The SmarK RAW Rant – 10.07.13
Live from Pittsburgh, PA
Your hosts are Michael Cole, JBL & Jerry Lawler
Stephanie McMahon joins us to start, and although she and HHH weren’t in attendance at Battleground, they’re still really upset about what Big Show did there. Welcome to wrestling, where people arrive two hours into shows they’re main-eventing and skip PPVs because of “other business”, leaving Brad Maddox in charge. So Big Show is sorry for ruining the main event, but that’s not good enough for Steph , who berates him and fires him. Show continues to be great in the role, but storyline just makes ZERO sense.
Damien Sandow v. Dolph Ziggler
Sandow attacks in the corner and gets a chinlock, then drops knees, which would seem to be an ill-advised move for someone with an injured knee. Sandow goes to a headscissors on the mat, but Zigger fights back and gets dumped as we take a break. Really? THIS match gets a commercial break? Back with Sandow hitting the ELBOW OF DISDAIN for two. Back to the chinlock as Cole notes that Show is kicked out of the building, which means he’s 100% not coming back at the end of the night. To the floor as Sandow sends Ziggler into the post and gets two. Finally Sandow misses a charge and Ziggler comes back for another brawl on the floor as JBL notes that Ziggler should have been doing this all along “instead of getting beat up for 10 minutes”. That’s tough to argue against. Sandow blocks the Zig Zag and drops Dolph on the ropes for two, but the fameasser finishes at 12:00. Just a match between two guys doing nothing and going nowhere. **1/2
Meanwhile, Steph continues her bitching streak, going after Brad Maddox this time. When we return from the break, Brad announces that, yes, it’s Daniel Bryan v. Randy Orton yet again at Hell In A Cell, and to ensure no controversy, we’ll get a special referee, as voted by the fans. First candidate: Booker T.
The Paul Heyman Guys are out to accuse Punk of being a BULLY and even worse, a CHEATER. Punk comes out to answer these allegations, but R-Truth offers help and we have a tag match.
CM Punk & R-Truth v. Ryback & Curtis Axel
The babyfaces double-team Axel and Truth slugs him down as we take a break. Back with Truth fighting off both heels until Ryback powers him down and goes to the bearhug. Axel comes in with a dropkick for two and goes to a chinlock as the boredom endures. Tweets from the idiots who post about this show indicate that Hulu is already cutting the Matadors out of the show after ONE WEEK. Ryback continues the boring as fuck beatdown of Truth with an abdominal stretch, and finally Truth comes back with a sidekick and makes the hot tag to Punk. Macho Elbow for Axel sets up the GTS, and Punk lets Truth finish Axel with an axe kick at 13:00. Well that was nice of him. **
Bob Backlund joins us to make his pitch as guest referee, and it involves putting whoever gets out of line into a crossface chickenwing. I’m unsure about his “crazy old man” platform, but I like his “maintain order with submission holds” platform.
Kofi Kingston v. Randy Orton
Orton tosses him quickly and puts the beats on him, and back in for two. Kofi comes back with kicks to put Orton on the floor, but Orton beats him down in the corner. Kofi tries a crossbody and misses badly, as we take a break. Back with Orton working on the leg, and into a chinlock. Dropkick gets two and they slug it out in the corner, until Kofi CREATES SEPERATION with a tornado DDT. Could this crowd be any more dead? Kofi makes the comeback and hits his crossbody this time, for two. SOS gets two. Kofi springboards right into a powerslam that gets two in a nice spot. Kofi counters the draping DDT, but walks into a clothesline on the floor, and things go badly for him. Draping DDT off the railing and they head back in for the academic RKO at 15:00. Nice to see them letting a title contender actually beat the fuck out of someone to build them up instead of jobbing to mess with betting lines or whatever. *** And then Daniel Bryan charges out and goes nuts on Orton as they brawl to the back.
Meanwhile, Vickie Guerrero has a special announcement to make, which Alberto Del Rio assumes means that he’s going to be named the new face of the WWE.
Shawn Michaels is the final referee choice. Duh, I wonder who’s going to win this poll?
Alberto Del Rio v. Ricardo Rodriguez
Vickie quickly interrupts the match and announces that Del Rio defends the World title against John Cena at the PPV. Del Rio is so upset that Ricardo rolls him up for the pin. How can we miss Cena if he never goes away? On the bright side, Cena with the World title will at least keep him away from Daniel Bryan for a while and hopefully elevate the belt to something worthwhile again.
