Raw 24-8-2015

seandotcomm

briany wrote: »

I dislike the smarky crowds as much as anyone, but I have to admit that they're also the most vocal and participative. Sometimes this means cringey or offensive chants in some of the more 'militant' cities, but they give the biggest pops, too. I'm sure it's no accident that the WWE chose the city for these three shows, to generate maximum fanfare.

Agree. They coulda been really unlucky if they brought the Dudleys back to crickets in some random city

Mr.Nice Guy

I fell asleep before the Sting return which was a shame! I liked the way they did it though with the reveal of him replacing the statue. I didn't expect it.

With regards the women, I have to agree it was a dreadful segment. I feel sorry for them. You could write some wonderful stories for them such as referencing Becky's long journey to make it to WWE, or how Charlotte wants to make her father proud after a difficult year and the losses that her family have felt (assuming her and Ric were comfortable going there of course), but instead of all that it's just lazy stuff with Becky now being the 'wild one' based on last night's promo with Alicia, whilst Charlotte's character seems to involve bragging about how great her Dad was (which would be a fantastic heel character but as a babyface absolutely sucks). It just seems such a waste.

I didn't find anyone in that segment last night remotely likeable. They ALL came across as bitchy women who are up their own arses. No one wants to get behind anyone like that, male or female. The sad thing is the most likeable character in the segment was Miz, who was the only one given decent material.

They have ruined the debut of these women and basically they are all secondary to the idea that WWE now loves women and that this is a 'Diva Revolution'. They can repeat that all they like but fans aren't stupid and can see that this is not working.

I think the only way to salvage this now is to break up the teams.

seandotcomm

Think it was on Colt Cabanas podcast last week they were talking about the very term of Diva being terrible...
An obvious fact... but you'd think they'd cop on and drop it if they're going for the whole "women are equally as impressive as men" schtick.
Bring back the feckin Women's championship already

Mr.Nice Guy

seandotcomm wrote: »

Think it was on Colt Cabanas podcast last week they were talking about the very term of Diva being terrible...
An obvious fact... but you'd think they'd cop on and drop it if they're going for the whole "women are equally as impressive as men" schtick.
Bring back the feckin Women's championship already

That's a good point. I don't think any woman would be thrilled at being described as a 'diva'.

With regards the Dudley Boyz last night did anyone spot Q from Impractical Jokers marking out?

Rjd2

Mr.Nice Guy wrote: »

I fell asleep before the Sting return which was a shame! I liked the way they did it though with the reveal of him replacing the statue. I didn't expect it.

With regards the women, I have to agree it was a dreadful segment. I feel sorry for them. You could write some wonderful stories for them such as referencing Becky's long journey to make it to WWE, or how Charlotte wants to make her father proud after a difficult year and the losses that her family have felt (assuming her and Ric were comfortable going there of course), but instead of all that it's just lazy stuff with Becky now being the 'wild one' based on last night's promo with Alicia, whilst Charlotte's character seems to involve bragging about how great her Dad was (which would be a fantastic heel character but as a babyface absolutely sucks). It just seems such a waste.

I didn't find anyone in that segment last night remotely likeable. They ALL came across as bitchy women who are up their own arses. No one wants to get behind anyone like that, male or female. The sad thing is the most likeable character in the segment was Miz, who was the only one given decent material.

They have ruined the debut of these women and basically they are all secondary to the idea that WWE now loves women and that this is a 'Diva Revolution'. They can repeat that all they like but fans aren't stupid and can see that this is not working.

I think the only way to salvage this now is to break up the teams.

It reminds me a little of Emma, they gave her no storyline and reason for people to care about her, they just assumed the dance would be enough to get in over in front of a bigger audience. Terrible, the dance obviously was the icing on the cake, but she got over on so much more than the dance on NXT.

The whole angle is flawed from the top, what exactly are they rebelling against? Why are they not interested in the divas title, do we have to wait for Aj's reign to be surpassed for it to be brought up?

