RAW is UNIVERSALLY AWESOME

[Zakk_Sabbath]

The ropes are red again so they're a little tighter. It's like how putting flame decals on a car makes it faster.

[Greggulator]

Braun's new theme song is such great dumb wrestling theme music. I love there's the BRAAAAAAHHHHH entrance. The song itself is very bad 90s hardcore that sounds like the opening band before someone like the illustrious Floorpunch at a show at a VFW hall at the Jersey Shore. Perfect.

[Wyld Samurai]

 All for the bringing back of squashes. If anything it should save Curtis Axel's career. 

He has the potential to be a solid Brooklyn Brawler of they give him a. Win once in awhile. 

[Craig H]

I really loved almost everything about the new presentation. The ropes are red again, I love there being no announce crews at ringside, post match interviews!, and the camera work was actually a little better. Oh, and Corey Graves is such a massive improvement for the commentary.

I'm really worried about SmackDown. The roster is so much thinner on that show and the commentary team is dragged way down with JBL. Could be worse though, Lawler could be in the 3 man booth instead of JBL. And Otunga I still don't get.

[Eivion]

2 hours ago, Burgundy LaRue said:

A lot of fans rag on Byron Saxton, but I thought he did a very good job last night.   I like him being an in-ring interviewer, he made strong points throughout the show, and he meshes with Graves well.  Maybe getting away from JBL was all he needed.

Saxton is just sort of mediocre w/o Graves. This was noticeable when he was doing NXT alongside the main shows and even more noticeable when a much better Phillips replaced him in NXT.

 

[Sammo~!]

Did you guys notice the dumpy looking Roman Reigns cosplayer who tried to too sweet Finn during his entrance for the main? Finn just gave him a death stare. So good.

[Swift]

4 hours ago, steve said:

It's all becoming clear.

 

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Why is Matt Hardy eating Jeremy Renner?

[Sammo~!]

9 hours ago, ChrisM said:

You don't remember the Western States title ? Now that was an awful name for a title.

Oh, and inherently bad person Vince Russo said Finn beating both Roman and Rusev is the "nail in the coffin " for him. Too bad it's not his actual coffin.

Bro, let me tell you something bro. I'm gonna tell you something bro and you WON'T believe it bro. People ask me bro, Vince, what would you do if you had Raw. Let me tell you bro, these fans? Bro, fans don't watch Raw for WREST-EL-ING matches bro, they want RE-AL-ITY bro. First thing I would do bro, I would have Rusev beat that Irish kid bro. Then the Irish kid calls in his buddies bro. The Irish Restling Alliance. The IRA. Get it bro? They say if Balor doesn't a US title shot, they'll blow up the building. Bro. Let me tell you bro, nothing says reality like a bomb scare bro. Bro, the main event happens bro, in a bomb vest on a pole match bro. Roman Reigns runs in. Cesaro runs in and stops him. Kevin Owens runs in but its a swerve bro, and turns on Cesaro bro. Then Rusev throws his US title in the trash bro, because the only real title is on Smackdown bro. It's genius bro. I guarantee bro the ratings would go through the roof bro. I would take Raw from a 2.8 to a 6. A SIX BRO! Do you understand me?

[Michael Sweetser]

Not enough bros to be true Russo.  Bro.

[ChesterCopperpot]

Russo's actual thoughts

"After tonight's RAW aired, I came to the sad conclusion that the professional wrestling business as we knew it is dead. The "New Era" is officially here, and the genre that many of us enjoyed and supported for decades upon decades is never coming back. Gone forever are the days of unique characters, compelling story lines and fights that actually looked real, and here to stay are the days of a middle-weight (at best) beating not one, but two heavyweights in the same night, in matches that told no stories and looked more like Swan Lake than fights.

When Finn Balor was booked to defeat the likes of Rusev and Roman Reigns in the same night -- on his first night -- this was the nail in the coffin for me. I never believed that I would ever see a powerhouse like the WWE cater to the smallest audience, with the loudest voice -- the IWC. Tonight . . . they won the war. It is over and done with. The "casuals" can now officially give up any and all hope.

[Spritenaut 32]

Am I the only one that thinks Roman will still meet Seth for the new title?  I'm really expecting some sort of shenanigans to keep Finn out of the match and Roman will end up taking his place.

[steve]

Russo's a crap writer, but he can work a helluva gimmick.

[Cristobal]

I wonder if Russo even knows Finn's first match was a 4-way?

