BRM Reviews the 2/25/2019 Raw (HORRENDOUS... but at least Roman Reigns is healthy)

[KILLdozer]

Yeah-Roman and Lesnar needs to be finished. At this point He's obviously going after Corbin.

[Big Red Machine]

Pretty sure Charlotte hates her father in Kayfabe, unless they changed it up since the last time they were on Television together and I'm forgetting it, it would make sense for her to not be there.

I don't remember if they made up after the last time she turned on him or not.

[cero2k]

Pretty sure Charlotte hates her father in Kayfabe, unless they changed it up since the last time they were on Television together and I'm forgetting it, it would make sense for her to not be there.

I don't remember if they made up after the last time she turned on him or not.

i got twitter footage of Charlotte in saturday's Flair surprise party. I expect consistency!

[KILLdozer]

Pretty sure Charlotte hates her father in Kayfabe, unless they changed it up since the last time they were on Television together and I'm forgetting it, it would make sense for her to not be there.

I don't remember if they made up after the last time she turned on him or not.

Yeah no idea. So if they haven't, I'd say it's great she's not there.

[KILLdozer]

Wait...didn't he get involved in one of her last title matches a ways back?

[XIV]

She's on the other show! She shouldn't ever have been there.

I agree that it's an excellent way to both point them out of a storyline corner and as a ploy to get fans to like Ronda, but I must ask if you thought the execution was good or just liked the concept?


I felt this way, too. There really isn't anything I want to see him do right now, you can't do the big comeback story ending in him winning the title at Mania because that will 1) be Roman vs. Brock AGAIN and 2) will be him stealing Seth's spot, which would not be a good thing to do, both for Roman's reaction (I don't think he'll get booed, but I think he'll hit that Brock zone where people won't cheer him, either, because they're tired of the way he's being pushed) and will also hurt Seth by exposing him as a "second choice.". And you cna't even do a Shield match because Seth is booked in a big spot.
I get that they're desperate for ratings, but I wouldn't have gotten Roman involved in any angles tonight and would have held him out until the Superstar Shake-Up and start his renewed world title chase there (interestingly, they made the same mistake with Bryan when he returned in 2015).

I get that Charlotte is SDLive based.. BUT she's going to be facing the RAW Champion and with so many legends and others booked for her Father's birthday it would have made kayfabe sense for her to be at RAW this week and further the Becky / Ronda angle in some fashion. But she didn't appear and therefore did nothing to further her own angles.

On the Ronda thing... I absolutely enjoyed the concept better than the execution. Had it of been the other way around and Becky was the Champion at this point, I trust that she would have been able to pull this off with more sincerity. Unfortunately, Ronda's promos whilst okay, aren't believable enough yet.

Roman v Brock, no-one wants. Roman stealing Seth's spot would be bad and they cannot do any more angles of people stealing spots. There's one on each show already. (Technically Charlotte is SDLive, so it's all crossed over)

I would have held Roman for Wrestlemania and had him return in some fashion there (possibly where Seth beats Brock and Brock decides to rampage, but Roman appears and saves Rollins and then have Rollins celebrating with Roman to close the segment off). That way if WWE decide to revisit Brock v Roman it can be done, or if they don't it can just be played off as Roman saving his friend Seth. They returned him too early.

None of the legends are brand-specific, and she furthered her own angle with a promo on SD. Also, in hindsight, doing the angle they did would make Charlotte look sympathetic by having her father assaulted in front of her, which would be quite counterproductive.

I don't think Ronda's issue was one of believably so much as not thoroughly explaining to the audience what she was doing. Then again, that might have been the directive, as the announcers also seemed stumped and no one else explained it to us, either (but Alexa Bliss! figured it out, proving that she is the smartest person on the show). I think the fan response was lacking because the people didn't understand what had happened.

I think that even the scenario that you propose for Roman would cause problems because it would appear to be WWE booking Roman to steal Seth's spotlight and would still make Roman the person to ultimately stop Brock (even if it's just the Mania part), even if Seth was the one to take the title from him.

I actually cannot fault your logic on any of the above.

Maybe save Roman for the post WM-Raw then rather than the shake-up?

[Big Red Machine]

I get that Charlotte is SDLive based.. BUT she's going to be facing the RAW Champion and with so many legends and others booked for her Father's birthday it would have made kayfabe sense for her to be at RAW this week and further the Becky / Ronda angle in some fashion. But she didn't appear and therefore did nothing to further her own angles.

