Official Raw/Smackdown Aftermath, Ratings and Review Thread

[The Architect of Anarchy]

The Architect of Anarchy's Raw Review - 16/11/15

Taker/Wyatt Segment:

Raw opened with the druids. It was fresh to see and added a layer of mystery to start the show. However, the segment could have been booked better had the Wyatts looked more dominant. For the past two weeks, they just haven't looked on par with the brothers of destruction and that hurts their stock going into the PPV. This segment wasn't anything special but by all means did its job in promoting a marquee match up for the PPV.

Rating:5.5/10

Kevin Owens vs Neville

A well paced match with a frenetic ending. The right result having both wrestlers looking great coming out of a well fought ball in agility. Great way to start the show of quarter finals. Neville looked awesome tonight and I feel the IC title got another jolt in prestige after seeing a night in which it's championship holder puts on another clinic.

Rating:7/10

Tyler Breeze vs R-Truth

Nothing out of the ordinary here. Breeze's first win. It's simple booking. Announcers could have sold his victory better.

Rating:5/10

Dean Ambrose vs Dolph Ziggler

An awesome bout that displayed grappling and all kinds of submissions. Ambrose and Ziggler looked completely matched in skill. Bodies were everywhere and mangled in different forms and twisted into various positions that made for a compelling psychology in ring. The right person won and Ziggler still looked great. Ambrose on the mic at the end was a nice touch. Then again, give me any kind of time with Ambrose on the mic, be it 2 seconds or 2 minutes; it will make for riveting viewing.

Rating:7.5/10


The New Day vs Ryback and Usos

Great jabs by the New Day. They always seem to be improving on the mic and their mic work are always highlights when reviewing a Monday Night Raw for me. It was witty and clever. The match itself was meh. Again. Nothing special. Simple booking. Ryback has a spot on the card and this sets up the Usos title hunt for the tag titles again at Survivor Series.

5.5/10

Roman Reigns vs Cesaro

Bout of the night! For me, Cesaro stole the show. I wouldn't say he carried Roman Reigns here and I won't say they equally did well but Cesaro made Reigns look a hundred dollars. Epic fight with nice counters. Used the ring well. Loads of back to back counters from an array of uppercuts, clotheslines, signature moves, submissions and action surrounding the top rope. Both dudes looked awesome coming out of it and I hope they keep pushing Cesaro around the top spot. It would have been nice to see Cesaro get the surprise win but credit to WWE for giving us the predictable product but with quality entertainment.

Rating:8/10

Ascension vs Dudleys

Nothing special. I'm not emotionally invested in either tag teams and it felt like obvious filler.

Rating: 4.5/10

Alberto Del Rio vs Kallisto

It was nice to see Kallisto get a decent amount of spotlight on Raw. Bout started off quick and slowed down a bit. Del Rio looked dominant. It was simple booking again. However, we've seen this Del Rio before. The methodical and vicious aristocrat. What's new? The match itself was a tad botched. Only a few number of spots. It was easily the weakest of the quarter final matches.

Rating:5.5/10

Divas Championship Contract Signing

Indeed wasn't this a surprise? It was nice to see something different. The Divas are not taking a backseat which is great. Michael Cole's addition could have been questioned but it didn't really take away alot from the segment. Both divas were decent on the mic. At times, it got cringeworthy. Some of the dialogue was great at times, cheesy at other. I thought there were holes in Charlotte's mic work. Her crying was cringe. She comes off as trying too hard. Paige looked decent to say the least. What really stepped this segment up was the brawl that ensued. The whole segment made the viewer feel upset. It just doesn't feel right does it? I thought the brother comment was a great touch. People are saying the brother comment from Paige wasn't needed but I disagree. If Charlotte gave management permission to incorporate this into their storyline, then by all means I have no problem with it because it's only storytelling. The brawl at the end really drove it home. It was made personal! I thought overall, that last segment was cringeworthy, but also hyped the match up for Survivor Series!

Rating:7/10

Taking all ratings into account and calculating a assigned rating; last night's Raw amounted to 65%.

