Read on for my thoughts on last night's Raw.
THAT'S the kind of promo I wanted from Punk against Taker. I can definitely see the argument that he should have been champion going into Mania doing Streak vs. Streak. One Nation Under Punk.
Jericho vs. Fandango is certainly interesting. I can actually see some similarities between Fandango and the Y2J persona as far as the whole "larger than life" vibe. Obviously Jericho's a rockstar and Fandango's a dancer, but other than that I think there's a link between them.
I still don't think a talented guy with a bright future should be tapping out to a part-timer. Think a few months down the line when Ziggler still has the briefcase and is going to be used to sell live events, etc. while Jericho is presumably off doing something else.
Nice segment with Fandango and Jericho. Maybe, just maybe, they're getting behind a younger talent for once. Had Langston interfered before Ziggler tapped, I would have thought this was a pretty good piece of business.
Cool little segment setting up the 6-man at Mania.
So much for Henry missing ring time, eh? He looked pretty awesome as always. I understand sacrificing The Usos here, though of course they're going to be relied on at some point in the future. Thankfully they're still under 30 and presumably have time to grow.
Great segment with Del Rio, Cesaro, and Swagger. This is how you add heat to a storyline.
It made sense for Del Rio to get some heat back on Cesaro. At least the U.S. Champ can say that he beat Del Rio and build from that.
Solid little tag match. It made sense for Hell No to look good going into Mania. They could easily have had PTP job in a minute, so I hope there's no complaint about how a team who isn't on the Mania card is losing in a match that wasn't a squash. There's no reason for them to get the win or anything if there's no story for them right now. The focus needs to be on Mania.
I really liked HHH's promo. He's one of my favorites. When he's serious, he's straight-up serious. He's not talking about Brock's tattoo or Heyman's appearance. He's all about the big match at Mania. It was a little weird for him to kick Barrett, but whatever.
I'm surprised that they didn't save Miz vs. Barrett for Mania, much less gave it so much time. They're setting the bar higher for them if they do face off in 13 days. Barrett got enough offense in/lasted so long that tapping out didn't hurt him too much. That said, he's a bare-knuckle fighter fighting a former reality star.
I mostly liked the Hell No segment, but they kind of threw PTP under a bus by pointing out that Big E and Ziggler "aren't (them)". And Kaitlyn vs. AJ feels a bit out of nowhere. Yes, they have a lot of history but recently things have focused on the possibility of Kaitlyn vs. Layla. WWE's storytelling is all kinds of crazy these days.
I'm all for some Shield dominance.
Glad Khali is useful for something. Not a bad post-match segment to set up the possibility that The Shield are losing at Mania.
Another stupid segment. I hate that Jericho suggested that getting taken out by Fandango twice doesn't mean anything. Fandango's got a LOT riding on him by "debuting" at Mania. I'm optimistic in his abilities. I really hope it's not just a set-up for Jericho to look strong before taking some more time off. That leaves WWE in a bad position since they put so much hype into the former Johnny Curtis. If he doesn't have a good showing, all that hype is pretty much for nothing.
Another good Rhodes Scholars segment. Sandow eats a lot of guys with his level of main roster experience alive with his promos.
Thank goodness Rhodes Scholars didn't job to a comedy act. I guess they're saving that for Mania.
BAH GAWD RYBACK JUST BEAT THREE MEN. That is pretty badass. If Ryback can lift Henry, it will be pretty cool to have him go over.
I hope that's leading to AJ vs. Kaitlyn for the title at Mania. I think it's too early to do it. I wouldn't go to AJ as challenger until Kaitlyn had had sizable feuds with most of the other Divas to establish her as a fighting champion. So many talents who could be in better stories right now.
Almost a perfectly intense final segment to sell Mania. Great stuff. There were only two spots that weren't good: the "monkey's ass" line and Cena saying that he belongs in the Attitude Era. The first was just generally silly and the second pretty much said that "if you're good, you belong in the '90s, not today". WWE can't keep cashing checks on the '90s guys. They'll milk those guys for everything they're worth, but someday they're going to have to be able to rely on the current stars.
More wrestling coming up, including a Blue Echo podcast.
