Cena/Cesaro with a hell of a match on Raw.

 

But the big news is our own Graham Cawthon made the bottom scroll on Raw with one of his tweets!

Since it seems like the office has given up on Rosa Mendes, is Summer Rae going to take her place as the diva that gets randomly paired up with wrestlers only to vanish for months at a time yet still remains "mysteriously" employed? She was probably the worst participant in that legendarily bad Divas match at Survivor Series and has been a non-entity until this Rusev angle (I have to assume they noticed how awful she was being the reasoning behind that.) I'm guessing this pairing lasts through the PPV before she gets banished to Superstars again.

Man they are really pushing Rollins hard here the last few weeks to get people to believe he has a shot against Brock

Since it seems like the office has given up on Rosa Mendes, is Summer Rae going to take her place as the diva that gets randomly paired up with wrestlers only to vanish for months at a time yet still remains "mysteriously" employed? She was probably the worst participant in that legendarily bad Divas match at Survivor Series and has been a non-entity until this Rusev angle (I have to assume they noticed how awful she was being the reasoning behind that.) I'm guessing this pairing lasts through the PPV before she gets banished to Superstars again.

 

 

Not that it disproves anything you said but Rosa is with Adam Rose now.

Also, man is it disheartening to see Lana go from Ice Queen in charge of the monster Rusev to being reduced to the middle of a property dispute and catfighing with Summer Rae.

I know, but Adam Rose is pretty much a non-entity. When she was paired up with Fandango, they at least gave him a small 3 week push.

I don't hate the angle actually ( well at the beginning at least, Lana and .Rusev had some good verbal exchanges when it started) but Lana as a babyface just isn't working. Crowd isnt buying it or anything with Dolph. She will be heel again by Fall

Also no HHH or Steph tonight. The number will be terrible and they'll be in 14 segments next week

So it looks like the Code Red is here to stay.

Cena randomly adds new moves before he stops using them after a few months. It'll probably go the way of that goofy half-nelson neckbreaker, the Throwback, the top rope splash, the monkey flip etc. That or when he gets dropped on his head attempting to do it to Neville.

How long have the commentators used phrases like "match of the year candidate"? Don't recall hearing that sort of talk before.

Cena randomly adds new moves before he stops using them after a few months. It'll probably go the way of that goofy half-nelson neckbreaker, the Throwback, the top rope splash, the monkey flip etc. That or when he gets dropped on his head attempting to do it to Neville.

 

He did use the monkey flip last night, though.

I'm hoping it goes the way of the Cenarana, in that he used that a couple times for the coolness and then put it back in the vault for emergencies.

 

Also, the first Code Red was on PPV so I think this was a chance to show it off to a wider audience.

Also no HHH or Steph tonight. The number will be terrible and they'll be in 14 segments next week

the funny thing is that the weeks that I find myself thinking "this show is pretty decent" always end up having the worst ratings lol.

 

Cena/Cesaro and the main event were a blast. Reigns is really on fire right now.

 

Also no HHH or Steph tonight. The number will be terrible and they'll be in 14 segments next week

the funny thing is that the weeks that I find myself thinking "this show is pretty decent" always end up having the worst ratings lol.

 

There was a different recent RAW that was really fun on a night when HHH/Steph weren't there - I had to dig back through results to find it, but it was the May 4th show from Montreal that had Cena-Zayn I, lots of New Day stuff, Sheamus/Barrett tagging, Fandango appearance, good Rusev-Lana segment, etc. I even wrote here that night that I'll be curious to see the rating of an Authority-free show. It did the lowest non-holiday non-football viewership since 1997. This week's number was even worse.

 

I've become a broken record on this topic, but: I do think it's a misnomer to say that these ratings plunges = fans wanting all Authority all the time. Casual viewers flipping channels want to see stars and exciting TV, and view the McMahons as familiar faces from "back when wrestling was good". They likewise aren't eager to watch three bland hours just to learn more about these young whippersnappers Rogan Reams and Brave Whitney.

So basically its come to WWE booking for lapsed fans who stumble on Raw while randomly flipping through the channels. You know, if all they care about is high ratings they should scrap production of new episodes and just air re-runs from the late 90s.

Wrestlemania cards for the past few years have been purely nostalgia-driven because they don't know how to book compelling top guys anymore. Makes sense that the ratings would drop when the one top guy they do push is doing a Triple H 2002 tribute act. Right when the ratings plummeted last time. Rollins may be the least compelling guy on the roster.

Listen, Rollins can do a Phoenix Splash so he's automatically at minimum a top three worker on the roster.

Listen, Rollins can do a Phoenix Splash so he's automatically at minimum a top three worker on the roster.

Exactly. I can't believe anyone would even question it. He can do SO many more moves than some scrub like Roman Reigns.

it's paper thin and made of swiss cheese but Lana, Rusev, Dolph and Summer are all trying their damnest to get this storyline over on twitter. Especially Lana and Rusev

Everyone is talking like this is supposed to set up Lana as the next Sable, and I guess Rusev is meant to be Mero.

 

I think that's being WAY too generous to the angle they've chosen to run here.

 

I'm getting more of a Dolph as "Val Venis" vibe here, with him stealing the girl and having her mentioning his "stamina and athleticism" and all that PG code talk for secksee sex.

 

So I guess that'd make Rusev the reformed Bible-thumping Dustin Rhodes, and Lana is pre-Pretty Mean Sister Marlena. Terri Runnels. Whatever.

 

...

 

Yeah. I think that's more accurate of what I'd expect from this angle by the time it's all tied up.

 

Such a shame, too. I loved the original portrayal of Lana as the ice queen that could command Rusev to crush at the drop of a hat. She was practically second only to Stephanie McMahon as one of those almost untouchable non-wrestlers that felt above things like these stupid catfights and your typical throwaway divas matches. That's no longer the case.

 

If they really wanted to make a couple of stars out of this act, they should've gone the classic route by keeping Lana & Rusev together through thick & thin. Then, when they wanted to do the switch, bring Rusev along for the ride. Have someone threaten physical harm to Lana for the VERY FIRST time... and Rusev snaps. Boom. Ready-made babyface. You show Rusev has a heart... with human qualities & traits. You explore the idea of them having feelings for each other - beyond just business - for the very first time.

 

But nah. That whole Macho Man-Liz thing never did much for business, right? Crazy concept, I know.

The internet told me that Nakamura and Okada had try outs

They were wrong.

They were wrong.

And even if they were right, they couldn't appear/sign for 6 or 18 months.

So.... anybody else planning on watching the Japan show live? Actually managed to get a few friends to come over get drunk and watch some mid south angles until 5:30 am. We'll see if we make it