WWE Raw 9-23-13

[tigertooth]

Raw was a little long winded but all of the big picture storyline stuff worked for me.

 

I'm guessing this has already been said somewhere in this thread, but there wasn't a logic gap in the main event. On Smackdown, Vickie set up an 11 on 3 gauntlet match where each of the faces would go against the shield 3 on 1. HHH stopped everything mid-match once there was some hope that the faces would overcome the odds. HHH then started playing good cop in an effort to win back the locker room.

 

On Raw, this time HHH made the gauntlet match in the faces favor. Plotting to win back the locker room and turn the faces on Bryan. It seems pretty logical what he is trying to do.

 

But how does a match in which Bryan leads them to victory help to turn them against Bryan?  I'd think they'd be pretty stoked that they won a Raw main event.  Lots of those guys have a hard time even getting on Raw.

 

APO said it's because Bryan was celebrating at the end by himself.  I find it hard to believe HHH could have known that's the way the match would end.

[Victator]

Ryder is like "i won the main event on Raw. Its that week and a half in December 2011 all over again."

[S.K.o.S.]

 

Raw was a little long winded but all of the big picture storyline stuff worked for me.

 

I'm guessing this has already been said somewhere in this thread, but there wasn't a logic gap in the main event. On Smackdown, Vickie set up an 11 on 3 gauntlet match where each of the faces would go against the shield 3 on 1. HHH stopped everything mid-match once there was some hope that the faces would overcome the odds. HHH then started playing good cop in an effort to win back the locker room.

 

On Raw, this time HHH made the gauntlet match in the faces favor. Plotting to win back the locker room and turn the faces on Bryan. It seems pretty logical what he is trying to do.

 

But how does a match in which Bryan leads them to victory help to turn them against Bryan?  I'd think they'd be pretty stoked that they won a Raw main event.  Lots of those guys have a hard time even getting on Raw.

 

APO said it's because Bryan was celebrating at the end by himself.  I find it hard to believe HHH could have known that's the way the match would end.

 

 

Part of Bryan's character is that he's not a great team player - he wants to get things done himself.  It makes sense that HHH would expect Bryan to do something that his team wouldn't like.

 

Also, Bryan hates HHH.  When HHH is doing huge favors for the other faces, it doesn't mean they'll turn on Bryan, but it makes it more difficult for them to be 100% with Bryan on the HHH hate.

[Ramsey]

Overall Raw for me was "eh." That's not to say there weren't some serious mark out moments for me.

 

- "It's the Rhodes boys!" was pretty much the coolest thing of the night for me. That had a definite JCP feel for me. Cody and Goldust are suddenly red hot. I didn't think I'd be saying that in 2013.

 

- The Punk/Heyman segment was great but too long in my humble opinion.

 

- The show itself just felt too long. Two RVD matches may have made it feel even longer. He's like a spot-fueled time machine to 1998. I'm just not feeling him at all and I want him to stay off my tv.

 

- Steph and HHH are playing the role evil/plastic/corporate soul suckers to a T. This is what heel heat SHOULD look and feel like. Once again, I feel the deep down body-hate I used to get when Tully and Arn would slap Dusty or Barry Windham around back in the day.

 

- The 11 on 3 was entertaining for me with the highlight being the stare down between Reigns and Titus. That was one of those "by gawd" Bill Wattsian moments that could kill a man. Once again, let me state for the record, Reigns, if booked correctly, could be HUGE.

[MORELOCK]

"He wasn't over.""WAS TOO!!!!"Now that is "shocking to here."

Clearly a typo, you lose a ton of points for a cheap shot that did little damage. You're probably the type that goes immediately to fat jokes unprovoked when arguing with an overweight person.

Typo for what? "Heer?" Sounds like I hit a nerve, ya big dumb fatty.

[Phantom Lord]

"Ted Dibiase Jr" is just another way to pronounce "Curtis Axel".

 

Yeah but at least he got to use his name. Poor Curtis can't even be Joe Hennig because they said he doesn't know how to work like one. I feel sorry for Curtis. I mean he's fine in the ring, but no one cares about him. Look at last night. He was the fifth wheel in that brawl. They should have made Ryback the new Heyman guy from the start or at least had him do his BIG GUY schitck way earlier.

[Brian Fowler]

Ryder is like "i won the main event on Raw. Its that week and a half in December 2011 all over again."

Somebody call Kane.

[Go2Sleep]

 

Cody: Has anyone ever benefitted more from not being on tv? 

 

First person that came to mind was Matt Hardy.

 

 

The current top face in WWE. 

 

Steph ruled the show again from the heel side of things. Her utility player speech to the Miz was great, but the line "The entire WWE is my personal space" was my favorite. Liked the no-hesitation punch to Miz, but I really wanted to get more use out of "Weepin' of Mass Destruction" this week. Oh well.