MizTV is pre-empted by the Wyatt Family, who chase him up the ramp. OK then.
Meanwhile, it’s more Stephanie, who greets HHH and adds to the verbal beatdown of Maddox.
The Shield v. Daniel Bryan & Cody Rhodes & Goldust
Goldust slugs it out with Rollins and boots him down for two, and Cody springboards in with a kick for two. Cody fights off the Shield and hits Ambrose with a front suplex for two. The faces work Ambrose over in the corner, but Cody goes up and gets sent to the floor as we take a break. Back with Ambrose getting the heat on Cody, but he comes back with a moonsault press and it’s hot tag Bryan. He suplexes the crap out of Rollins and hits a top rope rana for two. We are BONZO GONZO and Bryan puts Rollins into the YesLock, resulting in the Shield getting themselves DQ’d at 12:01. However, HHH restarts the match, allowing Randy Orton to pop out of the crowd for an RKO on Bryan that finishes for Rollins at 13:34. **1/2 And before another beatdown can occur, the fired Big Show returns, breaks through the Shield, and finally KOs HHH. BUT WHERE IS HE GOING TO LIVE NOW?!?
The Pulse
Even at 90 minutes this show kind of bored me, mostly because it’s building rematches from a PPV that I had no interest in to begin with. I really think it’s time to cut bait on the Corporation storyline, it’s not going anywhere for them and business is down in real life. Hopefully they blow everything off at the PPV and let Bryan and Punk and everyone else do something fresh.
So... the Corporation is bad for business?
ReplyDeletedid anyone see orton's headroll after he rko'd bryan on the floor? It looked so odd
ReplyDelete'How can we miss Cena if he never goes away?'
ReplyDeleteYES!!!
YES!!!
YES!!!
They could save this Corporation storyline by having them "hand pick" their choice for champion and face of the company, like Vince did with the Rock. Leaving the title vacant is just stupid.
ReplyDeleteBusiness is down? Clearly Bryan isn't a draw and can't work. What we need is more McMahons. Get Vince and Linda there, posthaste!
ReplyDeleteVince is always an initial ratibgs boost
ReplyDeletelive, the show was enjoyable enough. although it might not have come across well on tv, it was certainly one of the better ones i've attended. i think it might be cause it was coming off of a ppv and the show actually felt (to me at least) like it had meaning, relatively speaking. i've watched about half of it since getting home from it and it's hard to see where others are coming from since my live experience was good. in the arena, the crowd was active enough, but i can see where it looks tepid.
ReplyDeletebruno got a nice reaction and a "thank you bruno" chant. singing 'happy b'day' to him was fun. backlund got less of a reaction, but his mention of the crossface chicken wing got a pop. in general he scared me :( hbk was a cool surprise (my friend and I were banking on the final one being foley) and was well received, as was booker.
dbry got a huge ovation (but still somewhat tepid per the crowd), as did
big show and punk. ziggler got a nice reaction but not overwhelmingly
so.
orton def got booed, as did steph. big 'punch her out!' chant during the intro segment. surprisingly there was a noticeable "we the people' chant during their match. not sure if that means they're getting over as potential faces or if it was yinzers being clueless yinzers. wyatt family got a nice reception. cool entrance live.
weird thing with hhh: he was booed when he appeared on screen, but when he said he was gonna be at ringside, everyone was suddenly "yay!'
ortons match was... plodding an deliberate
during vid packages, the rock got noticeably booed
i wasnt in the arena itself when show knocked out hhh cause i was in line to get rumble tix
best part of my raw experience:
ReplyDeletethere was a dad with 3 kids sitting next to me and my friend, and these kids were WAY into everything. you know how wwe always finds peeps in the crowd doing things in line with whoever is coming out? that was these kids. we're talking 3 kids who all night kept getting in the 'millions of dollars' pose in order to do the dance. these kids were 9 or so, and when the agents ran out to break up orton/bryan, we actually heard one of them reference jamie (by gawd) noble (boy!) by name! they were YES'ing, fandango'ing, WHAT'S UP'ing, at one point even randomly held each others arms up in victory. it was really fun to see these little kids so into it, hopefully becoming life long fans.
its a cliche, but seriously, the old adage vince has of "putting smiles on people's face" was in full effect for these kids, and they made the show that much more fun
I've just been reading the recaps for the last few weeks. I cannot take weeks and weeks of HHH & Stephanie, vacant titles, and all of this other crap. I DVR Raw and try to watch it, but I hate this Corporation storyline with a passion. I'm with Scott - can they please blow this off already and move onto something that's actually entertaining?
