Raw Thread

[adamwolff11]

Let me first state off by saying I think it's great that we now have our own forum. Hopefully this brings in more wrestling faithfuls for discussion!

That said, I think we should break up our threads some now so we can have separate discussions. Let's have this one for discussing Raw, either during Raw or reactions/previews/predictions, that sort of thing!

Really looking forward to tonight to see how the fallout is from Mania!

[ShaneDawg85]

I have to say, the crowds on Raw have been getting better and better every week. Part of it is the hate for Cena, and part of it is having guys like Rock come out who automatically light up the arena and know how to play off of them. Admittedly it's annoying when he comes out and they keep chanting something new every 30 seconds, but the Daniel Bryan "yes, yes, yes" thing is something that a few months ago I never would have seen catching on. Even better, when Lesnar came out last night and they audibly started chanting "Holy ****," I couldn't believe it. I've hated the crowds on Raw for a while, but they're starting to get more active and energized, not like they used to be, but better than where they've been, and that's nothing but a good thing.

[Sports Guy]

I have to say, the crowds on Raw have been getting better and better every week. Part of it is the hate for Cena, and part of it is having guys like Rock come out who automatically light up the arena and know how to play off of them. Admittedly it's annoying when he comes out and they keep chanting something new every 30 seconds, but the Daniel Bryan "yes, yes, yes" thing is something that a few months ago I never would have seen catching on. Even better, when Lesnar came out last night and they audibly started chanting "Holy ****," I couldn't believe it. I've hated the crowds on Raw for a while, but they're starting to get more active and energized, not like they used to be, but better than where they've been, and that's nothing but a good thing.

YEa, the crowd last night was sick.

They were going crazy all night.

[Dipper9]

I have to say, the crowds on Raw have been getting better and better every week. Part of it is the hate for Cena, and part of it is having guys like Rock come out who automatically light up the arena and know how to play off of them. Admittedly it's annoying when he comes out and they keep chanting something new every 30 seconds, but the Daniel Bryan "yes, yes, yes" thing is something that a few months ago I never would have seen catching on. Even better, when Lesnar came out last night and they audibly started chanting "Holy ****," I couldn't believe it. I've hated the crowds on Raw for a while, but they're starting to get more active and energized, not like they used to be, but better than where they've been, and that's nothing but a good thing.

YEa, the crowd last night was sick.

They were going crazy all night.

That crowd was absolutely amazing last night. I thought Raw was one of the best in a very long time, and a good part of that was the role the crowd played. The only thing I don't like it when they totally ignore what's happening in the ring, like what they did to Sheamus and DelRio. Otherwise, just an awesome crowd.

As I said, I thought Raw clicked on all cylinders last night. The Opening segment in the back was well done, where Johnny takes control of the locker room, showing who's boss, yet Punk making a simple statement of, "You may be in charge, but we still hate you."

The Rock's opening segment was one of the best since he's been back. The crowd was on fire for his announcement that someday he will hold the WWE title again. I guess we'll have to wait to find out when "someday" is.

The US title match was decent, but afterwards we FINALLY got Brodus Clay involved in a real story. I love the guy and the dancing gimmick, but the time is well overdue for him to be involved in a real storyline.

Good to see the A-Train back. Not sure I'm digging the Japanese gimmick, but I always though Albert was underrated, and he's a big strong guy that can add to the show.

The WWE Title match was great. It was a well done match, with Henry focused on the hurt back on Punk from Mania, but it was also good to see Punk take the loss. The match re-establishes Henry as a force to be reckoned with again, which is good to see, as they were starting to job him out in the early part of 2012. Plus, the ending with Jericho coming out and breaking the JD bottle over his head was well done. Jericho is playing the heel so well right now. I want to see this rematch.

And finally, the return of Brock. I have not seen an arena erupt like that since the days of the glass shattering when Stone Cold's music hit. The crowd ate it up, and made the return all the better. Then, one F-5 later, and Cena has himself a new threat.

I see SG's story working out. Brock vs Cena at SS. Brock dominates all year until challenging Taker's streak at Mania 29. Taker wins the match to again thwart the threat, setting up Cena vs Taker at Mania 30.

[Sports Guy]

That crowd was absolutely amazing last night. I thought Raw was one of the best in a very long time, and a good part of that was the role the crowd played. The only thing I don't like it when they totally ignore what's happening in the ring, like what they did to Sheamus and DelRio. Otherwise, just an awesome crowd.

As I said, I thought Raw clicked on all cylinders last night. The Opening segment in the back was well done, where Johnny takes control of the locker room, showing who's boss, yet Punk making a simple statement of, "You may be in charge, but we still hate you."

The Rock's opening segment was one of the best since he's been back. The crowd was on fire for his announcement that someday he will hold the WWE title again. I guess we'll have to wait to find out when "someday" is.

