Read on for my thoughts on last night's Raw.
Pretty good cage match. Jericho and Wyatt make for a pretty good rivalry.
Awesome post-match. I'm glad Wyatt's getting heat on Jericho, but it means more if he gets heat on someone higher up.
Good Authority segment. Are we in for an Orton face turn? I think I could be OK with that, although I don't know how intriguing Orton vs. Kane or Orton vs. HHH are in 2014.
Not a bad Ziggler/Miz/Sandow segment to play off the recent news story. They can only do so much with this feud, but the players involved work well.
Good Divas match for getting that story further along. I'm glad both Paige and AJ looked strong there.
Fun post-match. I mostly like this feud.
It looks like they're setting up Jericho's latest exit. It definitely makes sense to use his exit to get heat on someone. They should have done something like this with RVD's exit.
I really enjoyed the Heyman/Cena segment. It felt less sanitized than a lot of WWE these days. I wasn't a big fan of using the term "pop", though. Promos going insider just to go insider aren't really my cup of tea. But that was a small error in an otherwise enjoyable segment.
Pretty good match between Sheamus and Rollins. I'm glad they used the match to add heat to Sheamus vs. Cesaro.
NICE post-match. I'm glad Cesaro's making a statement these days.
Fine Lana segment. Henry vs. Rusev should be awesome.
I'm quite impressed with WWE putting an NXT match on Raw. This is a big moment for Zayn, Neville, and Breeze (and Kidd, too, since he's barely on TV these days).
Pretty good match from the NXT guys. I hope they all succeed.
Oh God... at least we had an NXT match and some other good stuff tonight to "balance out" the Springer segment. I really wasn't a fan of it. If I wanted to watch Springer, I'd watch his show.
I liked the Usos promo.
Fine match to build the team of Goldust and Stardust.
I liked the post-match. This should make for a good grudge match.
Fun little match between Titus and Rose. I think I'm OK with someone graduating from being the bunny to being a wrestler. What if it's Darren Young under there?
Not sure who it is playing the bunny, but he's already got my attention.
Fine Roman promo. I'm definitely OK with him getting time instead of Cena.
Pretty solid match between Reigns and Orton. The ending was fine to keep the feud going. I wonder what Orton, Kane, Rollins and Reigns are doing at NoC.
Awesome ending! Getting heat on The Authority for Reigns to get revenge is a good move.
More wrestling coming up.
You know, I was about to post this link here and ask you about the possibility of the bunny being this guy:
ReplyDeletehttp://fansided.com/2014/09/10/wwe-rumors-adam-rose-bunny-darren-young/
1) Do you believe this is true and 2) What, if anything, would it mean for Darren Young's career/storyline possibilities?
I was actually kind of joking when I thought it, but it would make sense! He's been working out really hard since the injury, and if that's his moveset, things are looking up for him.
ReplyDeleteIt definitely means he'll get a chance to break out of where he was pre-injury, which was my hope when he got hurt. The fact that (if it's him), they're actually putting him in a storyline instead of having him randomly return to job one week is a promising sign.
I don't necessarily see a long-term Rose/Young pairing (although it would make sense with Young's old South Beach Party Boy gimmick that he tried early on), but it's a good way for him to get another chance to do something of note. Fan reactions as well as his performances will help sway WWE's opinion of what he should be doing beyond the initial tag feud with Slater Gator.
Interesting. We'll see what happens with that angle. For all we know, it may not even be Young in that outfit, so this could be all hypothetical. On one hand, him and Rose would make a solid pairing and it would give Young a chance to showcase his personality a bit. It would also be a solid idea joining Rose with the singles division being so stacked.
ReplyDeleteI wanted to mention the Bella Twins angle. I think EVERY aspect about that "feud" has been terrible and a big waste of time. Let me know your thoughts on this, but I can run off a number of reasons:
1) No one would buy that they are at odds against each other with them being twin sisters and best friends, which would HAVE to take great acting and logical writing, which neither has happened to pull it off.
2) The believability/acting has been deplorable on both ends. I have honestly turned the channel to football when their segments air.
3) WWE may only be building up this feud to promote Total Divas, as why else in their right minds would these segments be receiving so much air time and also right in the heart of the raw episode?
That is just to name a few, in which I could probably run off at least a few more. You had a fantastic match with the NXT guys on Raw, in which I know for a fact that fans would love to see more of that on a regular basis than to consistently see Bella Twins segments airing and re-airing. Ugh. Just terrible on all ends, man.
I don't see who else would make sense as the bunny. I'd be very disappointed if they used a top NXT name in the role after doing so much work in giving those names distinct identities there. Young seems like the right choice.
