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Raw 3-3-14 - Raw in Chicago


MGFanJay

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Has the play-by-play/color commentary ever been worse in WWE? Cole is a decent milquetoast play-by-play guy, but even by those standards he's not even in the same stratosphere as a Mike Goldberg. He's really only there to robotically repeat WWE buzzwords over and over again. Lawler barely knows what's going on half of the time and I'm pretty sure he spends most of the show playing solitaire on his iPad, and JBL is apparently getting worse by association, because he went from being really, really good to God awful over the last few months. Like, can he decide if he's a face or heel announcer? Sometimes he literally changes mid-match. I think when Swagger attacked Big E tonight in the Cesaro/Big E match, Cole said.. "Swagger may have just cost Cesaro this match." Really? He MAY have? For fuck's sake.

 

Nah, it's absolutely unlistenable at the moment. Cole has been really good in the past with the right partner, hell, even with JBL in 07 but now that Cole is the main announcer, they can't really revisit their old Smackdown dynamic. Also, JBL has clearly lost a step anyway, not to mention he's now Vince's mouthpiece for all the awful insults and references he wants to get out. Lawler is a waste of space and it's depressing to say that about The King but that's how it goes. NXT is showing that they actually have some decent commentators in reserve so I sincerely hope we don't have this current set-up much longer.

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Has the play-by-play/color commentary ever been worse in WWE? Cole is a decent milquetoast play-by-play guy, but even by those standards he's not even in the same stratosphere as a Mike Goldberg. He's really only there to robotically repeat WWE buzzwords over and over again. Lawler barely knows what's going on half of the time and I'm pretty sure he spends most of the show playing solitaire on his iPad, and JBL is apparently getting worse by association, because he went from being really, really good to God awful over the last few months. Like, can he decide if he's a face or heel announcer? Sometimes he literally changes mid-match. I think when Swagger attacked Big E tonight in the Cesaro/Big E match, Cole said.. "Swagger may have just cost Cesaro this match." Really? He MAY have? For fuck's sake.

 

Nah, it's absolutely unlistenable at the moment. Cole has been really good in the past with the right partner, hell, even with JBL in 07 but now that Cole is the main announcer, they can't really revisit their old Smackdown dynamic. Also, JBL has clearly lost a step anyway, not to mention he's now Vince's mouthpiece for all the awful insults and references he wants to get out. Lawler is a waste of space and it's depressing to say that about The King but that's how it goes. NXT is showing that they actually have some decent commentators in reserve so I sincerely hope we don't have this current set-up much longer.

 

 

I couldn't enjoy the beginning of Shield vs. Wyatts as much as I wanted to because Cole's comment of "Can you say 'hashtag-rematch'?" irratated me so much I was angry for 5 minutes.

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Another great match between The Wyatt Family and The Shield. One of the best matches this year. Might be my TV Match of the Year over Cena/Cesaro. So chaotic with Ambrose's wild swings, Reigns Spearing Rowan over the annouce table followed by Harper's tope sending Reigns over the table. Wyatt Family win again with the Sister Abigail to Ambrose.

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Has the play-by-play/color commentary ever been worse in WWE? Cole is a decent milquetoast play-by-play guy, but even by those standards he's not even in the same stratosphere as a Mike Goldberg. He's really only there to robotically repeat WWE buzzwords over and over again. Lawler barely knows what's going on half of the time and I'm pretty sure he spends most of the show playing solitaire on his iPad, and JBL is apparently getting worse by association, because he went from being really, really good to God awful over the last few months. Like, can he decide if he's a face or heel announcer? Sometimes he literally changes mid-match. I think when Swagger attacked Big E tonight in the Cesaro/Big E match, Cole said.. "Swagger may have just cost Cesaro this match." Really? He MAY have? For fuck's sake.

 

Nah, it's absolutely unlistenable at the moment. Cole has been really good in the past with the right partner, hell, even with JBL in 07 but now that Cole is the main announcer, they can't really revisit their old Smackdown dynamic. Also, JBL has clearly lost a step anyway, not to mention he's now Vince's mouthpiece for all the awful insults and references he wants to get out. Lawler is a waste of space and it's depressing to say that about The King but that's how it goes. NXT is showing that they actually have some decent commentators in reserve so I sincerely hope we don't have this current set-up much longer.

