Raw 11-17-14

[MGFanJay]

The Authority rambled on for-fucking-ever and made Dolph-Harper. After the break, it was made an IC Title match and then Dolph got jumped. It didn't play much of a part since he lost the title clean, meaning LUKE HARPER WON THE IC TITLE. It's surreal to see him in this dingy getup holding gold, but awesome. Cole pimped "Grumpy the Cat" as Raw's star while wearing a blinding white and black suit. Stupid Grumpy Cat and Miz segment. Rose-Kidd II. Tyson's reward for a week of outstanding matches on WWE TV is a match with Adam Rose - so don't try, guys. Just don't give a fuck, go through the motions, and do whatever. Trying will get you nowhere. Kidd won, but the main thing here was Bunny-Rose, which had some goofy non-PG antics. Goofy Bray bullshit led to stupid Dean bullshit. Ryback faced Cesaro in a mid-card treadmill match with a post-break chinlock. This got good by the end, but it was just boring overall. More Grumpy Cat comedy with the cat literally seeming asleep and JBL just going "okay" at this bullshit. Show came out. Then Steph, and then Sheamus. OH THANK GOD ALMIGHTY, A REVOLVING DOOR PROMO!

 

She made Show-Sheamus for a title shot. They had a house show version of every match before Show and Rusev killed them. Nikki lost to Brie dressed as AJ thanks to AJ, who then beat them both up. Stardust won a goofy 8-man tag with his stupid finisher, so they might switch the tag titles on the PPV. Hunter came out and just died live. First, he stumbled over his lines, then he forgot them. Then he just rambled in a circle before looking at Steph to try and save it, and she tried to save it. The roster is so thin Cena now needs to get people from the crowd to team with him. What he should do is get that fan from the UFC presser who closed the show to join his team. HHH of all people doing the "yadda yadda yadda" hand motion. Died. Then it was time for stupid Cena bullshit. Dolph and Show returned. I guess Cena's comedy has magical healing powers - so he's like Patch Adams, but less funny. Rowan coming out for Team Cena was very good as it was, but would've meant so much more if he'd been a killer of heel jobbers instead of a re-re. CESARO CAME OUT, but joined the heels. Ryback joined the faces and stared down HHH so Cena could AA him through the table. Well, I'd have had RYBACK do it since he needs the help, but whatever.

 

THIS SHOW SUCKED, but had a few good things on it like the overall push of Ryback and the return of Cesaro in the main event mix.

 

http://jayreviewsthings.blogspot.com/2014/11/wwe-raw-11-17-14.html

 

Screens -

WELCOME TO MONDAY NIGHT RAW! THE LONGEST-RUNNING EPISODIC TV SHOW IN HISTORY!

 

 

 

 

http://www.imagebam.com/gallery/knqvp2lhimgwd7c5p0qkcp1rywflofm8

[cool arrow]

Didn't see the Rowan turn coming, but why not?

[Overly Critical Man]

Ryback should've put HHH through the table. Goddamnit, people...you only had one job to do.

[SirSmUgly]

Why would the Authority want Cesaro? That guy was beaten like a drum by one of Cena's teammates all Autumn, and he just got aced by another of Cena's teammates that same night. 

 

Is this Brand New Day stable going to pull a Broadus Clay and come out acting way differently from their vignettes?

[hammerva]

So let me see, you put Eric Rowan in the main event after a couple weeks of nothing but bad comedy skits.    Yeah that makes sense  

 

Oh I will just be here watching the Steelers game waiting Dean Ambrose's survival kit is on this thread  

[Niners Fan in CT]

Is Rowan about to be released? Because that's the only way it makes any kind of fucking sense for him to be on Team Cena and now feuding with Harper for... what reason? Fucking hell this company sucks right now. Nobody has any direction.

I did like Brie Lee. She looks great in that get up. AJ was a snooze on commentary.

Not much on this show. Survivor Series has never meant less.

[Biz Smarkie]

Steph went to the Vicki Guerrero school of evil laughter.

Wonder what happened to Sheamus.

[piranesi]

The only thing that matters is the Ryback is suddenly the most important man in the world...sorry, sorry, the most important guy in the world.

[NintendoLogic]

 

The new Cornette Face.

[evilwaldo]

Kinda meh for me.  I came home 7 minutes in and could only take HHH/Steph for a minute before I turned the channel.

 

Saw Harper win which was.......odd.  I understand why they did the change.  It sets him up for a run until Wrestlemania where he gives the title back to a face.

 

Ryback-Cesaro was good but Ryback needs some more ring training to shake off the rust.

 

Mizdow owned the 8 man tag.  Mizdow bumping himself out of the ring was fantastic!!!  The ring ropes stuff was pure gold in front of the cameras but bumping himself out of the ring took everything to another level. 

