WWE had another new Raw on Monday, what did the Pulse Wrestling crew think of the show?
Darren Paltrowitz
The New Day were great as always. Triple H dancing with them was enjoyable, for me at least.
The Intercontinental and Divas title pictures need re-boots.
It was an interesting hook to see Sting in action, but he’s not particularly believable in even such a limited capacity.
The Miz’s segment was lousy.
Kevin Owens’ promo was great, but he’s in a weird forced feud.
Similarly, Cesaro did his best with lackluster creative. Rusev is getting tougher to watch every week.
Bring back Damien Sandow.
Cone back soon, Brock Lesnar.
I don’t know how many more weeks I can take of this show being this low in quality — NXT, by comparison, is still enjoyable and exciting even if it’s pre-taped.
Pat Metalhead
Season premiere of RAW. I know I’m just a silly European and all that, but, for there to be a season’s premiere, don’t we have to have a season’s ending first? Ah well, perhaps someone will explain this to me someday.
The Authority are out to put the PPV over, and this would be a theme throughout the episode. Not them putting people over, but them being involved in every other segment. Oh and they’re babyfaces today for some reason. And, bein babyface they help out heel champion Seth Rollins, while, last week, as heels, they did everything they could to bury him. But perhaps someone will explain this to me someday.
New Day continue to be hugely entertaining and had a decent match with PTP. Dudley’s appearing after the match to hype the PPV match made sense. I would write more about this but my eyes are still burning from the sight of Triple H and Steph trying to keep up with Big E’s dance moves.
I Thought Sasha Banks vs Paige was a fun match and I much prefer the Diva’s going at it in one-on-one matches than anything else that was proposed recently. The finish didn’t bother me too much even if it was more or less a repetition of what happened a couple of weeks ago. Too much repetition won’t help the Revolution. I hope this will lead to a proper PPV match and that the signs of tension between the PCB members (Charlotte wasn’t there because she was preparing for a match) will lead somewhere.
Hyping the Wyatt’s vs Ambrose, Reigns and the Third Guy on MIZ TV felt somehow out of place. That being said, the segment did achieve it’s purpose so that’s something anyway.
Seamus vs John Cena was then the babyface Authority’s gift to Heel Champion Rollins. Which should have happened last week, since Steph and HHH were heels then and heels work together. And what happened last week should have happened this week, since babyfaces will try to annoy heel Champions. And Rollins shouldn’t be so happy that HHH acts like a cuddly teddybear all of a sudden. And… Oh whatever, Cena wins, match was decent considering who was involved. Next.
Ryback didn’t start his segment very strongly, to say the least, but business picked up once Kevin Owens got involved. Good way to hype up their match at the PPV. This is the match i’m actually most interested in.
Stardust comes out. The Ascension comes out. Neville comes out. The Lucha Dragons come out. The faces fly around a bit and this is our match for the PPV pre-show. OK then.
Oh dear, what have they done now? OK first of all, match wasn’t bad, good story also with Nikki working over Charlotte’s arm so everything was fine… Until the finish. The old, tired Twin Magic with Brie walking around with stuffed bra’s. Steph comes out apologizes and makes a No DQ, No Count-out match for the PPV, but the damage has been done. Fans hated the finish and interest for the PPV match has now diminished. All because WWE was obsessed with a record that doesn’t really mean anything because the person holding that record DOESN’T EVEN WRESTLE ANYMORE. So who cares? Besides, since the Diva’s Championship descents from the WWE women’s championship who in turns descents from the NWA World Woman’s Championship, the longest reigning woman’s champion in that particular line is still Fabulous Moolah who held it for 10 years at some point. All this to say it makes no sense to write yourself into a corner just before a PPV just for numbers that can be manipulated anyway if you really need to. In other words what happened on RAW didn’t need to happen, and as long petty concerns take over from what should be done, there will be no revolution. This is not even about Nikki. Hell you want her to win and break that silly record, fine, go for it. You want Charlotte to win, great, have her win. Just don’t give us that half-assed crap.
Rusev vs Cesaro only served to highlight that Cesaro has no notable storykines or feuds going for him while Rusev has..; Well whatever that whole Ziggler/Lana/Summer thing is.
And finally, welcome to Monday Night Nitro! And that’s all I have to say about The Big Show vs Sting. Yes I know Cena and Rollins got involved too, but I completely lost interest at this point.
Conclusion: We’re moving backwards.
JT
The tag team championship match between New Day and the Prime Time Players was notable for the fact that it isn’t ruined by having some idiot doing guest commentary. Solid match from both teams, and the trombone may be the prop that makes New Day one of the great heel stables of this generation.
How is this the season premiere of Raw when it runs every week? That’s like saying it’s the season premiere of the News…
Paige vs Sasha was a good, hard hitting match with a lot of passion, proving that these two are two of the best workers (male or female) working in the WWE today
On the other hand, you have the Miz. As a talk show host, he’s no Roddy Piper, and I couldn’t care less what the Wyatt family and the pube-faced steroid baby have to say. Fast forward time.
Fortunately the next match was Shamus vs Cena, so I didn’t have to slow down at all. Cena gets the win because he’s John Cena, and John Cena does not lose to a filthy foreigner like Shamus.
I’m actually looking forward to seeing what Owens can pull out of Ryback, but I wish they’d stop taking and get on with it. Fight Owens Fight – sound familiar?
Neville & the Lucha Dragons vs Stardust and the Ascension looks like a match from Chikara with more dead wood, and didn’t happen at all for some reason. Way to build a feud, WWE.
The Divas championship was better than average for a match featuring Nikki Bella, but the screw job twin magic ending was bollocks. Making Nikki the longest reigning Divas champ is an insult to everyone from Lita to the Fabulous Moolah. Screw you, Stephanie. You’re turning the divas invasion from potentially awesome to entirely underwhelming.
Rusev vs Cesaro was pretty much a waste of the Swiss Supermans talents, used simply to continue the tired romance angle between Rusev and Ziggler. (Kevin Sorbo voice): Disapponted!
Sting vs Big Show was fun while it lasted, showing that the Stinger can still go in the ring for a least a few minutes. Turning it into a tag match protected the veteran, but had the downside of way too much Big Slow in the ring, and provided a pretty weak setup for Night of Champions.
Brittney Soban
Authority Promo: Well, announcing that this Raw was the “season premiere” of Raw was odd as, unless I just don’t have a good memory, was the first time a “season” was announced for WWE programming. The Authority talked about Sting’s first Raw match and then weirdly danced with The New Day. I felt a little awkward watching Stephanie & Triple H shake it with Big E.
Check out my full 10 Thoughts on Raw!!
