Great opening segment with the core of the Women's Division.

Ronda apparently going to be on the show tonight

Cena is truly the GOAT. Made me want something undesirable and made me mad that I wasn't gonna get it.

I'm sure there was some chatter in the Elimination Chamber thread about Bray winning the World Title on last year's show, going nowhere right after that, and losing on this year's show to midcard Matt Hardy.

 

I wonder if this explains why his push has eroded. Either way, it's not a good look for him.

 

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-5391035/WWE-Bray-Wyatt-not-paying-wife-treating-JoJo-Offerman.html

Reigns cutting a money promo on Brock. Props to those in the back for taking things this direction.

I'm sure there was some chatter in the Elimination Chamber thread about Bray winning the World Title on last year's show, going nowhere right after that, and losing on this year's show to midcard Matt Hardy.

 

I wonder if this explains why his push has eroded. Either way, it's not a good look for him.

 

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-5391035/WWE-Bray-Wyatt-not-paying-wife-treating-JoJo-Offerman.html

 

Wyatt losing a feud or a match on PPV isn't something it would warrant a special reason. Most people were initially shocked he finally got something going last year, before going back to same ol' Bray booking.

The angle on SD when he was teaming up with Orton up until he won the Title as EC was some Good stuff. He became fodder for Orton and he was buried again. I don't think he'll ever get back up to the top on the card again.

Well, Ronda is so much better here that I'm actually thinking she worked us yesterday.

I thought the final segment on Raw should have had something more exciting then Triple H just hitting Angle. Like maybe a pedigree or a shot with the sledgehammer or something. I like Rhonda's facial expressions, and the way she looked during this segment. it felt believable that she was feeling something.

 

I wonder if John Cena will get a last minute match at Fastlane now to try to boost buys and network subscriptions on the final brand specific pay per view.

Ronda definitely looked better than last night at Elimination Chamber. Perhaps it was the nerves that got to her last night and that she was just overwhelmed with the whole thing with finally realizing her dream of being in WWE.

 

I legit was expecting someone to come out of the limo. They teased us before the last commercial break and nothing....If it were Triple H & Stephanie inside, couldn't they just have shown them getting out of the limo and walk inside the arena for the final segment? Stuff like that irritates me.

For a moment I thought The Rock was in that limo. Just odd that WWE never showed who it was.

 

Anyone think Cena vs Nakamura might happen at Fastlane? Will Taker come "home" to confront Cena?

I think they're hitting home runs with all of their key angles right now going into Mania and are going to be very successful. I don't know how Ronda will do post HHH/Stephanie feud but they're finally cashing in on the *years* of Authority running RAW and every week starting with a HHH/Steph promo and Steph so rarely selling for anyone. Makes it almost worthwhile.

I'm starting to dislike WM season. Exhibit A:

Every year, they "force" Trips out for a match, and every year, Steph accompanies him so they can play "bad boss" for the crowd. That would be great if they haven't been doing this in some form or fashion over the last 20 years.

I think they've milked this whole authority vs everyone else storyline so hard that the teat only has dust left to give. It's not fun, it's not interesting or innovative, it's just stupid, and that's how it comes off on TV.

This is why their audience shrinks. Inserting themselves as a "bad authority figure" into an angle with a bonafide celebrity has been done. Every. Single. Year.

Yeah, they'll draw some interest in the short term, but it's crap like this that just makes the product seem phony and contrived.

I want my wrestling back...

I normally would agree with you, but this is actually a sensible way to bring Rousey in, given her previous Wrestlemania exchange with Stephanie and the fact she's probably not ready to work a big-time title match. I'm not looking forward to six weeks of them building the angle, but the concept is fine.

Any thoughts about the limo shot last night? Did they opt not to show Hunter & Steph exiting the car or a subtle tease to be paid off next week or the following week?

I'm starting to dislike WM season. Exhibit A:

 

Every year, they "force" Trips out for a match, and every year, Steph accompanies him so they can play "bad boss" for the crowd. That would be great if they haven't been doing this in some form or fashion over the last 20 years.