 

[The Fabulous Rougeau's]

Last nights Raw was one of the worst shows of the year. I was one of the few that were intrigued by a Sheamus/Reigns match at TLC but for now a 2nd week in a row the build has been horrible. Outside of the main event, the only other story getting any sort of attention is Charlotte and the charisma did fall far from the tree with respect to her. She is just not capable at the moment to carry anything outside of a wrestling match. Other than that nothing else is getting any attention and thus doesn't really matter. The highlight of the show was probably Rose's TMZish segment. His delivery was good and he hit his punch lines.

 

[Mighty NorCal]

Wrestling Wars Ragecast, indeed




Like is there not....is no one looking at a big wide screen version of the plans for the night? How does


Charlotte

Owens

AND

The New Day......The three heel acts with ANY SHRED of credibility and heat...

ALL lose in the same night, but not only that, both Reigns AND Ambrose end up left laying at the end of the night too!!


Im surprised Triple H didn't slip on a banana peel walking through the hallway. Fuck it!! No one matters.


At this point, I would believe WWE creative sits around trying to devise a way to have the entire roster lose.

 

[Piss Bucket]

So last night, the hottest Diva on the main roster, Paige, LOST to Summer Rae! I mean come the fuck on, it's bad enough she lost to ANYBODY, but Summer Rae? What the actual fuck is going on here?

 

[Jack-Hammer]

My big problem with Raw last night was the main event. Vince had to know that Big Show vs. Braun Strowman wouldn't draw a dime and I'm wondering if that main event was just phoned in because of the Grammy Awards last night. I don't care how much Vince likes Strowman, the guy just isn't remotely ready to be in a main event spot in a singles bout and the saddest part of the whole thing is that Vince doesn't seem to realize that he set Strowman up for failure with a singles match against Big Show of all people in the main event slot.

As far as Summer Rae getting a win, remember all the complaints about WWE not being unpredictable enough? Well, there you go; Summer Rae getting a win over Paige certainly wasn't expected and as with most of the unpredictable happenings WWE throws out from time to time, it gets met with criticism. Summer Rae getting a win over Paige doesn't bother me really, it's hardly the end of the world as Paige is long since established as one of the top women on the roster. Besides, Paige has been out of action for a while and the spotlight is on other women at the moment, so it's not like she lost any momentum here.

The first 2 hours and 15 minutes of Raw was quite fun, but most of the stuff after the Heyman & Reigns segment just dragged and seemed like filler. The six man tag match was pretty decent, nothing spectacular, but a decent bout.

 

[Navi]

My big problem with Raw last night was the main event. Vince had to know that Big Show vs. Braun Strowman wouldn't draw a dime and I'm wondering if that main event was just phoned in because of the Grammy Awards last night. I don't care how much Vince likes Strowman, the guy just isn't remotely ready to be in a main event spot in a singles bout and the saddest part of the whole thing is that Vince doesn't seem to realize that he set Strowman up for failure with a singles match against Big Show of all people in the main event slot.

I have to disagree with you JH, it wasn't as bad as it was made out to be when we heard about it. Yes Strowman is quite green, but he got some good offense in, and he does move pretty quickly for a guy his size. My main complaint is we're seeing way too much Wyatt interference these days. All four of these guys are big, bigger than most on the roster and they shouldn't need the help. It just makes them all look like no matter what the size they can't win a singles match alone. I know their heels, but they're big heels.

As far as Summer Rae getting a win, remember all the complaints about WWE not being unpredictable enough? Well, there you go; Summer Rae getting a win over Paige certainly wasn't expected and as with most of the unpredictable happenings WWE throws out from time to time, it gets met with criticism. Summer Rae getting a win over Paige doesn't bother me really, it's hardly the end of the world as Paige is long since established as one of the top women on the roster. Besides, Paige has been out of action for a while and the spotlight is on other women at the moment, so it's not like she lost any momentum here.

I agree with this. With Brie Bella most likely leaving very soon and Nikki still out for however long, they have to start bringing in more Diva's. Paige can afford to lose a match or two and it won't affect her standing in the Division. Summer Rae as much as I'm not a fan, is pretty athletic and even though she doesn't have the experience Paige does, can go in the ring. Paige will be fine, and Summer Rae will lose to her another time.

The first 2 hours and 15 minutes of Raw was quite fun, but most of the stuff after the Heyman & Reigns segment just dragged and seemed like filler. The six man tag match was pretty decent, nothing spectacular, but a decent bout.

