RAW 7th May Post-Show Thread *SPOILERS*

jaykhunter

Sigh!

deafroadrunner

:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D

RobbingBandit

First time this year I lost interest in the first ten minutes,think I will duck out for a few weeks. Got me some Mortal Kombat to be playing.

Dunny

The Heyman return was such a let down.

Liam O

Dunny! wrote: »

The Heyman return was such a let down.

It's where they go with it next week/down the line that is interesting me, is Heyman going to be back for a few shows or a long schedule? If so it could get very interesting.

rovert

Loved the email you sent to Review a Wai, Jayk.

CMpunked

After a hectic weekend i just couldn't stay up last night. Laurinaitis literally put me to sleep.
Woke up somewhere in the tag match. Fell back asleep.
When i got up this morning i done my usual 3 tab open;
One for a youtube of raw, one of here and one of something like prowrestling.net.

When i seen that the raw got an post-thread i was intrigued, maybe something massive went down. Oh dear God, what did i miss...
At the same time i see at the top of prowrestling.net "Paul Heyman makes a return to the wwe."

My jaw hit the floor. How? Why? All i knew was it had to be awesome.
I always said that if WWE ever convince Paul Heyman to walk back through its doors that it would be something special and i anticipated to mark out like a child. And i probably would have, had it not be spoiled on me.

Then i watched it.

Maybe it was the crowds lack of interest all night, like, it felt more like a smackdown than a raw, tbh.

Overall not a bad raw, but definitely the weakest over the last few weeks.
Where was this viral campaign thing, too?

gnfnrhead

CMpunked wrote: »

I always said that if WWE ever convince Paul Heyman to walk back through its doors that it would be something special and i anticipated to mark out like a child.

This is what I'm picturing you like

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z-y8F5cpXhQ&t=1m5s

CMpunked

gnfnrhead wrote: »

This is what I'm picturing you like

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z-y8F5cpXhQ&t=1m5s

Dude, that IS me.

jaykhunter

^^^ I wish I could enjoy wrestling as much as that lad does. He went mental for the lights turning off!

Cheers rovert, haven't listened to the show yet! i recall asking about kayfabe lol.

Here's the rundown of the show :

WWE Monday Night RAW SuperShow on USA Network
May 7, 2012
Report by JGeorge Estrella. Credit to sportscourier.
Raw kicks off live from Greensboro, NC.

A recap of last weeks events are shown. John Cena's promo and the subsequent beat down that followed.

Johnny Ace aka Mr. Excitement aka GM John Laurinaitis comes out and says he is an authority figure and will not allow anyone to challenge his authority, including John Cena. He says he lost his temper last week and when that happens he enters a fit of destruction, he says he hurt Cena's pride. This is only the beginning of what hr is capable of. He's tough but fair. He stumbles over his words, this promo is beginning to drag. Cena will be live via satellite (shades of his WrestleMania counterpart The Rock)

He says he won't allow anyone to make fun of his voice. He says his voice wasn't always like this and was in fact injured by the late, great "Dr. Death" Steve Williams. He then shows us pictures of him in Japan and he rants about his accomplishments. Says he was the Hulk Hogan of Japan, Steve Austin and The Rock all rolled up into one. Big Johnny vs John Cena at Over the Limit!
LOL whut.

WWE Champion CM Punk comes out. He says Johnny doesn't know what the People want, he is going to help Johnny by saying what the WWE Universe doesn't want to see or hear and that's Big Johnny! Big pop from the crowd.

Punk says this about Johnny putting all his chips on Brock Lesnar only to be beaten by Cena. Punk also notes that Johnny only went to Japan because he no one in the states wanted him.

Johnny continues to be humiliated by Punk. Johnny says tonight he will face Lord Tensai. Punk shills the Johnny Ace/Cena main event more than his match with Daniel Bryan. Interesting...

