WWE

[bigraj]

Oh dear. 2-3 straight months with Big Show-Randy Orton main events where HHH (and John Cena) overshadows them both. I can't wait to not spend my money on that.

[Captain Charisma]

Sandow losing deflated me, but it was an awesome opening half hour to Raw, I thought. I enjoyed the Wyatt's beating down Daniel and Punk, it unites them storyline wise which I really like the possibilities of. Plus if "the Devil" is Hunter, and Kane ends up Stephanie's monster (was a very lame segment though), then I can see lots of fun tension between the Authorities preferred hitmen. Plus there is the possibility that the Devil is someone else. Big Show all but confirms he has a high ranking WWE official as a "friend" tonight. Could be good, could be really bad. They teased tension in the Shield, and I believe it's way too soon for a break-up, it could just be a false start, but can leave to good TV, even if it kills the longterm potential of those in the group. And it might not even hurt them, we don't know at this point. The Real American's pinning the chamnps hopefully ensures a tag title feud, which I'm all for.

I thought Shawn and Daniel were awesome. They had the crowd hooked on every word and completely in tune. Daniel's eyes told a great story, HBK timed his annoyance elevation perfectly, as I was sitting on the couch going, "Daniel should slap him," he put him in the Labell Lock, I just thought it was really well done.

[bigraj]

There was definitely more good than bad on the show, but having Cena and Orton on top again (what year is it again?) with Hunter portraying himself as the most important person in the history of humanity is tough to sit through. At least Orton and Bryan can deliver in the ring, but Orton vs Show? No thanks. At least the tag stuff is going good, and while Wyatt's henchmen are pretty sloppy out there Punk and DB should get decent matches out of them. I've got no idea where they're going with Cena and the WHT after killing Sandow DEAD.

[Captain Charisma]

Man it broke my heart watching Sandow. He looked like he belonged, did more than just hold his own in a Main Event caliber match, so I'm hoping they decide to try and save him. But unless they put some serious momentum behind him soon, you're right Raj, tonight might've been unrecoverable. I totally know where you're coming from on the final segment, I'm really hoping that the main event matches are not Show vs. Orton, since the angle has to come to a match at some point I hope they just let Hunter and Show duke it out, do team Bryan vs. team Orton at Survivor Series, and then if there has to be a Show/Orton match, do it at TLC with a gimmick to help, and then we just pray that's the end of those matches.

Yes, Bray's minions are terrible. The red beard with the Sheep mask especially. At least the black headed one's clothesline is great, but they are dreadful to watch in actual wrestling matches. And as big as they are, their beatdowns aren't as fun as say, the Shield's. Bray can go though, so I'm kinda hoping Bray gets to work with Daniel and Punk, but if any tag team can get watchable matches out of Rowan and Harper it's the IWC MegaPowers 2.0.

The entire Orton celebration came off bad for me. If I'm the Shield listening to all that, I would want to punch him in the face. They should at least be looking at each other like WTF, or something. I dunno, as much as I enjoy Randy's wrestling, I'm over his character. "Hunter portraying himself as the most important person in the history of humanity" is a great quote, lol, sum's up the one part of the Authority angle that is bugging me. Sweet Lord, the verbal blowjob he gave himself for predicting Randy would be a star was made me uncomfortable ha.

[bigraj]

Yeah, WWE is putting on some sucky TV now, but there's still good to be found in WWE-Land;

[bigraj]

Not that I'd want the titles unified after a crappy three week build, but why do I have a bad feeling about a screwy finish coming up at TLC? They're gonna do a double title switch, and the crowd is gonna crap all over it.

[darthfoley]

I think you're dead on, Raj. They never once said 'unify'; in fact the announce team seemed to be going out of their way to say that one man 'could' come away with both belts.

I'm expecting a couple of PPV's worth of Cena/Orton culminating in a final unification match at the Rumble.

