Coffey

I agree but I also think that's a big part of the problem. Everything doesn't have to be complicated, they just make it that way. Micromanaging everything down to the minute, being publicly traded, asking for so much money for TV renewal, leaving PPV & starting the Network, starting their own farm league like baseball franchises, having to appease network executives, etc. And WWE is the big fish in pro-wrestling, so when they do stuff, other people try to follow in their footsteps. Now NJPW is going public? Why? They have their own version of WWE Network now. I think I read they're starting some developmental initiative too? A lot of that stuff is business decisions but those decisions do effect the television product & the wrestling as well. Especially when things like TV ratings or merchandise sales factor into them writing/booking, or how WWE is seemingly so paranoid about a wrestler getting more over than the brand. WWE bends over backwards for the TV and USA but at the end of the day, still can't sell any ads. I won't act like I have a clue about any of the financials or the business side of things though. So I shouldn't talk about that. I just know that in 1980 or 2015, if you make a bad guy people wanna see get his ass kicked and a good guy that people wanna get behind and put them against each other, people will pay for it. I feel like we never even get THAT anymore, the most basic story. We have "cool" heels, and top babyfaces getting booed, and "shades of grey" tweeners & people with no heat trading wins on free TV and everyone just looks like a geek. Brock feels like a star for a reason. He's not wrestling on TV each week either.

Another bonus of jobber squashes? The job guys don't kick out of thirty fucking finishes.

RAW is 3-hours long, which is obviously WAY too long in 2015. That being said, all of RAW doesn't have to be wrestling matches. I mean, I'm not a subscriber to the "wrestling doesn't matter" Vince Russo philosophy or anything but the characters need more character, the stories need more story & the winners/losers need more consequences/repercussions. WWE doesn't feel like anything actually builds to a match anymore. It's more like Wrestler A beats Wrestler B. Then Wrestler B beats Wrestler A. So here's match #3 because it's one win apiece. Kevin Owens knew he was good enough to be on the main roster. Then he beat John Cena to prove it. Cena gave him props, said you're good, Owens didn't need his seal of approval...then Cena beats him twice and now Owens is just there and Cena is challenging Seth? There wasn't any direction. Although beating John Cena in his main roster debut was obviously huge, after a couple months, did it do more for his perception to the WWE audience than his debut squash over CJ Parker in NXT did to that audience?

I would love to see NXT live, especially one of their big shows. Lately, as in the past few weeks, NXT has been boring & lackluster but it's still probably my favorite current show. Just people have been called-up to the main roster, been hurt or were busy with Japan so the weekly TV has felt more rushed & less important. Brooklyn TakeOver would be a 900 mile drive for me, so that's obviously not feasible. I did see they were in Columbus, OH a few weeks ago though & my friends and I seriously considered it. We talked about it & if it was financially feasible, as that was like a 3 1/2 hour drive for us. If they ever come as close as say, Indy, I would be there. I've traveled to see ROH before farther away so I would def. go see NXT if it were closer. So if I were closer to Brooklyn or had tickets to Summerslam, I would be there for sure. I imagine there's quite a few people in that same boat.

I actually wish we had more non-established jobbers that could just go out & get crushed to help get someone (and their offense) over. Even the throwaway matches on RAW are superstar vs. superstar, which is a layover from the Monday Night Wars rating battle days and just makes everyone feel like they're not special. Why is Rusev Vs. Cesaro on free TV even happening in the first place, let alone them trading wins?

They're gonna turn Rusev babyface & put him back with Lana. That's what I feel this is all building up to. Dress Summer up as Lana because Rusev misses Lana. Lana fights Summer because she still likes Rusev & is jealous. Summer will turn on Rusev & Lana will fight her off. Just like Savage/Liz/Sherri. Rusev was left in a 3-v-1 tonight & ate all the offense. He's gonna get sympathy.

This does nothing for anyone & after the fuck you from the Cena/Owens finish, I feel ripped off.

