The Usos beat the Prime Time Players to warm the crowd up for Raw. It's really about time for PTP to get a win over those guys. I have no problems with the Usos, but think PTP have some good potential for down the road.
John Cena's Raw promo wasn't well received in the locker room, especially following what we heard from C.M. Punk and The Rock. Cena knows that WWE's going to push him as "the guy" no matter what, so he can just go out there and amuse himself while most of the roster is doing their damnedest to get TV time. There's something wrong there.
David Otunga was accidentally busted open at a live event, wrestling the Great Khali. I think it would take blood to make me interested in that match. Yikes. Yes, Otunga's improving, but he still has a ways to go and working with Khali isn't helping him at all.
Antonio Cesaro talked ahead of the Royal Rumble. He handled himself well. Keep an eye on him in the years to come.
Everything else from yesterday is after the break.
Interesting to note: NXT members Corey Graves, Sasha Banks, and Davina Rose are all listed on TNA's Gut Check fan vote. Someone should have double-checked that.
WCW alum Crowbar talked to PWInsiderTV.
A seat filler from Raw talked. It's a shame that people left for Eve vs. Kaitlyn.
Stephanie McMahon talked briefly about ending the brand split. She makes a good point. I can really both sides about the brands splitting. I'm steal leaning towards separate brands, though.
Alberto Del Rio and Ricardo Rodriguez were interviewed.
Smackdown pulled in 2.8 million viewers last week. Not too bad.
Antonio Cesaro vs. The Miz for the WWE United States Championship has been added to the Royal Rumble pre-show. These are two of the guys busting their asses while Cena makes stupid jokes.
For my take on yesterday's PWInsider.com questions:
1. I think Kane's the one guy I would consider ending the streak. I at least think he should be Taker's last match. But I don't think I'd be able to justify putting the streak out to pasture. It's too legendary.
2. Maybe one day. It will take a LOT of hard work, though. And maybe even some luck.
3. You're preaching to the choir about Ziggler vs. Cena being too one-sided (even with Dolph's win at TLC). It's not solely about wins and losses, but I think Ziggler could use some credibility-boosting. Wins would help. Even when he does win (TLC, Beat the Clock), they then undermine it. Now is not the time to be holding people back.
4. They are definitely doing something really risky. I really hope they wouldn't sweep it under the rug if he failed again. It would really send the wrong message to the other wrestlers, the fans, and the public at large.
5. As they said, they're not as picky these days. I see what they're going for with the "belts"/"titles" thing at least, but don't think it's a huge deal.
More wrestling tomorrow.
Chuck, extremely thoughtful stances here. Let me start with the PTP. I know I'm sounding like a broken record here, as we've talked about this before, but seriously like six straight wins by a team in The Usos who has had half of the tv time PTP has had? It's good you acknowledged it seeming a bit odd and for them to not fade out as much. I understand House Shows are often played to the faces in non title-related matches, but The Usos have been booked to win on every single WWE show.
ReplyDeleteI read that same article relating to Cena's promo. I wasn't a fan of it, personally. I'm not sure a promo like that on the eve of arguably the second most popular pay-per-view was such a good idea.
I do think Cena is very natural and good on the mic, however. I know you disagree, but I've always seen so much creativity, charisma, and crowd involvement from him in his promos. It's just odd to see the one on Monday get so out of hand. What the heck was the deal there?
That being said, I'm assuming you're planning on having a Royal Rumble prediction post sometime this week? I'll wait until then to check out your picks, but any other matches that you'll think will be on the card that currently aren't or any particular break-out performances you're expecting?
If I had any concrete reason why WWE booked The Usos over the PTP, I'd tell you. We could very well be putting more thought into it than they are. They focus on the champions and the #1 Contenders, and occasionally there will be some other teams they want to protect. I know The Usos show up on NXT from time to time, so they're more on Management's radar than PTP. It's weird that they'll use Primo and Epico down there but not the focal points of Season 5. I don't dislike The Usos, but I see more potential in PTP.
ReplyDeleteI think Cena is very natural on the mic. He's very true to himself and uses a lot of his own lines (for better or for worse). I do like that he involves the crowd and the like. I just don't like how silly the material is. It's like he doesn't take his opponents or matches as seriously as he should because he knows he's going to get so much TV/match time regardless. Not that everyone has to be super-serious, but I'd like for him to treat more of his opponents as legit threats and less like material for jokes. Other top guys (Triple H, Undertaker, Lesnar) get down to business and make you want to watch them fight and their matches mean something. Cena treats his promos like improv night.