ReplyDelete'BUT WHERE IS HE GOING TO LIVE NOW?!?'
ReplyDeletein a van down by the river
I enjoyed the New Corporation storyline at first, but as awesomely bitchy as Steph is, and as awesomely condescending as HHH is, with their actions it doesn't seem as they're going all out with the evil. They're not even backing Orton anymore, and he's just in limbo now.
ReplyDeleteWell said
ReplyDeleteWell, his father's house in the French Alps should be empty.
ReplyDeleteI've noticed a lot of comments about how Stephanie is meant to get her comeuppance in a PG-rated WWE and I wonder whether it will lead to Big Show's wife making an appearance to get revenge on Steph over her lying about Big Show not being able to please his wife. still not really a good pay off and that's the whole problem with this corporate storyline. The worse thing is I don't think they'll give up on it until Wrestlemania because it seems to be leading to Vince returning as the one true hope to vanquish the evil corporate Triple H and Steph, instead of an actual active superstar who could benefit from such a high-profile push. It has been rumoured that the eventual match will be contested by superstars acting as avatars for Vince and Trips but that's the whole problem; they're seen by the fans as just avatars while all the heat goes to Trips and Vince instead of rubbing off on actual full-time competitors.
ReplyDeleteOh, they are apparently bound and determined that Vince v. HHH is going to main event this Wrestlemania, so you might as well settle in and like it.
ReplyDeleteExcept for this time last year.
ReplyDeleteI still think that Stephanie wrestles AJ.
ReplyDeleteTrish v. Steph is actually one of my favorite diva matches of all time.
ReplyDeleteI mean its no Jackie v. Trish mixed tag match, but what can be?
Gotta love the WCW Thunder-esque botch they made in announcing on Smackdown that Triple H bought Big Show's house and then proceed to make zero mention of it on either RAW or the previous night's PPV. But no doubt WWE will try to justify it by claiming that no one watches Smackdown.
ReplyDeleteThis snafu is way too similar to that 1999 WCW angle where Ric Flair got sent to the loony bin on Nitro, then three nights later on Thunder it was announced that Flair had been released from the asylum, yet Nitro the following Monday opened with footage of Flair "still locked up".
Linda is no longer employed by the WWE in order to prepare for some preposterous election, I'm sure.
ReplyDeleteYES! I was at an Indie Show and had a kid next to me who kept asking me wrestling-y questions because I was marking out for various spots. He got into the act and started yelling at the wrestlers.
ReplyDeleteit really warms the heart. For kids it's really like real-life superheros, ya know?
I like the corporation storyline a LOT. The problem, as mentioned, is that Steph and HHH really need to "show their hand" and go full-bore heel. HHH in particular is masterful right now, but I wish he'd just finally admit to his machinations so the fans can buy 100% into it.
ReplyDeleteI marked out for Show KOing HHH. Good stuff.
TOO SOON
ReplyDeletestephanie did mention it a couple of times during her promo with show last night
ReplyDeleteAJ is still technically a heel, and I don't see them giving up on that anytime soon. It bears worth repating, that according to WWE logic:
ReplyDeleteActual women wrestlers = heel.
Bimbos who care more about modeling, reality shows, and appearing in Playboy = face.
Young women who enjoy being ogled by a 60-year old man who dates people half his age = face.
Women who don't enjoy being ogled by 60 year old men = heel.
Due to the pops AJ has been getting that would make a load of sense to turn her face and put her against Steph... but that's not creative's style nowadays so I'd say we're far more likely to see Steph versus Vickie Guerrero. That way it can set up Shaul jobbing to Aurora down the line!
ReplyDeleteWhich is one reason why Cena won't turn heel anytime soon. Kids still love him.
ReplyDeleteFavourite_Loser what are you still doing here? Didn't I tell you to go kill yourself a few weeks ago?
ReplyDeleteI can't even say 'let's see where this plays out' because I have a horrible feeling I know where it plays out. Same feeling I had with the whole Big Show turn last year. Also the fact there are rumours that creative isn't quite sure who'll be the avatars in the eventual Wrestlemania match means even less sense to put so much stock in this storyline. Even bringing back a megastar like Austin or Rock won't help because they've got nothing to gain apart from a shit-ton of money that Vince will throw at them, which makes me worry it will end up as Vince versus HHH at WM. Pushing himself and his son (in law) is starting to make me worry that Vince is becoming more and more like Verne Gagne!
