Go2Sleep
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Posts posted by Go2Sleep
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It's the little things that make this show.
John Cena working a "Quite Frankly" into his promo to Nikki's friends.
Random shot of Fandango oiling himself up backstage, that was slightly longer than the usual flash cut filler on this show.
The long scene with Steph sitting there playing the progressively drunker voicemails left by Nattie and both of their facial expressions as it played out was great, though.
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1. Punk vs. Lesnar (Summer Slam)
2. Del Rio vs. Ziggler (Payback)
3. Del Rio vs. Show - LMS (SD 1-11)
4. Bryan vs. Rollins (Raw 6-10)
5. Bryan vs. Cena (Summer Slam)
6. Bryan/Usos vs. Shield (SD 9-20)
7. Punk vs. Taker (Wrestlemania)
8. Hell No/Kofi vs. Shield (Raw 5-20)
9. Cena/Sheamus/Ryback vs. Shield (Elimination Chamber)
10. Bryan vs. Orton - No DQ (Raw 6-24)
11. Del Rio vs. Christian (Summer Slam)
12. Punk vs. Cena (Raw 2-25)
13. Usos vs. Rollins/Reigns (Money in the Bank, pre-show)
14. Orton vs. Christian (Raw 8-19)
15. Cody/Dustin vs. Rollins/Reigns (Battleground)
16. Bryan vs. Swagger/Cesaro/Ryback - Gauntlet (Raw 7-22)
17. Cesaro vs. Kofi (Main Event 5-1)
18. Del Rio vs. Big Show - LMS (Royal Rumble)
19. Orton vs. Big Show - Extreme Rules (Extreme Rules, the ppv)
20. Hell No/Orton vs. Shield (SD 6-14)
I was really hoping I would be able to make some serious changes to my list by the end of the year, but I don't think much would move beyond #17. I'd add Cena/Sandow for sure (probably in the 13-15 range), but maybe not anything else. The Survivor Series elimination match, Punk/Bryan vs. Harper/Rowan from Survivor Series, Shield vs. Cody/Dustin/Rey from Raw a couple weeks ago, Usos vs. Harper/Rowan from Raw last week, and the 4 way tag from TLC would be borderline candidates. None of those jump out as clearly better than the Cesaro/Bryan portion of the gauntlet match, though. I'll admit I haven't seen the big tag clusterfuck on SD several weeks back that got good reviews.
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Pretty mediocre show, as has been the norm since Summer Slam.
Punk/Shield felt as much like a ppv match as a 3 on 1 handicap match possibly could. Roman's bump over the table and Punk's subsequent targeting of the eye gave the match a special feel. Punk going over is kind of silly despite all the shenanigans, but these four did their absolute best to make it work.
Divas match was the usual forgettable affair. At least Nattie didn't win.
The IC match was also total filler, and god damn, get Big E a new finisher already.
Fatal 4-way tag got real good after Ryback and Axel were eliminated. Swagger and Cesaro both took great bumps for the KO punch, and that finishing run between Rey and Cody was hot. Easily the best match of the night.
The "bonus" matches both sucked. Why can't WWE experiment with Kofi as a heel? There are very few things less interesting than face Kofi vs. heel Miz at this point. Tons of Funk breaking up is gonna end up so bad for both guys. Brodus is gonna get the first push and flounder if not outright bomb in singles. His ceiling is IC material, but even then, Langston appears to be a much more promising prospect who should hold that belt for a while. And while it'd be fun to imagine a successful singles push for Tensai, I can't see him going more than two ppvs before he's solidly locked into the Superstars/ME circuit with his "dancing big man" gimmick.
Bryan vs. The Wyatts was fine, but really felt like a Raw match. There wasn't anything special or ppv-worthy about it. Harper was great as usual, Bray looked amazing during the finishing run, and Bryan was Bryan, but overall I felt like there was a lot less effort here than Punk/Shield.
Main event was very disappointing. Cena and Orton have had some great matches, but this was subpar. Not straight bad or anything, but really uninspired. Lots of stalling/slow ladder climbing and atrocious no-selling of big spots until the end. The finish was creative, I'll give them that, but I thought Cena had a legit broken his neck on that bump. I was so relieved to see him moving after the match. Scariest thing I've seen in the ring in a while. As a distant second to Cena surviving the finish, the other good part about this match was at least we had a clean winner. It means more Raw-main-event and ppv-opening-promo HHH unfortunately, but hey, decisive finish.
