Read on for my thoughts on last night's Raw.
I actually did miss Stephanie a little bit. I don't want to see her every week, but I'm fine with her appearing here and there. I wonder what the end game for The Authority angle is. Surely at some point they'll lose power.
I love HHH and Stephanie being used to put Rollins further over. He should be treated as a real top guy.
The "Daniel Bryan doesn't have a TV" thing has been a plot point since NXT Season 1 when Michael Cole ragged on him about it. I seem to remember a story about Vince McMahon not seeing how fans would get behind someone who doesn't eat steak (like the then-vegan Bryan).
The Authority has been taking it to Bryan for a while now. It sucks Bryan has missed what should have been the most profitable and successful part of his career.
I'm excited for the Elimination Chamber special.
I like Sheamus wanting to be IC Champion just because he took Bryan out. It's clever.
What does it say if Ryback gets a title shot after losing last night?
Are both Sheamus and Ryback in?
Ryback and Sheamus have been impressive here. Are Wyatt and Ziggler going to be in the Chamber, too?
I liked how that match went. I'd be fine with Sheamus winning the title.
I mostly liked the backstage segment. Rollins and now Ambrose have really pushed Kane's buttons. He's old enough to be their dad, but at some point I think he should try to put Rollins in his place by challenging for the title.
Neville's not that great of a promo. I think he's a fine mid-level guy, though. Hopefully he'll be able to have a pretty good run in WWE, even if he never makes it past IC Title level.
Ehhhh.... I like Neville and Bo, but I think they both need to be doing bigger things than wrestling each other. They need to show they belong with bigger stars.
I'm loving the psychology of BNB vs. Neville.
I enjoyed BNB vs. Neville all the way around. Neville not being able to be at the top of his game because Barrett targeted his knee was a good story. I think Neville's better than Justin Gabriel was in the ring. He's got more to his repertoire.
I'm not too sold on Neville vs. Bo, unless it's just a short-term thing. It'd benefit both of them as talents to work with more seasoned members of the roster.
I'm liking Rusev putting the heat on Lana. I think he's been well-protected in his losses to Cena.
All in all, a good segment with Lana and Rusev. There's got to be a way where they can "turn Lana American," i.e. have someone show her what's great about the U.S. and make her a face. Since she actually is American, it shouldn't be too hard to convince people. My vote is Santino, but I don't know how others would feel about that.
I missed the battles between Ambrose and Wyatt. They both have that reckless abandon to be wild with their offense.
This is a pretty fun and wild match so far. I hope it continues this way.
I'm really enjoying Wyatt vs. Ambrose. The phrases "ruthless aggression" and "hardcore" come to mind.
That was a good ending to set up Ambrose vs. Rollins at Elimination Chamber.
What happens if we DON'T get Rollins vs. Ambrose in two weeks? Where are Kane, Orton, and Reigns in all this?
Nice promo from Kofi and Big E. It looks like they're doing something a bit different from Bo now, which is good if they're not going to combine the acts.
Kidd/Cesaro and New Day always work together well. I enjoy it.
I didn't expect a decisive win by one team with a Network special to set up in 13 days.
Talk about your chaotic post-matches! What was to stop, say, Sandow and Axel from coming down to stake their own claims to the titles? Or Rowan and Harper? Were those just the first five teams in their gear ready to run down?
Cena's promos make want to barf sometimes. He's having great matches, though, so I think I can live with it. He's working with some young and hungry names, too.
HOLY SHIT WHAT!? This is one hell of an introduction for Owens.
I love Owens the douchebag.
This is a great promo for Owens vs. Zayn at Takeover.
Owens doing damage to Cena made up for Cena's "pants crapping" comment. He's way too juvenile. This was a really cool segment, though.
Why doesn't Wyatt get into the Chamber match for beating Ryback!? Oy.
I like the interaction between Ziggler and Stardust to start things up.
Well, that was pretty quick! Stardust is pretty much back to where he was as Cody Rhodes.
I liked Ziggler's post-match promo.
Lana being paired with Ziggler was rushed. They could have done a better job with the segment overall.
I remember Kane destroying Adam Rose on one random Smackdown. That's one of the fun things about Kane's character. They can just have him go Frankenstein's monster on people every once in a while.
Ryder and Fandango are lasting longer than I expected! They could have cut this to add an explanation for Lana being paired with Ziggler all of a sudden.
I've had my fill of Stephanie after her return. This would have been perfect to cut in favor of something explaining Lana being paired with Ziggler.
I liked Naomi's promo. Her heel turn has been fun.
This match is basically a countdown to Paige's return, but it's had some good action.
Fine match overall to set up the post-match.
Paige vs. Nikki vs. Naomi at Elimination Chamber works for me.
Interesting match set for Elimination Chamber. I'm guessing they're using the NXT favorite to sell the show for the Network faithful. They probably have different wants than the WWE Universe at large. I wonder if Owens will lose the NXT Title and jump to the main roster. I wouldn't take the title from him just on account of the Cena match. Champion vs. champion works, too.
I love HHH treating Rollins as the second coming of himself. It's perfect for his egotistical character.
I'm surprised Kane's totally on-board with Rollins now. I wonder why that changed.
Jamie Noble's great. He was extremely entertaining in his wrestling days.
They're really throwing out a lot of Justin Bieber references lately. Unless he's going to appear in some way, it's becoming excessive.
Pretty good stuff between Rollins and Ambrose. I can't wait to see them face off in two weeks. It's an obvious bone to the hardcore fans to sign up for the Network, but I'm not complaining!
Nice ending to the show. Elimination Chamber should be a really good show with Owens vs. Cena and Ambrose vs. Rollins. They don't need any crazy gimmicks to make those two matches great.
More wrestling coming up.
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