Read on for my thoughts on last night's Raw.
Pretty cool opening segment. The "match" accomplished what it needed to: getting us closer to HHH vs. Lesnar.
Ryback vs. Ziggler was pretty solid. Of course Ziggler loses another big match, but the match itself was fine.
Pretty good Punk promo. He's a heat magnet.
I'm completely ok with Trump going into the Hall as a celebrity.
Glad Henry destroyed Khali. That match could have been kind of ugly.
I liked MizTV. I'm sure some people are going to complain about the controversial remarks, but they're fine by me since Colter is a heel and is supposed to say and do despicable things. They're doing a good job setting up Mania.
Nice post-MizTV segment.
Wow. Cesaro's momentum was just halted. That's a shame. I do get that they want Orton strong going into Mania, though. Obviously he's a big part of the WWE picture at times.
We've seen the "blindfolded, one arm behind your back" thing before. It's not something I'm crazy about.
The Sheamus/Barrett segment was ok. Not something I'm a huge fan of.
Cody Rhodes shouldn't be losing so quickly. Another case of them not building for the future.
So neither member of Rhodes Scholars is a match for R-Truth. Great.
I liked the Swagger/Colter segment. They're totally going to get heat from it.
I thought Young was injured? What's going on here? At any rate, they looked kind of weak losing like that.
Not a bad Shield segment, though of course the faces stand tall.
Swagger vs. Miz was pretty impressive. Swagger continues to be in good form going into Mania.
Not a bad Cena promo. He's definitely had worse. He can bring the fire when he needs to.
Tons of respect for Cena and Punk for that match. They really delivered. There's a reason they're positioned so highly.
More wrestling coming up, and hopefully I'll be back later for the Blue Echo podcast.
I was a bit perplexed to see Young on Raw. When Hell No mentioned facing PTP in tag action in their backstage bit, I figured there would be some shake up. It's a bit odd how it's reported he's out until August, yet competes a week later. In the least bit, I'd figure O'Neil would get all of the action even if Young competed in the match.
ReplyDeleteAt any rate, it was a complete disgrace for PTP in that match. Losing to Hell No when one member is blindfolded and the other has one arm really devalues PTP more than builds up Hell No's cohesion.
When I saw Young out there competing alongside Hell No's lack of cohesion lately, I thought it would be an opportunity for PTP to move back up the ranks a bit. However, it's just the opposite, as they continue to be booked as a bit of an afterthoughout.
Honestly, I can barely remember the last time they won any type of match. The last recollection being on Main Event against Team Cobro like two months ago. It just proves how fickle WWE is with tag teams. What is your take on their status as well as Young's "injury"? I'm figuring you're placing this as more of victim of Management's "flavor of the month" moreso than PTP being at fault here? In both circumstances, it's a bit odd.
For what it's worth, Young is denying that he'll miss ring time on Twitter. He's either powering through the injury in hopes that he'll work WrestleMania, or someone's been misinformed. I assure you that it was a credible source that said he was injured and not just a random "dirtsheet". I certainly hope he's ok and it was some kind of error. It's dangerous to work while injured, but I really have to hand it to him for showing such tenacity. It shows dedication to the business and I hope WWE takes note.
ReplyDeleteLast night was a great opportunity for PTP to move up the ranks. Kane and Bryan were just having issues, and there were the added impediments with the blindfolding and arm-tying. If they're doing Kane vs. Bryan at WrestleMania, they should have lost that match and blamed each other or something similar. It's rather shoddy storytelling for Hell No to win clean like that if they're doing Kane vs. Bryan soon. I'm guessing they might have just wanted Hell No to look strong so if/when they break up, it's two top-tier guys going at it. That's just a theory, though.
Cagematch confirms that that was their last victory (including live events): http://www.cagematch.de/?id=2&nr=2040&page=4.
And yeah, I pretty much always assume it's someone backstage changing their minds on someone or seeing more in another talent than trying to "bury" a talent. I think it's probably fairly rare that they just trot out a tag team to lose because they don't like them or they've done something wrong.
I'm going to continue to take a long-term view on PTP. I think first we're going to need to know what Young's status is in the months to come. Sadly, no word on that yet and he might be kind of playing it by ear. Another big factor is who ends up teamed up, split up, and called up in the near future. NXT seems to be focusing more on tag teams, and that might make the division more crowded.
Honestly I think it's pretty much inevitable that some teams and singles stars are going to be stuck in Purgatory. It's got to be mind-numbing to try to work with so many characters. There's a group of people who they build the shows around, and once they're finished writing for them (and likely re-writing at least once), everyone else is kind of fending for scraps. It could definitely be worse. They could be sitting at home or back in NXT or only working live events.
That Hell No Vs PTP match really did nothing logical in my opinion, and really was hard to follow what the WWE wanted to accomplish with that match. To me, Hell No has reached the ceiling in terms of how far they can really go as a tag team. They have done great with the humor, but it's the nature of the beast in that champions eventually have to give the titles up.
ReplyDeleteOn top of that, it was really seeming like they would split up and/or feud with Bryan interfering in Kane's matches and complaining about Kane coming to his aide when Henry attacked him. With them being booked to win in a match and circumstances THAT EMPHASIZE teamwork and cohesion, it made such little sense where WWE wants to take those two storyline-wise.
I also think WWE should take note of Young's tenacity here. Assuming the reports were credible, coming to wrestle when it was reported he'd be out for six months says something about the integrity of his nickname. I don't think WWE will give him a push any time soon, but it does speak volumes as long as he doesn't over-do it and do something foolish.
Either way, it really hurt PTP to lose that match in such a demeaning manner, on top of all of their recent struggles. Remember just a few weeks ago when Hell No was booked to lose to Sin Cara and Mysterio clean? What does that say where PTP ranks in the tag team rung when they lose to Hell No when one member is blindfolded and the other has one arm?
That being said, where do you see the tag team division going from here until the next few months? I know before you viewed Bryan and Kane to feud, which would inevitably mean new tag champions. But, with Rhodes Scholars disbanding and fans having no idea what is going on with Hell No, it's even more up-in-the-air than before, which says a lot with the tag team division already being confusing!
Complaining about Kane not coming to his aide*
ReplyDeleteI guess IF they were trying to make Hell No look strong, it worked since they were able to beat their foes despite their handicaps.
ReplyDeleteRaw was definitely inconsistent in the story on Monday. Unless they were trying to be unpredictable or something since the story's been done so many times before. It was bizarre for sure.
I'm sure it earned him some cred with the higher-ups and old-school guys (who are one in the same in some cases). I don't necessarily see it leading to a push, but I think they'll at least look favorably upon it. Of course, that's if the stories were credible.
Really it just says that they value Hell No more than PTP. I'd be rather surprised based on their booking if they gave much thought to some guys on the roster. As I mentioned, each division has a few key acts they focus on and everyone else is just kind of floating around waiting for something to do.
Of course, this is all guesswork, but it wouldn't shock me if Hell No split, Rhodes Scholars stay together, one or more new tag teams are formed from singles stars not doing anything, and possibly a team will be called up from NXT. PTP's status will depend on Young's injury or lack thereof, but I don't see WWE having plans for them any time in the near future. Until the next "reshuffling" of the division (some combination of new team/s debuting, new team/s entering the division, new team/s forming, someone gets injured, team splits up), they're almost certainly staying right where they are. A lot of times WWE is content to do the same old, same old until something or someone forces them to change. And it's seemingly a lot easier to fall out of favor than get into their plans.