RAW Superthread

The Nal

Rock Lesnar wrote: »

I always liked the bray wyatt creepy character, i felt they just never got behind him with a proper push, and i dont hold out much hope of them getting behind him again

Its a character Vince has tried a few times over the years and its never worked.

SlickRic

The Bray Wyatt segment was brilliant.

Creepy as fúck, and I hope they're going where I think they're going.

Huge potential.

RollieFingers

Wyatt segment was great, he's not a bad actor, who knows where it's going but at least it's something different.

Glad AJ won, rumours that Corbin was going to be Rollins first defence. Lots of bad again though - Ricochet and Alexander lose for the first time on Raw randomly, generic opening promo segment we've seen a 1000 times, Lynch vs Fox was so so bad, it's a shame Ronda is gone for the foreseeable future.

J. Marston

Still zero interest in Bray.

AJ/Seth should be impossible for it to disappoint but after duds like AJ/Nakamura and Seth/Ambrose I'll temper my expectations.

Saw one gif of Becky/Alicia. I don't need to see anymore. Yikes.

sky88

i loved something bray wyatt done

this might just be the apocalypse coming

Rock Lesnar

SlickRic wrote: »

The Bray Wyatt segment was brilliant.

Creepy as fúck, and I hope they're going where I think they're going.

Huge potential.

Agreed but i just dont trust them to get behind him

seandotcomm

Just watched the Bray segment. Great stuff. fingers crossed he stays on form

The White Wolf

The Bray character change is interesting and I thought it was a promising start....but getting it right in a pre-recorded segment is all well and good but with a live audience I'm not sure they'll get behind him enough to sell it. Time will tell.

dirkmeister

Did anyone else spot the subtle accent change when Bray said “our fun’s just getting started here”.

Andy Serkis did something like it in ROTK to show that Gollum was directing Frodo towards Shelob’s lair.

CastorTroy

Had the wonky picture when he had his hands up as well.
Wonder will his entrance music be the same or will it be the new Funhouse music?

So Raw opens with Cole telling us about the 2 triple threat matches, followed by Rollins coming out and asking HHH what his plan is for his next opponent? You'd think Seth would know before us.
Oh and what was with the 2 of them being best of friends?

Becky seemed to have a very delayed reaction to Lacey's first punch.

And we were told we would find out the story behind Robert Roode's new name in the interview recorded earlier. It then shows the interview with no explanation.

As for the Viking Raiders. Better name, but Corey nearly called them Experience and Cole made reference to people talking on social media for various reasons.

ThePott

There's a wrestler with a child's tv host gimmick in Phoenix Wrestling at the moment

razorblunt

That Bray vignette was great, he’s massive too.
They should keep the theme song but make a “funhouse” version of it.

CastorTroy

Bray looked very like Bo.

And we get to hear the Pew Pew again

Mr. Guappa

CastorTroy wrote: »

Bray looked very like Bo.

And we get to hear the Pew Pew again

I can't take Ricochet seriously now. I just look at him and all I think is "pew, pew" and start laughing.
He's just another member of the pack now anyway, losing to Roode who has been an afterthought for months.

J. Marston

Did they add an "Iconic!" before the start of the IIconics theme or was I hearing things?

CastorTroy

I hate to say it, but they did. Since they don't like to actually show people coming to the ring and instead focus on those in the ring or anywhere else, they have to let people know who's coming somehow.
Like just went and checked and between the time Cedric Alexander's music hit and we could actually tell it was him was about 10 seconds. Just focussed on Sami instead
They never learned from AJ's debut

seandotcomm

CastorTroy wrote: »

I hate to say it, but they did. Since they don't like to actually show people coming to the ring and instead focus on those in the ring or anywhere else, they have to let people know who's coming somehow.
Like just went and checked and between the time Cedric Alexander's music hit and we could actually tell it was him was about 10 seconds. Just focussed on Sami instead
They never learned from AJ's debut

At Wrestlemania, half the time they didn't actually have wrestlers use the stage and entrance ramp for their entrances, they had a little ramp off to the side where they would quickly run up and appear near the bottom of the ramp before the camera cut to them.