ReplyDeleteThat dynamic means nothing with a McMahon involved. If you remember every time Steph was near AJ, she "put her in her place."
ReplyDeleteAJ being so negative on the Diva's show and not wanting to be involved with it is reason enough for Steph to go at her.
"I voted for Kodos!"
ReplyDelete"WILL YOU STOP?!"
BTW Scott, you missed an absolutely horrendous match that pitted Alicia Fox, Aksana and Rosa Mendes against Natayla, Eva Marie and JoJo that featured Eva doing the worst selling job in years by getting beat on forever, then making the "hot tag" to Natayla and then Eva stood on the apron and cheered on Natayla, not even bothering to sell the beating. That match should easily be the Worst Match Of The Year winner, that made the Kaitlyn/Maxine NXT match from a few years ago look like CM Punk vs. John Cena.
ReplyDeleteBut is it worse than the legendary... the mythical... the awe-inspiring... Nowinski and Gayda versus Bradshaw and Stratus?
ReplyDeleteI think the McGrandkids are almost old enough to be on the show. I can't wait for that day.
ReplyDeleteConsidering that match had at least two decent workers in it (Nowinski and Trish) and this match had none, realistically this was worse.
ReplyDeleteTrish was not really Trish yet... and that match was WAY worse than the one last night... youtube it if you haven't seen it.
ReplyDeleteIt was no way worse, no super botches which the legendary match had. Yea no selling but still, the botches made the Jackie Gayda match the laughing stock it was.
ReplyDeleteI think that if Steph gets her comeuppance sadly it's going to be Brie Bella doing it. Gah that sucks.
ReplyDeleteLast night's match didn't have a phantom bulldog so yeah, the older match was worse.
ReplyDeleteYeah, that match was horrific and it's very telling that it was a runaway winner for Worst Match Of 2002, a year where WWE had the 3 worst PPV main events in the company's history, on 3 consecutive PPVs no less.
ReplyDeletePlease watch the last year and a half of NJPW. It... it just helps....
ReplyDeleteWell to be fair, the entire 2 months he was away, people in here were just obsessing about how bad it was gonna be once he came back. I thought Cena haters would have, ya know... ENJOYED HIM BEING AWAY??
ReplyDeleteI would compare this to a kid on the last day of school. While everyone else is celebrating/cheering, he's slouching in a corner saying "I can't believe school is actually gonna start again in just 12 weeks... This sucks, I HATE MATH HOMEWORK!!!"
I'll grant that the story-lines for women make no sense whatsoever (and they never have).
ReplyDeleteBut if Steph gets angry at AJ for being negative about the Divas, and criticizes her for it, since Steph is the power-mad heel that basically means that that AJ is right about the Divas show, and I don't see that being something they want to admit. Especially not when they keep desperately trying to make people like the Bellas.
That match will be the suckiest suck that ever sucked.
ReplyDeleteAgreed. Even his storyline with Punk a couple of years ago would have worked great IF Punk was proved to be right. Complex storylines are one thing, but at one point you need to crap or get off the pot and clue your audience in.
ReplyDeleteHaving said that, I was glad that Cole kept emphasizing the fact that Big Show revealed that Stephanie and Triple H ordered him to punch out Daniel Bryan. That was a fairly significant storyline development and I'm glad it wasn't just glossed over.
The angle is self-explanatory. AJ is a wrestler, but the McMahons want someone they can pimp out as a spokesperson.
ReplyDeleteI'm actually surprised they haven't come out a run a similar angle that they're using with DBry: They don't think she's good enough to represent the WWE as a Diva.
It would almost put AJ and DBry in an uneasy alliance as they are fighting a common enemy.
Was that the Gayda nip-slip match?
ReplyDeleteWhen I was at Raw in Richmond I tried not to be obnoxious or showy in terms of rooting for the heels or trying to call attention to myself. The one moment I did there was some kid who was like, 10, yelling, "BOOOOOO! THE SHIELD SUCKS!" And I sort of grinned and said, "No they don't". The kid looked shocked and said, "Yeah-uh-huh!" I was having fun now, "No they don't, they haven't lost a match! How can they suck?!" The kid looked back at the ring and goes, "BOOOO SHIELD! I HATE YOU!"
