WWE programming the past 4 weeks

[Deoxyribonucleic A.C.I.D.]

I don't know about you, but I find myself quite entertained by RAW these past 4 weeks. The build-up to Payback has been solid and steady. There's nothing over the top rope done, no overbooking. It's just, simple wrestling booking. Maybe that was what WWE needed. Simple. No Authority over-booked angles, no cheesy programming.

I want to take a look at what made RAW better than before, these past four weeks.

Tag Team scene
The Tag Team Tournament was a great idea. And also, look who are the two finalists. Two teams that debuted 4 weeks ago. That's a great way to showcase the new talent. New Day is gold. Enzo and Cass are gold. And the Vaudevillains make a good heel team.
We also have Usos vs Bullet Club. More to that later. The division really has some great momentum.

Divas- Nope, I mean Women's scene
That's the first time I actually follow the women's divison. It has some great talents in it and things can only get better from here on.

Mid-card scene
The US title is kinda lost, but there's nothing with it being a #3 weel title. The IC title should always be the secondary title, only second to the World Title. I don't follow Kalisto's work, I don't expect him to lose to Ryback. What the US title needs is a nice personal feud. Sin Cara turning on Kalisto would work.

Owens and Zayn. What else can I say. A feud that will trully elevate both guys.

IC title. I take back what I said about Ryder. Miz is still AWESOME. Ryder winning and then losing was kinda sad, but it is what it is. The company never wanted Ryder and they were grateful enough to give him a deserved WM moment. Miz and Cesaro have a nice small rivalry. I wouldn't be surprised if Miz loses the belt to Cesaro actually. Cesaro has been riding a big wave of momentum, so this is quite unpredictable for me.

Main event scene
Roman and Styles have an intriguing storyline going on. First of all, both of them deserve to be on the main event scene. Then, man, the Bullet Club is HYPE. What's gonna happen? Will Styles turn? Will Roman turn? Will noone turn? Is someone behind Bullet Club's coming? Is Shane maybe involved? Maybe Reigns will join the Authority and Bullet Club will join Shane????
See? So many questions, so many theories. That's when you know that what you're watching is really good.

But what makes RAW so good?
Well, it's simple, it's because Shane McMahon is running things of course. It feels like WWE made RAW crap these past 3 years (not so crap as the years before though), only to push this angle with Shane McMahon.

On a serious note, it feels like WWE has pressed a reset button. The injuries have helped them do that actually. Look how much fresh RAW looks. No Cena, no Orton, no HHH. Do anyone miss those? I only miss Cena and still, not so much. I miss Rollins and I definately miss a well booked Wyatt Family. Add these elements and you can trully have great RAWs.

Question #1: Have you enjoyed these past RAWs as much as me and if yes, what aspects have you liked?

#2: How do you keep the momentum going forward?

To answer that question. Keep the fresh-ness. Don't add Cena and Orton to the ME scene when they return, only if necessary.
Keep the steady build between Shane and Authority, slowly.
Authority returns next week, DON'T OVERBOOK THEM. No heel favours. Keep it simple.
Keep the tag momentum going.
Utilize the Bullet Club.
Don't bring up any more names, yet.

What do you guys think about the whole subject?

 

[Un-Bo-Lievable Jeff]

I agree Raw has been better lately. They have had a fair shift since WM. Not sure that has anything to do with Shane as such. The writers are the same writers they were the last couple years. I just think's they've decided to make a big change in how they present the show.

Promos at the beginning have been cut shorter, and without the same authority every week, it feels fresher. We've had Ambrose, New Day and Shane mixing with different wrestlers to open up the show. Getting into action pretty quick.

While the tag team tournament was good, I think having your two new teams go over all your existing teams is a bit too much. Yes they were in NXT, but WWE presents it as though you are now in the big leagues, should they have got over that easily?

Women's division has been changing for a while. If you just started watching, you've missed some really good matches. Check out NXT for further women's wrestling.

