BRM Reviews the 7/13/2015 Raw (NXT Divas Debut)
Posted: Jul 13th, '15, 23:14
Why is the destroyed car at Raw this week?
WAIT! I’ve got it! Brock is carrying it around (and I mean literally carrying it) from town to town as warning to all those who oppose him. How badass would that be?!
And while I’m having thoughts like that: I wonder if there is a Smackdown Hotel in Suplex City?
OPENING SEGMENT- Everyone was good, but I really don’t want to see a contract signing.
RANDY ORTON & RYBACK vs. BIG SHOW & SHEAMUS- 5.75/10
Because the MLB All-Star Game is tomorrow night, Michael Cole referred to this, a random tag team match with no stipulations at all as “WWE’s version of the all-star game.” There’s such a thing as trying too hard to be topical, and while WWE is guilty of this rather often, I found this one to be particularly egregious.
Miz was on commentary and also grabbed a mic to annoy Ryback and Big Show.
Apparently Orton and Sheamus will be a having a regular old singles match at Battleground. Good to see that their weeks of fighting including trading DQ finishes will lead to a match in which they can still get DQed. Because that’s good booking.
KANE & ROLLINS BACKSTAGE- bad.
Kane has a plan… but of course he won’t share it with Seth because that would make sense.
BRAY WYATT vs. DEAN AMBROSE- no rating. Good segment.
Roman jumps Bray from behind… and even though Roman is the babyface, I really like this because it feels like Bray has put Roman through enough to warrant this, and the idea that Bray is getting into Roman’s head and causing him to act differently than he normally would is the story they are going for. That being said, Roman winning this brawl means we should get a good heat segment on Smackdown (maybe Bray lays Roman out from behind with a shot with the lantern).
DIVAS SEGMENT- TERRIBLE.
Yes. You read that right. I thought think was quite bad.
The way they did this made Steph a total babyface, which she shouldn’t be, and I think it totally ruined this segment. What they should have done was have Nikki come out and challenge Paige to find some friends in a six woman tag team match… if she can find any, of course. Hahahaha. Then Paige comes out and says that she has actually brought some friends along… then Becky and Charlotte come out and they beat up the heels to set up a six woman tag team match at the PPV.
Wait what the f*ck?! What are Naomi and Tamina doing out here? Sasha too? That’s too many new faces. If you have just two of them and they’re on the same side you can focus on them, but with three new faces spread across two teams it’s going to be WAY too hard to give them all the focus they need.
Oh. And now we’re getting Naomi and Tamina and Sasha acting like babyfaces, too?
Then we got a big schmoz that didn’t work at all. The ending of the brawl was nice and all except that it didn’t wrap up Paige’s story with the Bellas in a satisfying way, and at the end of the day, we had the three new girls standing there with an equal number of old girls.
NEW DAY PROMO- good.
THE NEW DAY vs. MARK HENRY & THE PRIME TIME PLAYERS- 5/10
But very fun.
R-TRUTH vs. WADE BARRETT- 3.25/10
WHY IS THIS FEUD STILL HAPPENING?! And now Truth is putting his moronic “king” gear back on! This feud isn’t just interminable. IT’S ACTUALLY MOVING BACKWARDS! GAAAAHHHHH!
WWE UNITED STATES TITLE MATCH: John Cena(c) vs. Rusev (w/Summer Rae)-
Now Owens comes out and says he wants his title shot tonight, so he is acting like a babyface against Rusev… then Cesaro shows up and we wind up with a short schmoz between the three heels and now we have a…
TRIPLE THREAT MATCH TO DETERMINE WHO WILL FACE CENA LATER TONIGHT: Kevin Owens vs. Cesaro vs. Rusev (w/Summer Rae)- 8.5/10
When Owens walked out half way through, I was CERTAIN he was going to come back and steal the pin, then get DQed on purpose in the Cena match via low blow and destroy Cena to set up for Battleground.
GRR! Rope breaks should totally count in triple threat matches. You can’t be DQed for not breaking the hold, but the hold itself should remain an invalid ending to the match.
