Roadblock II

[Nice Guy Eddie]

2 hours ago, RIPPA said:

I think that was exactly it - they didn't count WCW

probably not counting Benoit either

[nofuture]

At least they're consistent in booking Sasha in Ironman matches:  she always taps in the last few seconds.  That match could have use a fall for each side early on.

[steve]

I didn't like Sasha sitting in the figure four for nearly two full minutes at the end. I'm sure it's happened more often than I think, but having the clock there made it seem bad. I also thought once she had the bloody mouth they were going to do the WM 13 finish and have her pass out.

[HumanChessgame]

New Day needed to lose the belts and even though I'd prefer Cesaro getting a solo push this works as well as anything.  The match was solid and the ending was something original that I'd not seen before.

Both the main event and Jericho/Rollins were fine enough matches but I couldn't care one way or the other about the outcomes, especially since it was pretty much a given that there would be some kind of fuck finish.

Sami/Braun was pretty much what was expected and not good or bad but just there.  This whole thing still would have been better if Sami had gone to Smackdown.

The CW match came off like a rushed afterthought.

Women's match was fine as far as the wrestling went but this feud is totally run into the ground and with each match being a title change it's making the belt completely meaningless.

[GuerrillaMonsoon]

I think it's Reigns, Cena, Edge, Benoit, Bret (his one day US title reign over Miz) and now Sheamus.

[Jamal]

While I've enjoyed the Sasha/Charlotte matches on Raw, I haven't been as into their PPV matches. But this was probably the one I've enjoyed most. I almost thought the streak would be broken tonight. I'm guessing that we're going to finally get Bayley/Charlotte which is whatever for me at this point. 

[Casey]

Charlotte is really riding that line between kayfabe and reality right now on RAW Talk.

[Nice Guy Eddie]

21 minutes ago, Niners Fan in CT said:

I enjoyed the tag match and the last half of the women's match. 

But Charlotte winning the title again. Yawn.  The feud is Sasha/Bayley, not Charlotte/Bayley.  But Vince. Sasha might not even be on WrestleMania.

Main event was okay but it sucks when you're expecting Jericho, you get Jericho and then it's another DQ finish.  Which makes no sense because Reigns will receive a rematch because of this. How the fuck was that a "master plan"?   It didn't solve anything..

This was a RAW basically.

That's pretty much what ppv's have become now. The women's title being passed around like the hardcore title is stupid as hell. I enjoyed the tag title and the finish. I don't remember seeing a finish like that used. It felt like a move The Revival would pull. I enjoyed the cruiser match. I figure that Neville's heel turn will basically be, "You all ignored me. I was doing this before the CWC and the rebirth of the cruiserweight division." Sami can last 10 minutes with Bob Sawdust, so hopefully the next step is Sami getting a pinfall victory. Yeah, I know I'm dreaming. It was also nice to see Foley dressed up. 

[hammerva]

Quote

Rusev MACHKA ‏@RusevBUL  13m13 minutes ago

Free lesson in life from me. Maybe a foreigner but here it is. LITTLE CHILDREN DO NOT CALL GIRLS BAD NAMES. ITS WRONG. Be like me not Enzo

And he was the heel in this feud how?

 

[Nice Guy Eddie]

5 minutes ago, hammerva said:

And he was the heel in this feud how?

 

because he's the evil foreigner

How was Rusev the heel in his feud with Dolph Ziggler?

[Casey]

I'm pretty sure Lana is the real heel in the Enzo/Cass vs Rusev feud.

[steve]

Man, I swear Rusev could be the guy if they'd let him.

[Rev Ray]

man, Booker T grilling Sami about going 10 minutes with Braun was so counter-productive to this angle.  "Well, congrats on not getting killed, though he clearly could have killed you, now explain how this is good for you."

[Burgundy LaRue]

1 minute ago, Casey said:

I'm pretty sure Lana is the real heel in the Enzo/Cass vs Rusev feud.

I think they realize that Lana worked best when she was in charge of her relationship with Rusev and are trying to get back to that.  Their way of doing it isn't ideal, though.  And as much as I like Lana, Maryse has left her in the dust in terms of the gorgeous wife handling business for her husband.

[Casey]

Booker T has needed to get off my TV since he debuted as an announcer on WWE TV some years ago. So fucking annoying and he's easily worse than Jerry Lawler, in my opinion.

@Burgundy LaRue I agree. It's obvious they're trying to go back to Rusev being controlled by Lana, which is fine I guess. But if that's the case, and we're judging the Enzo/Cass/Rusev storyline, I don't see a way in which Rusev or Lana are the faces. She played a long con with Enzo, convinced him to come to her hotel room, seduced him when he had obvious doubts about the situation, and then had her husband hiding in the bathroom and he beat the shit out of Enzo. It'd be one thing if Lana was the helpless woman, trying to get out from underneath Rusev's crushing jealously or whatever, but it's not that kind of narrative at all.

