I’ve been posting comments recently about how predictable WWE shows have been on your average month between PPV’s. It’s kind of tough for me to watch RAW for that reason when I can just look up anything good after the fact, but if there is a show I’m going to watch, it’s the RAW after a PPV because it can give you a pretty good idea of the direction that they’re going for the next month.
And, if there’s going to be any surprises, that’s usually the RAW it will be on. We definitely got that last night – myself, Swayze and a couple others watched this show. I thought it was a pretty good show – sure, you had some wasted time and some nonsense, but you also had a couple really good matches and a development that is interesting, and that very few saw coming.
When I do watch a show, I like to read some recaps and comments to see what others thought of it. Today I will focus on Justin Czerwonka’s RAW recap from last night. I took stuff that I wanted to respond to (agree or disagree) and thought I would post it. This is the kind of thing I get up to on my phone when my plane is delayed 45 minutes and I’ve already checked the bag with the iPad in it.
JC: After a pretty solid Payback…
BD: Ha ha! We are off to an awesome start.
JC: But when you think about it, what was really left for The Shield? They really had no programs left.
BD: Sure there were. They could have feuded with the Wyatt’s some more, as they only had 2 matches – or have stayed a group but gone on to do individual things, like DX and Evolution did back in the day. Simple.
JC: And is there a more hated man right now than Rollins?
BD: Of course there is. Plenty of people. Depending on who he goes against, this guy is gonna get a lot of crowd regardless if they have him as a heel. Maybe not as much against Roman or Ambrose, but even there, the guy is gonna get his fair share of crowd. He’s got a decent shot at getting booed with HHH and Orton beside him, but that’s most of the reason.
JC: Of course with these four talents (Shaemus, RVD, Barrett & Cessaro) in the ring you would expect some good action.
BD: Well, two out of four guys you can expect some good action from. I have been trying to get people to stand behind a singles match from Barrett or Shaemus for years and no one can do it. As soon as they changed the Wade Barrett character people started claiming he’d improved in the ring. It’s like back 5 or 6 years ago when Cody Rhodes got hurt and started doing the mask thing, and people were saying he was improving in the ring at a time when he wasn’t even wrestling.
JC: The Usos vs Erik Rowan/Luke Harper – this match started off kind of slow but picked up the pace in the last five minutes. The Usos are top notch workers along with Luke Harper. Rowan is progressing but still nowhere near the other three. With the Rowan/Harper win, this likely sets up a tag title match for them down the line, most likely at Money in the Bank. Hopefully it is even better than this match.
BD: I agree with you for sure here. This match was really good. The Wyatt tag-team is the best part of Wyatts and I’m glad they’re getting their own matches now because they are more than capable of carrying themselves. I am glad were getting another match from these two teams. I was surprised that the crowd didn’t seem that into it.
JC: I don’t want to sound like a smark here, but what is the point of adding Alberto del Rio to the Money in the Bank match?
BD: Well, sorry, but… you really do sound like a smark here. The answer is obvious. It’s because Alberto Del Rio is a really good wrestler.
JC: The guy has ZERO heat going for him.
BD: You’re wrong, but even if you weren’t, who cares? He’s good. Which means he will do what he can to make it a good match. Not everything has to be part of a storyline all the time.
JC: Plus his style doesn’t fit the match.
BD: Well, that’s just absurd. You have no idea what you’re talking about here. Guys like Shaemus, Barrett and Russev will probably be in this match, and between them they have like negative thirty good matches collectively. Del Rio has plenty of them. Not liking the guy I get, but why complain about having a good wrestler in a match that likely won’t have many good wrestlers?
JC: At least put Ziggler in it and you will have the crowd invested in one of the competitors and he makes the match better.
BD: Okay, that I will agree with. Ziggler is good and should be in the match. You’re starting to turn this arou…
JC: Del Rio does nothing for the match at all.
BD: … never mind. You’re back where you were. When has MITB ever been about having a bunch of feuds or “heat” going in anyway? It’s a gimmick match designed for high spots. I don’t expect Del Rio will win, but again – take a look at his past MITB performances and explain to me why you expect to be disappointed.
JC: Rusev Medal Ceremony – When they announced this segment before the break I had hope for it.
BD: HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA. What the fuck is wrong with you? What could you possibly have thought you’d have seen here?
JC: But then it just lead to nothing? I mean they could have had anyone come out there and it would have lead to a decent size pop. But the segment just happened and it really had no meaning. It was kind of a letdown.
BD: Well, yeah. The wrestler is a waste of time and the gimmick has been done ten thousand times. It’s not like people have gotten more xenophobic as the gimmick has aged through the decades. At least if it was a unique gimmick or the wrestler were good, it might have some kind of chance. I really don’t get what you thought you were going to see here. You really want some innocent wrestler dragged into this black hole of wasted time?
JC: But there is no doubt they have a lot of faith in Rollins going forward.
BD: See… I think that this could be about bringing Batista back for his movie and putting him with Roman and Ambrose, trying to get him cheered again. That sounds pretty painful to me.
Regardless though, you are still right – it does show that they have faith in Rollins. Which is very good to see. I’m excited to see what they do with it.
Anyway, just for the record, overall I quite enjoy JC’s recaps even if I think most of the “opinion” stuff he says makes no sense to me. JC does play-by-play very well and that’s tough to do when doing a live recap. So thanks for what you do JC, and obviously no offense is meant. Keep them coming. If you want to respond that’s cool, maybe we can do a joint piece sometime? And thank you, thank you… THANK YOU for not complaining that there was no Divas match. I greatly appreciate that.
For anyone interested, myself and Pulse’s Jonah Kue are recording Trashy Ring Attire Episode 9 this weekend with our special guest… Zork! It shall be christened “Last ReZork”. Obviously.
I’ll be in my trailer.
BD
