DUSTY VIDEO PACKAGE- just as good as it was yesterday

There is a sign in the crowd promoting a show called “Dean Ambrose: Bigfoot Hunter.” I guess WWE also wants a piece of the Destination America pie.

OPENING SEGMENT- Rollins was good. Ambrose came out (still selling his knee) to brawl with Seth, so I guess this feud is still going on. Rollins runs away, so Dean decides to hold the show hostage until he gets what he wants: Rollins.

ROLLINS, HUNTER, & STEPH BACKSTAGE- apparently Hunter and Steph have a plan to get rid of Ambrose. Also, Hunter and Steph will name Rollins’ next challenger at some point tonight.

IT TURNS OUT THE AUTHORITY’S PLAN IS SHEAMUS- he cuts a decent promo, then we get…

DEAN AMROSE vs. SHEAMUS- 5.5/10
Sheamus goes after Dean’s leg, though Dean forgot to sell it whenever he transitioned to offense. Unfortunately, there is no way we’re getting a good finish here. Yup. Distraction by Orton. Now… the reason for doing the distraction finish and the roll-up is to keep Sheamus strong… so why have Orton lay him out and almost hit him with the RKO at the end of this?

ROLLINS & THE STOOGERWEIGHTS BACKSTAGE- good segment.
Jamie brings up a good point. Joey Mercury pinned Rollins on TV last week… so why isn’t he being given a title shot? Either way, I really wish it had been Jamie who had gotten the pin because I would kill to see full-on babyface James Gibson one more time.

Wait… WHERE DID DEAN GO?! Did he really just give up his hijacking of the show? What a crappy work-ethic! And what a crappy babyface!

WADE BARRETT vs. R-TRUTH- DUD!
So now Truth is too dumb to realize that he is supposed to be wrestling in this match? Also, he is dressed like an idiot to mock Barrett, which would be taken as mockery except that is portrayed as such an idiot that he doesn’t seem capable of grasping the concept.
Truth beats Barrett again. Then Barrett lays him out so no one gets over. Good job Creative!
Then Wade cut an angry promo.

SOME STUFF HAPPENS WITH SOME GUY AND SOME DIVAS AND SOME JOBBERS- Paige showed up and said something way too quick for me to understand. Summer Rae was backstage fawning over these dudes (are they the guest hosts or something? I hope not because one of them looks like a stereotypical Neo-Nazi skinhead). Isn’t Summer with Miz now?

CENA-OWENS RECAP- okay… using still pictures here didn’t work well at all.

KEVIN OWENS PROMO- apparently the pop-up powerbomb on the edge of the apron has injured Cena so badly that he is actually not at tonight’s show! HOORAY for making stuff matter! Owens was good. He issued an open challenge, so we’re getting…

KEVIN OWNES vs. DOLPH ZIGGLER (w/Lana?)- 7.5/10
Owens worked over Dolph’s mid-section, Dolph worked over Owens’ head, and they had a GREAT match.

PAIGE HOLDS A BACKSTAGE MEETING- terrible
She stood on a chair to speak and came off really bad. Like a middle-schooler in a schoolyard on a sit-com. Like someone who saw a mountain where everyone else saw a mole-hill. Even worse, they through in a worked shoot bit about how the Bellas have powered “because of who they’re married to.” Except that the Cena-Nikki relationship isn’t kayfabe (and also they’re not married), so are we supposed to believe that DANIEL BRYAN is POLITICKING ON BEHALF OF THE BELLAS?
Paige has a handicap match against the Bellas. Then the Bellas showed up and sounded like stereotypical high school mean girls. They intimidated everyone so none of them wanted to team with Paige.

KANE vs. RANDY ORTON- Sheamus showed up, so Kane made it a No Holds Barred match. Sheamus then beat Orton up and Kane pinned him. I thought that was a good angle, but it should have been saved for Smackdown. They have five weeks until the next PPV, and these guys have already fought on Raw for two straight weeks. They need to take it slow.

KANE AND ROLLINS BACKSTAGE- bad. We’ve been getting this sort of crap for months now. Kane got pissed when Rollins mentioned Paul Bearer and The Undertaker.

