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WWE Raw 10-6-14


MGFanJay

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Rock's schtick is still awesome.  He was so pumped that he flubbed his opening lines.

 

They could've gave Rusev more to work with though.  I know that you don't bring in the Rock just to bury him, but Rusev should've at least thrown a kick or two.

 

Is the Cena / Ambrose angle the best thing or what?  Not only Is Ambrose on an epic level, but Cena channeling the Bob Sweetan / Tully Blanchard feud in Mid South and selling his soul to the Devil in order to be the one to destroy Rollins is the fucking best.  Fuck all Cena haters.

 

Cena has been a heel for weeks but when he officially turns at Hell In A Cell, the WWE Universe will lose its shit and it will be great.

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Still not seeing what's so "God-like" about Ambrose.  Is he somewhat entertaining? Yes.  Credible main-eventer?  I just don't see it.  I did like his interaction with Cena although, they lost me once he left the building....and three minutes later, he was miraculously appears at the subway....and apparently the cameraman beat him there.  Besides his crazy dives, he does nothing offensively that I enjoy.  

 

I'm just gonna wait til you guys turn on him too so I can say "I told you so".

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Still not seeing what's so "God-like" about Ambrose.  Is he somewhat entertaining? Yes.  Credible main-eventer?  I just don't see it.  I did like his interaction with Cena although, they lost me once he left the building....and three minutes later, he was miraculously appears at the subway....and apparently the cameraman beat him there.  Besides his crazy dives, he does nothing offensively that I enjoy.  

 

I'm just gonna wait til you guys turn on him too so I can say "I told you so".

 

He has glimpses of breaking out like Austin did, but Ambrose just doesn't have a great single match to cull that out (although his lumberjack match with Seth Rollins did a lot to help him). Last night's 'hot dog cart' spot is almost Austin-esque, but that's just it. I think Ambrose would be a logical choice to feud with The Miz but the Miz is where wrestlers go to die. It would make great "You left Cleveland like LeBron / I had to give kids like you money growing up" promos that The Miz just can't do either. So I guess feuding with Roman Reigns, Seth Rollins, Bray Wyatt and Cesaro is in Ambrose's future? In other words, unless things change, Ambrose will be a mid-carder.

 

He needs an "Austin/Hart WrestleMania-like" match where he's lying in a pool of blood refusing to tap out. If CM Punk would come back, that would be the perfect guy to do that match.

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Lana might be the Next Big Thing right behind Ambrose. She really didn't spend a of time in NXT, and she never did any of the awesome Putin cheap heat stuff. She just showed up once, took Rusev out from the control of Sylveter LaFort, and they ended up on Raw a few weeks later.

But she has IT and in spades. She's really attractive, obviously. There are so many heel divas who try and get over with rubbing their sexuality in the face of the rubes in the crowd -- I forget who said it, but someone here said Summer has the best "I will never have sex with you" facial expressions. Lana doesn't do that with her shtick overtly. But she wears those business clothes that essentially how her crotch. I think subtly (and probably not so subtly), the men in the audience really want her to be a Sunny/Sable type and wear bikinis to the ring, like every other diva (even the serious ones like Paige and AJ). But she's so above that and doesn't even need to address it.

But she has impeccable timing and delivery. Thing about how many evil foreigner gimmicks have been trotted out in the post-kayfabe age. They've all been terrible and none have come close to getting over. They're one of the hottest acts in the company. You don't get an act like this over in this age without knowing how to work the crowd -- the right touch of arrogance when she does her stuff about Putin's virility, a smug tone when telling the crowd they should all go to jail, a petulant look when the USA chants begin followed by her abrasive "SHUT UP!"

At the very least, she's the new Vicki Guerrero. And that's an awesome role to have, since Vicki was getting heat for a decade. She might become even more than that. Her Twitter and Instagram stuff is also really fun heeling, too, so her and Rusev have a really good sense-of-humor about the kayfabe side of things.

Giving them some Rocky rub was awesome and totally the right thing to do. Maybe it leads to a match at some point? That's why you do things like that with your biggest returning heroes. It probably won't happen, but if Rusev continues his dominance and Rock shows up at a PPV to save America or what have you, then this was brilliant. Even without it, I'm sure Rocky lent some new eyeballs to Raw who are seeing an enraged Bulgarian managed by someone who look like Lana.

