Read on for my thoughts on last night's Raw.
Absolutely great promo from Heyman and Punk. Heyman's in a league of his own as a talker. Some people on the roster could really take notes from him.
I love seeing Mark Henry destroy people, especially people I don't like seeing. This is how you use Khali: an attraction who elevates people. It makes Henry look like a million bucks to squash someone that size.
Henry destroying Hornswoggle was icing on the cake. Hopefully both of his victims tonight are off TV for a while (Though, in fairness, they have their audience).
I liked Jericho's segment and that he has to earn his way into the Chamber. I hope Bryan looks strong against the future Hall of Famer.
Fine Vickie/Heyman/Vince segment to just move things along, though I do wonder why Vince didn't fire Heyman. That should be addressed.
Jericho vs. Bryan was pretty solid. I wish it got more time or Bryan lost because of Kane or something to protect him, but he had a nice showing and if they build him well in the follow-up he could still do well.
Well then. That match didn't really do much from a technical standpoint (being so short), but it showed that Cena, Sheamus, and Ryback make a credible force. Sheamus and Ryback are hopefully long-term prospects. I hope one day we see a big return on investment with McIntyre and Mahal as well as both have done good things in the past.
Solid post-match promo. THIS IS THE KIND OF PROMO CENA SHOULD BE CUTTING.
Thanks for coming, Riley and Tatsu. I don't think those two should be treated as in Show's league or anything, but they're pretty much afterthoughts at this point and we have no reason to care about them if they compete because they've been defined as "jobbers".
Effective segment with Show and Striker. Show looks like a legit badass. I hope Del Rio gets a big rub from making him tap. Please?
Swagger is absolutely solid. Man. Ryder had a good showing as always and should be commended, but I think/hope they're committed to making Swagger the champion they wanted him to be in the past.
Wow. Pretty stiff stuff from Zeb. Hopefully it all works out for Swagger getting heat and being a credible threat.
I like that Ziggler wants to be in the Chamber. It's a shame that he's going to be fed to Show. They booked themselves into a corner there. I think maybe they should have switched Ziggler and Swagger, though there's something to be said for giving him a big push as soon as he comes back.
Fine match between Cody and Miz. I hope that's a preview for a longer match.
Cesaro continues to be impressive. WWE's really got some keepers if they don't cut their legs out from under them.
At least Brodus and Tensai looked good for getting a quick win. I really hope Brodus pans out long-term and this is just a temporary stay in the goofy comedy spot.
I'm still bewildered by depushing Tensai but maybe this means Naomi, Cameron, and Rosa will become part of the fledgling Divas' division. It could really use some new blood after losing Maxine, The Bellas, Kelly, Beth, Kharma, and Eve.
Pretty badass segment with The Shield and their opponents. Sunday's a good time for the guys not named Cena to really make a mark.
Damien Sandow is one of my favorite characters. Great promo.
I like that Del Rio looked good, but I think it hurt Sandow to lose so quickly. There are other people with less momentum and potential who could have eaten that loss.
Nice Del Rio promo. I know I keep saying this, but I hope he looks like a credible star on Sunday. Very talented guy.
Nice to see Bo show what he's made of. He's got all the cards stacked against him with a goofy name and not much in the way of mic or ring skills.
Nice match between Kofi and Wade. They always deliver. Both guys should be on the card on Sunday.
I accept that it makes sense to have Kane and Bryan in the match on Sunday. Ziggler didn't look bad against the future Hall of Famer. Ziggler's another guy who should be doing something on Sunday. He should be treated like an important part of the show as MITB holder.
Rock's segment got predictably silly. It's kind of a shame that we went from Punk's amazing heat-getting promos to stories about crackheads and silly insults. That said, mostly solid segment and I like that Punk looked like a credible threat. They could have easily had Rock kick his ass now and on Sunday.
More wrestling coming up.
