Is WWE gettiing into a WCW 1992 type vibe? The main angles arent working but there has been plenty of good tv matches lately and Extreme Rules on paper looks like a pretty great PPV to me even though none of the feuds minus the Shield winning belts interests me.

Holy shit, that Cena/ Team Hell No vs The Shield elimination match on RAW was fucking awesome. I was totally marking out when Daniel Bryan got the hot tag and beat up the entire Shield. And the Ryback/ Cena stuff after the match was great. And RAW was a great go home show. What I don't get is waiting to announce the undercard for the PPV until a week before the show. Extreme Rules looks like a stacked fun now, but a week ago, it sure as fuck didn't.

The six-man was awful. One on three and Cena still wins? Come on.

He won by DQ and still got his ass kicked. It's not like he beat all three guys.

He won by DQ and still got his ass kicked. It's not like he beat all three guys.

Except for the fact that he did effectively beat three guys. He eliminated two and had the third guy locked up and done for when the other guys intervened. I'll take that over a pinfall or sub first loss for The Shield for sure, but that was a transparently idiotic way to give them their first loss

Cena didn't actually eliminate two, Reigns eliminated himself via DQ for shoving the ref. But yeah it was still a really stupid way for the Shield to lose.

Hey, unless he pinned or submitted all three guys, then he really didn't beat all three. If a guy is bird hunting and shoots one, and is about to shoot another when a third swoops at him and flies into his face, he didn't effectively shoot all three birds.

 

(And the winner for "The thing I never thought I'd type or say ever award" goes to that.)

 

And I guess they must have announced more matches and stips on SD last week, which I missed. Or I fast forwarded thru stuff on last weeks RAW, which is entirely possible and probable.

Just got home from attending the Smackdown taping. I haven't watched WWE programming since 2008, but try to go to as many shows as possible when wrestling rolls through Wichita:

 

Bo Dallas/Neville def Epico/Primo - Pretty sure this was dark. They changed the canvas after this match and a WWE "floor director" (whoever he is, he's fantastic at his job) frantically moved hundreds of people, single file, across the arena to fill seats in camera view. Then he shuffled around some of the ringside crowd. During rest holds and between matches, I watched the floor crew closely. They operate like NASCAR pit crews and are spectacular at their jobs.

 

Not sure about this match order:

 

Main Event:

Kane vs One of the Shield guys - Schmoz ending, Usos save. Match set for SD, Usos vs Shield.

 

Sin Cara pinned Wade Barrett clean. Non-title. This was a surprise.

 

A guy beat Cody Rhodes in 3 minutes.

 

Smackdown:

 

Miz had a talk segment with Orton, Show, Del Rio, Henry, Swagger/Dutch, Sheamus. Teddy Long set the main event after this.

 

Two of the Shield def The Usos - Match was about 3 minutes. Kofi made the save, then Kofi cut a promo and the Usos tried to get a chant going.

 

Tensai/Brodus Clay def Prime Time Players - I like these Prime Time guys, Tons o Fun did nothing for me. Really, really short match.

 

Chris Jericho pinned Antonio Cesaro. Fandango jumped Jericho from behind but Jericho dispatched him with no problem.

 

The Miz def Damien Sandow - I dig the Sandow character.

 

Kaitlyn pinned Aksana - Not good.

 

Orton/Del Rio/Sheamus def Henry/Show/Swagger - Good finish. Del Rio was FIP for a long stretch. Mark Henry was one of the guys I most anticipated. It was good to see him but he did little in the match. Sheamus and Orton seemed to be super-over with this crowd. Show got a solid response due to his history with Wichita, but was booed by the kids.

Watching Raw and thinking: Is there anyone more over than Daniel Bryan right now? Crowd's into him from his entrance and is hot for everything he does in the match.

Watching Raw and thinking: Is there anyone more over than Daniel Bryan right now? Crowd's into him from his entrance and is hot for everything he does in the match.

He's over with the audience, but I'm not sure if he could be a draw, though I would hope he could be a draw. Bryan's segments lose viewers a lot, partly due to his dumb pairing with Kane (I think). When he was world champion, IIRC, Smackdown numbers shot up.