The US title match was decent, but afterwards we FINALLY got Brodus Clay involved in a real story. I love the guy and the dancing gimmick, but the time is well overdue for him to be involved in a real storyline.

Good to see the A-Train back. Not sure I'm digging the Japanese gimmick, but I always though Albert was underrated, and he's a big strong guy that can add to the show.

The WWE Title match was great. It was a well done match, with Henry focused on the hurt back on Punk from Mania, but it was also good to see Punk take the loss. The match re-establishes Henry as a force to be reckoned with again, which is good to see, as they were starting to job him out in the early part of 2012. Plus, the ending with Jericho coming out and breaking the JD bottle over his head was well done. Jericho is playing the heel so well right now. I want to see this rematch.

And finally, the return of Brock. I have not seen an arena erupt like that since the days of the glass shattering when Stone Cold's music hit. The crowd ate it up, and made the return all the better. Then, one F-5 later, and Cena has himself a new threat.

I see SG's story working out. Brock vs Cena at SS. Brock dominates all year until challenging Taker's streak at Mania 29. Taker wins the match to again thwart the threat, setting up Cena vs Taker at Mania 30.

And since Brock is only signed for one year, my guess is the Mania match will be a "if you beat me, I will never come back" type match.

The question is, will Brock only end up staying for one year or will he decide to really come back?

Also, will the Undertaker just disappear for a year again?

[Sports Guy]

Just read this:

As seen on RAW, The Rock teased a run with the WWE Title. Speculation is that Lesnar will eventually challenge The Rock for the WWE Title at WrestleMani 29

So, if this is true, you would expect that Lesnar wins the title at some point in the next year and then loses it to the Rock at WM.

If that is the plan, then you assume that Cena vs Lesnar is at SS and Cena vs Taker is on tap for next WM.

[ShaneDawg85]

Not sure if it's really good, from a healthy promotion standpoint, to potentially have someone as your WWE champion that only appears twice a month, at most. Based on the apparent language of his contract, that's what Lesnar is going to be, 2-3 appearances per month. Who knows with Rock, depends on what crappy movie he's involved in. Meanwhile, you're effectively saying to guys like Punk, Sheamus, Miz, etc., "Thanks for nothing," and even keeping guys like Cena and Jericho down by extension. It might improve buyrates, but if they're not going to commit and be active more, it really doesn't send a good message.

[Sports Guy]

Not sure if it's really good, from a healthy promotion standpoint, to potentially have someone as your WWE champion that only appears twice a month, at most. Based on the apparent language of his contract, that's what Lesnar is going to be, 2-3 appearances per month. Who knows with Rock, depends on what crappy movie he's involved in. Meanwhile, you're effectively saying to guys like Punk, Sheamus, Miz, etc., "Thanks for nothing," and even keeping guys like Cena and Jericho down by extension. It might improve buyrates, but if they're not going to commit and be active more, it really doesn't send a good message.

I read that he has signed on for 30-35 appearances in the next year and there is a possibility for more.

He will be there quite often heading into Mania.

[Dipper9]

I read that he has signed on for 30-35 appearances in the next year and there is a possibility for more.

He will be there quite often heading into Mania.

This.

Brock could win the title sometime in early 2013 and start a program with Rock going into Mania.

If it was me, I'd do this:

Punk vs Austin
Brock vs Rock
Trips vs HBK
Taker vs Cena

Any of these could easily headline Mania on their own, and thus Vince probably would never do them all together, but I look at it like this. Rock is not a given to keep wanting to do this. Taker's health and age is starting to become a concern. And Austin will only return if its a big matchup. So, if you can get them all wrapped up onto one show, it would be the biggest Mania of the times (as Santino might say).

[mweb]

I used to be a big wrestling match and somewhat keep up with things now, anyway I have a question relating to Lesnar's appearance last night.

Do you guys seek out spoilers or do you prefer to be surprised? And do you think spoilers are good for the WWE?

I caught the end of RAW and it wasn't exactly surprising to see Brock considering the signs and chants, and I think it would have been a much better moment if it wasn't spoiled.

Thoughts?

[Sports Guy]

I used to be a big wrestling match and somewhat keep up with things now, anyway I have a question relating to Lesnar's appearance last night.

Do you guys seek out spoilers or do you prefer to be surprised? And do you think spoilers are good for the WWE?

I caught the end of RAW and it wasn't exactly surprising to see Brock considering the signs and chants, and I think it would have been a much better moment if it wasn't spoiled.

Thoughts?

I read a rumor site. In this day and age, its hard to keep anything secret but it does happen from time to time.

I honestly wasn't sure if Lesnar would come out last night.

