Read on for my thoughts on last night's Raw.
I'm still in shock at The Shield sweeping Evolution. They're all pretty talented; I just didn't expect WWE to get this far behind them.
That was a pretty big opening segment. Obviously Evolution wasn't going to be a long-term thing with Batista's movie coming out, but I didn't expect things to go this poorly for them.
Good followup with Batista.
I liked Barrett's promo. Overall I'm a fan of even small promos to set up matches.
I liked the opening tag match. I guess WWE wanted Sheamus and RVD to get their heat back after their losses at Payback. I'm not so sure I want to see Cesaro vs. Barrett from a character standpoint, but the action should be pretty good.
BBBBOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO. WWE needs to be more about wrestlers like Sandow and less about the likes of Big Show. I don't think Sandow should squash Show clean or anything, but I don't think i really accomplishes much for Show to KO him.
Great promo by Bo. He says more in a few sentences than some performers say in 15 minutes.
Not a bad match at all from Bo and Kofi. Bo's getting better, I think. Kofi's naturally got a lot of athletic prowess.
I have a soft spot for Bo's gimmick for whatever reason. I guess it's just refreshing after seeing so many overly-serious characters.
I'll be really surprised if Bryan makes it through his injury as champion. That said, WWE's doing a lot to prolong his reign.
I actually liked the Cena/Stephanie segment because it wasn't about a bunch of kiddie humor. I'm glad WWE's going to have the title situation settled at the next PPV.
Honestly after the huge match Cena had at Payback, him having a short match here is perfectly fine.
Another round of Cena vs. Kane works for me. I know that's not a popular opinion online. Cena sells Kane as a monster and not a comedy act, and that's a step up from other feuds of his.
I look forward to Orton vs. Reigns.
OK, they got me with Hornswoggle's new hair. I still don't want to see a lot of this feud, but it's better than Big Show squashes or Sandow being thrown under a bus.
So that match was a thing. They can't have this feud go forever, right?
As far as squash matches go, that handicap match worked.
And more heat on Alicia and Aksana. I wonder why Paige didn't help Nikki?
Good Wyatts promo. They can definitely rebound after Bray's loss.
Zeb's perfect as the crazy old coot.
As silly as the match was and as talented as Swagger is, I'm OK with them putting Rose over like that. If he can get over, sell merch, etc., the gimmick's a success.
I like the Usos' promo pretty well. WWE's doing a good job with having promos and such tonight.
I liked the latest round of Usos vs. Wyatts pretty well. I wonder if it will be a little while before we see Bray.
I hope they don't do a title change on Main Event after having Barrett win at Payback, but I think they can justify doing that.
No way! Given Del Rio's slump lately, I expected Ziggler to get the win and be the designated "big bump guy" for Money In The Bank. But Del Rio's a talented guy and I'm glad he's on the winning track (for now).
I continue to be interested in the Cody/Goldust interactions.
Good tag match. Weirdly enough, I don't see the wins as a push for Rybaxel as much as continuing the Cody/Goldust story.
No mention of or appearance by Big E? That's a little surprising. I hope Rusev is worth this push. They're certainly giving him the opportunity to succeed.
I don't really see the justification for Rollins turning heel here. Why join the losing side after The Shield's beaten them clean twice? They could either have Rollins be tired of all the beatings or motivated by money or something, but this feels a little odd for now. That said, if WWE's continuing to build Rollins, Ambrose and Reigns as top acts, I can't complain too much.
More wrestling coming up.
Man, that heel turn by Rollins was definitely a shock to many. Much like you, I'm wondering why Rollins went to the losing team when his team has arguably reached its peak as faces and also why it was Rollins that turned. I remember you mentioning this - and I agreed - that you thought Rollins would be the one that would be the face character of the three. It's not that Rollins can't pull it off, it's just odd to me why Ambrose, who seems like a natural bad guy, wasn't the one.
ReplyDeleteMan, I also have to feel a bit for Heath Slater and also 3MB as a group. Not that those three are current main event material, but all three members losing to El Torito - who isn't even tall enough to go on rides at an amusement park - is a bit too much. I think primarily Slater and McIntyre have pretty good potential, and it says something that they're on television just about every week, but they're status in the company is a flawed much at this point. Feel free to go back to that Cagematch site to see Slater's stats. It mentioned something like him only winning one in 10 matches the previous two years on average.
The same really goes for Sandow and also Swagger. I see more potential in Sandow with his ability to talk on the mic and pure "hateability," but it's at a point where each time Sandow and Swagger are out there, I cringe and expect them to end up in a laughable situation.
I totally understand the situation in which there is only one World Title and a large scramble for the I.C. and U.S. Titles with many new up-and-coming stars, but I still think Sandow specifically deserves more than he's been getting. I wonder what it was that made WWE reconsider its stance on Sandow with him being the Money in the Bank briefcase holder to being basically a jobber.
I haven't seen much of The Shield pre-main roster, but Rollins was definitely pegged as the babyface and Ambrose was considered a sure-fire heel. I'd say it certainly seems like Roman and Ambrose have been higher-rated as future singles stars and could very well have been cheered as heels, so that could be it. I'm split on whether WWE should bring up another NXT name to join The Shield. I also wonder if Evolution should have brought someone up to face Rollins, Ambrose and Reigns instead. I'm willing to wait to see where they're going with it before writing it off as a bad idea.
ReplyDeleteI do think realistically WWE's going to have to have some talented stars get the short end of the stick for whatever reason and some people are going to fall through the cracks. If there are performers who win a lot of matches, there have to be people who lose a lot of matches. It happens in real sports, too.
WWE likes to have some comedy in the mix, and I think there do need to be some lighthearted characters and parts of the show. But I'm a big fan of Sandow in particular, have enjoyed Swagger a good deal at times and have seen potential in all three members of 3MB at points. Hopefully the comedy segments get over with the younger audience they're aimed at, because I'm also not a fan of a lot of the El Torito/Hornswoggle stuff.
Sandow seems like the next performer they're testing for whatever reason, like they did with Natalya and Chavo and countless others. I don't know why they're doing it other than to pop the audience when he gets beat up. I don't see why the fans should boo him for dressing like Davy Crockett or whatever. It definitely just feels like those backstage having fun at his expense. It's not like he's going to go to TNA or anything. That's what sucks about the current state of WWE's lack of competition.