Raw 2/3/15

Stereomaniac

That was great. I liked that he made reference to Brock Lesnar appearing at the UFC event.

Mr.Nice Guy

They probably won't be happy with him for the Andre remark because the Stephanie/Cena segment was based on Stephanie not wanting the name of Andre to be disrespected, yet what Heyman said was much worse than anything Cena said.

Then again maybe he'll get a pass due to the circumstances.

Angron

I like those "Tale of the Tape" things, I wish they'd use them a bit more.

That chant directed at Reigns I assume.

Angron

"On any normal man, they would have been knocked out by that move."

You mean that kick that we've seen Rollins do before? The move that hasn't knocked normal, non-Reigns, people out? I hate the commentary teams quite a lot at times.

Super-Rush

What a fucking spear.

Mr.Nice Guy

I was about to moan about Reigns being beaten again when he should be getting built up super strong in preparation for Lesnar, but they at least put him over huge at the end.

The mid-air spear looked great. Almost as good as Sexton's one on Ford.

Overall, a pretty good show; but it didn't quite feel like a road to Wrestlemania Raw to me. I think there's a noticeable lack of star power. A Sting or Taker appearance would feel like a big deal, but at the very least we need to see Lesnar soon.

Ridley

Mr.Nice Guy wrote: »

They probably won't be happy with him for the Andre remark because the Stephanie/Cena segment was based on Stephanie not wanting the name of Andre to be disrespected, yet what Heyman said was much worse than anything Cena said.

How? Andre the Giant is dead.

Lord TSC

Maybe its cause I'm a big Stewart fan, but I loved his segment. Right, he got a shot in on Rollins, but I didn't feel it was the usual hatchet job that ensues when a non-wrestling celeb beats up a wrestler. It was a sneaky low blow and a cowardly escape; perfect for what was involved. He also felt so comfortable in front of the crowd, cut a promo which actually got the Rollins character over and generally contributed to the show.

Heyman was brilliant and what a promo. If the crowd cheer Reigns and boo Lesnar, it will be on the coattails of Heyman and his mic ability.

Is it me or is AJ super thin? Like...crazy thin. Felt she didn't look fit at all.

Steph saying it will be a Cena-less Wrestlemania....**** off, that doesn't get me for one second. Each and every fan watching knows Cena is the poster boy for WWE, and you can't be snarking at smarks one second and trying to play reality, and then in the next segment trying to treat people like idiots, expecting them to believe that Cena isn't still THE guy.

Oh, and the #Axelmania segment was great. Love the crowd are getting behind it, and love how he starts every promo with "Don't change the channel..."

CSF

Rollins, Stewart, Heyman, Axel.

All giant wins.

The Lesnar v Reigns feud and Undertaker v Wyatt really appear to be going nowhere fast. Cena vs Rusev and to some extent Rollins v Orton seem to be the only thing to look forward to. Obviously the ladder match will be high quality but you know yourself.

AJ did look super thin.

A Primal Nut

A good Raw but as someone said, a big lack of star power. It's weird that they didn't book Undertaker or Sting for the Raw where they knew all along Lesnar would not be on.

The other thing is it would be nice to see the likes of Wyatt and Rusev getting a few wins to lead into WrestleMania.

briany

If there's one guy who could make people believe in Roman Reigns, it's Paul E. giving it the old Heyman pitch. It's really his services WWE should be trying to secure instead of Brock's. Try to lure him away from his PR/advertising firm a bit more to come on TV and put over talent. He could possibly do it for anyone given time. He could have put over Axel and Cesaro given them time to really build them, but no.

seandotcomm

mental that 3 of the biggest matches are featuring part timers that will have little or no air time between now and WM

[edit - part timers is probably the wrong term for Sting ]

Scavenger XIII

seandotcomm wrote: »

[edit - part timers is probably the wrong term for Sting ]

I thing "vigilante" is the word you're looking for.

Overdone I know but I had to.

Deadlie

Axelmania is gas, but didn't Ambrose "eliminate" him the night after the RR and say something like "you're eliminated now". Small nitpick, really.

A Roman heel turn at WM would do him the world of good. That and to fully capitalise on Rollins going 'mainstream' you'd need Rollins as a face.

Lord TSC

Putting Reigns and Heyman together would ensure they've got probably the biggest heel in years, who could have a massive reign in every sense, but then I guess you're back to the big question..."Who is the guy who can replace John Cena?"

rovert

The Bella's mother went off on AJ Lee last night essentially saying AJ wasn't as committed as the Bella and she only shows up when #GIVEDIVASACHANCE is trending the Bellas are claiming she was hacked:
https://twitter.com/BellaTwins/status/572791173535952897

Lithium93_

My reaction to Paul Heyman's promo last night




Absolutely a masterclass in how to deliver a promo.