ReplyDeleteI think Young and Rose would make a good pairing if both get to play to their strengths. I like Young better as a less serious character who can still wrestle really well.
I definitely think it's a ploy to the Total Divas crowd. WWE keeps trying to expand its reach beyond the traditional "wrestling fan" crowd, and to get higher viewership among other segments of the audience. It's like Disney with buying Marvel and Star Wars, except in this case, it's more like if Disney decided they were going to put "Frozen" content in The Avengers.
I'd be really curious to know how effective their strategy is in turning the people who watch reality shows into wrestling fans. I think it's great they're reaching a different audience and the potential's there for that audience to end up watching WWE, but turning Raw into Total Divas can alienate the Raw fans.
Also, any segment a McMahon's involved in will get priority given how high up they are. It's a vicious cycle, because if you keep using the names you know people will pay attention to, it prevents new names from getting attention.
I think WWE would counter that Total Divas has a bigger audience than NXT. NXT is also one of the draws for the Network, so they want to keep most of the NXT content there.
That said, there are definitely plans for more NXT stuff on the main roster. I'd like to think the three names who worked Raw are on the short list to being brought up on a more permanent basis, but it could be a bit longer. I think we'll see a new tag team from NXT (including the former Conor O'Brian) before those three are all on the main roster, but Zayn and Neville have worked quite a few live events and dark matches.
You make a solid point in that there's definitely a difference between reality show fans and wrestling fans. Taking a look at the ratings for Total Divas as a basic cable show, they're not fantastic. That definitely backs up that stance a bit more. One thing with basic cable shows is that they can yield maybe one million views per episode and still get picked up for a second, third, or fourth season (i.e. Total Divas), so maybe WWE has the Bella Twins "feud" as a way to try to spark that.
ReplyDeleteOn one hand, I can't knock WWE for trying to build up its show. The Divas already only get a very small chunk of air time per Raw/Smackdown (aside from the recent Bella Twins "feud), so creating a reality show may help increase WWE Raw/Smackdown viewership by getting to know the divas more. My main beef with that are that it seems like it's more of a ploy to build up the show than to actually build up the Bella Twins as legitimate contenders worthy of all of that airtime if Total Divas didn't exist. It kind of goes back to the whole "corporate thinking" versus "fan desire" stance.
Shifting gears a bit, what are your thoughts on what happened on Raw with Jericho/Wyatt? I personally am not a fan of how Jericho was booked after the match. I understand Wyatt is the future of the company and don't completely disagree with him winning the rubber match. I just think it's a bit of a disservice to Jericho to get pummeled by Wyatt and also Orton after the match. It's like he's going from one feud to another and completely ignoring getting upended after the match by Wyatt and like it never happened. I don't like how WWE does that to talented guys.
Given, I know Jericho is on a "temporary" contract and that booking him as winning each match and shining through on each segment is a bit odd, but as a fan of his and knowing how talented he is, I would just like to see him get more of what he deserves. He's falling into that trap where he's viewed as that guy that still has "it," but can't be taken credibly due to his contract, and ends up getting bested by more up-and-coming talent. My complaint with that isn't about the up-and-coming talent not deserving the limelight, it's just more about Jericho deserving a bit more, you know?
It goes beyond that: reality shows are much cheaper to make than scripted dramas, for a variety of reasons. They don't have to pay actors or (a lot of) writers or build a lot of sets, etc. Plus, they can do a lot of advertising inside the show with product placement. I don't know if they're doing that on Total Divas, but it's a lot of what fueled other reality shows.
ReplyDeleteI think it's great WWE's able to reach a new audience with the show and get a lot of press in markets that normally wouldn't cover WWE in a positive manner. But personally (and a lot of wrestling fans obviously agree), if I wanted to watch Total Divas feuds, I'd watch Total Divas. I'd rather see something more wrestling-related on Raw.
I think the ratings for Total Divas are in line with what Main Event, Superstars, and NXT did on TV, so WWE's got that going for them.
Jericho only comes back when he thinks it's worth his while. I wouldn't be shocked if he came in specifically to work with Wyatt. He knows he can lose matches and all that and still be "over". He's already held quite a few titles and headlined PPVs, so it's not like he never got his due.
Ultimately Jericho's hired to do what WWE wants and gets paid based on how well he accomplishes that. He's free to turn them down and not sign the contract (like he did before WM30 season when there wasn't a solid storyline plan for him).
I actually think it's a testament to how talented he is that Management uses him to work with the more up-and-coming stars. Not everyone has that going for them.