BIG SHOW vs. THE MIZ- no rating, good segment.
I loved the finish and I thought Ryback was very good on commentary.

ROMAN REIGNS AND BRAY WYATT STUFF- Roman scores points with me by telling Bray’s TitanTron promo to just shut up and get out here and fight. Bray ignores him and just continues to cut a good promo. Then he kept on cutting this promo and it dragged on and on and on. Then this got simultaneously dumb and creepy when Bray took a picture of Roman playing with his daughter that they had showed on a “be a good dad” commercial earlier. Why make this all corny and lame by having Bray threaten Roman’s daughter? What was wrong with the beginning of that promo where Bray was upset that Roman had cost him his chance to win MITB? Why can’t we have wrestling feud instead of a soap opera?

HANDICAP MATCH: The Bella Twins vs. Paige- 2.5/10
Boring. Bellas win because Paige has no friends and bit off more than she could chew.

A CONCERT- we now have a musical guest. What is this? SNL? And why do they always do this in Cleveland. If you can’t draw on your own, then just DON’T GO THERE.
Snore. Time to make some pizz-HOLY SH*T KEVIN STEEN JUST POWERBOMBED THIS DOOFUS OFF THE STAGE!

NEW DAY PROMO- okay

PTP PROMO- not good.

THE NEW DAY vs. THE PRIME TIME PLAYERS & NEVILLE- 4.75/10
I thought that giving PTP and Neville a combined entrance here was a mistake. PTP just won the belts. Let them be the center of attention.
Okay… what was the point of Titus doing a drop down in front of Neville before he hit that dive? Would it have both made more sense and been easier for Titus to just STAY OUT OF THE WAY?!

KANE AND AMBROSE BACKSTAGE- Dean is throwing darts at a picture of Seth. Dean encourages Kane to become the Big Red Monster again.

THE AUTHORITY NAMES A NEW #1 CONTENDER- IT’S BRRRRRRROOOOOCCCCCCCCKKKKKKK LLLLLLEEESSSSSSNNAAAARRR
Seth’s gonna die.


A good episode of Raw.

ROMAN REIGNS AND BRAY WYATT STUFF- Roman scores points with me by telling Bray’s TitanTron promo to just shut up and get out here and fight. Bray ignores him and just continues to cut a good promo. Then he kept on cutting this promo and it dragged on and on and on. Then this got simultaneously dumb and creepy when Bray took a picture of Roman playing with his daughter that they had showed on a “be a good dad” commercial earlier. Why make this all corny and lame by having Bray threaten Roman’s daughter? What was wrong with the beginning of that promo where Bray was upset that Roman had cost him his chance to win MITB? Why can’t we have wrestling feud instead of a soap opera?

i'll tell you what, for the first time, Wyatt gave a reason to attack that made sense, it just wasn't pointless targeting, but Wyatt finally saw a good reason to fight to get closer to the title.

THE AUTHORITY NAMES A NEW #1 CONTENDER- IT’S BRRRRRRROOOOOCCCCCCCCKKKKKKK LLLLLLEEESSSSSSNNAAAARRR
Seth’s gonna die.

at this point, i'm so sick and tired of the authority, it's exactly the reason everyone hated Hogan in TNA, they can't get away from the spotlight, they don't allow anyone have more heat that them, it annoys me so hard that Steph keeps emasculating everyone, especially the freaking champ! And now we're to take it that they're ok bringing Lesnar back killing the super babyface fight that Brock could have brought back fighting off the 'bad bosses'

cero2k wrote:

ROMAN REIGNS AND BRAY WYATT STUFF- Roman scores points with me by telling Bray’s TitanTron promo to just shut up and get out here and fight. Bray ignores him and just continues to cut a good promo. Then he kept on cutting this promo and it dragged on and on and on. Then this got simultaneously dumb and creepy when Bray took a picture of Roman playing with his daughter that they had showed on a “be a good dad” commercial earlier. Why make this all corny and lame by having Bray threaten Roman’s daughter? What was wrong with the beginning of that promo where Bray was upset that Roman had cost him his chance to win MITB? Why can’t we have wrestling feud instead of a soap opera?

i'll tell you what, for the first time, Wyatt gave a reason to attack that made sense, it just wasn't pointless targeting, but Wyatt finally saw a good reason to fight to get closer to the title.

