3 hours ago, KawadaSmile said:

I guess there's no point revealing everything in one go. As an audience, we know there's a group around doing crazy shit. So far it's been a mostly harmless, sub-Gremlins level of trouble, but it's still there. We just don't know who they are and why they are doing all this.

I wouldn't call poisoning Montez Ford "mostly harmless" (c'mon, we all know that Zelina and her boys had nothing to do with it, that's clearly gonna be connected to that group).

Either way, maybe they went a bit overboard with the glitches and incidents tonight in regards to that group. Knowing that they aren't revealing their identities in the foreseeable future, why not just spread it out; back to the Montez poisoning, imagine if that happens only days before the title defense against Andrade & Angel Garza. That just adds another layer to the story between both teams.

Why are people treating this whole Raw Underground stuff like anything other than some more "cinematic shit" ? Because it is, really. Except it's directed the same godawful way any WWE show is (seriously, I have no idea how you people manage, when you don't watch that stuff regularly, even three minutes of this "directing" is impossible to watch). But hey, WWE's got their hands on pop culture, Fight Club was big in 1999, during the Attitude Era.

I was hoping it was going to actually be some type of shoot style stuff... I don't know why I hoped for that. In hindsight, I really should have known better. 

17 hours ago, KawadaSmile said:

Yeah, dunno what happened to the Bucks during clutch time. There were three straight possessions were they just shut down. A 5 point lead turned into a 2 point deficit in less than one minute, it was wild.

Shame, tho. Brook Lopez was bullying his way into the paint pretty easily. Choked their way into an L.

 

I still don't get how a 5 man unit of relative midgets chucking up 60 3's is supposed to fare well in a 7 game series against a team with size that can also shoot.  Its maddening.  Bring me Lakers/Clips and winners vs. Bucks.  LET'S DO THIS.

I'm with you El-P, I am really blown away that this RAW Underground shit has any supporters or even wishful thinkers.  

I'm all for squash matches - always have been - so seeing Dabba-kato wreck a couple jobbers was fine. As a way to introduce a new character? Sure. Do 5-6 vignettes like that. Cool. 

But seeing Dolph Ziggler and Erik pretend to shootfight, doing 15-second "squashes" that end in random ways, while a vague trap beat plays in the background and Shane hoots and hollers is just not something I'm going to tune in to see week-after-week. There's not enough there as a concept. 

Even if you look at that last segment - The Hurt Business destroying extras for 5 minutes - it's a pretty shallow idea for a segment. 

I give it 3 - maybe 4 - weeks. 

1 hour ago, DMJ said:

seeing Dolph Ziggler pretend to shootfight,

Well... As much as I think Dolph is wack as fuck, he is actually a legit wrestler. That's like the one thing he has going for him, and it's a shame they didn't go that route more often, instead opting for him cosplaying as HBK.

I'm well-aware of Ziggler's amateur background - the WWE has made sure to make that clear for years and, as a Clevelander, I'm doubly aware of Kent State's wrestling legacy - but what he did last night was a pretend shootfight. It was not actual competitive MMA.  It wasn't even sparring. 

In none of the beatdowns we saw (and, really, that's what they were - they certainly weren't actual fights) did we see anything impressive or stiff either. As inhumane/unprofessional/dangerous as it was, to me, seeing Vader or Scott Steiner or Sid nearly hospitalize some jobber by hitting them with stiff shots and powerbombing them recklessly all over the ring was way more effective and (yes, admittedly) entertaining than RAW Underground.

As a backdrop for vignettes for Dabba-kato, it would've been fine and maybe a cool throwback. I'm thinking like the vignettes for Skinner or Kamala, but with Dabba-kato'S background being that Shane McMahon discovered him at an illegal kumite. There would've been built-in storylines for why Shane would bring him in (to take out Owens, to take out McIntyre) after he'd proved himself by destroying jobbers. 

But as a new concept for multiple segments? Its just a poor concept and that's before we even get to the execution of it. 

Everyone counting the camera cuts during the Underground segments made me realize Kevin Dunn must sound like a god damn auctioneer calling out all the directions over the headset.

9 hours ago, WingedEagle said:

I still don't get how a 5 man unit of relative midgets chucking up 60 3's is supposed to fare well in a 7 game series against a team with size that can also shoot.  Its maddening.  Bring me Lakers/Clips and winners vs. Bucks.  LET'S DO THIS.

Clips better hope their injury scene improves soon. They are looking out of sorts since the restart

I don't watch this garbage anymore but God bless you guys for sticking with it. I thought I was a die-hard fan for trying to keep up with it for 30 years, but you guys. Y'all are the true believers.

A friend showed me a clip of the Fight Club soft reboot thing they're doing. Christ. Just sell this company or something already. It's scraps at best. This junk makes 1995 look like the good old days.