Lord TSC

The problem lies in the fact that WWE don't really want to push them all that much though. Hell, Stephanie has repeatedly said that the reason they are doing it is because other female-based sports are getting some traction. Much like Zack Ryder, they managed to get themselves over to the point WWE HAD to do something with them, but didn't want to, and that shows in the "story" presented

rovert

bmorrissey wrote: »

Maybe im thinking too much into it but if sting gets a title shot, all logic is gone, he hasnt won a match in WWE yet and he gets a title shot. Then again maybe im looking too much into it

I am totally with you but's never been a consistent WWE thing that's more of WCW or ROH more sports based product thing. Like the 30 or 90 day title rule.

Jon Stewart getting up from the AA wrecked my head more.

ricero

A bit puzzled at when the whole lesnar v taker part 3 is going to take place. I hope they don't drag this out until wrestlemania next year.

JohnMc1

Rjd2 wrote: »

PAIGE ‏@RealPaigeWWE 8m8 minutes ago
You helped us create change and then did your best to disrespect. Niceeeee jobbbbbbbb!

:eek:

She seems to have deleted that. I can't stand wrestling crowds now. They're trying to be like the ECW crowd 2.0 where they're trying to be the show instead of watching the show and enjoying it.

Granted the Divas Revolutions seems to be dragging its feet now because they just seem to be tag team matches or 1 member of team Bella vs 1 member of Team Paige or team BAD and trading wins with little to no consequences. Fan apathy is to be expected after awhile. Is Nikki injured or this just blatant padding so she can break AJ's streak?

Rjd2

JohnMc1 wrote: »

She seems to have deleted that. I can't stand wrestling crowds now. They're trying to be like the ECW crowd 2.0 where they're trying to be the show instead of watching the show and enjoying it.

Granted the Divas Revolutions seems to be dragging its feet now because they just seem to be tag team matches or 1 member of team Bella vs 1 member of Team Paige or team BAD and trading wins with little to no consequences. Fan apathy is to be expected after awhile. Is Nikki injured or this just blatant padding so she can break AJ's streak?

Would Vince be so petty?:p;)

Lord TSC

nikki said she needed another three weeks and one day. The one day bit struck me as oddly specific. Wonder if in three weeks, she will drop it the day before she breaks the record, which would actually be some nice motivation behind a divas title match...

BMMachine

thought Becky was cringe. They have given her the comedy sidekick routine... short shelf life with that one

JohnMc1

Rjd2 wrote: »

Would Vince be so petty?:p;)

Look how quickly they had Orton beat Brock's "Youngest World Champion in History" record when Brock left.

Lord TSC wrote:

nikki said she needed another three weeks and one day. The one day bit struck me as oddly specific. Wonder if in three weeks, she will drop it the day before she breaks the record, which would actually be some nice motivation behind a divas title match...

That definitely makes you wonder, but they're not building towards a challenger who can put Nikki's breaking the record in jeopardy. They're all just trading wins with little to no consequences. And fans would **** all over them if on the event before Nikki's due to break the record Steph brings out a girl from out of nowhere and beats her. All these months of storyline and matches would have been for nothing.

Ridley

New Day is the gift that keeps on giving.

Moneymaker

Can't argue with any of this.

ricero

Glad to see I'm not in the minority and most people agree that this diva revolution sucks

Agent Coulson

I loved the line that Vince must have fed Saxton " Sting the true immortal"

JBL called him the franchise of WcW

Cole called him the vigilante

Saxton called him the true immortal

Lithium93_

It's a shame they didn't bring out Vince seeing as it was his 70th birthday yesterday.

Also RIP Bo Dallas, we hardly knew ye

Jerichoholic

Ridley wrote: »

New Day is the gift that keeps on giving.

The New Day is the real revolution. They are incredible. The women stuff is garbage, if it was anyway close to decent they wouldn't get booed out of the building. Telling the fans that something is great over and over and over always means it's awful.

CastorTroy

Is it me or does Paige seem to be wearing that push up bra every time we see her now?

Is this the first time in a while we've had someone come up who wasn't actively on NXT recorded show outside of being a Rosebud? I'm just waiting for him to say it wasn't his fault.