Can't really fault you on anything else. Think Ryback may take the US title to feud with Crews as kalisto has kinda dried up recently.

 

[Jack-Hammer]

I've thought the exact same thing myself, I even said so out loud to myself last night as I was watching. For me, Raw has been a strong, very solidly consistent show for the past month in such a way that, at quite a few times, it felt more like I've been watching NXT.

The storylines have been simple, the wrestling has been very solid, there's been a massive lack of filler, just about everything that's been on our television has been happening for an actual purpose rather than taking up time, promo segments have frequently been cut down to about 10 to 12 minutes rather than dragging on unnecessarily for 20+ minutes, the commentary team isn't out there cutting ridiculous jokes during matches and ALL the focus is on the wrestlers & the programs they're involved with.

My only complaint about last night, and it's a pretty minor one, was that the women's match between Natalya and Emma wasn't what it could have been. Emma has scored a few high profile wins lately, so I thought Nattie going over her so easily didn't really make a whole lot of sense. The Women's Championship match didn't get much attention last night, but it's gotten a good amount overall and there's still SmackDown to come so it's not remotely as if the match feels thrown together.

WWE will continue to be bitched at because every show isn't some glorious, out of this world spectacle but that's perfectly fine as episodes like that aren't meant to pop up all the time. For me, the product in the post WrestleMania season over the course of the last month has been portrayed in a consistently entertaining way.

 

[yourdamnluck]

Good programming overall but why the hell is shane still out there for the third week in a row. The whole shane angle post WM has been ridiculous.

Divas, I think should main event RAW at least once a month.

KO and samy zayn have been awesome. I didn't expect Ambrose and jerico will be interesting again but they proved me wrong. Their feud has been great. Walls of jerico on the table was the best spot since WM.

Lets hope styles starts a new stable and feuds with Balor when he arrives at the main roster.

 

[AJ1981]

A possible reason for the improvement in WWE over the last four weeks may be the addition of former NXT Head Writer Ryan Ward to the main roster writing time a couple of months ago. As someone who has worked closely with Triple H for the last 2 years, I don't think it's a strecth to assume he would have some influence in the direction of TV. Seeing that Raw has become more episodic and the writing has been similar to what we saw during Ward's time in NXT I think this may be the cause.

 

[sMark]

RAW needed a little dose of NXT for awile now, NXT in the past year was way better than RAW, thanks to all it's talent, now RAW managed to mix the best of two worlds in one. Just compare WM card to the last Takeover or Payback, while no names like Brock/Rock/Austin/HHH, the lst 2 shows were MUCH better from wrestling standpoint. Reminds me about 2003 when RAW was all about HUGE names who couldn't wrestle and SD was all abut wrestling quality, same can be said here.
If they want a brand split, now is the perfect time, when Orton/Cena/Rollins/Wyatt will return from their injuries they can make 2 rosters with just enough star power and talent involved

 

[MERPER]

I enjoy a lot of the new guys and the intrigue they bring.

Styles and Bullet Club. Corbin is a beast. Enzo & Cass are phenomenal (though I can't stand the Vaudevillains).

With that said, the shows are still lacking for me. Just not enough "wow" moments. Not enough surprises and turns, which make wrestling fun for me.

 

[BringThePain834]

There also needs to be a few new characters. One that would be gold is a nerdy/perfectionist type heel who uses calculations and angles to anticipate his every move, he cuts a promo before every match and gives an analysis on his opponent and an allotted time in which he feels he can beat them in, his finisher can involve him making mental measurements on his starting point and where the opponent should land, after each victory he tells his opponents where they went wrong and then places a calling card on their chests and tells them to call him if they want advice.

Whenever he makes a mistake he repeats the move and makes it right, if something is out of place or incorrect backstage he'll find the need to correct it, he hates lesser people who are lazy or sloppy in their ring work and if a match is poor or something goes wrong he'll come out to ringside and shout instructions on the mic or will sit on commentary and point out little mistakes that occur throughout.

