Uncle Coaster

Eh, I guess I just hate the idea of a pure chicken champ. I prefer my cheating heel champs to be of the "take the easy way out" variety rather than the "this is the only chance I've got" variety. It's his first run with the belt. Let him show that he deserves it but would rather take the short cuts instead of being someone who cant beat anyone. In fact, it's not like they established his team as a strong faction, either. He's had the belt for a month and there's already dissension. Anyway, it's the same to me as the face who wins a belt and then does nothing but lose non-title matches. It devalues their reign.

I enjoyed the show and thought it was easily worth my time and $9.99. My biggest gripes with the show were the tensions between Lana and Rusev (not yet, please) and the finish to the main. I know he's the chicken heel, but I think if you have a new champ in his very first reign, then his first big defense should be a rather clean finish win. Last night was too much "advance the story" and not enough "establish the champ" for my tastes. Otherwise, I don't really have any huge complaints. Fun, innocent show.

Edit: Wrong thread.

March Madness threads' reputation is a strong one. I stay far away. Thanks.

As someone who doesn't follow the Japanese scene, I've had fun the last few minutes looking at that picture and trying to figure out which one is Shinsuke. Five of the six fit.

The Kerry match listed for the Lawler DVD is not the Super Clash match. It is from a World Class show at the Sportatorium. I remember seeing the match back in the day but don't remember anything about it.

Sorry to ruin your one bright spot, but the sun will not have set yet and the entrances will suck.

I sat two rows behind Connor at WrestleMania last year. I was absolutely blown away by how many people from the WWE stopped to say Hi to him during the event. Not just Bryan and Cena, but Michael Cole, people in suits who I didn't know, cameramen, and more. One member of the ring crew stopped by and got his picture taken with him. It was amazing. https://www.flickr.com/photos/coaster316/14140846285/

I'm actually looking forward to Mania this year. I think it has potential to deliver on a couple of levels. However, I feel my anticipation is in spite of the last few Raws instead of because of them.

Bayley reposted this picture on Instagram a while back and I absolutely love it. The mother of the child wrote, "Ben always tells me the wrestlers are his friends. You know what, I think he's right from the bottom of my heart thank you"

Loved that Sasha/Charlotte got the main event slot but wasn't played up as "hey, women are main eventing a show". They were the main event because they were the main event. Riley overdid it a bit, but overall a strong performance from him. Looking forward to where they are going with him. Screw that crowd for chanting with each other instead of paying attention to the women's match. I'm glad they missed the double knee spot...and even more glad that it brought them back into the match. I generally like the NXT crowds but that got on my nerves. Enzo and Cass are just great, even in backstage moments like that. I didn't care for Enzo when I first saw him but I'm hooked now.

Absolutely. Brian Kendrick usually is an automatic fast forward for me, but I'm glad I watched that match last night. Alex Riley is one of those guys where he is either very good or very annoying. He reminds me in a way of Matt Striker in that he knows what works but usually comes off like he's trying too hard and goes over the top. But when Riley is more subdued he is great. Last night was an example of that.

I generally enjoyed Raw again this week. I initially wanted to see the Ascension continue to get wins even though I'm not really fans of theirs, but a surprise win by the PTP was pretty cool, too. The tag division isn't really all that bad. R-Truth being in the IC hunt really came out of nowhere. Not sure how I feel about that, but I love that it makes the title seem that much more important. People want to be the champion instead of having a grievance with the guy who happens to have the title. I like that. Rusev and Lana are great. This is a different twist on the Cena beating the odds storyline that has played out so many times over the years. Rusev isn't stringing Cena along, he's not stacking the deck against him, he beat him and he's done with him. Sure, the end result may very well end up being the same, but it is a cool twist. I like Roman Reigns. He may not have been my first choice for the Main Event spot at WrestleMania, but I like that the WWE had a plan and are telling that story. There's no doubt in my mind that if Bryan had remained healthy last year we'd be exactly where we are right now anyway. This seems to me to be the first time in a long time that the WWE has actually built somebody new and wants to stick with him. This isn't "Cena is hurt, let's put somebody else in that spot" or "so and so is getting a good reaction, let's give him a try". This is somebody that they've had a plan for and stuck with for over a year. It makes me curious to see how long they will stick with him assuming he wins the title.

http://www.si.com/extra-mustard/2015/02/19/levis-stadium-webcam-visit-crow Boy, Sting really is playing mind games with HHH. I hope WWE runs with this footage.

I have a Roku 3 with a similar connection. My recent buffering issues have been going on since before the Rumble and nine times out of ten they only last during the first two or three minutes of whatever I'm watching. It has never happened when watching the live feed but I only watched the rumble and some NXT's via the feed.

I love these two paragraphs. First, the NXT women's division is fantastic. I'm telling everyone I can about it. Bayley is the first time I've had a favorite wrestler who happens to be female ever and I've been watching wrestling since 1979. I have a niece who is quite athletic and I've followed her playing softball for her school and travel teams and I can't help but get behind the girls of NXT in a similar fashion. I'm so happy that fans are taking to them like I have. Secondly, I'm not as jaded as many others here. I watch Raw every week and enjoy it, although I haven't watched Smackdown in a long time. But, I agree that NXT has reinvigorated my love for the business. It is so much like watching tv back in the 80s but with better between the bells action. When I visit my parents I take my Roku box and my Dad and I watch NXT together just like we used to watch Superstars back in the day. It has given me a part of my childhood back.

