Raw 4-13-15

[MGFanJay]

Excellent start with Cena getting nuclear boos - dig Barrett just being there with a top guy again too. They had a fantastic TV match that made Barrett come off like a top guy again. IF they want to, they could use this as a springboard for him. His bull hammer hit perfectly and he even got to kick out of the AA. Loved Rusev's attack and him saying HE'LL TEAR HIS HEART OUT AT EXTREME RULES!

Divas battle royal was a showcase for Paige, who got a fantastic promo and came off like such a veteran despite being so young because she is one. She's also one of the few WWE acts that feels remotely genuine, and then Naomi attack - clearly upset over the Bellas saying she had a stank ass. Bray Wyatt did indeed say words about something and/or someone. Lucha Dragons beat The Ascension. Kalisto really does feel like he could be their Reyplacement. Then again, so did Sin Cara for a few weeks. They plug the Network - the big thing about them reaching high numbers is that they become the new on-air base. THE BIG DOG IS NEXT.

Loved Show destroying Roman. Orton vs. Cesaro and then Orton vs. CKidd was fine while it lasted. Great finish off the theoretical springboard blockbuster into the RKO. Ambrose-Rose was nothing. Ditto Stardust-Fandango, which at least led to THE RETURN OF FANDANGOING and him being a face. Kane-Seth took a while, but it seems like they could have something with Kane as a face again.

Mizdow vs. Miz was nothing, but it did establish the new Mizdow/Summer act. PTPs buried guys - didn't like the "rainbow is my favorite color" bit, but I did enjoy them burying the Puerto Rican bullfighter idea. Dolph vs. Neville was a good first and final part of a PPV opener, but it had no middle. Main event talking thing was fun thanks to Orton making wacky faces. Stips are a bit silly, but the match should be good.
 
http://jayreviewsthings.blogspot.com/2015/04/wwe-raw-4-13-15.html

Screens -





THE LAW ON RAW!


FANDANGOING RETURNS!


WE COMIN FOR YOU ZIGGLER











http://www.imagebam.com/gallery/ybtwy0dqbjpkbeq5srhe18ib5fe116lz

[hammerva]

Was that my TV or one of the quickest jumps to a crappy USA program in RAW history.  Couldn't wait to get out tonight.  

 

I love how they are still trying to convince people that a steel cage stops interference.  I can't remember the last cage match where someone didn't interfere it was so damn long.   Last year's cage match was almost 20 minutes of interference

 

"WHO EVER HEARD OF A PUERTO RICAN BULLFIGHTER" I know they will be dead in the water about 2 months from now but loving the return of the Primetime Players.  Although I agree that I don't know why they finally had to insinuate to people that Darren Young was gay     

[piranesi]

This show worked if you pretend this was an re-imagining of VEEP with Rollins as Selena Meyers and Kane as Jonah.

[Josh Mann]

The Rollins-Orton segment would have been fine had it ended with Orton punting the crap out of a J in order to emphasize his other finisher.

[hammerva]

I am just glad that they figured out different ways for J&J security to take an RKO.  I am sure Joey Mercury has flown off the middle rope every single time he has taken one before

[Overly Critical Man]

From getting "Thank you Big Show" chants to "Boring" in a span of twenty seconds just about perfectly encapsulates Big Show's career.

[JonnyLaw]

I can't wait for Randy to bust out a diamond cutter.

[APO]

Even though she cut a damn good promo about why she kicked Paige's ass, I really, really hate the Naomi turn. Really good Roman promo, too. Was Vince not there to re-write it 50 times before he went out there? Also, since Dylan mentioned it on Twitter, this Show/Reigns thing would be so much better if it Harper in Show's place.

[Overly Critical Man]

I think Roman has stumbled upon the magic formula that if he says a curse word, the crowd will pop.

[piranesi]

I think Roman has stumbled upon the magic formula that if he says a curse word, the crowd will pop.

 

Whatever you say, Overly Critical Bitch.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Just testing this out. My likes count will determine the power of your theory. 

[Michael Sweetser]

While I popped, you would've received a more sustained reaction had you, perhaps, mentioned the town you are currently in.  Or perhaps its local sports team and/or college.

