WWE had another new Raw on Monday, what did the Pulse Wrestling crew think of the show?
Darren Paltrowitz
A few things I enjoyed about tonight:
– The Social Outcasts looked weak but got some time.
– The New Day cut a great promo, as always.
– Kevin Owens is always entertaining on commentary.
– Stephanie calling out Jericho for being stuck in 1999.
– Vince McMahon heeling it up, but struggling to open those sealed containers.
– Paul Heyman asking Jericho what his question was.
– Brock Lesnar actually taking bumps for once, making others look competitive.
– The Royal Rumble preview video, which notes that there were 15 world champions on the active roster.
Otherwise, a lot of garbage and filler in there. But I am excited for the Royal Rumble match and can’t tell you who will win with any certainty.
I hope Tyler Breeze is okay. Shocking how Mark Henry dropped him like that.
JT
– The MLK tribute was a nice way to start, but a tiny bit hypocritical given how WWE has treated people of colour over the years
– Ignoring Roman’s promo (as I’m sure that many people watching via DVR do) I’m vaguely interested in seeing what Jericho and Reigns can do in the ring together. Y2J has a history of pulling decent performances out of relative stiffs, and Reigns could learn a thing or two from Jericho about being entertaining on the mic.
– Rusev vs Reigns is not a match I want to watch in real time, but it’s not too bad at 6x speed. Jericho’s ‘dad cartwheel’ was the highlight of the segment.
– Natalya vs the Brie Bella was good for a Bella match, but would have been better if it hadn’t essentially been an ad for Total Divas
– F’n six man tag matches. Done well (see NJPW or CHIKARA) they can be fun, but the WWE model absolutely sucks. The Wyatts no longer seem like a credible threat, the Dudleys are a shadow of their former selves and Ryback is Ryback. The single positive thing from this match is the best wrestler actually picked up the win. Luke Harper, time to go solo. Shave the beard into a weird long goatee and become a devil worshipper or something. Couldn’t be worse than the aborted push when they kept talking about how smelly you were…
– And now, because nobody demanded it, it’s the Big Show. He’s taking on Heath Slater accompanied by the Social Outcasts, and I’m already growing tired of their shenanigans.
– Even at 30x speed, the Royal Rumble draw is boring as hell. I accidentally don’t slow down to watch Ric Flair steal all his daughters heat, which is a shame. On the upside, next up is Becky Lynch vs Tamina, which was a good match, if a little short.
– Ambrose and Kalisto vs Sheamus and Del Rio was okay, considering half of the talent involved are dull as dishwater. Is it just me, or does Del Rio deliberately bump early to avoid getting hit? A couple of those Ambrose shots missed him by a mile…
– The Rumble history was nowhere near as comprehensive as that on Inside Pulse, but proves a nice setup for the Reigns vs the world story
– Big E vs Jey Uso was a nice clash of styles, with Big E’s power game eventually proving more effective than Jey’s agility and speed.
– Unsurprisingly, the 8 man tag match suffered many of the same problems as the ever present 6 man tags, in that nobody really got a chance to shine and it didn’t get anyone over. On the other hand, it’s always good to see Neville in the ring, and if teaming with Henry, Truth and O’Neill is what he needs to get over, then so be it.
– Heyman sparring with Jericho is probably the best segment of the night, but then made the typical Raw mistake and went on way too long. The brawl at the end was predictable, as was the Wyatt run-in, a desperate last minute attempt to make the group seem threatening.
– Taking into account the number of people out injured, this was probably the best go-home episode of Raw we could have hoped for, unless Vince had the balls to bring up someone like Joe, Zayn or Balor and make them look like a genuine threat (which isn’t going to happen). While I’m highly unlikely to actually watch the PPV, I look forward to reading about it on Inside Pulse.
CH Punk
More Sheamus. Also ADR and Rusev need to be able to speak at the same time in all their future promos. Seriously though if LoN are getting murdered by one guy, that makes them look less dominate, and makes Sheamus look stupid in the main event. WWE is totally going to push him again, and he’ll look stupid as champ.
I noticed the Millennials on Fb liked it, but to older fans, it was another stale go-home Raw. Many mentioned they wouldn’t watch if they didn’t have the the network already.
Jared Doucet
Didn’t look like a great episode to be honest……..the term “boring” came up multiple times when i talked to guys at work who had watched. I’m going to be watching the Rumble on Sunday but this, apparently, was a horrible go-home episode of RAW
Darek Foreman
Raw started off in typical Raw fashion with a 20 min in ring promo. The crowd in Columbus, Ohio was pretty laid back all night. That all can’t be blamed on the crowd since opening with Roman “I shouldn’t talk” Reigns, Chris “I’m phoning it in” Jericho, and the League of “No Heat” Nations is not going to pop many crowds.
Most segments didn’t enhance or have a must see quality. The only segments that really made me want to watch the Rumble Sunday were the Becky Lynch and Charlotte segments and the end segment. Becky is growing and been given a chance to shine in the ring and on the mic. Nice verbal sparing with the Nature Boy Ric Flair. I look forward to a quality match vs Charlotte.
The ending Highlight reel with Jericho, Heyman, Lesnar and Reigns went as expected. Jericho and Heyman had a good back and forth to try and sell the event, but the crowd was pretty quiet until Lesnar came out.
Until tonight the Royal Rumble match looked like Reigns vs Lesnar for the WWE Title with 28 run-ins scheduled. An overbooked cluster-mess waiting to happen…but finally Bray Wyatt looked strong and like a threat to walk away with the belt.
Other than Becky vs Charlotte and the Rumble match Highlight reel segment, the rest of the show was forgettable. Based off this go home Raw, Lesnar, Reigns and Bray Wyatt are the only possible winners. Surprise returns of Triple H or the Rock or surprise debuts of AJ Styles or NXT stars can really add some intrigue this Sunday, but the WWE will most likely book it in it’s usual predictable fashion.