I honestly don't know what to think of Big Show right now. On one hand, he can have a lot of "fire" and toughness to him, but yet he was crying after Del Rio dumped that slime on him. I see good promo followed by a bad and boring promo, and aggression followed by bad humor.
ReplyDeleteI guess when it boils down to it, for a guy having more than a decade of "entertainment" experience added to the movies he's done, I expect a lot more of stability and actual entertainment from him. I only get that half of the time, which is a shame.
As you know, I'm not very high on Ziggler and think others deserve the main event spotlight more than him, so I'm definitely not upset about him being booked to lose a lot. That aside, do you see him successfully cashing in the briefcase, and if so, when do you see him cashing it in? I think with him winning against Cena with it on the line, it shows Management may indeed allow him to successfully cash it in, despite me not being a fan.
By the way, I looked at some of Bo Dallas' promos and matches and I honestly don't see him standing out at all as an entertainer. I think guys like Riley really deserve the push moreso than him. That's not to say he may not prove me wrong down the line, but I'm a little impartial to having him in the I.C. Title picture so early and over seemingly more talented guys. It goes hand-in-hand with your stance that time-management is key and isn't used as efficiently fairly often.
I mean, being booked to win against Wade Barrett your first night on the main roster? Like I mentioned, Barrett has pinned Orton numerous times aside from match success, he's lead one of the most infamous groups this company has seen of late. It's perplexing to me, but hopefully Dallas can prove me wrong.
It could be the higher-ups telling him to be serious in some promos/segments and not others for some reason. I don't know if he has the kind of pull that Cena does and if so, if he takes advantage of it. I don't see why he wouldn't have some pull given his tenure, but I don't know for sure. And he's actually been in the business for over 18 years!
ReplyDeleteAt any rate, if we wasn't such an important figure in current WWE and they didn't have so many other people bailing, I'd strongly suggest that he take some time off after Mania season to get refreshed like Henry, Kane, Taker, HHH, Lesnar, and Rock have done to good effect. Love him or hate him (and there have been times where I've really disliked him), he's earned a solid reputation with the crowd. Due to years of WCW/WWE experience, main events, and championships, he's considered a very credible performer. That can't be easily replicated.
I think that even if Ziggler wasn't ready for a top spot (and I definitely think he is, especially with AJ and Big E in tow), they'd be blowing it by not giving him the World Title at some point. MITB can make careers if used right. Anyway, I see him cashing in sometime after Mania. Though WWE has pulled out surprises with the briefcase before after not booking people all that strong in the previous weeeks/months (Edge's first cash-in, Bryan).
I have seen many an online fan share that opinion of Dallas. Reaction to him has been almost universally negative, from both a promo and match perspective. I don't think I've seen a single person say he's got the goods to be in the spot he's in. The only thing I can say he has going for him is his heritage. I should note, and I don't know how much of a factor this is, that his father is an agent/producer and thus has at least some pull in who gets used.
I know the company is looking for new stars and all that, but there's got to be better than Dallas down there. I haven't seen a single convincing reason why he's been favored, other than John Cena has endorsed him and there's a rumor that Big Show is a fan of him as well. I don't know what they see in him, and neither does anyone else I've seen who's familiar with his work. I know the IWC is into a different kind of wrestler than someone like a John Cena, but we're talking near-universal dislike. Like Khali or Hornswoggle level.
While I try to be optimistic, the fact that he's been positioned so high so early means that he really needs to be able to perform. He strikes me as the very definition of an average wrestler. I've seen some things from NXT and I haven't been impressed (and I usually find at least the potential to improve in someone). He's been down there since late 2008. How is he still so... unpolished?
Barrett's another guy I think could be a major player if they protected him and put him in there with top names in big feud situations. I think he should have been WWE Champion in the Nexus days. Is he the second coming of Austin, Rock, etc.? No. But he's got the goods from both an in-ring and promo perspective. I see no reason why he couldn't be in the main event spot if they weren't stuck on Orton, Show, Henry, Cena, etc..