RollieFingers

Turns out the rumored MITB lineups were wrong anyway. Braun, Ricochet, Drew and Corbin in from Raw.

PTH2009

RollieFingers wrote: »

Turns out the rumored MITB lineups were wrong anyway. Braun, Ricochet, Drew and Corbin in from Raw.

Have a feeling they will give it too Corbin again but would like too see Drew get it as he would be sneaky

RollieFingers

So the Usos are a pair of peeping Tom's hanging around the showers filming lads. Not sure about the new singing and dancing entrance either!

Necro

Jaysus this thread was busy last night... three whole comments! :pac: I think I'll give Raw a miss this week.

Lord TSC

Wyatt stuff didn’t have the benefit of surprise this week, so wasn’t as good. But was still good,

USO’s are the latest victims of being overproduced. I guess they sing their entrance in the way to the ring now, which is suuuuper intimidating.

The reports yesterday was that Revival had turned down a half a million a year contract, and Meltzer says that’s why they had the back shaving angle booked, as a petty revenge against them.

Rest of the show was generic as ****

The Nal

Becky unlistenable on the mic. So cringey.

RollieFingers

Joe vs Rey was alright and the AJ/Rollins contract signing was good. The rest was just so boring, it's baffling how bad WWE's flagship show is right now.

J. Marston

Ye must have a low cringe threshold, lads. I thought the promo was grand.

The Sasha stuff must have legs if Dana Brooke is getting a MITB spot. Thought Ruby would have been ahead of her.

The Raw MITB picks are a sorry looking bunch. Alexa has more personality and character in a fingernail than the other 7 have combined. No wonder crowds just cheer her regardless of heel/face stuff.

Sami's promos aka Vince venting. Bitter old man who doesn't like fans shìtting on shìt entertainment.

ERG89

RollieFingers wrote:

Turns out the rumored MITB lineups were wrong anyway. Braun, Ricochet, Drew and Corbin in from Raw.

Good thing Ricochet didn't lose to someone needlessly last week on Raw.
Kinda expected Joe to be in it; granted he's a quarter of the wrestler he once was but if someone wins MITB I want them to be able to cut a promo at least. Why I think someone like Owens would have been a good candidate; plus you could have played off New Day quite well. I had completely forgotten Strowman won it last year as I can't remember the last memorable cash in; I remember Edge, Ziggler & Rollins but those were years ago

RollieFingers

Ricochet and Drew are good picks for me. Ricochet as the high flyer and newcomer to the match, Drew hoping for third times a charm in MITB matches (I think could be wrong there). Could have done without Braun and Corbin, previous two winners who both had pretty unremarkable runs with the briefcase.

Sirsok

Did Robert Roode get up to much?

Necro

Good God. That female MITB announcement was the spoken equivalent of nails on a chalkboard.

Dana Brooke, Natalya, Naomi... jaysus.

Alexa barely saved the segment from tumbleweeds.

Lithium93_

Oh Ricochet

https://twitter.com/MithGifs/status/1123019890179203073

:pac:

Agent Coulson

Pew pew

Lithium93_

Agent Coulson wrote: »

Pew pew

I can't unhear that now..

CastorTroy

So did they just get Dana to replace Sasha because of the lisp?
I've said it before, but Dana looks nothing like she used to.

Don't know what they're doing to Usos. Moving to Raw means new writing team? But seems they're undoing all the work they did to get over

Lithium93_

CastorTroy wrote: »

So did they just get Dana to replace Sasha because of the lisp?
I've said it before, but Dana looks nothing like she used to.

Don't know what they're doing to Usos. Moving to Raw means new writing team? But seems they're undoing all the work they did to get over

They're ruining them is what they are doing. One of the best tag teams in the company lowered down to that ****e with The Revival.