[Charlie M.]

When did Ric Flair pass the torch to Booker T? Was this some Russo Nitro bullshit? Did this happen in TNA? What the heck was he talking about?

[Greggulator]

I loved the tag match. What a great story. I loved how Cesaro and Sheamus made it a point to pick up the pace early to gain control. And I loved the end, when The New Day's trickery finally caught up to them with Cesaro taking one for the team so his ex-rival/forced partner could get the win. Amazing reign for The New Day. Big E. was floundering. Xavier could have been cut and no one would have batted an eye. And Kofi was done. They became of the more over acts in the company, had a bunch of fun feuds, had some of the best promos of their time and were an integral part of the show for a long time. They might not be done yet. But kudos to those three for finding their collective voice -- a really weird, dorky, off-beat voice that ended up clicking with the nerds in the crowd really well.

Woman's match was excellent. Sasha and Charlotte are incapable of doing anything less than **** except if Sasha folds her spinal column mid-match. This, too, had great storytelling and pacing. The end of that match was just wonderful. I loved Charlotte taking out Sasha's knee and the methodical work on it even though the clock was winding down. I loved Sasha's grit and determination in trying to fight the hold. I thought for sure they were going to have Sasha hold on and they could have done a "Charlotte bridged a bit too late" like she was a baseball manager pulling out a starter too early in a playoff game. But they did a nice callback to the first IronWoman match, wish Sasha unable to hold on with just a few ticks left and having to tap out. The shot of Sasha disappointed/trying to hold on while Charlotte looks to pick apart her bones in the brief break before OT is already iconic on my Twitter feed. OT was also great with Charlotte's strategy to work the knee paying the ultimate dividend. This could have easily and probably should have been the main event.

Sasha and Charlotte have had five of the best matches of the year on the main roster. They could actually be THE best five.And all five are so incredibly different from each other. We've all known for a while Sasha is amazing. But not everyone was sold on Charlotte.I hope that puts this to rest. She's come into her own as an amazing heel and worker and star. I'm really excited to see this transition into Charlotte/Bayley, with Bayley hopefully FINALLY ending Charlotte's great PPV singles winning streak and taking the title at WM.

Sami/Brawn was also super fun. Love that we will likely get a rematch where Sami hopefully wins.

Everything else was just there. I also really hope they just end the cruiser experiment already. Neville coming in to destroy makes it somewhat interesting but man that stuff is a snooze.

[GuerrillaMonsoon]

Austin Aries was woeful on commentary too. Was looking forward to hearing him, but yeeesh.... Cliche > Put Self Over > Repeat

[Nice Guy Eddie]

4 minutes ago, RolandTHTG said:

Austin Aries was woeful on commentary too. Was looking forward to hearing him, but yeeesh.... Cliche > Put Self Over > Repeat

He's been much better on 205 Live.

[Lawful Metal]

I'm pretty sure this finish all but confirms Roman is winning the Rumble.

And I'm bored to death with Charlotte.  I'd much rather see Bayley vs. Sasha than see Sasha get shunted aside.

[Nice Guy Eddie]

5 minutes ago, Lawful Metal said:

I'm pretty sure this finish all but confirms Roman is winning the Rumble.

And I'm bored to death with Charlotte.  I'd much rather see Bayley vs. Sasha than see Sasha get shunted aside.

Agreed. At least there's Smackdown.

[Charlie M.]

Sasha is probably going to feud with Emmalina. That's fresh. Charlotte vs Bayley hasn't been done to death either. That's two good feuds that can happen. Mania will probably be another 3 way with Bayley in Becky's place. Perhaps that's when you pull the trigger on the Sasha heel turn? That's really the only way that Sasha vs Bayley works. Them facing off as friends would be garbage.

[nofuture]

I don't think Reigns is winning the Rumble.  I think they've finally learned that lesson.  He's probably winning the title at Royal Rumble.

[GuerrillaMonsoon]

I really hope it's Jericho winning the Rumble. Not just because it would pay for my trip to Mania, but a rehash of Triple H/Batista but with both guys clambering to be Triple H would be tremendous.

[Burgundy LaRue]

@Casey I agree that Lana/Rusev aren't faces, no matter what people say.  I get the appeal of a face Rusev and honestly, Enzo had his beat down coming. But they've made Lana/Rusev just as scummy with the setup for that.  No one comes out looking good in that mess.

It's probably a 4-way Universal title match at the Rumble, with Reigns winning after Jericho accidently does something to cause Owens to eat the pin.