 

I think they've milked this whole authority vs everyone else storyline so hard that the teat only has dust left to give. It's not fun, it's not interesting or innovative, it's just stupid, and that's how it comes off on TV.

 

This is why their audience shrinks. Inserting themselves as a "bad authority figure" into an angle with a bonafide celebrity has been done. Every. Single. Year.

 

Yeah, they'll draw some interest in the short term, but it's crap like this that just makes the product seem phony and contrived.

 

I want my wrestling back...

 

The SD main event is Styles vs Nakamura so they are trying to give you your wrestling while getting their mainstream press. Actually pretty clever. And Takeover the night before Mania based on track record has like a 99% chance of being a great straightforward wrestling show.

I think they're hitting home runs with all of their key angles right now going into Mania and are going to be very successful. I don't know how Ronda will do post HHH/Stephanie feud but they're finally cashing in on the *years* of Authority running RAW and every week starting with a HHH/Steph promo and Steph so rarely selling for anyone. Makes it almost worthwhile.

 

Storyline wise mania should be the final write off of the Authority. Makes sense and puts a capper on a 5 year storyline

That's the issue. If the rumors are correct and this is all about making Steph more of a star, we're going to be back to none of this mattering in three months.

agree on that. Steph making Raw a living hell for Ronda post mania does nothing for me. Old hat authority angle type stuff. Should be the start of a new era of television once and for all

It's almost as if wrestling storylines tend to repeat themselves constantly...

 

Although I do get the point that you need to shake things up in order to get some sort of variation. Austin was antagonized by Vince for years, yet it didn't felt as stale of a concept.

 

With HHH/Steph... they just don't have the same charisma that Vince does (which is quite impossible to achieve), and they don't tend to show ass the same way Vince did. Of course storylines suffer due to those reasons. Look how HHH being the Almighty Hunter hurt his feud with Roman.

 

If this Ronda/Steph program is a variation of Austin/Vince, I would be glad. Gimme Steph cowering in fear, or using every bullshit tactic possible, while making Ronda look like a badass killer.

 

 

Also: fucking LOL at SD having Naomi/Riot (I would be so fucking in for this match, but no given reason to care) and Sami Zayn vs Baron Corbin (just no reason to care)

They have me intrigued with how Cena going to SD is supposed to help him get to Mania.

I say enough (deserved) bad things about Stephy duirng the year, but with Mania coming up, I don't care, I wan't Warrior Trip and Dominatrix Stephy make a grand entrance on a fucking Conan the Barbarian throne carried by independant contractor NXT slaves. Then get their ass kick by Angle & Rousey.

It's almost as if wrestling storylines tend to repeat themselves constantly...

 

Although I do get the point that you need to shake things up in order to get some sort of variation. Austin was antagonized by Vince for years, yet it didn't felt as stale of a concept.

 

With HHH/Steph... they just don't have the same charisma that Vince does (which is quite impossible to achieve), and they don't tend to show ass the same way Vince did. Of course storylines suffer due to those reasons. Look how HHH being the Almighty Hunter hurt his feud with Roman.

 

If this Ronda/Steph program is a variation of Austin/Vince, I would be glad. Gimme Steph cowering in fear, or using every bullshit tactic possible, while making Ronda look like a badass killer.

 

 

Also: fucking LOL at SD having Naomi/Riot (I would be so fucking in for this match, but no given reason to care) and Sami Zayn vs Baron Corbin (just no reason to care)

 

in reality, Austin v Vince basically lasted less than 2 years. It most certainly would have gone on longer if Steve doesn't get injured but it didn't last as long as we remembered

I say enough (deserved) bad things about Stephy duirng the year, but with Mania coming up, I don't care, I wan't Warrior Trip and Dominatrix Stephy make a grand entrance on a fucking Conan the Barbarian throne carried by independant contractor NXT slaves. Then get their ass kick by Angle & Rousey.

I want an elaborate HHH MMA entrance with the train of seconds and whatever.

They have me intrigued with how Cena going to SD is supposed to help him get to Mania.

Match vs Nak at Fastlane, perhaps.