RAW 16-8-2016

Lithium93_

The go home show for Summerslam, and he's baaaaaack again, odds of an F-5 are likely.



Quick hits preview of the show..

Lesnar to address The Viper

Can Roman Reigns spoil Rusev’s night yet again?

Seth Rollins to deconstruct The Demon King

How will The New Day retaliate against Gallows & Anderson?

Do cheaters prosper?

Charlotte goes solo


SKY SPORTS 5 - 01:00

Insect Overlord

Anyone watching tonight? I got no notification from YouTube for the pre-show, for a change.

ricero

Rusev is great craic

Insect Overlord

Mick's been using the ol' Just For Men on his beard this week!

Neil3030

Steph burying the Rusevs in 3...2.......

Mr.Nice Guy

An File wrote: »

Mick's been using the ol' Just For Men on his beard this week!

I'm glad as it's looked awful looking.

Neil3030

Roman got a shiner?

Agent Coulson

Sheamus shut up the crowd with that comeback lol

J. Marston

Best of 7 series? Weird.

Didn't Angle and Benoit have one of them way back?

Agent Coulson

J. Marston wrote: »

Best of 7 series? Weird.

Didn't Angle and Benoit have one of them way back?

Magnum TA vs Nikita Koloff from NWA in the mid 80's & Benoit v Booker T from WCW in the mid 90's are the ones I remember.

Mr.Nice Guy

I don't get the point of a best of 7 series with nothing on the line. How would the enjoyment of ultimately winning the best of 7 differ from the enjoyment of winning just one of the matches in the best of 7?

Agent Coulson

Slater interrupts Brock lol I love it.

Mr.Nice Guy

Heath Slater's promos annoy the hell out of me. He has Tommy Tiernan syndrome. Just keep yelling in the hope of getting a reaction.

ricero

Great segment love brock

Mr.Nice Guy

Thank you, Brock.

paconnors

Feckin missed it my sky go went down

princemuzzy

he went there with the mma stuff

Agent Coulson

So they have stopped calling Gallows and Anderson the Club.

irish_stevo815

So not much happened by the looks of this place......think I'll just wait for King Ross' WTF Moments

Neil3030

Finn's Demon gimmick seemed to get a nice response from an otherwise dead crowd. Rest of the show was pretty meh.

Bounty Hunter

Skipped through this Raw more than any since the draft and to a similar extent to what I was doing before the draft probably.


Glad to see the Demon get such a big reaction as I am sure they pulled that out for the fans who don't watch NXT so as to sell balor and him vs Seth at Summerslam.


I found it funny when during the main event they returned from commercial to Rusev on the Mic trying to get heat (or to put it better stop the fans from being Anti-Reigns) by reminding / mocking the fans about the fact that they were cheering for a Russian & a Bulgarian.

ricero

If i had a euro for every time the words "demon king" was said during raw i would be a millionare

Lord TSC

Man, I adore Heath Slater. His promo standing up to Brock was brilliant, and his "I need to feed my kids" story is something everyone should be able to get behind. I'm wondering now...is this building up to Heath getting a win over Strowman, who's being billed as unstoppable? Regardless, Heath impressed me more than anyone else on the show.

Not sure how I feel about The Club's Doctor thing. Or debuting the Demon on Raw, or the fact the Demon will probably be losing his very first match.

Rusev is gold on the mic. Though not sure why the guy defending his wife's honor is the bad guy...

And at least we get a reason for why Cesaro and Sheamus will be fighting every week for nearly two months now.

Not a bad Raw. Since the split, they've been consistently above average, which is grand for now, but they need to kick on a bit.

Lord TSC

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rb-VIIX15jE

Crowd supposedly being edited during the Reigns/Rusev match

Neil3030

The night after Badd Blood 1997, Vince instructed creative that he wanted Taker vs Kane for Wrestlemania. That's a build period from October through to the following April. Could you imagine a match* getting that sort of build these days?