 

The main event was oddly... Realistic I guess? I mean, as much as anything in pro wrestling is realistic. I'm sure most everyone expected a 3 on 3 at some point or even a 3 on 1 in favor of the Shield, but nope. They burned through the injured guys and the lowest-ranked jobbers, but Reigns was eliminated with 6 people left, Ambrose with 5, and then Rollins succumbed to a 4 on 1. I think what I've liked best about the past couple of weeks is that the Shield aren't playing the standard WWE cowardly heels. The odds have been against them, but they get in there and go down fighting anyways. As expected, Bryan as the ass-kicking leader is a million times better for a company-ace role than plucky underdog. I was hoping he'd be a little pissed off when he found out Orton harassed Brie, but that's a minor complaint.

 

 

I don't understand why they are pushing the Usos more than the Primetime Players in this whole thing. The crowd is just dying for a reason to treat Titus O'Neil like a star. Usos are an ok team, but there is definitely no breakout star potential with the team like the PTPs have.

 

 

Disagree here. The Usos are way more over than the PTPs currently, and I actually do think there's some singles potential. Based on **Total Divas** Jimmy seems like a really cool guy, or could at least convincingly play a really cool guy on tv. If they let him act like that, I could easily see crowds getting behind him. And if Jey is half as cool as his brother, he's a solid midcarder at worst. The whole twin thing is usually a dead end for both guys, but what I think they should do is start downplaying it. Have them wear different color tights and facepaint to get people used to telling them apart and starting to notice other differences. Then when it comes time to split them up (way down the line), they can do it without one turning on the other.

 

I do think the PTPs have some potential, but they're several years away still. There's at least 15 guys who should be pushed ahead of them based on talent and/or overness, possibly more than 20. Considering card positioning only, the PTPs are the Hardy Boys in 2000 without the stand-out gimmick. Or a face version of 1996 Harlem Heat where Stevie Ray is the one who obviously needs the singles push. I like 'em, but they're a long ways off considering the other talent in the promotion right now.

[Ryan Faulconer]

I am amazed at how much I'm enjoying WWE now.  Well maybe not "amazed" since Bryan/Cesaro/Zayn/Rollins/Ambrose/etc were some of my favourites before they came to WWE.  This "era" of WWE programming is the best its been since 2000.  RAW is too long but more time for better wrestlers and matches is something to look forward to.  The gimmicks aren't bad for the most part unless we are talking about Los Matadores and Fandango...and most of the divas.

 

I was a CM Punk fan years ago but the babyface version just seems grating and insincere.  I wouldn't be disappointed if he was a major part of the show.  I'm fine with him feuding with guys I'm not digging at all like Ryback or Axel too.

 

The 11-on-3 match really blew my mind as a concept for babyfaces to get over.  I can't believe that it worked as well as it looked like it did.  I'm never going to depend on WWE or get disappointed when things start going wrong for all the moving parts.  For TV wrestling they are doing a lot of things that interest me.  I'm not going to go and buy a PPV or anything like that but the TV shows are enjoyable after almost thirteen years of not being interested in something besides lucha or smaller promotions.

[MarcosLoura]

Almost everything has been said about the show so I definitely will not do a giant super post like last week.

 

Highlights:

 

- Dean Ambrose cutting an awesome promo, disregard what I said about him last time.

- YES! YES! YES!

- Very well done run-in by the Rhodes.

- Awesome main event.

 

 

Oh, and I'll join on the RVD hate. Dude is so boring it hurts.

[mco543]

RVD is horrible, he's the worst guy on the roster right now. He's like RVD from '98 if you watched '98 RVD in super slow motion. 90's Baba had a more legitimate and believable offense. I read that his contract is coming do and I really hope he doesn't re-sign. I used to love RVD when he was in ECW but his WWE run has mostly been mediocre and this latest return is just the cherry on top of the shit sundae.

[Overly Critical Man]

I know I mentioned how Orton's "sadistic" beatdowns are being no-sold earlier, but then I realized I forgot to mention that RVD's 10 minute beatdown by Randy was so "devastating" that RVD came out an hour later and still wrestled in the main event.

 

Get this man someone to punt into a month-long vacation, STAT.

[Big Fresh]

God his Dr. Doom run was fucking awesome,

I'm with you. It was great. Especially knowing how big of a comic nerd Cody is.

[sydneybrown]

Ryder is like "i won the main event on Raw. Its that week and a half in December 2011 all over again."

 

Ryder is probably more like "Dude, I was in the main event and I lasted more than five minutes!  I wasn't even the first one eliminated!"

[Victator]

He is busy ranking on Justin Gabriel for being a loser. 

[Ace]

I know I mentioned how Orton's "sadistic" beatdowns are being no-sold earlier, but then I realized I forgot to mention that RVD's 10 minute beatdown by Randy was so "devastating" that RVD came out an hour later and still wrestled in the main event.

 

Get this man someone to punt into a month-long vacation, STAT.

 

I think RVD's only got a month or so left on his contract anyways.

[goc]

I know I mentioned how Orton's "sadistic" beatdowns are being no-sold earlier, but then I realized I forgot to mention that RVD's 10 minute beatdown by Randy was so "devastating" that RVD came out an hour later and still wrestled in the main event.