I'm sad about Bull Dempsey. I liked the idea behind his character, he seemed like a nice guy on Twitter, and his first few squashes showed potential. However, I think he gets Mojo'd, as somebody mentioned a page or two back. Plus, with Owens in NXT, the Bull character just doesn't cut it. A shame. I was rooting for the guy. Bayley is still my favorite wrestler. I like the more aggressive side and I do hope she gets some sort of Zayn story from here. I so badly want an I'm A Hugger t-shirt but also understand how odd it would be for a 41-year old to wear it. Might get it and just wear it around my nieces...and their friends...just to embarrass them. I thought the 4-way was really well put together. Great story and I am glad for Sasha. She deserves the win. Am I the only person who hears the name Kevin Owens and wishes he had a Mr. Belvedere? I admit I was working on something else when I watch it, but I struggled to follow the story in Balor-Neville. I just saw spots setting up spots. Will have to rewatch. NXT is better than anybody in a long time in making you care about what happens next. While I at first didn't care for the theatrics in the main event, I find myself now looking forward to seeing what happens with both Owens and Zayn. And it's not just the main event scene. I'm actually interested in what happens to most of the characters on the show. I'm invested.

I thought there was a lot to enjoy on Raw this week. - I'm enjoying the Dust Brothers and their interactions as well as Miz and Mizdow. I'm a fan of all four of these people and look forward to seeing them each week. Last night was no exception. - As mentioned, Paul Heyman is on fire. He's the best thing going today. Brock is also a big deal whenever he is out there. - I could watch Paige all day long, too. There's just something about her mannerisms that connects with me. I also find the Bellas easy to root against, so I'm all for this continuing. - Both the IC and US titles seem important again. The IC title moreso, since it's the focal point of that story. I like using Ambrose in this direction, since he needs something before his next bigger push. - Lana and Rusev both have "it". Whatever that undefined it is, they're learning to master it. I always thought Lana was a pro, but Rusev has stepped up his game over the last few months, too. When he talks, it seems like he means what he is saying and not just remembering promos. The Cena-Rusev match at Fastlane is the one I find myself caring about the most, which I would have thought impossible not long ago. - Sting's back. I couldn't care less about the workrate of the eventual match. Sting's in the WWE. It's actually happening.

I normally like Alex Reilly, but the dude wouldn't let go of the friendship angle with Neville on commentary. That was odd. The thing I fear with Balor is that the NXT crowd knew who he was when he got there. The main roster crowd won't. If he comes out with even just a few weeks of hype videos and tries to do his current entrance, I'm afraid it will be mocked and he becomes a comedy guy. Not sure what best way to introduce him would be. Seems odd to say this, but glad to see Emma on NXT as long as it means she's on tv more often. I miss seeing her.

How do you get that? Variety said it was as of January 27 and includes Royal Rumble haters. You saying it includes those cancellations but not the free November people who cancelled? Or are you saying Variety is just wrong?

According to a Variety article, the WWE Network number is as of today and comes AFTER the cancellations they saw following the Rumble. It marks a 37% increase in subscribers since their reporting from September 30, with 24% of that increase being from the US. If I'm doing the math properly, that's a little shy of 65,000 new US subscribers, which isn't terrible, and then about 205,000 in new international subscribers, which I'm guessing is primarily UK. Personally, I'm glad to see them get there. I love the service.

WWE is running with Cena/Rusev at Fast Lane. Will that mean a gimmick rematch for Mania or is this a one and done?

Overall, I enjoyed the show. I loved the Championship match and all of the underneath matches. Gotta hand it to Brock, he is something else. As much as I don't like the outcome of the Rumble itself (I like Reigns, but not in that spot yet), I have to hand it to WWE for doing everything they could to make it work and having it be an otherwise very good Rumble. Enjoyed the Bubba Ray return and Bray looked like a hoss. So did Rusev. Bryan will survive and eliminating him rather early was smart so that some of the heat of his elimination wore off by the end. The biggest problem they had with the match itself is that there were no credible challengers at the end besides Ambrose. Nobody bought Show and Kane as a threat to win. They obviously knew there'd be backlash against Reigns. Not much more they could have thrown at us other than the Rock. It didn't work, obviously. Even Time has picked up on the reaction. Will be interesting to see how they handle it over the next few weeks and if there are any shifts in booking. I'm doubting it, but we shall see.

MLB did a nice little feature on Randy Savage being inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame. It is up on their home page now. http://m.mlb.com/cutfour/2015/01/12/106241484/wwe-hall-of-famer-macho-man-randy-savage-played-in-minors-for-reds-cardinals

Enjoyed this Raw more than any other in quite awhile, despite some flaws. Funny how most people could give the typical extended promo that takes way too long to say something simple and I change the channel, but Paul Heyman or Daniel Bryan do it and I'm glued to the tv. Would love to see a gif of the guy in the crowd celebrating Bryan's diss of Stephanie's workout video. No way in hell should Rollins have cashed in at the end. Why waste it when you already have a title shot and would just have to defend it against the top two guys in the business? Save that thing in case you lose. I was shocked to see posters here complaining about it. Totally agree with Marty about the poor logic in having Show run down Reigns like that. Welcome to Raw, Booker T. Glad to have you.