1. WWE Intercontinental Championship: Big Show def. Cody Rhodes via intentional countout. Rhodes retains title.
Big Show uses his strength to over power Cody Rhodes. Cody Rhodes runs out like a cowardly and gets counted out. Ms. Eve Torress in what Big Q says is a poor man's Stacy Keibler (WCW 2000!), comes out and demands that Show apologizes to her, and Johnny Ace for making fun of his voice last week. Big Show musters up the strengh to apologize for making fun of the General Manager. We now know who holds the power here.

2. Dolph Ziggler (w/ Vickie Guerrero and Jack Swagger) def. WWE Tag Team Champion Kofi Kingston (w/ R-Truth)
Recap of R-Boom's Tag Title from last week. Out come the Tag Team Champions The #BADGUY Dolph Ziggler vs Kofi Kingston. Decent back and forth action from the two, a shot of A.W. Abraham Washington, Primo, Epico, Rosa Mendes, and Mason "Grow your hair, so you don't look like Batista" Ryan watching in the match. OK?
Distraction from Jack "combover" Swagger and Dolph plants Kofi with a delicious Zig Zag for the win.

Michael Cole is in the ring as he interviews John Cena, who is live via satellite. Cena says that his elbow needs to be drained and that doctor's have advise he not wrestle for a few months. My TV starts acting up as soon Cole says he is impressed with John's work, Cena says that Laurinaitis is going to hurt himself before he gets in the ring with Cena. The audio cut out here, so I missed out on his promo, but he sure seemed fired up.

3. WWE Divas Champion aka My English Muffin Layla and Kelly Kelly def. Natalya and Maxine
Nattie and Maxine get the jobberette entrance. Beth Phoenix is on commentary. A video of Layla post Extreme Rules saying she was nervous to be back, but she's happy she's Divas champ on her first night back. Oh and Beth Phoenix will be facing Layla for the Divas title at Over the Limit. Should be a fun match if given time (doubtful). Layla can still go in the ring. Maxine cannot. Match ends with a LayOut on Maxine for the win.

4. Alberto Del Rio (w/ Ricardo Rodriguez) and Chris Jericho def. World Heavyweight Champion Sheamus and Randy Orton when Y2J pinned Sheamus.
Some promo for Santino's Foreign Exchange on Youtube is show. #WWENTWRK

Epic intro for Del Rio as always. Del Rio and Y2J vs Sheamus and Randy Orton Y2J is the only Raw guy in this match #endthesplit Deli Rio and Jericho begin to work on Sheamus' arm which is taped up (better sell than HHH) Orton gets a modified hot tag. Distraction by Del Rio takes advantage with a roundhouse kick to the back of the head.

Jericho and Del Rio have taken control of Mr. Orton. The hot tag to Sheamus..RKO to Del Rio. Sheamus goes for a brouge kick Jericho ducks and hits Randy instead, Brouge kick to Orton. Jericho nails Sheamus with a codebreaker for the win! Jericho grabs the title and says "I pinned the champion!"
Sheamus tries to help Orton up, only to receive a RKO, don't cross the viper.

Johnny Ace's Office.... Del Rio, Y2J, and Randy Orton, argue about who deserves a title shot against Sheamus. A brawl ensues. They get cleared away, and Sheamus shows up and says "Hey what was that RKO for fella?" "You got in my way bro" Something like that....Johnny makes Del Rio vs Randy Orton vs Sheamus vs Chris Jericho for the World Heavyweight Title at Over the Limit.

5. Brodus Clay def. The Miz
Miz cuts a promo saying he shouldn't be facing a guy like Brodus Clay. Miz actually gets a lot of offense here, they did a good job in humanizing Brodus, however he falls victim to Brodus' big splash. Longest Brodus clay match so far LOL.

Recap of the HHH and Brock Lesnar stuff from last week. They show some pictures of HHH in various business meetings...They say he will be there live next week.