That's what I'm saying. That part of it was great. It's the whole thing with the daughter that feels tacked on and corny.

THE AUTHORITY NAMES A NEW #1 CONTENDER- IT’S BRRRRRRROOOOOCCCCCCCCKKKKKKK LLLLLLEEESSSSSSNNAAAARRR
Seth’s gonna die.

at this point, i'm so sick and tired of the authority, it's exactly the reason everyone hated Hogan in TNA, they can't get away from the spotlight, they don't allow anyone have more heat that them, it annoys me so hard that Steph keeps emasculating everyone, especially the freaking champ! And now we're to take it that they're ok bringing Lesnar back killing the super babyface fight that Brock could have brought back fighting off the 'bad bosses'[/quote]
I think the issue with the Authority is more the constant in-fighting (the emasculating from Steph and intimidating from Hunter is part of that, but not all of it). They don't have that same level of go-away heat with me as Hogan, who I not only felt was terrible at the role but also thought it was was very bad for business for him to be there.
I'd have handled Brock differently, so at least this gives me a reason to get back to a fantasy booking thread I left hanging.

The Wyatt couldn't be as simple as avenging the loss because then it wouldn't be as "full of depth, suspense ,and intrigue, as well as Bizarre".

I really and seriously don't know what they're going to be doing with the guy anymore. The daughter thing , while I saw what they went for, was just a got dang way of him having to be so (see above) , just dark and fearsome. It's not working. Wins or losses don't seem to mean anything either way and nothing happens nor comes from anything in his feuds. Just lights go off, attack, bunch of foolishness promos, repeat, match, end of feud.

All usually based around , basically, "oh, I'm so mad at you, man. " It doesn't help he faces guys bigger than him who obviously aren't afraid of him nor nervous even in the slightest of his whole "mystique". You have the mystique of a bum. Well, a drunk one . Aforementioned reason never really goes anywhere nor is it explained .

Which would all be such a different factor if anything actually worked and was handled differently. It's not though and things just become ridiculous and old. He needs/needed so much more little things character wise to help him out along the way. A leather apron doesn't do it. All of what I said could not matter if hes continually booked as he has been, progressively rising along the card.

Do the fans still love him in a way? Probably, which will be the deciding factor in his progressive booking. I don't honestly pay any attention to his crowd reaction anymore. It's always: "Oh got dangit here we go again! Which brings me to something else.

He needs more action behind his words as well as, in front of them. As Reigns told the boy "shut up and come on." The one or two minimal attacks just don't do it. What, he knocks a man off with Sister Abigail from time to time? Yeah, who cares, it's a finisher, over 75 % of WWE matches feature that at least once.

So what does he have going? A bunch of nonsense and the "oh, he might turn off the lights and come after me. " i
I haven't seen enough and I don't see much thth tells me nor does much for me. The new face of fear? The scariest thing is "is that beard clean? "-more like the new face of fuck off.

KILLdozer wrote:The Wyatt couldn't be as simple as avenging the loss because then it wouldn't be as "full of depth, suspense ,and intrigue, as well as Bizarre".

I really and seriously don't know what they're going to be doing with the guy anymore. The daughter thing , while I saw what they went for, was just a got dang way of him having to be so (see above) , just dark and fearsome. It's not working. Wins or losses don't seem to mean anything either way and nothing happens nor comes from anything in his feuds. Just lights go off, attack, bunch of foolishness promos, repeat, match, end of feud.

All usually based around , basically, "oh, I'm so mad at you, man. " It doesn't help he faces guys bigger than him who obviously aren't afraid of him nor nervous even in the slightest of his whole "mystique". You have the mystique of a bum. Well, a drunk one . Aforementioned reason never really goes anywhere nor is it explained .

