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

[Sphinx]

It wasn't perfect by any means, but up to Roman and Solo's match kicking off it felt special. Maybe it took a fair amount of time to get to the match, maybe Rock pissed over the Cody feud, but watching with the eyes of someone new to it or returning to it, I get it.

Then it's Roman v Solo. The Bloodline storyline's one of the most successful they've ever had, but even with the video package I felt like the story's pretty tough to sell in a short space of time to new or returning viewers, so I'm not sure it's the best first match to have - especially when Solo's not enough of a magnetic presence, convincing enough, or skilled enough to be the heel and be on top for such long periods. But people know Reigns and he looks like a proper star, so fine.

But fuck me, why did it have to be so drawn out? It ticked about every box that would turn off anyone I know. Overly long, corny speaking the story (I loved you), lame strikes like 10x clotheslines in the corner, and a finish with a load of people where Cole's having to cram in who everyone is. Jacob Fatu comes in and instantly has a load more presence than Solo. Usually I'd wonder why you'd have a heel run in and do the most spectacular move of the match, but I was just glad to see something at that point that might catch someone's eye.

It needed to kick off with a bang. There'll be people who come in excited to see what it's like because they remember Stone Cold being a ball of energy and beating the shit out of everyone, or The Hardyz being mad, or Savage and his get-up being larger than life and memorable and wacky. 2-3 minutes in and I think their mind's made up that it's not as good as it used to be. Knowing it's 3 hours long, I reckon there's a lot that are turning off early and not giving it another go.

And if they did keep watching, then it's a long drawn out show anyway. I dunno if it's easier said than done but I'm with Pitcos that the level of celebs didn't feel high calibre enough. It detracted more for me than if they hadn't been introduced, but obviously I'm from the UK so don't know who half of them are. Travis Scott and Macaulay Culkin were good. Dunno about McAfee/Cole dancing on the table for Jey's entrance - made it look like a gimp's thing to do the yeet hands up.

A missed opportunity. They've still got so much going on and a load of big names and they'll continue smashing it for the foreseeable. I reckon they could have made much more of this unique chance though.

[Supremo]

Genuinely wholesome moment. Pepsi for everyone (but go easy.).

 

[DavidB6937]

Did they even show him on Raw? I missed it if they did.

[The King of Old School]

On 1/6/2025 at 4:21 PM, Lion_of_the_Midlands said:

Do you routinely miss goals while watching the football because of the advertising hoardings? Do you miss Knockouts in UFC or boxing because of the canvas? We see advertising all the time and tune it out really easily. 

To be fair after watching it, as shit as I still think it looks it wasn't as distracting as I thought it was going to be.

[Chili]

 

 

[TildeGuy~!]

Hasn’t he been bored multiple times when appearing, I remember him being booed at Mania the last time he showed up, so I don’t know why it’s such a surprise to many.

[LaGoosh]

13 hours ago, DavidB6937 said:

Did they even show him on Raw? I missed it if they did.

Kinda' weird that they showed Macaulay and not his brother. I know he's a bigger household name but Kieran was the star of one of the most critically acclaimed shows of recent years, a Golden Globe winner and also has a movie coming out soon - you'd think they'd want to get a bit of a rub from that.

Edited January 9, 2025 by LaGoosh

[DavidB6937]

13 minutes ago, LaGoosh said:

Kinda' weird that they showed Macaulay and not his brother. I know he's a bigger household name but Kieran was the star of one of the most critically acclaimed shows of recent years, a Golden Globe winner and also has a movie coming out soon - you'd think they'd want to get a bit of a rub from that.

Yeah that's what I thought. I mean I get Home Alone would get the general pop but it's not like people haven't watched Succession, unless he didn't want to be on camera or something. But then they didn't give any attention to Will Friedle and he was literally sat next to Danielle so that was a bit odd. But I guess we've got time to intro X Pac twice.

[Cod Eye]

2 hours ago, LaGoosh said:

Kinda' weird that they showed Macaulay and not his brother. I know he's a bigger household name but Kieran was the star of one of the most critically acclaimed shows of recent years, a Golden Globe winner and also has a movie coming out soon - you'd think they'd want to get a bit of a rub from that.

I thought it was almost an attempt to recreate the shot of him at Wrestlemania(???) when he was a kid. He was even wearing a denim jacket like back in the day. Might have totally misunderstood though.

I agree though. It feels like a missed opportunity not to make a big deal out of the others guys

 

[air_raid]

It's WWE! They're permanently 10 years behind the pulse. Even when the pulse is "what's now 20 years old and retro cool" they're 10 years lagging.

[DavidB6937]

HAPPY PENTA DAY EVERYONE!

 

 

[JLM]

Oh I like that white one a lot. As long as it doesn't have loads of bullshit and/or text on the back. Staying up for RAW tonight for the debut. 

Edited January 13, 2025 by JLM

[Guest]

He's not even debuted yet and they've already monetised him better than AEW did the entire time he was there.

[Hannibal Scorch]

4 minutes ago, Duke said:

He's not even debuted yet and they've already monetised him better than AEW did the entire time he was there.

In their defence they wanted to sell masks but there was a licensing issue preventing. 

[Retro Red]

.

Edited January 13, 2025 by Retro Red
Rick didn’t like it and that made me sad.