The Rock "buried" Jericho in Jericho's debut promo, too. No one remembers that part of it, but it was something smarks complained about back then. Last night's thing wasn't nearly as memorable as Jericho's debut, but it was still the same sort of pattern.

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Ambrose has a presence, is unpredictable and has a fully-developed persona. These are things that can't be taught and few people on the roster have them. 

 

Ambrose is in a rare position right now because due to a variety of circumstances, he has been thrust into the main event. 

 

Is he ready? That's a good question. Outside of his stuff with Rollins I haven't been wildly impressed with his in-ring stuff. That being said, he fights Rollins an awful lot and I love every minute of it. 

 

We shall see. 

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It still bothers me that Lesnar is not defending the title at HiaC.  This whole bit to get at Rollins is beneath Cena and really a waste of time.  Cena and Lesnar should be the blowoff here with Cena wanting the belt so that Rollins has to cash on him.  Right now the briefcase is worthless.

 

Too bad Jack Tunney isn't around to enforce that 30-day rule.

 

 

Still not seeing what's so "God-like" about Ambrose.  Is he somewhat entertaining? Yes.  Credible main-eventer?  I just don't see it.  I did like his interaction with Cena although, they lost me once he left the building....and three minutes later, he was miraculously appears at the subway....and apparently the cameraman beat him there.  Besides his crazy dives, he does nothing offensively that I enjoy.  

 

He had condiment holsters, and then grabbed a man's genitals with hot dog tongs. If you can't see it, something is broken with you.

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No one can be Austin without that finisher.  You could have the attitude and the oddball character (Dean has these) and the promo skills (Dean's not there yet) and the great theme and the iconic shit-kicker moments...but until you can knock any man to quivering jelly out of nowhere while flipping him off at the same time...you can't be Austin.

 

Without that instant death move that makes you a credible threat to annihilate anyone out of nowhere to back up all your tough talk, the Austin formula will never be 100% there. 

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Dean's less Austin and more Piper. When he's on screen, you have no idea what he'll say and now you'll have no idea what will happen. He's given away merchandise at discount prices, left the show to get hot dogs at Coney, rode the subway, and showed back up after pirating a hot dog cart somehow. I also bet he WON the holster at some Coney Island carnival booth and put together his master plan at the last second.

 

Piper also had that same vibe. Any Piper's Pit back in the day, you knew something weird was going to happen, resulting in him belting Snuka in the face with a coconut and shaving a midget's head against his will. Dean's the face version of that. He's a lunatic whereas Austin was more of a terminator just looking to kill a dude.

I actually love the Dirty Deeds finisher. It makes a simple headlock turn into a death move. Most importantly, it has a super easy counter for finishing segments, which the WWE style is built around.

The WWE's strength the past few years has been its insane depth. That's paying off right now. They lost Daniel Bryan (their newly crowned sensation) and Roman Reigns (the next big thing). But, thankfully they have Rollins putting on a bravura performance as the new star heel and Cena and Ambrose. They also have a bunch of really credible hands in Orton and Kane and Cesaro and Sheamus and Mark Henry and The Usos and The Dust Brothers and etc. And they still have a great up-and-coming act in Rusev and Lana they're working on.

The roster's STILL so deep they can take The Wyatts off screen for a bit to reintroduce them in new roles. And Heyman doesn't even have to have a weekly presence, either, so they can let Ambrose and Rollins get more focus.

Their talent development has been pretty much untouchable.

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Still not seeing what's so "God-like" about Ambrose.  Is he somewhat entertaining? Yes.  Credible main-eventer?  I just don't see it.  I did like his interaction with Cena although, they lost me once he left the building....and three minutes later, he was miraculously appears at the subway....and apparently the cameraman beat him there.  Besides his crazy dives, he does nothing offensively that I enjoy.  

 

I'm just gonna wait til you guys turn on him too so I can say "I told you so".