That was the only drawback to RAW last night, the Heyman/Reigns segment. They didn't say anything we didn't already know, and I'm quite tired of seeing Reigns get a lecture every couple of weeks. He's not as thick as a plank, they could have used the time to put Reigns in a match to build to this weekend. He's almost been forgotten about with all the hype around Lesnar and Ambrose.

 

[OYDK]

Just some random thoughts I'll throw out after watching Raw last night.

The Good:

- Opening Segment: While the Ambrose/HHH promo may have gone on a little long, it was a solid way to start the show. It would have been cool to see Ambrose vs HHH main event Raw but it's nice to know that H is at least defending his title once before Mania. I felt like Ambrose really carried this segment. HHH looked uninterested in my opinion, for whatever reason. Also who else thought "Brock Lesnar" when Ambrose asked, "Who did you not want to face?" Out of the three participants, were we supposed to think Ambrose?

Divas Match: Finish was weird... don't know why they didn't just end the match with a cradle or german spot but that's about the only complaint. It was a good match and the ending kept the Divas storyline moving along in a logical way heading into Mania.

Y2AJ: Name's horrendous and I'm still iffy on these two going for the tag titles at Mania, but their match with New Day was good. Only reason this isn't on my shit list is because I have a strong feeling these guys break up before Mania. I'm begging for an implosion after their tag title match next week.

The Bad:

US Championship: All that work John Cena put in to making the US title relevant again has really payed off! The champ's wrestling in tag matches and getting pinned quite easily. How WWE continuously manages to undo months of hard work in a few weeks is fucking baffling.

Ryback's heel turn: Who gives a shit? Seriously, anybody?

The Dudley's: They may have won last night, but what exactly are they doing right now? Here's one of the greatest tag teams of all time, both of whom can still go very well, and they're floating around in a division with no depth heading into a Mania lacking star power. Unbelievable.

Lana/Rusev; I'll just lump these two together. What are they thinking with Brie/Lana? There's no way this leads to a Mania match is there? Just weird and unnecessary. Also, what happened to Rusev's big announcement? Have to cut it for Steph's rambling promo?

The Ugly:

Steph's rambling promo: I get what they're trying to do here. They tried to dedicate this show towards building the Taker/Shane match, just one problem. There's no Shane McMahon. No interaction. Steph just gets angry. This time could have been used to give somebody ELSE some fucking mic time. But no, Steph needs it for some reason beyond my comprehension... a woman not even involved in Mania.

Taker: Wow. That's all I can say. Did Taker punch Vince in the mouth and tell him to fuck himself? Did he tell him that he's not his playtoy? Did he turn heel? Nope, just came out and spent all of 2 minutes in the ring. I'm just...I...

IC Title: Clearly WWE had absolutely no direction for this belt beyond Ambrose/Owens. Want to know how I know that? Big Show. After missing last week for no reason at all, which is indicator enough, Kevin Owens gets stuck with the safest, most predictable route imaginable. I know, Big Show is a good talent and and all that, but I don't really care when it comes to Mania. This match should have been the ONE match that pandered to the indie marks. After the Rumble, they had two beautiful options in Styles and Zayn and instead they're going with Show...

The Crowd: Not their fault and crowds usually suck nowadays, but man they were dead. WWE put on a perfect display of how to destroy all excitement in a product in one night.

There'd probably be more if I were arsed to remember.

Thoughts on Raw. Good, bad, ugly?

 

[Deoxyribonucleic A.C.I.D.]

The only good thing from last night's show was the Triple H vs Dean Ambrose confrontation. And even that wasn't all that good. Ambrose is having a match with Lesnar at Wrestlemania. Triple H is having a match with Roman. Yet, last night there was no Roman nor Heyman (of course there wasn't going to be Lesnar). I know, I know, Roman is supposed to sell the surgery from a boken nose, but c'mon now, it's just a broken nose. Last week they showed Dean Ambrose literally, crawl himself in order to get Lesnar after being sent to the hospital and this week, one week later, Roman isn't here? Creative continues to make the fans hate Roman even more and like Dean Ambrose as the top guy better.

About Y2J. Again, are they really going for the tag titles for Wrestlemania? I don't believe this. Really, Chris Jericho is going to be competing in a tag team match at Wrestlemania? Really? Which makes me wonder, this was the second week. If the "break-up" happens next week then that leaves 3 weeks to build a potential programm with Styles and Jericho. The one the fans want is the IC title programm. Which brings me to another point:
If it's Owens vs Y2J vs Styles, then it means that Owens vs Big Show is filler (which aparrently is the case since we're getting matches on RAW and Smackdown). Which means that the Owens vs Jericho vs Styles programm will have 3 weeks of build, only. That sucks.