Didn't Sasha pin Nikki a couple weeks ago? Doesn't that usually lead to a title match? Just having matches between the women for the sake of it is pointless. Wouldn't surprise me if they just put team mates against each other and ignore the fact they're in a team at all.

So who was Stardust and Barrett's opponents meant to be?

briany

In kayfabe, the Brock segment made no sense. Heyman and Lesnar were under the impression that Taker was present in the building. If they believed this, they wouldn't have one segment and then feck off. They'd be looking for him all night. Either it's that Lesnar & Heyman just didn't ask, or Taker was hiding out in the back and snuck off in a waiting car. As far as I know, Taker's teleportation powers don't have infinite range. I think he pretty much has to be in the building to begin with. /kayfabe

CastorTroy wrote: »

Is it me or does Paige seem to be wearing that push up bra every time we see her now?

It gets two thumbs up from Scott Hall.

the groutch

Rjd2 wrote: »

Would Vince be so petty?:p;)

yep, and I don't think it's just because of Punk.
I think a lot of it stems from the fact AJ wouldn't play ball in relation to Total Divas.

Blue_Dabadee

I find it funny how people thought it was Bull Dempsey as the new Wyatt Family member.

Stereomaniac

Yeah I thought that was pretty funny too. I was doubting myself, wondering what had I seen.

Omackeral

He's more Eugene and Gene Snitsky looking IMO. Eugene Snitsky, that's it.

JohnMc1

the groutch wrote: »

yep, and I don't think it's just because of Punk.
I think a lot of it stems from the fact AJ wouldn't play ball in relation to Total Divas.

What happened with her and Total Divas? I always found it interesting that she was never on the show or even mentioned her [unless in a one off mentioning that they're wrestling her]

Stereomaniac

She refused to be a part of it, as far as I know.

Rjd2

Give them all the belts.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z9aoTLldUIc

Stereomaniac

They need to annihilate the Prime Time Players if they're going to face the Dudley Boys I think.

JP Liz V1

Ridley wrote: »

New Day is the gift that keeps on giving.

Them against Dudleys will be good

the groutch

Big E Vs Reverend D-Von in a preach-off.

mrkiscool2

They've been having a war of words on twitter too which is quite funny to read!

Stereomaniac

Has it been coming from all 5 Twitter accounts or do they both have team ones that they use?

Rjd2

Storm on the "divas"

Spot on.

Former WWE, WCW and ECW star Lance Storm has updated the Q&A section of his website and posted a lengthy response when asked about his thoughts on WWE's Divas Revolution. Storm argues that WWE is failing in their attempt to resuscitate the women's division, why fans aren't buying and it what must be done for the new era of women's wrestling to truly begin. Storm wrote:

"Before I get into my thoughts on what they are doing let me first state that I am a big fan and supporter of women's wrestling and have a great deal of respect for many of the women involved in the "Divas revolution". For the most part I think the Divas Revolution is being screwed and unless they change the way it is being presented it will fail, or at least not succeed to the level it could or more importantly should. To fully understand why you have to look at how the women are presented in NXT and how that enabled them to get over to the level that they did, and then look at how they are being presented in WWE and consider if that will also allow them to get over to that same level.

In NXT they are women wrestlers, they are competing for the NXT Women's Championship; a title belt that looks credible (actually better than the Men's Title in my opinion) and therefore can be respected. We were never told that the women were going to be taken seriously or that they were going to have good matches and be respected. They were just presented on the show in a respectable light, allowed to focus on competing to be a champion, and given enough time to do a good job if they were able. The women worked hard, had good matches, were given good angles, and fans started to care, and they got over. It was in a sense Organic.

In WWE the women are "Divas" a term when used in any other industry is a derogatory term referring to stuck up bitchy women. They compete (occasionally) for the Diva's Title, which is a purple belt with a butterfly on it. At best this looks like a Barbie toy belt and at worst it's derogatory and offensive because of the female sexual euphemism for butterfly. The women in WWE need a new title belt to compete for and in all honesty it needs to be renamed the WWE Women's World Title.

