RAW Superthread

The Ayatolla

The White Wolf wrote: »

Ali, Dijak and Yim are jobbing to her?

Ali, T-Bar and Reckoning.

CastorTroy

Was just thinking, remember Riddick Moss and Dabba-Kato were drafted to Raw? Haven't been seen since Underground finished.

J. Marston

CastorTroy wrote: »

Was just thinking, remember Riddick Moss and Dabba-Kato were drafted to Raw? Haven't been seen since Underground finished.

Who?!

Had to Google him. I have never seen him in my life.

CastorTroy

Aka Babatunde. He never fought in NXT and was in the Greatest Royal Rumble, I think. But lately was just in Raw Underground where he was undefeated until he lost to Braun.

beakerjoe

LineOfBeauty wrote: »

I'm just seeing clips of the Wyatt/Orton stuff from last night. It's a reminder that pops up every so often on my timeline that helps me remember why I don't watch weekly WWE TV. I swear that Orton/Wyatt stuff is every bit as cringe as anything WCW we're doing under Jim Herd or Russo. And I swear it wasn't so long ago people were trying to convince me Wyatt is good.

Id like to see Bray Wyatt as a normal competitor. I feel the guy is creative in terms of his characters but part of the execution stinks. As an in-ring performer, I don't see it. The smoke and mirrors masks how below average he is.

Thats said, The Fiend character does nothing for me. The gimmick has had its moments but overall it sucks, esp after being jobbed out to Oldberg.

The whole Orton feud is just bollox, as is most of his feuds. Firstly is The Fiend supposed to be a face in all this? why? Ive no clue.

Secondly, the build is almost the same as every other Fiend feud. At this stage, why should I care. Even a motivated Orton cant save this train wreck.

The Fiend is awful, but its no Seven yet. (That was Dustin Rhodes gimmick in WCW right? or was that Black Reign)

beakerjoe

J. Marston wrote: »

Dana beating Retribution in a 1-on-5 handicap match every week for the next 3 months would be fine with me. They are just awful.

Dana winning a match is fine with me. She deserves a break.

However, having her pin a debuting Mia Yim 2 weeks ago is an awful move. The whole stable have been a disaster booking wise.

From a booking POV its been a train wreck, it was half baked panic booking at best, crazy self sabotage at worst. When they finally decided on wrestlers for the gimmick (which shows the complete botchery of the group to begin with), the then choose to bury very capable guys.

Dijak was great in NXT. He has the look and skills to be a decent mid carder or even upper mid carder. Big man, decent look and can move. Maybe missing good mic skills. But overall they could easily do something with him.

Dio could have been fine without him, havent seen much but he could be a good hand.

Shane Thorne is a great in ring cruiserweight. Again, maybe missing mic skills, but he could easily be given anything better than this.

Yim - A decent NXT career and then killed since debuting. She can speak, she can wrestle and she deserves better.

Ali - Like do they hate this guy. I felt when he joined the group it could be a launching pad for him and the guys. He can cut a promo, he can certainly go in ring and has the kayfabe motivation to really deliver.

But no, the group has been jobbed out, no real storyline and no hope unless some serious rehab occurred. They took 5 people and ruined them. Zero of the booking makes sense, why create the group if this is where it led. No direction, no clue... no hope.

But at least they lasted longer than Raw Underground, though one could argue that got taken out of its misery while this stable is living in pain.

WWE MAIN ROSTER RIGHT NOW IS WHERE TALENT GOES TO DIE.

JP Liz V1

AJ vs. Sheamus tonight

Ridley

beakerjoe wrote: »

Ali - Like do they hate this guy. I felt when he joined the group it could be a launching pad for him and the guys. He can cut a promo, he can certainly go in ring and has the kayfabe motivation to really deliver.

Ali being revealed as the faction leader is the only good thing done with Retribution and even then they made him just another member and not the mastermind all along to tie in with his hacktivist stuff.

Retribution is the worst.

This week: What does Mace bring to the team? He used to do colour commentary. That's his USP as a mute is it?