 

I would say the commentary is the biggest issue I have with the show at the moment. When I watched NXT Arrival, it really was like a breath of fresh air because the commentary and overall presentation felt much more like The Professional Wrestling. I will say, Cole's been more than serviceable in the past with Taz and then with JBL when they were on Smackdown. I think the problem now, more so than Cole and JBL themselves, is that Vince micromanages the announcing to the point where it just comes off as robotic and terrible like noted above. Also, Lawler is just terrible and detracts from the show.

 

I honestly think that if they swapped the Raw guys with the NXT announcers, the Raw commentary would still suck since the NXT guys would be micromanaged and sound robotic.

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They should have HHH continue to duck Daniel Bryan and insert him into the Wrestlemania title match after he defeats...let's say Kane earlier in the show.  Daniel Bryan wins, HHH comes out and says that Bryan gets the match he asked for....right now, and HHH walks out of Wrestlemania as the champ.

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Although, as much as I hate to give Cole credit for anything, ya'll are sleeping on Cole calling out how much of pussy Trip was for Pedigree'ing Bryan after Batista did all the dirty work.

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You guys dumping on the announce team must not have the WWE Network. Listen to 3-4 hours of Vince, Macho Man, and Rob Bartlett and then try and tell me how bad the current crew are.

That said, I totally agree that JBL and (especially) Lawler should be jettisoned in favor of Regal. His work on NXT is just fantastic.

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The announcing has been really bad for a while. King adds nothing and is having more and more senior moments as time goes on. JBL's act has worn thin and I don't know if it's just me, but I think the blatant heel announcer concept is really dated and makes the product look bush league. Never mind that he goes off the rails all the fucking time and will sidetrack the whole crew for entire matches. Cole is decent when he's assertive and takes control from those other goofs, but he rarely does that and is usually content to follow along with their inane banter. His nicknames are the absolute worst too.

 

Anyway, I loved the Usos winning the tag titles in decisive fashion. The dive/tag spot was great. The fact that the mandatory rematch is on Main Event bodes well for the Usos moving on to greener pastures. I wouldn't mind a match with Harper and Rowan at Mania for them.

 

The Shield/Wyatts tag was excellent, probably a top 5 match this year despite being noticeably behind their EC match. The Chamber match just had a once in a lifetime feel that can't be replicated, and also went 20+ so it's kind of hard to expect a rematch to be better. Nevertheless, I liked that they didn't just rehash their last match and really tried to do something different to progress the story. The important things to remember are the Shield/Wyatts program is really designed to put over The Wyatt Family and Bray's mind games and that The Shield are still tweeners at the moment. Also, the Shield has been showing signs of dissension since Survivor Series, so none of their actions should really feel out of the blue here. It's understandable for Rollins to snap at some point, especially when his teammates are making mind-numbingly stupid mistakes mid-match. Their talent is comparable with the Wyatts, but they just aren't on the same page anymore and the Wyatts are. I think the match unfolded perfectly.

 

The in-ring action was superb as well. Rollins opening run was a thing of beauty, especially the last dive where he landed on his feet facing the ring. Ambrose going after Rowan's leg was some of the best looking offense he's had in a while, and the spot where he was challenging Bray while stuck in the Rowan vise was great. I agree that Reigns looked stupid chasing down Ambrose during Rollins' attempted hot tag, but that was the point I think. Reigns was more concerned with asserting his dominance in the group than Rollins well-being and Ambrose clearly hasn't given a fuck for months. Can't blame Rollins for breaking down here, especially as a tweener with no moral obligation to be the bigger man. The two-man game with Ambrose and Reigns was top-notch and that finishing run was perfect with the Wyatts finally being the team that got the Shield to succumb to the numbers game. Oh, and Luke Harper was phenomenal here too. That double stomp to Ambrose during the figure four, his strikes being on point as usual and an even more epic looking dive (credit to Roman's bump) than the EC match. Bray's constant taunting of the Shield was perfect too given how he spent the last month prophesying their demise.