I have nothing to say about the US Championship. Do they have a plan for this? Apparently not. Such a shame. So much potential after Cena went all to waste. I for one, had my hopes up.

Is Ryback getting a match at the Wrestlemania card? Maybe a Kalisto vs Ryback could work if they do something creative with it.

No plans for the Wyatts yet.

The League of Nations, a stable that has a total of 8 World Championships, 4(?) Intercontinental Championships, 3 US Championships, will have a filler match at Wrestlemania, with boring build-up.

Undertaker. I blame myself for that one, because once again, I had my hopes up, again. Looking from another perspective, Vince is the boss, so Taker will do what the boss tells him. However, it's the freaking Undertaker we're talking about here. He's not Sheamus. Shouldn't he say to Vince to shove the match up his butt? He has said so many times in the past, hasn't he? So, you're going to have a match at Wrestlemania, just because? Shane has no grudge with Undertaker and neither has Shane. Undertaker also has no streak. And Undertaker is now a, tweener? He has no problem beating the hell out of Shane, just for fun, as it seems. I really don't know what to make of that match. I kinda expected Undertaker to ask Vince to put something on the line here, not just fight Shane, just for the lolz. Or Vince to say, if you don't do this, you're fired, or something like that.

The reason the story doesn't really makes sense is because we've seen Vince in the past try to say that it's his company and his wrestlers will do as he says. It's his creation. The Undertaker is his creation, that's what he said when he called Undertaker "his personal instrument of destruction". And we've seen wrestlers in the past say, no Vince, this is not your creation, it's the fans who built this. But Undertaker, just said, ok boss, I'll kill Shane, but it's on your hands.

Another thing is that we should be rooting for Shane here, but against the Undertaker? I doubt it.

So at Wrestlemania, we have Vince with the Undertaker. Undertaker gets cheered and we also have HHH vs Roman. HHH also gets cheered, so the Authority gets cheered?

It wasn't a bad RAW, it was a filler RAW, just to build-up the "March to Wrestlemania". It was filler, because the WWE is unable to build multiple storylines at the same time. It lacks depth. So this RAW, did nothing for Wrestlemania, which is the next big show on the horizon.

 

[Low_Ki]

I think you pretty much hit everything spot on.

Ambrose has me more interested in a world title match right now than Reigns at Mania. That pretty much speak volumes. I like the idea that they are teasing a twist in the take before Mania, although if we are being honest it won't happen. They bowed to Daniel Bryan pressure, they won't bow to this one.

By far the biggest shock of the night was Taker. The OP said it best, I have no words. He came across like Vince's lapdog instead of at least giving the fans a viable explanation for his future actions. I said this to my friends, but I feel like what he said would have been great after he disclosed why he was doing it. Shame but I guess it is just one of those things.

How they intend on getting that 100k live crowd with this build at the moment is beyond me.

I love Show as much as the next guy but you have Sami Zayn, a guy who has a ready made program with Owens and yet you give it to Show? Granted this is only week 2 of Mania build but it actually feels so out of sync, I can't quite put my finger on anything. The only real saving grace aside from Ambrose is the possibility of Charlotte/Lynch/Banks match at Mania. I just hope it gets given the time it deserves.

 

[Trill Co$by]

For the first time in a long time (Since like 96) I skipped Monday Night Raw. Why? Because it was set up to be boring. Keep in mind that Raw's been my Monday Night ritual since I was 5. I've been watching it from start to finish every week, but last night I just didn't bother. And no, it's not because of Roman Reigns or because there were no more matches made. It's because it just sounded terrible from the start, and from what I've read, I was right. I really hope that next Monday isn't so terrible, or I might have to tell my boss that Mondays have been cleared up for me to start working.

 

[Fire Marshall Bill]

There'd probably be more if I were arsed to remember.

A couple thoughts before this is merged:

Maybe the main event match and the beatdown that followed? I feel like he was less violent towards Ambrose as to further garner some sympathy for Reigns. Won't work, but that might've been their feelings.