[ExcellenceofAirPollution]

The Usos have been off TV since Mania because Jey is hurt, and Jimmy is getting some deserved time off.  So while they're gone, why not give Naomi a personality other than "Jimmy's girl and The Usos' cheerleader'?  And her promo and explanation for what she did were perfect.  Tossing off her cut off Usos shirt after the beatdown was a nice touch

[JCM]

There isn't a single person on the WWE roster other than Heyman that can get me to watch a promo these days. I don't know if it's the talent the writing or both.

[odessasteps]

While I popped, you would've received a more sustained reaction had you, perhaps, mentioned the town you are currently in. Or perhaps its local sports team and/or college.

If they were in London, whichever team he picked means the fans of the other london teams would have booed.

[Cristobal]

Driving distances from London according to Michael Cole:

Newcastle: 3 hours.

Norwich: 2 hours.

Preston: 1 hour.

I'm fascinated to know what England looks like in Cole's brain.

[piranesi]

The kid needs to learn in that situation you just mention the Clash.  Or if you're a heel The Human League.

[mco543]

 

While I popped, you would've received a more sustained reaction had you, perhaps, mentioned the town you are currently in. Or perhaps its local sports team and/or college.

If they were in London, whichever team he picked means the fans of the other london teams would have booed.

 

 

He should've mentioned the London Monarchs.

[Nice Guy Eddie]

Doesn't sound like I missed much tonight. Sometimes this thread is the best part of Raw, but it just seems dead tonight. Great win for the Yankees tonight.

[DreamBroken]

Good opener in Cena/Barrett. Didn't see Naomi's turn coming at all, was surprised she didn't win the battle royal. Enjoyed Reigns promo. Good to see Ambrose/Harper further their feud. Neville's 450 off the rail was insanely awesome, loved that spot. He continues to look fantastic each week even in short bursts.

[Niners Fan in CT]

Naomi brought up a ton of great points. Nice promo too. I don't want to boo her I want to applaud her.

[APO]

The Usos have been off TV since Mania because Jey is hurt, and Jimmy is getting some deserved time off.  So while they're gone, why not give Naomi a personality other than "Jimmy's girl and The Usos' cheerleader'?  And her promo and explanation for what she did were perfect.  Tossing off her cut off Usos shirt after the beatdown was a nice touch

 

Well, why couldn't she do it as a face? Nikki could do with another opponent instead of Paige for what seems like the 50th time. Hell, I like Paige well enough, but it's not like she can't afford to be the main focus of the Divas for a couple of months.

[Phantom Lord]

I'll have to watch this show on DVR/Youtube or whatever since I missed it on account of being asleep. Read the spoilers so it looks like a lot is skipable.

 

For football heat I could see someone saying "The best part of football in London is when the NFL sends two American teams over to play at Wembley to show you how it's really done".

 

The no RKO stip sounds stupid. I figured they would probably do a cage match so that works. Poor Joey Mercury is going to eat an RKO off the top of the cage or something.

[jstout]

 

I think Roman has stumbled upon the magic formula that if he says a curse word, the crowd will pop.

 

Whatever you say, Overly Critical Bitch.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Just testing this out. My likes count will determine the power of your theory. 

 

[stone cold]If you wanna hear Piranesi cuss some more, gimme a hell yeah![/stone cold]

[A Guy Named Tracy]

Driving distances from London according to Michael Cole:

Newcastle: 3 hours.

Norwich: 2 hours.

Preston: 1 hour.

Sounds about right to me.

[caley]

Maybe it's the Tylenol-3 speaking but you guys are nuts, this was a pretty top-to-bottom really fun show.

 

-Cena coming out to huge heat was hilarious because he proved he's the WWE's super worker either on the mic or in the ring when he took a crowd of thousands booing his every word, to cheering at his beck with the "WM in London" line.  You can call Vince, Hogan, Nash etc. the smartest guys in the biz for taking a regional company/a lack of actual wrestling skill/a frail-ish body and occasionally nasty outlook and becoming the biggest wrestling promoter on Earth/the most famous wrestler ever/a near 30-year career and millions of dollars and movies roles, but, for me, the smartest guy has to be John Cena.  He's not the most naturally-coordinated athlete, he doesn't have a lot of moves, he is a great example of a TV-MA-ready persona working a TV-PG style, he has the crowd turn on him all the time, yet he manages to still work the crowd however he needs them to.  Match with Barrett was a lot of fun, especially when he let Barrett kick out of the AA.  I wasn't a huge fan of the closing stretch as I felt the second AA should have been built up a little more.  Rusev attacking with the chain was great.

