Read on for my thoughts on last night's Raw.
I mostly liked the opening segment as far as setting up the rest of the story going into MITB. I do think they're laying it in pretty rough on Bryan, though. If no one's going to counter HHH, there's not much reason to get heat on him as a (mostly) non-wrestler.
Rollins vs. Ziggler was really good, but that's pretty much what I expected from those two. I'm glad they protected Ziggler from another big loss.
It made sense for HHH to postpone Rollins vs. Ambrose. I'm guessing they'll fight at MITB.
I liked Ambrose vs. Barrett a good deal. Two more talented guys who are just below that glass ceiling of top guys.
It made sense for Ambrose to get his heat back in the post-match. I'm glad Barrett didn't take a straight-up loss.
I wasn't crazy about the Reigns/Vickie segment. I have a feeling we're in for some bad WWE comedy.
It's a shame so many WWE babyfaces are so goofy at times. That's one of the reasons people prefer Bryan to Cena. Anyway, I really liked Wyatt's promo here and I think he's the best choice to leave with the title. Bryan and Wyatt already have history and Wyatt's been in top-level feuds before.
Pretty good match between Wyatt and Sheamus. We haven't had a clean win all night.
Good post-match to keep things going.
Is slipping things in people's drinks really a babyface thing to do? Obviously babyfaces don't need to be goody two-shoes, but that's not really something to encourage.
Heyman's promo was good. I wish I could forget about the other subplot.
Good pre-match with Rusev and Slater. I don't necessarily see Slater turning face. They probably jus needed a new punching bag for Rusev.
I'm ready for more long matches from Rusev. I think they just throw squashes on here and cut them for time because they "need" more authority figure segments.
Was this really the best way to get HHH and Stephanie out of things for the night? It was juvenile. At least do something more "adult" like getting her car towed.
At least maybe it's over now that Roman's in the battle royal.
WWE just doesn't have a good track record with celebrity appearances lately. They're almost always silly and somewhat forced.
Not a bad mixed tag, but the wrestlers were secondary to the silliness as is usually the case.
Yeah, I wasn't a big fan of the Kevin Hart appearance. I like Hart a good deal, but WWE's celebrity segments are usually pretty lame.
That battle royal was pretty good overall, I think. There were some good performances by the top names.
Cena's such a goof. I also think his promos are getting pretty formulaic, but it's likely because he has to cut so many of them. I agree it's time for more names to be pushed as top guys.
Another submission win for the Divas' Champion. Apparently that's terrible booking. I would like for her to be booked to look stronger and show more of what she has as a wrestler, but right now, they need to be focused on getting her over as a credible champion. She's cleanly beating challengers left and right.
I'm not really sure what's brewing with Cody and Goldust. They're getting a lot of mileage out of it, whatever it is.
I actually got a kick out of Cody's gimmick. I'm willing to see what they'll do with it.
Not a bad match at all. I'd like to see Cody as a big singles star, but this could be pretty fun. It's nice to see Cody show some more range as a character.
That was a pretty good stretcher match. I think the spots and interferences were well-structured. I wonder where Kane fits into things after falling out of the WWE Title picture? I thought for sure he'd be headlining PPVs in Bryan's absence. I could see WWE still trying to put him in the match given how Reigns qualified.
More wrestling coming up.
Self-explanatory:
ReplyDeletehttp://wrestling.insidepulse.com/2014/06/15/damien-sandow-loses-three-straight-squash-matches-at-live-wwe-house-show/
I think this could be a legitimate burial by WWE. Some wrestlers they just have lose a lot because they want to get other people over. But they're devoting entire segments to making Sandow look like an idiot, and now he's losing to both heels and faces. I suppose it's possible they're testing his resolve or this is the best way they can think to use him to get a reaction, but a burial is a totally plausible theory.
ReplyDeleteI don't know why they're going after him. They've been cutting his legs out from under him for a while now, going back at least to HHH as COO belittling him despite them both being heels. I don't see how it really benefits anyone unless they're trying to teach him a lesson for something he's done backstage.
I totally agree. I know you don't throw around the term "burial" often, so you mentioning this to be a plausible burial really shows it.
ReplyDeleteI have been a fan of WWE for a very long time and yet I haven't seen anyone fall off the ladder to far and also in such an unfortunate manner. Just eight months or so ago, he had a great gimmick and was obviously in good standing with the WWE being the MITB briefcase holder. Now, just like you mentioned, he's: 1) Losing to both heels and faces, 2) Losing three matches within a five-minute period, 3) "Impersonating" a new athlete/celebrity every week, and 4) Getting upended each time he goes out there.
I also don't see any rhyme or reason behind WHY the company would put him in such an unfortunate position week after week unless he's done something extremely unethical. I mean, Randy Orton has violated the Wellness Policy twice and yet was the very first WWE World Heavyweight Title holder and still gets thrown into main event title matches without even having to compete. He definitely deserves better, and I hope this ridiculous stretch doesn't continue (even though it probably will).
Shifting gears a bit, I saw something about you mentioning Bray Wyatt is your pick to win the title match? I probably am grasping at straws here, but is there any chance you're hearing at all that Bryan will be in the match? If not, this will be a VERY interesting match with a ton at stake. Hopefully this will be an opportunity to see someone other than Cena, Orton, or Sheamus as World Champion.
The term burial's debatable for some situations. I don't think JTG or Curt Hawkins were buried just because they weren't used a lot. That was more indifference on WWE's part or just not believing in them as anything beyond "good hands". A burial, as I've understood it, is when management is going out of their way to humble/embarrass a performer.
ReplyDeleteI think I would even differentiate a burial from them "testing" a performer to see what they're willing to put up with (like Natalya's farting gimmick).
Chavo Guerrero went through some really odd stuff. I don't know if that was just WWE thinking that was the best use for him in their big "variety show" or what.
WWE loves Orton for some reason. I think he's an underrated wrestler and a solid veteran performer, but he has gotten a LOT of breaks during his WWE tenure. I do think he's settled down now that he has a family, which is great because he was really causing headaches for management.
Bryan might be out until Summerslam or so. The initial diagnosis was at least eight weeks. I think WWE was just really holding out hope he'd be cleared before then.
I'd love to see Bray win it and think he has a good chance. I could also see them going back to Orton to set up yet another Bryan/Orton title match when Bryan comes back. They could argue Orton's lost a number of big PPV matches lately and should get his win back. Orton's definitely gotten a lot of use as a main eventer in a pretty similar character, so it would be old news for him to be champion. He's a reliable performer now that he's away from injuries and Wellness violations, but the WWE audience really wants something new.
I haven't seen any indication of it, but I hope they don't do the ending people keep speculating on where one person grabs one title and one grabs the other. After the way they booked the Bryan/Orton feud, the WWE Title needs to be in a consistent place for a while.