J. Marston

All the news sites were saying that The Revival turned down new contracts over the weekend. I'm guessing that segment and a third loss to Ryder and Hawkins is their punishment if true.

PTH2009

That bloody Bray Wyatt song is going around in my head lol

The Nal

The rating for this week’s episode of Raw hit a new low for non-holiday episodes.

Not surprised. Been watching since the mid 80s and this is by a mile the worst it ever been.

CastorTroy

Obviously it's because Corbin was on it.

ERG89

The Nal wrote: »

The rating for this week’s episode of Raw hit a new low for non-holiday episodes.

Not surprised. Been watching since the mid 80s and this is by a mile the worst it ever been.

I don't know; there were a few weeks late last year where the show was so bad it must have been intentional. It's never rebounded after it & the draft didn't make a difference to make the show feel fresh.
It's obvious that the creative is lacking and that there are people frustrated or not bothered who are working there. Its very much like WCW in that sense where you can afford anyone but when they get there they don't know what to do with them.

J. Marston

Strange set of circumstances, they are haemorrhaging viewers but have never been more profitable.

On the other hand, apparently the TV ratings method in the US is archaic and more people than ever are cutting the cord plus you can actually follow the show completely by Twitter and Youtube as they post almost every clip almost instantly.

Still though, they answer to TV networks and advertisers I presume so ultimately it's bad news.

The Nal

J. Marston wrote: »

Strange set of circumstances, they are haemorrhaging viewers but have never been more profitable.

Salaries have a lot to do with that. Theyre way down due to lack of competition. WWE pay the talent 8% of their revenue. NFL, NBA etc pay half. WCW paid a lot more obviously!

Mr.Nice Guy

Raw ratings tanking? Doesn't surprise me. Wrote this 2 months ago and it was dismissed by the resident smarks who insisted it was a great idea to see the departure of Brock Lesnar, and the elevation of glorified mid-carders to prominent title positions.

Turns out the wider general public aren't interested in guys who look like they take a creative writing course as their top tier champs. They want captivating attractions. No surprise as it wasn't workers like Steamboat that drew Mania III; it was Hogan and Andre. It wasn't the cruiserweights that put WCW on the map; it was the nWo and Goldberg.

Meltzer et. al may swoon over the likes of Johnny Gargano but the wider audience don't care about him and his 7 star ratings. The news that Goldberg is returning interests me far more than these thin-framed, charisma vacuums with their wooden verbiage.

I maintain that Vince needs to go back to basics. Push the likes of Reigns, Strowman, Drew, Brock etc. and leave the wiry, wooden wisps to the mid-card. The alternative is to see pro wrestling become a smaller and smaller niche market.

I was impressed with Cody's recent comments that AEW are seeking out 6 ft 2+ 'hoss' talents that turn heads at airports. Sounds like he gets it.

J. Marston

I'll admit I've changed my mind on Kofi. The build was good and the moment was great but now he's champ...it's just doing nothing for me. Daniel Bryan would call me fickle.

The writing of him doesn't help. For instance, one of his best friends is injured. The other was brutally attacked last week and how does Smackdown start? Kofi jumping around like an idiot with a plate of pancakes and doing another promo about how it's great and he can't believe he's champ. Woods and Big E really, really cover his blandness on the mic.

Someone on Reddit said career midcarders are there for a reason and shouldn't be elevated to World Champion status as a pat on the back and I'm beginning to agree with it.

ERG89

Mr.Nice Guy wrote:

Vince needs to go back to basics. Push the likes of Reigns, Strowman, Drew, Brock etc.

He's booked Lesnar & Reigns to the moon the last 3 years.
McIntyre and Strowman got significant pushes too but imo neither of them have enough talent to be breakout, face of the company stars that the WWE needs right now.

J. Marston wrote:

I'll admit I've changed my mind on Kofi. The build was good and the moment was great but now he's champ...it's just doing nothing for me. Daniel Bryan would call me fickle.

