The post-Ryback Era begins!

How was the set up to the handicap match, got to say without watching that it deflates some interest for me on a surface level.

Ooops "WWF"...shows you where my heart is

Rusev rules, Cesaro rules, everyone involved in the main event of that is a really good wrestler.

 

That said, they took a guy in Cesaro who was VERY over in that building, put him in a US title match with an over heel. Have a very much not over heel cost the over face his title match. All so a face who the crowd hates can run in and cheap shot said heel after the heel worked a hard match.

 

I'm not sure what was really gained in that main event other then "Man, can Rusev and Cesaro wrestle some more?"

dean just said brock wasn't willing to play ball with their match

The Ambrose interview with Austin fucking ruled.

Austin going back Tough Enough Steve on that interview was awesome.

I loved the way Dean completely buried the fuck out of Lesnar for being such a lazy prick. I'm so over Brock and his over-inflated push. I'm actually rooting for Randy Orton to win their match, even though I know that's bad, because Orton is the absolute worst candidate to be the one who finally goes over Lesnar.

 

Austin blindsiding Dean at the end was a bit weird, but Dean handled himself very well and reacted like a pro, even though he was obviously taken aback.

The fact that there were lots and lots of awkward pauses and uncomfortable moments is why the interview was fantastic. During the beginning it was very uncomfortable until Dean finally basically said he was getting fucked up alot when he was a teenager.

And I don't think Austin blindsided him with anything . That final bit was Austin telling him that if Dean wants to stay on top he's got to follow his example, now that he has the power to do so. It was Austin wanting Ambrose to be Austin.

Maybe Brock knew he wanted to fight in UFC and didn't want to injure himself in a hard match.

 

Or Dean at that point had been buried so much by the company, it made no sense to give him a competitive match and Brock was just protecting his gimmick.

I don't know what all Brock supposedly refused to do but if it involved going into really hardcore territory, Brock doesn't seem the type who is going to agree to take a bump on thumbtacks. And I don't blame him either.

He still remembers "This will be Your Wrestlemaina moment" landing on his head doing a shooting star press.

 

So I doubt he's going to destroy his body, doing the type of match Dean wanted him to do.

I didn't mind Raw so much this week, but man...that three hours can be a chore to get through. I know it will never happen, but I really wish they would go back to two hours.

 

I can't believe how hot Enzo and Cass have become in such a short time. I wonder if it's true that they are moving tons of merchandise. Based on the crowd, it seems they are. I hope they are allowed to have a good run before they get broken up for Cass's inevitable singles push. Since the company is going with The Club vs. New Day for the titles, I am glad Enzo and Cass are working with Jericho and Owens at Summerslam. The mic work in this rivalry has been fun so far, especially the interplay between Jericho and Owens. I have to admit I always end up laughing my butt off when Jericho does this new routine where he tells an obvious lie and then can't back it up with any details and he gets all shifty eyed.

 

Ugh...Foley is so played as an on screen character at this point. He was gone for so long, yet not long enough. And back in the day, I used to love that guy. Now he just makes me half sad, half bored, with a side order of mildly irritated.

 

Hooray for the continued Strowman squash matches.

 

I have come around on Seth Rollins when it comes to his mic work. He actually comes across as convincing to me, but that promo he cut tonight still seemed pointless and boring.

 

Will the Cesaro/Seamus rivalry ever end? Will Seamus ever be enjoyable to watch? All signs point to no.

 

Seriously? A post wedding celebration with like...three cakes in the ring? Well I for one did NOT see Lana getting pushed into that cake, because that has never ever happened in wrestling before. A better question would be, has there ever been a cake on television that did NOT end up in somebody's face? I'm all for Reigns and Rusev for the U.S. title, but this was just stupid beyond the realm of stupid.

 

I don't care what anybody says, I like the Dudleys, I was glad they were on RAW, but I was sad to see them job to a thrown together team like Neville and Sin Cara, especially since Sin Cara looked unimpressive to me during that match.

 

Everything else on the show was pretty much just there, to me.

 

As far as the Ambrose interview...

 

Every time I see one of these things, as soon as somebody says or does something that comes across as legit, some fans always react with "that was a work you got worked lol."

 

With this interview, I dunno.

 

First off, if I didn't know better I would have sworn that Ambrose was taking the marijuana pills or something, because he was sitting there with his eyelids drooping and acting all mellow to the point where Austin kind of called him out on it. I guess Ambrose likes to keep a "chill vibe." Okay...but you do know you're giving an interview that a ton of people are going to be watching...right?

