I kind of wish Shane was still in the hospital bed to sell that hellacious match, but at least he's beaten up.
I like Vince blaming the fans for encouraging Shane's dangerous behavior. He's got a point.
That was kind of a weak reason to give up control of Raw for the night. Especially after all Vince went through to stop Shane.
Good promo to get New Day back on track. They could use a win after WM32.
- Kofi/Big E vs. Barrett/Sheamus:
New Day are a lot of fun inside and outside the ring.
So much for that "'smart' crowds only try to get themselves over when the action sucks/it's acts they don't like in the ring" theory. It was a pretty booty theory to begin with.
Nice ending to give New Day the rebound.
Time to kick those "Barrett's leaving soon" rumors up a notch, it looks like.
Oh, NOW we get the LoN/Wyatts feud? Bray really picks his spots.
So Vince just gives up his flagship show for the night? That's pretty out of character for him.
I'm very glad we're seeing more of Summer Rae after she was on the shelf so long.
- Sasha vs. Summer:
That was OK for the time it had. It was pretty much just to give Sasha some momentum again.
So, did Crews just happen to be backstage already or did Shane call him and tell him to come to Raw? Either way, I'm surprised to see him. He's good, but I think he could use more WWE experience before making as big of a splash as he's capable of.
- Crews vs. Breeze:
Really impressive work from Apollo. We know he can have great squash matches; I just hope he has the promo skills and longer match abilities, too.
Short and sweet Reigns promo. He can be the champion WWE needs if they don't script awful verbiage for him.
I'd be fine with Jericho being Reigns' first big defense. He needs to stack up some credible wins, and Jericho can probably help him reach a higher level in the ring.
Three cool potential opponents for Reigns. I'd like to see all those matchups.
I like Sami, but it's way too early in his main roster tenure for him to challenge for the WWE Title. That would be setting the fans up to complain; pretty much anything is a step down from that.
Jericho's the only one of these four who won at Wrestlemania. I think he has the biggest claim at the title shot.
Good enough promo, though I'm still a little surprised to see Baron called up. NXT's going to need a new big heel.
- Corbin vs. Ziggler:
Fine work from Baron so far. I think he can do pretty well for himself; he certainly has tools to succeed.
Dolph's always a good workhorse to have around.
I'm fine with that ending setting up (an) additional match(es). This is a good first feud to acclimate the Lone Wolf.
Good promo from the new champ.
Miz is great at getting under people's skin.
- Ryder vs. Miz:
Good action to start us off. I can't help but wonder if Zack's NXT partner is waiting in the wings.
Pretty good so far.
I hope the angle with Zack's dad didn't encourage fans to try to attack wrestlers. Sadly, we've seen that a fair amount in the past year or so.
That was fine for a surprise return and title change. I don't like the "jumping the rail" aspect due to fans wanting to do that more lately, but this could be an interesting direction for Miz.
Nice promo from Owens. He's motivated.
Wow. I like the Vaudevillains OK, but I think they're still missing something as an act. They wouldn't have been my first choice to be called up from that division. I have a feeling we're in for two sets of tag team titles in a brand extension, and they're stacking the roster for that future.
It's a shame that even when the fans do get a segment putting over women's wrestling, they have to disrupt it with chanting before an NXT alumna and leader of the push for that can put the division over.
This is an odd segment, with Charlotte putting the division over and herself over. It's kind of a face segment, but not entirely.
A little surprised to see them going back to Charlotte vs. Natalya, but I guess they're setting the stage for Bret to make a big comeback.
I hope AJ makes it further than that other WCW/TNA alum who lost at a Wrestlemania, then lost a WWE Title match against a member of The Shield.
WOW. "Two guys from Puerto Rico" is a really boring gimmick. At least they'll be doing something different, although I wouldn't mind them being shipped to NXT to replace the Vaudevillains.
- Usos vs. Dudleys:
Looks like this one's Texas Tornado style.
The Dudleys work better as heels, I think.
I love the Dudleys sticking it to the crowd chanting for tables.
This was more the Usos losing than the Dudleys winning.
Not a bad Zayn promo. He's not really known for being amazing on the mic.
Good angle for Owens to get revenge.
Wow. The Dudleys were out there for a while, huh?
YYYYEEESSSSSSS!! It was definitely time for Enzo and Cass to arrive in WWE. They're a lot of fun.
Wow. No Carmella? I think she's a good addition to the act as a valet, but still has a lot of work to do as a wrestler.
Enzo eating these two up on the mic. I REALLY hope WWE doesn't split the team in order to put Cass over at Enzo's expense. They're a team for a reason.
OH FUCK VACANT'S GOING TO TAKE THE WWE TITLE BACK. Talk about a Hall of Fame-worthy career.
I kind of want to see Ryder and Emma vs. Miz and Maryse at Payback.
Oh, no... another unrelated guest star. I think he's pretty fitting for WWE, though. It could end up being funny.
- Styles vs. Y2J vs. Owens vs. Cesaro:
Cesaro in a No. 1 Contenders' match works for me! Glad to see the suave Swissman in action again.
Wow. I like the Vaudevillains OK, but I think they're still missing something as an act. They wouldn't have been my first choice to be called up from that division. I have a feeling we're in for two sets of tag team titles in a brand extension, and they're stacking the roster for that future.
It's a shame that even when the fans do get a segment putting over women's wrestling, they have to disrupt it with chanting before an NXT alumna and leader of the push for that can put the division over.