PAUL F*****G HEYMAN COMES OUT to Brock Lesnar's music, as his repesentation. He talks up Brock Lesnar, and says he was signed to a legitmate contract on TV and that Lesnar feels betrayed because of this. He says Lesnar was the only man to have ever held the NCAA DIVISION 1 CHAMPIONSHIP, THE UNDISPUTED CHAMPIONSHIP, AND THE UNDISPUTED UFC HEAVYWEIGHT CHAMPIONSHIP. Pauly H is golden on the mic. He reads a statement from Brock Lesnar. Brock says that HHH is jealous of him. " I had an agreement with the WWE and they broke it so I broke his arm."
Brock says he's never coming back and quits. Great work by Paul Heyman.

6. Lord Tensai (w/ Sakamoto) and Daniel Bryan def. WWE Champion CM Punk in a non-title handicap match.
Laurinaitis' match change didn't benefit Punk....or the intrigue in this main event. Bryan and Tensai take control of CM Punk. Punk begins to regain some control over Bryan, a GTS attempt but Bryan backs out and tags Lord Albert, I mean Tensai. GTS attempt on Tensai for some reason. Roundhouse kick to Tensai. Punk goes for the elbow, Bryan pulls Punks leg down.
Tensai hits his Misty Claw for the win on Punk.
Bryan attacks Punk after the match. YES Lock on Punk!!
Raw ends with Daniel Bryan YESING, couldn't think of a better ending. Yes, I like Daniel Bryan. #YesYesYes!

Hmm. Formatting the recap text, it's not the classiest write-up!

JP Liz V1

I was sure I read that Matista was now Ziggler's bodyguard

Kolido

gnfnrhead wrote: »

This is what I'm picturing you like

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z-y8F5cpXhQ&t=1m5s

This has to be a joke!

grames_bond

Paul Heyman continues the storyline on wwe.com

http://www.wwe.com/videos/paul-heyman-says-brock-lesnar-is-owed-millions-wwecom-exclusive-may-7-2012-26020660

it's funny that heyman can have more attitude in his walk and one sentence than most "superstars" can have in a full promo!

Charisteas

We'll I'll be blunt, this was the worst Raw in months, possibly the worst of 2012 to be honest.

Nothing of note happened for at least the first hour. 80% of the show was structured around John Laurinaitis building more heat with everyone and anyone, John Cena, CM Punk, and now Big Show. Can't see where it's heading towards other than maybe Johnny creating some sort of faction with Tensai, Bryan, Otunga, et al.

I can foresee Big Show vs Tensai at Over The Limit for starters.

Onto Heyman, very intriguing signing. Not even the awful crowd could ruin it. I'd guess he was signed to cover the dates that Brock will miss due to his limited dates contract. Which is a great idea to keep Lesnar's storylines progressing without him needing to be on Raw every week.

Even though Paul E's probably only re-signed to be an on-screen talent, TNA really missed a golden opportunity there by not signing him.

gnfnrhead

Charisteas wrote: »

TNA really missed a golden opportunity there by not signing him.

They tried, but he wanted 100% control over everything. Considering he put ECW out of business, you can see why they were reluctant to give him it. I'd say they were more than happy to have him as head of creative and maybe promote him if things went well.

DeadParrot

Talk about burying your champion.
No way Seamus wins at over the limit

Eire-Dearg

Heyman is gold. Pity everything around him is faeces.

jaykhunter

I think the main stickler was over hiring and firing power. Heyman didn't want to use all of dixie's guys and wanted to bring in other talent. He want to cut everyone over 40 iirc. I wouldve said alright, so long as ratings are this, PPVs are this and budget is this. Or at least keep him on for a year. It can't be any worse than what they have now. That said heyman I'm sure is quite pig-headed and v difficult to work with. Although I bet he'd be successful. Shame they couldn't come to terms

Machismo Fan

Heyman made a series of demands that no company would ever accept for one employee, and he probably knew that.

jaykhunter

what were his other demands?