 

He has glimpses of breaking out like Austin did, but Ambrose just doesn't have a great single match to cull that out (although his lumberjack match with Seth Rollins did a lot to help him). Last night's 'hot dog cart' spot is almost Austin-esque, but that's just it. I think Ambrose would be a logical choice to feud with The Miz but the Miz is where wrestlers go to die. It would make great "You left Cleveland like LeBron / I had to give kids like you money growing up" promos that The Miz just can't do either. So I guess feuding with Roman Reigns, Seth Rollins, Bray Wyatt and Cesaro is in Ambrose's future? In other words, unless things change, Ambrose will be a mid-carder.

 

He needs an "Austin/Hart WrestleMania-like" match where he's lying in a pool of blood refusing to tap out. If CM Punk would come back, that would be the perfect guy to do that match.

 

 

He had that match with the cinderblocks on Raw more than a month ago.

 

 

Lana might be the Next Big Thing right behind Ambrose. She really didn't spend a of time in NXT, and she never did any of the awesome Putin cheap heat stuff. She just showed up once, took Rusev out from the control of Sylveter LaFort, and they ended up on Raw a few weeks later.

But she has IT and in spades. She's really attractive, obviously. There are so many heel divas who try and get over with rubbing their sexuality in the face of the rubes in the crowd -- I forget who said it, but someone here said Summer has the best "I will never have sex with you" facial expressions. Lana doesn't do that with her shtick overtly. But she wears those business clothes that essentially how her crotch. I think subtly (and probably not so subtly), the men in the audience really want her to be a Sunny/Sable type and wear bikinis to the ring, like every other diva (even the serious ones like Paige and AJ). But she's so above that and doesn't even need to address it.

But she has impeccable timing and delivery. Thing about how many evil foreigner gimmicks have been trotted out in the post-kayfabe age. They've all been terrible and none have come close to getting over. They're one of the hottest acts in the company. You don't get an act like this over in this age without knowing how to work the crowd -- the right touch of arrogance when she does her stuff about Putin's virility, a smug tone when telling the crowd they should all go to jail, a petulant look when the USA chants begin followed by her abrasive "SHUT UP!"

At the very least, she's the new Vicki Guerrero. And that's an awesome role to have, since Vicki was getting heat for a decade. She might become even more than that. Her Twitter and Instagram stuff is also really fun heeling, too, so her and Rusev have a really good sense-of-humor about the kayfabe side of things.

Giving them some Rocky rub was awesome and totally the right thing to do. Maybe it leads to a match at some point? That's why you do things like that with your biggest returning heroes. It probably won't happen, but if Rusev continues his dominance and Rock shows up at a PPV to save America or what have you, then this was brilliant. Even without it, I'm sure Rocky lent some new eyeballs to Raw who are seeing an enraged Bulgarian managed by someone who look like Lana.

The Rock "buried" Jericho in Jericho's debut promo, too. No one remembers that part of it, but it was something smarks complained about back then. Last night's thing wasn't nearly as memorable as Jericho's debut, but it was still the same sort of pattern.

 

 

Right, she is so deft at how she works a crowd and stays in character it is a treat to watch her.  Yes, the anti-American schtick is overplayed and rarely works but she that unique combination of abilities to make it work.  

 

The way she handled the Rock last night was pure gold.

 

 

---------------------------

 

 

Having Cena get the belt and taunt Rollins would be epic.  If you really want to put Rollins in the upper tier put the belt on Cena and let him taunt Rollins at every show.  

 

Have Cena call out Rollins for being a swarmy coward.  Taunt his manhood for hiding behind Orton and Kane.  

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Still not seeing what's so "God-like" about Ambrose. Is he somewhat entertaining? Yes. Credible main-eventer? I just don't see it. I did like his interaction with Cena although, they lost me once he left the building....and three minutes later, he was miraculously appears at the subway....and apparently the cameraman beat him there. Besides his crazy dives, he does nothing offensively that I enjoy.

I'm just gonna wait til you guys turn on him too so I can say "I told you so".

You sound like the male ebbie right now
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I'm in the middle with Ambrose.  I like him, but I don't love him.  My concern is what seems fresh and quirky with him now will eventually become redundant and awkward.  Piranesi is on the right track:  there's a lot to enjoy and watch with Ambrose, but it's not a finished product.  How that will develop is what will determine whether he has lasting power.

 

 

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Watching the crowd YES! YES! at the end of the show really drove home why the Ambrose reactions aren't quite where they should be given how brilliant Ambrose is.