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There goes my idea for a Gizmo vs. Josey dream match.
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That last segment was awesome. If I hadn't been conditioned to expect horrible ppv finishes the last 6 months, I'd be looking forward to TLC more than I am already. Cena and Orton just work so well together. Both of their promos were way more inspired than they've been in a long time. Punk and Bryan did something relevant. The spot with Orton crying "I'm sorry" in the corner while Cena stood awkwardly next to the authority was intriguing, which I don't think is a word I've used to describe anything on WWE tv since Summer Slam. Good stuff all around.
On the down side, it looks like they are going with two separate 3 on 1 handicap matches with no other gimmicks for a ppv. The Shield teasing a break-up and the Wyatts looking to recruit Bryan don't make them anymore interesting. Punk/Ambrose and Wyatts/Usos were fun matches, though.
Cena/Rock winning MOTY should've been retroactively nominated for LOL moment.
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Probably goes to Taker/Punk.
Cena/Rock is a candidate for worst match of the year. Really shouldn't even be on a WWE-agenda list.
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Craziest thing about Total Divas is that, IMO, it's actually the guys who are the stars of the show. Cena's weird rant about the laundry is 100x more interesting than anything Eva Marie has done so far. Likewise, Vinny just owns the screen any time he appears.
Makes me wonder why WWE never pitched a Cena reality show. He obviously doesn't have huge issues with having cameras around all the time and it would probably do great ratings.
I think it's just that "the guys" are the characters we're already interested in because they've been in our favorite tv series for years and this is a slightly different role for them. I'm sure everyone on this board is more interested in watching Daniel Bryan, John Cena, or even Jimmy Uso than Eva Marie, but I'd be interested to hear a non-wrestling fan's view on the show.
Personally, I love all the suits on the show. Steph in full corporate executive mode and that one guy Mark who is always lurking backstage or making a phone call just as soon as the plot needs to advance make the show for me.
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I think I'm the only one here who really likes it when Cena and Orton feud. Of course, I'd rather the undisputed gimmick be used to cement new guys like Punk and Bryan, but I don't mind Cena and Orton having a main event angle at all. I thought Orton's promo was one of his better ones lately, but then Cena just obliterated him with a really underrated promo of his own. The "underachiever" line only works coming from John Cena because he absolutely has overshadowed Orton every step of the way and everyone knows it. Coming from anyone else, it wouldn't work, but with Cena, it was awesome. They always have good matches together too, so I'm excited for what they can do in a TLC, even if I fear for Cena's life at this point.
The 6-man was good as expected, and Goldust continues to be awesome. Good to see the Shield has finally learned how to beat him, though.
Also I really hope something happens next week so we don't get two fucking 3 on 1 handicap matches on a ppv. Despite liking everyone involved sans Rowan, I have no desire to see either of those matches. It's bad enough when that shit's on Raw. Get the Rhodes Brothers and the Usos in there for an elimination tables match.
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It wouldn't surprise me if there was a beard vs. beard match in the works. That Bryan will lose, of course.
That would make a good New Year Raw match (vs. Harper or Bray), then he could take a couple weeks off and be a "surprise" Rumble return.
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It's always fun to remember the times when HHH had to pay his dues.
I don't think anything about this match made a lick of sense. Least of all that it was a ppv main event.
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Sounds like an upcoming heel turn for Bryan.
I'm thinking it'll be a fake turn where they tease the same thing that happened to Kane, but in the end, Bryan and Punk get the drop on the Wyatts/Shield and clean house. Turning Bryan or Punk would be monumentally stupid at this point since they're the purest main event babyfaces (in terms of reaction) and fluctuate between the top 3 spots in overall heat with Cena.
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The main event was really least interesting part of the show. Despite the big names, I couldn't have been the only one to think "you know, I really have no desire to see that match" when it was being announced. It was interesting for the 5 minutes or so Show was selling the head injury, but nothing significant came out of it.