Also, I'm interested in Ryback's heel turn simply because what was he doing before? Nothing. At least now they have something at least temporary for him before he falls back into obscurity again.

 

[Navi]

I really don't know what to think about last night's RAW quite honestly. It's sucked big time, and with Wrestlemania looming, it just looks like the WWE doesn't care anymore about the product.

There are injuries yes, and Reigns for some reason wasn't there, probably still recovering from his surgery last week, but that's the best they could put on. The thing that gets me the most is this. Before Fastlane you had Dean Ambrose getting in Lesnar's face every chance he could, those two built up the triple threat, Reigns just sort of stood around in the background. Now you have Ambrose again in the build towards the main event at Mania, with Reigns again nowhere to be seen, and Ambrose isn't even in the match. Well not yet anyway. Egads a pattern is developing. No wonder the claims that Reigns can't connect with the crowd are out there.

The US title is a disaster with the title holder immersed with the most boring group on the planet LON. Seriously they listed off all the championship's this group has won, and that was a mistake, because watching them you wouldn't think they had ever won any. Oh yea and Alberto Del Rio can piss off anytime, what a waste of a return.

New Day continues to be the bright spark in the whole thing, but they can't ride their coattails forever. Xavier and Co. are stuck in a division that doesn't seem to be going anywhere fast either so no matter who much they try, the rest are bringing them down.

The less said about the Diva's the better. Just announce the triple threat match between Charlotte/Becky/Sasha for Mania already and be done with it. Oh and Tamina can piss off with Del Rio, take Naomi with you as well. Feel sorry for Naomi, great athletic, horrible heel and as usual the WWE doesn't know what to do with her.

I hear they've sold about 70K for Cowboy Stadium already, if we keep getting RAW's like this until Mania there will be a lot of empty seats.

If you notice I said nothing about Taker, because quite honestly that segment was crap, and the fact that Stephanie, HHH and Vince all got longer segments than he did speaks volumes to me. The whole show was just terrible.

 

[Jeff Deliverer of Mail]

There was nothing good about Raw last night, nothing. I watched Raw just to see what is going to happen with Taker and Vince Mcmahon, total wash. I had hopes for a good tag team match with Y2AJ vs New Day as well, nope. Seemingly phoned in efforts. Then there's the fucktard camera work....

We don't need the camera to bounce with every Triple H punch or New Day corner kick, whomever came up with this action camera idea needs to be fired, and fired right now. It's so incredibly stupid and not needed.

It's pretty bad when all the segments, including Vince and Taker...are slightly better than watching phoned in matches.

 

[Jeff Deliverer of Mail]

The Crowd: Not their fault and crowds usually suck nowadays, but man they were dead. WWE put on a perfect display of how to destroy all excitement in a product in one night.

?

That was the absolute deadest crowd I've ever seen watching wrestling. No reactions for anyone at all. Slight heel heat reaction chants to Stephanie and a slight reaction to Ambrose throwing girl punches at Triple H but that's it.

 

[Navi]

That was the absolute deadest crowd I've ever seen watching wrestling. No reactions for anyone at all. Slight heel heat reaction chants to Stephanie and a slight reaction to Ambrose throwing girl punches at Triple H but that's it.

The crowd was okay at the beginning of the show, but as it wore on they just died. I don't blame them. Would be pissed off myself if I had spent the money and looked forward to something that was as bad as that.

EDIT: Wonder when the WHC match will take place between HHH and Ambrose. Ambrose isn't advertised for the March to Wrestlemania special here in Toronto, we're getting Reigns. So unless they change that up, might be next week on RAW. Ambrose and Owens are in Atlantic City at the live event that running the same time as the Toronto event. Mind you would rather see Ambrose any day. He gets a huge pop here, we love him.

 

[Dave]

I can assuredly say that last night was amongst one of the worst Raw shows I have seen in a very long time. For me, the bad and the ugly far outweighed the good. So much so that sitting through the show was actually painful and torturous at certain points. Stephanie McMahon and the Kevin Owens match were particularly poor. I honestly do not get what is going on.

Last night should have been the night that the WWE kicked themselves into high gear with the Road to WrestleMania now really taking shape. But in actuality, it was exactly the opposite. The WWE should have been focusing on padding out the card for the event instead of devoting very little time to their bigger roster picture. Segments after segment concerning the Authority is good for absolutely no one. And I must say that having the likes of Roman Reigns and Brock Lesnar missing from the show was very noticeable. Even with the addition of the Undertaker to Raw, there was very little star power on offer and the show just seemed like a pumped up Smackdown. Truly, truly awful.

