Raw is Banks Making A Statement - 8/12/19

[Nice Guy Eddie]

1 hour ago, Niners Fan in CT said:

It's like asking why did John Cena change his shirt from vomit orange to vomit green.  They wanted to sell a new shirt. Maybe there's some other reason behind it but it's likely let's sell some shirts, let's sell some Barbie dolls with blue hair,  etc.  

And @Morganti makes a good point,   orange does contrast with the blue and when they are together in the ring it will be like Florida Gators colors so that's awesome. 

or the New York Mets, which isn't awesome

[AxB]

1 hour ago, Craig H said:

Cobra shot blue lasers, GI Joe shot red ones.

The Sith used red lightsabers, the Jedi used blue ones. And from my perspective, the Jedi are evil.

[MORELOCK]

2 hours ago, Greggulator said:

Nattie can be really irritating as a face. She has her strengths

 

Does she, though? The things I can think of that she's good at are 1. Being a Hart, and 2. Being Canadian. Seemingly every single thing of note that she's ever done has sprung from those two things.

Her flaws are a lot more glaring when several talented and fresh women are being kept off TV so she can get another shot that no one was all that excited to see.

[John from Cincinnati]

Did you hear the crowd at SummerSlam? There’s very little benefit to her being a Canadian. 

Nice to see Sasha get a fresh coat of paint (unlike the rest of you, I’m not talking about her hair). She’s been booked dull for ages. Hope the heel turn lets her recapture some of that NXT magic. 

Austin trading his endorsement of Rollins for a couple plugs for his show was hilariously mercenary. He’ll look more dignified sweating bullets on Hot Ones later this week.

Edited August 13, 2019 by West Newbury Bad Boy

[Niners Fan in CT]

I hope Sasha's husband has something cooking for new attire. 

[Niners Fan in CT]

Social media stats time.  Sasha Banks return is still #4 trending on YouTube as of 5pm ET.

[MORELOCK]

1 hour ago, West Newbury Bad Boy said:

Nice to see Sasha get a fresh coat of paint (unlike the rest of you, I’m not talking about her hair)

No one would have cared had she just shown up with blue hair. The way the wig was inserted into the angle was...odd.

[Greggulator]

1 hour ago, MORELOCK said:

 

Does she, though? The things I can think of that she's good at are 1. Being a Hart, and 2. Being Canadian. Seemingly every single thing of note that she's ever done has sprung from those two things.

Her flaws are a lot more glaring when several talented and fresh women are being kept off TV so she can get another shot that no one was all that excited to see.

She's fine enough in the ring. She's not great by any means. But sh'es not the worst. I think she was a perfectly acceptable stop for a situation like the one they were in. Becky just had her feud with Lacey. She needs a match at SummerSlam. The Sasha issue prevented them from being able to put that match together. Why not throw in a Hart Family member in Toronto so there is at least some kind of thing for Nattie to run with? You'll have a match that won't be awful. Becky's going to win, but at least the hometown location gave it a little bit of doubt/conflict.

They could have thrown someone fresher in that position, but they had at least some inkling of what they wanted to do with Sasha (since it was the next night). Becky/Sasha could very well end up headlining a PPV, and they will probably have a few big matches along the way before heading to a blow-off match of some kind at Survivor Series. Who else could they put in for a quick one-match feud that wouldn't just waste them for a  better opportunity in a few months? Sarah Logan? Another match with Lacey Evans? 

Having a veteran mid-card person like Nattie is a really good role to have when you need someone to chew up a few minutes of time, not have a horrible match that will slow down the other person's momentum, and then get pummeled the next night by the next challenger. 

This also leads me to believe that we're going to have something fun with Bayley tonight. I doubt the feud with Ember continues. Maybe Shayna chokes her out tonight?

[Dog]

2 hours ago, LoneWolf&Subs said:

Look at the cameras.

LOL

[John from Cincinnati]

13 minutes ago, MORELOCK said:

No one would have cared had she just shown up with blue hair. The way the wig was inserted into the angle was...odd.

The blue one or the one she wore on top of that? 