 

Was there other stuff on this show? I can barely remember. The Bryan stuff was fine if you aren't leery about them doing the right thing Mania. Lesnar killing Henry is a running joke at this point. Cesaro needs to make a full turn and dispatch Swagger as quickly as possible. Those Punk teases were weak.

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Fuck it. As good as some of the stuff with Daniel Bryan is, the stuff with the Shield is sooo much better. The Shield vs Wyatts was fuuuuuuucking ridonkulous and pretty much puts the pussy on the chain wax (YEAH!). Luke Harper is a goddamn MAN in that ring and so is Ambrose eating from Luke Harper, among other things, the most vicious boot to the face I've ever seen, getting stomped on the stomach while in a bridge, and having his face ground to mush by Harper's boots in the corner. As much as I loved some of the recent TV matches in previous weeks, this match tops them all. Harper's tope suicida was fucking beautiful as well. Flawless execution. Bryan busted out one of his own later in the night and it didn't look as good. The story of the match was amazing as well with Rollins calling it a day. Perfect finish too.

 

The entire story around the Shield has been one of the most compelling stories in WWE history and it goes to show just how much a group of wrestlers can get over when they're booked that strongly from start to finish. Even now that they're dropping losses, it doesn't matter. Out of all places in WWE we have this textbook example of solid booking. Why they can't apply this to everyone is beyond me.

 

Like someone else said, if this is it for the Shield, I tip my hat to them. Maybe one of my most favorite acts ever.

 

As for Punk, I love it when Meltzer gets worked and this may be the greatest example of Meltzer getting worked. When you think about it, as nice as it would be for Punk to return, it makes no sense at this point and upsets the already delicate booking they have. I'm perfectly OK with Bryan vs HHH. I'm perfectly OK with Orton vs Batista getting completely shit upon. In fact, I'm one of the few who thinks the Wrestlemania card looks pretty good at this point. Punk coming back now just fucks everything up.

 

Then there's Bryan vs Batista. Batista frustrates me so much with how gassed he gets. Christ, the dude has no cardio at all and Bryan was basically wrestling a broomstick out there at times. Not only that, but he's *lightly* wrestling a broomstick because Batista could break at any moment. And this dude is going to be there for two years. What a lemon he turned out to be. So disappointing. 

 

Finally, can we just get more of Orton pointing out how much the crowd hates Batista? It's the only way to make Orton remotely interesting.

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I really feel like this needs to be spelled out for Punk fans...

 

CM Punk is a selfish, holier-than-thou, giant asshole. Seriously. He always has been, probably always will be. Ask 95% of the people who actually know him. He happens to be pretty damn good (sometimes even great) at his craft, but he is still a selfish, holier than thou, giant asshole. Not taking away anything he does from an entertainment perspective - I've enjoyed many Punk matches and moments over the years. But it's important to differentiate between the real man and the guy you see on TV. \

 

If Punk is comfortable enough with himself to take his ball and go home, that's fine. Some say he's rebel, some say he's a coward, but the thing is - it was his choice. The WWE is not making Punk stay home. To be upset with the promotion because one of the guys who was going to be in a top 3 match at the biggest show ever decided he'd rather stay home than do his job... that's absurd. Be pissed at Punk, not WWE. 

 

And stop the disrespectful chants during other matches. Christian/Sheamus was long, I get that. But it was a damn good match. Shield/Wyatts was amazing and anyone chanting for anything other than the 6 guys in that match should just turn in their pro wrestling fan card now.

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I actually HATED what they did with The Shield tonight. The match itself was amazing, but they really took a step back with the whole Shield breakup.

First of all, Reigns looks like a fucking goof for following Ambrose around like a guy trying to get his loose puppy back on the leash. The bit where he left the apron to pull Ambrose away from fighting Wyatt was really stupid.

Rollins looks like an idiot because no matter what in fighting Reigns/Ambrose have had, the three always had each other's backs no matter what. Ambrose was there last week when they needed him. So for Rollins to turn his back on them, walk out and let them get ganged up on makes no fucking sense.

