WWE Raw 8-18-14

[blitzkrieg]

It's nice that we're getting two to three diva angles these days but I actually feel like the matches were better structured during the bra and panties era. It feels like the women who can wrestle aren't given enough time while the ones that can't are given too much time. For a few weeks it seemed Smackdown featured AJ versus the Total Diva all-stars with AJ dominated by horrible heel offense before reversing into her finisher. You'd think with an actual training center they could devote time to helping the divas along.

[ebbie]

That's how the divas usually work their matches tho. They take turns doing shit until the winner wins.

[Ultimo Necro]

God, now I want to see Swagger join Ryback and Axel as the Biff Tannen-esque jock leader.  Book Sami Zayn as Marty McFly and it writes itself. 

[SolidGoldBomb]

Epic Main Event, just incredible stuff.  Had me grinning ear to ear the whole time, Dean Ambrose is my hero!  One of the best TV matches this year, right next to the Shield vs Wyatts.

 

What we need now is a #1 contender's tournament!  If Brock is gonna be off TV for a bit this is the perfect time to bring back King Of The Ring and build up a babyface challenger for him to destroy!

[Jiji]

Oh man, I want to see RVD win a #1 contender's match and get absolutely fucking destroyed by Brock at Night of Champions never to be seen again.

[SolidGoldBomb]

I still love RVD, but I can go along with that.  He still plays his part very well IMO, his rolling thunder last night looked crisper than it has in a while, like he got some extra rotation back.  His frog splash still looked awesome, how the hell does he still bounce so high after hitting the mat?  And he will still kick a muthafucka square in the face.  He's still being used as enhancement talent for guys like Rollins, Miz, Ryback, Cesaro, Rusev and whatnot, it's not like he's ever going to be a main eventer again, so I just don't understand the hatred for him around the webz.  He's a solid old hand being used to put over new talent, so he's playing a valuable role right now as a credible jobber.

[JCM]

I think this was the perfect time to bring back the pile driver, and go Funk/Flair with Ambrose's injury angle. Have Dean eventually hit the receipt pile driver on Rollins on a huge fucking pile of chairs for the feud blow off. Plus it would give him an ace in the hole to use against Brock for a believable near fall.

[Cristobal]

I still love RVD, but I can go along with that.  He still plays his part very well IMO, his rolling thunder last night looked crisper than it has in a while, like he got some extra rotation back.  His frog splash still looked awesome, how the hell does he still bounce so high after hitting the mat?  And he will still kick a muthafucka square in the face.  He's still being used as enhancement talent for guys like Rollins, Miz, Ryback, Cesaro, Rusev and whatnot, it's not like he's ever going to be a main eventer again, so I just don't understand the hatred for him around the webz.  He's a solid old hand being used to put over new talent, so he's playing a valuable role right now as a credible jobber.

[JohnnyJ]

I would love to see Ryback booked like an Adam Dunn or Dave Kingman style home run hitter. Someone who has a ton of weaknesses and is always swinging for the fences. He loses a lot but is always presented as dangerous and will sporadically convincingly take main event opponents out.

[SolidGoldBomb]

 

I still love RVD, but I can go along with that.  He still plays his part very well IMO, his rolling thunder last night looked crisper than it has in a while, like he got some extra rotation back.  His frog splash still looked awesome, how the hell does he still bounce so high after hitting the mat?  And he will still kick a muthafucka square in the face.  He's still being used as enhancement talent for guys like Rollins, Miz, Ryback, Cesaro, Rusev and whatnot, it's not like he's ever going to be a main eventer again, so I just don't understand the hatred for him around the webz.  He's a solid old hand being used to put over new talent, so he's playing a valuable role right now as a credible jobber.

 

 

That was the pre show huh? Didn't see that, but no real harm here though.  And I love Cesaro as much as anyone else, but neither one are in a feud right now so it hardly matters booking wise.  Cesaro beat Swagger last night also...so sunday is already forgotten and they can both move on and do their thing. Try caring less about outcomes and just go with it, it makes everything much more fun and enjoyable.

 

You gotta build him back up first, before you send in the BEAST to tear him back down to zero.

[SirSmUgly]

RVD beating Cesaro beating Jack Swagger the next night is weird. 

 

Does that win over Swagger mark the end of Cesaro jobbing without complaint so that they can feel comfortable pushing him or what?

 

I love that while every talented dude gets the obligatory de-push to test their loyalty, the guy who started the trend because he just up and left ten years ago is the current champ on a sweet limited dates deal. 

[Dewar]

_{Well sure, he was the one guy who went and made a name for himself outside of the business.}

[SirSmUgly]

Oh absolutely, it is no mystery why Lesnar is champ and has the deal that he does. I just love the delicious irony, using the word "irony" in a more contemporary sense. 

[Charlie M.]

They did test Lesnar by having him job to Cena and Hunter upon returning, though. 

[Pete]

God, now I want to see Swagger join Ryback and Axel as the Biff Tannen-esque jock leader.  Book Sami Zayn as Marty McFly and it writes itself. 

 

 

"Hey guys! What's going on?"

[Cristobal]

I still love RVD, but I can go along with that.  He still plays his part very well IMO, his rolling thunder last night looked crisper than it has in a while, like he got some extra rotation back.  His frog splash still looked awesome, how the hell does he still bounce so high after hitting the mat?  And he will still kick a muthafucka square in the face.  He's still being used as enhancement talent for guys like Rollins, Miz, Ryback, Cesaro, Rusev and whatnot, it's not like he's ever going to be a main eventer again, so I just don't understand the hatred for him around the webz.  He's a solid old hand being used to put over new talent, so he's playing a valuable role right now as a credible jobber.

