Bob-O's Random Ramblings: Raw 4/23/12

[Bob-O]

I started writing this in the Raw Discussion thread, but decided I'd written enough for it to safice on it's own. In no particular order...



-I don't ever remember Edge putting up a promo that good when he was active. Mentioning that his contract was about up on the air was a tad awkward, but it added to the bit. Great segment to open the show that built to... nothing to wrap up the show. What a stupid contract signing.

-I agree with Rabs, and I've been saying all along, Lesnar SUCKS on the mic. I get that they're trying to reinvent Cena or whatever they're doing, but never in a million years did I think they'd let Lesnar carry this one on the stick. Me thinks this one's FAR from over.

-Couldn't help but notice that the opponents in all three of Brock's flashback moments had something in common. WWE might as well have thrown a Dixie Carter look-a-like in there too... hehe, I'd watch that...

-Also couldn't help but notice that the Lesnar fan in the Affliction shirt is back. Is he, like, a plant or something? Is WWE PLANTING UFC fans in their seats!? First they throw together a bunch of video packages to make TNA look bad. Now they're finding the most douchy dudes they can find to represent UFC fans on their programming? Could this be the plan to get WWE Stock back on track? Stay tuned...

-While I'm being so observant, I also couldn't help but notice that the Bella's outfits tonight didn't leave a whole lot to the imagination. I'm not complaining, but never in a PG world did I think I'd see a Diva's outfit that revealed more than Sable's hand print bikini... =p~

-This Punk/Jericho thing was way more appealing when it was for the right to be called Best in the World. All this drama drama drama is tiresome, especially when the story's been sitting still for six weeks.

Jericho: Your family is full of horrible people.
Punk: No it's not.
Jericho: You're going to start drinking.
Punk: No I'm not.
Jericho: You've been drinking.
Punk: No I haven't.
Jericho: I hate you.
Punk: No you d- er, I hate you too...

Punk beat Jericho at Wrestlemania somewhere in the middle of that exchange, but that's not important.

-Who did Dolph Ziggler piss off!? I thought he dropped the US Title to move on to bigger things, and that's not a Brodus Clay pun. At first I thought he was just paying his dues, but he already did that when they named him Dolph Ziggler. The name doesn't even phase me anymore, he did it, he wins. What more does the guy have to do!?

-I LOVED the Dragon as special guest referee bit. It's been a lot of fun watching Bryan Danielson, ruler of the indies, become the best heel in the business. When Dragon was in Sheamus's face, begging to be hit, I finally felt good about Daniel Bryan's position. He finally looked credible to me. Dastardly, but credible. My ONLY gripe about this is that I wish they would have saved it for the end of Smackdown instead of tossing it together unnanounced in the middle of Raw.

-Enjoyed the episode, but I'm having trouble coming up with a reason why. I'm sitting here with the unsettling feeling that they spent a year planning Wrestlemania without any idea of what was supposed to come next. I mean, I get that the next PPV is usually a bunch of rematches, but this year feels different. Like, if they didn't remind us every commercial break, we could easily forget Wrestlemania even happened.

Top 5 Moments:
5. Kane laughs off Paul Bearer getting locked in a freezer
4. The Hogan/Brock Flashback
3. Bella Twins ahem... Camel Clutches
2. Edge's Promo
1. Daniel Bryan special guest referee

Bottom 5 Moments:
5. Santino is still US Champion.
4. Khali and Big Show tagging?
3. Teddy Long. They cannot make me care.
2. Lesnar recycling CM Punks contract demands. (What Brock? No Ice Cream Bars?)
1. The continued burial of Dolph Ziggler (I could care less about Swagger)

[badnewzxl]

Bob-O, YOU SAID IT PERFECT, BROTHER!

exactly how i felt on EVERY point....

[badnewzxl]

-While I'm being so observant, I also couldn't help but notice that the Bella's outfits tonight didn't leave a whole lot to the imagination. I'm not complaining, but never in a PG world did I think I'd see a Diva's outfit that revealed more than Sable's hand print bikini...

