Read on for my thoughts on last night's Raw.
I liked the opening segment quite a bit, but I'm definitely glad Daniel Bryan's in the main event mix instead of just Orton, Batista and Triple H. Bryan adds a different dynamic than any of them do. I actually like the snarky Authority characters, but I don't think the angle should go too much longer.
I've got to give props to WWE for having four former WWE/World Champions compete to challenge for the Intercontinental Championship. That makes the title and Big E look important.
That was a really good match from all four competitors. They went out of their way to show what they can do. I wish all four men were poised for bigger things, but I don't think it's in the cards for any of them anytime soon.
Good post-match between Big E and Christian. There don't need to be be a bunch of physical beatdowns for every feud to have heat. This was simple and effective to set up the title match.
More weird stuff from the Wyatts. I don't know exactly where they should go with the Wyatts after Mania, but they're doing good stuff. I definitely want to see Bray vs. Bryan for the title at some point.
I can't be the only one who wants a Scooby Doo-themed episode of Raw like the Muppets had. Or at least a running gag for a night. I don't think it'd be worth it to blow Sin Cara's cover as Hunico (whom a lot of the audience has probably forgotten), but it'd be so perfect for there to be some kind of crazy mystery. Is Freddie Prinze, Jr. still a WWE fan? He could have done something, too. And no Shaggy on commentary? Ya killin' me, son.
That was a good little exhibition to plug the movie. They couldn't do much more with WrestleMania being right around the corner. That should be the focus.
Ha. I wonder what goes through a performer's mind when they're told they're just out there for about a minute before a more important act gets involved.
It's pretty weird seeing The Shield go after a heel tag team. The whole point of the big powerbomb was to get heat for how devastating it was.
Ahh... that's the egomaniacal Haitch we know and occasionally love. All those burials... There's always something to be said about what it means for him if he's not good enough to beat a B+ player or someone living off past glories. Does that make him a B- player? I am ready for Bryan to look like a more formidable threat. Just because the online fans see it as predictable for him to win doesn't mean he's been booked like someone for whom winning will be easy.
I'm not initially crazy about the idea of possibly splitting Fandango and Summer Rae, but maybe WWE has a clever idea here. Cody and Goldust aren't really doing much of anything now and apparently Santino and Emma have moved on, so I don't see what WWE's going for.
While that segment was great to get a pop from Hogan and the celebrities, it was at the expense of someone the company could theoretically make money from as a performer in Miz. Miz continues to go from face to heel seemingly at random and is another performer really lost in the shuffle. I'm not a huge fan of his, but in general I don't see how that segment sold us to see Miz in the future. If he's easily disposed of by non-wrestlers, we needn't take him too seriously to win the battle royal.
WWE continues to sell Show as a favorite to win the battle royal. That's fine and all, but I think it would have been nice to position Titus as someone who could win as well. I like the idea of the battle royal being used to elevate a new star. Cesaro would probably be my top pick. I like the idea of Rusev having a strong showing, too, but so far he's pretty untested.
I totally see HHH screwing The Shield over. At least he can't Pedigree all of them at once. Right?
The mask in the mirror trick is silly, but I liked it for what it was.
HOLY #*$& that was creepy. I can see little Jimmys having nightmares from that one. Cena vs. Harper was pretty good while it was going on, with Harper getting in a good amount of offense. I've been mostly OK with this storyline as far as Cena's humor being kept to a minimum.
I cracked up at AJ mocking Naomi. The match itself was very hurried.
We finally have the theoretical end of AJ's title reign. I'm a big AJ fan, but this one's gone on WAY too long. I'm ready for something new at WrestleMania. I wonder how far in advance WWE planned this match. I had almost forgotten Vickie existed given the focus on the Authority being in charge.
I'd think more people would know him as Scott Hall, so that's kind of weird. But I guess if they mention Hall, they have to put in Nash as well. They must be saving "Diesel" for a future year. Unless they want to honor the legendary Oz and Vinnie Vegas.
Great tag match! I don't guess I should have been surprised given the talent involved, but they all deserve props. They went a little heavy on the big, physical spots, but it was enjoyable.