 

[Sean Valjean]

The Undertaker and Stephanie segments are the most egregious offenders. One didn't get enough time despite being billed as the main draw and the other lasted too long and served no purpose whatsoever. That's scary when you remember that they're both involved in the same story – a story that is probably the second biggest match at Wrestlemania. But hey, at least we have the thrilling drama of Shane being stricken from Vince's will. A bad follow-up to last week's great start.

The midcard and tag champs had a terrible night as as well with all of them being booked to lose in in either lame (Owens) or outright stupid (Kalisto) fashion. I feel especially bad for Kalisto, as he's very talented and could tear it up with a variety of guys in some exciting US title bouts, but he seemingly can't escape the LON's gravitational pull of dullness. Even worse is that Kalisto continues to be the fall guy, even despite beating Del Rio a plethora of time and Sin Cara being RIGHT THERE to take those falls instead.

At least we're clearly getting the Diva's triple threat many of us hoped for (though the double pin was awkwardly executed with Sasha just going limp for no apparent reason), and we're getting a healthy dose of Ambrose goodness with his title match with HHH and his war with Brock on the horizon.

Still, while Raw was bad but I wouldn't call it "the worst ever" like some are. One thing to ease your concerns is that we still have a month until Wrestlemania. That's ample time to right the ship, so while Monday wasn't exactly stellar, a lot of people are acting like this was the go-home show.

 

[Jeff Deliverer of Mail]

If I had a gun to my head and was forced to give a : GOOD: about Raw last night then I'd give it to new Ryback and his vicious approach or Charlotte watchable on a promo. She's clearly learning some promo tips from her dad and the awkward, almost crying Charlotte seems to be a thing of the past.

 

[Un-Bo-Lievable Jeff]

Think the KO and AJ stories are simply filler until after WM.

I don't agree with it as it ruins both WM moments for them, but I fully expect.....well at least hope.....both go into a very good storyline the next night on RAW after WM

 

[Kamala316]

I watched the first 6 minutes of Raw last night. That's it. I read the WZ review of the show, and the only thing I can say is I'm not surprised at how bad this show was (and how bad the product, in general, is now.) Essentially what this show comprised of was an hour (if not longer) of the McMahons (and HHH) talking, more Raw replays and rewinds than there normally are (again, featuring the McMahons and HHH), an Undertaker entrance that took longer than what he had to say, a bunch of filler matches, and HHH standing tall to end the show. Folks, this is what wrestling has become, especially for the month leading up to WrestleMania. The McMahons (and HHH) take up as much on-air time as they want because, well, they own the place and they can. The "biggest show in WWE history" is coming up, and other than HHH-Reigns, no match on the card has any buildup (or as HHH likes to call it, a "slow burn"), although the argument could be made for the Divas triple threat match. Again, this is the problem with the product now. It's all about ego at the top, and as long as they get their on-air time, and cameos at WrestleMania, that's all they care about. It's sad when it's more enjoyable to read what people are saying about Raw on WZ than actually watching it. But it's ok, I changed the channel; but I guess that doesn't matter because Vince doesn't care about ratings anymore. Hmmm, I wonder why?

 

[L@RISANO]

I can assuredly say that last night was amongst one of the worst Raw shows I have seen in a very long time. For me, the bad and the ugly far outweighed the good. So much so that sitting through the show was actually painful and torturous at certain points. Stephanie McMahon and the Kevin Owens match were particularly poor. I honestly do not get what is going on.

Last night should have been the night that the WWE kicked themselves into high gear with the Road to WrestleMania now really taking shape. But in actuality, it was exactly the opposite. The WWE should have been focusing on padding out the card for the event instead of devoting very little time to their bigger roster picture. Segments after segment concerning the Authority is good for absolutely no one. And I must say that having the likes of Roman Reigns and Brock Lesnar missing from the show was very noticeable. Even with the addition of the Undertaker to Raw, there was very little star power on offer and the show just seemed like a pumped up Smackdown. Truly, truly awful.

