and ‘sanitised’, but I’m pretty happy that at least we didn’t get a shit load of Khan references or talking about being fired on his wedding day.

Let them cook, as the kids say.

Oh, and it turns out his theme is the new official remastered and re-recorded version that was released on Spotify in the days before Survivor Series. His signing didn’t come together in the days before Survivor Series, the absolute wheeze bags. You don’t get a song re-recorded, remastered and with new artwork in that short a time period.

Edited November 28, 2023 by d-d-d-dAz

[RedRooster]

I wonder if, legally, it wasn’t particularly sensible for him to make any sort of dig; or if he just thought better of it?

Either way, I liked the fact that it was effectively a reset. I’m curious as to who his first opponent will be, or if it’ll simply be a case of the Rumble being his return match. If nothing else, it’ll give him the opportunity to interact with a bunch of different people. 

Outside of Punk, I thought McIntyre was excellent tonight. It feels a bit of a shame if Punk has skipped ahead of him when it comes to a Wrestlemania title match (assuming he’s signed a new contract, or plans to). 

Orton also seemed energised, but looking at the lay of the land, I’m slightly worried that the end game for him is defeating Gunther at Wrestlemania. I don’t mind seeing the match - in fact I’d like to - but I’d rather see Gunther win, and eventually do a Samoa Joe with the belt in order to pursue a World title.

[Hannibal Scorch]

Give WWE credit, they were absolutely right to have him come out at the end of Survivor Series in Chicago. Because having to pipe in crowd noise for him on Raw shows that the WWE Universe have shifted in the last decade. 
 

That was dull, very dull. I know it’s day 1, but if this is the PG Punk era, it’s not going to be great, especially when you could see lots of no reactions in the crowd and the aforementioned sound sweetening.

WWE massively dropped the ball last night. People who haven’t watched Raw in years would have tuned in last night. First hour ad free. What did you get? An ok Randy Rhea exchange and then an awful comedy backstage skit and the first wrestling of the night involved Akira and Otis vs DIY. Really? Also, I know the Creeds get a lot of love on here, but that finisher needs to be modified. Not sure if Vinci was hurt or not but that looked rough. I went to bed after Cody’s big announcement and no plans to watch the rest.

[air_raid]

1 hour ago, RedRooster said:

Orton also seemed energised, but looking at the lay of the land, I’m slightly worried that the end game for him is defeating Gunther at Wrestlemania. I don’t mind seeing the match - in fact I’d like to - but I’d rather see Gunther win, and eventually do a Samoa Joe with the belt in order to pursue a World title.

Because nothing says “restore credibility of the belt with a long reign” quite like not actually losing it in the ring. You can have the next champ look a big deal for finally slaying Gunther, or you can make it clear he’s outgrown it and the vacancy is filled by having two chumps that couldn’t beat him wrestling each other. Might as well be Miz vs Barrett with the the winner earning the right to lose non title to Kofi every week.

For me, give Gunther to Cena at Mania. The ultimate rub for the ICT is Big Match John going for it because (a) it’s driving him mad he never won it or completed the original triple crown (b) beating the unbeatable is irresistible to him.

Edited November 28, 2023 by air_raid

[LaGoosh]

CM Punk's promo was so carny it almost made me like him again. Just the phoniest, most soulless load of obvious bullshit and arse kissing ever. Absolutely hilarious to watch.

[Slapnut]

2 hours ago, d-d-d-dAz said:

Oh, and it turns out his theme is the new official remastered and re-recorded version that was released on Spotify in the days before Survivor Series. His signing didn’t come together in the days before Survivor Series, the absolute wheeze bags. You don’t get a song re-recorded, remastered and with new artwork in that short a time period.

I was thinking the same thing, but apparently it’s a remaster of a version that was recorded for a Guitar Hero game in 2007.