GTR63

Heyman has seemed to have aged a bit, he now reminds me of the dart player Ted Hankey. A forgetable show overall that seemed to be built entirely around trying to get heat for Laurinaitis.

Machismo Fan

Something along the lines of 10% of the company so they could take the company public in five years time and he could sell his ten percent.

DM_7

I liked the tag match, good to see Jericho getting a win. A nice bit of tension gets built up between Orton and Shemus, 4 men fighting over the title could set up interesting matches over next few months.

Ziggler also wins so i'm happy with that. Going to watch rest now.

the groutch

bar the Paul Heyman reappearance, that was the worst RAW of the decade (so far)

Johnny Derpp

RobbingBandit wrote: »

First time this year I lost interest in the first ten minutes,think I will duck out for a few weeks. Got me some Mortal Kombat to be playing.

True that...when did it get so boring?

the groutch

Johnny Derpp wrote: »

True that...when did it get so boring?

Mania is supposed to be the end of fueds, with everything starting fresh the next night.
but this year it was used as the first match in most of them, so most of the fueds are nearly 3 months old and are on their last legs.

GTR63

the groutch wrote: »

bar the Paul Heyman reappearance, that was the worst RAW of the decade (so far)

No wasn't there a few REALLY bad ones last year that had a lot of activity on here.

DM_7

Going to post the complete opposite to what has been said so far.

From time to time you need a RAW like this to reset things and kick off a new set of feuds, new ideas, especially after Wrestlemania is over.

Thought RAW was decent and I give credit to WWE for at least trying to do things right.

Opener sees Big Johnny increase his heat. Makes sense. Its east to be critical but WWE always does a good job of creating bad guy GMs and in this case we actually have someone with real in ring experience.

Punk comes out as WWE champion to go against the GM and ends up in a match v Tensai. (I know many are critical of Punk because he lost his edge or whatever. For me he is doing the job he is paid to and doing it well. I would happy to trade a few tool box quotes for seeing Punk get the match time he deserves on PPV's. Its WWE's direction that holds him back).

Then later on we see the bad guy GM make it a two on one match. This helps Tensai get the win, helps set up the No 1 contender have his post match moment and protects the champ as no shame in a tag team loss.

The WHC scene gets a nice boost and reset by moving Sheamus into a completely new set of circumstances. He has three new foes and Jericho gets a nice win to give him momentum back.

I liked the way Heyman returned, not as some returning super star but as a well known personality focused entirely on building up Brock and not himself.

Clay is put in a competitive match up. This was badly needed to move him on form random squash matches.

Ziggler getting a win was a nice change as i mentioned before.

I have not figured out the whole Big Show thing yet!

But as i said, sometimes you have to hit reset and it takes momentum away but the show did its job in my opinion.

JP Liz V1

Punk feuding with Johnny makes more sense than Cena so I am glad Punk is in the picture now

I wouldnt mind seeing a Sheamus/Jericho feud without Orton and Del Rio added in

Rjd2

Monday's WWE Raw drew a 3.03 rating, down from the 3.33 rating the show drew last week. Raw averaged 4.31 million viewers, down from the 4.88 million viewers who watched last week.

Powell's POV: WWE drew more viewers in the first hour (4.43 million) than they did in the second (4.19 million). It couldn't have helped matters to announce that John Cena wouldn't appear in person. WWE also went against the NBA Playoffs and a big New York Rangers vs. Washington Capitals game.


http://www.prowrestling.net/artman/publish/WWE/article10025033.shtml


I'd put money on the last quarter of the show bombing.

jaykhunter

Judging by the ghost-town on the internet during RAW you knew the numbers would be down. Writing Lesnar off and Cena supposedly saying he's taking time off, or at least he won't be wrestling (until the PPV) really meant that there's no particular reason to watch RAW, and wwe booked accordingly.

It's not looking good for RAW figures until after Over The Limit!