Echoed my thoughts perfectly. Last night was devoid of Star power beyond Ambrose-HHH and Taker-Vince's "minute and a half" and it showed. Boring boring RAW at such a critical time of the year.
I really wondered what WWE was thinking by putting out such an awful show in the lead-up to "the Biggest Mania of All-Time".


No Shane. No Brock. No Roman. Plus, the injured guys like Cena, Orton, Rollins and Sting, amongst others and it becomes really difficult to sit through the majority of segments.

 

[Jack-Hammer]

I thought the promo segments delivered, I enjoyed Ambrose vs. Del Rio, Y2J and Styles vs. the New Day and Sasha vs. Becky, but the rest of the night was a bust.

Sasha and Becky had a good match, but the ending didn't suit the amount of time they were given. Both of them pinned one another and such an ending only should happen if the competitors have been going at it fast and furious for at least a good 20 minutes; it could then be understood that they're both drained to the point of near exhaustion.

Ambrose vs. Del Rio I enjoyed as I was expecting a very brief match before Trips came out, but I thought it was entertaining and Ambrose told a great story by selling his "injuries." The beating from Triple H was nicely done though, if anything, it convinced me more than ever that Ambrose should've won the triple threat match at Fastlane. They could still have worked out Ambrose being attacked by Lesnar, beaten down, etc. and put that program on hold for later on in the year, around SummerSlam maybe, as Ambrose is cast in the role of underdog and he's pulling it off quite well.

Styles & Jericho vs. the New Day was pretty decent, though I can't help but feel as though they're just filling a bit of time with Styles right now before something comes along. My feeling, and that's all it is, is that they have Kevin Owens finish wasting his time with Big Show on SmackDown, he interferes next Monday to cost Styles & Jericho the tag titles, delivers some sort of "injury" to Jericho that puts him on the shelf and sets up a program with Styles at WrestleMania. Maybe it's just wishful thinking, but I think it's a possibility.

I thought the Trips/Ambrose promo segment was pretty solid, though I prefer Ambrose to be in a more serious frame of mind rather than kinda sorta joking about. I thought Stephanie did a good job on her promo in selling her frustration and disdain for the fans, Shane and the whole situation. Taker & Vince was a bit strange, though I think it delivered and it was nice seeing Vince intimidated for a change knowing that there's, kayfabe, nothing he can really do about it.

As I said, aside from the promo segments and a few matches, I thought the rest of the night was a bust. I didn't mind the lack of star power so much as that the wrestlers featured on the show were made to feel as though they weren't a big deal. Miz vs. Ziggler, Naomi vs. Brie, Owens vs. Big Show, the "Golden Truth" segment, etc. were treated like filler.

 

[Psykohurricane55]

If you take he crowd away from this raw, it was a pretty normal raw. Let face it, every knew that zach ryder would lose the belt on raw. The nxt debuts worked because of the crowd because take the crowd away and most of them wouldn't have been as over with the crowd. I see apollo crew, baron corban and enzo&cass wil be featured on main event and superstar in about 5 months.

The only highlight was cesaro coming back, sadly wwe seem to be back to their old way of booking and with a different crowd, this episode would have been boring, I can't wait to see raw next week when their in front of a normal crowd to see how the normal react to the news nxt wrestlers.

 

[d_henderson1810]

Some of my thoughts on the post-WM Raw.

Some things didn't make sense to me.

1) WWE Title No. 1 contender's match.

(i) Why have A.J. Styles win, and yet he lost at 'Mania the previous night? If they were going to do this, why not have Styles win at WM, so that he has momentum going into the WWE Title match.

(ii) Why have a face fight Reigns as his next opponent? Reigns already gets booed. Why then put him against one of the most popular guys in the company? At least someone like Chris Jericho can draw away some of the heat towards himself.

(iii) Why include Cesaro in the match, unless he won? Usually, when they replace one person with another during the match, that replacement is the guy who wins it. I thought the replacement would end up being Dean Ambrose, and he would win, and fight his buddy for the WWE Title.

(iv) Why even have a No. 1 Contender's Match, when Triple H has a rematch clause? Shouldn't the ex-champion get the automatic first shot? If Shane had fired Triple H on RAW, then finding a new contender made sense. But what happens next week, when Shane's run of running Raw is over, and Triple H and Steph return? Why wouldn't Triple H just cash in his rematch clause, and tip Styles out of the match? Triple H is the Authority, so he has the power to book himself into the WWE Title match instead.

