WWE Raw 6-30-14 - Return of McMahonDow!

[Greggulator]

You agree that there was a follow up issue, right?The promo could be a good heel promo but only if the babyfaces then step up to give the heel comeuppance and that didn't happen. Magnum TA didn't come into the ring and tear up Flair's suit.

 

Oh yeah. The follow up sucked. The face/heel structure was so screwy. It's tough. The crowd bought into A.J.'s act. She came off like the babyface, largely because her logic was so sound and the smarks in the crowd recognize she's done great work and that the rest of the division is garbage.

 

But they were in a corner with Total Divas -- that's a huge part of their programming and a lead to get more eyeballs into the actual wrestling product. You can't have all six of those girls play heels, except for the ones who are heels on the show. They're the hook for people tuning in and, as the recognizable characters, have to be the ones people root for.

 

It was just a disorganized mess. It makes sense to incorporate the Divas champion in AJ into the Total Divas group. But how to exactly do that... that's a huge problem. In retrospect, they probably she have given AJ something else to do for a while away from being in-ring and let the Divas handle the wrestling part, as dreadful as that sounds.

But the whole finished product was a good story. AJ backed up what she said in her mind. I mean, she did so with the help of hired muscle and bullshit cheap wins. But she beat everyone and then lost in a b.s. manner to someone stepping foot in a WWE ring for the very first time after trying to gloat. That's a great, completed story.

[The Z]

The Bellas did an interview with Peter Rosenberg a couple of months ago and there's a point in the interview, where it really shines through that they really don't like AJ a lot.

 

[ebbie]

AJ strikes me as someone that would give them shit for "not being real wrestlers."

But still a good interview.

[piranesi]

 

But they were in a corner with Total Divas -- that's a huge part of their programming and a lead to get more eyeballs into the actual wrestling product. You can't have all six of those girls play heels, except for the ones who are heels on the show. They're the hook for people tuning in and, as the recognizable characters, have to be the ones people root for.

 

 

They could have had them play heels if they (and E!) were willing to let Total Divas be an actual reality show (which admittedly maybe isn't a thing that exists)...and have the Bellas be professional wrestlers who occasionally reference their storyline where they are playing heels instead of having them pretend that things going on in the ring are somehow part of these stupid fake backstage fights.

 

The logic of Total Divas is so bizarre there's no way any booking could  conform to it.

[JohnnyJ]

Total Divas is a work within a work. Think about that for a second.

[ebbie]

So, Vince Russo's dream?

[piranesi]

I tried to work it out in the Total Diva's thread once and...well what you've been getting here the last few weeks is what's left of my mind.

[Spontaneous]

Wasn't Naomi supposed to win the Divas title and Aksana then kneed her in the face on Raw, screwing that plan up?

How much of the Total Divas audience overlapped with the WWE audience?

[Niners Fan in CT]

Ugh, I was hoping AJ was gone for good.

 

I kind of agree with this. She hasn't brought anything to the table in a long time and for whatever the reason when she's champion the whole division is stagnant as hell. Paige was having good matches with everyone. I enjoyed Naomi and Alicia Fox, etc..  getting opportunities to have good matches.

 

AJ's return feels like WWE saying "HA! dumb smarks! don't believe everything in the sheets! DUR DUR"

[piranesi]

 

 

AJ's return feels like WWE saying "HA! dumb smarks! don't believe everything in the sheets! DUR DUR"

 

 

I'd like to think it's Punk saying:

 

"Hey, babe, I haven't heard my name chanted in a few weeks.  You mind going back to work for awhile?  Cool.  Oh, and pick me up some peanut butter on your way."

[Niners Fan in CT]

That was the best part. I thought we were finally done with having to watch terrible shoot promos. Most people had moved on to Bryan and the Wyatts and Ambrose, Reigns, etc..

 

The guys trying to pass off this female PIPEBOMB as Ric Flair in the 80's is hilarious. She delivered the material well enough but lets not get carried away. Anyone can look good when the material is "You're not really crazy nor do you have anything to do with Satan. Your name is Windham and your dad was IRS HAHA!"

 

I didn't enjoy the return at all. The Zeb/Lana/Swagger/Rusev segment was a thousand times more entertaining. Everyone got over in that segment and it was red hot. Being there live...I was blown away..  It was like "wait, we're chanting for Swagger?? OH FUCK we're chanting for Swagger!" 

 

Crazy how well that was booked. Old school to the fullest.