Which would all be such a different factor if anything actually worked and was handled differently. It's not though and things just become ridiculous and old. He needs/needed so much more little things character wise to help him out along the way. A leather apron doesn't do it. All of what I said could not matter if hes continually booked as he has been, progressively rising along the card.

Do the fans still love him in a way? Probably, which will be the deciding factor in his progressive booking. I don't honestly pay any attention to his crowd reaction anymore. It's always: "Oh got dangit here we go again! Which brings me to something else.

He needs more action behind his words as well as, in front of them. As Reigns told the boy "shut up and come on." The one or two minimal attacks just don't do it. What, he knocks a man off with Sister Abigail from time to time? Yeah, who cares, it's a finisher, over 75 % of WWE matches feature that at least once.

So what does he have going? A bunch of nonsense and the "oh, he might turn off the lights and come after me. " i
I haven't seen enough and I don't see much thth tells me nor does much for me. The new face of fear? The scariest thing is "is that beard clean? "-more like the new face of fuck off.

THIS!
The key to a character like Bray is that his words have to mean something. Nothing Bray has said has meant anything in about a year. A character like Bray requires very skilled handling because you need to have A LOT of advanced planning to ensure that he never becomes directionless because once he does, the fans will realize that his words have ceased to mean anything and he just becomes a guy saying words and trying to be spooky.
WWE wanted Bray strong for Cena, so they did that, but after that they didn't have any plans for him. The only reason he got he Jericho feud was because Jericho specifically asked to work with him, and he only got the Undertaker feud because they decided to do "spooky guy vs. spooky guy." But they never had any real plans for him once he was done with Cena, so he has been floundering since that point.

I always feel like we aren't supposed to understand what Wyatt means; he's supposed to be a zealot, not a genius. His actions need no logical explanation. He's like a monster in a horror movie; he's always the antagonist and the story is about how and whether or not the opponent CAN overcome Bray Wyatt.

That being said, the stuff with the kid WAS corny and tacked on.

badnewzxl wrote:I always feel like we aren't supposed to understand what Wyatt means; he's supposed to be a zealot, not a genius. His actions need no logical explanation. He's like a monster in a horror movie; he's always the antagonist and the story is about how and whether or not the opponent CAN overcome Bray Wyatt.

That being said, the stuff with the kid WAS corny and tacked on.

He feels to me like he's supposed to be more than that. The things he saying feel like real things. What's the point of having him talk every week if we're not supposed to understand/think about/care about whatever he's saying?

See though-the thing about actually understanding him with sense brought about with it, even the Undertaker stuff made sense. Which was basically: "Ah boy , you used to be the man. I respected you. I FEARED you. That was long ago. Now it's all over. You've lost it and now I'll end it because this is my time. "

Totally forgot to express how disappointed I am in the lack of follow-up on The New Day's mood after losing the belts.

Big Red Machine wrote:

badnewzxl wrote:I always feel like we aren't supposed to understand what Wyatt means; he's supposed to be a zealot, not a genius. His actions need no logical explanation. He's like a monster in a horror movie; he's always the antagonist and the story is about how and whether or not the opponent CAN overcome Bray Wyatt.

That being said, the stuff with the kid WAS corny and tacked on.

He feels to me like he's supposed to be more than that. The things he saying feel like real things. What's the point of having him talk every week if we're not supposed to understand/think about/care about whatever he's saying?

I think the trick is to try and figure out what he means. They always say he speaks in riddles, so I don't expect to always get what he means.

badnewzxl wrote:

Big Red Machine wrote:

badnewzxl wrote:I always feel like we aren't supposed to understand what Wyatt means; he's supposed to be a zealot, not a genius. His actions need no logical explanation. He's like a monster in a horror movie; he's always the antagonist and the story is about how and whether or not the opponent CAN overcome Bray Wyatt.

That being said, the stuff with the kid WAS corny and tacked on.

He feels to me like he's supposed to be more than that. The things he saying feel like real things. What's the point of having him talk every week if we're not supposed to understand/think about/care about whatever he's saying?

I think the trick is to try and figure out what he means. They always say he speaks in riddles, so I don't expect to always get what he means.

And the trick for them is that everything he has said has to become clear in the end.