WWE had a big Monday Night Raw last night and it featured a main event contract signing and more.
What did the Pulse Wrestling Staff think of the show?
Steven Berkman
The entire first half of this show was worthless. A pretty decent Seth Rollins match doesn’t make up for a whole bunch of nothing. Nothing worth watching or going back for.
Lesnar shows up and stands like an action figure while Heyman cuts a good promo, but the content is getting to be too repetitious for me.
Steph runs down Bryan, because if she doesn’t then how will the crowd know that he’s human garbage and she’s important and rich and great?
Probably the highlight of the show – Rollins stands nose to nose with Lesnar and doesn’t bat an eye. Rollins is obviously one of the best guys in the company in every way, but he’s made to look weak and weasel-y because of the j&j factor. Him standing up to Lesnar and wanting the title leaves two avenues open:
A) Rollins can turn face in a logical fashion, wanting to prove himself as a true champion
B) Lesnar and Rollins aren’t on the same page which allows Cena to pull out a victory
I don’t personally think cena wins this match, but a logical opening now exists.
Macho goes into the HOF. Yes. He’s the friggin Macho Man. OF COURSE HE DOES.
Too bad wwe scooped itself. What was with all the “expected” rhetoric surrounding this? Makes wwe sound absolutely stupid. You don’t know who’s going into your own Hall of Fame?
A contract signing. Once again Rollins makes his stand against Lesnar and looks strong. Lesnar addresses Rollins directly which really means something and elevates him. Speaking of elevating, if Rollins would have included the NXT title in his list of accomplishments, it would instantly elevate NXT’s status.
Cena blatantly set up the spot for this title match – he wants to pin Lesnar. So he will, without a doubt, have opportunity to pin Seth and win but will forego it to go after Lesnar and it will cost him the title. Now whether this means Rollins takes it or Lesnar retains? That intrigues me.
I now care about the main event at the Rumble. I also care about the Rumble itself to see if Bryan wins or Reigns takes it anyway, only to bathe in a shower of boos immediately after. Everything else means nothing.
If you want to watch Raw, do this:
DVR the first hour and a half. Watch the second half of the opening promo then skip right through to the mid point of the show. Nothing in that skipped time means anything and there’s never a match that’s as good as anything you’ll see on NXT, ROH or hell even TNA half the time.
Matthew Harrak (@mattharrak)
Everything Steve said.
Seriously, overall this was no different than last week except for two things:
#1- While logic dictates that Seth Rollins doesn’t have a chance at the Rumble, he was able to put plenty of doubt into that theory. His promo at the contract signing was concise, strong and to the point. If he had delivered that type of promo in the Edge segment, I think a lot more people would have taken his addition to the championship match at the Royal Rumble seriously.
#2- It looks like Daniel Bryan is back. I’m still CAUTIOUSLY optimistic but I give him a lot of credit for performing some pretty high risk moves for a guy coming back from numerous neck surgeries. I’m hopeful that his match on SmackDown will put much of my worries to rest. He does need to update his gimmick though. The long hair and beard are ok I guess but he can’t run with the same underdog story again. We already saw that story conclude at last year’s WrestleMania. Talk about how you DID overcome all odds & are now a legitimate threat to anyone holding the title & your goal is to finish the title reign that you started last year.
Overall a “C” show that meandered through the night. Especially with my Buckeyes winning the National Championship on ESPN!
PK (@BaddAssPK)
I like Tyson Kidd as much as the next guy, but he was involved in 3 (three) matches tonight, that doesn’t seem odd to anyone else? Dean Ambrose wins the MVP of the night for the Psych segments, and carrying a decent TV match with Rusev… Nothing says depleted roster like the main event segment including Cena, Lesner, & Rollin’s 3rd appearance on the show.
Justin Czerwonka (@JCWonka)
Once again a pretty weak show. I actually thought the contract signing was better than most. Seth Rollins came out looking the best out of everyone involved and didn’t look out of place with Cena and Lesnar in the ring. But everything else before that wasn’t so great. The opening with Cena and the Authority was full of so many bad stories. Who cares if Cena leaves with the Title? Brock has done that the last few months. Roman Reigns then delivered an AWFUL promo. It was probably his worst since being back, and that is saying something. Then Dean Ambrose was booked poorly as well. Some of the doctor stuff was funny, but then he was booked like crap in his match with Rusev. There was no good wrestling on the show, just a bunch of average. The Macho Man announcement was exciting and a long time coming. But nothing else about the show was too memorable. I’m giving it a 3. A slight bump up from last week only for Macho Man.
Widro (@widro)
Another slog of a Raw show with 3+ hours of neverending WWE. For a while I was upset at WWE for seemingly burying guys on purpose, but now that the push and creative of Roman Reigns has been so bad, it makes me wonder if Vince and HHH just don’t know what they are even doing anymore. If website hits are any indications, this is the lowest fan interest in WWE a very long time.