On the Ronda thing... I absolutely enjoyed the concept better than the execution. Had it of been the other way around and Becky was the Champion at this point, I trust that she would have been able to pull this off with more sincerity. Unfortunately, Ronda's promos whilst okay, aren't believable enough yet.

Roman v Brock, no-one wants. Roman stealing Seth's spot would be bad and they cannot do any more angles of people stealing spots. There's one on each show already. (Technically Charlotte is SDLive, so it's all crossed over)

I would have held Roman for Wrestlemania and had him return in some fashion there (possibly where Seth beats Brock and Brock decides to rampage, but Roman appears and saves Rollins and then have Rollins celebrating with Roman to close the segment off). That way if WWE decide to revisit Brock v Roman it can be done, or if they don't it can just be played off as Roman saving his friend Seth. They returned him too early.

None of the legends are brand-specific, and she furthered her own angle with a promo on SD. Also, in hindsight, doing the angle they did would make Charlotte look sympathetic by having her father assaulted in front of her, which would be quite counterproductive.

I don't think Ronda's issue was one of believably so much as not thoroughly explaining to the audience what she was doing. Then again, that might have been the directive, as the announcers also seemed stumped and no one else explained it to us, either (but Alexa Bliss! figured it out, proving that she is the smartest person on the show). I think the fan response was lacking because the people didn't understand what had happened.

I think that even the scenario that you propose for Roman would cause problems because it would appear to be WWE booking Roman to steal Seth's spotlight and would still make Roman the person to ultimately stop Brock (even if it's just the Mania part), even if Seth was the one to take the title from him.

I actually cannot fault your logic on any of the above.

Maybe save Roman for the post WM-Raw then rather than the shake-up?

I had originally considered that but I think that's only best if the plan is for him to stay on Raw. To have him show up and do nothing on Raw for two weeks before going to SD seems like a waste, as fans will expect him to do something big right away.

[XIV]

None of the legends are brand-specific, and she furthered her own angle with a promo on SD. Also, in hindsight, doing the angle they did would make Charlotte look sympathetic by having her father assaulted in front of her, which would be quite counterproductive.

I don't think Ronda's issue was one of believably so much as not thoroughly explaining to the audience what she was doing. Then again, that might have been the directive, as the announcers also seemed stumped and no one else explained it to us, either (but Alexa Bliss! figured it out, proving that she is the smartest person on the show). I think the fan response was lacking because the people didn't understand what had happened.

I think that even the scenario that you propose for Roman would cause problems because it would appear to be WWE booking Roman to steal Seth's spotlight and would still make Roman the person to ultimately stop Brock (even if it's just the Mania part), even if Seth was the one to take the title from him.

I actually cannot fault your logic on any of the above.

Maybe save Roman for the post WM-Raw then rather than the shake-up?

I had originally considered that but I think that's only best if the plan is for him to stay on Raw. To have him show up and do nothing on Raw for two weeks before going to SD seems like a waste, as fans will expect him to do something big right away.

When does Smackdown begin airing on Fox in the US? Because the ratings potential for SD far outweighs that if RAW and I would expect a lot of big names to transfer to Smackdown in preparation for that. So Roman could easily move.

[Big Red Machine]

I actually cannot fault your logic on any of the above.

Maybe save Roman for the post WM-Raw then rather than the shake-up?

I had originally considered that but I think that's only best if the plan is for him to stay on Raw. To have him show up and do nothing on Raw for two weeks before going to SD seems like a waste, as fans will expect him to do something big right away.

When does Smackdown begin airing on Fox in the US? Because the ratings potential for SD far outweighs that if RAW and I would expect a lot of big names to transfer to Smackdown in preparation for that. So Roman could easily move.

October, I believe.

[Bob-O]

When does Smackdown begin airing on Fox in the US?

Not till later in the year if I'm not mistaken. October maybe?

I'm not sold that shenanigans aren't over with. Raw is so fucked.

They can't get Roman over no matter how hard they try, Brock keeps the belt. FINALLY pull the trigger on Roman despite fan reaction, Roman leaves for treatment - finally gets over, Brock gets the belt. FINALLY looking like there's a direction, Roman comes back, still over.

With Vince's Roman Boner and the severe lack of heat Seth/Brock has for 'Mania, I'm not sold on anything as it looks at the moment. Strike while the iron's hot.. they're not going to have another shot at a Wrestemania Moment for Roman, or a better comeback story...

H and Steph have Vince changing things on both shows right now, yes. It's laying the ground for something, but there still needs to be a "last straw" to set that into full motion.