[MORELOCK]

13 minutes ago, Greggulator said:

Becky/Sasha could very well end up headlining a PPV, and they will probably have a few big matches along the way before heading to a blow-off match of some kind at Survivor Series. Who else could they put in for a quick one-match feud that wouldn't just waste them for a  better opportunity in a few months? Sarah Logan? Another match with Lacey Evans?

You're assuming they're holding people off for a more serious program down the line. I will be surprised if we ever get that with Asuka, who everyone still wants to see get her rematch. It would have been easy to insert her here and address that Rumble win - it's not like she was busy doing anything else, and the roster split is mostly meaningless at this point.

But even if you confine it to RAW Women who aren't already involved in an angle: Naomi has had five televised matches since April, all of them losing efforts. Most of them she was just used to pad out multi-woman matches. I think she would have been a fresher choice, and at least as credible as Nattie. She's been given far, far fewer chances than Nattie over the years to be involved in a high-profile angle. And not that I believe the ridiculous "Vince will only push blondes" talking point, but as far as optics go, it would have *looked* way better to give the slot to a black woman instead of a white blonde (who has somehow been taking up valuable roster space for over a decade despite never excelling at anything).

And, I mean, yeah, please put Sarah Logan on TV. Please put everyone on TV. It's doing a lot of damage seeing the same small group of people making TV every week while dozens go unused or are sent to the Negative Zone that is Main Event. I would gladly have taken a Sarah Logan match just to shake things up.

[DreamBroken]

Kiera Hogan was my first thought as well. Thought the heel turn felt forced, but cool to have her back. I thought Natalya had several very good showings last year, so I'm glad she got to be in position to get another title shot.

Rest of this show was far too short matches all throughout so most felt meaningless, but the womens tag titles was fun again.

[FluffSnackwell]

The problem is that Vince is a sentimental old coot when it comes to wasting valuable TV time on "legacies"  (or daughters of obscure jabronies that were his lifting partners back in the day) well past their expiration date. Carmella is probably in some kind of Kevin Dunn spot where her weekly TV time is a matter of perpetuity; all because her regional prelim wrestler daddy probably helped Vince extinguish his crotch when the chairman tried crack for the first time in Hartford in 1987. If there's limited spots on weekly TV for women as it is, the first ones that need to be regularly churned are progress stopper legacies like Nattie.  Multiply that exponentially if Vince is mostly fond of you because your daddy was an opening match jobber in Schenectady for about 15 years that happened to party hardy with Vince. 

To be fair, Nattie getting a title shot in Toronto was probably set in stone last summer. It's probably already been pointed out but the Summerslam slot was clearly a make-up for the feud Nattie missed out on with Ronda last summer,  after Anvil's sudden passing nixed any plans for a heel turn. That being the case, I don't have any problem with that likely being her last meaningful slot on a major PPV.

As for women that haven't even made it to the main roster yet, I wouldn't hold my breath on Shayna being called up any time before The Royal Rumble. If they're doing so because they don't have any idea how to use her at the moment, then that's actually a net positive. Shayna debuting just to pull a Lacey, come out on the ramp and mean mug every week without ever wrestling for  five months would be......well, actually something I wouldn't put past so-called creative. Of course, this makes Shayna sort of a progress stopper herself in NXT; not so much with Io Shirai, who is lot better off after snapping and turning heel than finally beating Shayna, but Bianca Belair, who has been spinning her wheels since failing to take the title off Shayna. 

[Just Dave]

16 hours ago, Niners Fan in CT said:

Social media stats time.  Sasha Banks return is still #4 trending on YouTube as of 5pm ET.

For wwe raw? Or for all of the YouTubes?

[Dewar]

When I watched it last night (around 10 PM Eastern Time), it was down to 17th. 

[Niners Fan in CT]

13 hours ago, just drew said:

For wwe raw? Or for all of the YouTubes?

All of YouTube.  Looks like it will be a battle between her return and Brock/Seth match highlights from SummerSlam for most watched WWE video of the week. Brock/Seth has a 24 hour head start.  Roman vs. Buddy match highlights is doing well too.   Second highest watched video from SummerSlam is "The Fiend" debut. 