ReplyDeleteI believe that was a different match.
ReplyDeleteScott: "Could this crowd be any more dead?"
ReplyDeleteWaldorf: "Let's see!"
*removes pacemaker and flatlines*
Statler: "It appears so!"
DOHOHOHOHO!
Yeah, I agree that's the angle they *should* run...but I just don't see it happening, just based on how they've booked women in the past.
ReplyDeleteRight? I was happy to see R Truth get sucked into Punks little alternate dimension. Truthfully, (lol) it's the only time I've been excited to see the guy onscreen since Awesome Truth.
ReplyDeletein the thread about taker's make-a-wish, someone mentioned dbry meeting a kid. since it happened to be here in pittsburgh, i wondered if they'd meet up again last night
ReplyDeletedid they?
YES!!!
YES!!!
YES!!!
http://www.wpxi.com/news/news/video-local-boy-fighting-cancer-reunited-wwe-star/nbJFs/
Remember how Divas were supposed to be "sexy and independent" or whatever the slogan was? Then Beth killed it by saying, "We're just girls."
ReplyDeleteCool stuff, D Bry seems like a legit normal dude. An no, ive never watched a moment of total divad but all the off camera/intrrview stuff ive seen of him he comes off as real normal...not that "scripted" normal some people tend to exhibit
ReplyDeleteI must have not been watching during that time. The one that I always think of is Trish Stratus vs. Christy Hemme. Trish was the Women's champ, but was 'jealous' of Christy Hemme because Christy got the Playboy spread.
ReplyDeleteTrish could both wrestle and talk circles around Christy, and I think got cheered for it, but they kept gamely trying to make her the heel. AJ can talk and wrestle circles around whichever Bella she's feuding with (don't bother to tell me which one it is, I don't care), and has started to get face pops - and they're still trying to keep her the heel.
Christy, unlike the Bellas, actually seemed to like wrestling and wanted to be a wrestler and seemed to be working to improve. So of course she got fired.
He didnt boost ratings at all? Not even one or two shows? I wasnt following that closely this time last year.
ReplyDeleteHoly fuck. I never thought of this. Lets please never bring it up again
ReplyDeleteTrue, very true, although it doesn't have to be a match, it could be Brie Bella (or AJ) preventing Steph from interfering in a match or something like that and then beat her down, that would be a satisfying payoff.
ReplyDeleteI REALLY wish you were wrong, but unfortunately you're right, hopefully somebody gets a clue and changes this.....
ReplyDeletetotal divad is the second best booked wrestling show on tv (after NXT)
ReplyDeleteDoes that say more about total divas or more on the shittyness of Raw?
ReplyDeleteWhy did the crowd suck so much last night, doesnt pittsburgh usually have decent wrestling crowds?
ReplyDeleteFor as much as people mock the "We need more McMahons" thing, I do think they are entertaining, as long as they aren't there year round. I have no problem at all with the past 2-3 months for example, because it had been a long time.
ReplyDeleteAre spankings non-pg in WWE at the mo?
ReplyDeleteThat's why its great having Golddust back. He has to be one of the best in recent years, and possibly ever, at having a complete understanding of the psychology of tag team wrestling.
ReplyDeleteYANKEES, HOGAN, AND HHH FAN.
ReplyDeleteYOU TRYING TOO HARD, BRO
As long as it's not the Yoko/Bret/Hogan debacle that would hot-shot the title on a Bella.
ReplyDeleteI don't think she was wrestling in the match she nip-slipped.
ReplyDeleteTrish (cat)fighting Steph at WM 17 got almost as big a pop as anything during Shane/Vince.
ReplyDeleteEvery time I see Theo in the Gordon Gartrelle shirt I laugh.
ReplyDeletePeep this:
http://www.hillmanbookstore.com/
Did you mean 1/4 his age? (I'll MAYBE give you 1/3.)
ReplyDeleteOh shit. I've GOT to get the Randy Watson shirt.
ReplyDelete'total divad'
ReplyDeletethat sounds like some weird offshoot of punk'd
aj: 'shit, i have to be on that e! show when it returns. i got total diva'd :( '
Well if everyone seems to agree that the show was boring (apart from the HHH/Big Show, HBK and maybe the Punk/Truth stuff), why wouldn't the crowd be quiet?
