Raw 23-3-15

Moneymaker

Thanking that as it's saved me the effort of typing a similar rant.

You know it's a train wreck of epic magnitude when you manage to make Brock Lesnar look like a geek.

Maybe he's not staying and Vince did it on purpose to make him look bad. Mind blowingly stupid but not beyond McMahon.

Ridley

Angron wrote: »

When was that? Can't say I remember it, but that sounds fecking horrendous.

It was definitely years back. I'd like to say round about the Rated RKO/main eventer Edge days but you're asking me to remember what the recap was.

Maybe you can get it for $9.99. :pac:

CSF

Can't see past Reigns/Heyman heel turn thing setting up face Lesnar v heel Reigns for Summerslam.

They've booked themselves into a hole.

SlickRic

CSF wrote: »

Can't see past Reigns/Heyman heel turn thing setting up face Lesnar v heel Reigns for Summerslam.

They've booked themselves into a hole.

This is my only hope when I wake up on Monday morning. Right now, if you strike, I think you have a big-time heel run in Reigns; just play into the perception of entitlement that exists. then down the line, I guarantee he'll get over as a star, then turn him into the face of the company if you want.

as I think rovert has mentioned before though, and i think it's a very pertinent point, i reckon Vince is rushing this Reigns push because he wants to see one final megastar made before he goes.

Caovyn Lineah

CSF wrote: »

Can't see past Reigns/Heyman heel turn thing setting up face Lesnar v heel Reigns for Summerslam.

They've booked themselves into a hole.

But what do you do with Brock then? Without Heyman as his mouthpiece he loses a lot of his character in my eyes.

CSF

Caovyn Lineah wrote: »

But what do you do with Brock then? Without Heyman as his mouthpiece he loses a lot of his character in my eyes.

Silent destroyer. He's also not THAT bad on the mic.

That Reigns Lesnar faceoff was cringe worthy. Its a shame as i was liking Reigns but they are just pushing way too hard right now.

Lord TSC

slickric summed up most of my thoughts.

Lesnar/Reigns is a bombsite. I thought they'd go with the generic pull apart brawl, that would have been cliched but for good reason. Instead.....whatever....

Cena/Rusev hasn't been bad if you skip the speedbump of Cena annihilating Rusev a few weeks back.

HHH/Sting hasn't been bad, but we could probably write the match in full right now. There's no real tension there for me, and it's going to be a heavily scripted spot fest with loads of interference.

Rollins vs Orton is meh.

Taker/Wyatt has been hurt by the fact that, despite the fact I think Wyatt has done a decent job cutting promos, you literally could have listened to the first one two months ago, missed every other segment, and not have the story altered in any way whatsoever.

Divas tag is every other divas feud you've ever seen.

The ladder match will be a great spot fest between guys who'll never get pushed in any meaningful way, so why bother investing.

The build up has been horrid, and I don't blame the people involved in front of the camera at all, because all the problems have lied with whoever has booked the feuds, and given them next to nothing to work on.

briany

CSF wrote: »

Silent destroyer. He's also not THAT bad on the mic.

Lesnar used to be the tits on the mic.

Oh wait, you meant Roman.

Well, still, Lesnar CAN talk if he wants to. Let's not forget...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wGWG3FFEN-A

Caovyn Lineah

CSF wrote: »

Silent destroyer. He's also not THAT bad on the mic.

But remember who he would be going against on the mic. Heyman would destroy him week after week.

SlickRic

Lord TSC wrote: »

The ladder match will be a great spot fest between guys who'll never get pushed in any meaningful way, so why bother investing.

this is a whole other rant altogether if I wanted to really get going.

so let me get this straight...you're going to put all the talented guys, the guys the crowd want to get behind (i.e. Ziggler, Bryan, Ambrose, even Barrett) into the one match, with I would imagine the sole purpose of 'giving the crowd what they want', with the idea that if the crowd get given all their favourites, then maybe they'll forget about them all by the end, and not take a steaming shíte on the main event.

such grade A, patronising, insulting, bullshít bollocks.

J. Marston

Roll on post-Mania Raw and the inevitable cacophony of boos for Reigns.

Rusev got the better of Cena on the go-home show so if we apply standard logic, he's losing on Sunday. But Cole did say that there's "No way Cena will be at 100% on Sunday" so maybe there could be a twist.

Or maybe they just want Cena's win to be even more glorious.....and annoying.

briany

Without Lana around, Rusev really goes down a couple of notches. He's just some flag waving lunatic destined for mid-card hell.

Chip Whitley

Have to say, I usually take the rough with the smooth when it comes to WWE, but watching the mess involving the IC match participants and the ridiculous tug of war with Lesnar/Reigns I am the least hyped I've been for 'Mania in years. Some of the segments last night would be poor for a normal Raw, but for a go-home before Mania Raw they were abysmal. So so poor.

sky88

[Deleted User] wrote: »

That Reigns Lesnar faceoff was cringe worthy. Its a shame as i was liking Reigns but they are just pushing way too hard right now.

I think thats the worst thing theyve done with reigns, i think he was generally liked by fans but hes been booked so poorly. there was barley a reaction when he came out last night just a smattering of boos and cheers

Unearthly

What the hell was that end? All it needed was both wrestlers to say 'no no you stop it' in an overly camp voice

SlickRic

on top of Vince being desperate to launch one final megastar before he goes, i genuinely think they got spooked at the Royal Rumble.

before that Reigns' booking was simple. it's only since the Rumble that it's gotten really terrible. it's like it's being completely overthought.

just have him keep beating people and say next to fúck all. easy.