 

Ambrose is over with the crowd and I dig him(entertaining character outside of in-ring talents; no Sheamus), but I get what you mean here.  It's going to be interesting to see if he reaches that next level crowd-reaction a la Bryan.  Crowd likes him but it's not love so far.  Commitment issues.

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I'm pumped that Ambrose is no Austin. The company doesn't need another Austin. They need new shit, like Ambrose and Daniel Bryan, Lana and Rusev and Wyatt.

 

I sort of wish the 'Ambrose bails' promo had happened at the beginning of the show and they had just kept a camera with Ambrose on the subway so he could deliver crazy ranting promos. Seriously I would have rather watched Ambrose pushing that hot dog cart through the city while ranting crazy shit talk then most of what happened on the show.

 

Also, the day that Lana shouts RUSEV, CRUSH at a top heel and turns the act face is the day the fucking arena blows up.

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Watching the crowd YES! YES! at the end of the show really drove home why the Ambrose reactions aren't quite where they should be given how brilliant Ambrose is.

 

Ambrose is over with the crowd and I dig him(entertaining character outside of in-ring talents; no Sheamus), but I get what you mean here.  It's going to be interested to see if he reaches that next level crowd-reaction a la Bryan.  Crowd likes him but it's not love so far.  Commitment issues.

 

 

 

The last thing I want to see, though, is for Dean to start trying to cultivate his own chant and talking up twitter points.  It was fine for Bryan, but even with him it got a little annoying watching him constantly trying to get the crowd to do all his stuff.

 

It's a huge part of "getting over" now, though, so yeah it could hold him back.  But for me as a viewer it's so refreshing and true to the character that he seems fairly unaware of the crowd in the same way he's unaware of everything other than whatever bizarre obsession he has at the moment.  Even when he plays with them and throws them t-shirts, he barely looks at them.  They are a prop for him sometimes, but he doesn't ever become a prop for them, if you know what I mean.

 

I'd like to think a guy can still get over without playing the hasthag, catchphrase game.

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Russia already has WWE Network.

 

The Russian flag is pretty new, I doubt it carries the same significance the Stars and Stripes does to the USA. 

 

Eh, the angle is a pretty sold 'yeah get over yourselves' whether a flag is 5 minutes or 5 hundred years old.

 

Watching the WWE struggle to spotlight international stars without having The Rock call KENTA a 'chingchong fraidy dong' is going to be interesting. Hopefully they all just feud with Sheamus and he just keeps repeating the Del Rio 'eat a burrito and shit in their car' gag but with different ethnic foods. 

 

Could be interesting to see Rusev get over internationally as a Bret Hart, Canadian Hero type, since the rest of the world probably agrees with most of what Lana says.

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My problem with the Rock segment is this: After feuding with John Cena, interrupting/feuding with Rusev is a step down for him. It's also a step up for Rusev but it makes him look bad since the Rock can't/won't take actual wrestling moves anymore.

 

The perfect resolution to the segment would have been Rusev attacking the Rock immediately after he began his spiel at the end, but we know that won't happen.

 

I actually think the best use of Rock now is interacting with the lower card guys when he shows up for surprise appearances.  I wish he had time to do a series of segments with someone he had good chemistry with a la The Hurricane/Hollywood Rock series.  It's a good test for the new guys involved and it doesn't really affect the status quo of whatever main storyline WWE is trying to promote.  Also, it's the Rock; he has a certain WWE status.  Positive or negative, he's going to get a reaction.  I don't think the majority of viewers looked at that segment and thought, "Why is Rock bothering with Rusev?".

 

He got the upper hand physically against Rusev yesterday, but I don't think the Rock would be opposed to taking some abuse from Rusev.  He's usually decent at showing ass in physical confrontations and matches. Of course, he's older now, but he did get thrown around by La Resistance (evil foreigners angle again) in a similar segment a few years ago,and Hurricane/Steph have wins over him.  All that said, this segment was probably just a one night thing.

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Also, WWE's 'fuck you' to the Russian flag complaints with the sensitivity classes and hate crime comments is gonna get awkward when they're trying to hit that international market with the Network. 

 

Yeah, that whole deal struck me as WWE/Vince being really whiny about political correctness...

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