 

[Rhodes2TheFuture3313]

Raw has been very enjoyable the past few weeks. It really does seem like a NEW ERA!! Having a Face Authority figure in Shane has been awesome because the fans love him. The Payback card should not disappoint the raucos Chicago crowd. AJ vs. Reigns should end in some sort of no contest or double DQ. Feeding AJ to Reigns via pinfall would be a huge mistake. Especially, this being their first match. Will the Usos & BulletClub get involved? A lot of layers to this match. Ambrose & Y2J has been great and I expect it to end with Jericho cheating to win. Zayn & KO was a stroke of brilliance by the creative team bringing up their past. This isn't a one ppv feud and I expect KO to go over. The Miz & Cesaro seem to have great chemistry and I expect this feud to also go more than one ppv. Cesaro has a nice, suave character that people are into besides the Cesaro section and boy has his mic work improved. I see Cesaro winning the match by DQ, but Miz leaving with the title. Baron Corbin has everything it takes to be a future WHC. I didn't like the idea of this feud with Ziggler because I feel Dolph needs a push back up to the upper mid-card. However, I've been pleasantly surprised with great booking. I think Ziggler wins Sunday and Corbin beats the holy heck out of him afterward. I love, love, love The Vaudevillains and see them beating Enzo & Cass w/a little help from the Dudleyz who have unfinished business with Enzo & Cass. I think Nattie will come very close to winning the Women's Championship, but Ric & Charlotte will have an ace up their sleeve and manage to pull this one out. I'm disappointed Sasha didn't win at WM 32, but her time is coming. My Paige seems to be stuck in limbo. Kallisto's run as US champ has been underwhelming. I hope they pull the trigger on a heel BIG GUY and Ryback becomes the new US CHamp, sunday. Apollo Crews does nothing for me. The kid is talented in the ring, but I'm just not into his character. Neville is a better version imo. I hope for Payback to deliver and continue the building momentum since WM.

 

[GrandWeezard]

#1: Have you enjoyed these past RAWs as much as me and if yes, what aspects have you liked?
I have been enjoying RAW for the past few weeks all because of the fact that there is no WrestleMania hangover.

#2: How do you keep the momentum going forward?
Brand Split.

 

[Navi]

Personally I've loved it since Shane took over, but the product as a whole is losing viewers like crazy, especially in the last hour. Maybe it's time to cut it back to 2 hours and they might keep the audience. Have no idea why they are losing so many viewers in the last hour. This week it was over 200k tuned out in the third hour.

 

[midgensa]

I agree with the sentiment that the show's quality has been excellent the last few weeks with new faces and old faces mixing well. I actually think Sheamus getting rid of the stupid twirled beard makes him relevant again ... lol.

The fact remains the show (as others have stated) is too long. They build in too many flashbacks and see what already happened to fill time. I actually think it would be strongest as an 8-10 show and not 9-11, but I think it needs to be only two hours regardless. It would give Smackdown! an added importance and make the pace much more entertaining.

 

[d_henderson1810]

I don't know about you, but I find myself quite entertained by RAW these past 4 weeks. The build-up to Payback has been solid and steady. There's nothing over the top rope done, no overbooking. It's just, simple wrestling booking. Maybe that was what WWE needed. Simple. No Authority over-booked angles, no cheesy programming.

I want to take a look at what made RAW better than before, these past four weeks.

Tag Team scene
The Tag Team Tournament was a great idea. And also, look who are the two finalists. Two teams that debuted 4 weeks ago. That's a great way to showcase the new talent. New Day is gold. Enzo and Cass are gold. And the Vaudevillains make a good heel team.
We also have Usos vs Bullet Club. More to that later. The division really has some great momentum.

Divas- Nope, I mean Women's scene
That's the first time I actually follow the women's divison. It has some great talents in it and things can only get better from here on.