Loved Cena's opening promo for all the wrong reasons. "These people are chanting for Daniel Bryan because they want to see John Cena vs. Randy Orton." Sure. That said, I do think the TLC match will be good until the fuck finish. God I really hope the crowd shits all over it if the do the (likely) thing where each guy gets one belt. Hearing the announcers act shocked when literally everybody called it as soon as the stip was announced will be terrible. I'd kill for a ppv with a "non-controversial" ending these days.
Everything with Punk/Bryan, The Shield, and The Wyatts was really good. Reigns' spear to a wounded Punk out of nowhere was Kanyon Cutter levels of awesome. Good to see the Shield get a strong win in a return-to-form great 6-man too. I hope Bray gets some more ring time soon, because he was really working the gimmick in that tag match. It'll be interesting to see what the ppv payoff is for the angle on this show. A Shield/Wyatts vs. Punk/Bryan/Usos/Rhodes elimination table match would be really fun, but the rest of the card would be hurting for decent matches.
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Reigns reminds me of Ryback more than anything. Unknown quantity with a good look who got over a little bit, and was pushed hard with huge expectations based off a really limited body of work. Maybe Reigns will work out better and become the next Batista? I still don't see him supplanting Cena, though.
I'd say there's more potential for Reigns to end up like Ryback than Batista, but that's meant as a criticism of the writing rather than Roman's talent. It's easy to see the potential for comparisons to Batista (protected big guy in a top stable), but when was the last time any new guy got pushed liked Batista? When they started teasing dissension in Evolution, HHH was acting scared of Dave the whole time. Batista then went on to dominate a chamber (while HHH laid back and reaped the benefits), outsmarted HHH with a dominating turn (even though human chess wasn't supposed to be his forte), then beat HHH clean in 3 straight ppv matches before becoming the undisputed number one guy on SD (which was still a big deal in 2005). Not only is there not a HHH-like figure in the Shield, can you imagine him getting any similar type of push in today's WWE? No one is going to be the next Batista or Cena until they get pushed like Batista or Cena.
Reigns was great, though, and I loved Rollins pulling out that leaping curb stomp-type manoeuvre. I don't think I've seen him use it since being called up.
He's been using that as a part-time finisher, although he doesn't get falls very often. He also uses the springboard knee strike sometimes, but I'm guessing they're trying to get away from that one because of Bryan's new move. He used the curbstomp on a chair to Bryan in their debut TLC match, and has used it to pin Bryan in the tag title match with Orton at Payback, as well as pinning Kofi, R-Truth, and now one of the Usos in multi-man matches.
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This show was exactly what I expected. The tags were fun, and everything else was boring.
Roman vs. The World was pretty cool. He has improved a lot, so I'm pretty ok with a push for him. I'm not sure Reigns is the next big thing, but he deserves a shot. Hopefully he's not the next Ryback.
The only other good thing to come out of the first 2 hours was Axel and Ryback being jobbed into oblivion. I fear them quickly resurfacing as tag title contenders, but hopefully they both just disappear.
Bryan/Punk/Wyatts built up some nice steam by the end. I wish they would just start running Bray/Harper for important matches because Rowan just can't carry his weight in a big match at this point. He's starting to stand out in a bad way in this gimmick. That said, Luke Harper is every bit as good as Rowan is bad. That guy sells the gimmick while still doing freaking half nelson suplexes and avalanche powerbombs. Sure, it was Bryan taking the moves, so I wouldn't expect them every match, but just seeing him show that kind of range makes him special. That guy's a keeper.
Main event was really bad. They had a good match at Extreme Rules, but this one had nothing that made that match work. No gimmick, no hot crowd, and main event expectations heading in. The "non-physical" interference was painfully obvious. Only redeeming quality was it still had the punt. I'm actually not opposed to more Cena/Orton matches, as I'm one of the few people who really loved their feud in 09. I am opposed to wasting a unification gimmick match on them when that should definitely be used to put someone different over.
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Re: Survivor Series - It is "just another ppv" at this point, but they'd be stupid to change the name. As others have said, the elimination matches haven't mattered for nearly 20 years, but it still has name value forever thanks to Montreal. No ppvs besides the Rumble and Mania really stand out anyway. They've made some attempts to make Summer Slam seem like a bigger deal the last couple of years, but it's still a distant 3rd.
