Monday Night Raw July 18th 2016

Agent Coulson

Is Smackdown going live on Sky?

Itssoeasy

Agent Coulson wrote: »

Is Smackdown going live on Sky?

Yep.

seandotcomm

That whole segment was so tame...

Foley is a strange choice. Even in the segment there I feel it should have been an out and out heel against good guy Bryan.

Omackeral

Agent Coulson wrote: »

Already throwing away the Cruiserweight division with an offhand announcement

Ok maybe actually wait til we see what they're doing before declaring it thrown away!? The CWC has been class so far. Could be good.

Omackeral

Agent Coulson wrote: »

Is Smackdown going live on Sky?

It's on the same time tomorrow on Sky Sports 5

Mr.Nice Guy

Deleted User wrote: »

Foley is a strange choice. Even in the segment there I feel it should have been an out and out heel against good guy Bryan.

I agree.

Foley is maybe the best babyface authority figure ever, but he's been back on telly every so often that his returns don't mean much any more. They went for a nostalgia pop with him but I feel like it won't work this time.

Eric Bischoff would have been a great contrast to Daniel Bryan, plus there's history with him and Stephanie to play off.

I can't see Foley lasting long in the role. My prediction is he'll be ousted within 3 months. Probably have The Authority back then.

johnnyryan89

[Deleted User] wrote: »

Foley is a strange choice. Even in the segment there I feel it should have been an out and out heel against good guy Bryan.

Have a feeling Foley will be gone at Survivor Series or by Royal Rumble. Bring in the face gm and a legend like Mick to make the show look hip and cool but Smackdown will probably better Raw in the ratings war and give team Smackdown the win at SS and can have Triple H return for a hostile takeover to become gm.

Mr.Nice Guy

Mr.Nice Guy wrote: »

I agree.

Foley is maybe the best babyface authority figure ever, but he's been back on telly every so often that his returns don't mean much any more. They went for a nostalgia pop with him but I feel like it won't work this time.

Eric Bischoff would have been a great contrast to Daniel Bryan, plus there's history with him and Stephanie to play off.

I can't see Foley lasting long in the role. My prediction is he'll be ousted within 3 months. Probably have The Authority back then.

Yeah, feels like its going to build up to Stephanie saying you're doing a lousy job and HHH etc taking over.

Would have loved to have seen Bischoff announced.

johnnysmack

What a stupid end to the show but it does have the potential to set up two champions.

764dak

Mick Foley is in charge of the cruiserweight division while Daniel Bryan is on Smackdown.

IncognitoMan

Looked like they were setting up Seth to Raw and Dean to Smackdown at the end as well. Raw definitely looks like it's getting the better deal here

Ben Gadot

IncognitoMan wrote: »

Looked like they were setting up Seth to Raw and Dean to Smackdown at the end as well. Raw definitely looks like it's getting the better deal here

I expect Smackdown to get a tighter group of stars while Raw will of course get stars but also filler.

To be honest all going well Smackdown is the show I'll be looking forward to if it's 2 hours of exclusive quality as opposed to the tediousness of the 3 hour Raw.

Rollins, Cena and Reigns will be the "star men" of Raw if I'm guessing. After those 3 I think they'll make the draft very kind to SD, they kind of have to if they want it to work.

Chain Smoker

Alternatively : cena goes to smackdown at the request of USA, Raw gets everyone else because it's raw.


Is stephanie writing a book called Ladyballs?!

Lord TSC

The end cleared up a question I asked in the draft thread yesterday; namely, if Steph has first pick, why wouldn't she choose the WWE Champion Ambrose over Rollins. The end, and the title confusion, means that Steph can pick Rollins as the WWE Champ. It also sets up enough confusion to allow the GM without a champ after the PPV to set up a new world title.

Foley seemed strange at first, but they needed a face to start things off; when Steph was talking, I was left thinking "Who'll tune into a show with a heel as the lead figure when you've got Shane and Bryan on Smackdown?" Likewise, while the CW division seems a strange fit for Raw, I'd imagine that...

A. they'll get more time on Raw
B. Bryan, logically, probably wouldn't segregate them, and they can still move specific wrestlers over to the SD brand if nessecary.

Outside of the opening and closing segment, usual Raw filler. The CW division will give me a reason to stick with Raw for a while, I guess Really excited for the Draft tonight though.

IncognitoMan

Ben Gadot wrote: »

I expect Smackdown to get a tighter group of stars while Raw will of course get stars but also filler.