Edited August 15, 2019 by Niners Fan in CT

[Dewar]

12 hours ago, Niners Fan in CT said:

All of YouTube.  Looks like it will be a battle between her return and Brock/Seth match highlights from SummerSlam for most watched WWE video of the week. Brock/Seth has a 24 hour head start.  Roman vs. Buddy match highlights is doing well too.   Second highest watched video from SummerSlam is "The Fiend" debut. 

Sean Ross Sapp tweeted about most viewed WWE videos this week. Sasha returns is down to #4 among WWE videos. 

[Niners Fan in CT]

5 hours ago, Dewar said:

Sean Ross Sapp tweeted about most viewed WWE videos this week. Sasha returns is down to #4 among WWE videos. 

It surpassed The Fiend debut. Remember the other 3 videos were 24 hours head start. Her return is now 3rd behind Edge returning and Brock/Seth highlights. I think the Edge return will be the biggest of the entire weekend, it has a title that is stretching the truth "Edge Returns!". Well, kinda. Lol.

Edited August 15, 2019 by Niners Fan in CT

[Just Dave]

7 hours ago, Dewar said:

Sean Ross Sapp tweeted about most viewed WWE videos this week. Sasha returns is down to #4 among WWE videos. 

Dope. So that’s one spot for every month she sat at home whining about her push. That works out well...

Edited August 15, 2019 by just drew

[MORELOCK]

The number four video on YouTube, among WWE fans aged 17-19 watching in the Upper Midwest between the hours of 3 and 4 am on Wednesday watching via the YouTube app using only first-gen Roku if you don't count literally any video that was posted before that one

[Casey]

The only trending video I see on YouTube's trending tab that's WWE related is Steve Austin on Hot Ones at #3, and The Fiend's SummerSlam entrance near the bottom. Surely that's the barometer for success if you're looking at YouTube trends. The Wyatt thing happened almost a week ago, Sasha was 3 days ago. One of those is still in the top videos, the other isn't.

[Burgundy LaRue]

It'll be interesting to see if Sasha's YT numbers remain high going forward. 3 million (so far) for her return is good, but she has to do it repeatedly. There are only a few in WWE who are guaranteed social media movers.

[Niners Fan in CT]

4 hours ago, just drew said:

Dope. So that’s one spot for every month she sat at home whining about her push. That works out well...

 

4 hours ago, MORELOCK said:

The number four video on YouTube, among WWE fans aged 17-19 watching in the Upper Midwest between the hours of 3 and 4 am on Wednesday watching via the YouTube app using only first-gen Roku if you don't count literally any video that was posted before that one

 

4 hours ago, Casey said:

The only trending video I see on YouTube's trending tab that's WWE related is Steve Austin on Hot Ones at #3, and The Fiend's SummerSlam entrance near the bottom. Surely that's the barometer for success if you're looking at YouTube trends. The Wyatt thing happened almost a week ago, Sasha was 3 days ago. One of those is still in the top videos, the other isn't.

I know it pains you all very deeply...   

@just drew  So in your mind Zeke Elliot should continue to bust his ass for peanuts, lead his team in the playoffs and then when his contract is up and he;s broken down Dallas can low ball him? 

Stone Cold should have never left and just put Brock over?  I mean you've never had this much vitriol for anyone else. 

Edited August 16, 2019 by Niners Fan in CT

[Niners Fan in CT]

@Casey The Fiend's debut is 2.8 million views.  Sasha's return is 3.1 million views.  

[Niners Fan in CT]

3 hours ago, Burgundy LaRue said:

It'll be interesting to see if Sasha's YT numbers remain high going forward. 3 million (so far) for her return is good, but she has to do it repeatedly. There are only a few in WWE who are guaranteed social media movers.

How many women on the roster are even in the conversation though?  Isn't that the whole point that she's popular and walked out because they were dropping the ball on her career? Maybe there are other factors that will come to light,  maybe she will work out the contract and leave for good, who knows.  But the only women who are even in the conversation are Becky and Charlotte.  Nobody else is on this level.