 

That was the pre show huh? Didn't see that, but no real harm here though.  And I love Cesaro as much as anyone else, but neither one are in a feud right now so it hardly matters booking wise.  Cesaro beat Swagger last night also...so sunday is already forgotten and they can both move on and do their thing. Try caring less about outcomes and just go with it, it makes everything much more fun and enjoyable.

 

You gotta build him back up first, before you send in the BEAST to tear him back down to zero.

The point is that everything you said about RVD being a jobber used to put guys over is nonsense. Hell, he was the big damn hero in the 6-man last night.

Also, "Care less about outcomes" is the shitty thinking that led us to 50/50 booking in the first place. A huge part of what made DB at Mania so great this year is that every ass in every seat in the Superdome cared A LOT about the outcomes of his matches.

[Sammo~!]

Oh yeah we're all missing the John Cena update from tonight. He'll be back next week to address the WWE universe. One week after getting mauled. Well Superman wasn't dead for that long either so I guess Cena's only living the gimmick.

 

Next week on Raw! John Cena speaks! beeps once for yes, two for no

 

[supremebve]

 

God, now I want to see Swagger join Ryback and Axel as the Biff Tannen-esque jock leader.  Book Sami Zayn as Marty McFly and it writes itself. 

 

 

"Hey guys! What's going on?"

 

Say what you want about A-Ri, but he was great as Miz's douchebag lackey.  I thought he was going to be pushed hard after they broke up, but he just didn't have it to be a solo act.  There are worst guys to have as the goofball nut hugger for a faction of jocks.  Seriously the midcard is just full of nothing right now, they are paying a shit load of guys to not do anything at all. 

[evilwaldo]

 

Oh yeah we're all missing the John Cena update from tonight. He'll be back next week to address the WWE universe. One week after getting mauled. Well Superman wasn't dead for that long either so I guess Cena's only living the gimmick.

 

Next week on Raw! John Cena speaks! beeps once for yes, two for no

 

 

 

 

I so want to see Cena come back as a Paul Heyman guy when he returns.  It would be a huge breath of fresh air for him.

 

After last nights promo by Heyman it would be fun to watch for a couple of months.  

[Ace]

 

God, now I want to see Swagger join Ryback and Axel as the Biff Tannen-esque jock leader.  Book Sami Zayn as Marty McFly and it writes itself. 

 

 

"Hey guys! What's going on?"

 

 

SHUT UP, A-RY. NOBODY LIKES YOU.

[The Green Meanie]

What happened to Nattie's face?

 

Also I'm guessing its safe to assume the announce table was gimmicked not to break, otherwise there would have been no reason for them to do the whole cinderblock spot.

 

How many people thought that the German announce table was the one that was going to be destroyed? We all know about the history surrounding the Spanish Announce Table, but was there any real reason for them to have a German one other then for it to be destroyed? Color me disappointed.

[StretchMediatedHypertrophy]

No.  And they also didn't explain why either 1) They are the type of cinderblocks that crumble into dust upon impact.  2) Dean Ambrose isn't dead after his head hitting cinderblocks hard enough to break them into multiple pieces. 

 

Seriously, I LOVED that match.  Loved it loved it loved it.  But I can think of roughly 2 or 3 dozen other finish spots they could have used to take him out of action that would have looked serious and injury-inducing without doing something that would be a literal murder. 

 

 

The finish was definitely......interesting. They pushed an envelope there, though I think they went out of their way to make it look slightly contrived because it was OTT, but it was still pretty messed up. I think Seth Rollins is a very bad man. Ambrose is going to have to hurt this dude. And Kane may be a looking at a formal disciplinary meeting with HR. 

 

What's challenging in a different way is the finish where someone enters to their music during the match and distracts a wrestler and causes them to lose - it really needs to just stop. I mean, who enjoys watching that exactly? How is that not guaranteed to be anything other than groan worthy and make people look bad? 

[JohnnyJ]

 

What's challenging in a different way is the finish where someone enters to their music during the match and distracts a wrestler and causes them to lose - it really needs to just stop. I mean, who enjoys watching that exactly? How is that not guaranteed to be anything other than groan worthy and make people look bad? 

 

 

 

It's just lazy booking. Whatever happened to some good old fashioned interference or taunting from somewhere closer than like 500 feet away.

 

What's worse is after the music plays, the distracting wrestler needs to unnaturally grin at the top of the ramp for 5 minutes so that the camera can catch him/her doing it.

 

A few years back I was at a Smackdown taping and I swear Teddy was doing his little dance at the top of the ramp for several minutes so that the cameramen could get a proper shot. Easily a life highlight. 

[odessasteps]

Is ambrose part Samoan?

[SolidGoldBomb]

Cristobal - They are just trying to keep RVD over by letting him beat Curtis Axel in a meaningless 6-man, it's not like he's being pushed for even a midcard belt.  They brought him in to job to Barrett after he won the IC belt, which he did several times, but unfortunately Barrett's push was cut short by injury.  He has had some great matches losing to Rollins, once again helping a young lion improve and lending him more main event credibility.  And he's traded wins with Cesaro on the live shows and been putting over guys like Miz & Rusev the last few weeks. I understand people love Cesaro and want him to be pushed harder, but neither guy has a real feud going right now so they are both in a holding pattern. He's a former WWE champ so always has instant credibility, and he's still over with the casual fans, those are both important things to maintain his heat so when he does job in a singles match to the heel of the week it means more.  He's very similar to Jericho right now, the old guard putting over new heels.  I think it's fairly obvious he's a high profile jobber at this stage of his career, what other babyfaces is he being pushed in front of?  He's still below Ambrose, Reigns, Sheamus, Ziggler, Show, Henry, Swagger and almost every face I can think of in the pecking order of being pushed right now.  Guys like him are a very valuable asset to what WWE is doing right now, putting over the new stars!