Mid-card scene
The US title is kinda lost, but there's nothing with it being a #3 weel title. The IC title should always be the secondary title, only second to the World Title. I don't follow Kalisto's work, I don't expect him to lose to Ryback. What the US title needs is a nice personal feud. Sin Cara turning on Kalisto would work.

Owens and Zayn. What else can I say. A feud that will trully elevate both guys.

IC title. I take back what I said about Ryder. Miz is still AWESOME. Ryder winning and then losing was kinda sad, but it is what it is. The company never wanted Ryder and they were grateful enough to give him a deserved WM moment. Miz and Cesaro have a nice small rivalry. I wouldn't be surprised if Miz loses the belt to Cesaro actually. Cesaro has been riding a big wave of momentum, so this is quite unpredictable for me.

Main event scene
Roman and Styles have an intriguing storyline going on. First of all, both of them deserve to be on the main event scene. Then, man, the Bullet Club is HYPE. What's gonna happen? Will Styles turn? Will Roman turn? Will noone turn? Is someone behind Bullet Club's coming? Is Shane maybe involved? Maybe Reigns will join the Authority and Bullet Club will join Shane????
See? So many questions, so many theories. That's when you know that what you're watching is really good.

But what makes RAW so good?
Well, it's simple, it's because Shane McMahon is running things of course. It feels like WWE made RAW crap these past 3 years (not so crap as the years before though), only to push this angle with Shane McMahon.

On a serious note, it feels like WWE has pressed a reset button. The injuries have helped them do that actually. Look how much fresh RAW looks. No Cena, no Orton, no HHH. Do anyone miss those? I only miss Cena and still, not so much. I miss Rollins and I definately miss a well booked Wyatt Family. Add these elements and you can trully have great RAWs.

Question #1: Have you enjoyed these past RAWs as much as me and if yes, what aspects have you liked?

#2: How do you keep the momentum going forward?

To answer that question. Keep the fresh-ness. Don't add Cena and Orton to the ME scene when they return, only if necessary.
Keep the steady build between Shane and Authority, slowly.
Authority returns next week, DON'T OVERBOOK THEM. No heel favours. Keep it simple.
Keep the tag momentum going.
Utilize the Bullet Club.
Don't bring up any more names, yet.

What do you guys think about the whole subject?

I think Raw has been nonsense the last few weeks.

So, you have no problem that Shane is running Raw, despite the fact that Vince did everything to stop him, and Shane LOST to the Undertaker in a HIAC at WM32. There was no logical sense why Shane is running Raw, other than "just because".

Secondly, people are getting title shots for no reason. Kevin Owens is denied an IC Title rematch, and Miz wins the belt instead (making Ryder win it at WM32 irrelevant), and then Cesaro gets a title shot "just because".

Also, a guy who has been on the roster for three months gets a WWE Title shot. People hated it when Sheamus or ADR got a title shot too soon, yet have no problem with A.J. Styles getting one, despite being in the company for three months (and losing his match to a veteran at WM32). Remember what it did for Wade Barrett. He had a main event program with Cena and Orton for the WWE Title, and when he came up short, they had nowhere else to go but to demote him. It didn't make him a top guy (which Barrett had all the qualities to be) but buried him.

So, what if Styles doesn't win the WWE Title in the next three months? You know what will happen, he will get dropped into the IC or U.S. Title picture and be an afterthought.

I can see the "reign of Shane" ultimately being a failure. Sure, he has hotshotted a lot of NXT talent, but will they make a long-term impact? Shane's reign has had a lot of little "pops" but may end up being of not much consequence long-term.

 

[MERPER]

I think Raw has been nonsense the last few weeks.

So, you have no problem that Shane is running Raw, despite the fact that Vince did everything to stop him, and Shane LOST to the Undertaker in a HIAC at WM32. There was no logical sense why Shane is running Raw, other than "just because".

Secondly, people are getting title shots for no reason. Kevin Owens is denied an IC Title rematch, and Miz wins the belt instead (making Ryder win it at WM32 irrelevant), and then Cesaro gets a title shot "just because".