This week we saw, in my opinion, the clearest example of what we now have in the instant gratification (<cough>, ADD) era - Zayn calls out Sheamus (for no clear reason) on Twitter at 3:38pm, they are in the ring having a match by 8:30pm.

*I know the Rock v Cena built for a year, but Rock wasn't full-time on the roster like Taker and Kane would have been in 97/98.

Agent Coulson

Video of the fan dragged from the ring after trying to jump Seth

https://twitter.com/JoseKB56/status/765371173605548033

Agent Coulson

I think the The Demon Kane was said instead of the Demon King quite a few times.

Rock Lesnar

So they hold off Balors demon entrance until the last raw before summerslam, surely they should have saved it for the ppv.

I loved Lesnar's I don't give a sh*t about your kids line to Slater, best part of the show for me, hopefully we see more then just suplexes in his matches going forward

Bounty Hunter

Rock Lesnar wrote: »

I loved Lesnar's I don't give a sh*t about your kids line to Slater, best part of the show for me, hopefully we see more then just suplexes in his matches going forward

Yeah same for me. I honestly think Brock can be very good on the Mic and lines like those are when he is at his very best. Obviously it's best he still picks and chooses when to speak and that Paulie does the majority of the work so when Brock does have a quip like that it has even more impact but it's little things like that line that make him such a bad ass and make him stand out so much from everyone else on the roster.

phatkev

Rock Lesnar wrote: »

So they hold off Balors demon entrance until the last raw before summerslam, surely they should have saved it for the ppv.

personally I think they should off held of on the demon until the RR or WM. Have Finn lose at summerslam and have Seth tease/pester him over the next few months saying something along the lines of the demon king is just a myth and we'll never see it on Raw. then Finn eventually loses it and debuts the demon at RR/WR....oh fantasy booking:o But instead vince saw the $$$ that could be made of him and blew his load straight away

Bounty Hunter

phatkev wrote: »

personally I think they should off held of on the demon until the RR or WM. Have Finn lose at summerslam and have Seth tease/pester him over the next few months saying something along the lines of the demon king is just a myth and we'll never see it on Raw. then Finn eventually loses it and debuts the demon at RR/WR....oh fantasy booking:o But instead vince saw the $$$ that could be made of him and blew his load straight away

I hope they hold it off for special occasions from Summerslam onwards but I always expected it to be used in a similar way to how they have because they wanted to introduce Finn & his full character to fans who don't watch NXT or who aren't like us (i.e The Internet Fans) and to do so they had to show The Demon. Doing so gets those fans to pop big for Finn and get into him / want to see more of him instead of just wonder who is this lad and why is he in the main event. After things like what happened on this Raw Finn will hopefully get a better reaction from fans in attendance on Raw.

He should be fine at Summerslam when the hardcore fans will be out in force but the kids going to Raw might now shout for him and think he is cool because of his face paint.

Personally I think he is winning at SS and our own Fergall will be the first ever Universal Champion in the WWE.

Lithium93_

Read a while back, that Finn,

would be going over/winning at Summerslam

and Rollins

would be chasing after the title

Obviously read the spoiler tagged stuff at your own warning/peril..

764dak

Balor showing up Rollins everytime they met almost guarantees a Rollins win at SummerSlam.

CastorTroy

Was sure The Demon Kane woudld appear as a joke in some capacity.

Once again, I'm liking Slater's bits. Find it funny he's been on both Raw and Smackdown and Bo and Axel haven't really been on either.

Also, I did like Sasha in that outfit. I'd say she'll win on Sunday. Wonder who'd be next. Is it too early for Nia Jax to go after the title? Think she has to fight a fulltime roster member first.

Strange to have the Primetme Players team up again for Titu to attack Darren since they were feuding already.

So did Roman win Lana or something? I'm confused by that and why they gave away the match before Summerslam.

