God damn Shawn was fantastic in that segment.  They actually made me care about Dolph/Miz again

I'd like to say that this episode has been rocking. The pace is really good.

Well this show has absolutely smoked .Raw from last night in every way

Seeing Nakamura go strong is great. Also intrigued by KO vs Reigns although I’m sure they’ll bait and switch it somehow. 

Speaking of, where is Bryan this week?

They really don’t give a shit about the women’s division at the moment do they. 

Is it true that Eric is a mark for Ziggler?

Just now, Badlittlekitten said:

They really don’t give a shit about the women’s division at the moment do they. 

I'd see this previous segment with good eyes. They still have a proper Charlotte vs Ember match to do, which is very fresh, and they made Ember look strong as shit. People still care about her!

3 minutes ago, FMKK said:

Is it true that Eric is a mark for Ziggler?

He's said several times on his show that he's a big fan. Yeah can't be a coincidence he's getting pushed again 

5 minutes ago, FMKK said:

Is it true that Eric is a mark for Ziggler?

Well at least there is one

CONTINUITYYYYYYYYYY

Damn, they've actually made me care about a Randy Orton feud.

Wait was Cole at the commentary desk the entire time today? Holy shit

Oh shit I completely missed that Byron's father passed away. Sad news.

KO/Roman are Austin/Rock and somehow it's working.

Of course there's no follow through on Bryan. Sigh.

12 minutes ago, SmartMark15 said:

Of course there's no follow through on Bryan. Sigh.

I sat through last week's show and after seeing the bait and switch they did, specially after that awesome promo post-Extreme Rules, I gave up on them having any sort of plan or angle for him.

They'll probably come up with something on a random Tuesday afternoon and Bryan will make it work, but I'll wait to read what's going on and then check it out on dailymotion or something. He's the only thing that keeps me watching WWE for the most part but he's just not a priority right now so fuck it.

16 minutes ago, Jmare007 said:

I sat through last week's show and after seeing the bait and switch they did, specially after that awesome promo post-Extreme Rules, I gave up on them having any sort of plan or angle for him.

I am convinced that Bryan was responsible for that pop in ratings last week as well as of course the intrigue about Bischoff supposedly starting on the show. But I'm a Bryan mark so don't take my word for it.

My hunch that Ziggler was taking a Goldberg shot is undeniable now. Ziggler is a tool. 

The geek Seth-DX segment on RAW was reportedly supposed to be for Ricochet, apparently according to the Meltz, but he couldn't get cleared because of an elbow infection.

https://www.cagesideseats.com/wwe/2019/7/23/20707264/ricochet-not-cleared-raw-reunion-seth-rollins-replaced-oc-dx

1 minute ago, jiraffejustin said:

My hunch that Ziggler was taking a Goldberg shot is undeniable now. Ziggler is a tool. 

Yeah, assuming you were who I debated this with last week, I was thinking of you this week when he said that.

I'd guess it's probably more of Vince speaking through Ziggler though.

Either way, it's a bad look. Only one of them between Goldberg and Ziggler is a real star, and it isn't Ziggler.

 

Xavier Woods completely marking out for HBK's entrance during the Miz TV segment was great. Not to mention the New Day was better on commentary than any of the usual folks who do it. 

Xavier was also particularly good in the Apollo vs Nakamura match. His genuine excitement added so much to the atmosphere of this match. Apollo looked really good tonight and I hope he's someone that Bischoff will keep an eye on during his transition process.

https://www.postwrestling.com/2019/07/24/trish-stratus-set-for-summerslam-match-in-toronto/

Looks like they're doing Charlotte vs Trish

Man, that is a rough SummerSlam card. 100% skipping the show this year. Good God.

• Orton/Kofi
• Seth/Lesnar
• Charlotte/Trish
• Bayley/Ember
• Shane/KO
• Finn/Bray
• Becky/Nattie

There are probably 4 more matches to be announced. It isn't the most appealing of cards, but that's usually when WWE deliver things the most.

I'll probably be in the minority, but Trish/Charlotte is one of the few matches I'm looking forward to. At least its something we haven't seen before.

I'm also somewhat eager to see Orton do the job for Kofi. 

Bayley/Ember will probably get under 10 minutes, but that may not be a bad thing. Again, I'm probably in the minority but I'm still a Bayley fan.

And, maybe I'm just being super optimistic, but I think Lesnar is leaving with the title and because he generally doesn't win in screwy fashion, him beating Seth clean is going to be really, really pleasing in a schadenfreude sense. Like, I just love Rollins claiming to be the Best Wrestler Alive, arguing that the fans are disrespectful when they criticize the WWE's writing/booking, and talking about how Ambrose "took food of my table" only for him to lose here and know that, like Reigns and Ambrose had to (sadly) find out, this is Brock's company until he decides he doesn't want it anymore and Vince is perfectly happy with that. I'm also just a Lesnar fan.

21 hours ago, FMKK said:

Is it true that Eric is a mark for Ziggler?

Just on this week's episode of his podcast, Eric poured a little praise on Dolph and compared him to Kurt Angle - a guy he considers excellent both in the ring & in character-driven segments.

Bischoff noted that Ziggler is believable as a skilled high-caliber athlete (via the real life credentials), while also having great range as a character.

Personally, I don't see any of that in Dolph. Dude has gotten over at times, but he's always been VERY hit or miss.

I'm never convinced he's any kind of precise killer in the ring, despite his actual accolades. Furthermore, they fail to ever really play into that crucial part of his history anyway. It's like that aspect doesn't exist when it comes to his character - except for when they might want it to.

His comedy is awful. He doesn't even touch early 2000s Kurt in that category. Same can be said for his intensity.

Both guys bump like madmen and have issues with long-term selling, but meh. I'm not as big a stickler on that stuff as some of you. A fun match is still a fun match for me, so yeah.

I guess I can sort of see Bischoff's point - in a, "if you squint your eyes and tilt your head to the side really far" type of way. And, on paper, I guess I can see why someone would draw the comparison. But come on. Nahhh.