New Day Rawks 3-14-16

[BEN!]

http://imgur.com/9LLvvWQ

 

YOUR Wrestlemania Main Event!

Damn, that's terrible.

 

AJ Styles' stanky leg is much better.  He should've been put in this dance contest instead of Shane.

[RIPPA]

Well my point in regards to Pittsburgh was that you had indicated you thought that was the sound of Reigns window closing.

I wouldn't judge it based on that crowd.

 

Now the next two RAWs are Philly and Brooklyn. THEN you can say the window closed

[Burgundy LaRue]

Soooo....why didn't Roman come out 2 minutes earlier to cost HHH the match???

 

1. Steph already said Dolph couldn't ask to be part of the WHC match at WM.  So the match had no bearing on Roman. Simply put, he had no reason to concern himself.  It's not like he and Ziggy are besties.

 

2. There's no indication Dolph would have appreciated the help. He put himself and Ambrose over as the good guys and left Reigns out of that conversation; Roman could have taken that as Ziggy insulting him and said 'fuck that Motley Crue wannabe.'

 

3.  The best answer, however is "Who cares about Ziggler?"  Because at this point, no one does.

 

Could HHH retain?  Sure, and I'm certain many would cheer about it and would want that to set up a babyface Seth Rollins return to get back the belt at Summerslam.  The problem is once the dust clears, HHH would have buried a young talent for the guy we already know he already favors in Rollins.  They may as well fire Roman at that point; he wouldn't be of service to the company for anything.  Not to mention HHH would work at least a part-time schedule during that time, where he'd do more harm than good to the roster.

 

I don't think Trips wants the Reign of Terror stench on him again, not when he finally got away from it somewhat with NXT.

 

That crowd last night was kind of weird.  They weren't outright dead, but they just didn't get into a flow.  Then again, the show tends to be disjointed.  Philly and Brooklyn booing Reigns won't be a surprise, though.

[Craig H]

Well my point in regards to Pittsburgh was that you had indicated you thought that was the sound of Reigns window closing.

I wouldn't judge it based on that crowd.

 

Now the next two RAWs are Philly and Brooklyn. THEN you can say the window closed

 

Oh, I know. It's just something that's been building up and in addition, keeping Roman off TV may have hurt more than it helped.

 

I'm willing to bet that it's going to be an entirely different Philly crowd than the one that cheered Roman's title win. There is just an air of nothing going right with this build up.

 

Or, like you said, I may be putting too much stock into last night's crowd.

[JohnnyJ]

When it comes down to it, the past few years and the constant back and forth between the WWE and its fans about who and how certain performers should be pushed comes down to "moments." The fans want organic "moments." The office tries to manufacture them. It doesn't work like that. If it comes off as calculated it is all meaningless. 

 

Last night was a microcosm of everything that is wrong with the Reigns push.  Reigns should've been bumrushing HHH the first moment he could. Instead, we got a 20-minute HHH/Steph segment and a HHH/Ziggler match.It was only after HHH was on the screen for 30-40 minutes that the light bulb went off in Reigns head.

 

It's almost as if you had three different segment producers and no one could figure out that each of their segments were related.  

 

Thus, when Reigns finally does come out, he has no sense of urgency and it comes off as manufactured.   

[Dolfan in NYC]

Well my point in regards to Pittsburgh was that you had indicated you thought that was the sound of Reigns window closing.

I wouldn't judge it based on that crowd.

 

Now the next two RAWs are Philly and Brooklyn. THEN you can say the window closed

Yeah, that Philly crowd from 3-4 months ago is going to be a lot more forgiving than this one.   And Brooklyn...  oh boy.  

[JCM]

 

Zayns time on the roster shows the disconnect between nxt and the main roster is enormous. As good as nxt is, it is still only watched by a small percentage of the audience.

The thing is NXT's core audience isn't showing up to Raw in the numbers people would think. I think at this point most people who follow NXT are bored of the main product, and don't go out of their way to watch outside of the big ppvs. They really need to stop bringing in people expecting them to be seen as full developed characters by the MR audience. There's clearly a big disconnect between the NXT and WWE fans.

 

The reason Becky worked was because they were essentially starting from scratch with her character seeing as she really didn't have a defined character in NXT. The audience needs to see the growth and development in the characters or they aren't going to be able to get invested. Bringing in Sami with the Owens rivalry already in the 7th inning doesn't work for new fans which is about 80% of the MR audience.

[steve]

I think at this point, regardless of the booking of the title match, you can't put that on last. It's gotta be Taker/Shane.