Why announce a Best of 7 series? It's not like they don't have mutiple matches in a row as it is? Wasn't it Randy and Sheamus who seemed to fight each other every week?

Ridley

Bounty Hunter wrote: »

Yeah same for me. I honestly think Brock can be very good on the Mic and lines like those are when he is at his very best. Obviously it's best he still picks and chooses when to speak and that Paulie does the majority of the work so when Brock does have a quip like that it has even more impact but it's little things like that line that make him such a bad ass and make him stand out so much from everyone else on the roster.

I enjoyed Heyman selling what a big deal it was for Slater to irritate Lesnar into speaking as well.

Lithium93_

SureYWouldntYa

Roman closing out Raw on top 2 weeks in a row just shows their medium/long term plans

Balor/Rollins or Sasha/Charlotte, one of their segments should be closing Raw

Why put him in a midcard title scene only to put it main event on Raw, the Universal title should almost always be the main event with the odd appearance of the womens title if you want to legitimize either of the people in that scene

citytillidie

Agent Coulson wrote: »

So they have stopped calling Gallows and Anderson the Club.

Doc Gallows from TNA :pac:

Utopia Parkway

SureYWouldntYa wrote: »

Roman closing out Raw on top 2 weeks in a row just shows their medium/long term plans

You just know Vince is choking to get him back in the title picture asap. And the whole Finn thing is probably just a sop to Triple H while they get Reigns ready for yet another big push in the autumn.

Cianan2

SureYWouldntYa wrote: »

Roman closing out Raw on top 2 weeks in a row just shows their medium/long term plans

Balor/Rollins or Sasha/Charlotte, one of their segments should be closing Raw

Why put him in a midcard title scene only to put it main event on Raw, the Universal title should almost always be the main event with the odd appearance of the womens title if you want to legitimize either of the people in that scene

I find that the main event stuff tends to happen at the end of hour 2 for the past few months and the stuff closing the show is generally upper midcard stuff, but maybe that is just my own observation??

Cena usually comes on at the 60 minutes Mark every week too, so I get the feeling they do it that way so they don't lose people's interest until the end of the 3rd hour...

Loughc

Having Reigns go over clean on Rusev 6 days before their Summerslam match is ridiculous booking. They could have had interference or for him to lose by DQ or countout and still have Reigns spear him to end the show.

It's back to trying to get Reigns over in the most obvious forceful blanant way.

beakerjoe

Raw, while nothing must see.... was quite enjoyable last Monday , as it has been since the brand split.

Rollins v Balor. Nice build, again nothing must see but its perfectly fine. Watching their in-ring scuffles, you can see they have great chemistry and Im sure they will have a great match Sunday. Like thise above I too was sure The Demon Kane woudld appear as a joke in some capacity. Glad he didnt.

Slater was great, used perfectly in his segment with Brock and my god Brock doesnt need Heyman. Hes fine talking by himself. Heyman is grand but his promos are the same week in week out for 3 years, Brock taking over from Heyman was a great move. Short, Sweet and to the point.

Rusev was great and the match with Roman was a good watch but I hate Roman somuch as this Cena-esque bad ass character. He just comes off like a d!ck. Let him be a heel.

Owens and Y2J are great together..... poor Tom Phillips....

ERG89

Sami Zayn was there at least, in a forgettable extra role with a win of Sheamus. Lets hope the winner of the best of 7 series gets a personality as Cesaro while a good wrestler could bore me talking in any language.
Sasha came across as a heel on commentary, not as awful as her performance last week. Charlotte delivered with her promo as her character.
JerichOwens were good even if Jericho looks like Ethan Hawke more than Bon Jovi now, wish tjey were able to go back and forth with Enzo and Cass more.
Anderson and Gallows doing them skits looks so jarring, i'm sure Vince enjoys them but other than that they are lazily written toilet humour.
Why do Rusev vs Reigns for 20+ minutes with a clean finish 6 days before an event other than just to fill TV time? I did like seeing the pipes spot again in their backstage brawl, love that sound.
Lesnar looked like he was not bored during the Slater segment, as it was his moment.
Demon Kane, Dean Cain King thing should have been saved for the PPV, I don't watch NXT but very disappointed that they seemingly haven't done enough with his character or improved his mic work. This demon thing sounds like Orton "hearing voices". Cool entrance and that but tell us why you want to be champ and your journey to this moment. If he can't say it use a video like they did with Orton vs Lesnar.