The company went with the wave of momentum with Kofi. I'll be brutally honest I thought Bryan's run was essentially a main eventer having a midcarder run with the title. Constantly losing for no reason, having a poxy looking hemp belt & cutting moany promos about fans that don't built up his title matches .

Mr.Nice Guy

ERG89 wrote: »

He's booked Lesnar & Reigns to the moon the last 3 years.
McIntyre and Strowman got significant pushes too but imo neither of them have enough talent to be breakout, face of the company stars that the WWE needs right now.

Look what happened at Mania though. The dominant beast gets jobbed out in a few minutes to a guy everyone knows he'd kill in real life. Reigns, who has a story that writes itself after he returns from cancer, is in a mid-card feud. Strowman's on the pre-show for some reason. The fans that drifted away to UFC or wherever, the ones who I meet that tell me they "used to be a fan but gave up", aren't going to come back for the guys on top now. The ratings make that clear.

Wrestling to me today lacks guys who are credible with the mainstream - and the few that are tend to be scorned by the niche. We're a long way from the days when guys would hit the ring and bring all fans to the edge of their seats. Looking at old footage on Youtube of when Austin would hit the ring, or Goldberg, or Kane or Undertaker, etc. fans would go crazy. Viewers at home would stick around to see what chaos might unfold. Nowadays, who is going to have that reaction for Seth Rollins or Kofi? Who even among the die-hards would do that for a guy like Gargano or Adam Cole?

The mainstream audience wants big personalities, with generally big physiques, who look like they can take care of themselves in and out of the ring. Guys, to use the term Cody referenced, 'turn heads at airports'. The hardcores won't want to admit that but the evidence is there.

Imo the fans who rage at Vince about being 'out of touch' are correct, but he's out of touch not just with the ones who want more lightweight-style wrestlers, but also out of touch with the ones who want to see an old-fashioned fight. He's become caught between two ideologies. Too afraid to go back to basics for fear of being told he's a dinosaur, and also too afraid to stand up to those in Creative that want more of the wrestling that the mainstream are rejecting. He can't carry on like this. He must either stick to his traditional principles, or walk away and hand over the reigns to others. Most fans that have remained seem to think the latter is the panacea to wrestling's ills. I am not convinced of that at all.

Pentecost

Unpopular as it may be, a lot of lapsed fans are not going to be brought back by women’s main events. I love Becky, always have, and am thrilled for her that they back her, but should she be the WWE’s most pushed star and on both shows? Is it just convenient politically?

The Nal

Cringe at Becky now. That stupid hard man/woman walk, the low tone voice, the silly pouting and her new ring gear makes her look like shes suffering from urinary incontinence so has to wear a big black nappy.

J. Marston

The Nal wrote: »

Cringe at Becky now. That stupid hard man/woman walk, the low tone voice, the silly pouting and her new ring gear makes her look like shes suffering from urinary incontinence so has to wear a big black nappy.

Most shapely nappy I've ever seen.

Not a sentence I ever saw myself typing.

Lithium93_

It seems WWE's pettiness strikes again, this time aiming at The Revival in the form of the preview for RAW on Tuesday morning, the last 2 lines especially regarding what's come out about them wanting out/turning down half a million per year over a new 5 year deal.

Sean Ross Sapp kinda sums it up.

https://twitter.com/SeanRossSapp/status/1124347514285641728

Itssoeasy

I’m convinced that Vince has lost his ****ing mind. In the past we’ve had Austin and punk going home pissed off about things, but how many of the current roster are either pissed off or sitting at home ? I mean Vince might be getting that TV money but the WWE as a whole needs to wake up.

I also think that while nxt is great and is one of the best thing WWE have done. It’s IMO created a problem with talent who move up to the main roster. You take Sasha banks for example(and no I’m not picking on her)In nxt she was a big fish in a smallish pond and it was a nice environment to work and learn in and trips was/is a more receptive person in charge. The main roster though while trips is there he isn’t in charge, Vince is and Vince is a different animal to trips.