I just watched again, and I'll prolly watch AGAIN! Twin Camel Toe, yo! :)) :)) :))

[NWK]

People rip on Brock Lesnar's mic skills like he needs them. He's a badass, and he destroys people, that's all you need to know. Plus, I like his mic skills as they are, you get the vibe that it's just a normal person talking, and he's going to let his skill speak for himself, like the average athlete. Also, him cutting what the wrestling fans consider "grating" promos that just adds to his appeals. Other than that, agreed on all points Bob-O

[Big Red Machine]

Brock was actually pretty good on the mic this week.

I also disagree with you about Punk and Jericho. This week absolutely stunk, but aside from this, this feud has been great.

I think you are dead on about WWE planning Mania but not anything after it, though.

[Big Red Machine]

People rip on Brock Lesnar's mic skills like he needs them. He's a badass, and he destroys people, that's all you need to know. Plus, I like his mic skills as they are, you get the vibe that it's just a normal person talking, and he's going to let his skill speak for himself, like the average athlete. Also, him cutting what the wrestling fans consider "grating" promos that just adds to his appeals.

I also got this feel while watching the promo. Somehow, the fact that he sounded like a normal guy made it that much more annoying. Like we would expect a normal wrestling heel to do this, but not Brock.

[Bob-O]

People rip on Brock Lesnar's mic skills like he needs them. He's a badass, and he destroys people, that's all you need to know. Plus, I like his mic skills as they are, you get the vibe that it's just a normal person talking, and he's going to let his skill speak for himself, like the average athlete. Also, him cutting what the wrestling fans consider "grating" promos that just adds to his appeals.

Lesnar's just one of those guys that's best seen and not heard. One of the only horrible mic workers that still managed to reach Face of the Company status. Warrior comes to mind... Yokozuna, I suppose, but that's different. Lesnar is SO GOOD with his facial expressions and his body language that you're right, he SHOULDN'T have to talk, and he really shouldn't because he's so bad at it. He DOES sound like a regular dude talking, but not in a good way. He sounds like a regular dude that I wouldn't want to talk to. It just blows my mind that they've paired him with John freakin' Cena, one of the best promos the industry has ever seen, and Lesnar has done 95% of the talking.

That taped promo he did last week was boss, I liked that. It was also heavily edited. Regardless, the contract signing to end the show Monday was terrible and made me care LESS about their match. They made it very clear that Cena's gonna lose. They should have moved the Edge promo to the end of the show, ended it with Lesnar on the stage. All the rediculous contract demands could have been announced by Ace.

[Bob-O]

I also disagree with you about Punk and Jericho. This week absolutely stunk, but aside from this, this feud has been great.

If they blow this off at Backlash, all of the "greatness" of this feud built to that terrible Sobriety Test swerve. Just saying.

I guess I see this as more of a distraction from what is a modern day dream feud. Best in the World was enough, and would have been better than this. Jericho and Punk have been going back and forth on Twitter for as long as Rock and Cena! They had SO MUCH to build from! They could have saved this angle for somebody that could use a little help getting heat, like Otunga or Brodus ("Better call yo mama... A TRAMP! HAHAHAHA!!!!) or something. This whole angle gives me the impression that the writers got in an argument over what angle to go with and just said, "Screw it. Let's just do both." "Ok, Punk wins clean at Wrestlemania, then what?" "Who cares, we're probably all getting fired after that anyway..."

Unless Punk starts drinking, which would be a terrible decision on their part, this story has been sitting still for six weeks. :ymsigh: Two of today's best performers just reving their engines and going home...

[Big Red Machine]

I also disagree with you about Punk and Jericho. This week absolutely stunk, but aside from this, this feud has been great.

If they blow this off at Backlash, all of the "greatness" of this feud built to that terrible Sobriety Test swerve. Just saying.