Also, a guy who has been on the roster for three months gets a WWE Title shot. People hated it when Sheamus or ADR got a title shot too soon, yet have no problem with A.J. Styles getting one, despite being in the company for three months (and losing his match to a veteran at WM32). Remember what it did for Wade Barrett. He had a main event program with Cena and Orton for the WWE Title, and when he came up short, they had nowhere else to go but to demote him. It didn't make him a top guy (which Barrett had all the qualities to be) but buried him.

So, what if Styles doesn't win the WWE Title in the next three months? You know what will happen, he will get dropped into the IC or U.S. Title picture and be an afterthought.

I can see the "reign of Shane" ultimately being a failure. Sure, he has hotshotted a lot of NXT talent, but will they make a long-term impact? Shane's reign has had a lot of little "pops" but may end up being of not much consequence long-term.

I agree with you on this.

It's more on WWE writers/creative for continued lack of putting much thought into anything they do.

Here's a bunch of names, let's pick them out of a hat and slot them into matches.

Very little is logical or makes sense and that is unfortunate. If they took some time to think things through more than 1-2 weeks out the product would be much better.

Also, your comment about Shane running RAW was my thought as well. It made the Wrestlemania match completely irrelevant. So, not only was it a selling point of the biggest event of the year, but it was bad wrestling between a non-wrestler and old wrestler AND wound up meaning nothing.

 

[d_henderson1810]

I agree with you on this.

It's more on WWE writers/creative for continued lack of putting much thought into anything they do.

Here's a bunch of names, let's pick them out of a hat and slot them into matches.

Very little is logical or makes sense and that is unfortunate. If they took some time to think things through more than 1-2 weeks out the product would be much better.

Also, your comment about Shane running RAW was my thought as well. It made the Wrestlemania match completely irrelevant. So, not only was it a selling point of the biggest event of the year, but it was bad wrestling between a non-wrestler and old wrestler AND wound up meaning nothing.

I don't have a problem with a lot of the match-ups, but they need to explain why Wrestler A is fighting Wrestler B. The feuds need to make storyline sense, or else it is a bunch of matches thrown together at random.

Also, there is no follow-up at WM32. Most of the matches weren't even mentioned the next night (Reigns v Triple H, Women's Match, Ambrose v Lesnar, Styles v Jericho, Taker v Shane meant nothing). It was like WM never happened, since things that happened where never mentioned, let alone continued on Raw the next night.

Yes, we don't want "Payback" to be a retread of WM32 matches, but they have gone the opposite way and (other than Kalisto v Ryback), the slate was wiped clean the night after Wrestlemania, like WM32 never happened.

 

[Navi]

Also, there is no follow-up at WM32. Most of the matches weren't even mentioned the next night (Reigns v Triple H, Women's Match, Ambrose v Lesnar, Styles v Jericho, Taker v Shane meant nothing). It was like WM never happened, since things that happened where never mentioned, let alone continued on Raw the next night.

I agree with you, but if you look at them as individual matches there wasn't a lot that could be continued with most of them

Reigns was booked to win the title. It didn't hurt HHH's standing that he took the loss. Plus he hasn't been around since Mania really, well except for a couple of dates on the European tour. He's not interested in a rematch. His job was to lose to Reigns and he did his job.

Lesnar hasn't been around since Mania either and we won't see him until Summerslam most likely. His feud with Ambrose is over. Lesnar's next feud should be Wyatt, when he comes back from injury.

Styles has moved up to fight in the main event with Reigns. I have no idea why, but seems they need someone who is over to complete the Reigns heel turn. I personally think Reigns turning on Ambrose would be better, but I don't book the show.

With Styles moving on, naturally Jericho needs someone, and so does Ambrose, so yea they've stuck the two of them together. The natural heel against the natural face. It works but Ambrose has to win this. No point Jericho winning it.

