London Calling - Raw - 5/14/2018

[Craig H]

1 hour ago, The Green Meanie said:

That wall was just the worst wall in the history of walls.

I know they wanted the audience to see that as something cool, but all I could see was a safety hazard by tacking a 2x2 strip to each wall and then screwing a sheet of drywall to those strips, which blocked an actual hallway.

I await the Roman defenders saying it was a face move by destroying the wall and thus eliminating the fire and safety hazard.

[elizium]

Because the WWE always overdoes babyface comeuppance.

[Craig H]

Where's the G-TV video of Roman putting up that wall just to put Jinder through it?

[Victator]

42 minutes ago, West Newbury Bad Boy said:

I don't know why people keep insisting I should have sympathy for the heel who normally fires the first shot. 

This is the generation raised by Jesse Ventura that did not understand he was intentionally full of shit most of the time. Jesse knew full and well why Hogan was choking Heenan or why Hulk smashed Dibiase with the chair after Andre had beat the hell outta Savage. 

[Niners Fan in CT]

26 minutes ago, Victator said:

This is the generation raised by Jesse Ventura that did not understand he was intentionally full of shit most of the time. Jesse knew full and well why Hogan was choking Heenan or why Hulk smashed Dibiase with the chair after Andre had beat the hell outta Savage. 

Hogan was a piece of shit dude.  Carrying another man's wife to the back trying to be a hero...   getting eliminated fair and square in a Rumble and then yanking the guy over the top etc..  

[Victator]

18 minutes ago, Niners Fan in CT said:

Hogan was a piece of shit dude.  Carrying another man's wife to the back trying to be a hero...   getting eliminated fair and square in a Rumble and then yanking the guy over the top etc..  

Is it Hulk's fault Savage could not protect his wife or that Sid is an ungrateful hay seed too chicken shit to face him head on?
 

[Overly Critical Man]

I don't know about you fools, but I will never have sympathy for Jinder fuckin' Mahal.

[Rehabilitated Rick]

Roman being lumped with another one of Vince's failed creations is quite appropriate really. 

[PetrolCB]

Like U.P.Y.O.U.R.S, they could all form a shitty faction...

The F.A.V.Es: Failed Attempts of Vince Envisions. 

(That was terrible. I’m too tired to be funny.)

[RIPPA]

RIP GRR Trophy

[The Natural]

1 hour ago, Overly Critical Man said:

I don't know about you fools, but I will never have sympathy for Jinder fuckin' Mahal.

With you, man.

[Spritenaut 32]

I doubt they're trying to turn Jinder or Roman - Jinder would be a terrible babyface and they aren't going to turn Roman unless Bryan and AJ come to RAW (if then) - but, Jesus, that last Jinder segment came off like a double turn.  They play up Jinder heroically shrugging off his injuries, wincing as he tries to hobble to the ring.  And the dude that beat him up earlier in the evening jumps him again, hitting him from his blind side.

If Jinder wasn't awful and Roman wasn't miscast, that'd have been a good segment to drum up sympathy for Jinder.  As it is, it's probably just Creative not knowing what they're doing.  Again.

[RIPPA]

 

[Rows]

6 hours ago, West Newbury Bad Boy said:

I don't know why people keep insisting I should have sympathy for the heel who normally fires the first shot. 

People get really weird with Roman. If he straight acts like a face they complain about “WWE trying to get people to cheer him” but if he’s out attacking people he’s unlikeable. It was the same with Cena at times. Granted “The uncrowned Universal Champion” sounded bad but as much as people say faces don’t have personalities they don’t seem to want to accept any without thinking its a heel turn.

 

[RIPPA]

The B Team is gonna get over AF

[Spritenaut 32]

3 minutes ago, RIPPA said:

The B Team is gonna get over AF

People said the same thing about Breezango last year.

[RIPPA]

8 minutes ago, Keep Calm, Akira Hokuto On said:

People said the same thing about Breezango last year.

I am not saying it will be long lived but they are clearly gonna take the RAW comedy spot (and so side tangent - poor poor Breezango)

And to an even lesser degree Ascension

But at this moment it is better to be the B Team than Revival

[The Green Meanie]

I'm already a big fan of theirs.

[The Natural]

20 minutes ago, RIPPA said:

I am not saying it will be long lived but they are clearly gonna take the RAW comedy spot (and so side tangent - poor poor Breezango)

And to an even lesser degree Ascension

But at this moment it is better to be the B Team than Revival

Yeah, the Revival's predicament is the most disappointing to me out of the wrestlers moving from NXT to the main roster. Dash Wilder's broken jaw and Scott Dawson tearing his bicep the first year they were called up really didn't help them.