 

Get this man someone to punt into a month-long vacation, STAT.

I thought that was the whole point of bringing a guy like Ryder back from doing nothing was so he could get the super beatdown that took someone off TV.

[Hooks]

 

 

 

 

Notice how Reigns only did the job for a fellow Samoan.

 

His backstage politics are out of control.

 

Aren't the Usos his Cousins?  I forgot who's son Reigns is.

 

 

He's Sika's kid and yeah, the Usos are his cousins.  Matt aka Rosey is his older brother.

 

 

What is Rosey up to? Any chance he can come back to help "even the odds" for HHH?

 

 

He's 43 and seems to be running a restaurant called Island Boi BBQ located in Milford (hey, I know where that is!).  Obviously, we need a trip report from a forum regular in the Cincinnati area.

 

 

 

I live in the area and I know Matt.  But the restaurant just opened fairly recently, and between a crazy real job work schedule and working shows twice a week, I haven't made it out there yet.  As soon as I do, I'll give a review and post some pictures and whatnot.  From the handful of people I know that have gone though, I've only heard good things about the food, and I do know there's a big picture on one wall of the Wild Samoans.

 

And as far as Miz.............with that suit he was wearing, I was sure that as soon as he left the arena he was going to put on a hat and climb into the cockpit of a 747 and fly home, because I was getting a serious airline pilot vibe.

[Reed]

Pretty sure it's been said Maryse picks out most of Miz's stuff.

 

She should start dressing the whole roster. Cheesy tablecloth suits for all!

[APO]

 

Raw was a little long winded but all of the big picture storyline stuff worked for me.

 

I'm guessing this has already been said somewhere in this thread, but there wasn't a logic gap in the main event. On Smackdown, Vickie set up an 11 on 3 gauntlet match where each of the faces would go against the shield 3 on 1. HHH stopped everything mid-match once there was some hope that the faces would overcome the odds. HHH then started playing good cop in an effort to win back the locker room.

 

On Raw, this time HHH made the gauntlet match in the faces favor. Plotting to win back the locker room and turn the faces on Bryan. It seems pretty logical what he is trying to do.

 

But how does a match in which Bryan leads them to victory help to turn them against Bryan?  I'd think they'd be pretty stoked that they won a Raw main event.  Lots of those guys have a hard time even getting on Raw.

 

APO said it's because Bryan was celebrating at the end by himself.  I find it hard to believe HHH could have known that's the way the match would end.

 

Because HHH is poisoning the well. That was the whole point behind the opening segment. He plants the idea and lets it simmer until Bryan's natural "Enough of this, I'm gonna get this done!" actions do the work for him. As for the match itself, HHH has watched Bryan beat every member of the Shield in singles matches and been an integral part in beating them in a few 6-man tags. He expects Bryan to take control of the situation when the Shield tries to take momentum back even when they're hopelessly outgunned. Throw in the commentators starting up the "Bryan's a locker-room leader" talk once Daniel came in to shut down the momentum switch and it really does start to add up.

[JohnnyJ]

But how does a match in which Bryan leads them to victory help to turn them against Bryan? I'd think they'd be pretty stoked that they won a Raw main event. Lots of those guys have a hard time even getting on Raw.APO said it's because Bryan was celebrating at the end by himself. I find it hard to believe HHH could have known that's the way the match would end.

I think the whole point was HHH was throwing the faces a bone.When you look at the faces who were up on that stage, I don't think the likes of Justin Gabriel or Zack buy the argument that its Daniel Bryan that is keeping them from world title shots.

[Greggulator]

The Miz apparently is in a ska band on the side.

[JRGoldman]

I think we are all over thinking the Shield/HHH stuff. If you go back and look at the segment, it was clear Ambrose and Rollins at least were surprised by the match. I think this is more about planting the first seeds for the Batista turn for the Shield. The pop that happens when the Shield comes out, looks at one another and ignores a screaming HHH allowing Bryan to get his hands on Hunter will be epic. I think step two will be in this process will be HHH feeding the shield to the Rhodes clan, and then berating them when they lose.

Also, not to pile on RVD or anything, but that match with Orton made me think back to that stretcher match they had. I remember thinking RVD was the drizzling shits then, but he looked like Jushin Liger in that match compared to this last run. Just abysmal. The only reason I kept watching the match from last night was because I wanted Orton to hit him with an RKO from the corner tower of london style and just spike the shit out of him.

[Bear Wyatt]

I like Punk but that promo did nothing for me.  If John Cena delivered the promo that Punk gave on Monday he'd be raked over the coals.  Just awful, pandering crap.  Punk comes off as so disingenuous.  Even in front of his own hometown.   Some people just aren't meant to be babyfaces.

[Casey]

I normally love Punk's promos, but he does have a really bad habit of throwing in sports related bullshit that doesn't have a place in what he's out there to do. Pandering to Chicago, though... well, that's nothing new for Punk either, but, in his defense, it was billed as a homecoming type segment, so I didn't really mind that too much.