CastorTroy

So they acknowledged that Mace is Dio Maddin.

Jackson Ryker has been Elias' bodyguard for 5 minutes and has been more physical than AJ's bodyguard has done in his time as bouncer and bodyguard.

What are the chances of Lana/Asuka winning? I see Sexy Muscle Friends are back

beakerjoe

I really like AJs heater. AJ bouncing off him has been one of the brighter spots of Raw. I also like the dynamic if him not getting physical yet. Its different.

Riddle has been funny too, though I fear this mid card comedy bit will do him no favors in the long run.

Loughc

CastorTroy wrote: »

What are the chances of Lana/Asuka winning? I see Sexy Muscle Friends are back

Lana ruled out of Tag match, Asuka gets to pick the tag team partner of her choosing.

beakerjoe wrote: »

Riddle has been funny too, though I fear this mid card comedy bit will do him no favors in the long run.

Spot on, apparently Vince loves it, so expect it to be run into the ground.

J. Marston

Loughc wrote: »

Lana ruled out of Tag match, Asuka gets to pick the tag team partner of her choosing.

Wooooo Who will she pick?

beakerjoe

Loughc wrote: »

Lana ruled out of Tag match, Asuka gets to pick the tag team partner of her choosing.



Spot on, apparently Vince loves it, so expect it to be run into the ground.

Like I enjoyed Riddles silly interactions with MVP. By enjoyed, Id say a cheap laugh. Full expect the horse to be beaten well after its dead and I wont be expecting a big push for Riddle.

I really like Riddle in the ring but his personality /persona is going to hold him back long term. He could cut it in fhe ring at a main event level but his character will stop him getting to the dance.

beakerjoe

J. Marston wrote: »

Wooooo Who will she pick?

She cant be really ruled out, if so what was the point of thr last 8 weeks of booking?

I wager she will push through her injury to win.

CastorTroy

J. Marston wrote: »

Wooooo Who will she pick?

Unless there's a turn during the match then having Asuka and Charlotte lose would be crazy.
A shocking return for Kairi? So Nia can injure her again.

But it's going to be Natalya, isn't it?

TimesArrow

https://www.mandatory.com/wrestlezone/news/1214222-wwe-raw-viewership-hits-new-low-for-tlc-go-home-show

JP Liz V1

CastorTroy wrote: »

Unless there's a turn during the match then having Asuka and Charlotte lose would be crazy.
A shocking return for Kairi? So Nia can injure her again.

But it's going to be Natalya, isn't it?

Is Charlotte due back?

beakerjoe

TimesArrow wrote: »

https://www.mandatory.com/wrestlezone/news/1214222-wwe-raw-viewership-hits-new-low-for-tlc-go-home-show

The decline continues.

Id love AEW to go head to head with Raw or Smackdown. Just to see what woukd happen. AEW at this stage have a steady viewership and Raws is suffering. WWEs December programing habits are predictable, while you never know what will go down on Dynamite.

When fans return it will be interesting to see their reactions to WWEs efforts. Can you imagine fans ****ting on the Orton Wyatt feud? Or chanting boring at yet another Nia Jax push?

WWE has serious issues that arent being addressed and now the new kid on the block will put them to the sword slowly.

Khan was dead right, the balance has shifted.

LineOfBeauty

Obviously AEW beating all 3 hours of Raw this week will be the talk and rightly so. But some of the other categories they won in too are bad news for WWE. The younger the categories skew, the fewer fans WWE has. It's been said for ages, it's a company with a young person problem. They've run off millions of people from pro wrestling and never replaced them.

PTH2009

Enjoyed the Sheamus vs Styles match, i wonder is Jordon too big to actually compete in the ring ?. You would of thought Drew will come out and help Sheamus

Riddle is really starting to pish me off, it would be alright if it turns out he's acting goofy on purpose and turns on Jeff Hardy

The whole of Forgotten Sons seem to be in bodyguard type roles now

Enjoyed all the Wyatt/Fiend stuff this week

Safe to say Styles is not winning the title on sunday if he got the strong go home show ending

CastorTroy

JP Liz V1 wrote: »

Is Charlotte due back?

