Read on for my thoughts on last night's Raw.
- Recap:
I love love love these videos recapping important events for people who missed last week or just need a reminder. Not everyone keeps up with wrestling all the time.
- Foley/Charlotte/Dana/Sasha/Bayley promo:
I'm glad he got pretty much right to doing something involving the actual wrestlers.
Hopefully Dana gets a big moment splitting from Charlotte. She's a natural heel, but it's worth trying her as a face.
As much as I like Bayley, there's a problem here where they have to pick pushing her or Sasha. It's unfortunate timing.
Looks like we're in for a Fatal 4 Way. Should be interesting. It would have been funny if they tried to top Smackdown with a seven-pack challenge.
Oh. Maybe we're not in for that.
- Dana vs. Sasha vs. Bayley:
NXT alumna overload.
Fun opening action.
It's weird. Dana's actually in kind of a babyface position facing two people who are pretty close.
Good tower of doom spot. Those can be overdone, but I think it's been long enough since we saw so many that it's OK to have them here and there again.
Good spot with Bayley saving the match by saving Dana.
That was pretty good overall. Do we also get Dana vs. Bayley at CoC? I'd like to see that.
- Dana/Charlotte promo:
Turn! Turn! Turn! Maybe Stephanie or Mick will bring it out of Dana.
- S. Stars/Truth/Enzo/Cass segment:
We haven't seen Little Jimmy in a long time. Is Truth trying to leave him in Puerto Rico?
The Shining Stars have a REALLY basic gimmick.
They've got to be careful not to hurt Enzo and Cass' momentum by having them lose to the Stars.
- Owens/Y2J interview:
That knock on Foley not being as good as HHH had to sting. If there's one thing that will turn "smarks" on Owens, it's that.
So, Y2J vs. Zayn at CoC? Fine by me.
- Bo promo:
Weird to see him getting a mini-push after his arrest. I like him a good deal, but I'm not sold on him getting a big push.
- Bo vs. B. Scott:
Not bad. Really basic stuff, but it was effective. You don't need to do a 450 splash if you can beat your opponent with something simpler.
- Highlight Reel:
Jericho's character's starting to get stale again. He's still entertaining, but I wonder how much more he can get out of this run. Maybe Survivor Series?
Jericho's one of the greatest at working the crowd. It's something of a lost art to get people to chant things beyond "this is awesome" or the promotion/brand's name.
I like Zayn, but his character REALLY needs to move beyond "Kevin Owens' former friend." It's getting played out.
It's not out of the question for Zayn to one day be champion. Maybe not "the guy" but certainly he could be one of the two brand champions.
The Gift of Jericho is always pretty entertaining.
I like the nod of Zayn getting into the business because of guys like Jericho paving the way.
How to be edgy in 2016: call someone a bitch. It's so lame.
Jericho punking Zayn out was pretty good.
- Sheamus promo:
I get tired of promos that are just about winning matches. Blahhhh. At this point, a promo about wanting to lose a match would be entertaining. EVERYONE wants to win their match. Give us more.
- Sheamus (3) vs. Cesaro (1):
I like Cesaro going for the win early, and not just because it means fewer uppercuts and no Giant Swing. Why wrestle 20 minutes when you can win in two!?
Cesaro getting desperate for a win. I like it.
I like this becoming more of a brawl or fight than an impressive spotfest.
This is becoming a WAR. I like it.
Nice submission work.
That was mostly good. Interesting ending. It more or less implied Cesaro can't beat Sheamus clean, which won't sit well with the vocal minority in the Cesaro section.
- Foley/Rollins segment:
What does it say that Foley's in control of Raw while Stephanie's in Singapore.
I'm curious what the end game is for the Foley/Stephanie feud. Noelle replacing her father?
- Match announcement:
Zayn vs. Jericho could end up being an unofficial No. 1 Contender's match. One or the other could easily be in the Universal Title picture at Hell in a Cell.
- Nia promo:
I like the building of Jax as a monster. That's definitely preferable to being female Rikishi or something.
- Nia vs. Alicia:
Alicia giving it her all.
Absolute destruction. I'm still hoping for WWE to ship Nia and Braun.
Alicia might lose most of the time she's on TV, but she's got a solid spot in that role. Hopefully she knows she's not there to "get a push" and makes the most of what they use her for.
- New Day/Club promo:
Hahahaha I'm glad they're aware of how bad last week's segment was. I wish there was more self-awareness in wrestling, and that it led to less painful segments.
I feel bad for The Club. They went from being important in NJPW to being mostly schlubs in WWE.
- Club vs. Xavier/Kofi:
Fine work so far. New Day always makes the most of what they're given.
The Club's fine. They just don't really stand out in the WWE style.
Enjoyable work from the faces, Woods in particular.
Nice match. The Club heated it up at the end.
- Reigns promo:
That was fine enough. They're protecting him by not making him cut long promos. Him beating Owens clean would not be good for the new champ.
- CWC plug:
I'm really curious what the future holds for the cruisers. Specifically, when do we see the championship decided?
- Mahal promo:
Well, that was interesting. We'll see what it means in the ring.
- Swagger vs. Mahal:
This is good so far. I like Jinder being peaceful but turning it up in the ring.
That was mostly good. I look forward to seeing this continue on Main Event and Superstars for the next three months...
- Enzo/Cass segment:
So, how long before Epico and Primo get shoved in a box and sent back to NXT? I would die laughing.
- Swagger promo:
Ooh, interesting. Swagger reboot incoming? He could leave his Raw contract and finally get another chance at a push on Smackdown.
- Enzo/Cass promo:
I wasn't too crazy about that one. Bathroom humor is almost as low as slapstick.
- Enzo vs. Epico:
Impressive work so far from Epico.
That was fine enough for the time it had.
- Owens/Rollins promo:
I'm surprised HHH hasn't shown back up. Are they saving him for CoC?
Owens has a point about a lot of Rollins' wins. I liked that back and forth.
Owens going HARD on Rollins there.
- Reigns vs. Owens:
Good fighting so far.
I'm liking the physicality both men are bringing.
Both men are really solid competitors. Reigns has progressed a lot.
Disappointing ending, BUT hopefully we see more from Reigns at the PPV.
- Reigns vs. Owens again:
Really solid action. Both men are going all out.
Owens mocking OOOOOAAAAHHHH was based.
This is REALLY solid.
That was pretty good. I'm OK with Reigns vs. Rusev continuing.
- Post-match:
Good to see Rusev featured as a top heel again.
More wrestling coming up.
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