WWE UNITED STATES TITLE MATCH: John Cena(c) vs. Rusev (w/Summer Rae)- 5/10
For real this time!
Yeah… I don’t like the fresh babyface facing the heel who just wrestled a grueling match. This is straight out of the Delirious School of Lazy Booking. Speaking of lazy booking, the finish to this match was Owens once again ruining the match and laying guys out. A smart promotion would put the belt on Owens and use this as justification to set up Rusev as a challenger to the US Title, but this is WWE so that won’t happen (and seriously… this is exactly what should have happened with Cesaro after last week’s show).
KANE & ROLLINS BACKSTAGE- same as their earlier segment.
TOUGH ENOUGH CRAP- I fast forwarded through it. You will not get me to watch your stupid reality show. I didn’t even stop to hear Lita cut a promo. Not even for the eye candy. It’s a post-Alexa Bliss world now, ladies and gentlemen. Other Divas just don’t seem as hot.
STARDUST PROMO- yes, Stardust.
The obvious thing to do would be to let Cody cut an emotional promo talking about how his father’s death has caused him to rethink the things he said back in February and now he wants to live up to his father’s legacy and become the world champion and BAM! Instant super-over babyface.
Instead they had Cody do the same sh*t that have turned him from a solid upper-midcarder into a jobber over the past year, with no sign of his father’s death having affected him at all. This SUCKED
We then got comic book illustration as the graphic for this match, which is something that TNA tried earlier this year, and like when TNA tried it, it just didn’t look as good as the regular graphics. If you’re going to do this, why not cut out Cody’s promo and air a Wrestlelicious Heroines segment of these two instead?
STARDUST vs. NEVILLE- 5.25/10
Stardust cheats to win and the people cheer. Why? Because no one wants to boo a man whose father just died!
CONTRACT SIGNING- effective, I guess.
I was actually board during the talking part but the brawl was good, and Brock got to take out Seth’s last ally, ensuring a one-on-one match at the PPV.
SETH ROLLINS PROMO- great!
A decent show from WWE, but it would have been quite bad without the triple threat match. Thank G-d this was the go-home show because it feels like we haven’t gone anywhere in about three weeks.
WAIT! I’ve got it! Brock is carrying it around (and I mean literally carrying it) from town to town as warning to all those who oppose him. How badass would that be?!
And while I’m having thoughts like that: I wonder if there is a Smackdown Hotel in Suplex City?
OPENING SEGMENT- Everyone was good, but I really don’t want to see a contract signing.
RANDY ORTON & RYBACK vs. BIG SHOW & SHEAMUS- 5.75/10
Because the MLB All-Star Game is tomorrow night, Michael Cole referred to this, a random tag team match with no stipulations at all as “WWE’s version of the all-star game.” There’s such a thing as trying too hard to be topical, and while WWE is guilty of this rather often, I found this one to be particularly egregious.
Miz was on commentary and also grabbed a mic to annoy Ryback and Big Show.
Apparently Orton and Sheamus will be a having a regular old singles match at Battleground. Good to see that their weeks of fighting including trading DQ finishes will lead to a match in which they can still get DQed. Because that’s good booking.
KANE & ROLLINS BACKSTAGE- bad.
Kane has a plan… but of course he won’t share it with Seth because that would make sense.
BRAY WYATT vs. DEAN AMBROSE- no rating. Good segment.
Roman jumps Bray from behind… and even though Roman is the babyface, I really like this because it feels like Bray has put Roman through enough to warrant this, and the idea that Bray is getting into Roman’s head and causing him to act differently than he normally would is the story they are going for. That being said, Roman winning this brawl means we should get a good heat segment on Smackdown (maybe Bray lays Roman out from behind with a shot with the lantern).
DIVAS SEGMENT- TERRIBLE.
Yes. You read that right. I thought think was quite bad.
The way they did this made Steph a total babyface, which she shouldn’t be, and I think it totally ruined this segment. What they should have done was have Nikki come out and challenge Paige to find some friends in a six woman tag team match… if she can find any, of course. Hahahaha. Then Paige comes out and says that she has actually brought some friends along… then Becky and Charlotte come out and they beat up the heels to set up a six woman tag team match at the PPV.
