Raw 8-26-13

[The Great ML]

 

All I know is that our 10 year old is PISSED at HHH and The Shield. He's been watching wrestling for just over a year now, and I've never seen him get actually ANGRY at wrestling before. Last week when DB got beat up, he looked like the Miz Girl. Even when talking about it the next day he got all angry. When DB finally gets his revenge, he will mark out like mad, and it will be awesome.

 

Please follow up on this.  I'll probably know because my lifeforce is largely renewed by the power of children marking out for pro wrestling, but I'd still like to hear about it.

 

As for me, my four year old son Daniel LOVES John Gina and Daniel Bright. He is MAD at people being mean to Daniel Bright. When he kept asking "Where's John Gina?" I told him he's home hurt. "He's got a boo boo?" "Yes son, a big one on his elbow."

[Jrag]

They actually explained what they are doing with the extended roster stuff this week.  Why they can't interfere, what happens to them if they do, etc etc.  They even referenced the beat downs from last week.  The HHH/Big Show stare down on the ramp was one of the best moments of that entire segment.

 

Not getting my hopes up for War Games just yet, but I do like the potential of this story for the upper-midcard faces.  Dolph, Henry and Show all need something worthwhile to do, and if they have to drag Miz along to get that story I can live with that.

[Johnny Sorrow]

See I didn't like the "Hulk up" from Bryan. I don't need cartoon character selling to get over toughness.

Play to the last row.

[Fat Spanish Waiter]

With the entire Face Roster weekly emasculation by Triple H going on, if they don't call his bluff in the next two weeks, does anyone care about Night of Champions and believe that it'll end in any other way than a Shield Beatdown ->  Orton RKO?  

[Greggulator]

I also think the AJ promo could have been one of those deals where the people in the ring knew she was going to cut a promo but didn't know what she was gonna say. Hence, why the Bellas didn't quite know how to react.Wasn't the "Piggy James" promo with Mickie dressed as a pig LayCool did on Mickie James the same way?

 

After watching it again, that does make sense. They obviously knew it was coming when they all froze from AJ's music. That's the camera cue right there. Their reactions were so incredibly awful that it made sense. Seriously, the Bellas and Eva's screaming and railing was super distracting. No way they wanted that from a TV production standpoint -- AJ's words are what make that and the Bellas have more than enough time to respond in later weeks. It also explains the Funkadactyls doing their response, which was essentially The Bellas but without words. Nattie was the only one who knew what the hell she was doing out there.The reactions from people not in the angle are super interesting -- Foley's, in particular. He completely stood up for the Bellas because they left over a business dispute and didn't back down. His defense had nothing to do with the quality of their work but instead how they walked out because they wanted to make more money on the side. I also love how she shills about Total Divas and how great it has been for the division. Never stop selling.

[Matt D]

I think next week we get a mid carder try to break the line and intervene and get punished severely for it.

[Overly Critical Man]

 

With the entire Face Roster weekly emasculation by Triple H going on, if they don't call his bluff in the next two weeks, does anyone care about Night of Champions and believe that it'll end in any other way than a Shield Beatdown -> Orton RKO?

 

Of course we care, but we know that it will be three or four months before Bryan gets the belt.  Fans will be more into the angle if Bryan chases Orton.  That's classic Southern booking.

 

There simply aren't enough upper card heels to Hogan-book Bryan, put the title on him in three weeks, and have him face off against the Special Guest Villain of the Month until Cena is healthy.

 

Bryan won't get a title run until about two or three months before Cena returns to action.

 

When was the last time WWE did that? These days, they're all about running five consecutive rematches on ppv until we get sick of the match-up and never want to see it again(Cena vs Orton, Del Rio vs Sheamus, etc etc)

[jaedmc]

I think next week we get a mid carder try to break the line and intervene and get punished severely for it.

Again, I suggest Yoshi Tatsu. He can try and break the line, and get put in a match against the Shield. Before they kill him he knocks Dean Ambrose the fuck out and embarrasses him. Maybe get a quick feud between the two before he goes back to doing nothing again.

[Matt D]

In the old days they could have used Dibiase. 