Punk - He is a supervillain he loves that stage, he loves it so much that he will only give 100%, however for the first time in nearly two years, I'm rooting against him!!
ReplyDeleteYes I see it too, they seem very compatible, funny, larger-than-life as you said and of course Jericho was on Dancing with the Stars also Chris Jericho - CJ, Johnny Curtis - JC ooooh.. heheh seriously, this will be an interesting match even if only for Fahn-dahn-go's debut.
I don't think it hurts him, tag-team wise going into the Show of Shows, which is his main concern for at least a couple more weeks.
Absolutely "I don't get hurt!! That's not what I do!!!!" Agreed, I'm always extra-hopeful for young guys after WrestleMania, after the Legends and "Once in a Lfetime"'s are gone.
Poor Ricardo, adding feul to the fire indeed, this match from the outset had me very excited, I compare it to Triple H vs Randy Orton in 2009.
They are liking Miz these days aren't they? Hmm.I don't really know what to say here.
Maybe so but as a wrestler especially heading into WrestleMania I guess you have to always assume that your greatest challenge lies ahead, regardless of who you have just beat.
Tell me about it! AJ/Kailyn was a dream WM match for me but it seemed as if yes Layla would obsesse over the Diva's title and challenge Kaitlyn. Then there was Tamina, perhaps some unfinished business there but Layla vs. Kaitlyn was the build up. Neat to see though, this really is a match I've been waiting for.
Jericho's a joker, he has his with Fandango but bear in mind there's still two more SD's and a Raw for Jericho to see him as a threat. He will win at 'Mania, he's gotta.
Sandow haha Mr. Sandow. He too, loves his job.
Monkey Ass - it's just what The Rock says. That is very strange, surely you'd want to see yourself as the best ever and your generation as the greatest, it's basically saying nowadays aren't as good as times past. However fabulous segment very intense as the WrestleMania main event should be.
And of course, it was fabulous seeing all of those Legends, congratulations Booker T!
ReplyDeleteI have a lot of respect for Taker and enjoyed him in his prime, but I'm just not feeling him as much anymore. The act feels kind of stale. I don't think Punk should win, but it's definitely time to focus on someone fresher.
ReplyDeleteI think that unless you've taken a LOT of offense, it hurts you to tap out without an excuse (previous injury, shenanigans). You're basically saying that you're so cornered that you have no chance of beating your opponent.
I think Miz gets ahead for all of his promotional appearances.
I'm not saying that they shouldn't look ahead to Big E and Ziggler. I just would have liked for them to insinuate that PTP weren't pushovers.
I'd love to see AJ and Kaitlyn get some good ring time against each other given their past. That's why I pitched it for down the line when they'd get the proper build-up.
That is true. Hopefully Y2J was kind of posturing.
I get Rock's shtick. It just seems so weird to go to those kinds of terms when you're setting up for a serious fight.
As for the Attitude Era remark, I'm sure a lot of people inside and outside of the company see it as heads-and-shoulders above today's company. It's just counter-productive to point that out.
I agree to an extent, The Undertaker will always be exciting, his character has outlived basically every other gimmick in pro wrestling history. He has had an absolute *AMAZING* career but yes for the sake of his health if anything, its time for the curtain call.
ReplyDeleteHmm fair point.
Ah true that, he appears almost as much, if not, more than, Cena everywhere you look he's doing some sort of endorsing.
Fair dues, I would like o see PTP's as Tag Champs soon but perhaps The Usos + Primo and Epico are more deserving.
Absolutely agree on that! They could have built up for months.
Yep, behinnd-the-scenes he gives Curtis credit but just for a bit of heat he can joke with him for now
Muhammad Ali did exactly the same, I know wrestling isn't boxing but the big fight feel is very, very similar.
You're right, then again, say Cena the face of the so-called "PG era" defeats The Rock, one of the two faces of the Attitude Era, it essentially put the PG era over
I see The Usos and Primo/Epico as kind of the low end of the tag division, though it's hard to show how good you are when you're generally not booked as strongly as others.
ReplyDeleteI was actually unaware of the Ali thing. Do you have any quotes/videos?
And that's a pretty good point. I didn't really think of that. I wonder if that's what WWE was thinking.