Stereomaniac

They are so blessed to have Paul Heyman on board the last few years with Brock Lesnar. I don't think I would be as invested in his matches if Paul E. wasn't painting the picture beforehand.

Lord TSC

Its a shame Heyman is utterly squandered when he's not with Brock. His pairing with Cesaro should have been so much more important for Cesaro...

mrkiscool2

Lord TSC wrote: »

Its a shame Heyman is utterly squandered when he's not with Brock. His pairing with Cesaro should have been so much more important for Cesaro...

The problem was that Cesaro was so over that to turn him heel was the completely wrong move. Same with Ryback, but he should have done more with Axel.

Rock Lesnar

Just watching Raw now and while its a storyline, but good god almighty, Steph stuck it to Cena, just brilliant

Rock Lesnar

That was a hell of a promo from Heyman, the man is just pure gold.

briany

mrkiscool2 wrote: »

The problem was that Cesaro was so over that to turn him heel was the completely wrong move. Same with Ryback, but he should have done more with Axel.

That's weird how Vince had the gall to claim on Austin's podcast that Cesaro was missing something. Cesaro was indeed getting over with fans around WM 30 and they just completely ignored his face momentum and stuck him with Heyman. They should have just let him be himself as that was clearly working. Even Austin ignored the point of Cesaro's previous overness and didn't ask Vince why they didn't just 'call an audible', as Austin is fond of saying, on Cesaro's booking.

Lord TSC

mrkiscool2 wrote: »

The problem was that Cesaro was so over that to turn him heel was the completely wrong move. Same with Ryback, but he should have done more with Axel.

I honestly think the problem was they turned him heel and then did nothing with him; a heel turn on the back of massive popularity can work brilliantly, and would have been great with Heyman as a mouth piece.

Instead, they turned him heel and then proceeded to have his manager cut segment after segment about someone else; Cesaro was an afterthought with little to no character development. If Heyman had been allowed to focus on developing Cesaro, instead of basically turning Cesaro into an excuse to hark on about Brock, then maybe the crowd wouldn't have just given up caring, face or heel, about him.

Ryback, I actually though, was great with Heyman, and Heyman did a great job building him up. Just the match results didn't help at all, as Ryback lost so often, he was neutered. Still, the relationship between the duo was brilliant.

And Axel....Axel was booked like a jobber; even his reveal as Heyman's newest client was anti-climatic, and purposefully so. And again, it was followed up with WWE hacking legs out when it came to results.

Heyman can only do so much if WWE don't book people to coincide with the awesome promos. It's why I'd love to see Reigns and Heyman join forces at Mania, and have Heyman as Reign's mouthpiece during an all-conquering HEEL reign, Reigns the new beast. A turn on Brock, and a beatdown which wrote Brock out, would give Reigns a tonne of credibility, and set up a rematch with Brock as the ass-kicking babyface who wants revenge if Brock ever came back. It also would put Reigns into a great position for a feud with Cena ("I'm the new chosen one, I'm the new face of the WWE") and Bryan ("I've beaten you, no one cares about you any more, etc"). A heel Reigns, with backing from the results and Heyman as a mouthpiece, and built on the poor reception since his Rumble win, could potentially be phenomenal. There'd be genuine money to be made.

Sadly, they'll probably just have Reigns beat Brock clean and just squander yet more opportunities though, and have him as the goody-two-shoes face who just laughs every time he loses....

Uncle Walt

mrkiscool2 wrote: »

The problem was that Cesaro was so over that to turn him heel was the completely wrong move. Same with Ryback, but he should have done more with Axel.

Two things got Cesaro over.. The "We The People" theme and the swing. Without those two things Cesaro was never gonna remain over, it was never gonna work without it, because those things made him look more over than he in reality was

aaaaaaaahhhhhh

I miss Mizdow's stunt double gimmick

A Primal Nut

Uncle Walt wrote: »

Two things got Cesaro over.. The "We The People" theme and the swing. Without those two things Cesaro was never gonna remain over, it was never gonna work without it, because those things made him look more over than he in reality was

Nobody knows that unless you try. Swagger didn't get as popular as Cesaro. Turning him heel and taking the swing off him didn't help him.

aaaaaaaahhhhhh

Size of Cesaro to Tyson

riffmongous

That was a very good RAW imo, some great segments.. but it just didnt feel like a Road to Wrestlemania Raw, I couldnt give a **** about Lesnar or the Undertaker anymore and the Sting factor is wearing off much fast as he's never there

The Miz was great, the guy doesn't get enough credit. The Stewart segment was fantastic, I hope that's not the last we see of him in the WWE.

Looper007

It's amazing going into WM that the guy they want as their new number 1 and the crowd still doesn't give a damn about him.