This is an odd segment, with Charlotte putting the division over and herself over. It's kind of a face segment, but not entirely.
A little surprised to see them going back to Charlotte vs. Natalya, but I guess they're setting the stage for Bret to make a big comeback.
I hope AJ makes it further than that other WCW/TNA alum who lost at a Wrestlemania, then lost a WWE Title match against a member of The Shield.
WOW. "Two guys from Puerto Rico" is a really boring gimmick. At least they'll be doing something different, although I wouldn't mind them being shipped to NXT to replace the Vaudevillains.
- Usos vs. Dudleys:
Looks like this one's Texas Tornado style.
The Dudleys work better as heels, I think.
I love the Dudleys sticking it to the crowd chanting for tables.
This was more the Usos losing than the Dudleys winning.
Not a bad Zayn promo. He's not really known for being amazing on the mic.
Good angle for Owens to get revenge.
Wow. The Dudleys were out there for a while, huh?
YYYYEEESSSSSSS!! It was definitely time for Enzo and Cass to arrive in WWE. They're a lot of fun.
Wow. No Carmella? I think she's a good addition to the act as a valet, but still has a lot of work to do as a wrestler.
Enzo eating these two up on the mic. I REALLY hope WWE doesn't split the team in order to put Cass over at Enzo's expense. They're a team for a reason.
OH FUCK VACANT'S GOING TO TAKE THE WWE TITLE BACK. Talk about a Hall of Fame-worthy career.
I kind of want to see Ryder and Emma vs. Miz and Maryse at Payback.
Oh, no... another unrelated guest star. I think he's pretty fitting for WWE, though. It could end up being funny.
- Styles vs. Y2J vs. Owens vs. Cesaro:
Cesaro in a No. 1 Contenders' match works for me! Glad to see the suave Swissman in action again.
AJ Styles, Kevin Steen, and Claudio Castagnoli in the main event of the Raw after Wrestlemania, competing to challenge for the WWE Championship. That's amazing. We could have easily ended up with Big Show vs. Kane vs. Snitsky vs. Khali or something, the way things were headed a few years ago.
Owens teasing Cesaro's swing was great.
I think the Tower of Doom is pretty overused, but I'm glad to see Cesaro's strength in action.
I would have been fine with Owens vs. Reigns at Payback.
I'm not really sure why, but I'm not a huge fan of the Giant Swing. It's about as silly to me as the old criss-cross spot.
I love submission wrestling.
Well, that makes up for the loss at WM32. I have a feeling Jericho will end up in the title match before it's all said and done. I have mixed feelings about that.
More wrestling coming up.
Any idea what the justification was of putting the title on Zack Ryder for one day and then giving it to The Miz? I was a bit confused as to the justification there.
ReplyDeleteFirst off, you were indeed more on the money about WM32 than I was. I was going for the whole "babyfaces getting their big wins on the big stage" thing, so I was surprised with several outcomes. Also, it looks like Chris Jericho will be staying around longer than originally planned (reportedly at least for the WWE Network special in Japan in July).
ReplyDeleteAs for Ryder, he was a last-minute replacement for Neville. I think his win was more of a "thank you for your years of service" thing. Miz's win was to more or less reboot his character with Maryse being in his corner now, as well as to have another surprise on the biggest Raw of the year.
I agree that having him win at 'Mania may have been a "thank you" for his services. I just find it a bit odd/unfair to give him a very big moment on the company's biggest stage in front of so many fans all to have it dashed the next day. The U.S. and Intercontinental Titles seemed to be gaining more prestige at one point (with many former World Champions having that title) and to have the title change hands that abruptly seems a little off.
ReplyDeleteI like Miz and don't disagree that he's a good choice as champion. I also think adding Maryse is a very unexpected and logical move, but I guess I would have just wished they would have had Miz won at 'Mania instead.
What are your predictions on Shane McMahon, Jericho, and Barrett from here?
Their justifications were probably that it put a big babyface win on WM32 and it added more heat to Miz for dethroning him in front of his dad the next night. Plus, it was another surprise on the always crazy Raw after WM32. I like Ryder a lot, but I see why they did it. I think if Miz won at WM32, it would have teased a Miz/Owens feud with KO getting his rematch and all. Miz vs. a babyface and Owens moving on to Zayn makes more sense.
ReplyDeleteThere continue to be rumors about splitting the roster into two brands again, with Shane (or someone appointed by Shane) running Raw and HHH running Smackdown with or without Stephanie. They could easily turn HHH face if he becomes the guy pushing new, young talent instead of the totalitarian ruler. Vince could be impressed enough by Shane's night in charge to make it a more long-term thing.
Jericho vs. Ambrose seems pretty logical from here. Before AJ came in, that was the plan for WM32. It looks like we'll get Jericho vs. NXT's Nakamura in Japan in July, but that might not amount to much actual feuding between the two - it could easily just be for a Network special like Beast in the East was last year.
There's talk of Barrett "pursuing other interests" once his contract expires in a few months. If there's enough potential for him in acting or MMA or whatever he's looking at, he could give that a go. He could always return down the line if those things don't pan out or he prefers wrestling. I like Barrett, but it might be worth a shot for him to do something else for a while and come back with a new dimension to his game. Between now and his contract ending, if they don't just let him fade away, he'll probably just job to LoN. They could use him to work with Baron Corbin on the way out, but it's just as likely they just sit him on the bench while they find out his next move.