ReplyDeleteHeh. Reminds me of Batista's last heel run. He was outside the ring during a match and some kid shouted "I hate you, Batista!" He instantly shouts back "I hate you, too!" It cracked up me and the folks I was watching it with, but I bet the kid was thrilled to get "acknowledged" by one of the wrestlers.
ReplyDeleteSo many people have been worried that Triple H would hinder this angle due to his unwillingness to "show ass" like Vince and allow himself to look weak. Now that he's been KO'd by Big Show, has that opinion changed at all?
ReplyDeleteUmm really? Ive seen better crowds at worse shows. The show as a whole wasnt good but there was a HBK segment, Backlund/nostalgia segemt, and HHH getting his forst comeuppance since SS.
ReplyDeleteOK, but every crowd is different. I'm just saying, if you didn't think the show was good, why do you expect the crowd to react like it's good?
ReplyDeleteI never understood the logic behind the special guest referee. "This match is really important, we have to make sure it's great and that there's no controversy or funny business ... so we're going to get a ref who isn't actually trained to be a ref and probably isn't as knowledgeable on the rules as a full-time ref."
ReplyDeleteIt'd be like the NFL using full-time refs all season, but for the Super Bowl, using Deion Sanders, Terry Bradshaw and Eli Manning as refs.
Yes and no. Yes because the crowd loved it. No because it made no sense. I mean, wasn't this the same guy who punched out Bryan and Dusty Rhodes? Why would he lose his temper now after being told what to do? This part of the storyline also takes the focus off of the championship too when it should be the first priority.
ReplyDeleteAnd especially a ref with a track record of being partial and attacking the participants to further his own agenda.
ReplyDeleteShawn should co-offciate with Big Show, so they can have that epic cryoff that fans have dreamed about for years.
Putting over Big Show at the expense of the most popular fighter in the WWE at the moment too. It's some of the laziest writing in a TV show lately.
ReplyDeleteHave you ever been to a live event for anything? Sports, wrestling, concert, etc...im not getting up and yelling at my tv when my NFL team scores a td, but am doing it at the game bc of the energy and atmosphere. A show can not be great and still have a very lively crowd
ReplyDeleteHA
ReplyDeleteHaven't you ever been to a live event where the crowd wasn't into it? Do you always blame the crowd, or do you blame the performance?
ReplyDeleteAm I being trolled here? Theyre not mutually exclusive, do I expect the crowd to go ape shit for Swagger and jobbers, no. Like I said, the show itself wasnt great but they had: HBK, BACKLUND NOSTALGIA SEGMENT, A GOLDUST/CODY TAG TEAM ON TV FOR THE FIRST TIME I THINK EVER, PUNK, AND HHH GETTING HIS FORST COMEUPPANCE OF THE ENTIRE ANGLE. Those are all average to very good things.
ReplyDeleteI'm not trolling you (not sure exactly what that means, though), I'm just trying to figure out your logic. I thought the crowd did pop accordingly for HBK, Punk, and the HHH/Show interaction. Other than that, what were they "supposed" to pop for that they didn't? Goldust/Cody/Bryan vs The Shield was essentially a rematch from last night, and I know people on this blog often complain about rematches on back-to-back nights. The younger segment of the crowd probably doesn't even know who Backlund is, and besides, he cut a heel promo. So what's left? Orton/Kofi? I'm not putting this all on you, but a lot of people on this blog have been complaining about how bad the main-event angle has been booked and how crappy the shows have been. Maybe you're not one of them. But if you are, why do you expect a live crowd to respond positively to a product that isn't good?
ReplyDeleteDon't talk about that match...I was there live, and in the bathroom at the time and I missed it :( The worst match in wrestling history, live and in person, and I MISSED IT.
ReplyDelete#TimWhiteSuicide
I had my misgivings along the way, but I can't really see why some people are thinking this whole storyline has been SO awful or anything. Compared to The Fall of Punk, and every other post-Summerslam doldrum since what...2008?...2006?...this has been mana from heaven. I mean, realistically, there's only been one, maybe two truly bad RAWs in all this time. That's a fucking record compared to the norm.
ReplyDeleteA troll is someone whos main goal in posting is just to annoy someone and try to piss them off: see Dougie and Buckdiddy. My apologies bc no, I didnt really think you were trolling me.
