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

[WyattSheepMask]

1 hour ago, FLips said:

I’m not sure when it happens but I put Raw on today and the Netflix version had been fully edited down to 2 hours with no ads or nonsense. Made it so much easier to get through.

Happens within a couple of days I think. A few weeks back I put it on on a Thursday and it had been chopped down to 1hr45mins.

Similar with Wrestlemania, which had about 40 minutes cut out of it by the time I got round to watching it

[The Dart]

2 hours ago, air_raid said:

I'm still not recovered from the fact there was 31 minutes of nothing before a match and when that match came it was Jordan McDevlin.

I think it went entrance a - ad break - videos - ad break - entrance b - ad break - cole yapping - match.  Insane.

[Devon Malcolm]

5 hours ago, FLips said:

I’m not sure when it happens but I put Raw on today and the Netflix version had been fully edited down to 2 hours with no ads or nonsense. Made it so much easier to get through.

They cut out Karrion Kross and Scarlett being interviewed by Cathy Kelley. Upsetting on three levels.

[Supremo]

Feel like I’m watching a completely different show reading people eulogising Gunther’s career. This Pat McAfee thing is one of the best things he’s ever done. Easily the best thing going on in WWE right now. The only reason I’m even slightly excited for Backlash.

I’d be over the moon if I was Gunther. Lost the belt at Wrestlemania, but he’s the one with a proper, substantial feud, leading to a big match at the pay per view. Not the newly crowned Champion he just put over.

I love this Pat/Gunther stuff. It’s still a rarity in WWE to just have a babyface doing something decent. A nice person being nice. But that’s what this is. Pat standing up for his old, vulnerable mate against the big, bad bully. Yes! This is the business! Get him, Pat!

Excellent, money promo on this week’s Raw. I’m bang up to watch the crowd go wild for each one of Pat’s hope spots, before the inevitable murder occurs. Top stuff.

Pat McAfee is a bad, grating announcer, but he’s a fantastic celebrity wrestler. Being used sparingly has helped him retain his novelty, too. Unlike Logan Paul, who I couldn’t be arsed ever watching again. 

On the other end of the spectrum is Becky Lynch. It’s more noticeable every week. The crappest, most inauthentic, paper-thin character in the industry. She feels like a cartoon that’s crossed over to the real world. Who framed Roger Rabbit.

The best comparison that springs to mind is MJF. Whether he’s being an edge lord heel or an over-the-top babyface, there’s always this subtext of the character being a bit of a vulnerable try-hard. A bit of a lost soul, doing what he thinks he should do, with the mask regularly slipping. There’s some clever substance there. An interesting undercurrent. Some thought has been put into it.

I don’t get any of that with Becky. The character isn’t a try-hard loser. The performer is. It’s all basic bollocks. As shallow as a puddle. Wear leather jacket and strut. That will make me cool. The state of her here. Danny Zuko goof. Her and Seth are a match made in first year of sixth form. 

Edited May 10, 2025 by Supremo

[TheScarlettChad]

Becky is the absolute shits, and has been for years. She was never convicing. Not even as "The Man". She felt like she was playing a role then too. Unlike Austin, who FELT like Stone Cold, Becky felt like she was acting. Which is fine, but it won't make me care about her. And yeah, wearing a leather jacket and strutting is what she thinks a bad ass does. I thought that too. When I was 15.

[simonworden]

Thing with Becky's 'The Man' character is it was all originally started by her turning on Charlotte in a justified way as she kept creeping into the limelight, stealing the spotlight and basically Flair-ing the main event scene to the detriment of Lynch who was actually winning and earning title shots. Once the character is used away from that specific context it comes off a lot more phoney and bollocks. 

 

I preffered the 2021 heel schtick which probably isn't a popular opinion because many will think it was essentially a ginger Rollins but at least it was hokey and outlandish.

[The Gaffer]

6 hours ago, simonworden said:

Thing with Becky's 'The Man' character is it was all originally started by her turning on Charlotte in a justified way as she kept creeping into the limelight, stealing the spotlight and basically Flair-ing the main event scene to the detriment of Lynch who was actually winning and earning title shots. Once the character is used away from that specific context it comes off a lot more phoney and bollocks. 

Yeah, this is important context. 

Another important piece of context is just how much WWE creative was on life support in the year or two before covid, to the degree that people were calling the original angle one of the best things WWE had ever done. 

The crowd were fully behind Becky in the run up to WrestleMania, though. The artifice might have oversold a long-term breakout character proposition that didn't quite materialise but it's worth noting in this discussion that it was clearly the right way to go at the time and there was a groundswell of excitement around it, right up until a so-so main event with a disinterested Ronda Rousey and shoehorned in Charlotte Flair that played out to relative silence to a crowd that had sat through a pretty humdrum, overlong WrestleMania. 

Then in the immediate aftermath, she gets paired with Seth. Alright - she's not Stone Cold - but it was basically the "Pair Austin with Sable after WrestleMania" kiss of death. Proper Vince "No, this is definitely how our audience want to see their babyfaces" booking philosophy. 

