RAW Superthread

Rjd2

The Nal wrote: »

The characters haven't changed in years, decades in cases. Rollins, Ambrose, Reigns, Sheamus, Cesaro, Cena, Strowman, Orton, Finn, Miz etc have been the same character forever, outside of the odd heel turn.

Any of the greats - Austin, Hogan, Rock, HBK, HHH, Bret, Taker, Sting, Hall, Nash etc all changed characters somewhat at some stage.

And more importantly were allowed to cut their own promos to some degree which impacted the character. What we've been seeing over the last decade is the equivalent of the XFactor winner. Heres a song, sing it and shut up.

Not sure if this post is fair tbh.

Orton recently has grown his hair out. :eek::p

The Nal

Rjd2 wrote: »

Not sure if this post is fair tbh.

Orton recently has grown his hair out. :eek::p

Biggest booking decision of 2017.

Itssoeasy

Lord TSC wrote: »

I wonder how big the women's Rumble will be. I'm guessing 20 women between the two brands, NXT and surprise returns? Between that and the men's Rumble, that's two thirds of the show booked anyway.

Well it looks like it's 22 as that's how many were on the poster Becky lynch posted on her Instagram story(the one that is only up for 24 hours) and it looked fairly official looking.

It had the usual suspects and four extras which are Nikki Bella, peyton Royce, billy kay, and Ronda rousey on it

The Nal

This womens rumble is 100% a vehicle for Ronda to make her debut as the last participant.

HandsomeBob

The Nal wrote: »

This womens rumble is 100% a vehicle for Ronda to make her debut as the last participant.

Not sure if Steph contradicted this but the rumour was that they'd all start at the same time in the ring. Wouldn't think many would get an entrance in that scenario.

Jerichoholic

Rhonda is 100% the only slightly interesting thing about it. We've all seen women's battle royals before, they are inhumanly awful.

Jerichoholic

HandsomeBob wrote: »

Not sure if Steph contradicted this but the rumour was that they'd all start at the same time in the ring. Wouldn't think many would get an entrance in that scenario.

So it's a Battle Royal then, not a Royal Rumble.

Furious-Red

Jerichoholic wrote: »

So it's a Battle Royal then, not a Royal Rumble.

Yea was thinking that , Most big battle royals are always clunky as **** up until the last 5 or 6 because there is just no room for everyone which takes away from the match itself.

HandsomeBob

I imagine there will be two lots of mass dumpings; at the beginning and then towards the end, giving the last 6/7 a decent 10 minutes.

Would be surprised if the whole thing goes beyond 20 mins.

Agent Coulson

J. Marston wrote: »

Stat someone posted on Reddit...



Feud has been beaten to death.

Still not as bad as Sheamus and Orton 9000000 matches in a row.



Also is Finn going to end up in the 205's with KENTA?

hufpc8w3adnk65

Have a monster heel like Tamina dump people out left right and Centre then they’ll all team up on Tamina and take her out etc.

PTH2009

Agent Coulson wrote: »

Also is Finn going to end up in the 205's with KENTA?

nooo but they have too sell those 205 live event tickets and getting Finn on the bill could help ??

Jerichoholic

There's only 3 shows.

Agent Coulson

Dana Brooke stealing the Alexandra York gimmick by the looks of it.


Will we end up getting a Dana Invitational Tournament I wonder.

DM_7

Sheamus and Cesaro v Finn and Hideo.

Yes please.

Mr.Nice Guy

I felt bad for Itami that he got such a muted reaction. Reminded me of the time Carmella debuted to crickets. This wasn't quite that bad but it wasn't far off.

I like Kane being added to the triple threat match. It makes it a bit different and if it's kept short it can be a fun seven minutes or so of chaos. I assume Kane is there to take the pin so Strowman doesn't have to.

I like that they're doing a Rumble but there was no need for Stephanie to make the announcement. The whole storyline for Survivor Series was about how we all were supposed to want Kurt to stay for being a great GM. Have Kurt do the announcement and it helps raise his stock with the fans. Stephanie doing it was a waste as she will be back to being a heel soon enough. It's a pure ego stroke so she can be portrayed to the public as "empowering" women. it was painful watching them all standing there listening to her go on. I was half expecting some cheesy music to start in the background.

I've no worries about the match itself. I thought the women's battle royal on NXT a few weeks ago was very well done. Ronda winning is the way I would go as it will get a ton of publicity and you want the first one to be a big deal to get it over with the audience.

I much preferred Matt's promo this week compared to last. Maybe I'm alone in this but I also liked Bray's promo which is rare for me as I usually zone out for his stuff. I want to see something a bit fresh though going forward. The return of Reby, Senor Benjamin or Vanguard 1 would be welcome.

paulie21

What's for the winner of the Women's RR? Presumed a title shot but Alexa was there jumping around at the announcement like she'd be in the match

Agent Coulson

Becky to make a surprise return at it.