[Kimmel]

They are going to switch titles, Cena and Orton will be on the top of the ladder, fighting, they will go for the belts, Cena will end up with Orton's belt and Orton with Cena's belt

[bigraj]

Nov 26, 2013 18:39:21 GMT Kimmel said:

They are going to switch titles, Cena and Orton will be on the top of the ladder, fighting, they will go for the belts, Cena will end up with Orton's belt and Orton with Cena's belt

I fell asleep once Miz was on TV warming up, so when I woke up in the middle of the night I watched the rest of Raw.  All I could think of when the announcers were trying to hype up the TLC match was pretty much that spot.  Couldn't go back to sleep.  I've been contemplating taking a break from U.S. wrestling for a while, and sticking to DVDs and the Japanese product, and it's becoming very tempting again. 

[Pigman]

Great interview from Ziggler. I love how he's never afraid to hold anything back and gives everything to you straight up with no bullshit. Unfortunately do to the horrendous camera work which makes you feel like your on a boat your better off just listening to the interview

[darthfoley]

The match of the year wasn't even the best match on the card that night.

[jackknight]

Dec 10, 2013 4:00:26 GMT darthfoley said:

The match of the year wasn't even the best match on the card that night.

Tell me about it. But I guess it made The Rock happy.

Awesome night of Raw, seriously amazing promo to end the night even if that pipe bomb came out of the mouth of John Cena. So much truth in it. Poor Punk though for not getting to deliver it. Any bets if him laughing on camera when Stephanie said how great Hunter was, was scripted? Cause if not... Ouch.

Steph takes an RKO. I knew Hunter would have to try on the new belt at some point, but didn't expect it happening this early. So does Cena lose this weekend with Hunter fighting Orton in the Chamber or at the Rumble? Maybe D Bry wins the Rumble itself giving Jeff (Hashtag) his Hunter vs. D Bry match at Mania?

[Captain Charisma]

I only want D vs. Trips if Trips does the right thing and taps cleanly in the middle of the ring, shakes his damn hand, raises his arm, and walks off while all 80-100,000 of us go bat-shit-fuckin nutso like Seattle did tonight.

Punk being on camera directly behind Hunter and then Orton, and Daniel being on camera over Cena's shoulders was not a coincidence. And really I feel like post TLC we are looking at Punk vs. Hunter and Daniel vs. Cena. I could be letting common sense get in the way, and what tonight really sets up is Hunter vs. Orton for the title after TLC, but forcing Randy to stand there and take everything Cena said, only get one punch off, get nailed by Punk, was the only one whose finisher didn't connect, ran over Steph, and then ate a pedigree, and when the show ended he was sitting on his ass. It felt like he will be the odd man out post TLC.

I'm in the heat of the moment after watching it in real time and then watching the good parts again on my DVR so I don't want to tie myself to any predictions, but with the news that Hunter got full creative control of Raw coming out this week, it's no surprise that Raw kicked ass. I just don't know how much of it is a bait and switch tactic, to get to us skeptical IWC smarks, and fool us. Or if there was genuine storyline changes that bring Daniel and Punk back to the forefront. Need another week or so to find out.

All I know is, that even if Cena's verbal blow to Bryan was scripted (had to be, right?) there was no scripting of Hunter and Randy having to LITERALLY FUCKING SCREAM over the crowd, there was no scripting them forcing Hunter to stop talking multiple times, and there was no scripting the genuine emotion I felt as a fan watching it. It felt like vindication. The IWC is not the only one that the wrestling matters to. While Punk or Bryan deserved to cut Cena's promo more, I'm just glad it was said on TV. It's been acknowledged. And after what we saw tonight the crowd's are going to get more vocal until we get a legitimate payoff to Daniel's storyline. And I was beginning to think that it was only a handful of us old geezers on wrestling boards who gave a shit.

[darthfoley]

Sooooooo. Now what?

[jackknight]

I dunno. That was one of the worst, most boring PPVs I've ever watched. It seemed like a really bad episode of Raw. Hopefully sales of it were low.

[Captain Charisma]

Dec 16, 2013 18:41:03 GMT darthfoley said:

Sooooooo. Now what?

Dec 10, 2013 1:30:57 GMT -6 hashtagheel said:

And really I feel like post TLC we are looking at Punk vs. Hunter and Daniel vs. Cena. I could be letting common sense get in the way though, and what tonight really sets up is Hunter vs. Orton for the title after TLC...





