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WWE TV 02/11 - 02/17 *space up for sale*


KawadaSmile

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Got free tickets to the RAW house show last night, and thought I'd jot some notes as someone who is only vaguely following the current product over the last two years:

- Opener was a six-woman tag match with Dana Brooke, Bayley, and Natalya taking on Nikki Cross, Alicia Fox, and Mickie James. James didn't actually work the match, not even standing on the apron, even though it was billed as 3-on-3. I don't really "get" Cross. She seems over-the-top in a WWF New Generation way. Pretty lethargic stuff, but Bayley was really over and she made some kid's life by signing an autograph for her after the match.

- Dean Ambrose vs. EC3: Confession time. I had no idea who EC3 was, and even thought maybe it was Eric Young's new name when reading about "EC3" over the last few weeks. Is he a face or what? Crowd wasn't into him and definitely favored Dean throughout. Neither guy seemed terribly invested, which wasn't shocking given Dean's current circumstances. EC3 reminds me of a Chris Masters type and seems kind of out of place in 2019 WWE. Dean jobbed and then refused to leave the ring, saying he would retire that night unless a ref came out to restart the match. This brought out...

- Zack Ryder and Curt Hawkins to get Dean out of the ring. Dean attacked both guys and made them look like schmucks, which I guess is sort of Curt's deal anyway. Ascension came out and we've got a tag match. I can't believe Ascension is still around, but I guess it doesn't hurt to have some lower-tier tag teams to make others look good. Bad, slow moving match.

- Bobby Lashley was slated to take on Seth Rollins for the IC title, but Seth wasn't there. This Lio Rush guy is hilarious and the perfect companion for a dude like Lashley. Lashley was the first heel of the evening to really play to the crowd effectively. Finn Balor came out to challenge Lashley for the IC title, saying he'd face both Lashley and Lio. Some bald dude who none of us knew came out and said none of them had the authority to make the match, but he did, so... OK? Still no idea who the guy was. Decent match, but man, Finn is really small. Shredded, but tiny. It was funny to see the ref look like he could take both Finn and Lio. Balor did a clean job, but got his finisher in on Lio after the match.

- Ronda Rousey vs. Nia Jax: Rousey is crazy over, obviously. I think Nia kinda sucks, but Rousey worked in some cool submission spots to make the brief match tolerable. I guess if nothing else, it was cool to see Rousey in person, which is obviously something I never thought would happen a few years ago.

- Elias came out after the intermission and brought out No Way Jose to "party," but Drew McIntyre came out and destroyed Jose before he even got to the ring. Both guys look physically impressive in person, but the match plodded along. Elias is one of those gimmicks that is crazy over with the fans, but I haven't really seen much in the ring that suggests he's much more than the opening match spiel. Maybe I've not seen the right stuff.

- Revival vs. Roode/Gable. Holy shit. This was at least my 10th house show since 1991 and this was hands down the best house show match I've ever seen. Revival does those little heel things so damn well that you can't help but love to hate them. On the way to the ring, Dash Wilder pretended he was going to sign an autograph for a kid at ringside, but just tossed the kid's Sharpie back several rows. Roode's a pretty dull singles wrestler, but I like the pairing with Gable. I wasn't sure what to expect, but maybe 10 minutes it hit me that this was a pretty incredible match. My buddy then leaned over and said, "This is the best house show match I've ever seen," so it wasn't just me. Just one of those beautifully worked matches that shows how great tag team wrestling can be. Obviously Revival wasn't winning, but even I got suckered in for some of the near-finishes. The crowd, which had been mostly quiet during the matches were absolutely in the palm of the wrestlers' collective hand by time we got to the finish stretch. Great stuff, and it's a shame the Revival hasn't been able to stay healthy, because I could watch those guys all day long.

- Braun Strowman beat Corbin in a street fight. I was surprised Corbin got in the majority of the offense, which I wasn't sure how to feel about. Braun isn't really the type who should play the face in peril role for most matches. Pretty standard gaga match stuff, but it was cool to see some table spots in 2019. 

Overall mostly a one-match show, but god damn, it was the consensus among six or seven of us that it was easily the best house show match any of us had ever seen. 

I've been to a handful of house shows since 2015 and always come away feeling good to know it's something that's really geared toward the kids, with faces being much more fan-friendly with ringside kids, usually signing autographs and all that. Well, except Bobby Roode, who pretty noticeably looked like he wanted to get the hell out of there after the match.

