The grindhouse intro from Summerslam was fantastic, and repurposed into a show recap perfectly. The fakeout with Steph was great. Sadly, it led to Nikki Bella cutting a promo. They're trying to recreate the Owen-Bret dynamic here but NONE OF THE BELLAS ARE ANY GOOD. And if the angle is that Nikki is jealous over Brie "beating her to the alter", then the whole Total Divas reveal of HER BEING MARRIED A DECADE AGO means what exactly? The acting here were God-awful all around and then they dared replay it. Luckily, it was followed by an AWESOME Show/Henry-Harper/Rowan match. Their SD match was good, this was PPV-worthy and I wouldn't mind if Show Pain won the titles. Loved loved loved Dean throwing ice water on Seth and saying it's for charity leading to a brawl. They get to have either a no holds barred match, a no DQ match, or falls count anywhere match!

 

Brock's new title is okay - it's a bit too shiny, and the lack of CHAMPION hurts it even if "World Heavyweight Champion" is in super-tiny text underneath. Still, it's a more symmetrical logo and looks better on the belt. Heyman's promo on Cena was just amazing. He babyfaced Cena to everyone who hates his guts and basically told you you're a fool to not like him because he's a tough motherfucker. He was so great throughout this whole deal - he sold you on Cena, Brock, the Network, any all things involving Brock Lesnar. This was an all-time great promo, and made even better when they replayed the stupid Bella stuff from before. Miz-Dolph was okay, minus the shitty finish. Swagger cut a good-ish promo backstage before he and Cesaro had a "neither guy can afford to lose" match. CESARO WINS! CESARO WINS! And Cole IMMEDIATELY makes excuses for Swagger!

 

The random dudes 6-man tag was really good. The crowd being so into Ryback helped the match, and him a lot. I loved Orton as his cheerleader, and the surprise of RVD winning instead of Roman. The 3.0 out of nowhere was the best spot in the match since it came out of nowhere. Usos-Dust Brothers was massacred by JBL's commentary. THE DUST BRUSTERS won. Rusev coming out for a generic promo only to be interrupted by MARK HENRY, THE WORLD'S STRONGEST 'MURICAN ruled. He cut a great promo about being an Olympian who is PROUD OF HIS COUNTRY! Henry offered up a guided tour through the hall of pain, and saved the show after JBL's awful commentary. He got the slam and did the WORLD'S STRONGEST JIG! This was fantastic - he's back as a huge deal in just a few minutes.

 

Seth-Dean was the WWE TV match of the year so far. It was better than Dean-Cesaro on SD, and felt like we were seeing two legit main events made in front of our eyes. Kane getting involved hurt though - we better not be getting Dean-Kane, unless Dean Cain is the ref.The cinder block usage was a bit silly due to how gigantic the pile was that they just happened to have lying around, but this was an incredible match.

 

http://jayreviewsthings.blogspot.com/2014/08/wwe-raw-8-18-14.html

 

Screens -

 

You wanna insult MY COUNTRY!?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

http://www.imagebam.com/gallery/w84wwh2u9r6krewovtizy792q0pheyub

Tonight was a great fallout RAW, with a scary ending. 

 

And Paul Heyman, I wanna give that man a hug!

Dean is a made man after tonight that was a star making performance, and Rollins was fucking awesome as well.

So what the hell is the difference between No Holds Barred, No DQ, and Falls Count Anywhere?

I could watch an endless loop of Ambrose chucking the cooler at Rollins's face and never get tired of it.

So what the hell is the difference between No Holds Barred, No DQ, and Falls Count Anywhere?

 

I said the same thing in the FB group

Dean/Seth was friggin' WRESTLING at it's best. Oh my god was that spectacular. I had no idea Dean was making a movie -- the pop when he returns to screw over Rollins is going to be absolutely epic. That was seriously fantastic stuff.

The whole show was really good. Show/Henry vs. The Wyatts was terrific. Usos/Dust Brothers was good in abbreviated form and is going to lead to some awesome matches.

I could watch an endless loop of Ambrose chucking the cooler at Rollins's face and never get tired of it.

 

Somebody on the Internet better have a gif of Rollins getting splashed

Granted I'm at work and didn't pay super close attention to the whole show, but did they explain why there was a pile of cinder blocks next to the announce table?

Dean Ambrose becomes the biggest face in the company and he's leaving for x amount of weeks to star in a WWE movie.

 

That's not cool.

Not only is Nikki a better worker than Brie, she's a billion times better on the mic. The way she masterfully shut down those idiotic "WHAT?" chants was a thing of absolute beauty. I don't think there's five guys on the roster who would know how to manipulate a crowd better.

 

Bravo, Nikki, bravo.

Great finish, but man...Roman Reigns remains the shittiest friend ever to Dean. Wonder how long Dean is going to be away for his movie? You don't want to keep him off TV too long...

They're really going to have their work cut out for them trying to keep Reigns higher up on the card than Dean.

Granted I'm at work and didn't pay super close attention to the whole show, but did they explain why there was a pile of cinder blocks next to the announce table?

There where under the 'table' the ring bell is on....but in reality it was cause it works for what they wanted to have happen

This match was about as violent as you can possibly get given the PG restrictions.  Sit down power bomb onto a ton of chairs.  Suplex through a table.   A couple of brutal bumps on a announcer desk not helping and then cinder blocks.  I would think the cinder blocks were fake although I am pretty sure Ambrose has dealt with real ones on CZW shows before

 

Can you imagine how sick this match would have been in around 2005 when guys like HBK and Triple H was bleeding gushers in every main event

Heyman's rhetorical style has reached Suessian levels of absurdity.

Well holy fuck. I knew we'd get an epic Rollins/Ambrose match. I just didn't expect it NOW.

To all those asking who can credible beat Brock you just got your answer. dean can cause the 2 F5's the 16 Germans will just feed his lust for pain!

Great finish, but man...Roman Reigns remains the shittiest friend ever to Dean. Wonder how long Dean is going to be away for his movie? You don't want to keep him off TV too long...

All I could think

Granted I'm at work and didn't pay super close attention to the whole show, but did they explain why there was a pile of cinder blocks next to the announce table?

 

Perhaps Rollins was not only the architect of the Shield, but the mason as well.

Also, I know that they are pissed at Del Rio, but Brock took his wink!

 

Hopefully not his eye in the process.

Mark Henry should have picked up Lana, put her over his shoulder, and carried her to the back.

Next week she shows up with messed hair, flip flops, a generic t-shirt, cheap makeup, and tight jeans walking out with Mark Henry. She never says a word, just smiles, and never leaves his side.

Granted I'm at work and didn't pay super close attention to the whole show, but did they explain why there was a pile of cinder blocks next to the announce table?

 

No.  And they also didn't explain why either 1) They are the type of cinderblocks that crumble into dust upon impact.  2) Dean Ambrose isn't dead after his head hitting cinderblocks hard enough to break them into multiple pieces. 

 

Seriously, I LOVED that match.  Loved it loved it loved it.  But I can think of roughly 2 or 3 dozen other finish spots they could have used to take him out of action that would have looked serious and injury-inducing without doing something that would be a literal murder. 

I think that "Dean's reaction isn't equitable to his DVDVR love" argument is out the window.

I suppose the ship's sailed after last night and tonight, but I'd really like to see a Rollins-Ambrose match without all the bells and whistles and plundah.