Wrestling

[SpeedFlex27]

What did you guys think of the ending on Raw with Joe & Wyatt interfering? I know it's to set up future feuds but still.... so much of the same .... every week.

[The Unknown Poster]

Haven't watched yet. Neither did a lot of people as RAW set a shocking 20 year low rating. Yikes. 

[SpeedFlex27]

Why not have a clean win then have the heels come out & attack Balor & Rollins? Nope, example 152,762 of the boring WWE formula of interfering in a match. It has been for decades & somehow Vince think fans like it.

[The Unknown Poster]

15 minutes ago, SpeedFlex27 said:

Why not have a clean win then have the heels come out & attack Balor & Rollins? Nope, example 152,762 of the boring WWE formula of interfering in a match. It has been for decades & somehow Vince think fans like it.

Generally for the tv show doing interference isn't terrible because it's about advancing the story. But I agree raw is very formulaic. And they haven't got the guys over. 

Someone will get blamed. Probably Finn and Miz. Maybe Seth. Out of the three Miz has probably been given the best chance to get over but he was low card for so long you can't just elevate him and have it work. 

The more writers they have on staff the worse their writing is. Think about this. They have literally 50+ tv writers and that house of horrors lameness was the best they could come up with. 

Miz/Ambrose. Seth/Joe. Finn/bray are all solid programs. But none of those guys have been booked like stars and none are lfer like stars. Maybe Finn to a degree. 

I don't know. They need a complete overhaul of how they do things. But that won't happen. 

[SpeedFlex27]

1 hour ago, The Unknown Poster said:

Generally for the tv show doing interference isn't terrible because it's about advancing the story. But I agree raw is very formulaic. And they haven't got the guys over. 

Someone will get blamed. Probably Finn and Miz. Maybe Seth. Out of the three Miz has probably been given the best chance to get over but he was low card for so long you can't just elevate him and have it work. 

The more writers they have on staff the worse their writing is. Think about this. They have literally 50+ tv writers and that house of horrors lameness was the best they could come up with. 

Miz/Ambrose. Seth/Joe. Finn/bray are all solid programs. But none of those guys have been booked like stars and none are lfer like stars. Maybe Finn to a degree. 

I don't know. They need a complete overhaul of how they do things. But that won't happen. 

Seth had such a great opportunity a year ago & they blew it. He'll never get it back. Look at what they did to Reigns. Fans are chanting "Thank you Braun" & nothing changes. As far as The Miz goes, you're right that he's been a joke for years & now he's getting the big push. Even if The Miz is doing the best work of his career, I still don't care & never will. To me, they booked him as a mid carder. He'll never be anything else. At least the writers are getting it right with Sheamus & Cesaro. Their explanation (storyline) of why they turned on The Hardy Boys made sense & to be honest with you, they will do very well as heels.

Edited May 3, 2017 by SpeedFlex27

[The Unknown Poster]

Sheamus is inherently unlikable so I agree lol 

[SpeedFlex27]

8 minutes ago, The Unknown Poster said:

Sheamus is inherently unlikable so I agree lol 

C'mon Fella.... Cesaro is probably one of the best pure wrestlers in the WWE & they're wasting his talents as well keeping him down. But Vince says let's keep pushing Roman. Eventually the fans will accept it. Not.

[The Unknown Poster]

9 hours ago, SpeedFlex27 said:

C'mon Fella.... Cesaro is probably one of the best pure wrestlers in the WWE & they're wasting his talents as well keeping him down. But Vince says let's keep pushing Roman. Eventually the fans will accept it. Not.

Remember Cesaro was the example Vince used as someone who needed to reach up and grab the brass ring.  I think he's a great worker too.  I dont know if Vince is wrong that he cant be a main event guy.  This tag team is good for him.

With the Network model, what the fans want means very little.  Only is house shows really bomb and ratings really tank will Vince wake up.  House shows are very different from the TV audience so its hard to say what would cause them to bomb.  Ratings have been slipping to historic lows, this week being a bad one because there arent the usual built in excuses.  It will be interesting to see if there is a reaction to it.

[Atomic]

Sheamus is also a danger to everyone in the ring.  He kicked Jeff Hardy in the face on RAW and knocked his tooth out.  Not the first time he's injured someone.

But I'll be honest, WWE has basically lost me since Wrestlemania.  It's just too repetitive and I'm not into the guys they're pushing as main eventers (Samoa Joe, Finn Balor, Jinder Mahal, Roman Reigns.... ugh). Over the last 3 weeks I may have caught 2 or 3 matches total.  I didn't even know Payback was on on Sunday.

[Atomic]

 

[The Unknown Poster]

Very careless.  Also kicked Daniel Bryan in the head and now he cant wrestle.

Jeff seemed to take it all in stride.  He should have probably kicked the hell out Sheamus in the back.

[Atomic]

1 minute ago, The Unknown Poster said:

Very careless.  Also kicked Daniel Bryan in the head and now he cant wrestle.

Jeff seemed to take it all in stride.  He should have probably kicked the hell out Sheamus in the back.

Jeff's a veteran guy and he's been through his own set of issues so he may be more chill and forgiving than someone else in his position.

[The Unknown Poster]

 

[The Unknown Poster]

RAW ratings continue to tank.  There is the feeling being a taped show this week hurt it but that has never been the case before (taped vs live never made much of a difference even in the "WAR" years).  And I'd argue the expected hot and rowdy UK audience always makes for an interesting show but that wasnt a draw at all here.  Vince is fiddling while Rome burns.  When will they make changes?