[Greggulator]

 

With the entire Face Roster weekly emasculation by Triple H going on, if they don't call his bluff in the next two weeks, does anyone care about Night of Champions and believe that it'll end in any other way than a Shield Beatdown -> Orton RKO?

 

Of course we care, but we know that it will be three or four months before Bryan gets the belt.  Fans will be more into the angle if Bryan chases Orton.  That's classic Southern booking.

 

There simply aren't enough upper card heels to Hogan-book Bryan, put the title on him in three weeks, and have him face off against the Special Guest Villain of the Month until Cena is healthy.

 

Bryan won't get a title run until about two or three months before Cena returns to action.

 

 

Bryan's going to win the title at some point. That makes sense for HHH to blame Orton who then can turn back. Then you need the replacement heel, which should get done via a betrayal for maximum success. The Miz, as someone pointed out, would be the best man for the job. It gives Bryan "you're only here because of the Real World" material. And even though the Miz is pretty average in the ring, Bryan could carry me to a MOTYC at this point.I also would love to see Wade Barrett worm his way up the corporate ladder somehow. There's a reason why he and Bryan have had a lot of matches with each other, including in a throwaway cage match on Smackdown. He's a perfect sniveling coward. It also mirror's HHH run -- Wade came in leading a rebellion and now completely sold out in order to get a chance at the belt. He's taken a lot of losses but he's a feud with Christian (perfectly as an upper-card face and recognizable name to get a new-ish guy over) away from being taken seriously.

 

ADR might also work, too. He's a great face of the company and even prettier than Orton.

[J.T.]

Oh I absolutely agree that Bryan will eventually get a title run because the internet will be set on fire if he doesn't.  Vince will continue to work the smarks and Flair / Steamboat book the shit out of this feud, though.

[Overly Critical Man]

Oh I absolutely agree that Bryan will eventually get a title run because the internet will be set on fire if he doesn't.  Vince will continue to work the smarks and Flair / Steamboat book the shit out of this feud, though.

From what I remember about the Flair/Steamboat feud, Steamboat won the title off Flair in their very first match. Dunno if Bryan's gonna win the title that soon. 

[odessasteps]

Oh I absolutely agree that Bryan will eventually get a title run because the internet will be set on fire if he doesn't. Vince will continue to work the smarks and Flair / Steamboat book the shit out of this feud, though.

From what I remember about the Flair/Steamboat feud, Steamboat won the title off Flair in their very first match. Dunno if Bryan's gonna win the title that soon.

But thaat was also built off thrir years of feuding, assuming you mean 1989.

[Overly Critical Man]

Yeah, I meant 89. Steamboat held the title for the entire feud and instead, it was Flair chasing Steamboat for the title.

[caley]

Watched the AJ promo. I guess they expected there to be a lot more support for the Total Divas girls, and it didn't happen. It was a great promo in terms of words, but I don't know what it set out to do,

I'm curious about this, too.  It was a really good promo and everything made sense, but it became clear WWE didn't really know what they were doing with it either, given the announcer reactions.  Cole, who is basically the voice of the WWE/explainer of storylines, came back from the promo saying "AJ is jealous" or something like that, which would seem to be WWE's viewpoint of where this is going 'Jealous AJ is jealous and the Total Divas crews puts her in her place'.  But then JBL said "Crazy spoke some truth" and Lawler, the face announcer, concurs, what seems like 'AJ semi-face turn as defender of wrestling, sort-of a female Daniel Bryan'.

 

My best guess?  Someone in charge said "It doesn't make sense to air two largely heatless Divas segments per show, find a way to get the Divas Title involved in the Total Divas bullshit without taking the Title off AJ" so the writers scripted the AJ semi-shoot promo without a plan going forward, basically throwing shit at the wall and seeing which way the crowd leans.

[Johnny Sorrow]

All I know is that our 10 year old is PISSED at HHH and The Shield. He's been watching wrestling for just over a year now, and I've never seen him get actually ANGRY at wrestling before. Last week when DB got beat up, he looked like the Miz Girl. Even when talking about it the next day he got all angry. When DB finally gets his revenge, he will mark out like mad, and it will be awesome.

Please follow up on this. I'll probably know because my lifeforce is largely renewed by the power of children marking out for pro wrestling, but I'd still like to hear about it.

