It's the Raw after Extreme Rules. Lesnar mowed down Cena in a bloody massacre, but still lost the match. Punk kept the WWE Title after an absolute hardcore war with Chris Jericho. Where does WWE go from here? Read on for my thoughts on the 4/30 Raw as it happened.
I'm watching this right after Extreme Rules, so no preview of what was advertised. Should bring a fun unpredictable feel to things.
The "Raw starring Lesnar" thing is clever and funny. Why can't booking be this good more often? I guess since Lesnar's such a big star and only there for a certain number of dates, they want to get their money's worth.
HHH and Lesnar's an interesting mix given they were both champions at the same time years back.
I like the storyline twist with using HHH, though I think they should build to that for longer than a month.
I definitely want to see the matches HHH hinted at.
HHH is good at pushing people's buttons.
Lesnar vs. HHH just became a hot feud.
Awesome angle to start the show.
Punk/Jericho III works for me if they want to keep that going.
Santino beat Miz on the Extreme Rules pre-show, and can do it again.
Well, we're past Sheamus/Bryan from Mania.
Santino's a better mat wrestler than some give him credit for.
Miz hasn't been the same since losing the title alright.
Wow. Tough time to beat.
Layla didn't change as much I think she would with the music and catch-phrase.
Layla's going to be the quick babyface to take on Kharma I take it. Cool by me, since AJ's already in an angle.
I'm guessing by Jericho not being in the main event that he might not be the person to beat the clock (unless he interferes in the main event).
Jericho/Punk II was something to see.
But Big Show's a Smackdown guy...
Two WCW alumni here. Not many matches in WWE (and TNA to a lesser extent) these days have that distinction.
Jericho's doing well for someone so battle-weary.
I thought Show had him for a second...
Jericho's doing every thing he can to get a good match out of Show. It's working.
No Punk/Jericho III? I'm kind of surprised. Maybe chicanery later?
Like King watches NXT...
Sorry, JTG.
Brodus got picked up calling the match. Whoops.
Arrive. Squash someone. Leave. Brodus, Tensai, and Ryback are giving us plenty of that formula.
I like Brodus dancing with the kids. Gets him over as someone the PG demos can get behind.
Good Cena/Lesnar package.
Good match between Orton and Swagger, though Punk vs. Orton seems unlikely.
I wonder what, if anything, they're thinking of doing with Primo and Epico long-term.
Kofi and Truth have earned the titles with their good word as a unit and individually.
Khali dominating Kane is kind of weird. I'd be cool with Punk vs. Kane.
Well, so much for that happening.
I wonder who posed for the mystery opponent picture.
Really? Bryan vs. Lawler? I hope Bryan makes him tap. One man's an active wrestler and one isn't.
If Bryan can't dominate an old announcer, can he dominate anyone? Lawler's a legend, but this isn't his night.
Bryan vs. Punk on PPV? YES! YES! YES!
I predict a face turn for Bryan after the match with Punk. He's too entertaining to stay heel.
That Lesnar attack was pretty awesome. One of the few things worthy of this many replays.
Is Tony Lister (Zeus) still wrestling?
Dean Ambrose sign. Is it a work?
I figured it'd be Tensai. Hey, Tensai did a number on him some time back, so it makes sense for them to have a rematch.
Cena vs. Laurinaitis? Interesting. Will Tensai and Sakamoto end up involved then?
Very interesting ending to the show. Cena in danger with a big monster and an authority figure injuring him. Kind of an odd combination of factors.
That's all for the 4/30 Raw. The 4/30 news post will be up next. The 5/2 NXT is scheduled for tomorrow. Thanks for reading!
YES! Bryan vs. Punk... One word: Epic. And I doubt Hollywood will let Zeus go any time soon... But maybe I'm wrong... what have you heard?
ReplyDeleteI'm kind of cautious on Bryan/Punk because I think if Over The Limit doesn't do as well as they want, they'll take some of the blame and we won't see them pushed as much. BUT given that Punk's been champ this long and Bryan has a lot of fan support, I think both will stick around as featured stars to some degree. But I could have said the same thing about Zack Ryder's U.S. Title reign and they botched that...
ReplyDeleteI think the Zeus shout-out was just Cena being goofy. I haven't heard anything about him in quite some time other than maybe a convention appearance or two, so I doubt it was a hint of anything.
I sure hope so. RIP Ryder's reign. Ah, such a loss to mankind. But yeah, I'm inclined to agree with you on that one. However, I think the odds of Over the Limit actually doing well are no greater than those Ryder had. Imho.
ReplyDeleteI wish they'd bring him back though, I loved the good show he'd put on. I mean, that shit with Hogan was something else.
A lot of times I think something will do well, but ratings and PPV buys remain stagnant outside of Rock's return. Making new stars (i.e. not an Attitude Era person or Cena) is a painfully slow process.
ReplyDeleteSadly I'm a little young to know much about those times. I always caution about bringing someone back in the same gimmick from a long time ago because of the so-called Seven Year Rule. I wish there was more info on wrestling's demographics and how many fans have stuck around for decades.
Yes, I'm inclined to agree with you on that. I guess it boils down to OTL just being left to luck.
DeleteI'm suprised by that. I pictured you as being older. I must admit that, since I've been a wrestling fan for the past 40 something years, I would have to be included in that demographic. So that's at least one member! And seriously, where I come from, no one (except myself) actually follows wrestling on a daily basis. It's more of a "hey, remember years ago when so and so did such and such?" I mean, if you want wrestling to stay alive in Bermuda, you can't expect people to stick to said "Seven Year Rule." Besides, no one really knows what it is on this side of the world...
Hopefully Punk/Bryan has something going for it other than "they'll have a really good match and they're friends from way back" since feuds with more animosity tend to sell better (or so the logic goes).
ReplyDeleteI'm not really sure what to make of people thinking I'm older than I am. It's very interesting to get an international and "veteran" perspective on wrestling. There are people in the States who also just remember wrestling from the '80s and '90s and call people out when they recreate things from past eras, but the theory is that most of the audience is newer to things.
That's very true. Case in point: Jericho and Goldberg. That shit was the talk of the town back in the day. As a matter of fact, the only limousine company we had here went out of business in '03, and I strongly suspect this was because people thought "Hairy Jerry" was out to get them...
ReplyDeleteNow if only I could get senior discounts! I kid. And yeah, the few times I've visited the States for work, I went to a couple matches. I actually saw Ricky Steamboat vs. Ric Flair back in '89 when I was a wee lad of (cough) thirty three. Kicked ass. But that's another story. That's different from how it is here. Most of the fans are old greys like me. These days, we can't seem to get the kids off their 3SD's or Box-X's for long enough to see a REAL match.
That's pretty intense!
ReplyDeletePart of me wishes I was around for the Flair days, given that I live in NC. Videos only do it so much justice.
Some people get into wrestling because of the video games from what I hear. Everyone has their own moment that gets them into it, and there's only so much you can do to get an "outsider" interested.