Wait what the f*ck?! What are Naomi and Tamina doing out here? Sasha too? That’s too many new faces. If you have just two of them and they’re on the same side you can focus on them, but with three new faces spread across two teams it’s going to be WAY too hard to give them all the focus they need.
Oh. And now we’re getting Naomi and Tamina and Sasha acting like babyfaces, too?
Then we got a big schmoz that didn’t work at all. The ending of the brawl was nice and all except that it didn’t wrap up Paige’s story with the Bellas in a satisfying way, and at the end of the day, we had the three new girls standing there with an equal number of old girls.
NEW DAY PROMO- good.
THE NEW DAY vs. MARK HENRY & THE PRIME TIME PLAYERS- 5/10
But very fun.
R-TRUTH vs. WADE BARRETT- 3.25/10
WHY IS THIS FEUD STILL HAPPENING?! And now Truth is putting his moronic “king” gear back on! This feud isn’t just interminable. IT’S ACTUALLY MOVING BACKWARDS! GAAAAHHHHH!
WWE UNITED STATES TITLE MATCH: John Cena(c) vs. Rusev (w/Summer Rae)-
Now Owens comes out and says he wants his title shot tonight, so he is acting like a babyface against Rusev… then Cesaro shows up and we wind up with a short schmoz between the three heels and now we have a…
TRIPLE THREAT MATCH TO DETERMINE WHO WILL FACE CENA LATER TONIGHT: Kevin Owens vs. Cesaro vs. Rusev (w/Summer Rae)- 8.5/10
When Owens walked out half way through, I was CERTAIN he was going to come back and steal the pin, then get DQed on purpose in the Cena match via low blow and destroy Cena to set up for Battleground.
GRR! Rope breaks should totally count in triple threat matches. You can’t be DQed for not breaking the hold, but the hold itself should remain an invalid ending to the match.
WWE UNITED STATES TITLE MATCH: John Cena(c) vs. Rusev (w/Summer Rae)- 5/10
For real this time!
Yeah… I don’t like the fresh babyface facing the heel who just wrestled a grueling match. This is straight out of the Delirious School of Lazy Booking. Speaking of lazy booking, the finish to this match was Owens once again ruining the match and laying guys out. A smart promotion would put the belt on Owens and use this as justification to set up Rusev as a challenger to the US Title, but this is WWE so that won’t happen (and seriously… this is exactly what should have happened with Cesaro after last week’s show).
KANE & ROLLINS BACKSTAGE- same as their earlier segment.
TOUGH ENOUGH CRAP- I fast forwarded through it. You will not get me to watch your stupid reality show. I didn’t even stop to hear Lita cut a promo. Not even for the eye candy. It’s a post-Alexa Bliss world now, ladies and gentlemen. Other Divas just don’t seem as hot.
STARDUST PROMO- yes, Stardust.
The obvious thing to do would be to let Cody cut an emotional promo talking about how his father’s death has caused him to rethink the things he said back in February and now he wants to live up to his father’s legacy and become the world champion and BAM! Instant super-over babyface.
Instead they had Cody do the same sh*t that have turned him from a solid upper-midcarder into a jobber over the past year, with no sign of his father’s death having affected him at all. This SUCKED
We then got comic book illustration as the graphic for this match, which is something that TNA tried earlier this year, and like when TNA tried it, it just didn’t look as good as the regular graphics. If you’re going to do this, why not cut out Cody’s promo and air a Wrestlelicious Heroines segment of these two instead?
STARDUST vs. NEVILLE- 5.25/10
Stardust cheats to win and the people cheer. Why? Because no one wants to boo a man whose father just died!
CONTRACT SIGNING- effective, I guess.
I was actually board during the talking part but the brawl was good, and Brock got to take out Seth’s last ally, ensuring a one-on-one match at the PPV.
SETH ROLLINS PROMO- great!
A decent show from WWE, but it would have been quite bad without the triple threat match. Thank G-d this was the go-home show because it feels like we haven’t gone anywhere in about three weeks.