WWE had another new Raw on Monday, what did the Pulse Wrestling crew think of the show?
Darren Paltrowitz
So many awful things tonight, three of the longest hours I can remember.
What I did enjoy, however:
– The New Day cut a great promo, as usual.
– Paul Heyman was good on the mic, as expected.
– The Social Outcasts got some screen time and picked up a win.
– R-Truth and Goldust had another tolerable backstage segment.
– Neville and The Lucha Dragons had a few entertaining spots in their match.
– A.J. Styles had some moves in his match that I’ve never seen before.
– Sasha Banks getting a true babyface pop.
– Kevin Owens winning the Intercontinental Title — a title change without much of a build-up, however.
That may sound like a lot of fun moments, but too much garbage to digest to get those blips.
Kate Hartford
Kate’s Favorite Moments – Raw 2/15/2016
Ambrose’s opening segment and the following Fatal Five-Way for the IC Title were strong starts for last night’s episode. I want to see Ambrose eventually have his own talk segment, preferably after he’s had a couple strong title runs. His mic skill is game. I was also impressed with his performance during the Five-Way, and the other wrestlers did a solid job as well. Each of them had a chance for attention during the match, which was great for Tyler Breeze, who has been put in the bottom as a jobber for the past few months. A little off-topic, but it seems like Stardust’s tease for the end of his spaceman gimmick has been delayed, but now would be the perfect time to bring back Cody Rhodes, since his matches with Titus O’Neil are over due to O’Neil’s unfortunate suspension. If Creative wants to continue with Stardust, I want to see more depth to his character – maybe more promos with many of the other wrestlers that give hints to Stardust and who he is. But I’m a wrestling fan who loves seeing even the tiniest bit of extended story to accompany matches, so.
Other highlights for me were the Big E vs. Mark Henry match. I liked seeing Mark Henry, and his loss in this match makes sense. He’s getting older and is retiring soon, and Big E is more in his prime in comparison. Also, the Miz vs. AJ Styles match was great. And, AJ FINALLY GOT A CHANCE TO TALK. It was worth the wait.
The Charlotte and Brie Bella promo was great buildup for their match this weekend. While their mic skills are still cringe-worthy – though I’ve noticed a little improvement on Charlotte’s end – I liked the effort that was put into this buildup.
I’ll probably get some heat for this, but I actually like Summer Rae. I enjoyed seeing her in the singles match with Paige after weeks of her absence after departing as Tyler’s Breeze’s valet. She did pretty well in this match despite that, as well, so she’s putting in effort and I respect that. She’s also never really had a push, and instead has had a lot of heat in poorly-booked matches and storylines (like that god-awful love quadrangle). It’s too soon to tell, but maybe this is a preview for a push either right before or after WrestleMania. I don’t think they’d give Summer a winning match just randomly, because, well, it’s Summer versus a veteran (Paige). So yeah. Fight me.
I always enjoy seeing the Social Outcasts, and I really wish Slater’s match with Zack Ryder (whom I also enjoy seeing) could have lasted a lot longer. They both deserve a lot more.
Also, we saw yet another entertaining promo with R-Truth and Goldust – that honestly got me laughing. A side note – if WWE ever brought back Goldust’s transsexual gimmick, I’d puke excitement giblets. But that was a long time ago and might not be politically correct enough for the mainstream viewers.
I also enjoyed the Lucha Dragons and Neville vs. the League of Nations match – plus, Kane coming out from the ring at the ending segment like old times. Major “Bah Gawd” moment.
JT
Raw in Australia got bumped to another channel because of the f**king Grammies, the most irrelevant awards show in a season of irrelevant awards shows. Still, I can’t help thinking that I might have dodged a bullet…
Joseph O’Brien
That might have been the best heel mic work out of Charlotte since coming up to the main roster. Sure, Nikki and Bryan were easy targets but Charlotte spiked the lobs perfectly. If Brie didn’t have the crowd behind her on Sunday, I’m pretty sure this segment swayed a good amount of people into her favor. If Brie Bella is truly on her way out, this could be a good and emotional match to go out on.