Furthermore coming out and telling us there is a Diva's Revolution and the women are going to be good and important now, was a big mistake. Don't tell us it's going to be good, just let it be good and we will come to that conclusion all on our own, like we did with NXT. Also in NXT each woman was given her turn to be focused on and chase the title. This allowed us to get behind them and follow their journey and struggle, while keeping the focus on becoming Champion. In WWE we are getting 3 groups of 3, which makes it near impossible to focus on the women individually and form an attachment to any of them and it has completely removed the focus on the title and being a champion.

In NXT the women got over one at a time. Paige won the first NXT Women's Title Tournament in a really good match with Emma, which started the ball rolling. When Paige got called up, she was stripped of the title and another tournament was held. Charlotte won this tournament in an awesome match with Nattie, to set her up and get her over. Sasha was then pushed and focused on and she got over, with Becky in a secondary role. Baylee was used to get Charlotte and Sasha over while building her own underdog status. Becky then got the focus and the push and she got over huge even in losing her title challenge (an amazing accomplishment). The long slow build was then finally paid off with Baylee in Brooklyn and we all saw what a great reaction she got winning the title.

Since the start of the Diva's revolution on RAW the title has not been the focus at all. PCB are faces, Team BAD are heels, and Team Bella float back and forth. All are getting wins and losses, no one is moving forwards or backwards and no individual is getting focus on directly. We are constantly being told it's a new era, but to be honest we are just getting slightly longer, slightly better matches, with a few new faces.

When the crowd on RAW in Brooklyn turned on the women's match it wasn't the fault of the crowd nor the fault of the women, it was the way it was presented. In the promo to set up the match Nikki Bella actually said that wins and losses didn't matter and that these muti-diva matches are pointless. She said the only thing that mattered was the Diva's Title and how she will soon be the longest reigning Diva's Champ of all time. How can anyone be surprised or angry that the crowd gave up on the match that followed when they were flat out told before it started that it didn't matter? Furthermore how can we care about Nikki's long title reign when I doubt anyone even remember the last time she defended it?

I do remember both Sasha and Charlotte making Nikki tap out to win tag matches, a fact that wasn't focus on, nor did it earn them a title match. To get this thing over you have to completely overhaul the way in which it is presented, like they did in NXT. You must focus on each woman in turn with a constant focus on the Championship. Unfortunately because they also have to focus on and promote Total Divas, they have to focus on a large group of women, in particularly the Bellas, so this may be impossible. The Bellas have improved a ton over the last couple years and they are more than capable of having good matches, but in my opinion as long as they are being focused on, this will never feel new."

J. Marston

He's so right about the belt. They're trying to present the women as being part of the women's revolution in sport but they're fighting (or not fighting...) for a sparkly pink butterfly shaped belt.

Someone on Reddit had a cool idea on how to get rid of it...

The day before Nikka Bella will beat AJ Lee's title reign, I want Sasha Banks to get in a title match with her, win the belt, have the black SUV pull up, her body guards fall out with a trash can, Sasha drops the belt in Alundra Blayze style, pours gasoline on it, burn that mu****er down, next week on RAW she comes out with a bossy as **** shiny ass women's belt that looks fly as **** on her shoulder, void of the word Diva. I'll take one of those and a side of Becky Lynch feud plz.

Grammar is shíte and the gasoline might be a tad much but the overall idea is great. Get Sasha to throw it in the bin.

SureYWouldntYa

They won't get rid of the term Diva, not while Total Divas is still a show

rovert

Lance's piece was pretty thorough and spot on. But I am kind of over the Divas Revolution and the discussion of it. Everyone has written a how to fix the Diva's division article this week. Things aren't going to change unless something truly radical happens. WWE is so inflexible in how they do things. The some of the talent lashed out at fans Monday night when they should be pointing fingers at creative or at least trying to negotiate better quality verbiage, characters and storylines kind of like what the Shield did backstage.

jaykhunter

SureYWouldntYa wrote: »

They won't get rid of the term Diva, not while Total Divas is still a show

Yep! It's this weird dichotomy of WWE wanting to have as many buzzwords as possible (i.e. not fans, but WWE Universe). It also gives wrestlers something to rebel against, that calling themselves 'wrestlers' gets a pop. But WWE just aren't that smart and love alienating themselves from the general population.