HandsomeBob

paulie21 wrote: »

What's for the winner of the Women's RR? Presumed a title shot but Alexa was there jumping around at the announcement like she'd be in the match

I imagine they were all told to fangirl over Stephanie's announcement.

J. Marston

Jerichoholic wrote: »

So it's a Battle Royal then, not a Royal Rumble.

Probably for the best. No-one wants to be stuck with something like Liv Morgan vs Dana Brooke for even a minute.

Agent Coulson wrote: »

Becky to make a surprise return at it.

Think she'll make a surprise return but only to beat down and eliminate Riott squad. Hope she wins it though.

Agent Coulson

Ronda is surely going to win it.

CastorTroy

DM_7 wrote: »

Back in the day, before Regal got done for drugs, he was a great Authority figure on RAW. Someone who was believably in charge without the McMahon name.

Wish they went back to that.

Regal looks good as GM on NXT. He's someone who could put guys down who get in his face and I always remember his reaction to Pete Dunne attacking one of the other UK guys. Also when he makes announcements they seem more natural than other GMs.

Lord TSC wrote: »

I'm hoping we get Heath Slater back with a storyline. He always amuses me when they bother to give him something to do.

Revival back, YEAY! No entrance, boo

I saw an entrance.
As for Heath, I was thinking the same thing about how we haven't seen much of him lately, then we got that bit backstage.

Loughc wrote: »

Shows how little they have storyline wise for anyone who isn’t Roman or a McMahon.

It wasn't until you mentioned him that I realised Roman wasn't there this week.

paulie21 wrote: »

What's for the winner of the Women's RR? Presumed a title shot but Alexa was there jumping around at the announcement like she'd be in the match

Yeah that whole segment was so badly done. After them beating the crap out of one another they stand side by side waiting for the announcement and getting excited. And Steph kept addressing Sasha when talking about the match in Abu Dhabi, as if Alexa wasn't there.

And I don't know if I said it here last week or planned to, but I don;t like the whole Enzo/Nia thing. Not just because it's a stupid idea, but they're putting their "monster" in a girly role and with a cruiserweight which undermines the whole height thing.

ERG89

This women's Royal Rumble, is it over the top rope?
As I think some of them could hurt themselves doing that :eek:

HandsomeBob

Agent Coulson wrote: »

Ronda is surely going to win it.

I fear for Asuka in that case. 2 years worth of build thrown away to hotshot that mma badass bull**** that ruins any kind of concept of competition in pro wrestling.

Lord TSC

HandsomeBob wrote: »

I fear for Asuka in that case. 2 years worth of build thrown away to hotshot that mma badass bull**** that ruins any kind of concept of competition in pro wrestling.

Easy enough to protect her. Have her eliminated a few people, then have Paige and friends jump her from behind and get a lucky, sneaky elimination. Auska snaps, murders the trio and sets up Auska vs Paige for a feud.

DM_7

HandsomeBob wrote: »

I fear for Asuka in that case. 2 years worth of build thrown away to hotshot that mma badass bull**** that ruins any kind of concept of competition in pro wrestling.

Asuka lost in a Battle Royale before

Krooshma

im not being funny here but I am wondering will the rules for the ladies' RR match be the same as the men? I cant recall the last time I saw a female wrestler go over the top rope, it's through the middle ropes

HandsomeBob

DM_7 wrote: »

Asuka lost in a Battle Royale before

Ya? Genuinely curious to know when. That there's excuse anyway. :pac:

Rjd2

SlickRic wrote: »

Steph can fúck off. What business does she have announcing that? She's a heel authority figure. Just let Kurt do it, for the love of Christ. You don't have to keep trying to take credit for the 'Women's Revolution'. Just fúck off away from my screen.

Matt Hardy annoyed me again. He's now just a weird guy.

Kane in the Main Event of the Royal Rumble just makes me want to cry. I get that someone has to take the pin, but I'm done with him. in 2017, we still have a company obsessed with getting big guys in the ring, and they think this is the best show they can put on last.

Yes Steph is awful. I don't care about Kayfafe as much as some do, but is to much to ask them to mantain it just for the show? That ending. Christ.

I do think the biggest annoyance with the promo was her name dropping Moolah with a smile on her face, that women was absolute garbage which Steph should know by now.

Kane in the Rumble is grim, surely they could have got someone younger in to give them a rub and even enhance the match quality.

The show is saturated with part timers like Trips, Angle and Shane hogging the main event atm, really don't need ****ing Kane involved.

Its a reason why I don't get as excited about signings as some do, the roster atm is stacked, but look how much these part timers are spotlighted when Mania season comes around and so many other flounder throughout the year, its depressing to say the least.

Jerichoholic

Moolah and May Young were trash, in and out of the ring. It's as if they were the only two women that ever wrestled before.