WWE RAW LD 7/18/2011 - The Day After The Night Before

[shattered dreams]

Yeah, Vince sold the hell out of that segment. Trips damn near ruined it though. Not sure I really see the appeal of him as the on screen boss. Something just doesn't quite work there, especially once he goes heel. Has HHH ever even played the cowardly type of heel?

 

[FSWWE]

Yeah, Vince sold the hell out of that segment. Trips damn near ruined it though. Not sure I really see the appeal of him as the on screen boss. Something just doesn't quite work there, especially once he goes heel. Has HHH ever even played the cowardly type of heel?

He will, when he starts to get old!!

 

[mareek]

That last segment was amazing but the first hour and fifty minutes of raw was still pretty shitty.

 

[JGlass]

That last segment was amazing but the first hour and fifty minutes of raw was still pretty shitty.

I thought Rey vs. Ziggler was quite good.

 

[X]

Yeah, Vince sold the hell out of that segment. Trips damn near ruined it though. Not sure I really see the appeal of him as the on screen boss. Something just doesn't quite work there, especially once he goes heel. Has HHH ever even played the cowardly type of heel?

He did the cowardly heel shtick back in his early days with the blue blood gimmick, but ever since his first serious heel push in 99 he's always been made to look totally dominant as a heel, which isn't necessarily a bad thing though.

I have faith in Triple H, as strange as that sounds to say. He knows and loves this business and he'll do just fine in an authority figure role. I sure as fuck hope we get to see a few more matches from him before he officially hangs the boots up though.

 

[Via Armbar]

I thought Rey vs. Ziggler was quite good.

Agreed.

Oh and this is a whole ton of hard work to put in just to reveal that Vince was behind THEM or Immortal or whoever they fuck they are. Good work TNA.

 

[Slyfox696]

I have faith in Triple H, as strange as that sounds to say. He knows and loves this business and he'll do just fine in an authority figure role. I sure as fuck hope we get to see a few more matches from him before he officially hangs the boots up though.

I would hope so. He needs to go out on his back, putting over a younger star, not losing to the Undertaker at Wrestlemania.

 

[Belladonna29]

Hmmm, overall this was a weird mediocre Raw that was saved by a good cliffhanger ending.
Yes, that's right. Let's not pretend that this show was awesome just because there was a nice twist at the end. Other than the Mysterio/Truth match, everything else I caught was pretty boring.

The transition from the hot crowd in Chicago to the 'meh' crowd in GB didn't help either, but I guess they were waiting around for Punk and his absence/lame start to the show didn't help either.

I dug Cena being serious and making a worked shoot threat about going to TNA, and with the lack of star power on the show, having HHH show up as actually useful.
This is a logical way for Punk to get back into the couple after a couple of weeks, but I still contend that idea of the tournament screwed up the storyline until the end of the show because it reduced Punk's insubordination into a nuisance that could be ignored instead of treating it like a big deal it should be ( and felt like last night ).

I suppose injecting HHH into the angle will change that. Perhaps he voids the tournament and either orders Cena to find Punk wherever he is and take the title back, or he challenge Punk to come back and defend the title because running off with it is a 'cowardly' or something.
Either way, at least this keeps up speculation about the storyline.
Hopefully HHH doesn't pull a Vince and make this angle about himself instead of Punk and Cena, but who knows.

 

[Slyfox696]

This is a logical way for Punk to get back into the couple after a couple of weeks, but I still contend that idea of the tournament screwed up the storyline until the end of the show because it reduced Punk's insubordination into a nuisance that could be ignored instead of treating it like a big deal it should be ( and felt like last night ).

Seems like they're setting up a Champion vs. Champion encounter. Similar to the HBK vs. Razor IC encounter years ago.

 

[Joe's Gonna Kill You]

Decent Show ending was really good

 

[mareek]

I bet tna guys are pissing themselves cause of the free publicity.

 

[X]

I thought Rey vs. Ziggler was quite good.

It was solid, but too short to be very memorable. Those two work really well together though, I still remember their awesome opener at Summerslam 09 that tore up the place. That's a feud that hasn't been overdone either, I'd love to see those two feud again in the future.

I really dug the Truth/Mysterio match though. They work well together too and that was even better than the solid opener they had back at Over the Limit.

As for tonight's RAW and what it means for the WWE title, I'm still going to predict that Rey wins this "new" interim WWE title next week and then goes on to face Alberto Del Rio as one of the main events for Summerslam, where Del Rio walks out with the belt.

And I totally see McMahon joining forces with Punk to lead a band of rebels back to take over his company in the future, which would make for incredible television and PPVs.

I know we've all gone crazy talking about how great guys like Punk and Cena have been in this angle, but Vince deserves major credit too for okaying the whole thing and helping come up with likely. Glad to see he's not afraid to take a risk and try something different for once.

 

[X]

I would hope so. He needs to go out on his back, putting over a younger star, not losing to the Undertaker at Wrestlemania.

Indeed, he should put over CM Punk in a great match in the future.

So should Taker. As revenge for managing to almost kill all of his insane heat back in the summer of 09 with a bunch of shitty squashes.

 

[wrestlingfan]

Also let's not forget that now that Punk has the WWE Title, WWE may just unveil the title they've made for months.

