Read on for my thoughts on last night's Raw.
I liked the segment with Punk, Vince, and Heyman. I hope Punk doesn't get lost in the shuffle while the part-timers are around.
Orton vs. Cesaro was mostly good. Two very talented performers. I guess it was inevitable that Orton would sin given who the special referee was, but the journey there was good.
I'm glad Miz vs. Cesaro is continuing. There's a nice contrast there.
Not looking forward to a Ryback comedy segment. I'm not a fan of the "variety show" aspect WWE is pushing.
That was kind of a weird segment. I guess Ryback is going to kill some time by feuding with PTP. They need to be careful with him if he's going to remain a main event presence. PTP continues to be used to put others over. I don't have a problem with that in principle as they're good in that role. I just think that one day they have a chance to be a top tag team. Ryback hitting Shell Shocked on Striker came across as heelish.
What? Really? I'm all for building new stars but I think that did more to make Barrett look like a chump than elevate Dallas. Unimpressive singles debut.
There was a time when Cody Rhodes was looked at as someone who wasn't too far from the main event spot. Then they fed him to already super-established acts like Show, Kane, and Cena and now he's defined as a midcard/tag team guy. WWE is always asking where the new stars are. They should look at who they're making look inferior to the same old top acts.
That was actually a pretty good promo from Cena. Why don't we get things like that more often? I liked the rest of the segment, too.
Terrible segment with Brodus, Tensai, et al.. Absolute garbage. They can do so much better with the time they have.
Pretty badass segment with Big Show. I think there's more to be gotten out of the feud with Del Rio. Maybe we get that big Del Rio win after all.
Fluff Divas' segment. They're pretty much telling us to not take the division seriously with things like that. It's a shame.
Nice segment between Punk and Rock. I don't see why they wouldn't put their rematch on PPV, though.
Sheamus vs. Sandow was pretty good. I don't really mind Sheamus winning. If he's still a top guy doing prety much the same thing in 5 years or so, THEN I'll be complaining.
Another pretty stupid segment. Punk's promo from the other week changed nothing. It's still about comedy and Management's idea of "entertainment" more so than who can best perform on the mic and in the ring.
I mostly liked the segment between Jericho and Ziggler, other than the bra size quip. Jericho's better than that.
And Ziggler looks like a chump again. They're doing a piss-poor job building for the future.
It seems a little soon to put Trish in the Hall of Fame. It really hasn't been all that long since she left.
I mostly liked the ending segment. Always good to see Brock around and he's back in a big way. Of course, it's going to be Triple H who beats him because Triple H has to be the guy to beat every big name.
More wrestling coming up.
I thought that Barrett/Dallas segment was a bit bizarre, too. I thought it did make Barrett look like a bit of a chump moreso than build up Dallas. It's obvious the company likes Dallas, but Barrett just defeated RANDY ORTON two weeks ago and he loses to a guy who has his first match on any main roster? Seems a bit of a reach.
ReplyDeleteI also thought the Ryback segment was a bit odd. I don't mind the comedy as much as you do, but I don't know what the goal of booking that segment was. Maybe to see a humorous side of Ryback with it being obvious he'd win? At either rate, Ryback is at a critical point in his career where most guys his size get pulled down the WWE ladder, so that will not help his cause there.
I didn't mind the Tensai segment as much as you. It's obvious he's not going anywhere as a silent, foreign tough guy, so if he indeed becomes more of a talker and good guy, I don't mind it AS LONG as they come up with something logical for him. He has more credibility than most give him in thinking he's just one-dimensional.
By the way, I continue to hear rumblings about a gimmick change for Otunga. You mentioned a while back you're not hearing anything, so it's up in the air. Some say he lacks/lacked the "hateability" and heat as a cocky lawyer, but I personally see him being hateable in that he always got pretty good heat as a bad guy. 1) Do you see a gimmick coming and do you think it makes sense, 2) If it did, is it moreso an issue of Otunga not getting enough heat or moreso lack of storylines for Otunga?
I forgot to mention my thoughts on Cena winning the Rumble. I personally understand, but dislike the decision. I think a lot of these midcard guys have talent (Rhodes, Sandow, Cesaro, Bryan) and agree that the same three or so guys getting the spotlight all of the time is a shame on many levels. Cena is only 35, yet is on pace to have more titles and World Championships than just about everyone in wrestling history. He already thinks he can get away with murder and these midcard guys have worked just as hard as he has to make a name for themselves. I understand Cena is probably the most charismatic guy out there, is the face of the company, sells tons of merchandise, but the element of surprise is also gone with him winning the Rumble. I think it's time some of these other guys got a shot instead of staying at the midcard level. What are all of your thoughts on it?
ReplyDeleteThey're definitely high on Dallas, which really has a lot of online fans baffled. I've seen a little bit of his FCW/NXT work and he's shown nothing out of the ordinary on the mic or in the ring. Barrett has all the tools needed to be a main eventer other than Creative being behind him. He shouldn't be losing clean in 2 minutes to anyone, much less a rookie. I know that they want Dallas to make an impact, but that's pretty crazy.
ReplyDeleteI always want to blame the bad comedy segments on Vince and Kevin Dunn since they're known for their bizarre senses of what makes a good show. Ryback vs. PTP individually doesn't do anything. He's had no problems beating them in the past and they're virtually in the same place as they were when he last beat them, if not lower.
Tensai has a lot in the way of size, tenacity, and experience. He could really be someone if they pushed him right. They need more credible names in the main event picture and fewer afterthoughts. They've shown with Kane, Henry, and Show that big guys can be a legitimate part of the title picture. I don't know why they're doing what they're doing with Tensai.
I don't even remember the last time I've seen significant news about Otunga. It's pretty much been about him in the movie with Halle Berry and continuing to lose on live events. So no, nothing about a gimmick change (unless you want to count the extended posing routine as a new gimmick). It would make sense to change things up with him with the movie coming out and since his career is going NOWHERE. Some of it's Creative's fault, but they did throw him something of a bone with the poses changing his character some.
Honestly though, if they change his character and he gets another shot at a push, he's going to really have to bring it. WWE has some really solid bad guys working their way up the card (Cesaro, Big E, Rhodes, Sandow, The Shield, Ziggler, Barrett). If they start bringing up some more NXT names, it's going to get really crowded in the undercard. I don't know an awful lot about some of the prospects there, but I know they at least have some "seasoned" names with pre-WWE experience.
I also understand: they want Cena to be a big deal when he faces The Rock. But they continue to run into the problem where there are only a few names on the full-time roster who pose any threat to Cena. Even when someone else is Champion, he's positioned as the top full-time guy. If Cena beats Rock and gets the biggest rub of his career, where does he go from there? They can only get so much more out of Cena vs. Punk, and Cena vs. Ryback is kind of risky. It becomes more and more dangerous to keep people under that glass ceiling. If Cena gets injured or something, they're left with a bunch of guys they don't have as much faith in (and most of whom the audience doesn't see as close to Cena's level).
Punk's promos have been spot on: it's not about how talented you are. It's about being a company guy, not rocking the boat, and fitting the WWE "sports entertainer" mold, which is stuck in the '80s and '90s. We're lucky to even have guys like Punk and Bryan.