[RIPPA]

I enjoyed Heyman saying that Brock/Ambrose was the main event

[Ramsey]

 

 

Zayns time on the roster shows the disconnect between nxt and the main roster is enormous. As good as nxt is, it is still only watched by a small percentage of the audience.

The thing is NXT's core audience isn't showing up to Raw in the numbers people would think. I think at this point most people who follow NXT are bored of the main product, and don't go out of their way to watch outside of the big ppvs. They really need to stop bringing in people expecting them to be seen as full developed characters by the MR audience. There's clearly a big disconnect between the NXT and WWE fans.

 

The reason Becky worked was because they were essentially starting from scratch with her character seeing as she really didn't have a defined character in NXT. The audience needs to see the growth and development in the characters or they aren't going to be able to get invested. Bringing in Sami with the Owens rivalry already in the 7th inning doesn't work for new fans which is about 80% of the MR ai

Nailed it. I watch NXT every week. I haven't seen Raw or Smackdown in over two years and will watch maybe every other PPV.

[Burgundy LaRue]

When it comes down to it, the past few years and the constant back and forth between the WWE and its fans about who and how certain performers should be pushed comes down to "moments." The fans want organic "moments." The office tries to manufacture them. It doesn't work like that. If it comes off as calculated it is all meaningless. 

 

Last night was a microcosm of everything that is wrong with the Reigns push.  Reigns should've been bumrushing HHH the first moment he could. Instead, we got a 20-minute HHH/Steph segment and a HHH/Ziggler match.It was only after HHH was on the screen for 30-40 minutes that the light bulb went off in Reigns head.

 

It's almost as if you had three different segment producers and no one could figure out that each of their segments were related.  

 

Thus, when Reigns finally does come out, he has no sense of urgency and it comes off as manufactured.   

 

You could argue Reigns wasn't there at the beginning of the show, but I agree with your producers' theory--they could have easily had someone (let's say the Usos and Mark Henry) mention Roman still being gone at the top of the show.  That establishes he's not in the building.  His coming down the ramp was a good idea, because that reinforced his coming unannounced.  As HHH is raising his arm in victory, show the backstage area with a car pulling up.  Reigns gets out and upon realizing that Trips is in the ring, rushes forward and then let the beatdown commence.

 

It was a good segment.  But like most WWE main roster stuff, a few tweaks would have made it more logical.

[Phantom Lord]

Has NXT Takeover Dallas been announced on NXT yet? I haven't watched last weeks show yet/forgot to so I'm guessing that might be the only plausible reason they wouldn't have mentioned it. Or you know add fuel to the "Vince doesn't like NXT discussion".

 

I started falling asleep right at the start of the show last night (wasn't on New Day though...they were awesome). I ended up missing the show. I got most of it on dvr. Saw some of the clips. Shane training in Muay Thai in a sweaty lower Manhattan gym only for him to fight Taker with those weak ass punches and the Shane O'Mac shuffle was hilarious.

 

Screw a chokeslam. Old Man Inc should have drilled him in the face with a soup bone. The story continues to make no sense. So Taker's basically doing this for Vince cause he feels like it? I'll have to watch it in whole later, but this really makes no sense. I hope this HIAC is a spot filled blood fest on part with Taker/Brock from way back in 2003. That might make up for this illogical nonsense.

[Nice Guy Eddie]

The only way to salvage Roman is when we finally hear Sierra, Hotel, India, Echo, Lima, Delta...SHIELD once again. He wasn't supposed to be a John Cena superhero type. I place Roman's failure solely on Vince's stubborness.

[Fallacy!]

Has NXT Takeover Dallas been announced on NXT yet? I haven't watched last weeks show yet/forgot to so I'm guessing that might be the only plausible reason they wouldn't have mentioned it. Or you know add fuel to the "Vince doesn't like NXT discussion".

 

I started falling asleep right at the start of the show last night (wasn't on New Day though...they were awesome). I ended up missing the show. I got most of it on dvr. Saw some of the clips. Shane training in Muay Thai in a sweaty lower Manhattan gym only for him to fight Taker with those weak ass punches and the Shane O'Mac shuffle was hilarious.

 

Screw a chokeslam. Old Man Inc should have drilled him in the face with a soup bone. The story continues to make no sense. So Taker's basically doing this for Vince cause he feels like it? I'll have to watch it in whole later, but this really makes no sense. I hope this HIAC is a spot filled blood fest on part with Taker/Brock from way back in 2003. That might make up for this illogical nonsense.

