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

[RedTwoster]

13 minutes ago, Matthew said:

I’m simply looking to understand the logic behind hate watching something. My mistake, and apologies if it came across shitty.

I’m not looking to add to a pile on so please don’t interpret this as such, but I thought @Hannibal Scorch was pretty positive about this week’s show! It didn’t sound to me like he disliked it at all, which is interesting as although I get on well with Hannibal (he really is a good egg, as they say!), I think our tastes in wrestling are often polar opposite! 

3 minutes ago, Chili said:

I'd put myself in that column. I stopped around the first Saudi show and they kept giving me loads of reasons to not come back. I don't even watch AEW a lot as an alternative. Just Dynamite. I do check out something on YouTube if people do go on about something being good out of sheer interest in wrestling. It is so brilliant generally though that you have two companies (and more) putting out the content they are doing at the moment. Spoiled rotten.

I’ve said it before, but I don’t think I’ve ever enjoyed being a fan as much as I do now. I wasn’t a fan during the Monday Night War era, so I missed the excitement of having two major companies trading wrestlers back-and-forth. On top of that, for the most part, wrestling has eliminated the kind of content that would make you embarrassed to watch it with a non-fan - the sexual stuff, the campy and mean-spirited comedy designed specifically for Vince McMahon and embarrassing storylines (eg. Piggy James, Katie Vick etc).

Plus, both companies now try to follow through with their plot threads, so long term storytelling actually exists - meaning wrestling nerds like us can dissect and discuss storylines, knowing our speculation has a legitimate chance of being accurate and that seeds are being planted. 

[Matthew]

6 minutes ago, RedTwoster said:

I’m not looking to add to a pile on so please don’t interpret this as such, but I thought @Hannibal Scorch was pretty positive about this week’s show! It didn’t sound to me like he disliked it at al

No I agree completely. It was refreshing to see a positive take on it.

[LaGoosh]

Yeah we are truly in  blessed timeline where you basically have one top promotion doing top tier "sports entertainment" and another top promotion doing top tier "wrasslin'" and easy access to every indie, lucha or Japan stuff you could ever want. If you're a wrestling fan in the modern era there is something out there that'll probably cater directly to your tastes. A massive contrast from 10 years ago!

[JLM]

A lot of lapsed/don’t watch fans still keep up to date with the world of wrestling even if they’re not routinely watching the shows. Podcasts, social media, YouTube,  news sites, this forum etc etc. 

I don’t watch episodes of Raw or Smackdown in full most of the time but I still listen to reviews and watch the recommended stuff online.

A lot of people who don’t watch AEW still comment on it on here too, or only dip in for the PPVs, or will watch specific things that have caused buzz or controversy etc. 

Not everyone  weighing in on Hangman vs Swerve was an avid AEW watcher, or had watched the entire PPV, or had even watched the entire match. They were still allowed to discuss on it on this discussion forum though, and weren’t grilled on how many Dynamites they’ve seen this year. Except the one guy who said he’d never seen any AEW ever, including anything from the match being discussed. 

But yeah “I don’t watch the shows but I have seen this bit and have some thoughts on it” is very very normal on a wrestling forum. 

I don’t watch NXT week to week but I’ve seen everything involving Giulia so far, as I’m very interested to see how she does and how she’s presented. I don’t watch NXT but have also seen and will comment on NXT. 

I don’t watch New Japan but I follow the news/results and I did watch all of Konosuke Takeshita’s matches in the G1 Climax this year. I’ve also watched other specific buzz worthy matches. 

I have watched one TNA PPV this year and posted a long ass review of it as I am wont to do. I have seen no other TNA. 

I don’t watch but I also do watch and will comment. We are Schrödinger’s fans and we are legion. 

[Devon Malcolm]

Katana Chance was back

In a mask  

[JLM]

It’s a face well worth protecting. 

[tiger_rick]

1 hour ago, Chili said:

I'd put myself in that column. I stopped around the first Saudi show and they kept giving me loads of reasons to not come back. I don't even watch AEW a lot as an alternative. Just Dynamite. I do check out something on YouTube if people do go on about something being good out of sheer interest in wrestling. It is so brilliant generally though that you have two companies (and more) putting out the content they are doing at the moment. Spoiled rotten.

I get it. I hung around for years waiting for it to be something I wanted to watch. It occasionally was. Sometimes little bits of gold would make the rest worth watching. Sometimes I wasn't watching at all but would hear about great stuff and jump back in - I think the Punk pipebomb was one such case. I'm just way past that now. Mainly for "off screen" reasons. But in general because I just accepted long ago that what they think is wrestling is so far away from what I think it is and the people who lap it up just aren't ever going to be me. 

For years I'd think if they just did this, or did that differently, or brought in this person or brought back that person, it would be better. I've long lost the energy for that.

Agree with @JLMcompletely though. You never stop being interested. I still read all the posts from the smart people on here. I like to know what's going on. I still have pods on my rotation, still read books and old mags about it. I still watch a lot, it's just from three decades ago. I get it all completely. I just wouldn't subject myself to watching it anymore if I really didn't like it. And I'd slap myself from 10 years ago for still bothering.

[Hannibal Scorch]

Fucking hell, literally can’t win. But I had the opening on while I was pottering around, and knowing it was the main event I just skipped to that this morning. I haven’t watched a full episode in years, but I’ve watched bits here and there until Mania, when I just saw clips for a while. But I’ve been watching since 1991, I can’t ignore it completely and if/when something grabs my attention I’ll probably watch more. 
 