After tonight, the only thing I can surmise is they're giving the rocket baby face push to.. Dean Ambrose? He looked like a man possessed with destroying the Wyatt's tonight at all costs. Hard to point the blame for any dissension at him.

 

 

Rollins leaving them tonight was really fucking dumb. Reigns looked like an idiot tonight too.

 

Only guy who came out of tonight's match looking good, or at least somewhat likable, is Dean Ambrose of all people.

 

 

The most fascinating thing about the Orton/Batista match is that Orton has become the third wheel in a one-on-one match.

 

Batista is probably the worst worker in the company at this point.

 

 

Has the play-by-play/color commentary ever been worse in WWE? Cole is a decent milquetoast play-by-play guy, but even by those standards he's not even in the same stratosphere as a Mike Goldberg. He's really only there to robotically repeat WWE buzzwords over and over again. Lawler barely knows what's going on half of the time and I'm pretty sure he spends most of the show playing solitaire on his iPad, and JBL is apparently getting worse by association, because he went from being really, really good to God awful over the last few months. Like, can he decide if he's a face or heel announcer? Sometimes he literally changes mid-match. I think when Swagger attacked Big E tonight in the Cesaro/Big E match, Cole said.. "Swagger may have just cost Cesaro this match." Really? He MAY have? For fuck's sake.

 

Do you just stay up all night thinking of every little thing that bothered you about RAW?  You must be a ton of fun to hang out with...

 

Here's an idea, if something bothers you so much that you bitch about it for longer than the show was even on, maybe it's time you found a new source of entertainment.  Take a tip from your "beloved" WWE and

fout.jpg

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I was torn on the Outlaws-Usos match; I wanted the Usos to win, but part of me wanted them to get the big win at Mania.  Still cool to see them FINALLY get the belts.

 

With the immediate rematch on Main Event(see it live on the Network on Tuesday night!), I'm wondering if they'll switch the belts BACK to push the Network, then do the real blowoff at Mania.

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On Rusev: Can Lana tone down the accent just a notch? She's crossing the line from the "evil furriner" gimmick to "big trouble for Moose and Squirrel".

 

Lana Hotenov.

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Great show overall. Using Meltzer to try and cut back on the Punk reaction was smart. Don't know if it was effective though. I'm at the point where I just wish he would come back just because I am tired of hearing people talk about him. 

 

I liked Jerry Lawler using a joke from the movie Duck Soup from 1933 during the Fandango segment.

 

The timing of Bryan kicking HHH in the face was perfect. 

 

Usos winning the belts was great. The turnaround of the tag team division has helped show quality so much. From complete indifference to the Usos to babyface stars. 

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I really feel like this needs to be spelled out for Punk fans...

 

CM Punk is a selfish, holier-than-thou, giant asshole. Seriously. He always has been, probably always will be. Ask 95% of the people who actually know him. He happens to be pretty damn good (sometimes even great) at his craft, but he is still a selfish, holier than thou, giant asshole. Not taking away anything he does from an entertainment perspective - I've enjoyed many Punk matches and moments over the years. 

 

 

LOL.  This nonsense is getting out of hand.   The crowd was great all night.

 

 

But it's important to differentiate between the real man and the guy you see on TV. \

 

1. What does that even mean?  So like, I shouldn't want to see Punk on TV because he is a dick in real life or something?

 

2, Why is that important?  If Batista gave all his money to charity should I care more about his match with Orton? Boo less?

 

Some of you all are just way too invested. 

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"He's half way to Detroit by now."

 

Dean is so the best.  He's playing it like such a little shit clique member, like he's part of some 4chan or reddit squad that decides one of their group has betrayed them and he's now fully committed to killing him.  No redemption.

 

That character type that sometimes puts "loyalty" ahead of everything else in the world, but doesn't even seem to get it when they themselves aren't living up to that...hmmmm...let's see...what classic 80s heel "group leader" is he being this week/????.....

 

Oh, yeah:

 

tumblr_l7smoqonjt1qa69g9o1_400.jpg

The things...I do...for my FUCKING FRIENDS!!!!!!

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