Everything since - to my mind - Becky's often seemed like the Triple H of the women's division. Charlotte always gets those comparisons - and I can see why - but there's a legitimacy to her shithousing, isn't there. Becky's pure character, though. Pure character and pure "As massive as WWE can make them, which would make them just WWE massive" which are two things that have dogged Triple H throughout his entire career. 

In an ideal world she would have had a decent solo run as The Man sans any Rollins interaction. The character would inevitably have cooled down, allowing her to transition into playing a more true-to-life straightforward, plucky babyface character that could still play on the depth and legacy of that one big run whilst partnering with up-and-comers and occasionally having shots at the big one again. 

She's done elements of that, I know, but Content Years syndrome has had it tossed in with some confusing about turns and literally playing a version of Seth's...character. It's been all over the shop. I feel like she'll go the right way with it for her wind down years, though. 

 

[d-d-d-dAz]

Seth Rollins is awful. That promo at the start of the show was horrendous.

'Human excrement'.

I struggle with enthusiasm for Raw when Seth is such a big part of the show. 

[RedTwoster]

More Punk/Rollins. More Jey/Gunther. More Judgement Day/Penta. More New Day/War Raiders. More Rhea/Iyo.

Some of these stories, to be fair, are fine. But bloody hell, isn’t WWE capable of a fresh pairing these days?

Both shows need an injection of fresh talent, and they would probably benefit from a draft too. And from Smackdown going back to two hours. 

They’d also benefit from being a bit more bold with their storytelling. Everything feels so inconsequential right now. If I missed this show, I’d be just fine tuning in next week and watching on from there. Everything is moving so slowly, which would be fine if all of this was building anticipation for something. But what is there to anticipate?

[Supremo]

I remember thinking/celebrating that Punk vs. Seth was done and dusted at the Netflix debut in early January. It is mid May. I am over this. Worse still, Sami’s probably turning heel at Saturday Night’s Main Event, ensuring this continues.

Punk’s been back nearly two years and he’s seemingly only feuded with Drew and Seth the entire time. Down with long term storytelling!

[TheScarlettChad]

26 minutes ago, Supremo said:

I remember thinking/celebrating that Punk vs. Seth was done and dusted at the Netflix debut in early January. It is mid May. I am over this. Worse still, Sami’s probably turning heel at Saturday Night’s Main Event, ensuring this continues.

Punk’s been back nearly two years and he’s seemingly only feuded with Drew and Seth the entire time. Down with long term storytelling!

How long do we reckon Punk has got left? Imagine if his whole return is just him feuding with Seth. Even the Drew feud was born out of the Seth story. 

[FUM]

59 minutes ago, RedTwoster said:

More Punk/Rollins. More Jey/Gunther. More Judgement Day/Penta. More New Day/War Raiders. More Rhea/Iyo.

Some of these stories, to be fair, are fine. But bloody hell, isn’t WWE capable of a fresh pairing these days?

Both shows need an injection of fresh talent, and they would probably benefit from a draft too. And from Smackdown going back to two hours. 

They’d also benefit from being a bit more bold with their storytelling. Everything feels so inconsequential right now. If I missed this show, I’d be just fine tuning in next week and watching on from there. Everything is moving so slowly, which would be fine if all of this was building anticipation for something. But what is there to anticipate?

Happy to be corrected if I’m wrong but isn’t this exactly what happened with Triple H and NXT? It felt fresh at first with all his new toys then he just carried on feuds FOREVER disguised as “long-term storytelling”.

Gargano/Ciampa, Cole/O’Reilly etc.

Long term storytelling is great but it’s not needed for every story and that seems to be what’s happening on WWE to the detriment of the product. There are rarely major happenings at the moment because everything is just simmering along.

I checked out the clips of RAW this morning and felt I learned enough not to have to go and watch it. Dull.

[Supremo]

Gunther announcing his rematch for the Title will be on the Raw after Money in the Bank. Quite funny that World Heavyweight Champion Jey Uso can’t even buy himself a spot on a pay per view.

It’s almost - YEET! - as if - YEET! - the one thing that got Jey Uso over - YEET! - is now the same thing - YEET! - that makes it impossible for him to cut a proper main event promo - YEET! - and forever curses him to feel like a novelty midcarder just getting his turn with the belt - YEET!

”You're a shit Dolph Ziggler.”

Might be the harshest insult ever used. 

[RedTwoster]

47 minutes ago, Supremo said:

Gunther announcing his rematch for the Title will be on the Raw after Money in the Bank. Quite funny that World Heavyweight Champion Jey Uso can’t even buy himself a spot on a pay per view.

I completely missed the fact that was to be a Raw match, I’d assumed it was on MITB. That’s mental. Jey has his limitations, but if you’re going to put the world title on him, at least pretend that he doesn’t.

[mim731]

5 hours ago, Supremo said:

Gunther announcing his rematch for the Title will be on the Raw after Money in the Bank. Quite funny that World Heavyweight Champion Jey Uso can’t even buy himself a spot on a pay per view.

I'm assuming this is so they can play up whoever wins MITB as potentially cashing in on that episode of Raw, and depending who wins it might not be the worst way to move the belt onto a different story if they go that route. 

I'm probably being kind though, and it's just they aren't going to book Jey as a big deal, and they've got it in their heads that every show can only have 5 matches.