If Paul Heyman can make me give a shit about Michael McGillicutty he truly will be a miracle worker.

Yeah. That really let the air out of the room there.

If Paul Heyman can make me give a shit about Michael McGillicutty he truly will be a miracle worker.

 

His Mr. Perfect remix theme certainly will help, best WWE theme in a while.

Yeah. That really let the air out of the room there.

And given history, Triple H might just burst the balloon altogether. Thought McGuillity was improving on Superstars and NXT every month. But still couldn't talk at all so Heyman helps.

Routinely a week behind RAW, but I would be remiss not to mention that Fandango's outfit last week for the dance-off is best thing the WWE has done this year.

Last time I saw McGillicutty was on an episode of Saturday Morning Slam when he made it clear he was one of the only guys who actually understood what kind of style he should be working on SMS. This was a few months ago.

Curtis Axel is a terrible name.

Even Axel Curtis would be better.

Sounds like a perfect name for an artistic skater gimmick.

It looks like they are trying to make a star out of Big E. Langston, in that case he needs new ring gear that doesn't make him look goofy, and a new finisher that doesn't look like shit time and time again even with WWE's tricky bouncy camera work.

I like how Daniel Bryan's new working style/look is basically WWE Mark Briscoe

Well it took about 40 minutes but at least one of the McMahon's put over Axel saying that he is "good". Not much but before than Steph and "Paul" telling us that he is a nothing in the business

Any guesses where they are going with this storyline with Triple H? Seems like they are recognizing finally that pretty much no one gives a shit about the guy.

Any guesses where they are going with this storyline with Triple H? Seems like they are recognizing finally that pretty much no one gives a shit about th guy.

I don't understand. HHH had chants and a strong babyface reaction. The McMahon's did their best to draw that out by dick-teasing the crowd. Now, I'm no HHH fan, but I'm wondering why you think this.

 

On that note, I just want to say Daniel Bryan is an absolutely amazing performer, and the push he's getting is very, very modest. The Shield is totally brutal. Ryback did okay. He's just some big ogre who can be carried to a decent match. I'd take him over Sid. Curt Axel is alright; he has some presence, but it's hard to take him as a serious player. Randy Orton is the modern day Ted DiBiase - not terribly exciting but solidly competent. But tonight, he played his role perfectly without having to resort to a slow build. Albert del Rio is a better face than heel imo. He actually comes off as somewhat likeable, whereas as a heel, he had Jeff Jarrett go away heat. The Miz sucks.

Any guesses where they are going with this storyline with Triple H? Seems like they are recognizing finally that pretty much no one gives a shit about th guy.

I don't understand. HHH had chants and a strong babyface reaction. The McMahon's did their best to draw that out by dick-teasing the crowd. Now, I'm no HHH fan, but I'm wondering why you think this.

 

On that note, I just want to say Daniel Bryan is an absolutely amazing performer, and the push he's getting is very, very modest. The Shield is totally brutal. Ryback did okay. He's just some big ogre who can be carried to a decent match. I'd take him over Sid. Curt Axel is alright; he has some presence, but it's hard to take him as a serious player. Randy Orton is the modern day Ted DiBiase - not terribly exciting but solidly competent. But tonight, he played his role perfectly without having to resort to a slow build. Albert del Rio is a better face than heel imo. He actually comes off as somewhat likeable, whereas as a heel, he had Jeff Jarrett go away heat. The Miz sucks.

 

Triple H is in a weird place really. He is obviously very much so respected by the fans for being so strong for so long and being booked well for years. But when it comes down to Triple H vs anyone that the fans care about, people always turn on Triple H for that specific instance. Look at his program with Orton when Orton was punting all the McMahons, the fans cheered for Orton over Triple H and felt that Orton should have won that Mania match. Most recent example being against Brock where people just refused to buy Triple H as an underdog face and no-sold the whole angle. I mean, he gets great reactions when he's just talking or appearing in the arena, but when it comes to wrestling, it just seems like no one wants it.

Honestly, the trick is to do what Watts did in 84 and what Hunter actually did in 2006 and tie himself to a hot talent and just work tag matches.