Was just replying to the previous comment. No idea when she's due back. Rumble would make more sense if she's cleared, though I guess returns won't be the same with no fans

J. Marston

beakerjoe wrote: »

The decline continues.

Id love AEW to go head to head with Raw or Smackdown. Just to see what woukd happen. AEW at this stage have a steady viewership and Raws is suffering. WWEs December programing habits are predictable, while you never know what will go down on Dynamite.

When fans return it will be interesting to see their reactions to WWEs efforts. Can you imagine fans ****ting on the Orton Wyatt feud? Or chanting boring at yet another Nia Jax push?

WWE has serious issues that arent being addressed and now the new kid on the block will put them to the sword slowly.

Khan was dead right, the balance has shifted.

The same thing that happened TNA 10 years ago, they'd immediately regret it and move back to Wednesdays after a few weeks. TNA made that move after years of steadily building themselves and still got crushed.

AEW have a steady viewership but it is steady between 700-800k viewers. The biggest advertised angle in Dynamite's history with a new world champion defecting and Sting's return interview still couldn't crack a million.

They should keep focusing on wittling away NXT's viewers and grind them into cancellation, if they can, and make Wednesdays their own.

oldtimeyfella

beakerjoe wrote: »

The decline continues.

Id love AEW to go head to head with Raw or Smackdown. Just to see what woukd happen. AEW at this stage have a steady viewership and Raws is suffering. WWEs December programing habits are predictable, while you never know what will go down on Dynamite.

When fans return it will be interesting to see their reactions to WWEs efforts. Can you imagine fans ****ting on the Orton Wyatt feud? Or chanting boring at yet another Nia Jax push?

WWE has serious issues that arent being addressed and now the new kid on the block will put them to the sword slowly.

Khan was dead right, the balance has shifted.

AEW aren't ready just yet but their run has been very impressive and it is definitely starting to effect WWE. Once it gets into younger wrestlers heads that the dream isn't a WWE contract any more then they are really ****ed.


Guys from the 90s/00s are going to start getting too old/too beatne up/dying off and WWE will have nothing other than the roster that they have spent the last decade or more hobbling for fear that they will get too big for the company.


You think anyone will be tuning in in 5 years time to watch Xavier Woods wrestle Braun Strowman? Also, stop trying to make Roman a thing. No one cares about him but the most rabid WWE fans.

RollieFingers

Flicked onto Raw last night while the ads were on during the darts.

Saw Matt Riddle asking a puppet to autograph a carrot.

Quickly went back to the darts.

Agent Coulson

Vince is going to throw all storylines out the window now and just react to those ratings calling in the retired big guns to promo those ratings up or Himself, Shane and Steph will return to TV.

oldtimeyfella

Agent Coulson wrote: »

Vince is going to throw all storylines out the window now and just react to those ratings calling in the retired big guns to promo those ratings up or Himself, Shane and Steph will return to TV.

Another "we're going to listen to the fans!" promo that will change absolutely nothing.



It's early days but they are in bother because they have real competition for the first time in 20 years.

ThePott

Well let's not forget that last time the ratings slumped we got the introduction of Retribution and Raw Underground.
So can't wait to see what they introduce this time.

Yeah I expect a Vince to make "major announcement" on Raw tweet from WWE in the next few days. Their usual thing to do to pop a rating.

Agent Coulson

Last weeks AEW beat this weeks RAW in the key demo so Vince will try something dramatic.

Lithium93_

https://twitter.com/SeanRossSapp/status/1339246258960084993

Coincidentally enough, 2 years tomorrow since The McMahon family gave their You the fans are the authority spiel.

Although being brutally honest, and rewriting it, what they should've said was, we're a multi billion dollar company, with the best (debatable) writers, armed with the most insanely talented roster (really just hoovering up any shiny new pro wrestlers to keep anyone else from having them) ever assembled but we're held hostage by the ever changing whims of a man in his 70's who doesn't have a god damn clue, but unfortunately has THE FINAL SAY on everything.