Gerry Rio

Best comment on Reddit:



"That belt had a family!"

CSF

briany wrote: »

Without Lana around, Rusev really goes down a couple of notches. He's just some flag waving lunatic destined for mid-card hell.

Completely agree. I think he is class. Number 2 full-time heel after Seth Rollins. Lana clearly adds to the gimmick but that is inevitable.

briany

CSF wrote: »

Completely agree. I think he is class. Number 2 full-time heel after Seth Rollins. Lana clearly adds to the gimmick but that is inevitable.

If Lana's not going to be around, he needs to develop depth quick or become an afterthought on the roster, but I really think him and Lana have been built as a package so much that it'll be hard for fans to accept him on his own.

Agent Coulson

Just watched the 90 minute RAW on Hulu damm that was so hard to watch.

If Lesnar really was a beast he would have destroyed Reigns for taking the belt.

I feel a bit sorry for Bray Wyatt who has been doing his best to build up a match with no one to bounce off.

The only match I am quite looking forward to seeing is Rusev & Cena I think they can steal the show.

Even at $9.99 I'm not sure if I will pay/watch live.

I will get the Network for the night I know I will and the WWE knows I will

That's why they can give us tripe like this

briany

I reckon a lot of people will be watching this one on services that offer a 100 percent discount, and saying 'stuff the network'.

CSF

briany wrote: »

If Lana's not going to be around, he needs to develop depth quick or become an afterthought on the roster, but I really think him and Lana have been built as a package so much that it'll be hard for fans to accept him on his own.

Why would Lana not be around as an aside? I don't think he could go it alone at the same level right now, but by the time they do go their separate way, if they do, he'll be ready. His talking is decent, his wrestling is very good for the role he plays. His gimmick means he'll always be an effective heel. Really hope he beats Cena, but either way, the thing with Rusev was always gonna be what happens after his first defeat.

martyos121

briany wrote: »

I reckon a lot of people will be watching this one on services that offer a 100 percent discount, and saying 'stuff the network'.

I reckon the vast majority will be paying a fairly modest fee for up to 6 hours of well-produced entertainment in high definition, but that's just my opinion. Every year the build isn't great, I hear all this "yeah I'll just stream it this year" and they're nearly always the ones that pay the 25 quid. I think the network has made streaming sites far less popular due to the value and quality of it.

Of course, there will always be people availing of the 100% discount, but that number has rapidly dropped in the last 13 months.

briany

CSF wrote: »

Why would Lana not be around as an aside? I don't think he could go it alone at the same level right now, but by the time they do go their separate way, if they do, he'll be ready. His talking is decent, his wrestling is very good for the role he plays. His gimmick means he'll always be an effective heel. Really hope he beats Cena, but either way, the thing with Rusev was always gonna be what happens after his first defeat.

His gimmick will be effective until relations with Russia normalize or until fans get sick of it. The thing about nationalist gimmicks is they tend to be woefully one-dimensional. Without that, he's just a foreign looking/sounding mixed martial arts type guy.

CSF

martyos121 wrote: »

I reckon the vast majority will be paying a fairly modest fee for up to 6 hours of well-produced entertainment in high definition, but that's just my opinion. Every year the build isn't great, I hear all this "yeah I'll just stream it this year" and they're nearly always the ones that pay the 25 quid. I think the network has made streaming sites far less popular due to the value and quality of it.

Of course, there will always be people availing of the 100% discount, but that number has rapidly dropped in the last 13 months.

Not paying it. WWE doesn't deserve my money after the contempt it's shown the hardcore fans over the last year and every time we buy anyway we further their inclination to do so. We're their guaranteed mealticket who they don't feel like they have to impress anymore.

I'll stream it the next morning like I would Raw on a Tuesday morning.

CSF

briany wrote: »

His gimmick will be effective until relations with Russia normalize or until fans get sick of it. The thing about nationalist gimmicks is they tend to be woefully one-dimensional. Without that, he's just a foreign looking/sounding mixed martial arts type guy.

All gimmicks are effective until the fans get sick of them. You could say the same about a lot of uppercard gimmicks. What's Bray Wyatt if he's suddenly not an evil hick? The trick is to be able to evolve with your character and adapt to each feud. Undertaker, Kane and Cena are examples of guys who were able to move on from similarly one-dimensional gimmicks and become able to develop their character over time so the initial gimmick is a smaller part of what you are.

Of course it helps if you're booked well.

CastorTroy

I know that episode at least made me curious about chicken fries

briany

CSF wrote: »

All gimmicks are effective until the fans get sick of them. You could say the same about a lot of uppercard gimmicks. What's Bray Wyatt if he's suddenly not an evil hick? The trick is to be able to evolve with your character and adapt to each feud. Undertaker, Kane and Cena are examples of guys who were able to move on from similarly one-dimensional gimmicks and become able to develop their character over time so the initial gimmick is a smaller part of what you are.

Of course it helps if you're booked well.

True, you have to evolve, but Rusev's going to have to take that evolution into his own hands. If we take WWE in its current state, it's pretty apparent that no one else is going to book him a quality arc. Rusev can talk, but has he got that flair to work the fans and just generally be a layered guy? Will they let him be that on TV or will they just take anything progressive he does and stick it on the app at best?

ricero

I can defo see Lana back by his side for wrestlemania and her mistakenly costing rusev the match. Think it will be ryback or sheamus for the battle royale. Can see mizdow eliminating miz and then miz gets mizdow thrown out.