To be honest all going well Smackdown is the show I'll be looking forward to if it's 2 hours of exclusive quality as opposed to the tediousness of the 3 hour Raw.

Rollins, Cena and Reigns will be the "star men" of Raw if I'm guessing. After those 3 I think they'll make the draft very kind to SD, they kind of have to if they want it to work.

Ah yeah I was just hoping that Rollins would end up on smackdown instead of raw as like you said I can't really be bothered watching 3 hour raws every week.

With Rollins and the cruiserweight division Raw is looking strong. Really looking forward to tonight now.

Bounty Hunter

I love how Bryan is almost embarrassed about how popular he is when he comes out.

johnnyryan89

Is the rest of Raw worth watching? Caught as far as the 12 man tag match and lost interest mid way through it.

ERG89

The review a wai draft is enjoyable. Only watched the opening I can't imagine how hard Raw will be to watch with Stephanie being an authority figure; not thrilled about the human dust ball Mick Foley showing up but better than HHH.

Cheese Wagstaff

Interesting to note how Ambrose no-sold Rollins' turnbuckle Powerbomb straight into Dirty Deeds, and not a mention from anyone about it anywhere.

A few weeks ago Reigns no-sold it into a Superman Punch, and all the talk was about how he disrespected the move that ended Sting's career and made Seth look weak.

Interesting.

SureYWouldntYa

Cheese Wagstaff wrote: »

Interesting to note how Ambrose no-sold Rollins' turnbuckle Powerbomb straight into Dirty Deeds, and not a mention from anyone about it anywhere.

A few weeks ago Reigns no-sold it into a Superman Punch, and all the talk was about how he disrespected the move that ended Sting's career and made Seth look weak.

Interesting.

He instantly hit the dirty deeds on the rebound from the turnbuckle

He took a while to pin Rollins, and didn't pin with both legs allowing Rollins to put his foot on the rope

Commentators sold it as such too

Lithium93_

Watched the open of the show live, There was a time when hearing Mick Foley's theme would have me delighted, but last night just left me with a feeling of 'MEH, he's just being brought out for nostalgia's sake'.

Bounty Hunter

Thing with Foley is that unlike Shane, Steph will probably be around a whole lot more than her so they probably didn't really want the biggest of figures in the role he will have and although he will be the face to her heel he could also be a) a corporate stooge type character or b) someone Steph can blame for any shortcomings and potentially fire down the line.

beakerjoe

I can see Shane and Steph picking rosters and then at the end Vinnie comes out to inform them both that they picked eachothers rosters instead.

CastorTroy

I actually enjoyed the bit in the ring before the 12 man tag. Cena genuinely seemed like he didn't know what Enzo was gonna say.

I can see conflicts down the line between Steph and Mick, which is what they are probably already planning.

The Ascension are clearly just a joke now going by their bit.

So with the Cruiserweight division announcement, could we see guys coming in from the CWC tournament, bypassing NXT?

Cheese Wagstaff

SureYWouldntYa wrote: »

He instantly hit the dirty deeds on the rebound from the turnbuckle

He took a while to pin Rollins, and didn't pin with both legs allowing Rollins to put his foot on the rope

Commentators sold it as such too

It's still a parallel situation regardless of what happens after the responding move.

I'm just noting again how interesting the difference in response is.

Lord TSC

Cheese Wagstaff wrote: »

It's still a parallel situation regardless of what happens after the responding move.

I'm just noting again how interesting the difference in response is.

Even ignoring the fact that Ambrose did sell it (and the argument is "What did they do after receiving a move...well, regardless of what happened after the move...") , obviously there's a difference, because ultimately, people aren't holding one specific example during one specific match against Roman Reigns. They are holding two-three whole years of booking against him. Reigns is booked like an invincible Superman. Ambrose is not. One move doesn't change that...

CSF

I was sold on this Raw the minute I found out Daniel Bryan was gonna be on my TV every week. Smackdown has become a must watch again. The kind of guy you couldn't help but want to go for pints with.

Cotts72

With raw getting the cruiserweight title I'd love if smackdown had something unique along the lines of the hardcore 24/7 title,now I know hardcore is out but 24/7 championship could make great entertainment

J. Marston

Cotts72 wrote: »

With raw getting the cruiserweight title I'd love if smackdown had something unique along the lines of the hardcore 24/7 title,now I know hardcore is out but 24/7 championship could make great entertainment

They'll probably get the Women's title.