Charlotte is still the Diva's champ, don't know why, but Sasha will get the title off her soon enough. Where is Sasha been lately anyway?

Shane was brought in to give Taker a match. I don't care what anyone says, I think Vince is a bit senile, and came up with that stipulation on the spur of the moment, but once out there he couldn't take it back. Everyone knew Shane would lose, almost killing himself in the process. He's done a good job with RAW, and of course Taker has gone into hiding till next year.

So yea it's like Mania never happened, but with all the injuries, they were flying by the seat of their pants, and put on a better show than I thought they would. Not the best show ever, but with who and what they had to work with people enjoyed it.

 

[The Warlord]

They have done a great job in building up Payback...but please no brand split. We have come too far in uniting the brands and world titles, lets not go the other way. In a sense we already have a B show and thats NXT. Works perfect for developing talent, dont mess with it.

The only thing that needs to happen is for Vince to drop the ego, just this once. Reigns isnt cutting it as "the guy" but I think he would as a heel. Have Styles win the title at Payback and Reigns turns heel after. People will take him more serious and the fans would have a new champion they could ge proud of. Almost like Jericho defeating HHH on Raw back in 2000, but run with it. Just do it. He has all the talent...please dont fuck it up. Cena and Rollins will be back soon and we'll have a stacked roster.

Time to pull the trigger, Vinny Mac. Just like you did with Shawn, just like you did with Jericho. Styles is your guy.

 

[TheMainEvent]

I was just getting ready to write a post about how the last 4 weeks have seemed like a huge improvement with new guys getting pushes, every segment has some form of focus or meaning to advance toward a feud, and things are progressing. I really do think it has a big influence on the fact that Ryan Ward jumped over from NXT over to the main roster creative team. When he was with NXT everything had a purpose and was done to drive forward a feud or give superstars a chance to shine and elevate. Albeit NXT was very "keep it simple" in the quality of their booking but sometimes thats exactly what Raw and Smackdown need.

I'm really hoping that things continue this way and we get some major breakout moments this year for alot of the top talent.

 

[CCIV]

There still isn't enough mixing of talent and storylines for me. The call ups have been great but now it's time to tell stories with them and that is where the WWE has been coming up short. They seem to be able to create characters but then it's just character A vs character B and no story other than "I don't like you". Why not pair people or create nameless stables? Shamus and Becky are obvious, add one or two more people and just simply have them hangout and get involved in each others matches. If anything it gives the talent more than one segment on the show.

Incorporate a Sasha/Charlotte feud with a men's main event story. I say Charlotte a heel is seen with Ambrose a face. Sasha a face is seen with Reigns a heel and you twist and turn and interfere with each other blurring lines and creating questions and all four get heat and momentum from each other. Think outside the box do what we don't expect. Try stuff! You're the only game in town throw stuff at us and see what sticks. Two guys or gals fighting for a title is boring!!

Make Rusev a monster!!!

Push Del Rio, maybe even another faction with him as leader. Or a female or two or more females as his followers.

Ryback versus Crews. In ring Tug of War, arm wrestling , weightlifting, obstacle course, strength competitions leading to a Crews US Title win and run. Creative entertaining tv segments other than a straight wrestling match.

Corbin versus Kane. Kane chokeslams him through the ring to hell at Summerslam. Corbin returns at Royal Rumble behind Taker in black duster and hat as Taker returns as #30 to win the Rumble. Corbin is Takers Disciple or Apostle. Eventually Corbin turns on Taker costing him his mania title shot and retires his teacher at Mania and Corbin becomes the next generation Taker, The Disciple Baron Corbin.

Brand Split!! Too much talent not to.. Two hour Raw, 1 hour NXT to open Raw.

Bye Bye McMahons! Find on air replacements. Sting has been mentioned numerous times for Raw. Find someone for Smackdown and create new leaders for us. Shane and Stephanie are clearly not bringing in the viewers as ratings are declining week after week.