Part of me wondered if the Lesnar thing was an April fools joke since he didn't appear at Mania.

I also didn't see him feuding with Cena to begin with.

[mweb]

I read a rumor site. In this day and age, its hard to keep anything secret but it does happen from time to time.

I honestly wasn't sure if Lesnar would come out last night.

Part of me wondered if the Lesnar thing was an April fools joke since he didn't appear at Mania.

I also didn't see him feuding with Cena to begin with.

Yeah, it would be hard to keep much a secret.

I just prefer to avoid spoilers in pretty much anything I watch and if I was still a big wrestling fan, a moment like last night would be much more enjoyable without it being partially spoiled.

[adamwolff11]

I used to be a big wrestling match and somewhat keep up with things now, anyway I have a question relating to Lesnar's appearance last night.

Do you guys seek out spoilers or do you prefer to be surprised? And do you think spoilers are good for the WWE?

I caught the end of RAW and it wasn't exactly surprising to see Brock considering the signs and chants, and I think it would have been a much better moment if it wasn't spoiled.

Thoughts?

I'd say my feelings on the matter would be that it'd be great to have more surprises, but in this day and age, it's just not that simple. The thing is, there are usually plenty of misses on a lot of these rumors sites, too. I mean, the crowd was chanting for Lesnar last night and it was reported on the internet, but until it happens, you never really know. It's actually kind of a hobby in itself. I enjoy trying to read sites and figure out what's going to happen.

In regards to Raw last night, what an excellent show. Rock had probably his best overall promo (loved his comment when a guy whistled at him 'he must be a John Cena fan'). Rock showed that at some point, who knows when or who it will be against, he's going to be making a title push. That's exciting to me and I hope it's sooner rather than later. They packed a lot of good action into Raw, a lot of storylines were either continued or started. Lesnar coming out was the perfect way to end the show. I got chills and have to say, despite the crowd, what a great surprise it still was. Until that music hits, you don't know. Speaking about the crowd, how great were they!? Man, so into it, and all over Daniel Bryan. Makes me think WWE really made a mistake having him drop the belt, especially in that fashion. In the last month or so he has gone from being an okay champion and decent heel, to super over. Only thing I'm not particularly excited about is Sheamus and Del Rio, but that's only because neither of them particularly excite me. I respect both of their in ring work, so if nothing else they should have a well wrestled feud.

All in all, PERFECT show to have after Mania. I think it was the right move to have Brock come here and not Wrestlemania. Wrestlemania had enough very good, big things to make it awesome. By doing it at Raw, it makes Brock the #1 focus right now and really keeps the excitement and momentum from Mania. Too many times in years past I think the WWE has really dropped the ball after Mania, having a ho-hum couple months and losing whatever they gained from their biggest event of the year. Not this year though! I'm very excited about wrestling right now!

[Dipper9]

Not a bad show last night, but not great either.

The positives:

1. Brock on the microphone. Dude is clearly more comfortable cutting promos then he was when he first arrived on the scene. At first I was hoping Paul Heyman would return with him, but now I don't think its needed.

2. I really liked the pull apart in the beginning, and everyone was out there, including Sheamus, Daniel Bryan, Mark Henry, etc etc etc. Typically the main eventers don't come out for these brawls, so the fact that they were all out there made it feel like a big time event. Not sure how Cena got the busted mouth, but the blood added to the drama as well. Very well done.

3. I know I'll be in the minority, but the 3 stooges were awesome. They are very natural and funny. Feels like the Stooges of old. They interacted very well with the WWE superstars, and "Curly's" impression of Hogan was tremendous. Kane coming down and chokeslamming him was reminiscent of him doing the same to Pete Rose. I enjoyed the Stooges on Raw.

4. Good to see Brodus Clay in a real match, but why are they burying Dolph again?

5. The rebuild of Mark Henry is great. He continues to dominate and I wouldn't be completely surprised to see him take the title off Punk next week.

6. The Jericho vs Punk feud is going great. Business is about to pick up, as Good Ol' JR would say. The fact that they have turned this into a blood feud makes me think that my #5 above may just happen.

7. Cena vs Brock at the next PPV? Already? Holy ****!

The Negatives:

1. Johnny L. I am so sick of the "Evil GM" storyline. We're going on 15 years of it now. Different faces, but the same friggin story. Move on already.

2. No tag champs again? You've got tag champs that can bring it in the ring, with a hot number dancing them into the ring, and you keep them off TV? What gives?

3. The Bella's. I read their contracts are up and they have given notice they are leaving the end of April. I love the Bellas, so this stinks, but its no real loss to the show.

[The Maestro]

Was at Verizon Center for Raw, and that's they loudest I can ever remember that place being for a wrestling event during the opening Brock-Cena segment. Did it seem that loud on TV?