The New Corporate Outlaws are back! I'm ready for that match. I think The Outlaws should bow out shortly after, as they've pretty much gotten all they can get out of their current run.
I'm personally pretty tired of The Undertaker's paranormal shtick. It feels like they're kind of on autopilot with the character. I popped for Brock's shirt, though!
More wrestling coming up.
I definitely have mixed feelings on Christian being the No. 1 contender for the Intercontinental Title and having four former World Champions (all in the last two years) contending for that title.
ReplyDeleteI mean, I understand now with the W.H. Title and W.W.E. Title combining, it makes it more of a scramble to be a champion in the company. However, what sense does it make to have at least two or three upper-card guys legitimately saying that they lost a No. 1 contender's match for the Intercontinental, not WWE World Heavyweight, Title? I personally think it did more to devalue Del Rio and Sheamus moreso than build up Christian.
My second source of confusion is regarding Christian and why he was the one who won. I'm going to go with the stance that they needed a "heel" to face Langston, who is a "face" character, but my argument with that is how does it justify Sheamus continuously upending Christian week after week, all to lose that match? I just find it a bit odd. I would have personally had actual mid-card guys like Fandango, Miz, Cody/Goldust, Kingston, etc.. contend. I know that some others (Cesaro, Swagger) are pre-occupied with other angles, but there are many others on the roster to involve in that match. I just think it did more harm than good by having four fairly-recent World Champions being in an Intercontinental Title match.
I agree with you on how WWE is portraying Miz. It's really confusing from the standpoint of a fan who wants to see logical and entertaining storylines when Miz goes from "heel" to "face" time and time again. I understand that he isn't much of a focus right now and that they need certain, reliable guys to fit certain segments, but it's just a bit confusing to see. I'd like to see some sense of consistency with Miz. I personally like him better as an irritating bad guy who gets under the skin of others. He can thrive better in that persona and role moreso than his previous role before he fell into mid-card territory as a good guy.
I actually never really thought of it like that. I've mostly seen it as them rebuilding the IC Title as something worth fighting for. I would have liked a segment with Christian being upset at not being the top champion and deciding to challenge for the IC Title, leading to the other challengers stepping up. The IC Title used to be a pretty big deal. If this was them fighting for the U.S. Title, I'd agree more, since that title's not doing much right now. I think they're just waiting for a Shield split-up where Roman takes it.
ReplyDeleteWWE probably wanted something of a marquee match for Main Event and decided Christian was better for that role than someone already defined as not being anywhere near WWE Title level. Their long-term booking for a lot of people could use work. Christian vs. Sheamus could have just been to fill some time before Mania.
Miz is definitely a natural heel. It's telling how little they care about some people when that many heel/face turns occur seemingly at random. Obviously they can't book 100% of people well 100% of the time, but people haphazardly switching alignment is rather sloppy.
To your point about Titus, this article here should be interesting to you. Obviously, Bleacher Report isn't a great and objective source, but this article was interesting to read. The article may be a bit presumptive - which is typical for Bleacher Report - but definitely brings up some good points. Time will tell what will happen with O'Neil, but it's definitely interesting.
ReplyDeletehttp://bleacherreport.com/articles/2005981-what-was-the-point-of-the-titus-oneil-heel-turn
I think I've put down Bleacher Report in the past, but it's kind of unfair of me to paint the whole site with a broad stroke. I'm sure there are some well thought out articles there, as anywhere on the Internet. I'm sure some of it is my "editor's instinct" from having to write articles under strict guidelines in class.
ReplyDeleteAt any rate, I do wonder what they were thinking with Titus other than "we need another heel and he's not doing anything else." It can be argued Big Show's dominant wins further showed Show as a favorite in the battle royal, but they definitely didn't "move the story along" as far as changing the status quo and having Titus look like a potential threat. Show's reached the point where he can lose a lot of big matches without it affecting his standing much - he's already had a Hall of Fame-level career as far as longevity and accomplishments.
As for Brodus, it now looks like the end goals were to bring Woods to the main roster and write off the now-former Tensai. I don't think either of those were bad goals (and the latter was increasingly necessary with "Jason Albert" going to NXT), but it didn't really build Brodus much to have him be the afterthought.