johnnyryan89

Loughc wrote: »

Having Reigns go over clean on Rusev 6 days before their Summerslam match is ridiculous booking. They could have had interference or for him to lose by DQ or countout and still have Reigns spear him to end the show.

It's back to trying to get Reigns over in the most obvious forceful blanant way.

Maybe Rusev is picking up the win at Summerslam clean or by some interference or even Reigns gets the win by DQ. Give him his clean win now and do the screwy finish at Summerslam to keep the belt on Rusev and push Reigns onto another feud if that said person was to cost him the match.

CSF

johnnyryan89 wrote: »

Maybe Rusev is picking up the win at Summerslam clean or by some interference or even Reigns gets the win by DQ. Give him his clean win now and do the screwy finish at Summerslam to keep the belt on Rusev and push Reigns onto another feud if that said person was to cost him the match.

You can bet your behind Reigns is taking that title. May not be Sunday (probably will) but Reigns is coming out on top of that feud, which is disappointing because Rusev is actually really good, where Reigns is not.

beakerjoe

Like CSF, I fear Roman is going over at the expense of the undervalued Rusev. Rusev has been rehabbed very well in recent months esp since regaining the US title..... but I believe that he has been built up to be feed to Reigns. Sad isn't it

Lithium93_

Nice to see Steph back doing what she does best, belittling wrestlers and not a sign of comeuppance on the horizon for her..

Bounty Hunter

CSF wrote: »

You can bet your behind Reigns is taking that title. May not be Sunday (probably will) but Reigns is coming out on top of that feud, which is disappointing because Rusev is actually really good, where Reigns is not.

Weirdly while agreeing with you I believe Rusev will leave Summerslam still the US champ and if I had to guess I would say he will actually win the match but perhaps it won't be clean (Lana getting involved).

I think this will be an extended program and Reigns getting a clean win right before the ppv against Rusev plus a dusty finish would mean it would continue which imo is something the WWE would want as it's probably the only feud where Reigns can get some face cheers /pops atm by going up against the evil foreigner. Most likely at their next PPV bout Reigns would then win the US title but tbh against Reigns Rusev won't look bad losing in the fans eyes and if it means him getting featured more prominantly as a result (which has happened the past few weeks) then it ain't all bad. Rusev Rulez (sorry Ryback).




If you had Rusev drop his anti-America quips he would 100% be the face in this feud though as they really need to improve the writing for Reigns. The guy defending his wifes honor in 99 cases out of 100 is not the bad guy so they really shouldn't have Reigns making fun of Lana & insulting the couple etc Just have him stick up for his country and be against the heelish stuff Rusev says. Simples

SureYWouldntYa

I feel they put Reigns against Rusev because theoretically there's no way they can boo Reigns against the anti American, but as BH said if you take away the anti America shtick then Reigns is a clear heel

He interrupted their wedding re-enactment and caused Lana's wedding dress to be ruined, and has gotten at Rusev in a sneak attack after his match last week

It's a combo of how can get Roman cheered paired with the typewriting monkeys from the Simpsons, the blurst of times

CSF

It's weird why they keep at it, the chap just doesn't come across as likeable in the slightest. You even get the impression he's not the nicest guy outside the Roman Reigns persona. Triple H made a career out of being this sort of heel. The guy you genuinely didn't like every before he started doing heel stuff, but nope, the WWE approach remains 'how do we force people to like this guy that they don't want to like'

JP Liz V1

JeriKO are great