I guess I see this as more of a distraction from what is a modern day dream feud. Best in the World was enough, and would have been better than this. Jericho and Punk have been going back and forth on Twitter for as long as Rock and Cena! They had SO MUCH to build from! They could have saved this angle for somebody that could use a little help getting heat, like Otunga or Brodus ("Better call yo mama... A TRAMP! HAHAHAHA!!!!) or something. This whole angle gives me the impression that the writers got in an argument over what angle to go with and just said, "Screw it. Let's just do both." "Ok, Punk wins clean at Wrestlemania, then what?" "Who cares, we're probably all getting fired after that anyway..."

Unless Punk starts drinking, which would be a terrible decision on their part, this story has been sitting still for six weeks. :ymsigh: Two of today's best performers just reving their engines and going home...

I don't know. I get the feeling that, for Jericho, it is still about being the best in the world and winning the title, and he is trying to get into Punk's head.

[badnewzxl]

I felt like the sobriety test segment was the best between Punk & Jericho since they made this about alcohol. Every other week it was just too damn melodramatic and not enough action (the exception was the night after Mania; the liquor bottle thing was ok, but all that other crap was just stupid overhyped, weak dialogue). I liked that Punk pulled the swerve; I felt that's what he shulda done before all the "heartfelt" straight edge speeches he gave.....

[Serujuunin]

I felt like the sobriety test segment was the best between Punk & Jericho since they made this about alcohol. Every other week it was just too damn melodramatic and not enough action (the exception was the night after Mania; the liquor bottle thing was ok, but all that other crap was just stupid overhyped, weak dialogue). I liked that Punk pulled the swerve; I felt that's what he shulda done before all the "heartfelt" straight edge speeches he gave.....

This segment actually had the mark in me absolutely terrified, but when Punk swerved Jericho like that, I was on my a** laughing. This so far has been my favourite segment between these two. But the rest of RAW was bleh.

[badnewzxl]

I felt like the sobriety test segment was the best between Punk & Jericho since they made this about alcohol. Every other week it was just too damn melodramatic and not enough action (the exception was the night after Mania; the liquor bottle thing was ok, but all that other crap was just stupid overhyped, weak dialogue). I liked that Punk pulled the swerve; I felt that's what he shulda done before all the "heartfelt" straight edge speeches he gave.....

This segment actually had the mark in me absolutely terrified, but when Punk swerved Jericho like that, I was on my a** laughing. This so far has been my favourite segment between these two. But the rest of RAW was bleh.

the way Punk was acting, had the angle called for him to ACTUALLY be drunk, he'd have severely damaged his career. His impression of a drunk person was awful; but it fit with the swerve. I was thinking the whole time "if they try to sell this as him actually being drunk, they've just ruined Punk." Not bc the straight edge guy was drinking; but bc it was a terrible job. The swerve made it great.

[Serujuunin]

I felt like the sobriety test segment was the best between Punk & Jericho since they made this about alcohol. Every other week it was just too damn melodramatic and not enough action (the exception was the night after Mania; the liquor bottle thing was ok, but all that other crap was just stupid overhyped, weak dialogue). I liked that Punk pulled the swerve; I felt that's what he shulda done before all the "heartfelt" straight edge speeches he gave.....

This segment actually had the mark in me absolutely terrified, but when Punk swerved Jericho like that, I was on my a** laughing. This so far has been my favourite segment between these two. But the rest of RAW was bleh.

the way Punk was acting, had the angle called for him to ACTUALLY be drunk, he'd have severely damaged his career. His impression of a drunk person was awful; but it fit with the swerve. I was thinking the whole time "if they try to sell this as him actually being drunk, they've just ruined Punk." Not bc the straight edge guy was drinking; but bc it was a terrible job. The swerve made it great.

I knew he wouldn't actually be drunk, but like I said, it had the mark in me scared out of my tree that he would actually be.

[badnewzxl]

yeah; I was scared a bit too. I wouldn't put it past the WWE to try a storyline like that and risk ruining one of their top stars just bc the idea is intriguing on paper

[Verdun]

Given how much leverage Punk is getting now, I didn't believe it would happen... though I had small REALLY VERY small doubts.