That, and if Baron fucking Corbin makes it onto the Wrestlemania mainshow card I'm going to be so pissed.

[XIV]

When does Smackdown begin airing on Fox in the US?

Not till later in the year if I'm not mistaken. October maybe?

I'm not sold that shenanigans aren't over with. Raw is so fucked.

They can't get Roman over no matter how hard they try, Brock keeps the belt. FINALLY pull the trigger on Roman despite fan reaction, Roman leaves for treatment - finally gets over, Brock gets the belt. FINALLY looking like there's a direction, Roman comes back, still over.

With Vince's Roman Boner and the severe lack of heat Seth/Brock has for 'Mania, I'm not sold on anything as it looks at the moment. Strike while the iron's hot.. they're not going to have another shot at a Wrestemania Moment for Roman, or a better comeback story...

H and Steph have Vince changing things on both shows right now, yes. It's laying the ground for something, but there still needs to be a "last straw" to set that into full motion.

That, and if Baron fucking Corbin makes it onto the Wrestlemania mainshow card I'm going to be so pissed.

I'd take a Roman v Seth angle post Wrestlemania to be fair... but that's risky as hell because the fans would boo Roman and cheer Seth and WWE would want that to be the other way around.

[Big Red Machine]

When does Smackdown begin airing on Fox in the US?

Not till later in the year if I'm not mistaken. October maybe?

I'm not sold that shenanigans aren't over with. Raw is so fucked.

They can't get Roman over no matter how hard they try, Brock keeps the belt. FINALLY pull the trigger on Roman despite fan reaction, Roman leaves for treatment - finally gets over, Brock gets the belt. FINALLY looking like there's a direction, Roman comes back, still over.

With Vince's Roman Boner and the severe lack of heat Seth/Brock has for 'Mania, I'm not sold on anything as it looks at the moment. Strike while the iron's hot.. they're not going to have another shot at a Wrestemania Moment for Roman, or a better comeback story...

H and Steph have Vince changing things on both shows right now, yes. It's laying the ground for something, but there still needs to be a "last straw" to set that into full motion.

That, and if Baron fucking Corbin makes it onto the Wrestlemania mainshow card I'm going to be so pissed.

I'd take a Roman v Seth angle post Wrestlemania to be fair... but that's risky as hell because the fans would boo Roman and cheer Seth and WWE would want that to be the other way around.

Anything where Roman is scene as taking someone else's top spot right away will likely undo any good will that Roman himself is able to garner. People might not boo him so much anymore, but if he is seen as taking Seth's (or Bryan's, or Kofi's, or Owens', or AJ's, or Drew's, or Balor's) top spot, people will stop cheering him and it will be a situation like Brock where people just don't want to see him on TV anymore rather than caring about him one way or the other.

[XIV]

Not till later in the year if I'm not mistaken. October maybe?

I'm not sold that shenanigans aren't over with. Raw is so fucked.

They can't get Roman over no matter how hard they try, Brock keeps the belt. FINALLY pull the trigger on Roman despite fan reaction, Roman leaves for treatment - finally gets over, Brock gets the belt. FINALLY looking like there's a direction, Roman comes back, still over.

With Vince's Roman Boner and the severe lack of heat Seth/Brock has for 'Mania, I'm not sold on anything as it looks at the moment. Strike while the iron's hot.. they're not going to have another shot at a Wrestemania Moment for Roman, or a better comeback story...

H and Steph have Vince changing things on both shows right now, yes. It's laying the ground for something, but there still needs to be a "last straw" to set that into full motion.

That, and if Baron fucking Corbin makes it onto the Wrestlemania mainshow card I'm going to be so pissed.

I'd take a Roman v Seth angle post Wrestlemania to be fair... but that's risky as hell because the fans would boo Roman and cheer Seth and WWE would want that to be the other way around.

Anything where Roman is scene as taking someone else's top spot right away will likely undo any good will that Roman himself is able to garner. People might not boo him so much anymore, but if he is seen as taking Seth's (or Bryan's, or Kofi's, or Owens', or AJ's, or Drew's, or Balor's) top spot, people will stop cheering him and it will be a situation like Brock where people just don't want to see him on TV anymore rather than caring about him one way or the other.

It would work if Roman went heel and faced Seth... imagine the heat if Roman turned on the fans with the whole "you didn't care about me before the cancer, half of you boo'd me out of every building".

WWE would never pull trigger on such an angle in this day and age, but I think that would work as a program with Seth.