-Battle Royal was not-so-good aside from the last two battling it out.  I loved the Bellas needlessly trashing Rosa.  I also liked that a couple NEWZ sites ran with a "NXT Divas in the battle royal?!" story based entirely off Charlotte tweeting that she wanted in the match.  I thought it was funny that it was a throwaway skit with Nattie, Cameron and Alicia bugging Kane lead to the Battle Royal, only for Nattie to go out first to Rosa of all people, then when Naomi had her heel-turn, she directed her rage at Paige (Say Hello to the next Bubba Sparxxx!) rather than the three who asked for and caused the battle royal.  What should have followed was a new aggressive Naomi stalking and beating down all three of Cameron, Alicia and Nattie, hopefully running Cameron out of the company somehow (Girlbye), garnering huge pops along the way, followed by the heel-turn (if you're already married to it) and more heat.  That said, you know it had to happen this week because Vince couldn't let any from England get a victory without a post-match beatdown.  I actually watched this part with my dad and said "It's weird that she won, because Vince McMahon loves to make people in front of their home audience and she's from...oh never mind."

-Wyatt promo was fine because it's clear that they're not quite sure what he's going to do next but don't want to keep him off TV.  Just for the record, any WWE people reading this thread, you can always PM me and I'll write you the Wyatt Family vs. Rhodes Family feud that you know would be money!

-Lucha Dragons/Ascension was fine.  Ascension are a little dead in the water.  I actually laughed pretty hard at JBL's repeated line of "That's something Ron and I used to do" THIS WEEK, when it was the one guy diving through the other's legs.

-Roman Reigns had a promo, I didn't really catch it, as I was taking more pills.  Pills, pills, pills.  I actually felt really bad for Big Show because you know as soon as he's face people will stop booing him, but he's doing what he can in the role he's put in, and he didn't desire that "Please retire" chant.  Then he destroyed Roman and the crowd changed their mind.

-Orton-Tag Champs was done about as well as this type of match can be done (Though I still just wouldn't ever have one guy go over the tag champs, but that's just me) with the champs losing, but in surprising circumstances.  People really need to stop jumping at Orton without any discernible agenda...lol...but it always, always pops the crowd.

-Ambrose-Rose was fine for what it was

-Fandango-Stardust was whatever.  I was thinking during that match that Johnny Curtis had such a weird, entertaining charisma, it's weird that they shoehorn him into this terrible heel Fandango character, and then he got up and danced for the crowd to his old music and I thought, this actually could work.  I'd like to see him team up with Curtis Axel, actually, with both of them getting on each other's nerves, Fandango trying to improve Axel's manners and dancing, Axel trying to change Fandango's name to Fandaxel.  It could be like a new-age Booker T/Goldust pairing.

-Seth-Kane was actually really entertaining stuff.  I think we all know who Rollins' post-Orton feud will be now.  I would have liked it a little better if Stephanie interrupted Kane mid-throat slash and ordered him home as Director of Operations Kane is on suspension at the end of this match.

-Mizdow-Miz was fine.

-PTP deal was fine.  Why do you suppose they never let them speak before and all of sudden decided now was the right time?

-Ryback-Harper was good but probably shouldn't have been booked at all, really.  Harper should have gone strong over, say, Goldust, and Ryback over Axel.

-Ziggler-Neville was all right but, thus far, Neville can only beat Axel, unless they book him over someone else soon.  I kinda wanted Neville to dive onto Sheamus and send him retreating.  I also kinda wanted Finn Balor to come out and clear Sheamus out of the ring and say that he's not a WWE superstar "Yet" but his time is coming, then Sheamus could wrestle him a few times in NXT.

-"Main event" was all right.  I kinda really thought Orton's stipulation was that since Rollins was taking away the RKO, he was going to take away Rollins' biggest asset and make it a 3-way match with this man and have Kane come out with the mask on and clear the ring and tombstone Mercury.

 

But as far as 3 hour Raws go, this was far from bad.  A couple decent matches, a couple decent angles, a hot crowd and nothing actively terrible.  I call that a win.