 

[Kayoh]

If anybody breaks Undertaker's streak, nobody has ever been more deserving than CM Punk is right now.

 

[shattered dreams]

Vince has easily been the second best person in the angle behind only Punk.

While it seems almost obvious that Vince would challenge this the way it played out tonight had me legit believing he might be done even if that seems unlikely. Maybe Vince is a better actor than I would give him credit for but I don't know. I think someone will challenge HHH for power but I am not sure it will be Vince.

 

[JGlass]

Vince teaming up with Punk would be great for shock value, but it'd be so messy... sort of like the 2001 Invasion. Who would be the good guys? The machine of the WWE led by fan favorite Triple H, or the underdog group of ROH alumni led by the evil, power hungry Vince McMahon? Or would it be just like 2001 and everyone will drop what they're doing, play face or heel for the duration of the angle, and as soon as it's over go back to business as usual? Stone Cold will be cheered again, Angle and McMahon booed, and in 10 years people will look back and say, "What a clusterfuck that was."

I just don't see that happening. Maybe Vince could team with Punk and Punk alone, but have Punk turn on McMahon immediately after he gets what he wants, thus allowing Punk to stay face while Vince becomes a heel again.

 

[Monkey_Mania]

I would hope so. He needs to go out on his back, putting over a younger star, not losing to the Undertaker at Wrestlemania.

Yeah, because that's what your boy Hogan has done so many times.

 

[Belladonna29]

Seems like they're setting up a Champion vs. Champion encounter. Similar to the HBK vs. Razor IC encounter years ago.

While that's a possibility 1.) it seems convoluted--so there's technically going to be 3 World Heavyweight Titles in the company and 2.) it still doesn't change the fact that Punk's rebellious antics are diminished if he can take the title and the WWE just creates another one like 'whatever CM Punk'.

A major element to this storyline appeared to be the humiliation of Punk basically calling his shot, winning the title and leaving with the WWE being panicked about it. What if he goes somewhere else (TNA, ROH ) and disgraces the title!, blah blah blah.
Creating the tournament resolved that panic and made Punk's antics look insignificant, at least for now.

That's why I'm hoping HHH comes into the plot and places some urgency back into storyline. If he can't, who knows how long this storyline stays hot.

 

[Coco]

I would hope so. He needs to go out on his back, putting over a younger star, not losing to the Undertaker at Wrestlemania.

The WWE departures of Flair and Michaels give me zero confidence in the WWE when it comes to this. I won't even hope for it. I know better.

Dude, get Vince McMahon an Emmy!

I hope so. The Emmys really need to make things interesting and find some new ways to not be relevent.

Vince finally listened when somebody told him he's an out of touch old man. I'm sure of it. That's the only explanation I have for this month of daring intrigue. So thank you, CM Punk, for taking advantage of all the attention Vince McMahon has almost certainly been lavishing you with.

My biggest hope going forward is that the WWE ignores the ratings and buy-rates coming out of the last few weeks and balls-out commits to the direction they're headed in. That's all I have to say about that. Maybe Vince and his boy have finally realized, as he was saying earlier, that no one man is bigger than the WWE. [/wishful thinking]

 

[Coco]

Vince teaming up with Punk would be great for shock value, but it'd be so messy... sort of like the 2001 Invasion. Who would be the good guys? The machine of the WWE led by fan favorite Triple H, or the underdog group of ROH alumni led by the evil, power hungry Vince McMahon?

The fact that we're having this conversation again about faces and heels should tell you that all bets could be off and the fans might be allowed to *shock&awe* think for themselves.

I know, I know. Not in the Universe, damn it!

 

[shattered dreams]

It would be kind of amusing if HHH won the title from Punk within a month.

 

[JGlass]

The fact that we're having this conversation again about faces and heels should tell you that all bets could be off and the fans might be allowed to *shock&awe* think for themselves.

I know, I know. Not in the Universe, damn it!

I might be out of touch in a similar way to Vince, but one thing I like about the WWE is that, like in comic books, there's almost always a clear cut team of good guys and a clear cut team of bad guys. I suppose this is old fashioned, but that's the way I like it, with maybe an exception or two.

I stand by the fact that I think this could be very very messy. Nonetheless, it'll be interesting to see what happens if they do let the fans choose who to root for. Very interesting indeed.

 

[Mighty NorCal]

lulz, mark-a-mania runnin wild.

Guys, Vince is still just as much a part of WWE as ever. They are just writing the Mr.Mcmahon character off of tv and giving the show an authority figure. A new look, sure, but not some giant new passing of the torch direction of WWE in the actual, bigger picture.

 

[Coco]

lulz, mark-a-mania runnin wild.

Guys, Vince is still just as much a part of WWE as ever. They are just writing the Mr.Mcmahon character off of tv and giving the show an authority figure. A new look, sure, but not some giant new passing of the torch direction of WWE in the actual, bigger picture.

The "new look" (and I agree, Vince is going to be as knee-deep as ever) is certainly worthy of markdom because we're not reverting back to business as usual. The intrigue is still there, something that has been lacking for ages. This isn't paint by numbers booking. It'll be years before Triple H gets the wheel full stop. But this is no small thing. And the fact that something is changing at all in kayfabe land shows that someone knows he might have gotten a little out of touch.