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

[Big Fresh]

In Dean Ambrose's defense, Ken Shamrock's entrance theme was fucking badass.

[mco543]

I'm laughing way too much at Emma looking as interested in her mugshot as she does while working on TV.

[Victator]

She looks drunk. 

[Nice Guy Eddie]

She looks drunk.

Is it safe to assume she was drinking Foster's?

[Spontaneous]

Twisted Tea, gotta tow the company line

Hence why Adam Rose looked so sad

[OSJ]

Dean Ambrose is totally old school in his approach to everything. No doubt, he listens to the Cramps and Kid Congo Powers.

 

The Cramps... hmmm...there's his catchphrase RIGHT THERE! Stay Sick!!!! How 'bout that, I have the next big thing already hanging in my closet!

[Buy Me a Burrito]

Watching the replay of Raw on Hulu. 

 

Triple H doing the rap dude voice to Cena was aces. 

[piranesi]

Reading some of those Moxley interviews, how lucky is it that the WWE didn't try to create a character based on his life, like the way they would normally do it.

"We really think that drawing from real life is the best way to make a compelling character, so we want to do that with you."

"Great, I've put a lot of effort into keeping my character spontaneous and not too cartoony."

"Awesome...here put on this grimy overalls.  Your entrance music will be a crying baby and you begging for change from the people along the ramp and you'll carry around this garbage bag and before the match you'll eat out of it, you know 'cause you're like homeless.  We'll call you The Urchin! Have you ever heard of this guy Raven?  Do a lot of that stuff too."

"Have I heard of?....You know what?  How about I be just, like, a regular guy who's pretty tough and gritty and has kind of a chip on his shoulder. and is an outsider and a bit over the edge?"

"Right, just what we described.  Take this squeegee.  Your finisher will be hitting people in the head with it and then rubbing it on them and drinking the sweat because you're, like, thirsty.  Lawler will put that over huge.  We've got pages of squeegee material that Vince wrote up for himself.  Vince is taking a personal interest in this, so it will be really good."

"I'm gonna go lay down for awhile."

"Great, here's some newspapers to cover your face with.  Live the gimmick, brother!"

[supremebve]

I realized something while watching this show, Fandango has the best job ever.  He gets to make out with hot chicks, feel up hot chicks, and act like a tool for about 15 minutes a week.  I'm sure he gets paid more than me, and my job doesn't have any fine ass women, and I'd get fired if I started kissing and gyrating on them if it did.  That dude's living the life.

[LooseCannon]

I realized something while watching this show, Fandango has the best job ever.  He gets to make out with hot chicks, feel up hot chicks, and act like a tool for about 15 minutes a week.  I'm sure he gets paid more than me, and my job doesn't have any fine ass women, and I'd get fired if I started kissing and gyrating on them if it did.  That dude's living the life.

 

Imagine if they gave his job to Darren Young.

[supremebve]

 

I realized something while watching this show, Fandango has the best job ever.  He gets to make out with hot chicks, feel up hot chicks, and act like a tool for about 15 minutes a week.  I'm sure he gets paid more than me, and my job doesn't have any fine ass women, and I'd get fired if I started kissing and gyrating on them if it did.  That dude's living the life.

 

Imagine if they gave his job to Darren Young.

 

I'm too busy imagining if they gave his job to me. 

[victor]

Then again not everything works out for some people:

 

[TheVileOne]

Pairing up Cesaro with Heyman after WrestleMania turned out pretty terrible for Cesaro.

[Phantom Lord]

I kind of look at Dean Ambrose a little bit as an American Atsushi Onita and like Onita he also should come out to "Wild Thing".

 

http://www.youdubber.com/index.php?video=EwHdyAw0NYg&video_start=0&audio=KxZbOZDineQ&audio_start=8

[BoKnowsWrestling]

Cesaro has a titlr match with lesner at night of champs. Is face. Probably gets tons of cheers...

He will be fine long term. Maybe he beats lesner in a non title match later.

Unless Bryan doesn't come back then u set that up for mania maybe?

Problem is they have a lot of young guys that are absolutely great. Maybe he gets lost in the shuffle... we'll see about this time next year. I'm a big fan but also a big Bryan and ambrose fan... but I was a more into cesaro 4 months ago... obviously a conflicted but interested fan

[Big Fresh]

If Cesaro gets lost in the shuffle (which I agree he's dangerously close to being), it's just another example of why we need the brand split back.

[The Z]

 

I kind of look at Dean Ambrose a little bit as an American Atsushi Onita and like Onita he also should come out to "Wild Thing".