Add Mankind to the Wyattt Family and take Bray to the next level! How? Why? Brainwashing, with Mankind being freed by someone to end the story as the freer and Wyatt benefit.

Bring back the hardcore 24/7 title. With Facebook, Twitter, Vine and Instagram it is beyond me why they haven't done this yet!

Cena, Orton, Rollins returns will help on their own, Hopefully. I feel Rollins is in for a huge face run. Especially with Reigns being so hated all you have to do is have Rollins attack him and you're on your way.

Enough I can't fix it in one day

 

[rbv13]

I think Raw has been nonsense the last few weeks.

While they haven’t been very straight forward they have in a roundabout way explained certain moves. In many cases it has been about reading between the lines and taking notice to how the company operates in general.

So, you have no problem that Shane is running Raw, despite the fact that Vince did everything to stop him, and Shane LOST to the Undertaker in a HIAC at WM32. There was no logical sense why Shane is running Raw, other than "just because".

Despite maintaining his hard ass demeanor Vince somewhat praised his son for his efforts at WM. In a sense of thanking Shane for the effort he reluctantly gave. Shane was given control for one night. Shane returning following that “one night” was explained as a response from the fans wanting him there. From Vince’s standpoint what is the harm? Vince still holds ultimate control and can step in whenever he wants. Had Shane won at WM then Vince would be totally SOL.

Secondly, people are getting title shots for no reason. Kevin Owens is denied an IC Title rematch, and Miz wins the belt instead (making Ryder win it at WM32 irrelevant), and then Cesaro gets a title shot "just because".

It was made pretty obvious that KO switched his sights from the IC Championship to the WW WHC. He was presented with an opportunity to do so in the four way for the number one contenders spot. He lost that chance and in the process reignited his very personal feud with Zayne.
Miz was given the shot at the title b/c of coming extremely close at WM. He made the most of the opportunity by taking the belt. Ryder was given his chance for a rematch and failed. Now they have inserted Cesaro who was extremely hot and moving towards gold prior to his injury.

* Ask Ryder if his win at WM was irrelevant. It was the highlight of his career and forever gives him a WM Moment. Not too shabby for a transition reign.

Also, a guy who has been on the roster for three months gets a WWE Title shot.

WWE is now acknowledging accomplishments outside of their own promotion. Styles has been praised as a multi time World Champion. He has been put in high profile positions. He was entered in a four way with a chance to challenge for the WWE WHC. He made the most of it and now one of the hottest names in the WORLD is in the main event. That’s pretty clear cut.

 

[Deoxyribonucleic A.C.I.D.]

People that don't get why Shane has been running RAW these past 4 weeks have no idea of how a sentimental story works.

Vince saw that Shane was determined to put everything on the line for what he believes in. Let's not forget that Shane is Vince's son, he's not some stranger. Vince almost witnessed his son's death at Wrestlemania. That touched him so he let him run things for a while, give him a chance. This also creates the power struggle between Shane and Stephanie, because, had Shane won, Steph would be fired and we would have no storyline.

Also, AJ lost, but pinned Y2J the following night, plus he's a great merchantise mover, plus he's one of the most over stars in the company, not currently injured, plus WWE knew that Bullet Club debuting would be money so it had to be put on the ME scene. Sum up all that and you get why AJ is in the position he's in.

 

[kadroan]

I don't know about you, but I find myself quite entertained by RAW these past 4 weeks. The build-up to Payback has been solid and steady. There's nothing over the top rope done, no overbooking. It's just, simple wrestling booking. Maybe that was what WWE needed. Simple. No Authority over-booked angles, no cheesy programming.

I want to take a look at what made RAW better than before, these past four weeks.

Tag Team scene
The Tag Team Tournament was a great idea. And also, look who are the two finalists. Two teams that debuted 4 weeks ago. That's a great way to showcase the new talent. New Day is gold. Enzo and Cass are gold. And the Vaudevillains make a good heel team.
We also have Usos vs Bullet Club. More to that later. The division really has some great momentum.