SMFH

[Kimmel]

Dec 16, 2013 18:41:03 GMT darthfoley said:

Sooooooo. Now what?

They don't know, even though they are leaking that the plan has been in set for months, it's bullshit, they leaked the original plan and it got shit on, then they got mainstream press on the unification, everything is seat of the pants at the moment.

[darthfoley]

How they can continue to ignore their fanbase literally blowing them out of the building wanting Bryan on top amazes me.

[Captain Charisma]

Dec 16, 2013 23:46:43 GMT darthfoley said:

How they can continue to ignore their fanbase literally blowing them out of the building wanting Bryan on top amazes me.

Last quote I heard about the official stance on Bryan is that while he is one of the most popular superstars on the roster, and a vital part of programming, he is not "an attraction." 

Which is quite possibly the most ignorant thing I've heard them say. I hope the fans just get louder and louder. I remember thinking at Seattle was a tipping point. We will not stand quietly by, we will not be ignored. The wrestling matters. Damnit. The Bella's winning Diva of the year and Rock/Cena winning MOTY are a slap in our faces. It is not simply jaded, old-school, cantakerous grown men bitching anymore. I think that is what is messing up WWE booking. They don't know how to handle the amount of fans who are smart these days. Hell 15 years ago, smart marks who chose to play along were still a vocal minority. Now smart marks at various levels of "education" to the business are the vast majority of the fanbase. 

We've seen what booking on a week to week basis without any real direction looks like. It was called WCW from 99-01. And it wasn't pretty.

[Kimmel]

Daniel Bryan = Curt Hennig. Think about that.

[Captain Charisma]

Sounds bout right. He is Curt with the hottest babyface comeback in forever. Dallas had a good crowd tonight, they always do, but damn it felt flat after that performance by Seattle last week. Between Daniel Bryan and the Seahawks, that place is really gaining steam. Chris Peterson to the Huskies too, that is going to end up a hot spot for sports.

Decent main event, it was oversold by the commentary though. At this point Cole changing his regular infliction to say "great" match doesn't carry weight anymore. That was the one thing he had going for him, he treated that word special, but that's gone now. Now when any of the 3 say "great" on Raw, it means "better than average." The word carries more weight on Smackdown because there are stronger matches over there.

I'm actually in favor of using the entire roster on both brands. They do a sports entertainment show on Monday, and have the same guys on the wrestling show on Friday. If they want to make SD! important then follow up all the Raw angles with at least a good solid fist fight. Working cohesively will really help both shows I think. Let Main Event be Matthews and A. Ry call a solid midcard match, competitive win for a midcarder, and long match for 2 younger guys/divas/teams. Diversity doesn't have to mean 3 separate brands.

Cohesion and direction.

[bigraj]

Not a bad Raw this week, considering they had a very limited roster to work with. Loved the lengthier matches. Not sure about the "Bryan joins the Wyatts" ending, but he's still a major part of the show so let's see how it plays out.

[darthfoley]

So Daniel Wyatt looks like a tiny Duke 'The Dumpster' Droese.

[Kimmel]

Taker wants Daniel Bryan at Wrestlemaina 30, refuses to face Lesnar

[bigraj]

I don't blame him. He and Lesnar have had a few high-profile PPV matches before. Let someone else take that kind of pounding. Some folks might crap on the match because of the huge size difference, but is it really that much different from Taker vs HBK or Punk? I think Bryan's style would make him a viable challenger to the Dead Man. I don't expect him to win, but I can see myself suspending disbelief during the match, depending on the flow of the match.

So, if Taker-Brock is out, who might Lesnar face at WM? Potential power-match with Batista? Title match with Orton? Re-match with Cena or Punk?




I was watching several Rumble matches over the weekend and noticed Shane Douglas in the '91 match being in there for a pretty long time. Didn't really do much before he got eliminated, but I still thought it strange he got such a lengthy run in the match. I don't remember him in WWF before the Dean Douglas run, as I wasn't enamored with WWF at the time, despite the signing of the Road Warriors. That would change later in the year when Heenan showed up with the Big Gold Belt, but that's a different subject. Was Douglas just signed for the Rumble match and a few TV spots/house shows, or was he supposed to have some sort of push?