RAW Superthread

According to Meltzer the fans in the building were chanting Goldberg all night so there is interest. I did find it odd that they left Heyman to lay down the challenge in the last hour when fans would be tired, but I thought he did a great job in selling the match and pointing out that Brock is still sore over his blemish on his record by losing to Goldberg.

I am interested in this match but I again would have concerns over the fact it seems likely to be held in Toronto. Brock is likely to have many fans there given that in UFC he bills himself as being from Canada, and added to that the fact that many Canadians are pissed off at Goldberg for the kick that ended Bret's career. plus Toronto being 'Bizarro World' and renowned for sh*tting on babyfaces...I'd be concerned. I hope they have given this some thought but I suspect they haven't.

As for Raw overall, I didn't care for it this week.

I thought the match quality was quite sloppy - though tiredness from the South America tour was probably a factor in that to be fair - but there's just a lot of really crappy stuff on the show which feels more suitable to something like Superstars: the R-Truth and Titus stuff for example, and of course Bo Dallas and his sign.

Jericho is the most entertaining thing on the show and I'm enjoying the storyline with Owens. I do think Rollins is a total afterthought now though and the fact he just keeps getting handed PPV title shots without earning them doesn't leave me with any interest in rooting for the guy. I am shocked at how plain and vanilla he's become. This must be the worst babyface turn since that Del Rio one a few years back involving 3MB.

I'm also not a fan of 3 Hell in a Cell matches on one show, particularly Sasha vs Charlotte being made one. The Cell match used to be about what crazy stunts might we see - now it's become a publicity stunt to highlight 'the women's revolution'; before it was supposed to be a match that wrestlers would be wary of entering due to the fact it was seen as career-shortening or career-ending - now it's a match where the Women's Champion wants to enter it for sh*ts and giggles. Gimme a break.

Remember that storyline round about the Armageddon Cell match in 2000 where Vince was pissed off that Commissioner Foley was jeopardizing the wrestlers by making the match? And Foley offered to resign if any wrestler suffered a serious injury? Imagine someone going from watching that on the Network to this, where they are pretty much patting the women on the back and saying congratulations - for entering the dangerous Cell. It's just dumb imo and takes away the gravity and danger of the match. I'm not against having Sasha and Charlotte fight in the Cell if the storyline is right, but the way they did this was acting like it was some honour to be involved in it. The match ought to be perceived as maybe the most dangerous in all of WWE, and something competitors enter knowing full well they could be making a big mistake which they'll regret.

It was not a Raw I'd care to watch again.

sky88 wrote: »

The thing with hell in a cell is it's supposed to be the end of a feud or to finish a brutal feud. Now it's just thrown in there. I think the only recent matches that were justified to be in hell in a cell was taker/brock and before that hhh/taker at mania 28

The should never have started these gimmick PPVs, it just forces the stips on to the match unnecessarily. There should be 1 HITC match every two years, make it special. Same goes for the TLC ppv.

PTH2009 wrote: »

Sometimes i wonder what the point of a HIAC is if u knw the wrestlers are not going to use it. Can't imagine the divas will climb the roof of the cell and they take a huge bump off it. One (or 2) of Reigns, y2j, Ko, Rusev or Seth will take a huge bump off the roof of the cell

excluding shane i cant think of too many huge bumps recently off the cell. if anything its more like a standard cage match know.

Think punk/ryback were on top of the cell a few years ago but no big bumps

sky88 wrote: »

excluding shane i cant think of too many huge bumps recently off the cell. if anything its more like a standard cage match know.

Think punk/ryback were on top of the cell a few years ago but no big bumps

Rollins and Ambrose fought on top of it and took a fairly lame double bump from halfway up the cage

Is there a reason for the way they're doing the cruiserweights? Like trying to keep the same few in rotation before bringing more in? Where are Jack Gallagher and Akira Tozawa? They were my standouts from the CWC

beakerjoe wrote: »

The should never have started these gimmick PPVs, it just forces the stips on to the match unnecessarily. There should be 1 HITC match every two years, make it special. Same goes for the TLC ppv.

Less is more is a good policy to stick to.

When are we going to get the Goldberg/Lesner raw face-off where all hell breaks lose and the whole locker room will have to come and try and break them up ???

Very excited for the Goldberg return tonight.

It will be interesting to see the rating. I was listening to Meltzer on that LAW podcast and he thinks everything is stacked against Goldberg with his return: he'll probably be booed very hard at Survivor Series by the Toronto crowd who will almost certainly side with Lesnar, the PPV model doesn't really exist any more in WWE with the Network and all so there will be no big PPV spike to work in Goldberg's favour, and his next Raw appearance will be Halloween night which will likely die in the ratings - so it's all set up for Vince to say 'Goldberg ain't over in 2016' unless the rating for this Raw gets a big spike and that leads them to consider using him again.

Another thing I'm curious about: does Goldberg return with the WCW theme that he used for a month or two in WWE, does he return with the WWE theme he used for the majority of his run until he left, or do they give him a new theme like they did with Bret Hart and Sting? I reckon he returns with the WWE one from 2004.

My UPC box has decided to brick it so have to sign up for moretv (I'll be 3 mins behind the normal broadcast) but still excited about Goldberg's return

I say ryback is feeling annoyed now

I have Goldberg's wcw theme ready, in case he walks out to that muck wwe theme,

so whos going to be the victim of the spear ???

i will be annoyed if hes the guy who comes out and beats Strowman but think they will do that match down the line not tonight

I think Goldberg will be interuped by someone like Bo Dallas, the shining stars, maybe they will bring back Gillberg

Goldberg is a show in for the HOF 2017

this is one of biggest raws for a while, i think if someone like Kurt Angle/CM Punk returns to WWE there first Raw back would be electric

for old times sake

I don't know who I'm supposed to be cheering for anymore on RAW!!

Who are the good guys and who are the bad guys?


I just want the list to win.

New Day's 420 reference felt oddly out of place on the usual family-friendly Raw

Ahahahahahahahaha.

Dana was supposed to win by putting her feet on the ropes but she couldn't reach them and just pinned Bayley clean!

I'm in stitches here. That's the funniest botch I've seen in ages. And they cut back to Byron who says 'hey, Dana won fair and square.'

Comedy gold! Can't wait for Botchamania.