Re: Miz's title run - Even as someone who hasn't been able to tolerate Miz on tv since the Lawler feud, I can't say he didn't work hard and deserve a shot. He looked to have some potential for taking the next step late in 2010, but he just never got there. Worth a shot, but it should've ended with Cena beating him at Mania and not looking back. Having him go over in the WM main when it was clear it wasn't going to work was bad enough, but I think the follow up was what really put the nail in the coffin. Does anyone remember that god-awful I Quit match at Over the Limit where Miz's master plan was to have A-Ri make it a de facto handicap match? Miz tried to copy Orton's routine from the 09 Breaking Point match, and was the worst, least convincing "psychopath" character in wrestling history. Not only was it a rare terrible John Cena match, but I think it was literally the only I Quit match in WWE history that was even below average, let alone nearly unwatchable. I never wanted to see the Miz again after that.
Re: Names - I don't think John Cahill and Eric Philbin are too terrible, just super generic. They should probably change them before they get to the main roster. At least go with Eric Edwards, John Cahill could be serviceable if Davey stands out on his own, similar to Luke Harper. I will say that Dean Ambrose is a million times better than John Moxley, so at least whoever's coming up with names has that one going for them.
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If we can nail some of these teams down, I might be inspired to do an actual tournament in Fire Pro (although MGFan might be a better person to do that, since he can post videos).
1. Detroit (Kevin Nash, Sabu, Rhino, Steiner Brothers)
2. Chicago (Lex Luger, CM Punk, One Man Gang, Road Warriors)
3. Minneapolis (Mr. Perfect, Rick Rude, Brock Lesnar, Ole Anderson, Verne Gagne)
4. Houston (Undertaker, Steve Austin, Hernandez, Harlem/Houston Heat)
5. Atlanta (Goldberg, Big Bossman Fabulous Freebirds)
6. Los Angeles/Hollywood (Hulk Hogan, Sting, Goldust, The Fantastics)
7. Miami (The Rock, Razor Ramon, MVP, Dolph Ziggler, Darren Young)
8. Calgary (Bret Hart, Owen Hart, Jim Neidhart, Bad News Allen, Lance Storm)
9. Boston (John Cena, Killer Kowalski, Perry Saturn, Kazarian, Tensai)
10. Winnipeg (Roddy Piper, Chris Jericho, Steve Corino, Don Callis, Kenny Omega)
11. New York City (Adrian Adonis, Jimmy Valiant, Homicide, Low Ki, Bully Ray)
12. Jersey Shore (DDP, Bam Bam Bigelow, King Kong Bundy, Chris Candido, Balls Mahoney)
13. Philadelphia (Chief Jay Strongbow, Sandman, Stevie Richards, The Nasty Boys)
14. Montreal (Mad Dog Vachon, Jos Le Duc, Rick Martel, Rougeau Brothers)
15. St. Louis (Lou Thesz, Randy Orton, Cowboy Bob Orton, Iceman Parsons, Evan Bourne)
16. Parts Unknown (Ultimate Warrior, Doink, Papa Shango, Demolition)
There's a pretty good tournament that will never happen.
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Team Minneapolis: Curt Hennig, Larry Hennig, Verne Gagne, Rick Rude and either Barry Darsow or Nikita Koloff. Tom Zenk can be the waterboy.
Sean Waltman should at least get the waterboy spot. And the last real spot should go to Brock Lesnar. Perfect, Rude, Lesnar, Verne, and Larry the Ax with Waltman running interference could give Detroit and Chicago a run for their money.
El Paso could field a good squad just by throwing the Guerrero family out there.
Comedy option: Team Greenwich, CT (Triple H, Vince McMahon, Shane McMahon, Rodney, Pete Gas)
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Also wondering if the part where Eva asked if she could write on her hand was a dig at The Rock.
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I wish there was no rehearsal and she introduced Randy Orton from Los Angeles on live tv, just to see Orton's reaction.
Forgetting Jinder almost had to be a work to rib on him or 3MB. You'd think they'd at least tell Eva the day of what match she's announcing so she can run through her lines a hundred times. At the very least, they were trolling Eva by telling her to memorize the entire roster then throwing a bunch of obscure low-carders at her. If 3MB wasn't a collection of failed singles guys, they'd probably forget their names too. I imagine the plan was to get funny backstage segment out of any member of 3MB, either Uso, or Gabriel.
Bring on the "Ginger Mahal" signs at the next few tv shows, though.