The top stars don’t interest me (Gunther aside) but I think it’s great so many people are able to enjoy Raw and to a lesser extent Smackdown after many rough years. It’s still not for me as a product, but if you’ve grown up with wrestling there will be things you’ll enjoy everywhere from time to time. In fact that’s what annoys me the most with the tribalism. AEW may not be your cup of tea as a product, but there are matches for most wrestling fans. Same way I can’t dismiss WWE for the same reason.

Also, RE: Strowmans legs, I saw him filmed walking into the arena (with a dog, CM Punk clearly changing the Work policy on animals), and he looked buggered then. Get some stem cells in you lad!

[RedTwoster]

21 minutes ago, Hannibal Scorch said:

The top stars don’t interest me (Gunther aside) but I think it’s great so many people are able to enjoy Raw and to a lesser extent Smackdown after many rough years.

That’s really interesting - I’d have put money on Sami Zayn being the kind of wrestler you’d enjoy, same goes for Rhea Ripley. 

[air_raid]

1 hour ago, LaGoosh said:

Yeah we are truly in  blessed timeline where you basically have one top promotion doing top tier "sports entertainment" and another top promotion doing top tier "wrasslin'" and easy access to every indie, lucha or Japan stuff you could ever want.

And by golly, Tony Schiavone working for them.

[Hannibal Scorch]

14 minutes ago, RedTwoster said:

That’s really interesting - I’d have put money on Sami Zayn being the kind of wrestler you’d enjoy, same goes for Rhea Ripley. 

Big fans of them and KO But I haven't really enjoyed their booking of late 

Spoiler

as this is off topic, Don't rate Dom. Sami should have won at Elimination Chamber 2023, and his Uso run up to that was great. He was super enjoyable.  KO feels like he's proper treading water at the moment. Didn't even watch his match with Cody because it was such a predictable outcome.  Contract talk is for elsewhere, but I'd quite like to see Sami or KO go to AEW to see the side we kind of lost when then moved up to the main roster. Also, what else do they have to really achieve or face? On the other hand, I think Rhea is great but shes probably better off in WWE, I don't think they would use her as well in AEW.

Not seen much talk on Drew/Punk. Did they have a showdown or a VT or something? I assume they must have as they have a match Saturday.

[Duke]

38 minutes ago, RedTwoster said:

That’s really interesting - I’d have put money on Sami Zayn being the kind of wrestler you’d enjoy, same goes for Rhea Ripley. 

Ignoring for the moment that this is directed specifically at Scorchers, Sami Zayn is one of, if not the, best babyfaces in the world, but he feels fairly chilly since losing to Braun and could do with something else to do. There's something in this storyline, but the challenge is that the way they've set it up, no one thinks he has any chance against Gunther, they're just getting this match out of the way, which is a shame, but it's clearly not The Plan. 

 

[RedTwoster]

2 hours ago, Duke said:

Ignoring for the moment that this is directed specifically at Scorchers, Sami Zayn is one of, if not the, best babyfaces in the world, but he feels fairly chilly since losing to Braun and could do with something else to do. There's something in this storyline, but the challenge is that the way they've set it up, no one thinks he has any chance against Gunther, they're just getting this match out of the way, which is a shame, but it's clearly not The Plan. 

 

I dunno, they’re giving it the main event on the first of the two hour Raws - I suspect it’ll get a good amount of time, too. It all depends on what comes next. Maybe they’ll pull an upset win out-of-the-bag, but that’s probably unlikely. Maybe Sami comes up short in a way that makes the audience want a rematch - I’d be very surprised if it was a case of them simply looking to get the Gunther rematch over and done with. 

Since Triple H took over, it feels like the company has been acutely aware of Sami’s value, and I would have to think they’d consider him indispensable. Unless they expect him to leave, I’d be amazed if they weren’t thinking ahead to when he wins his first world title. It surely has to happen, and making him edge closer and closer to clinching that win is a key part of that journey. 

Edited Tuesday at 05:31 PM by RedTwoster

[Duke]

2 hours ago, RedTwoster said:

I dunno, they’re giving it the main event on the first of the two hour Raws - I suspect it’ll get a good amount of time, too. It all depends on what comes next. Maybe they’ll pull an upset win out-of-the-bag, but that’s probably unlikely. Maybe Sami comes up short in a way that makes the audience want a rematch - I’d be very surprised if it was a case of them simply looking to get the Gunther rematch over and done with. 

Since Triple H took over, it feels like the company has been acutely aware of Sami’s value, and I would have to think they’d consider him indispensable. Unless they expect him to leave, I’d be amazed if they weren’t thinking ahead to when he wins his first world title. It surely has to happen, and making him edge closer and closer to clinching that win is a key part of that journey. 

I mean, they've already started teasing Gunther's next, or next big at least, opponent in Bron. 

I do think they recognise Sami's value, I just don't think he's a priority right now. He's just turned 40 and whole I doubt he's leaving, I'm not too surprised he's not high on the priority list, especially if the bloodline feud is coming. 

[Devon Malcolm]

1 hour ago, Duke said:

I mean, they've already started teasing Gunther's next, or next big at least, opponent in Bron. 

I don't know how I feel about this. It feels early for them to do that feud, especially for Bron. Who do you beat under those circumstances without devaluing them in the comparative formative years of their main roster upper card careers? I don't doubt for one minute I'd love the match(es) but I'm not sure I want to see this yet.