Charisteas

jaykhunter wrote: »

It's not looking good for RAW figures until after Over The Limit!

Well they did announce Triple H will be on Raw next week, likely to do a segment with Heyman, that should spark a bit of intrigue.

G-Money

Thought it was a pretty boring Raw. CM Punk has become just another standard PG face. It's a shame as he was so interesting and edgy but now he's just like all the rest. I hope they let him be himself again.

kwestfan08

+1 on Punk's edge being gone. Just after looking at his shoot promo to John Cena and its light years away from calling Big Johnny a toolbox.

Anyone think he should drop the belt soon? Seems like he's better whenever he has something or someone to rebel against and be the underdog.

Charlie Haughy

Id love for punk to go back heel, but I doubt he will be heel again for a year or 2 at least, as he's making a lot of $ on merch now for wwe and is popular with the tweeners and teen crowd, isn't he?

gnfnrhead

The reason Punk got so popular is because he wasn't trying to suck up to the crowd, he was just talking and not caring if it got cheers or boos. As soon as someone turns baby face, that's the first thing WWE have them do. Suck up to get cheers. Punk doesn't need to turn heel again, he just needs to be allowed speak freely instead of being told what to say.

rovert

Wrestling Observer:

Raw on 5/7 did a 3.01 rating and 4.30 million viewers. The ratings pattern told a story in that the first quarter did a 3.50 and it collapsed from there. In that first quarter they never once spoke of Brock Lesnar, whose first mention wasn’t until well into the second hour. If people tuned in early in numbers that are usually the level after a major PPV, it’s based on something big they were interested in. The only thing at that level was Lesnar, and when he was never spoken of, a lot of people seemed to give up. Raw was the highest rated show on cable, easily beating both NBA playoff games on TNT that each did 2.4 ratings.

The show did a 2.5 in male teens (down 7%), 2.6 in Males 18-49 (down 7%), 0.7 in Girls 12-17 (same as prior week) and 1.2 in Women 18-49 (same as prior week). The show did 67.7% males.

In the segment-by-segment, Cody Rhodes vs. Big Show lost 378,000 viewers. Kofi Kingston vs. Dolph Ziggler lost 465,000 viewers. Kelly Kelly & Layla vs. Natalya & Maxine lost 207,000 viewers. Sheamus & Randy Orton vs. Chris Jericho & Alberto Del Rio in the top of the hour segment gained 191,000 viewers, which is weak for the slot, and did a 2.89 quarter. Brodus Clay vs. The Miz gained 55,000 viewers in what is usually a losing segment. The Paul Heyman interview gained 123,000 viewers. And the most noteworthy of all is that C.M. Punk vs. Lord Tensai & Daniel Bryan in the overrun lost 105,000 viewers and did a 2.94 rating. It’s virtually impossible for the overrun to lose viewers since you’ve got the people coming on board for the next show, but this one did. Punk and Bryan aren’t ratings draws, but it’s clear that whatever appeal they have was overridden by the negative appeal of Tensai.

Lord Turnoff

Furious-Red

As seen on Monday’s RAW Supershow, Paul Heyman returned and quit for Brock Lesnar, who he is representing in the storylines. At one point, Lesnar himself quitting was to be on last week’s show but the angle got changed to Heyman doing it a week later. The actual angle with Heyman returning and quitting for Lesnar was changed over and over during the day. In all of the changes, any mention of a Lesnar and Triple H angle weren’t until way into the second hour of the show.

The entire Lesnar vs. Triple H storyline is being kept secret and only a few people know where it’s going – Vince McMahon, Stephanie McMahon, John Laurinaitis, Triple H, Lesnar and a few others. Even the WWE writing team isn’t being let in on the direction.

Regarding the reported SummerSlam match, people in the company are being told that Triple H vs. Lesnar will not happen at WWE’s August pay-per-view but sources report that it is still scheduled.

