Tuesday Raw Roundtable: Roman Reigns Wrestles Thrice, Dean Ambrose, Kevin Owens, Nikki Bella Stinks It Up As Usual

Columns, Top Story

WWE had another new Raw on Monday, what did the Pulse Wrestling crew think of the show?

CB

Forget the Age of Ambrose, we are in the Era of Owens!

Darren Paltrowitz

I was disappointed by the continued under-representation of the Divas, the tag team division, and the lower-case talent with this episode. That could have been remedied with fewer Authority-related replays and recaps.

The returns of Mark Henry, The Miz and Big Show — although two of the three did technically happen at Elimination Chamber — could have been made into a bigger deal.

While I am happy that Kevin Owens is getting a major push, we’ve apparently lost the John Cena U.S. Open challenge, which was something to look forward to every week. Cena’s promo reminded me of everything that I disliked about him before he won the U.S. Title. And admittedly, it was great. Even if it totally buried Owens.

Rusev, cheer up, you have a big fan in me.

John Turnbull

A mediocre Raw following a mediocre pay per view. Reigns vs King Barrett was unremarkable, Kofi vs Dolph was athletic but predictable and didn’t do much to get Dolph over despite the win.

I’m not sure if New Day have moved beyond X-Pac heat yet, but it’s good to see the Prime Time players back together after some time in the wilderness.

Mark Henry makes Roman Reigns look slightly better by sucking more. I am not sure that this is the best approach for getting him over.

The divas match was decent until the bullshit finish, and if you’re a fan of Paige I recommend checking out the recent Art of Wrestling podcast with her mother Sweet Soraya.

Orton vs Shamus was the epitome of the slow, plodding WWE style, while Bo Dallas vs Neville was short and sweet giving another boost to the man that gravity forgot.

Putting Reigns in three matches in one night simply exposes his weaknesses. And for yet another week… Too. Much. F#%king. Talking!!!

Widro (@Widro)

With the signing of Samoa Joe, the push of Kevin Owens and the overall focus on NXT, it’s a strange time in WWE.

Earlier this year, Vince was as stubborn as ever, pushing Roman Reigns against the odds. Now only a few months later, we have indy guys getting over, getting pushed to the moon, and even Dean Ambrose pushed in the main event ABOVE Roman Reigns.

The three hour format will always lead to some bad segments, but Raw definitely feels better in the last couple weeks, maybe just because of Kevin Owens.

Nikki Bella is just completely terrible. Her character is a muddled mess, she is horrendous on the mic and in the ring. Are the Bella Twins the worst act WWE has ever pushed this hard for this long? The Bellas are holding the entire industry back with their worthless workrate, terrible acting and blackhole of charisma.

Jonathan Widro is the owner and founder of Inside Pulse. Over a decade ago he burst onto the scene with a pro-WCW reporting style that earned him the nickname WCWidro. Check him out on Twitter for mostly inane non sequiturs