WWE had another new Raw on Monday, what did the Pulse Wrestling crew think of the show?
Darren Paltrowitz
Tonight’s “Raw” was a mixed bag, as always, but there were more worthwhile segments than usual.
The Dudleyz were kings in an era that I wasn’t much of a wrestling fan, but I understand the excitement. Their return was a true surprise. This feud with New Day has a lot of potential, although it shortchanges the rest of the tag division.
Sting’s return was not much of a surprise, given the Internet rumor mill as of late. On a limited basis, he’s great to watch, but I’m not excited about another part-timer with limited mobility.
Speaking of The Undertaker, last night’s “Summerslam” ending was smart in that it kept the story alive without making either Brock or Taker look weaker. Paul Heyman was excellent as always, but I’m not excited about yet another Brock-Taker match if we’re looking at five or six months of “Wrestlemania” build-up.
Jon Stewart was good and kudos to him for taking Cena’s finisher. Ric Flair managed not to derail the segment, which was impressive.
The new Wyatt Family member is probably going to be dreadful. It’s “turn off the TV” heat.
The Divas match was decent, especially when compared to what we were getting one and two months ago, but we keep seeing the same thing every week. The crowd clearly wanted Sasha Banks, and they were right.
The Intercontinental Title picture still needs a reboot. Fortunately, it looks like The Miz is out of that picture.
Same goes for the U.S. Title picture, since there is little use in a champion with two belts.
“Raw” still doesn’t need to be three hours, but at least there were some real highlights this week.
John Turnbull
Solid opening segment with Heyman and Lesnar, with Paul E killing it on the mic as ever – ‘Only in Brooklyn do you boo compassion’. Still doesn’t make me care about Taker vs Lesnar 3.
Kevin Owens and Bray Wyatt are allowed to wear shirts to cover their fat gut – can’t someone buy Bo Dallas a wifebeater? At least his trip to Suplex City was entertaining.
New Day vs Lucha Dragons was fun, and it was great to see the return of the Dudley Boyz. Who doesn’t love a 3D through a table?
More of the same from Shield vs Wyatts 2.0, not that’s necessary a bad thing. I haven’t seen anything of new Wyatt Braun Strowman but he’s certainly got the beard for the role…
How can I be bored of the Divas on Raw but love them on NXT? Nice work, Steph.
Jon Stewart’s beard is coming along nicely – maybe he could join the Wyatt family next, as he seems to be enjoying himself as the ‘old mean man’. Nice soft AA from Cena to finish the segment, and an amusing sell job from Stewart.
The 8 man tag was an example of everything that is wrong with WWE at the moment – the unwavering belief that more is better. Nobody really got a chance to shine, and Orton looked bored for most of the match. The only upside is that Cesaro finally seems to be getting over as a face, thanks to hard work and his program with Kevin Owens.
The whole ‘wrestler being arrested’ angle really stretches the already strained believability of pro wrestling.
To be honest I fast forwarded through the talky bullshit at the end – I’ve got the first episode of Fear The Walking Dead on DVR after all…
Sting in the WWE is cool, I suppose, but I think I would have been more excited if Liger had been in his place.
Michael Buckley
This was one of the best Raws in recent memory because stuff happened! The Dudley Boyz returned. They explained Jon Stewart’s actions at SummerSlam really well and concluded his involvement with a satisfying SportsCenter-worthy pay off (and the way they have utilized Stewart is definitely “best for business.”) A new member of the Wyatt Family was revealed. Sting ruined Seth Rollins’ victory celebration to set up Rollins’ next challenger. Raw doesn’t need to be the place to go for incredibly well wrestled matches every week. It needs to be the place where stuff happens to set up matches on PPV
that have the potential to be really well performed. And in terms of stuff happening to make people care about big matches and the men and women that perform in them, this Raw delivered big time
Brittney Soban
I personally think this was the best Raw they’ve had in a long time. Here’s why:
read all my thoughts in this week’s 10 thoughts on raw!
Pat Metalhead
Funny thing, Raw started like it always does; with lots of talking and nothing really noteworthy being said. But when it’s Heyman doing the talking, we all listen. Bo Dallas comes out to get killed, fun but I was bored with this whole “Taker/Lesnar thing the second it started, you can imagine in what state I am now.
Very entertaining tag team segment next, New Day was at its hilarious best here and the surprise appearance of the Dudley’s was well received by the crow. i don’t mind it, it can indeed refresh the tag team scene for a while, but WWE HAS to utilize that time to create some more, viable, teams.
The Shield 2/3 vs Wyatt Family rematch at least had a reason to happen. The new guy certainly looks impressive but time will tell. I wonder if this means a new, third member of the Ambrose/Reigns family will be introduced at some point. Not bad for what it was.
Diva Miz TV segment and subsequent match was very badly received by the crowd. I don’t blame either the crowd or the performers here, the whole thing was just badly scripted and thought off. After RAW some of the diva’s vented their frustrations about the crowd reactions on twitter. Well, I get their frustration but… The crowd was chanting for Sasha banks at some point. That says it all really. There are two ways to do this WWE, the NXT way and your way.The NXT way works, yours doesn’t. If you’re serious about this whole revolution thing, you know what to do.
Stardust and Neville have capes now. Fantastic. Barret got burried again. Wonderful.
The whole Stewart/Flair/Cena thing didn’t really work for me. I mean what was the point? Cena getting vengeance with an AA and, like that, Stewart’s involvement is over? OK then…
They just throwed almost all other Summerslam participants in a 4 on 4 match. Lazy, if you ask me. Match was fun, mostly, but it was also about Orton getting his pin back. Again, what was the point? I did enjoy Rusev and Owens turning on Big Show because, apparently, everybody hates the poor giant. Most funny moment was Owens pretending to care about Sheamus lying at ringside and then just going, oh F*** it. Owens is awesome in that role. And that’s my problem, so much more could be made of Owens, Ziggler, Cesaro and Rusev but it’s more important to protect Orton (from what???) or to satisfy Cena’s ego or to push 50 year old wrestlers.
Speaking of 50 year old wrestlers, another joins the main event scene. While I get some will get their kick out of Sting holding the WWE title to close the show, I was amused for 5 seconds only. Don’t get me wrong, I have no problem with wrestling shows featuring past legends or doing “special attractions” kinda of things. But when that becomes the whole show, than I’m just reminded of WCW. Not the way to go.
Conclusion: Not impressed.