ReplyDeleteMy perspective is yea, the show was below average but the crowd energy/loudness was farrrrr below what it should have been throughtout the entire show.
If you go to a live event, the atmosphere and buzz is usually enough to get a crowd going in and of itself, throw in the spots I mentioned and it should have been a better crowd.
That's a fair point. I have been to a few live wrestling shows and I see what you mean about being loud for something live that you may not scream about watching TV.
ReplyDeleteAt the same time, I think if the BoD readership were to fill an arena for a WWE show, it would be a "bad" crowd because we'd be too busy nit-picking and being unimpressed with everything. You said Pittsburgh usually has good crowds, and maybe that's the thing: Perhaps they're a good crowd because they're a smart crowd, and they're just not impressed with a lot of the current product, so they're not going to mark out for everything.
I can't see why some people are so worried about Daniel Bryan being "buried" or damaged as a result of this storyline, and overreacting every time he doesn't destroy the entire Corporation. He's been main-eventing TV and PPVs for months now and is all over WWE's marketing and promos. Obviously the bosses like him a lot and recognize his talent.
ReplyDeleteEven if Bryan doesn't come out of this current angle with a Rock-like following or a Punk-like title reign, what's the worst that can happen to him? Even if Orton beats him clean at HIAC and HHH punctuates it with a Pedigree before they move on to Orton-Cena, how low do Bryan fans really think he's going to be pushed down the card? It seems to me he's pretty cemented as a top guy.
No, Pittsburgh crowds are usually pretty quiet. Maybe you're thinking of Philly?
ReplyDeleteMore that the writers for Total Divas have better minds for pro wrestling than those who write RAW.
ReplyDeleteTotal Divas doesn't have writers. It's REALITY, yo.
ReplyDeleteStop using sense at me!!!
ReplyDeleteAgreed. Always liked him.
ReplyDeleteActually if they're looking for dvd subjects that haven't been done to death, they could do a lot worse than a Goldust set.
Holy shit does it ever.
ReplyDeleteObsession.
ReplyDeleteI just came across something that's almost as awful as that match: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lvlBIz9kcBQ
ReplyDeleteFast forward to the 1:45:28 mark. You know a match is awful when a porn industry lackey has the best performance in the match.
Nope, ratings stayed down until The Rock started showing up again.
ReplyDeleteBut what about Black Reign?
ReplyDeleteI think they should find creative ways for the title to stay vacated until the Royal Rumble, then Flair can make a surprise entrance at number three and promptly get eliminated by whoever is in the ring. And then Santino wins the belt.
ReplyDeleteBecause people follow dumb directions by their superiors for years before freaking out and finally standing up.
ReplyDeleteRight but i don't think the fans had ever bought the idea that Big Show was actually oppressed and held down by the front office.
ReplyDeleteTaking a punch is different from getting hit in the head by a bed pan, taking a beer path, pissing himself, etc. Thats the type of "showing ass" that made Vince so fucking great. Does HHH have to do that to sell this angle, not necessarily, but if he wants it to be any good he might have to go that extra mile
ReplyDeleteTUNE INTO NITRO TO FIND OUT!
ReplyDeleteMore like she hasn't come back to the company after her political career essentially ended.
ReplyDeleteI expect WWE will own the TNA tape library before too long, so no problem there!
ReplyDeleteBlack Reign seemed a pretty interesting character too, from what little I saw of it...
All "reality" shows have writers. Especially the ones that air on E!.
ReplyDeleteIt reminds me of one of the few interesting things Rocky and his ghostwriter brought up in his shitty book, that originally Big Show was supposed to be the special referee for Rock/Austin WMXV, but Rock and Austin shot it down because the focus wouldn't be on their match, but the crowd simply waiting for Show to intervene.
ReplyDeleteI'm surprised he didn't, merely based on your telling him to.
ReplyDeleteNo. Just no.
ReplyDeleteHe had a pet rat. That's all you need to know.
Wouldn't it be great to have Show live with a guy that needs a push and make them a wacky tag team?
ReplyDeleteHow long before the inevitable Hornswoggle vs. El Torito match?
ReplyDeleteThey're going to save the WM30 buyrate!
ReplyDeleteI have no doubt that Vince sees money in Bryan, and really wants to push him as a big star. I just think he's going about it the wrong way.
ReplyDeleteDisagree - considering that Trips' character is basically the baddest badass that ever badassed, being dropped by one punch was pretty huge.
ReplyDelete