 

JBL sucks on the mic.  I thought he was supposed to put over the heels.  Honestly, they need a new heel announcer.  Heenan would be putting over the heels not crapping on them. 

 

Rowan on Team Cena?  I get that it starts a feud with Harper but one would think that Bray would step in after the promos.

 

The end was fun with The Authority using Cesaro to troll the smarks.

[The Great ML]

The PPV is free and that supposed go-home show made me to not want to watch.

[hammerva]

I do think that it is funny that Cena mentioned that Kane will be the first one eliminated because he is pretty much the jobber of the group

 

Wow they are actually showing the documentary part of the Randy Savage First Look.   

[piranesi]

The only thing that matters is that Luke Harper started over with a brand new T-shirt and it's already yellow.

[Curt McGirt]

Cesaro/Ryback wasn't as good as their last one until the overkill kicked in. That, Mizdow, and Ziggler eating it were the only good things on the show. Even the goddamn cat was falling asleep.

 

EDIT: Oh yeah, I forgot, Hunter talking was a literal bathroom break for me tonight. Far more pleasant than what was on the TV...

[piranesi]

The only thing that matters is that Lillian Garcia pronounces the name of HHH's team as "Team Owl-Throaty!"

[mco543]

I like Rowan being added to Team Cena but I'm really surprised they didn't get a returning babyface Orton into that match. Maybe they will at the PPV instead of Show or Ziggler though. I would've liked to see Ryback be on both teams and he has to fight for whoever tags him in, that would've been fun and different. Lana was the MVP tonight.

[Niners Fan in CT]

Also, if I was on Team Cena my first question would be "Can I trust you, John?" because really.. where the FUCK was he all night? His teammates are dropping like flies and he's pacing around the locker room.

[JCM]

I saw the last few spots of Harper/Ziggler, noticed the crowd was dead, and then they shilled the Network and hyped grumpy cat and I turned it off.

[evilwaldo]

Steph and HHH are just too stiff and smug for me.

 

I loved Heenan's mic work where he would just take the heel side and build them up like they were world beaters while pointing out all of the faults of the faces.  The WWE needs more heel mic work like that.

 

When I listen to Steph-HHH I feel like they are getting themselves over more than the workers.

[piranesi]

Did anyone else just go ahead and try to masturbate to Putin's boobs anyway?

[Nice Guy Eddie]

I don't see how this Survivor Series card is going to entice any potential subscribers once the free period is over. I like Luke Harper winning the IC title. It's too bad it's a minor footnote in this fucking awful Authority storyline. Maybe I'm in the minority, but I like Erick Rowan being part of Team Cena and I look foward to Harper and Rowan feuding over the IC title post Survivor Series. There's no way Survivor Series doesn't end with Randy Orton interfering to cost Seth Rollins and re-start their feud. Next week, Larry The Cable Guy. Why?

[Patrick B.]

Next week, Larry The Cable Guy. Why?

 

Cater to the base?

[NikoBaltimore]

I understand why people don't like it, but I just adored the Grumpy Cat segments.  I have no problem saying that.  In the grand scheme of things took nothing away from the show (at most 6 minutes)  I loved it.  And it's not exactly Larry the Cable Guy, because you know he'll be ten times worse.

 

Nice tease of Cesaro at the end, though it would've been as nonsensical as Rowan joining.  Bryan Alvarez hoped the team would get wiped out and it'd be NXT stars joining Cena.  I brushed it off until they all got laid out.  I started to wonder if there was any chance of that, but they went with the safe route.  It'll be fun and all, but man there were better options they could have gone with.

 

Aside from a couple things that amused me (Mizdow FTW) Raw didn't have much going on.  It's a shame.

 

Oh, and way to make the heels sympathetic.  I want them to win at this point.  HHH is kind of dickish but Steph is all kinds of amazing. I really don't want her to get off TV as she's been really entertaining.  That and they seem like such a great couple I felt sympathy for them at times.  Same for Rusev.  He's a proud defender of Russia and just kicks ass.  Him and Lana are hitting the right buttons, but there's nothing Rusev does that is heelish to me.  I'd rather cheer for him.  I could really go for some chickenshit heels right now.

[evilwaldo]

I think the problem with the announcing stems from the announcers trying to get over the network or PPV instead of the guys in the ring.

 

If you go back and listen to Vince's old mic work or Gorilla-Heenan they always made every match and every participant seem like it was the most important match in the world.  The current crew does the opposite. 

[Nice Guy Eddie]

 

Next week, Larry The Cable Guy. Why?

 

Cater to the base?

 

I got it. You don't want to be perceived as low brow and just a rasslin' company, so you bring in Larry The Cable Guy. Makes perfect sense.