Divas- Nope, I mean Women's scene
That's the first time I actually follow the women's divison. It has some great talents in it and things can only get better from here on.

Mid-card scene
The US title is kinda lost, but there's nothing with it being a #3 weel title. The IC title should always be the secondary title, only second to the World Title. I don't follow Kalisto's work, I don't expect him to lose to Ryback. What the US title needs is a nice personal feud. Sin Cara turning on Kalisto would work.

Owens and Zayn. What else can I say. A feud that will trully elevate both guys.

IC title. I take back what I said about Ryder. Miz is still AWESOME. Ryder winning and then losing was kinda sad, but it is what it is. The company never wanted Ryder and they were grateful enough to give him a deserved WM moment. Miz and Cesaro have a nice small rivalry. I wouldn't be surprised if Miz loses the belt to Cesaro actually. Cesaro has been riding a big wave of momentum, so this is quite unpredictable for me.

Main event scene
Roman and Styles have an intriguing storyline going on. First of all, both of them deserve to be on the main event scene. Then, man, the Bullet Club is HYPE. What's gonna happen? Will Styles turn? Will Roman turn? Will noone turn? Is someone behind Bullet Club's coming? Is Shane maybe involved? Maybe Reigns will join the Authority and Bullet Club will join Shane????
See? So many questions, so many theories. That's when you know that what you're watching is really good.

But what makes RAW so good?
Well, it's simple, it's because Shane McMahon is running things of course. It feels like WWE made RAW crap these past 3 years (not so crap as the years before though), only to push this angle with Shane McMahon.

On a serious note, it feels like WWE has pressed a reset button. The injuries have helped them do that actually. Look how much fresh RAW looks. No Cena, no Orton, no HHH. Do anyone miss those? I only miss Cena and still, not so much. I miss Rollins and I definately miss a well booked Wyatt Family. Add these elements and you can trully have great RAWs.

Question #1: Have you enjoyed these past RAWs as much as me and if yes, what aspects have you liked?

#2: How do you keep the momentum going forward?

To answer that question. Keep the fresh-ness. Don't add Cena and Orton to the ME scene when they return, only if necessary.
Keep the steady build between Shane and Authority, slowly.
Authority returns next week, DON'T OVERBOOK THEM. No heel favours. Keep it simple.
Keep the tag momentum going.
Utilize the Bullet Club.
Don't bring up any more names, yet.

What do you guys think about the whole subject?

Yeah the tag division is the best it's been in a while. It's amazing to have New Day as champs for this long and they aren't even stale.

Women's division is nice. Great to see Natayla in a meaningful storyline. They do need to shake up the faces/heels though. We can only see the faces vs. Team Bad/Charlotte so many times. Maybe Becky needs to turn heel.

The US title picture is awful. I don't want Kalisto or Ryback as champ. I'm hoping talent like Owens, Zayn, Jericho (never won the US title), Ambrose, Corbin, Ziggler, AJ (once he's done with Reigns) and Crews compete over the US title.

IC title picture is nice. Hopefully they let Cesaro win the title since it's been a while since he's had singles gold.

Main event picture is great. Reigns is holding it down.

RAW has been nice. Seeing the younger talent get pushed. I'm so used to the PPV after WM being a bunch of WM rematches but WWE has actually took the time to create some original feuds.

To keep the momentum building, I'd say focus on continuity and continue to experiment. Who would have thought we'd see a Reigns/Bray tag team in 2016? Also, they need to continue to give the young talents time. It's great to see Shane isn't cutting 20+ minute promos like The Authority.

 

[c0creat0r]

I think this might be the start of a HUGE new trend following Wrestlemania each year... Everyone talks about WWE not having an off season... But this might be a trail run of just that. Following Wrestlemania each year, give the established stars time off and focus on building new stars. Could be a game changer if this is indeed what is going on.