I can't even imagine what motivates y'all to keep up with it. Honestly. Nothing leads to anything. Nothing develops. There are no stories. No narratives. I don't care what you come up with in your own mind to try to connect dots that aren't even there. It's all irrelevant. Nothing they do matters. Nobody on their shows matter. No one knows these people or what they're doing.

Pro wrestling is DONE for now. Crowds ARE essential. This cinematic experiment bullshit is a massive misfire. I love pro wrestling like nobody's business, but THIS is not that anymore.

I realize I probably sound butthurt or bitter, but far from it. I'm genuinely in awe that people would still devote time and effort to this stuff. I don't know how or WHY anyone on earth would actively want to make THIS a part of their free time, especially when there are so many better alternatives out there.

12 minutes ago, SomethingSavage said:

 

I can't even imagine what motivates y'all to keep up with it. Honestly. Nothing leads to anything. Nothing develops. There are no stories. No narratives. I don't care what you come up with in your own mind to try to connect dots that aren't even there.

Oh boy would you love r/squaredcircle and their Bray Wyatt theories 

12 hours ago, El-P said:

Why are people treating this whole Raw Underground stuff like anything other than some more "cinematic shit" ? Because it is, really. Except it's directed the same godawful way any WWE show is (seriously, I have no idea how you people manage, when you don't watch that stuff regularly, even three minutes of this "directing" is impossible to watch). But hey, WWE's got their hands on pop culture, Fight Club was big in 1999, during the Attitude Era.

I felt like it was them trying to tap into some of the fun that made Lucha Underground look & feel different... only them completely missing the point. 

"Y'know what would make this cool? SHANE McMAHON!"

Like when they named Stephanie McMahon the person in charge of ECW. 

Just another thing that feels out of touch. 

I really liked when AEW did that weird segment with Lance Archer beating up a bunch of guys in some backwood while Jake looked on. I thought that looked slick and was cool and didn't need it to be an ongoing thing. This wasn't as good as that segment.

Also, they are using Ron Simmons for bullshit. Why not use him in the Shane role? Have these guys fighting in shoot fights with Simmons barking at them the whole time, that could actually be good.

1 hour ago, MoS said:

Oh boy would you love r/squaredcircle and their Bray Wyatt theories 

I genuinely don't understand the love the squaredcircle has for The Fiend character. I know people are generally down on Seth, but it's amazing to me that squaredcircle shat all over him for their feud while Bray got away scot-free, when it's been said that Bray Wyatt has a degree of creative control over his character.

Can't wait to see Vince's version of antifa 

11 minutes ago, Coffey said:

"Y'know what would make this cool? SHANE McMAHON!"

While I do agree with your point, I do feel that a white, uncool dude owning some shady MMA promotion is pretty realistic. I mean, Dana White ain't exactly cool...

Just now, KawadaSmile said:

While I do agree with your point, I do feel that a white, uncool dude owning some shady MMA promotion is pretty realistic. I mean, Dana White ain't exactly cool...

Also I completely believe this is something Shane would want to do IRL.

46 minutes ago, kas said:

I genuinely don't understand the love the squaredcircle has for The Fiend character. I know people are generally down on Seth, but it's amazing to me that squaredcircle shat all over him for their feud while Bray got away scot-free, when it's been said that Bray Wyatt has a degree of creative control over his character.

It took them YEARS to finally stop praising Seth and see him for the hack fraud he is. Don't expect Bray Wyatt to lose his popularity there anytime soon.

Bray at least has a cool mask (I am an unabashed Tom Savini mark and will hear no argument on this), Seth has no redeeming qualities whatsover.

 

Also per Dave it looks like Austin Theory has been on some kind of top secret suspension. 

38 minutes ago, KawadaSmile said:

It took them YEARS to finally stop praising Seth and see him for the hack fraud he is. Don't expect Bray Wyatt to lose his popularity there anytime soon.

They almost turned on him in 2017 after an awful face run. It took Dean Ambrose reuniting with him to rehab him.

9 minutes ago, sek69 said:

Also per Dave it looks like Austin Theory has been on some kind of top secret suspension. 

Top Secret? When the timing fits the accusations of him making advances to a really young girl? It's either that or some hard drugs (which also were the reason for Dream's annual time off)

12 minutes ago, KawadaSmile said:

Top Secret? When the timing fits the accusations of him making advances to a really young girl? It's either that or some hard drugs (which also were the reason for Dream's annual time off)

Well yea, that that was the implication since Wellness failures of non-top guys get broadcast from the mountaintop. 

Could Retribution be guys that were cut earlier this year?

3 hours ago, Log said:

Could Retribution be guys that were cut earlier this year?

I think they've basically all signed elsewhere. Although if they're short, one could be Drake Maverick.