Anyway, what struck me most about the show was how they were making small but noticeable changes to every aspect of the show. Not just set design or putting the rocket on Balor, but also the things that people have mentioned, the jobber squashes and the in-ring interviews. Also, the presentation and production were changed. We saw things like shooting Kevin Owens from behind as he walked out onto the stage. Moving/panning shots from the ringside camera.

For years, one of the knocks on Kevin Dunn (albeit from generally disgruntled ex-employees so grain of salt) was that he was lazy and/or set in his ways.  It looks like declining ratings have forced him (or forced Vince to force him) out of his comfort zone, and we're not seeing the same product with different actors like we've been seeing for the past couple decades.

About damn time.

[joseph2112]

I'd like to go on a four paragraph rant about Russo, but I feel like I am being trolled just talking about the guy. So this is the last time I am saying anything about the subject or even acknowledging this clowns existence.

FUCK VINCE RUSSO.

[nate]

6 minutes ago, steve said:

Russo's a crap writer, but he can work a helluva gimmick.

Hell-oova gimmick?

[steve]

Only in Canada.

[Matt D]

Why did they put Sasha over last night? They had a pretty straightforward storyline to get them to Summerslam with a big match and a big moment, one ready made. Even if they wanted to start the new Raw off with a bang, they should have announced last night after the tag that Sasha was getting her shot the next night. Get some mileage out of it. 

[steve]

Well, the alternative would have been having Rusev drop the US Title.

They made the right choice.

[RIPPA]

Yeah - Meltzer said it was either they wanted to have a title change on the first new RAW and they decided on Charlotte instead of Rusev or there is a new direction they are going in

It seems to be closer to the later than the former because it would have been easier to do a quicky change where Rusev loses to anyway - let's just say Cesaro - and then wins it back next week or even at Summerslam.

Since it was specifically Sasha beating Charlotte - it seems like something is afoot.

[Jrag]

I'll have to go back and watch the women's title change.  Didn't have enough time to get through the show, but once I realized they were running Finn/Roman I marked out and jumped straight to that.

The main event was the best Roman match in quite some time.  Finn has been on a little role lately, but this is gotta be up near the top of his WWE/NXT matches list. Such an interesting style matchup. I can't believe they gave it to us so quick.

Finn's entrance is going to be crazy when the bigger crowds start catching on. Loved the camera work.

[Michael Sweetser]

I actually do understand Russo's line of reasoning.  Like, I get it.

He's just wrong.

[Rev Ray]

I think the theory is that they are trying to make a grandiose statement about Women's Wrestling with that match.  First they had Charlotte and Sasha go super early in the draft.  And both girls went out there and were really going all out.  Maybe they are trying to break up that women's wrestling stigma by having the two go out there and put it all on the line on a network show vs. a PPV to show that this is the new era, women are serious by putting what was a PPV level performance with bumps and everything.  They were scaring the shit out of me though, after the almost full "Lita faceplant tope" by Sasha, I was really worried when I saw Charlotte going up to do the moonsault to the floor.  Again, I'm hoping someone talks to Sasha about some of her bumps, like Foley really needs to pull her aside about that apron knee press.  Unless she's going all AJW maditory retirement age, it feels like she's going to max out her bump card really quick. 

[FluffSnackwell]

What audience was Russo's shitty bookerman on-air character catering to? Masochists who like getting the exact opposite of whatever it is they want and even better than that having the asshole responsible rubbing it in their nose as the main angle in the company week after week? But I guess Russo thought he was channeling Andy Kaufman, Intergender Champion by sticking it to the rubes and antagonizing them; you know rubes, the one who fill seats with their asses and put eyeballs on your televised product. Even more ironic is the fact that I lost count of how many times I confused Jeff Jarrett for Big Poppa Bump because they both have those big bulging muscles.

[Sammo~!]

Russo needs to go back and watch WCW New Blood Rising before he complains about someone writing to the internet

[Curt McGirt]

Some of Graves' remarks came off like a dead on Jesse Ventura. He's gonna be fun to listen to on here. 

A thought about the Universal title -- since it's named after the Universe, do we only get fan favorites winning the title? And honestly, I like the name. Like someone else pointed out, it was good enough for the Cowboy.

Another thought; if Steph wanted a straw frontman for her brand she picked the right guy in Foley, since in real life she's still whispering instructions in his ear since he's so out of it all the time. She did it again for a minute before they started last night. That wasn't as bad as having to give him mic'd cues live like before but still.