Read on for my thoughts on last night's Raw.
I'm a sucker for The Authority's promos for some reason. I guess because it plays off the real-life perception of HHH as out to "bury" talented superstars like Bryan. I do think they might have thrown Bryan under the bus a little much as far as him being a flash in the pan and such. They REALLY took it to Brad Maddox there. It made sense in the storyline, but I wonder why they got rid of him. He's gotten his ass kicked a LOT on live events, too. I don't want to assume he's in the doghouse, but it definitely looks like they're writing him off.
I BOLIEVE after he beat Sin Cara on Smackdown. Again, WAY too early to talk about him as a future champion. Right now, he just needs to make his mark in the company. We'll see how things go.
Barrett's promos are kind of "meh" sometimes. It's almost entirely the material. I like him and am glad he's doing something now, but the gimmick doesn't really connect with me at times.
No way! I didn't expect Cesaro to win that one, even dirty. I'm not sure why. They've pushed him pretty well lately. Good move and the match itself was really good.
I liked the post-match, as silly as it was. I think Cesaro will be fine with a loss at Payback. Having Paul Heyman in his corner pretty much assures he'll have screen time.
Summer Rae vs. Eva Marie was mercifully short. I've seen good stuff from Summer Rae, but I don't know if she's ready to carry Eva Marie. Anyway, good stuff to continue the Layla/Summer Rae feud. They need to establish Summer Rae as a babyface if she's going to go in that direction. She doesn't need to kiss puppies or anything, but I'd like more development of her character being face.
The Brotherhood/Evolution segment felt kind of forced, but the match should be good.
I think wrestling needs some levity and comedy here and there, but I wasn't crazy about the Drew/Torito segment. The feud's gotten long in the tooth.
Not a bad post-match to keep the feud going. It was actually kind of funny in a ridiculous way.
The Torito medical room segment was funny in a silly way. Not as good as Shark Boy in a coma, though. That's one of my favorite guilty pleasure angles.
I almost entirely liked the Wyatts/Cena segment. Cena's definitely had worse promos, so I'll mostly give him a pass here. He wasn't exemplary, though. Good work from the Wyatts, as is usually the case.
The commentary should be better without JBL. If only they'd taken King, too, and had a replacement work with Cole.
I'm really getting into Lana and Rusev. This is getting over better than the original plan. Honestly, how many Americans are familiar with Belarus?
I'd like to see longer matches from Rusev, but this was effective. He just needs to destroy people. If another segment went long, it makes sense to shorten this one.
Ehhh... I'm not hugely into Rusev vs. Big E. They are both rather one-dimensional. I'd like Big E toget to show more of his lighter side at times to broaden his personality.
That might be Del Rio asking to be released...
That was a pretty great tag match. I see a lot from Cody as far as a future is concerned. I think Orton in particular is rather underrated as a performer. Batista seems to be getting more into his groove.
Another effective decimation by Orton and Batista. I love Cody and Goldust, but it's fine that they were victims here. They should be fine after this.
Damn. JBL's back. He does work well for hyping Bo, so I can live with it.
Bo cracks me up pretty consistently. He plays the role well.
Sin Cara's an incredible talent and a better wrestler than Bo, but that was hysterical. Long live Bo.
Good post-match from Bo. I think this is one of those gimmicks that you either really like or really don't get.
Main Event should be a great match. Why aren't they wrestling at Payback?
I'm a little surprised they didn't make a decision about the WWE Title there. Are they unsure about what direction to take? I don't like the idea of the title being vacant for the second time in a year.
OK, so within the span of a week, both the Divas' Champion and the presumed #1 contender have lost clean. I like Emma, but Alicia should probably have won here to set up a title match.
I like Alicia's "lost her damn mind" gimmick, but I don't know how effective it is. Wins and losses aren't everything and I guess this redeemed her from losing to Emma, but the whole thing feels kind of bizarre.
I hope this chapter of Torito vs. Hornswoggle is the last.
This has got to be some kind of test or rib for Sandow.
That's got to be one of the craziest matches/segments I've ever seen. Very sports-entertainmenty. I guess it was OK, but I think it was too much crazy for me. I guess it made sense for Rose to win his debut, but what does it mean if Sandow can't win when Rose is distracted?
The post-match made sense to continue the rather bizarre feud.
Good match with Sheamus vs. Del Rio. No way was Del Rio going to get a win with how he's been booked these days. It sucks, as good as he is. Sheamus winning made sense to set up Sunday's title match.
I liked the post-match with Cesaro getting heat on Sheamus. Sunday should be a war.
That was a really kickass final segment. I think The Shield will get a big win at Payback to write Batista off. I look forward to the match as chaotic as the last one was.
More wrestling coming up.
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