[scraylo187]

So wait, people are annoyed that the WWE had AJ Lee bury a group of women that they think are worthless anyway? 

 

I'm confused. 

 

Actually, never mind. My head hurts.

[Niners Fan in CT]

No, you are just generalizing. Some of the divas are terrible and some are pretty good. Just like the men.

[Cristobal]

The difference is that when Randy Orton is standing in a ring with HHH, Foley, Bret Hart, and Shawn Michaels et al. and Orton says he's the greatest champion ever, people don't get this weird bug up their ass about a heel talking shit.

[Goodear]

There is a whole lot more talk about WWE Divas here than normal huh?  Couple of points...

 

Its one thing to bury your opponents when they have credibility like the example of Randy Orton talking smack about Bret Hart and others.  Its another when your draw attention to actual issues with a worker that people are working on covering up.  Like John Cena coming out and saying, "Boy Russev, you sure are short.  I'm not sure I can fight you because I can't punch that low."  What good does that do?  

 

AJ cut a nice promo but the follow up sucks because none of them could come back on her and win in ring or verbally.  Does it do us any good to have AJ beat up a bunch of people she just tore down?  So you beat some models?  Big deal 'wrestler',  Also I hate it when someone tears someone down and the other people aren't allowed to retaliate.  Like give them something to say in response other than 'you are just jealous because you aren't on our show!'  Let them really fire back.  I still want Miz to bury the shit out of CM Punk and I fucking can't stand The Miz right now. 

 

AJ is a bad heel as a wrestler.  She can't build sympathy because she's itty bitty tiny compared to her contemporaries.  She's got the Widow's bite and a shining wizard and I don't know what else she has to fill out her matches other than bump around.  So shes the heel that gets bounced around and still wins against fake wrestlers who aren't as good as her?  What kind of heel is this?

[Niners Fan in CT]

I didn't understand the "AJ is pro wrestling" part of the story either. Her promo was all shooty but in keeping with that.. she was a person who went through NXT and didn't have much experience prior to that. How was she the serious pro wrestler? It's not like it was Manami Toyota coming out and saying you all suck.

[Victator]

Before I start, there are male wrestlers that were terrible about this. Memphis guys were always burying their opponents saying shit that was true. It is a no win situation, if you win, you beat a loser and if you lose you look like a chump. That is the only thing I hate about Memphis wrestling. 

The Four Horsemen never buried the guys they were feuding with. They might not be as good as the Horsemen, but they made sure to point out their opponents were the best wrestling had to offer. I

[JonnyLaw]

Also I hate it when someone tears someone down and the other people aren't allowed to retaliate.  Like give them something to say in response other than 'you are just jealous because you aren't on our show!'  Let them really fire back.  I still want Miz to bury the shit out of CM Punk and I fucking can't stand The Miz right now. 

I'm glad I'm not alone in this. CM Punk takes constant personal shots at him, so I imagine Miz has a pretty good rant built up I wouldn't mind seeing him unleash on Punk.

[Casey]

I like how people want the brand split back when just a year or two people were literally BEGGING for it to end.

[mattdangerously]

You guys, Cesaro's going to be fine. When they finally turn him face for realsies, he's going to get a massive pop. There's nothing to worry about.

[OSJ]

The only problem with the brand split was that WWE stopped caring about it. The smart move would be to still have ONE major title and only do crossover matches sparingly. It made absolutely no sense to tune in to Smackdown and see half the matches featuring guys from the RAW roster and vis versa. Going this route, you can make the IC and US titles be the focal point of the weekly shows, save the big belt for PPV. Anyone else remember when the IC Title actually meant that you were the #1 contender for the World Title?

[JonnyLaw]

I like how people want the brand split back when just a year or two people were literally BEGGING for it to end.

Doesn't mean they're the same people. I've always been in favor of the split.

[Stevie Ray Von Erich]

The video games were much more fun with the split, anyway.

[Phantom Lord]

The video games were much more fun with the split, anyway.

 

I always loved the draft part where Lance Storm got drafted to the brand you weren't doing and because he was a tag team champion with Christian, Christian got to go with him and Christian's like "Oh thank God".

 

As for AJ. If AJ and Paige have a match say like the one Paige and Emma had on NXT Arrival at Summerslam I think it will all be worth it.

[The Man Known as Dan]

The video games were much more fun with the split, anyway.

I loved the game that came before Here Comes the Pain just for the ability to draft the shows.