 

Secondly, was it just me or was getting any details or exposition out of Ambrose about his life before wrestling kind of like pulling teeth? He was being so damn vague it was kind of annoying, really.

 

Also, I have to admit that I have a pet peeve with people who basically brag about their lack of education while implying that they were smarter than their teachers, didn't need to learn, could have achieved straight A's if they wanted to, but didn't want to end up with dead end jobs like their teachers. You can tell from listening to Ambrose that, while he may have street smarts, it probably wouldn't have killed him to pick up a book. He might be as smart as he apparently thinks he is, but I doubt that. I don't understand people who gleefully brag about their lack of education or worse - their lack of desire for an education. He talked later about how kids look up to him now, he might have remained mindful of that fact when bragging about how he dropped out of school. But whatever, not a huge thing.

 

The interview kind of picked up from there...although it seemed a bit uncomfortable when Ambrose claimed he never quit the business to work in a health club and asked Austin if he was getting his information from the internet?! Awkward.

 

I found it very interesting that he claims he can't remember scripted promos so at this point Vince lets him say what he wants. Especially if you look at the promo he cut on Ziggler last week on Smackdown, it was some of the best mic work I have ever seen out of either guy. You have to wonder how scripted it was, and if it wasn't, would somebody backstage clue into the fact that sometimes promos are better when they aren't written out ahead of time?

 

Also found it interesting that he was okay with The Shield being broken up when they were, since they were on top and hadn't gotten stale. Interesting perspective.

 

I'd love to know what the producer he was talking about said to him, and what agent it was. On my feed, the whole thing got beeped out on the time delay, so he must have said something they didn't want out there.

 

To me though, the jewel of this interview was his statements about Lesnar. This is where I think he was being honest, but I am sure there are those who will claim it was a work. He basically admits their match at Wrestlemania wasn't as good as it could have been because Brock is Brock...and that he's lazy? GOLD. I was so happy to hear him say that, and I hope he doesn't get heat for it. It just confirms what so many people suspect, and what Brock has basically confirmed, it's just a job that he wants to do with the minimum amount of effort.

 

The vibe between Austin and Ambrose at the end seemed really weird to me, but I'm interested in seeing what other people thought of the interview.

Re: three hours - even when these shows are good these are tough to get through since we are STILL using the same pairings of guys. They need to get this cruiserweight division off the ground yesterday to add some variety.

 

I really like the chemistry between Foley and Bryan. On paper, you would think these guys would be best friends but it turns out they're so similar they annoy the hell out of each other. Babyfaces that can't stand each other is a dynamic they've never really done, it's refreshing.

 

I don't care what anyone says Braun Strowman is awesome.

It was pretty obvious to me when I watched it that Brock half assed the Mania match. He bailed out on what little offense Ambrose got. He was probably thinking don't get hurt before my huge UFC payday, but it was a shitty thing to do to Ambrose. Fuck Brock I hope they job him out.

Three hours watching with commercials is almost impossible to watch weekly. Hulu is probably the easier way to watch Raw, but maybe the version downloaded or DVR'd and fast forwarding might work too.

The best part of the wedding deal was Lana in the background trying fruitlessly to ge the tiara out of her cake encrusted hair while Rusev was yelling at Foley. The comic timing those two had was great.

The gimmick of Eva Marie never actually wrestling a match is one of the best parts of Smackdown Live.

Never mind that, the idea that they would do an angle that Rosa Mendes of all people thought of (on Total Divas) is even more incredible. Although she wanted to do the "wardrobe malfunction" gimmick in a match not as a way to get out of a match.

For all the complaints about Brock being selfish and uncooperative, it's worth remembering that WWE (apparently) double-crossed him with the end of the first Cena match.

For all the complaints about Brock being selfish and uncooperative, it's worth remembering that WWE (apparently) double-crossed him with the end of the first Cena match.

Pardon?

The plan was for Cena to win but be beaten so badly that he would have to be carried out, allowing Brock to claim that he was the moral victor. Instead, Cena cut that weird promo after the match.

There's no reason in either kayfabe or real life why Brock should have done anything more than he did with Dean. The guy was pushed as a borderline comedy geek who lost all his PPV matches, why would Brock be portrayed anywhere close to equal with him.

Other than Brock doesn't get hurt by making Dean look good and making Ambrose look good benefits the company by having more credible stars the fans take seriously. Plus they made the comedy geek loser the Champ a few months later and the fans didn't seem to mind