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Bobby Lashley definitely used the dominator as his first finisher.
Speaking of Big E, though, even if it's only used a couple times a month, the big ending is way overused in my book. What a terrible move. The face turn is the perfect opportunity to give the guy a new finisher. There's plenty of time-tested power moves he could use like a running powerslam, powerbomb, or jackhammer (although you probably don't want him to get the label "black Goldberg"). He's also strong and athletic enough to do something a little fancier like a military press or pumphandle into a powerslam or some kind of sit-out power move. Or they could just give him the pounce after he busted Ambrose (and himself) up at the last ppv. Just change it to a side impact he doesn't crack heads. Anything would be better than the big ending, though.
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How many singles matches has Reigns had this year?
I can only think of 3 off the top of my head. Two with Bryan, one with Orton. The Orton one was pretty bad. The first Bryan match was mediocre, and the second one was quite good.
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Ariane's mom really made the most of her screen time. On a show where all the extras ham it up to the max, she really stood out. How many seconds into her heart-to-heart with Ariane did she start crying?
I also wish I lived in the Total Divas alternate universe where Summer Slam ended after Bryan won the title.
There's no way the episode where Nattie gets drunk and calls Steph ends up as good as sounds, but I can't wait to see it.
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I've said it before, but Wade Barrett's biggest problem is that he really hasn't gotten a lot better since 2011. I mean, he was pretty good right out of the gate in NXT/Nexus, so he's far from bad, but a bunch of other guys have passed him over the last couple years. In 2010, being just above average was good enough for a somewhat interesting main event push. At the end of 2013, being just above average is the new being a bland midcarder with no future prospects. I don't think anyone could make the case that Wade is a top 10 guy right now, and top 15 might even be pushing it. Where does that leave him except midcard hell?
I agree his best hope is a face turn in an APA type brawling tag team. If the Wyatts get out of the Punk/Bryan program with some credibility left, that could be a good program for Wade/Partner. I think Sheamus might actually be the best choice for that spot.
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Daniel Bryan not helping Show is one thing the writers actually got right (by accident due to his monstrous de-push). Why should Bryan be out there for him? He screwed Bryan at Battleground and was nowhere to be found when Bryan was getting hosed by the Authority at HIAC. He only showed up to help when it would it benefit him. Then he stole Bryan's chant for extra heat. I'd be like "fuck you, enjoy fighting the Shield and Orton by yourself, you self-serving crybaby" too.
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Raw Is Selfies (16 Dec 2013)
in WWE PROGRAMMING
Posted
I really don't get how WWE can so consistently produce Raws that are 10x better than the ppv the night before.
Cena really buried Orton in that opening promo there, didn't he?
I'd love to see Henry/Langston get a big push as a team. Maybe give Big E double gold (or gold and copper in this case) to give him that extra push. I just hope they don't do the super-cliche Henry turn after a few weeks. He needs an extended face run.
I could listen to Punk and Michaels bicker on the mic all day. Both guys are just so good at working with the crowd and thinking on their feet. Heel Michaels was long overdue for a return, it's just too bad we can't see what he can do in the ring with this character.
Shield match was another fine outing by them. The Usos are totally underrated and have great chemistry with The Shield also. Loved all 6 guys trash-talking throughout the match. I don't wanna be that guy that says he's sold on someone after some totally trivial spot that really doesn't mean that much in the grand scheme of things, but Roman's "Nah, I got him, I just had to test the waters" almost made me that guy. Weird booking to have The Shield win the 6 man and lose the 3-on-1, but whatever.
Crazy hot finish to the divas match. Nice surprise there. Kind of wish Nikki would use the burning hammer as a finish.
Bryan/Orton was a great match, probably not as good as their No DQ match, but way better than their two ppv matches. I love matches where both guys actually sell fatigue and damage from the night before. The only other match I've seen where two guys pull it off better was the Punk vs. Jeff Hardy cage match on SD after their Summer Slam TLC match. You really got the feeling that both guys were running on fumes and every little move hurt that much more from the leg kicks to the elbow stomp. The use of desperation biting and head-butts was also a fine detail. The DQ finish was ok here since it protected Bryan and actually fit with the story pretty well. Orton is beat up and knows he's getting out-hustled by Bryan so he just says fuck it and leaves (then sneak attacks Cena for extra heel points).