 

He's an over the hill old fighter. He said his fists are his legacy. Big matches at Wrestlemania are pretty much all he's got left.

[zev]

Maybe Taker wants the fastest win at Mania record. Kick, Hell's Gate, Tapout. His legacy becomes winning faster than Kane, Sheamus, or Bundy.

 

Ok maybe that's just wishful thinking on my part to have that match not even go a minute.

[nate]

Brock is gonna bleed at Mania.

Brock is probably bleeding right now.

I hope not. There's no greater terror in the annals of wrestling than the images of his gore-covered chest pecker.

[nate]

http://youtu.be/wYU57sdJIDc

That might be the "realist" video they have ever posted.

It is fucking brutal - not because of anything graphic but because of seeing Neville's face when the doctor confirms he feels a break and he knows what that means.

Jesus Christ, fucking awful. There's a point where you can see his eyes - shortly after the trainer/doc asks him to repeat a response - Neville's eyes are as red as his forearm pads. Makes me want to send him a get-well card ... hell ...

[Michael Sweetser]

Can we all chip in and get Neville a hug?  Heart's breaking for the guy - all the hard work, gone in a fluke instant.

[Michael Sweetser]

 

 

Brock is gonna bleed at Mania.

Brock is probably bleeding right now.

I hope not. There's no greater terror in the annals of wrestling than the images of his gore-covered chest pecker.

 

 

To be fair, it's not HIS blood on it.

[Dirty J.]

Dare I say, I have missed Triple H in the ring. Especially this Haitch, who sells his opponents and squeezes out victories. Between this match with Ziggler and his stellar performance against Ambrose, I'm actually kind of glad he's the champ. Definitely want another program with Ambrose.

 

Also, I have missed backstage brawls.

[nate]

Brock is gonna bleed at Mania.

Brock is probably bleeding right now.

I hope not. There's no greater terror in the annals of wrestling than the images of his gore-covered chest pecker.

To be fair, it's not HIS blood on it.

#worsenotbetter

[Spritenaut 32]

Wasn't WM supposed to be Undertaker's retirement match?  That hasn't been mentioned on tv so I assume it's no longer the plan, but it almost seems like it should be, given Taker's health and that it's his home state.

 

Of course, wasting UT's last match on Shane McMahon would be a very WWE thing to do.

[The Comedian]

Someone really needs to make Shane realize before Wrestlemania that that body blow flurry thing he's doing is completely fucking terrible. He's trying to go for "lightning fists" and he's ending up with "kid play-fighting at recess". Taker's 50, Shane can slow it down to the point where he has some actual control over his fists while still playing the "use my speed against you" card.

[Go2Sleep]

That's a damn shame about Neville. In fact, I'd say that's the most heartbreaking injury yet. At least Cena and Rollins have already had big Mania moments. The next year is gonna be long as hell for Neville.

 

Zayn's match this week was exactly the type of match he should be working. 60/40 in his favor and showcasing some big moves that make people want to see him again. Maybe they read all our posts about how shitty the Stardust match was at Roadblock. If that's the case, please give Sami some mic time next week. He's a natural speaker who should connect with fans quickly, but he needs to establish a character beyond "good wrestler, hates KO for some reason."

 

I don't think I'm alone when I say I'd rather see HHH work as an ace for a few months than see Roman with the strap. He's looking leaner these days and what he's lost in mobility (which isn't a ton compared to some featured performers these days), he's made up for with expert pacing and selling. He's looking a lot more like 00/01 than 02/03. The only problem is Rollins is the ideal guy to beat him, but he's probably a bit too far from his return. As much as HHH is bringing it, I don't think him on top for more than 5 or 6 matches does the roster any favors.

 

In contrast to HHH, Taker was looking awful. I know he hasn't looked good in years, but it just seemed like an exceptionally steep drop from the last time I saw him. That bald spot is un-hideable, his tank top isn't holding back that gut anymore, and he sounded completely exhausted. It's pretty sad to see him barely able to drag himself out for this Russo-esque feud. The worst part of this segment, though, was that even with how decrepit Taker is, him selling Shane's strikes was still wholly unbelievable.

[Spritenaut 32]

I'd prefer Shane's fists of fury to his wacky shuffle.

 

Truth be told, I'd prefer Shane do well in business, raise his kids, and stay off my tv.  I didn't like "non wrestler wrestler-killer" Shane when he was in his 20's.  The act's even less convincing now that he's nearing 50 and looks like your average middle-aged dad.