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I know some folks buy into the idea that anybody can be rebuilt anytime, and there's certainly some evidence to suggest that may be true. But I don't know. It definitely feels like they've killed every ounce of Braun's momentum and aura this past year.

Some guys are destined to be top guys - or nothing at all. Sid. Brock. Taker. They just don't fit in the mid-card for long durations. It isn't a sustainable spot for them.

I'm always reminded of Jim Cornette's line about Batista from OVW. This guy isn't ever going to be taking arm drags in the opening match. He's going to headline or nothing at all.

I truly, truly hate what they've done with Braun. He was on course to be Bizarro Brock - the mirror image of a monster on a tear. But they couldn't get out of their own way & seemingly can't book a proper payoff to ANYTHING anymore. Such a shame.

And I dig Elias. He's not anything extraordinary in the ring, but he's solid enough. His big power moves look good and seem like they matter. He dragged Seth Rollins to a decent little match last year, way better than that gauntlet match everyone was raving about for some ridiculous reason. So there's that.

He also had some good matches with Balor the last time I watched Raw. Around the summer of 2017, I think? Back when Joe was going nose to nose with Lesnar and whatnot.

There's probably not a lot on his resume in terms of noteworthy matches, but he does feel like a guy that could go somewhere with the right opportunity or program to level up.

Unfortunately, nothing really sticks in WWE these days. Guys aren't elevated by way of feuding with each other anymore. People are only elevated when it's assigned to them. Nothing is committed to canon beyond the moment it occurs. So the only chance a guy like Elias has of moving up is... Well, if & when they decide to suddenly start writing him that way, basically.

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I was legit shocked to hear Corbin was going to be in the main event last night. It seems like any time I've seen him since he became Corporate Kane, he's just getting squashed like a geek, so I couldn't understand why he'd be main eventing a show where pretty much every big name on that side of the roster was there.

Does Brock even really move the needle anymore by traditional metrics? Seems like they've got a guy in Braun who can pretty much do what Brock does from a physicality perspective, was able to cultivate quite the aura when booked properly, and he's a lot less expensive and more available than Brock. I don't even watch week to week and I've been tired of Brock for at least a couple of years.

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35 minutes ago, KawadaSmile said:

Braun, Drew, Balor, Corbin and Lashley are fucking around with each other for what feels like AGES at this point.

That match I think had 3 segments.  Had to have been over 30 minutes.  Which would be fine if we have seen these 6 people for the last 6 months on this show

No idea why you would show Kevin Owens bowling on RAW and then bowling a gutter ball as well.   

Since when did Charly Caruso become rather bitchy as a backstage interviewer

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2 hours ago, KawadaSmile said:

It seems to me that the only people upset with the Becky/Austin comparisons are the ones blinded by nostalgia.

It's not even that she's more of a star than he was - no one will be - but the booking is pretty much the same.

To me, it feels too much like a karaoke act, and it's like someone trying to do Queen's "Somebody to Love" and doing a good job, but they're still not hitting the high notes. It also feels to an extent, like they're forcing a round peg in a square hole, especially with the shoehorning of "The Family" into the angle.

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So Dean turns on Seth on the day Roman Reigns leaves because of cancer,  says that Roman's cancer was because of his past deeds, beats him up for months, takes his title and now he seems to be cool with Seth again because of Brock Lesnar?   Oh well I guess since he is leaving then no need to explain that shit

 

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12 minutes ago, sek69 said:

I wonder how they work Becky back in storyline wise. Maybe they go all in with Stone Cold Becky and have her hold Vince hostage and make him wet his pants.

I wonder if the swerve pre-Wrestlemania will be getting Charlotte back OUT of the match & not making it a three-way match.

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Honestly, the way they've been hyping that Ric Flair birthday celebration for the past few weeks, I'm starting to think that Becky gets involved and this is how she'll work her way back into the Wrestlemania main event.

But if we want to sum up what they're doing with that storyline, it's Vince McMahon trolling the IWC into projecting on-screen exactly what they think is truly happening backstage in regards to Becky Lynch. If this isn't the biggest middle finger to the smarks, I don't know what is.

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  • GSR changed the title to WWE TV 02/11 - 02/17

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