tim Posted June 17, 2014 Report Share Posted June 17, 2014 Even in spite of the puke angle I thought this was an exceptionally good RAW. Crowd was great. The entire Rollins/Ziggler-Barrett/Dean segment and the Battle Royale were both top shelf segments, with some other really good stuff like Sheamus/Bray. The main event was a 2014 Kane match but as an overall main event segment it managed to be good through the hot interference section and the big steps spot. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
(BP) Posted June 17, 2014 Report Share Posted June 17, 2014 Apparently they released head writer Jay Gibson over the weekend, which I guess led to Vince taking more of a hand in the writing. Hence the puke stuff. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
southofheavy Posted June 17, 2014 Report Share Posted June 17, 2014 so is Ambrose Chris Chambers now instead of Ace Merril? Â Nah. Dallas Winston. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DMJ Posted June 17, 2014 Report Share Posted June 17, 2014 To be fair this is a great crowd, better than the last two PPVs. But I'm hardly going to argue against evidence that supports a Titus superpush. Â Speaking of the crowd, they're really into Ziggler tonight. Â Ziggler was/is a hometown guy so he always gets big responses in Cleveland. I'd say bigger than The Miz ever gets too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Loss Posted June 17, 2014 Report Share Posted June 17, 2014 That Rollins/Ziggler match was really something. Great heat, and despite any reservations about Rollins as an in-ring heel, he has the mechanics and timing of working as a heel down really well. The timing of those kickouts was incredible. I haven't seen fans pop like that for nearfalls that don't involve finishers in ages, and I think that comes down to Rollins knowing the exact millisecond to do it and get the best reaction. Â Also, Dean Ambrose is amazing. That run-in was awesome. Â I could see Cody growing into this gimmick and really getting it over with time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Strummer Posted June 17, 2014 Report Share Posted June 17, 2014 the angle last night was simply to write Vickie off TV. They couldn't come up with another option? Â from rajah Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Strummer Posted June 17, 2014 Report Share Posted June 17, 2014 Apparently they released head writer Jay Gibson over the weekend, which I guess led to Vince taking more of a hand in the writing. Hence the puke stuff. Â Â torch reports he was fired for budgetary reasons. Also victims of the budget cuts are Fandango's elaborate entrance and BNB's podium Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Loss Posted June 17, 2014 Report Share Posted June 17, 2014 The podium alone should get them back in the black. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
El-P Posted June 17, 2014 Report Share Posted June 17, 2014 What was so expensive in Fandango's "elaborate" entrance already ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Strummer Posted June 17, 2014 Report Share Posted June 17, 2014 I would assume the giant disco ball and the silhouette Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Russellmania Posted June 17, 2014 Report Share Posted June 17, 2014 That Rollins/Ziggler match was really something. Great heat, and despite any reservations about Rollins as an in-ring heel, he has the mechanics and timing of working as a heel down really well. The timing of those kickouts was incredible. I haven't seen fans pop like that for nearfalls that don't involve finishers in ages, and I think that comes down to Rollins knowing the exact millisecond to do it and get the best reaction. Â Also, Dean Ambrose is amazing. That run-in was awesome. Â I could see Cody growing into this gimmick and really getting it over with time. Rollins and Ziggler had a terrific match on Smackdown too. I'm torn about that because on the one hand I hate the modern WWE trope of throwing a match out there with no build on Smackdown and then repeating it on Monday with no real story advancement (probably assuming most people didn't see the first one). On the other hand these two have great chemistry and I would love to see them keep going for weeks. The problem is that they are going to burn out this matchup now while Ziggler is in limbo, rather than give them a feud and make it matter. Â Anyway I think these two work well together in part because neither guy has particularly strong offense, but they bump and sell so well for each other that they make each other's moves look like death. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bierschwale Posted June 17, 2014 Report Share Posted June 17, 2014 I've thought from the moment that Shield breakup rumors had started that Ambrose and Ziggler (So, what, a year ago at this point?) would make a fantastic tag team and if they ARE disassociating, to whatever extent that they are, Ambrose and Reigns, they should make it happen. Not necessarily to chase the tag titles (Because we just got an even better version of one of the company's best face tag teams ever last night, and they deserve another round in the cycle if Harper/Rowan win at MitB), but just two guys who have common enemies that they really, really hate. Â I really can't see them putting the belts on Orton again, so he'll need something to do between now and SummerSlam (which I think should be Batista-Orton, since I assume that Batista would be back and it'd give him a legitimately good comeback), and if Reigns doesn't win at MitB, either (say he gets screwed out of the belts by Rollins), I'd love to see one last Trios War at Battleground: Ambrose/Reigns/Ziggler-HHH/Orton/Rollins. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Loss Posted June 17, 2014 Report Share Posted June 17, 2014 I do think Ambrose has potential as a babyface world champion, which is something I never thought I would say. It doesn't have to happen tomorrow or anything, but I think they could keep the idea in reserve. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Man in Blak Posted June 17, 2014 Report Share Posted June 17, 2014 It took them three tries to get there, but Rollins/Ziggler finally landed on a decent match. Rollins still has some work to do -- his "mean streak" in the ring still leaves a lot to be desired -- but he's been gradually tweaking his moveset in the right direction. He dropped the rolling suplexes (complete with "Eddie! Eddie!" chants) after the Main Event match and, while he teased some of his old high-flying moves, he only integrated them as hope spots for Ziggler to counter. The first turnbuckle powerbomb counter spot was incredibly awkward, but it was nice to see Rollins use that move without having it directly lead to the finish. Good fire from Ziggler throughout as well. Â Beyond that, I thought Raw was uneven, but interesting at times. When you're running comedy most of the night and your one inspired moment is Damien Sandow, dressed in a Lebron James jersey, being thrown out of the battle royale in Cleveland in record time, it's a bad day at the office. Things weren't too bad in-ring, though -- Stardust is a nice step forward for the ongoing Brotherhood subplot and the ending sequence to Cena/Kane hit the right notes. Â Having said all of that, what's with burning Reigns/Rusev as the final of a battle royale on free TV? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Russellmania Posted June 17, 2014 Report Share Posted June 17, 2014 It took them three tries to get there, but Rollins/Ziggler finally landed on a decent match. Rollins still has some work to do -- his "mean streak" in the ring still leaves a lot to be desired -- but he's been gradually tweaking his moveset in the right direction. He dropped the rolling suplexes (complete with "Eddie! Eddie!" chants) after the Main Event match and, while he teased some of his old high-flying moves, he only integrated them as hope spots for Ziggler to counter. The first turnbuckle powerbomb counter spot was incredibly awkward, but it was nice to see Rollins use that move without having it directly lead to the finish. Good fire from Ziggler throughout as well. Â Beyond that, I thought Raw was uneven, but interesting at times. When you're running comedy most of the night and your one inspired moment is Damien Sandow, dressed in a Lebron James jersey, being thrown out of the battle royale in Cleveland in record time, it's a bad day at the office. Things weren't too bad in-ring, though -- Stardust is a nice step forward for the ongoing Brotherhood subplot and the ending sequence to Cena/Kane hit the right notes. Â Having said all of that, what's with burning Reigns/Rusev as the final of a battle royale on free TV? yeah it's just like that time they burned Hogan/Warrior at the Royal Rumble and nobody wanted to see them wrestle after that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Man in Blak Posted June 17, 2014 Report Share Posted June 17, 2014 Â Having said all of that, what's with burning Reigns/Rusev as the final of a battle royale on free TV? yeah it's just like that time they burned Hogan/Warrior at the Royal Rumble and nobody wanted to see them wrestle after that. Â Â It's funny you mention Hogan/Warrior, because that was exactly what I was thinking of when I wrote that. Â I'm not talking about burning Reigns/Rusev as a matchup, even though teasing it at the end of a battle royale certainly foreshadows to it. (And, if you're going to foreshadow it and not build to it, you're wasting time.) Â I'm talking about giving it away on free TV, instead of saving it for a PPV finish like the Royal Rumble. Hogan/Warrior was a special moment because it happened at a special event and it foreshadowed the main event of a future show. Reigns/Rusev might end up going somewhere soon (though that would be baffling, since he's not even all the way out of the Shield breakup yet), but giving away a Hogan/Warrior-esque confrontation between the two as the final sequence to the third battle royale WWE has had in as many months leaves money on the table. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dylan Waco Posted June 17, 2014 Report Share Posted June 17, 2014 Raw's are much bigger shows than anything that aired back then. I agree that there are match ups that should be protected, but the nature of weekly tv makes it infinitely more difficult. I thought the Regins/Rusev thing was awesome, though you could argue it should have been held off until Rusev had at least one meaningful win. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Russellmania Posted June 17, 2014 Report Share Posted June 17, 2014 Â Â Having said all of that, what's with burning Reigns/Rusev as the final of a battle royale on free TV? yeah it's just like that time they burned Hogan/Warrior at the Royal Rumble and nobody wanted to see them wrestle after that. Â Â It's funny you mention Hogan/Warrior, because that was exactly what I was thinking of when I wrote that. Â I'm not talking about burning Reigns/Rusev as a matchup, even though teasing it at the end of a battle royale certainly foreshadows to it. (And, if you're going to foreshadow it and not build to it, you're wasting time.) Â I'm talking about giving it away on free TV, instead of saving it for a PPV finish like the Royal Rumble. Hogan/Warrior was a special moment because it happened at a special event and it foreshadowed the main event of a future show. Reigns/Rusev might end up going somewhere soon (though that would be baffling, since he's not even all the way out of the Shield breakup yet), but giving away a Hogan/Warrior-esque confrontation between the two as the final sequence to the third battle royale WWE has had in as many months leaves money on the table. Â I see your point, but It's apples and oranges really. Hogan and Warrior were already established guys and the plan was to have them main event Wrestlemania a few months later so the Rumble made sense as the context for teasing that matchup. Â Reigns and Rusev are still finding their way so a Battle Royal on RAW (albeit with high stakes) feels like an appropriate time to feel out what kind of reaction something like that would get. That was easily the best crowd reaction Rusev has gotten since his debut and it made both guys seem like a big deal so i think it was a success. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KrisZ Posted June 17, 2014 Report Share Posted June 17, 2014 I said on Twitter last night that Ambrose is clearly being positioned as the new Austin, Reigns as the new Rock, and I would now say that Rollins as the new HBK. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Loss Posted June 17, 2014 Report Share Posted June 17, 2014 Reigns reminds me more of Diesel, actually. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bierschwale Posted June 17, 2014 Report Share Posted June 17, 2014 I've made "EdgeRock" jokes about Reigns from the first time that I saw him wrestle. Last night, to me, felt like an E&C-kind of plot, where they'd set off a chain of backstage shenanigans over the course of the night and sneak their way into a big match which they'd usually end up winning. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Johnny Guitar Posted June 17, 2014 Report Share Posted June 17, 2014 I said on Twitter last night that Ambrose is clearly being positioned as the new Austin, Reigns as the new Rock, and I would now say that Rollins as the new HBK. Â They should book The Shield members like The Good, The Bad & The Ugly. Â Reigns is Eastwood/Blondie. Rollins is VanCleef/Snake Eyes. Ambrose is Wallach/Tuco. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Russellmania Posted June 17, 2014 Report Share Posted June 17, 2014 I said on Twitter last night that Ambrose is clearly being positioned as the new Austin, Reigns as the new Rock, and I would now say that Rollins as the new HBK. I can see where you'd get the analogy from, but I really hope all 3 guys are allowed to grow into their own characters. WWE has a terrible track record with anointing guys as the "next" one. Â With that said, Ambrose to me is cool because he's a lot like Brian Pillman and I always thought it was a bummer that we never got to see a healthy Brian Pillman in WWF during the Austin/Rock boom. Pillman could have been a big star alongside those guys or at least a really good foil for them ala HHH. Ambrose feels like a second chance at that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KrisZ Posted June 18, 2014 Report Share Posted June 18, 2014 Ambrose worked Main Event tonight in white wifebeater and jeans so his break from his Shield persona is complete Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blehschmidt Posted June 18, 2014 Report Share Posted June 18, 2014 Second ladder match announced for MITB with the usual MITB contract on the line. Seth Rollins is entrant #1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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