 

http://www.youdubber.com/index.php?video=EwHdyAw0NYg&video_start=0&audio=KxZbOZDineQ&audio_start=8

 

 

This is amazing!

[JonnyLaw]

If Cesaro gets lost in the shuffle (which I agree he's dangerously close to being), it's just another example of why we need the brand split back.

 

Yep, it would keep people/matchups from getting so stale.

[Raziel]

 

If Cesaro gets lost in the shuffle (which I agree he's dangerously close to being), it's just another example of why we need the brand split back.

 

Yep, it would keep people/matchups from getting so stale.

 

Just like it did last time.

 

Or, you know, Creative could just care about booking more than the top 5-6 guys.

[Hollywood Cibernetico]

Ambrose comes off as a legit rebel. CM Punk came off as a guy who played "the rebel" on tv, conned enough people into buying , and then lived the gimmick in real life. Ambrose playing the semi-shoot Brian Pillman gimmick in 2014 is awesome. CM Punk doing the HBK 1996 'Lost My Smile" gimmick is not. WWE doesn't need Punk as Ambrose has not only filled the 'rebel' void left open by Punk, but it feels natural and not too insider/snarky like Punnk's.

[JonnyLaw]

 

 

If Cesaro gets lost in the shuffle (which I agree he's dangerously close to being), it's just another example of why we need the brand split back.

 

Yep, it would keep people/matchups from getting so stale.

 

Just like it did last time.

 

Or, you know, Creative could just care about booking more than the top 5-6 guys.

 

 

Perhaps I should have said so stale so quick.  At a minimum, the brand split (and a true brand split, not the "Raw Supershow feat. Smackown superstars") would keep Raw from hosting constant rematches from three days earlier on Smackdown.

 

And the split would force creative to at least care about the top five or so guys on each show, thus doubling the number of guys they care about.

[JohnnyJ]

Pairing up Cesaro with Heyman after WrestleMania turned out pretty terrible for Cesaro.

 

It seems like the plan with Cesaro was to pair him up with Heyman and hopefully the rest will write itself. That was the entirety of the thought put into it.

 

Cesaro lacks a identifiable character. What exactly is his gimmick other than being a talented wrestler?

Cesaro lacks a decent entrance song. I cringe every time I hear his late 90s WCW theme.

Is Cesaro a face? If he's face why is he being managed by Heyman?

Is Cesaro a heel? If he's a heel why isn't he acting like one?

[Biz Smarkie]

His beating of Kofi was a heel move, as well as the refusal to do his most over spot. He has mostly been acting like a heel for the past month, but against other heels. (Calling adr a loser, walking out on Barrett)

I think they are saving his next giant swing for Heyman, but he is gonna be stuck in a holding pattern until Brock returns to set the wheels in motion.

[The Z]

 

Pairing up Cesaro with Heyman after WrestleMania turned out pretty terrible for Cesaro.

 

It seems like the plan with Cesaro was to pair him up with Heyman and hopefully the rest will write itself. That was the entirety of the thought put into it.

 

Cesaro lacks a identifiable character. What exactly is his gimmick other than being a talented wrestler?

Cesaro lacks a decent entrance song. I cringe every time I hear his late 90s WCW theme.

Is Cesaro a face? If he's face why is he being managed by Heyman?

Is Cesaro a heel? If he's a heel why isn't he acting like one?

 

 

Here's what I think happened. I think the plan initially was to turn both Cesaro and Heyman face by pairing them together.

I think what hindered that was Lesnar beating the Undertaker, which as we now know was a decision that was made on the day of the show.

If Undertaker had beaten Lesnar, which probably was the plan before the day of the show, everyone would have  been able to gloss over the fact that just one day before Heyman was managing Lesnar. Heyman probably wouldn't even have talked about Lesnar anymore and just focused on Cesaro from that point on, at least for the time being.

But since Lesnar beat the Undertaker, they obviously couldn't just gloss over the fact and Heyman had to revel in it, which of course meant he and Cesaro couldn't turn face.

[Yo-Yo's Roomie]

Ugh, I was hoping AJ was gone for good. I get my weekly dose of AJ being super-annoying on the Countdown show, thank you very much. I like how in the 10 minutes she was back she managed to make Paige, the girl who's been carrying the division, look like a complete fool; "I'm not going to make the same mistake you did", "but the fans really want it", "okay". Baffling, since Paige is essentially a much better version of AJ anyway.

 

I liked the show all in all, although I have no interest in 2014 Jericho and, especially, The Miz. Swagger should have turned face a long time ago. He's been dead as a heel for years, and seems like he could be quite likeable given the chance. Could do some decent stuff with Rusev.