[Burgundy LaRue]

1 hour ago, Rows said:

People get really weird with Roman. If he straight acts like a face they complain about “WWE trying to get people to cheer him” but if he’s out attacking people he’s unlikeable. It was the same with Cena at times. Granted “The uncrowned Universal Champion” sounded bad but as much as people say faces don’t have personalities they don’t seem to want to accept any without thinking its a heel turn.

Trying to talk to the average Reigns detractor is a lost cause at this point. It's not even about him, it's how they insist on calling anyone who doesn't hate him stupid, WWE sheep, or far worse. Why have a conversation with anyone who clearly considers you lesser than them? And over wrestling, of all things. We all like a carny sideshow, you'd think that would result in some level of solidarity even if we don't agree.

Roman calls out Mahal like an actual babyface would. When Mahal doesn't answer, Reigns finds him and whoops his ass. That's exactly what Roman should do. He doesn't do pandering well, so put him in situations where he can be in take-no-prisoners mode. 

Was the wall moment silly? Yes, only because the wall was blatantly fake. But that's a creative decision, nothing either wrestler chose. And that's the heart of the matter: wrestlers getting pissed on for what Vince decides. That's par for the course, but you'd think we'd be more sensitive to that in 2018.

 

[Burgundy LaRue]

1 hour ago, The Natural said:

Yeah, the Revival's predicament is the most disappointing to me out of the wrestlers moving from NXT to the main roster. Dash Wilder's broken jaw and Scott Dawson tearing his bicep the first year they were called up really didn't help them.

Sadly, their margin for error was always small and as you mentioned, the back to back injuries did them in. Had they moved to SDL and feuded with New Day or the Usos. they would do well. That should have happened, but wasn't meant to be. 

I got a chuckle out of commentary putting Braun at seven feet when they have never done that before and it's clearly not true. Anyone with working eyes can see McIntyre is a legit 6'5" and only gives a couple of inches to Strowman. I wonder if the GRR trophy getting knocked over was by intent. It didn't seem so, Braun simply mowed down McIntyre and caused him to flip over, resulting in a broken trophy.

[Nice Guy Eddie]

7 hours ago, Overly Critical Man said:

I don't know about you fools, but I will never have sympathy for Jinder fuckin' Mahal.

I will never have sympathy for Jinder, or Roman for that matter. Just apathy.

[bink_winkleman]

I'm glad they're feuding so I can fast forward through them both at once, but the good money is probably on Jinder getting cheered more than Roman. Not because of logical consistency in storylines, but because it's Roman. They'll probably have Jinder beat up a lot of lesser faces to keep getting any negative reactions.

I'm all about the B Team, and agree that it's about a be a Breezango-esque hot act for a bit (although Bo would have made such a good Woken Warrior with those facial expressions of his).

Braun's "GET UP, YOU'RE FINE!" to Finn was great, too.

[Craig H]

12 minutes ago, Nice Guy Eddie said:

I will never have sympathy for Jinder, or Roman for that matter. Just apathy.

I mean, that's where I'm at. I was ready for Roman to win the title against Brock...back at WM 31. That match changed my mind and then Vince got cold feet because, well, who fucking knows why.

And then after YEARS of Roman Reigns: The Ultimate Thrill Ride, I was beaten down enough to just accept The Coronation Ver. 3.1 and then...

NOTHING! FUCKING NOTHING!

Vince got cold feet...AGAIN. So why would I give a shit about Roman? What reason is there for me to care about this doofus who is too dumb to protect himself backstage except when Dean or Seth are there to pull the weight for them as a team? And then Vince and/or creative has the audacity to pass this whole thing off as Roman being held down when they have him go on last over an actual World title match? We would shit on the Superman booking of Cena, but imagine if Cena was booked to always go on last over World/WWE title matches and was made to look like he was being held down. 

And yeah, you can't exactly fault Roman for how horrific the creative direction has been for him, but this guy can speak up for himself and stand up to Vince. What is Vince going to do, bury him? Book him to get squashed by Brock and be opened up with legit elbows in the main event at WM?

Nothing will change though, and I'm done giving this guy chances. I have no sympy for him or Jinder. It's a dead ass feud as far as I'm concerned.

[Craig H]

10 minutes ago, bink_winkleman said:

Braun's "GET UP, YOU'RE FINE!" to Finn was great, too.

Oh God. This evolution of Braun is the best. Either that, or he though Nicholas was his tag partner again. "GET IN THE RING."

It's obvious that they keep putting Braun in these tag matches because they don't know what else to do with him at this point, but I'm almost fine with that as long as Braun keeps screaming at his tag partners.