RAW 03/30/15

[BobbyWhioux]

And if they ran into any of them after the show they'd fall over themselves to get a picture with and/or autograph of any of those ladies, without one trace of irony or self-awareness.

 

Maybe it's partly because it's my first time experiencing it but I kinda like the night after mania crowd.  Or at least I wanted to, most of the time... "We are awesome" is just silly and stupid and "You suck [ ___ ]" is just vile and justifies every negative perception of adults who still actually like wrestling, so those didn't make it particularly easy.

 

But the wave was kinda funny.  Cena rolling with the punches and wrestling more heelishly was fun too [had the added bonus of him feeding Ambrose more.  Hypothetically, if they were planning on building Ambrose up to chase and ultimately beat Cena for the U.S. Belt after a couple progressively closer losses, when it can really mean something, that was a decent Chapter 1.  Clean Job =/= Burial.  Particularly with Cena.  I mean, it's Cena; even a gunshot would only get a 2 count.  Kicking out after one finisher is devalued across the board now anyway.]

 

Maybe next year I'll catch up and be as tired of them as the rest of you are.

[Playa Shunna Ver 3.0]

Seth never looked more like a super villain; that belt looks like its part of his outfit.

Neville looks like the superhero rival to Rollins super villain. (Actually, really dug his new gear.)

 

Sawft chant during the stretcher scene got a chuckle.

I liked Neville's cape, but I thought they would have went all in and given him giant ears and a tail.  

[RIPPA]

It probably really became a thing two years ago when the Newark crowd was acknowledged to the extent it was.

 

Everyone has to make it about themselves.

 

And just because I was really proud of this joke

 

 

DVDVR @D_V_D_V_R  ·  Mar 30

Did they explain if Neville's cape gave him +3 Cunning or +2 Dexterity?

[MonteCarl]

 

I liked Neville's cape, but I thought they would have went all in and given him giant ears and a tail.  

 

 

He's already got the giant ears

[BobbyWhioux]

 

It probably really became a thing two years ago when the Newark crowd was acknowledged to the extent it was.

 

Everyone has to make it about themselves.

 

And just because I was really proud of this joke

 

 

DVDVR @D_V_D_V_R  ·  Mar 30

Did they explain if Neville's cape gave him +3 Cunning or +2 Dexterity?

 

Don't forget about charisma

 

Yeah, for me it [once again] goes back to what Lance Storm has been saying in his website commentaries and in podcasts since January; the WWE has been telling its audience it's part of the show [those "book the match" fan polls, making Fan Unrest With The Creative Direction into part of the storyline as they did with Daniel Bryan last year, etc.] so it's really not surprising that the audience now acts like it's part of the show, to the point of making sure they get all their spots in.

 

As much as I thought the wave was funny, as soon as they pulled back to wide angle to show it all and had Lawler acknowledge it and put over the universe, I instantly thought to myself "don't do that, it will Only Encourage Them".

[Burgundy LaRue]

I can't be the only one who thinks Paul Heyman would make a great babyface manager?

 

The decade-long friendship between him and Brock is genuinely quite touching in the backstabbing world of wrestling.

 

I don't really want to see him turn on Brock.

 

All they really have to do is frame it that with Brock's suspension, Heyman is available and offers his services to Reigns with the understanding Heyman goes back to Brock once the suspension is over.  Of course, if they want/need to turn Reigns heel, have where he won't release Heyman from his employment until Reigns wins the WHC.  Lesnar vs Reigns already has another round built in due to their WM non-finish/Rollins cash-in, but putting Heyman in the middle where he cuts both of their promos would be gold.

[SirSmUgly]

Heyman turning on Brock the first time didn't make any sense, and it would make even less sense this time around. Heyman is getting cheered being a dick overconfident (well, maybe perfectly confident considering his client) manager-slash-spokesperson anyway. Just let him keep doing what he's doing.

 

Brock is a face because he's an athletic freak who does cool shit like SUPLEX CITY, BITCH, not because he's doing the traditional act-like-a-face schtick, so no need to change what is working for him or Heyman. 

[Go2Sleep]

After Monday, I think the biggest money is in Lesnar chasing down Rollins for the beating of a lifetime. Rollins filling time by weaseling his way through singles matches with Orton and Reigns (and maybe Bryan if you need another filler program) could make for a hell of a Summer Slam payoff.

 

I don't know when Reigns gets the belt for real, but it needs to be a while. Brock is red hot, and even though Roman has proved a lot in his matches, WWE has lot of work to do rehab his image. I won't argue that it's unfair to Roman, but these are the kind of problems you get for over-pushing a guy at the wrong time. Looking back, despite getting the probable MOTY out of Roman, WWE really screwed the pooch by forcing him into that spot instead of Bryan. You could run the exact same match at Mania, and the booking flows so much more naturally. Rollins denys Bryan a second "WM moment," cheats in the re-match which leads to a much smoother de-push for Bryan, and it's at the hands of a guy who is actually supposed to be a heel. Roman gets to ascend more slowly without eating potentially harmful losses or the perception that he's "taking someone's spot." Then, Roman/Brock is still on the table for 32 with a much more favorable outlook.

[Fallacy!]

The best thing they could do for Reigns is have him squash Cena down the road for the US title. That would get a lot of people back on his side, IMO.

[thee Reverend Axl Future]

Liked the two title defenses and the Divas match. There were rumblings they were going to hashtaggivedivasachance after Wrestlemania so I'm hopeful for more like this in the future. Still hate the Butt Bump as a finisher though.

I'm sorry, but it will always be thee Butt Butt to me, dammit.

Blackbirds 4ever,

RAF

[BobbyWhioux]

 

As much as I thought the wave was funny, as soon as they pulled back to wide angle to show it all and had Lawler acknowledge it and put over the universe, I instantly thought to myself "don't do that, it will Only Encourage Them".

 

 

Well, addendum:  don't do that unless you want the crowd to keep doing that.  To an extent, of course, you do want to be receptive to customer demand and you should listen to them, but if you do the "let the fans pick the match/stip" thing and you don't gimmick it, be prepared for the fans to pick something silly at least some of the time.  Especially on the internet where a dedicated few could organize a "Spin the wheel make the deal?  LOL LET'S ACTUALLY PICK THE COAL MINER'S GLOVE MATCH!" movement.

[Cristobal]

Well usually they do something like A Street Fight, B Extreme Rules Match, C No-Holds Barred, in which case you wonder why anyone bothers to vote.

[BobbyWhioux]

Particularly since there already don't seem to be any holds that are barred in ordinary competition anyway.

[SolidGoldBomb]

As awesome as it would be to work for WWE, it would really suck to work for a company where if you wanted to take some vacation time you would have to agree to be murdered by Brock Lesnar.

 

When he retires from the ring, they should give him a desk job as HR Manager

[The Green Meanie]

As awesome as it would be to work for WWE, it would really suck to work for a company where if you wanted to take some vacation time you would have to agree to be murdered by Brock Lesnar.

 

When he retires from the ring, they should give him a desk job as HR Manager

 

Or Director Of Operations Brock.

[nate]

I love the "No Holds Barred" concept that still outlaws chokes, piledrivers, most powerbombs, shooting star presses and 450 splashes, and pretty much anything Japanese that would kill most American competitors.