2) Where was Dean Ambrose on RAW? Now, one may say that he was suffering injuries from Brock Lesnar, but that doesn't wash. I mean, Shane McMahon showed up on RAW, beaten and battered. Well, Ambrose is a guy who gets beaten down, and comes back for more. He gets stretchered out, and then returns, driving the ambulance. He is just the type of guy to show up on Raw, against doctor's orders.

So, this is how far Ambrose's stocks have fallen this week? He goes from a guy who was in the main event of "Fast Lane", fought for the title at "Roadblock" and had a major match at WM, so he was getting pushed. Yet he got squashed at WM32, and then wasn't sighted the next night.

3) Why was Charlotte, a heel, cutting a face speech during her inauguration? She thanked the fans, not as in "the pleasure was all yours", but genuinely? So is she a face now?

4) So, let me get this straight. Shane McMahon returns to RAW, talking about some strong box, and some secret Vince has, and wants to take over Monday Night RAW.

So Vince says that Shane can run Raw, but only if he beats the Undertaker in a HIAC match at WM.

(i) Why was Taker even involved? Why would he care who runs Raw? When did he start doing Vince's bidding? Did I miss that episode?

(ii) So, even after losing to Taker at WM, meaning that he can't run Raw, Shane actually does run Raw anyway, for the night, not because of what is in the strongbox, not because he has some secret he is blackmailing his father with, but because Vince, who did everything to destroy his son so that he can never run Raw, LET him run Raw.

Also, what did Shane actually do to make change? All he did was make a No. 1 Contender's Match, while a rematch clause from the previous champion is still pending. Sure, four new guys showed up, but it seems that Apollo Crews was scheduled to be on Raw regardless, Baron Corbin won the Andre Battle Royal the previous night, so the only ones Shane can take credit for is Enzo & Cass.

(iii) Why didn't Shane use his night of running Raw to make sweeping changes, and fire the Authority? Imagine how Vince would feel if he hands Shane "Raw" for the night, and Shane uses it to fire Triple H and Steph (which makes the need for a No. 1 Contender more needed). But instead, he showed up at the start, and was seeing talking to Apollo Crews out the back. That's it. What a waste of time that storyline has taken.

There were positives as well. I can see Crews and Corbin (who I keep accidentally keep calling "Corbin Bernsen") as being main event players, and Enzo & Cass can add to the tag division. Also, good to see the stunning Maryse back, and I hope that she does matches again as well.

 

[ShinChan]

***WWE RAW : 11 April 2016***


*. Cesaro Vs. Kevin Owens (No. 1 Contender Match for The Miz's InterContinental Championship)
First of all, I loved the exchange of views between Kevin Owens and Shane O Mac before this match. Back to match, Cesaro's entrance is great. He has improved in charisma and connecting with the crowd. That pat on Owens in the starting was amazing. This was an old school classic match. Owens being a great heel was an icing to the cake. Execution of moves was great as expected from these two guys. I thought that Owens will win considering that he has always gone over Cesaro and therefore Cesaro going over Owens was refreshing. I would love Cesaro becoming the new InterContinental Champion. A-

*. Gallows and Anderson debut and dismantle The Usos!
The Usos get a win easily over the Jobber Squad #SocialOutcasts. After the match, they are dismantled by the debuting Karl Anderson and Gallows. It was really an aggressive debut for these guys. Magic Killer is good enough to be a finisher. Looking forward to where WWE goes with them. A

*. AJ Styles Vs. Sami Zayn
An awesome match between two in-ring experts. No interference by Owens ( Thanks, Shane) was good. This match made us feel many times that Zayn could be main event Payback for the ultimate title. Good showing by both guys. And the backstage segments between these two were nice. A-

*. Charlotte's Dirty Title Reign prevails against Natalya, Thanks to her Daddy
I liked this match but the ending is awful. Ric's interference despises me a lot. Instead Charlotte could win via another heel tactic. B+

*. Bray Wyatt main evented Raw along Roman Reigns against Sheamus and Alberto Del Rio
Bray's tweener run has been awesome. I am expecting him to be a main eventer until Wrestlemania 33 atleast. The match was good and the ending was nice too. Wyatt Family's staredown with Reigns was good enough to end the show. A-

Overall, An Awesome show. A

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