Tuesday Raw Roundtable: Dean Ambrose Ambulance Crashers, Kevin Owens, Zack Ryder

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WWE had another new Raw on Monday, what did the Pulse Wrestling crew think of the show?

CB

Fight Owens Fight? Good show and I’m glad Zack Ryder got a match. What a 450 splash attempt!

Darren Paltrowitz

A decent episode overall, but admittedly I DVR-ed through it.

As a native Long Islander, I feel that it is fair to say that they are a “smart” crowd, but not to the level of Chicago or Philadelphia. In turn, their reactions are representative of how the die-hards feel without being obnoxious about it.

When Zack Ryder got his well-deserved spotlight, I don’t think that massive reaction was just a Long Island thing. I think he would be getting a similar babyface reception in other markets if not just positioned as a jobber.

The tag team division looked great, and New Day continue to be great heels.

Dean Ambrose is obviously still a top babyface, if not the top babyface.

John Cena’s segment continues to steal the spotlight, and his match with Kevin Owens was built up very well. Still waiting on Heath Slater to get his shot in the open challenge, though.

The Authority is getting more stale each week. Like the celebrity guest host thing is.

Rusev was a lot better on the mic than I had anticipated, but it doesn’t make sense (even in wrestling logic) that he is from Bulgaria again. I worry that he is bound to go the way of Vladimir Kozlov within a year.

The Intercontinental Title picture I am torn about. The match should be great at Elimination Chamber, yet the people competing for the title are the same ‘ol. Neville would be a good long-term IC.

The Divas situation is still lacking and “not getting a chance.” Time for some call-ups, or at least inclusion of other main roster Divas as more than arm candy for the special guest host.

Overall, I am going to watch “Elimination Chamber” on Sunday, and believe a lot of the matches were built up well through this week’s edition.

John Turnbull

Another solid episode of Raw, kicking off with the usual talky talk setting up Kane and Rollins vs Ambrose and Reigns. It’s somewhat amusing that Vince has finally realized that putting Reigns with Ambrose will help him get over, but it resulted in a decent tag match. That top rope knee from Rollins is worthy of being a finisher.

Nice Kevin Owens package suggests he might be making a permanent move to the main roster sooner rather than later.

Rusev be R. Truth was pretty much a squash match, and I’m still not convinced about the Bulgarian Russian. From all accounts he’s a super nice guy, so good luck to him I suppose…

Putting the injury prone Barrett against the famously clumsy Ryback doesn’t seem to be a very good idea, and the vanilla gorilla seems to be working pretty stiff tonight. Victory for Ryback suggests he won’t be waking away with the IC title at Elimination Chamber.

I haven’t watched Entourage in years, so I fast forwarded through their bit. Looked painful.

Neville vs Stardust was a good if short match that didn’t really need the distraction of either Bo Dallas or Steven Amell, although if the latter decided to get in the ring he could have some potential. Bo Dallas continues to play a good dickish heel but I imagine he’s getting a lot of pressure from HHH to hit the gym and work off the puppy fat.

Ziggler worked hard to make Shamus look good with Lana watching on, and I don’t think I realized until now how bad Shamus is at selling. Okay match served to further the Lana / Rusev split.

Cena vs Ryder seemed sorta pointless, but I guess maybe it worked for fans of a Entourage who had no idea that Ryder had a better chance of growing wings than actually winning a match against Super Cena.

Kevin Owens appears wearing his new shirt, powerbombs Cena, then leaves. Nice work, that man.

Tamina vs Paige was hard hitting, with Tamina playing the power game and Paige putting her body at risk against the numbers game. Tamina wins after interference from the outside.

New Day vs Tag team division entrances almost took longer thanks the match itself, but it was pretty funny watching everyone snap and beat the crap out of Xavier Woods.

Final shenanigans with the Authority and NewShield were as expected, setting up a world title shot for Ambrose this Sunday.

A solid episode does not change the fact that three hours of Raw is just too damn much.

Widro (@Widro)

Raw this week was not as good as last week, but managed to retain some of the improved energy. it’s a big improvement to have Randy Orton off TV, as his main event runs have been ratings killers for over 2 years. The associated of Dean Ambrose and Roman Reigns is a winner, and the Kevin Owens angle continues to be compelling. The PPV this weekend should be interesting.

Jonathan Widro is the owner and founder of Inside Pulse. Over a decade ago he burst onto the scene with a pro-WCW reporting style that earned him the nickname WCWidro. Check him out on Twitter for mostly inane non sequiturs