Read on for my thoughts on last night's Raw.
I mostly liked the opening segment. I'm really looking forward to HHH vs. Sting. I do wonder what it really does to bury WCW and Sting in the promos instead of treating him like the threat he was to the nWo. If the heels are saying WCW was worthless, does that mean we're supposed to cheer for and appreciate WCW? That feels weird given how the company's usually pretty much buried in documentaries and such.
Again, WWE should really do a final round of Goldust vs. Stardust at Extreme Rules given how people are still chanting "Cody".
I really like how Stardust is incorporating Cody Rhodes' signature moves (which in this case was a Hardcore Holly move). It makes one coherent character of him.
I liked the tag match overall. This has been a pretty good feud.
Silly post-match. I expect the IC Title match to be one hell of a bout.
I can really see why people see Reigns as just the bland top guy babyface. Sometimes he has some good stuff going for him, but other times he's hard to endorse as the guy to be THE guy.
Fun segment involving Miz and Mizdow. I do think we've pretty much reached the end of what they can do as a duo. Mizdow should absolutely turn face at WM31.
The ten-man tag was pretty good as far as big clustermess matches go. I'm pretty tired of Miz being beaten, though.
Fine match to sacrifice Noble and Mercury in the build to Sunday.
Bleh. Not a fan of Cena's promo. It was delivered well, but felt so bland.
Fun backstage segment with AJ and Paige. I like how they play off each other.
I mostly liked the Divas match. It got some pretty good time. I hope we're not in for another AJ/Paige feud yet. That one needs some time away before we see it again.
Hopefully this dissension is just to add drama to the Mania match. I absolutely want AJ and Paige to win after so much Bella dominance.
Ehhhhhhhhhh. I guess I'd rather see the goofy "Hogan and a celebrity beat up someone with potential" segment on the Raw before Mania instead of at the show itself. I hope they don't have more in this vein planned for Sunday.
It looks like we will see The Usos wrestle Sunday. I think they'll be able to work around the injury.
The six-person tag was good enough to set up the title match. I'm (pleasantly) surprised we didn't get a long Bull vs. Bunny feud.
There was a minor plot inconsistency here: it doesn't seem like it should matter if Barrett's stripped of the title, considering he's in the title match Sunday. I guess technically it would mean he's not champion for six days. I guess that counts for something.
Good squash for Rusev. He does his role very effectively. I kind of want to see Rusev vs. Reigns for the WWE Title after WM31. They only have so much time to do Rollins' cash-in, though.
BADASS segment for Rusev. I'm sure Cena will overcome the odds, but damned if they didn't build a monster here.
I really loved that Wyatt segment. WM31 is going to be one hell of a show.
I love Tyson Kidd. Great character and great wrestler.
I liked Ziggler vs. Bryan, although I'm surprised Ziggler is considered able to beat the former top champion clean. What does that say about Bryan's "power level"?
The ladder match should be quite the spectacle Sunday. I'm really looking forward to it.
Honestly, I was a little underwhelmed at the ending to Raw. I'm guessing since Reigns isn't a great promo, they just wanted him to do the tug-of-war spot. It's not a big deal. Heyman was great as he always is and I think the match itself should be a war.
More wrestling coming up.
I agree with that Ziggler vs. Bryan stance. I was very perplexed when I saw Ziggler upended Bryan. I really think Bryan is being undervalued at this point. He's going on 34, so in terms of wrestling years, he's towards the tail end of his prime. He clearly is still great at talking and is arguably the top in-ring performer in the company, not to mention he's still over with the fans.
ReplyDeleteI never have been high on Ziggler, so maybe my opinion is a bit skewed here. Still though, I don't feel it's right for Bryan to be competing - and possibly losing - in an Intercontinental Title match. I understand there's just one WWE WH Title, but having an upper-card match would be a better use of his talent than competing in a mid-card match that he may not even win. Even aside from that point, he shouldn't be losing to Ziggler.
Same goes for Ambrose. He was kind of seen as the guy to get Wyatt and Rollins over, so I thought that was just a rough stretch for him to be "that guy" to get them over. He's got some solid wins over mid-card guys of late, but I still think he should be towards the upper card like Bryan.
I'm sure now you've heard the Lesnar news. What do you think this means with regards to his chances of retaining the title at 'Mania?
I'm guilty of this, too, but I think people focus WAAAAAYYYY too much on physical age. I don't see why Bryan can't still be a top name for years to come, and still perform as such, as long as he's able to avoid injuries.
ReplyDeleteI don't have an answer for why they picked Ziggler over Bryan. They probably didn't put a ton of thought into it beyond setting up Sunday's match. Bryan might have even pushed for Ziggler to get the win, given how humble he is.
With WWE bringing in Sting, HHH, Taker, and Lesnar for top spots at Mania, and taking into account the Cena and Orton matches, the midcard's about the highest someone else can be at Mania. In some ways WWE has so much talent, the midcard is now still pretty stacked. In general, I'd probably bump tag team title matches, Diva title matches, and what's taped for Superstars, etc. as the lower card, with the IC/U.S. Titles as the midcard, the former main eventers like Orton as upper midcard, and the WWE Title/special attractions as main eventers.
I'd love to see Ambrose, Wyatt, Bryan, and Rollins used as top names. It's a long process to bump some of the other names out of the top of the pack.
Brock's odds of retaining had to have been close to zero if he didn't re-sign. I don't see why they would have let him walk out with the title. Now, he's got a decent chance to retain. I would imagine this might throw a big part of what they were planning for the match out the window, since they were going on the assumption he might not come back. I could see him holding the title through Summerslam to make it a year at the top if they want to go that route, but WM31 is a pretty good place to pass the torch after Brock's big year following ending the streak.