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

[Hannibal Scorch]

17 minutes ago, Devon Malcolm said:

Where did I say anyone was wrong?

You didn’t, and I wasn’t suggesting you did, if that wasn’t clear I apologise. You did call some of us mad, but that’s by the by.

@SuperBaconMox is very much enjoying his life, most Wednesdays and Saturdays and some random days inbetween. I don’t think WWE could pay him enough to return because he values his freedom to much.

[SuperBacon]

19 minutes ago, The Gaffer said:

Think you might be pulling yourself

None of your business! I'm just looking respectfully.

[mim731]

1 hour ago, TheScarlettChad said:

Does Mox care though? I mean, if he truly cared about The Shield, he'd have stuck around. No doubt the reunion would feed families but I'm not convinced Mox cares. He enjoys his freedom unless it was a literal one night only. 

 

56 minutes ago, air_raid said:

I think I've written enough about Ambrose/Moxley in multiple threads lately. It was more about a very general "how things are done" from a creative sense that made him check out, on top of his voice not being heard when he pushed back or got made to do/say things he thought were stupid. He'd already decided to leave before The Shield split up, he didn't change his mind when they were reformed the final time. Draw your own conclusions.

 

23 minutes ago, Hannibal Scorch said:

@SuperBaconMox is very much enjoying his life, most Wednesdays and Saturdays and some random days inbetween. I don’t think WWE could pay him enough to return because he values his freedom to much.

Lads, I'm more convinced than ever that everyone goes back eventually. It's inevitable. Maybe not this year, maybe not next year, but at some stage. He'll be back. 

In a more serious sense, I would say that if he were to consider it, and a big "if" there Mox would potentially have more freedom in WWE at this stage, and I'm sure a part-time, sweetheart deal with an option to do GCW and the like (as witnessed by WWE talent working on their recent show) wouldn't be out of the question down the road, especially in a post-Vince WWE. Never say never. 

Edited April 9 by mim731
Sierra, Hotel, Indigo, Echo, Lima, Dodgy...punctuation

[air_raid]

35 minutes ago, The Gaffer said:

Think you might be pulling yourself back in, chief. 

There is a difference between pulling in and pulling off.

[TheBurningRed]

3 hours ago, Slapnut said:

it followed with him and Rock weirdly deciding to hold each others belts for a minute. Fuck was that about?

I saw it as The Rock trying to alpha him when he asked to hold the belt. As he’s never held that version of it before. He was essentially trying to be a bully. Even in the manner he spoke. A hint he’s coming after it because he thinks it looks better on him. 

They had him and Gable lusting after belts last night. He was close to licking his lips looking at the IC title when Sami held it up to him. 

[TheScarlettChad]

9 minutes ago, TheBurningRed said:

I saw it as The Rock trying to alpha him when he asked to hold the belt. As he’s never held that version of it before. He was essentially trying to be a bully. Even in the manner he spoke. A hint he’s coming after it because he thinks it looks better on him. 

They had him and Gable lusting after belts last night. He was close to licking his lips looking at the IC title when Sami held it up to him. 

Yeah, I don't get what people don't get? Rock was saying "Yeah, this feels right." While grinning. He may as well have said "I'M TAKING THIS FROM YOU, DICKHEAD!" To Cody. 

[Slapnut]

But then why is Cody so happy to hand over his belt to the bloke who’s recently been making his life a living hell, and why did he want to hold Rock’s fake one? It reminded me of the kid in school who’d always want to ride your new bike instead of his shit one but you were always too nervous to say no.

[Merzbow]

It was shite and felt like both of them had the tone all wrong "this is awkward" was right.

[The Gaffer]

I saw it as Cody weighing up the situation and thinking "Sure, what's the worst that can happen, but let me take your one as collateral when you do it." Basically just gives them some good visuals to stick into the vignettes whenever Rock returns and they decide to build to the match. 

[Danny Franchetti’s Jazzbox]

Yeah I agree, I also thought Cody taking Rock’s belt in response was a way of him saying he’s the real people’s champion now too.

