What?!?!?! The Payback finish was easily the best finish of the year in terms of perfect comeuppance with my only complaint being that it was not on a bigger show. The Giant Swing is a hot dog movement. Cesaro is a cocky strongman who decided to show off rather than finish off his opponent with a real move. BOOM! Sheamus made him pay. That is classic example of the hero making a villain pay for his hubris.

 

I have no idea how that finish "buried the fuck out of" Cesaro. He lost a big match by getting cocky. It has happened to millions of heels that did fine afterwards. It is all how you present the aftermath and it was the aftermath that fucked Cesaro because they decided to do nothing with him because God Forbid the WWE have more than 2-3 storylines a month.

 

Because, while the Giant Swing may be that kind of move in your mind, it has never actually been presented that way on WWE TV.

 

With that said, it would be foolish to blame that finish solely for Cesaro's decline. Of course not. It didn't help though.

I'm not expecting a five star classic, but I fully expect Steph to do her damnedest to have the female version of her dad's matches where there's enough smoke and mirrors for it to be decent.

 

Of course it could also end up being the female version of a HHH match where she ends up booking something beyond the capacity of her opponent and it's a disaster.

There's actually some hopeful precedent. Recall the shockingly great Steph/Trish match from NWO 2001.

That was an odd match to say the least. I am not sure WHO the face was but Steph took easily 95% of that match in offense then pinned Trish with interference. The night after and week after that were two of the most disgusting things WWF had done to that point. That marked the end of my real passion for it, seeing that even with Russo gone, the misogyny he and Heyman brought to wrestling were here to stay.

Gosh, Summerslam looks terrible.

Summerslam's been one of the best promoted shows they've done in months. Every match from top to bottom has reason to exist, and Brock being awesome in PURE SPORTS BUILD~! videos. People seem to be miffed that the Steph/Brie match is getting pushed as #2 on the card, but considering it's a continuation of the Authority vs Bryan feud it kind of should be. It comes off a lot of times like people being all "He-Man Wimmin Haters Club" that a women's match is getting a serious push.

I'm glad a woman's feud is getting a lot of play, but Brie Bella is terrible, and I don't see why this is a bigger deal that Reigns/Orton or Ambrose/Rollins, given the implications on the future those two could potentially have. Ultimately it's all on Cena and Brock to draw.

 

On a side note with regards to the how to push Del Rio, I remember in particular his smiling "I was born in Mexico, but I was made in America" promo sticking out like a sore thumb on how not to push him to the Mexican audience.

Gosh, Summerslam looks terrible.

I thought it's one of the better looking cards they've had in a while. When Jericho-Wyatt looks like the worst match on the show, tha'ts not terrible.

It's a good card but I wish they had a tag title match on there to mix things up instead of only singles matches.

I'm glad a woman's feud is getting a lot of play, but Brie Bella is terrible, and I don't see why this is a bigger deal that Reigns/Orton or Ambrose/Rollins, given the implications on the future those two could potentially have. Ultimately it's all on Cena and Brock to draw.

 

On a side note with regards to the how to push Del Rio, I remember in particular his smiling "I was born in Mexico, but I was made in America" promo sticking out like a sore thumb on how not to push him to the Mexican audience.

I went to the Raw in Austin with my friend and his girlfriend. We went because his girlfriend is a huge Total Divas fan. She 's a huge Brie fan. So it 's possible Total Divas is getting fans of that show to test out the wrestling product.

I'm assuming they are shooting tons of Total Divas footage right now and that this will be a major part of the next season.

I wonder if they are hesitant to have Nikki turn on Brie because it messes up the internal logic of Total Divas. But I assume the majority of season 3 has already been filmed so it might not matter. Still think there is a big shot it goes down on Sunday

is Brie back full time? I thought she was leaving to go start a family with Bryan and was under the impression she only came back for this match because it was such a slam dunk angle.

 

If Brie is actually leaving or taking time off after this then I could see her leaving Total Divas as well and a Nikki turn on Brie wouldn't have to really even be acknowledged much on Total Divas.

How long is that Total Divas show even going to last?

Hasn't the Brie/Stephanie storyline been a ratings albatross?

Hasn't the Brie/Stephanie storyline been a ratings albatross?

 

The third hour of RAW usually dips no matter what is on.

 

I'm glad a woman's feud is getting a lot of play, but Brie Bella is terrible, and I don't see why this is a bigger deal that Reigns/Orton or Ambrose/Rollins, given the implications on the future those two could potentially have. Ultimately it's all on Cena and Brock to draw.

 

On a side note with regards to the how to push Del Rio, I remember in particular his smiling "I was born in Mexico, but I was made in America" promo sticking out like a sore thumb on how not to push him to the Mexican audience.

I went to the Raw in Austin with my friend and his girlfriend. We went because his girlfriend is a huge Total Divas fan. She 's a huge Brie fan. So it 's possible Total Divas is getting fans of that show to test out the wrestling product.

 

My wife's cousin and her husband went to a house show with a group of friends because of Total Divas. I was pretty shocked to hear that. Her dad had watched some when she was growing up, but she was definitely not a fan. They said they had a blast. Loved seeing Big Show and doing the Yes! chants (it was a few months ago, before Bryan was out).

 

Hasn't the Brie/Stephanie storyline been a ratings albatross?

 

The third hour of RAW usually dips no matter what is on.

 

 

Sure, but the drop has been even more pronounced in recent weeks.

I know wrestling is in it's own bubble and everything, but I can't help but feel Robin Williams' death will make tonight's Raw feel a little awkward for a lot of people watching it.

Why?

I don't know about awkward but it certainly bummed me out

Well, yeah, it sucks but I don't see how it's going to make watching RAW awkward.

Maybe because of the celebratory nature of the Hogan birthday stuff?

 

But I don't know... Wrestling is in its own world.

 

What?!?!?! The Payback finish was easily the best finish of the year in terms of perfect comeuppance with my only complaint being that it was not on a bigger show. The Giant Swing is a hot dog movement. Cesaro is a cocky strongman who decided to show off rather than finish off his opponent with a real move. BOOM! Sheamus made him pay. That is classic example of the hero making a villain pay for his hubris.

 

I have no idea how that finish "buried the fuck out of" Cesaro. He lost a big match by getting cocky. It has happened to millions of heels that did fine afterwards. It is all how you present the aftermath and it was the aftermath that fucked Cesaro because they decided to do nothing with him because God Forbid the WWE have more than 2-3 storylines a month.

 

Because, while the Giant Swing may be that kind of move in your mind, it has never actually been presented that way on WWE TV.

 

With that said, it would be foolish to blame that finish solely for Cesaro's decline. Of course not. It didn't help though.

 

Actually, it's been presented that way and nothing more. The announcers play up how he strong he is for doing it, not questioning if it's going to put his opponent away. He got caught showing off and paid for it. It was a perfectly fine finish if they followed up with actually continuing the feud.

Oh FFS, they're going to do their own Claire Lynch angle with Daniel Bryan's therapist.