As for me, my four year old son Daniel LOVES John Gina and Daniel Bright. He is MAD at people being mean to Daniel Bright. When he kept asking "Where's John Gina?" I told him he's home hurt. "He's got a boo boo?" "Yes son, a big one on his elbow."

That's awesome. My three year old nephew loves Rey and I had to explain to him that Rey has an owwie and that's why he's not on "bump", (that's what he calls wrestling.)

[Overly Critical Man]

 

Watched the AJ promo. I guess they expected there to be a lot more support for the Total Divas girls, and it didn't happen. It was a great promo in terms of words, but I don't know what it set out to do,

I'm curious about this, too.  It was a really good promo and everything made sense, but it became clear WWE didn't really know what they were doing with it either, given the announcer reactions.  Cole, who is basically the voice of the WWE/explainer of storylines, came back from the promo saying "AJ is jealous" or something like that, which would seem to be WWE's viewpoint of where this is going 'Jealous AJ is jealous and the Total Divas crews puts her in her place'.  But then JBL said "Crazy spoke some truth" and Lawler, the face announcer, concurs, what seems like 'AJ semi-face turn as defender of wrestling, sort-of a female Daniel Bryan'.

 

My best guess?  Someone in charge said "It doesn't make sense to air two largely heatless Divas segments per show, find a way to get the Divas Title involved in the Total Divas bullshit without taking the Title off AJ" so the writers scripted the AJ semi-shoot promo without a plan going forward, basically throwing shit at the wall and seeing which way the crowd leans.

 

More likely is they'll be tone deaf and keep AJ as the heel in all this, leading to her revealing her new boytoy Sebastian, used as a psychological weapon against Jojo and as a symbol of power that she holds over all the Total Divas.

[Gonzalez]

Seriously, the whole "they're gonna bury Bryan" stuff is just silly. Do ya really think they don't hear the crowds?

But will they hear the sound of cash registers ringing up when the WWE releases the "This Beard Is For You" T-Shirt? To the company merch is more important than positive crowd heat right now.

[Ace]

Is this where Gonzales claims DB doesn't sell merch again?

[Overly Critical Man]

Gonzales must still be hurting from CM Punk's ugly yellow shirt being outsold by John Cena's ugly yellow shirt.

[ultimoDANK]

I think next week we get a mid carder try to break the line and intervene and get punished severely for it.

Again, I suggest Yoshi Tatsu. He can try and break the line, and get put in a match against the Shield. Before they kill him he knocks Dean Ambrose the fuck out and embarrasses him. Maybe get a quick feud between the two before he goes back to doing nothing again.

Does Yoshi Tatsu do anything? I remember Naofumi Yamamoto having good fire and some decent upside. I wonder if he's ruined. I'd love to see him return to NJPW.

[Big Fresh]

Bryan also needs to vary his "hot tag" match portion. I've seen three matches from him in the past month with the exact chain of moves leading to the finish. He's getting to the "five moves of doom" level of repetition

That's a good thing. If the fans know what's coming in your comeback, it helps them to feel as if they willed the wrestler to do it. Then, they're not watching Bryan make a comeback, they are the ones making the comeback.

[Gonzalez]

Is this where Gonzales claims DB doesn't sell merch again?

I don't see people at shows wearing DB gear. Unless they bought it, but would rather wear their Punk "BITW" shirt, or Cena "Never Give Up" shirt because they are embrassed to be seen with it on.

[Playa Shunna Ver 3.0]

I fell asleep and woke up to Mizdango.  I was confused as hell because it was a wide shot and all I saw was 2 Fandangos fighting.  I figured out it was the Miz, flipped the pillow and went right back to sleep.  I'll have to fast forward through the show tonight.  

[J.T.]

 

 

Oh I absolutely agree that Bryan will eventually get a title run because the internet will be set on fire if he doesn't. Vince will continue to work the smarks and Flair / Steamboat book the shit out of this feud, though.

From what I remember about the Flair/Steamboat feud, Steamboat won the title off Flair in their very first match. Dunno if Bryan's gonna win the title that soon.

But thaat was also built off thrir years of feuding.

 

 

Odessa is old school.  He understands.