At this point, John Cena could beat 80's Hulkamania Hulk Hogan, 5-year champion Bruno, The Undertaker at Wrestlemania & full streak mode Goldberg in a 4-on-1 Handicap match & no one would blink an eye. It's just fucking corny.

lol...

Why are they working the exact same fucking match? They're just acting like the two previous matches didn't happen & that every didn't see them?

Kevin Owens still trying to play up the heel role when the crowd was vocally against Cena comes off as weird. "This is your hero!?" Obviously not...

Ryback got staph so they pulled the match. It was supposed to be Big Show Vs. Miz Vs. Ryback triple threat.

And Dory doesn't ? It's not like some of those pub fuckers aren't tough bastards anyway.

Honestly just felt like the Divas match was a little long, a little too over planned & way too much stalling. Especially early from Sasha.

That clothesline was legit gross though.

I'm appreciative of this Reigns/Wyatt match because it gave me time to read & catch-up on this thread. :-) The best part of Wyatt's act is his entrance & even that is soured by the commentators never shutting up & talking over it. They don't know how to ever let anything just breathe.

And they're going to continue it to Wrestlemania next year at the earliest, I'm sure. It's sad.

Yeah, I'm pretty excited for the show tonight. I've been waiting a couple of weeks for it. RAW nowadays is pretty tough for me to get through because there's just so much freaking filler. I mean, commercial breaks kill me nowadays. Not just on RAW but in general. I've been spoiled by the internet, Ad-Blocker, etc. The WWE PPVs though, it's all the matches & some recaps that catch me up on anything I missed from the weekly show. I feel like I save a lot of time but am still in touch with what's going on. I'm excited for Owens/Cena 3 and Brock/Seth. Anything else is just bonus for me tonight. I have heard/read quite a bit of rumors surrounding this show, some even here, but I'm curious if any of it comes to fruition. Also, like Dylan I'm super skeptical about the Sheamus/Orton match. I like Sheamus and I'm a fan of him working people over but Orton hasn't done anything for me for awhile. Someone else on here, Goodhelmet I think, maybe? Don't quote me on that. Anyway, the person that I can't remember mentioned that Orton doesn't resonate well with him until the finish of the match. That's how I feel too. Like everything until the very finish, the RKO spot, doesn't matter. Maybe they'll surprise me tonight though.

They've used Snoop before even without Sasha. He's been a fan for awhile. I'm sure Michael Cole will be sure to mention it multiple times per match though.

A couple things: Firstly, I was wrong. The Lana face turn has been dreadful. Not entirely her fault, some of it lies on Ziggler, most of it is the terrible material they have to work with. They did strip away all that made her unique & I didn't see the forest from the trees in that regard. I was way off and everyone else saw it before I did. So I apologize there. Secondly, Rusev is everything that I wanted Nikita Koloff to be. He's my favorite guy on the whole roster I think. He's a lot better than I thought he would be.

Eh, I'm taking a wait and see on Owens. Although I'll admit, him beating Cena clean in his first match I did not see coming.

Then you would do Face Vs. Face? Because there's no way the crowd is going to boo Lesnar.

I would be down for Reigns/Lesnar 2 if Reigns is the heel.

To be fair, I don't think the Streak should have ended anyway. Honestly, it should have been 20-0 & The Undertaker retiring. I also don't think Brock can be a heel the way WWE would want. He's booked to be a dominate ass-kicker that doesn't take any shit and doesn't need to talk because he just destroys. That's going to get over & get cheered. You can't just do a 180 now & make him a chickenshit or have him start getting worked over by normal people. You would think the one-thing Vince McMahon would have had big plans for would have been the Streak of The Undertaker. His admittedly favorite wrestler, wrestling yearly at his marquee show & holding onto the longest, most legitimate streak in pro-wrestling history (arguably?)...and he just ends with a whimper in a match that didn't need to happen. I don't think Brock should have lost to John Cena at his return. I don't think he should have traded wins with Triple H and I certainly don't think he should have had a Wrestlemania match with The Undertaker, let alone ended the Streak.