As noted earlier, the WWE writing team knew about Paul Heyman’s return this past Monday but he was flown to Greensboro, North Carolina and hid in a trailer or bus all day to keep it a surprise from everyone else. Vince McMahon let CM Punk know about it with the idea that Punk could tease a surprise on Twitter and help boost viewership.

http://www.prowrestlingscoops.com/wwe/wwe-news/triple-h-vs-lesnar-angle-being-kept-a-major-secret/

Rjd2

rovert wrote: »

Wrestling Observer:



Lord Turnoff

Called it, although I think most people expected that to bomb. Lord Tensai is ****ing wack.

To be fair the show deserved flop, apart from the return of heyman it was blandness personified.

Charisteas

John Cena, who was too injured to appear on Raw this week, make a miraculous recovery just 1 hour later to beat Kane in a dark match after Raw went off the air.

Video here - http://www.flickr.com/photos/thoughtbeast/7158040320/

DM_7

gnfnrhead wrote: »

The reason Punk got so popular is because he wasn't trying to suck up to the crowd, he was just talking and not caring if it got cheers or boos. As soon as someone turns baby face, that's the first thing WWE have them do. Suck up to get cheers. Punk doesn't need to turn heel again, he just needs to be allowed speak freely instead of being told what to say.

Its a shame for people like us that Punk can't be the guy that we saw at MITB last year.

Its simply not what WWE want and he wouldn't be making money or near the top of the card if he didn't adjust to what WWE want.

I praise him for finally getting to the point he was willing to do what they wanted. Its a short career and if he keeps doing things right he will be able to walk away a rich man from doing what he is doing.

I prefer to see Punk where he is on the card, getting good time on PPV's than where he would be if he didn't get in line with WWE's current style. He isn't getting the fanatical response he got from the older crowd last year but he id getting a more positive response in general which is what WWE want from the faces.

I still wish we got to see Cena, Orton and Punk be edgier persona's they had in the past. It would be great:cool:

paddyismaddy

kwestfan08 wrote: »

+1 on Punk's edge being gone. Just after looking at his shoot promo to John Cena and its light years away from calling Big Johnny a toolbox.

Anyone think he should drop the belt soon? Seems like he's better whenever he has something or someone to rebel against and be the underdog.

punk lost his momentum and edge as soon as he returned

jericho should have taken title from him as he didnt I hope bryan does

sheamus isnt great as a face champ either

Hashtag_HEEL

Couldn't believe how clueless people were as to who Paul Heyman Was!
Still loved the Faint "E C Dub" Chants from the veteran vans!

GTR63

Hashtag_HEEL wrote: »

Couldn't believe how clueless people were as to who Paul Heyman Was!
Still loved the Faint "E C Dub" Chants from the veteran fans!

Sad that so many people watching nowdays aren't long term viewers Heymans comeback had the impact of a wet fart on some people. Hate when you come across wrestling sites posting videos that wwe do put up of returning name.

jaykhunter

It's sad, but i'm sure WWE didn't want a big reaction. Like if he showed up in Philly or Chicago or NY it'd be a different story. But sure he was last in WWE in 06 being blamed for the ONS bastardization by Vince. I bet loads of people (not on the net, but the majority of TV fans) think that show was Heyman's fault.

Man, Heyman needs to show wrestlers how to walk. His walk is a "sh!t's about to go down", and his delivery is fantastic. Did a great job trying to salvage Brock's booking.

CMpunked

Heyman being Heyman, it was a farce that he didnt get a proper reaction.

Although, i think it worked better for the message he was delivering that he was booed.
The man has it all and then some. He also knows how to brilliantly swat away the WHAT? chants.

Charisteas

jaykhunter wrote: »

It's sad, but i'm sure WWE didn't want a big reaction. Like if he showed up in Philly or Chicago or NY it'd be a different story.

Raw next week is in Pennsylvania of all places, definitely should have waited a week before re-debuting Heyman.