Read on for my thoughts on last night's Raw.
Glad to see them acknowledge Mulligan's passing. He really left a legacy.
For people who think the WM32 stipulation is being ignored, Vince voluntarily decided to let Shane run things for a night to see what would happen. After seeing just how far Shane would go to get control of Raw, and seeing Vince's grandkids (Shane's kids), it changed his mind enough to try it on a temporary basis.
Wow. Shane made a number of important announcements pretty quickly.
I kind of want to see this turn into Owens vs. Shane, or at least Shane taking KO's finisher.
I love Owens always feeling wronged and that everyone's out to get him. There are plenty of people like that in real life.
- Cesaro vs. Owens:
I like Owens trying to make a "rest hold" into a serious spot. Those submissions are pretty much taken for granted.
Going after Cesaro's arm right after surgery is clever.
This is going well so far.
Cesaro's strength is always impressive.
NICE crossface spot.
Both men are giving it their all here. I hope these two are part of the future of WWE in important ways.
Really good ending. These men's experience was on full display.
I love Charlotte insisting she's already a legend. I don't see a lot of people giving Creative credit for it, but turning her heel was the right choice.
I'm liking Dr. Phil so far. It's a pretty natural association, really.
Come on, Kevin. Some people are begging to leave tapings once their segment's over.
GOD NBA Jam.
The tournament's a good idea. It makes me wonder if they called up the Vaudevillains "early" so they could be part of it.
- L. Dragons vs. Dudleys:
Sin Cara's really getting worked on here. He might need to call back Camacho to help him out.
That was good while it lasted.
Enzo and Cass are going hard on these two. I love it. This should elevate the new team if done right.
The "the guy" line is getting kind of forced. It's not as forced as Mike Bennett as The Miracle, but they need to be careful with it.
I kind of like Smug Dick Roman being elitist.
Dude, Roman could probably beat all of them at once.
I like Rusev thinking he's better looking than Roman. He's a fun character.
Wow. Didn't expect the Wyatts to help Roman.
OH MY HOW WILL THEY GET ALONG?
I kind of want to see WWE have two other Latin talents be Los Matadores and face Primo and Epico as a gag on the fans "thinking they were the same people." But really that gimmick should just die.
- Natalya vs. Charlotte:
I'm liking the wrestling here.
Del Rio might come after Natalya for gimmick infringement for using the cross armbreaker...
I'm enjoying the submission wrestling.
This is really good. I'm liking the continuing movement for good women's wrestling.
I wasn't crazy about that ending, but I'm more than OK with more Charlotte vs. Natalya.
Oh Dr. Phil...
As much as I like Zayn, it's too early to put him in a WWE Title program. I mean, sheesh. He's just getting started on the main roster.
Nice segment between the two former "indie" guys (although TNA and NJPW are hardly indies).
- Usos vs. Slater/Axel:
The Outcasts are making the most of this opportunity. Slater seems like a guy to grab every chance he has to be relevant (the feud with the Legends, 3MB, Slater Gator, and now the Outcasts). I admire his "never say die" attitude.
Well then. I guess that's why you don't celebrate during the match.
THEY'RE HERE!!! IT'S THE AMMUNITION GROUP MAGGLE! So how long until they end up with Styles and/or Balor?
WWE really needs to up their security, with Maryse, Gallows, and Anderson getting involved in matches from the crowd in a span of eight days.
I like that Miz went from being kicked out of the regular locker room to being able to demand his own with no blue M&Ms.
Miz and Maryse are a lot of fun. Miz is a solid promo guy.
Cesaro's growing on me as a character.
- Zayn vs. Styles:
These two can wrestle like few others.
We're kind of looking at mirror images here.
This wrestling is getting pretty heavy.
That was pretty good. Zayn tried his hardest to make it into that title match. Hopefully both men got over with their athleticism.
Nice to see an authority figure actually appreciate their talent, although that segment got a little on the "buddy buddy everyone's just trying to be the best wrestler" side.
I saw it coming, but Jericho using the Highlight Reel to put himself over is genius.
Y2J can still be a lot of fun as a heel.
Ambrose's wacky character can be overstated at times, but the speeding ticket thing was pretty funny.
I love the "burial" line. I think Y2J winning at WM32 definitely built him up as someone to really hate. Clearly, AJ has already rebounded.
Nice ending to the Asylum segment. I'm liking Shane's run so far.
I like them announcing matches for Smackdown. New Day vs. the Vaudevillains could be interesting.
I was hoping we'd see more of Phil with Golden Truth. That pretty much writes itself.
- Crews vs. Rose:
I hope Crews doesn't just become the latest "check out all my cool moves in five minutes" guy. He has potential to be more if he shows he can work longer matches in the WWE style.
That was mostly good to show what Crews can do (for the majority of fans who don't watch NXT).
Call me when Primo and Epico meet Abdullah the Butcher down there.
I'm glad Bray didn't just "become a face" in the course of one night.
- Bray/Roman vs. Sheamus/Del Rio:
This is going pretty well so far.
Del Rio's one of the crispest workers out there.
Sheamus does the WWE style pretty well, too.
I bet Bray wishes he could have turned the lights out to get help at WM31.
That was a pretty good ending. Bray and Roman make an interesting team.
Good post-match to show Bray's still got his edge.
More wrestling coming up.
No comments:
Post a Comment