WWE had a big Monday Night Raw with the HHH announcement and post-show podcast.
What did the Pulse Wrestling crew think of the event?
Brian Mitarotondo
That was a solid Monday Night Raw, with a few exceptions. I agree with PK 100%, the WWE made the best of a bad situation with HHH’s announcement. The fans get what they want with Bryan at least getting a shot, which should be any promotion’s goal, to give the fans what they want. The hard part will be to convince the fans to want anything other than Bryan. Bryan’s march to Mania last year was something special, but I don’t think it could possibly be as good a second time around. I’m not saying that Bryan winning the title at Mania is the wrong choice, I just don’t think it could live up to the fans’ lofty expectations. As for the rest of the show, Roman v Big Show does nothing for me. The matches are aa grind and not in the least bit entertaining. The rest of the show had some good wrestling on it. Ziggler v Wyatt was very good. Cesaro v Uso(I don’t know which one, does it really matter?) was solid. Good, slow build to Gold v Star at Mania. Even Harper v Meathead was watchable, which is a plus for anything involving Ryback. Now, the big question heading into Fast Lane is does WWE give the fans what they want, or do they try to use Bryan to get Reigns over?
CB
I have one word to describe Monday Night Raw: #Audible. Phase 1 is now complete, and at Fast Lane we will see if WWE is trolling their fans once again, or if we will finally get Brock Lesnar vs. Daniel Bryan at WrestleMania XXXI like we should.
PK (@BaddAssPK)
WWE made the best of a bad situation tonight, and everything will work out better in the long run. They will take the negative reactions that Roman is recieving, and start to tease a heel turn, which I agree with Widro, needs to happen. They have taken the negative reactions to Bryan being dumped from the Rumble early, and giving us hope that he will still get to challenge for the WWE Championship at WM. With Fast Lane being essentially free, the WWE needs to capitalize on what the fans really want. We want Bryan. That is it. The 10 year old boy wants Bryan. The 16 year old girl wants Bryan. The 23 year old collage kid wants Bryan. The 35 year old father of 2 wants Bryan. The 63 year old guy who wishes that Bruno was still on TV every day (this is a real person, he lives 3 doors from me, I can not make this guy up) wants Bryan. Give us Bryan at Fast Lane. Let him get demolished every Monday & Thursday until then, and between Fast Lane & WM. But give us what we asking for, or you & Roman are going to fail.
Justin Czerwonka (@JCWonka)
Wrestling wise this was an excellent show. We got good matches from Bryan/Rollins, Ziggler/Bray, Cesaro/Jimmy Uso and hell even Ryback/Luke Harper was good. This is what we all wanted from RAW when it went to three hours. Storyline wise, I had a few problems with it. The opening promo just set Reigns up for even more failure down the line. Why even give fans false hope with a possible Bryan win? And why shouldn’t Rusev be in for a shot considering he was the last guy to be eliminated. And this was the big announcement that would shake the WWE to its core? And where was John Cena to help out Erick Rowan during the Rusev beatdown? This Fast Lane stuff just seems really out of place. But I really liked the wrestling on the show and for that reason this show gets a 7.
Pat Metalhead
It wasn’t perfect by any means, but,, credit where (some) credit is due, at least some progress was made. But first i couldn’t help laughing at the way Triple H and Steph addressed the controversy issue. It was the Rock’s fault! No, wait it was Bryan’s fault! He shouldn’t have been in the Rumble in the first place! Yeah, finally figured that one out didn’t you, WWE. And yes, I know, they did need some sort of storyline explanation, but still, funny as hell. On the bright side I liked the way Reigns was presented here. Short sentences. Straight to the point. Screw it, I’ll fight anybody. . That’s the way to go with him. Still not enough to repair all the damage they’ve done but it’s a start. Next they are continuing to build-up Wyatt for his showdown with the “Face of Fear” (oh, the suspense is killing me). But they’re not doing a bad job this far, on the contrary so I’m not complaining. On the other hand, Ziggler looks to be set as Cena’s understudy and the fall guy for anyone who needs a lift up for the foreseeable future. Ryback is the perfect example of how a simple, catchy phrase can do wonders for what is still a pretty one-dimensional brawler. But hey, nothing wrong with that. That match was a perfectly acceptable big man brawl. Good effort here, although is unclear where Ryback (or Harper) can go next. I liked also how they put some sort of storyline between Cesaro/Kidd and the Uso’s. Again, maybe not perfect but again, it’s a start. I can’t help it, Mizdow continues to crack me up. The Miz wasn’t half bad on the firing segment either. Good, logical storytelling, even if a bit over the top. It’s been awhile.