Raw fell to yet another non-football season and non-holiday record modern low last night with 2.68 million viewers for the show in London.

The audience dropped six percent over the previous low mark set last week of 2.86 million viewers.

The last time Raw numbers were at this point outside of football season was 1997, when it went head-to-head with Nitro.

[Atomic]

Just now, The Unknown Poster said:

RAW ratings continue to tank.  There is the feeling being a taped show this week hurt it but that has never been the case before (taped vs live never made much of a difference even in the "WAR" years).  And I'd argue the expected hot and rowdy UK audience always makes for an interesting show but that wasnt a draw at all here.  Vince is fiddling while Rome burns.  When will they make changes?

Raw fell to yet another non-football season and non-holiday record modern low last night with 2.68 million viewers for the show in London.

The audience dropped six percent over the previous low mark set last week of 2.86 million viewers.

The last time Raw numbers were at this point outside of football season was 1997, when it went head-to-head with Nitro.

Finn Balor and Samoa Joe are poison to the ratings.  Guys like them reaching the top is the worst thing to happen to WWE in years.

Everyone was excited about Brock Lesnar and Goldberg.... two superstars who are larger than life.  The essence of pro wrestling.  Then you replace them with a half-man and a fat guy and this is what happens.

[The Unknown Poster]

48 minutes ago, Atomic said:

Finn Balor and Samoa Joe are poison to the ratings.  Guys like them reaching the top is the worst thing to happen to WWE in years.

Everyone was excited about Brock Lesnar and Goldberg.... two superstars who are larger than life.  The essence of pro wrestling.  Then you replace them with a half-man and a fat guy and this is what happens.

Id say you're half right.  Pushing guys at WM who are either not there after (Goldberg, Undertaker) and guys who are part time (Brock, Hunter, Shane), how can they not expect the viewership to drop then the guys you've pushed the hardest aren't there?

Brock stopped meaning a lot for ratings awhile ago because of how he was booked.

Joe is one of the more unique guys who should be pushed even harder.  There was a record ratings shift when Mick Foley won the World Title, hardly an example of physical fitness so the idea fans don't want to see fat guys is completely wrong.  Daniel Bryan was super over as was Shawn Michaels in his day, rendering the argument that small guys cant draw an incorrect perspective also.

Its simple.  Its the booking.

[The Unknown Poster]

double

Edited May 10, 2017 by The Unknown Poster

[Taynted_Fayth]

I think i've officially given up on Raw and switched to SD. I just can't watch RAW anymore with Ambrose and the Miz as the center focus, does nothing for me as a fan, and with an oft missing champ (Lesnar) there's just no real title story going and it lessens the program imo.  Mind boggling how they can cram 3 hours with basically a woman's match, a cruiser weight match, an IC level match, a tag match and a braun vs reigns segment week after week.  Raw has gotten stale AF.

Only complaint I have with SD is what they are doing with Shinsuke. Just let the man wrestle already, watching him drunken stagger down the ramp just for dolph to talk and talk and talk ugh... I've lost interest in that story already. Ziggler himself has been such a jobber over the last few years to it's hard to really buy into the feud as you know shinsuke will beat his ass at backlash.

[Mike]

RAW has been pitiful lately, which is sad with the talent they have.

[The Unknown Poster]

Worse for RAW is Stroman is injured and they dont know how long.  They had him penciled in vs Brock in July and thats likely not happening.  So you have to heat someone else up for Brock.  Among the likely candidates of Finn, Seth, Joe, Ambrose, Bray, none of them scream "hot".  Joe would be the best in my opinion but then you have to really strap a rocket to his ass.

I wonder if they'd consider moving Styles or Nak over.  The rumor was they already had Styles vs Nak penciled in for the WM main event next year (wanting a "Tokyo Dome" style big hype match).  Think Omega is getting a massive offer in February?

[Atomic]

Thought the Strowman injury was strictly kayfabe

[The Unknown Poster]

1 minute ago, Atomic said:

Thought the Strowman injury was strictly kayfabe

It was weird because they announced a torn rotator cuff which would be a multi-month injury and then during RAW it came out that he had an elbow injury of which they dont know the end result.  So the speculation was the torn rotater was kayfabe but then he DID get hurt.  No idea where but he was put through tables at the house shows all week so he could have hurt his elbow then or it could be a wear & tear injury.  I'd tend to think its something that happened recently because if it was something that could be put off, they'd put it off.

[Taynted_Fayth]

I watched a bit of aftermath prior to SD last night and they said Braun was legitimately hurt as well. I don't believe they have a vested interest in feeding to the kayfabe, although they do discuss things as though they are real. 

[The Unknown Poster]

11 minutes ago, Taynted_Fayth said:

I watched a bit of aftermath prior to SD last night and they said Braun was legitimately hurt as well. I don't believe they have a vested interest in feeding to the kayfabe, although they do discuss things as though they are real. 

He's definitely really hurt.  They are scrambling to re-plan.  But it is possible they worked an injury and THEN he actually got hurt a few days later,

[Atomic]

6 minutes ago, The Unknown Poster said:

He's definitely really hurt.  They are scrambling to re-plan.  But it is possible they worked an injury and THEN he actually got hurt a few days later,

That's what I'm thinking, because they had Roman working the injury on RAW didn't they?  I didn't watch but that's what I read.  Normally they don't work real injuries for obvious reasons.

It's too bad, I'd really like to see Strowman vs Lesnar.  One of the few matches that I'd actually get excited for with the current weak roster.