[JLM]

I thought Cody was going to say something along the lines of “Oh you want to hold this one? Oh sure you just need to win the Royal Rumble two years in a row and defeat the four year reigning tribal chief in the main event of Wrestlemania.” Was disappointed when he handed it over. 

I liked the video package and Cody’s promo though. The video package was incredibly schmaltzy and earnest to the point where I could see it making some people cringe, but that’s Cody isn’t it? I thought it was a perfect fit. I generally enjoyed the face off with The Rock too, awkward belt swap aside. I loved that after the initial pop for The Rock’s theme there was very little crowd split here. The people were 100% behind Cody for his acceptance speech and Rock felt like the spoiler, which was perfect. 

Raw was OK. I appreciated the victory lap moments for Truth, Sami and Cody. Truth popping up with his belt to join the pose made me laugh. Tonnes of positivity about the product and results coming out of Wrestlemania and they were wise to capitalise on it and keep the good vibes rolling. 

Dragunov is best showcased in a wild and violent slobberknocker where his fire and ability to both withstand and dish out punishment are emphasised. Hard to do it in a very short TV match but was still good to see him. 
 

I didn’t think Perez got a chance to show off her best either, though I did enjoy her shutting down Natalya backstage. Natalya looks a little bit frightening in talking segments. 

Sami/Gable vs Imperium was a fun match and the Gable/Sami build has been good stuff. 

Jade with the old school TBS title defense match. I love Chelsea Green and I continue to love the presentation of Jade. 
 

Liv’s attack on Rhea was great. Looked very violent. It does already feel like another filler title defense against a non-credible opponent, but the segment was a good start. 
 

Main event was fine. Easy first defense set up for Priest there, but more importantly another chapter in the excellent Punk/Drew feud. Punk was hilarious here.

I saw some people suggesting that a screen flicker during Bronson Reed’s promo was an Uncle Howdy teaser. I can’t even say I noticed it the first time. Is that people on the internet reaching or did I just miss something fairly blatant because it was the early hours of the morning? 

Edited April 9 by JLM

[Pinc]

51 minutes ago, Slapnut said:

But then why is Cody so happy to hand over his belt to the bloke who’s recently been making his life a living hell, and why did he want to hold Rock’s fake one? It reminded me of the kid in school who’d always want to ride your new bike instead of his shit one but you were always too nervous to say no.

That is Rock’s character.

[mim731]

39 minutes ago, JLM said:

I saw some people suggesting that a screen flicker during Bronson Reed’s promo was an Uncle Howdy teaser. I can’t even say I noticed it the first time. Is that people on the internet reaching or did I just miss something fairly blatant because it was the early hours of the morning? 

It might be a reach, but then according to Twitter they also played some weird music and di some stuff with the lights just for the live crowd that was very similar to what they did for Bray's return in 2022, so it's possible it could be something. 

 

[Snitsky's back acne]

4 hours ago, air_raid said:

There is a difference between pulling in and pulling off.

Or pulling out.

[DavidB6937]

Decent enough show I thought. Nothing spectacular but a solid show that built on existing momentum. Part of me loves the surprises etc but they're in rare form with a LOT of over talent across the roster. It's really great to see.

I know it was partly because it was in London but being in such an enthusiastic crowd for MITB was just a total vibe shift compared to other WWE events. And that enthusiasm has carried on through so many crowds in different areas and countries. It really does make such a difference. Even the crowd for Raw was actually mostly into the show rather than trying to get themselves over. Over the years they became the worst crowd to watch and WWE had to try and push them as "ooh look at these crazy fans! They'll do anything they want!" it's never a good thing when they're more interested in creating their own entertainment than what is in front of them.

There's very little of that now. Not a huge amount of dead crowds. They tend to be into most things these days to some degree.

But yeah obviously part of that Rock/Cody stuff with the belts was super awkward. Terrible idea. Somehow worse than that time there was that weird tug of war with the belt. I'd like to forget that and just remember how the crowd loved Cody. How Cody is so genuine and overcome with everything right now. And how Rock managed to pull something fucking fantastic out of an originally stupid idea for Mania.

Will be interesting to see where they go with Smackdown and what Roman's direction is now.