As for what "happened" there, Cena has a lot of pull on his promos so I think the blame falls on him. Punk has freedom but uses it in a completely different way. Obviously what makes a "good" promo is subjective, but the typical Punk promo to me eats up a typical (goofy) Cena promo.
Predictions: Rock wins. Del Rio wins. Cesaro retains on the pre-show. Sheamus wins the Rumble. I'll go out on a limb and say Rhodes Scholars take the tag titles. I think everyone will bring their A game. The people I usually like (Ziggler, Punk, Cesaro, Bryan) will probably do pretty well. The Rock will still have "it".
They might add a Divas Title match, or a random time-filler like PTP vs. The Usos. I think they really do just put those two teams together because they know it will be a good match, and they like having faces win a lot. It's easier for the kids to digest, I guess?
Yeah, and it is truly a shame how the WWE is so inconsistent with its tag team division. I read one of your other posts after The Usos got booked fairly weakly against Rhodes and Sandow in their loss saying "What does it say if PTP loses REPEATEDLY to that same team"? and agree whole-heartedly. I like the idea of new teams or veteran under-the-radar teams emerging, but when teams emerge and then get pushed back down the card, it really defeats the purpose. It's the same deal with the Divas divison and Exhibit A being Layla right now.
ReplyDeleteDecent point about Cena, and I agree with the humor being a bit much. It does seem like he thinks he has little to lose with him knowing he will always be a main eventer. A lot of it has to do with his bookings, too. His feuds since like 2008 even have seemed a lot more like his challenger wanting to make a name for himself and less about an actual and LOGICAL storyline feud, which is a shame, because Cena knows he will usually always win it.
I really liked the aggressive side when he had his rapper gimmick. Not saying he should be THAT aggressive, but looking at some of his old promos, he was SO intense and had that "fire". I don't HATE his gimmick 100 percent right now with it being sports entertainment though, because it does get the fans riled up. However, I would like to see a combination of that humor with more aggression and intensity. I think he is a main eventer, but he needs to show that aggression side.
I agree with most of those predictions. I see Rock winning the title eventually. My opinion is he may win by DQ at the Rumble and then get a rematch to win at Mania. Then again, he could win at the Rumble and face Cena and Punk at Mania. A lot of options there.
I pick Del Rio to win and Kaitlyn to retain if she wrestles with there being no hype into the match itself. If the filler match is PTP vs Usos, which makes sense, knowing how the WWE has booked that same match like 10 times, The Usos will probably win, despite my lack of agreement on that.
The Rumble match is always hard to predict, but I'm going to go with Orton here. Sheamus and Cena seem like a decision WWE would go with, too. I think it would be moreso of a surprise now if Orton won it moreso than a couple of years ago. He very well could turn heel at the Rumble and win by conspicuous means and possibly getting The Shield to interfere on his behalf.
It wasn't so much The Usos not putting up much of a fight as Rhodes and Sandow basically saying that they were jobbers. It does put PTP as pretty low (or at least mid-range) in the tag team division to be below both teams (and probably Hell No and Mysterio/Cara). I really think it's just a case of them liking other teams more than them at the moment.
ReplyDeleteI think it makes perfect sense for Cena's challengers to want to use a win over him to elevate their careers. He's the top guy and beating him means something. I do like when there's more to it than that, though.
Cena used to be one of my favorites. I think a lot of online fans were in his corner, too. When he's motivated, he can swing for the fences. He's one of the hardest working, if not THE hardest working person on the roster. He's just in a comfortable place right now because Management won't get behind any full-time guy the way they get behind him. He can basically coast. I don't deny that he's main event material, I just think they should use him to better elevate some stars who aren't at his level yet. They did it for him when he was coming up.
The story making rounds is Rock vs. Cena for the title and Punk vs. Taker at Mania. I'm probably not going to be happy through Mania season because I'm sure the part-time guys and Cena will eat up a bunch of TV time and be made to look so much better than the rest of the roster. They have the perfect opportunity to make the stars of today and tomorrow look like they're in the leagues of HHH, Lesnar, Taker, etc. but they generally go with the same couple of guys.
I don't see why they'd take the title off of either Del Rio or Kaitlyn so soon into their reigns unless they do a surprise Ziggler cash-in. I like Ziggler, but don't want them to cut Del Rio's feet from under him by him being champion for so little of an amount of time.
It will almost certainly be someone who's already been a Rumble winner. I definitely think Orton's turning heel soon. I don't know if The Shield would work with him, though, since they've been at odds. The rumored plan is to get to Orton vs. Sheamus for the World Title at Mania, which isn't hugely compelling. Both guys have veteran instincts in the ring and fit the mold for a WWE main eventer, but we've seen it before and I think they might could do better. I'm glad Show's not in the mix at any rate.