raw - 4.27.20

[slik]

nia jax will be in action tonight

[slik]

samoa joe on commentary tonight

mvp segment opening show

[ClockShot]

Soma Joe back on commentary.

MVP gets his "show" back.

Opening talkie segment.

Why should I bother with this?

[slik]

al black sitting on the couch looks funny for some reason

https://i.postimg.cc/RVX8hLK5/Screenshot-2020-04-27-at-7-07-08-PM.png

[Emperor Smeat]

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">On the plus side we gave <a href="https://twitter.com/WWEApollo?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@WWEApollo</a> a shirt. <br>On the downside it looks like he runs an air conditioning repair business.<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/RAW?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#RAW</a></p>&mdash; WWE Creative Humor (@WWECreative_ish) <a href="https://twitter.com/WWECreative_ish/status/1254925103038713856?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 28, 2020</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

[Droford]

WWE must have dumped lawler for his commentary lastvweek

[Emperor Smeat]

WWE must have dumped lawler for his commentary lastvweek

Wouldn't be surprised since its not the first time he's said something controversial or dumb on commentary since returning to the booth and them having to scrub his "Ramen Noodle Moonsault" comment from RAW's Hulu version.

Also his non-apology and comments on his podcast show probably made things worse.

Lawler was only useful to help Vic Joseph and Dio Madden get comfortable in their new RAW commentary role but any value Lawler had ended when both guys got dumped.

[slik]

while you are watching raw don't forget to order your capsule of dirt for only $74.99


<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Undertaker put AJ Styles in the dirt at <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/WM36?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#WM36</a>, winning the first-ever Boneyard Match. Get your piece of the action with the new <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/WrestleMania?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#WrestleMania</a> 36 &quot;Boneyard Edition Plaque with a capsule of dirt from the actual match! Exclusively at <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/WWEShop?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#WWEShop</a>! <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/WWE?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#WWE</a> <a href="https://t.co/ZvsNYnqUyu">https://t.co/ZvsNYnqUyu</a> <a href="https://t.co/9IwGLrDCqW">pic.twitter.com/9IwGLrDCqW</a></p>&mdash; WWEShop.com (@WWEShop) <a href="https://twitter.com/WWEShop/status/1254770552574578691?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 27, 2020</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

[Emperor Smeat]

6-man tag match has been pretty good soo far but not really into it since Zelina's group feels like a big waste based on how they've been handled these past few weeks.

[slik]

they couldn't have six people in a ladder match at mania but can for mitb

[Emperor Smeat]

:eek: Zelina's group losses again.

Guess they took over the mantle from Bray Wyatt of being all talk and no action.

[Emperor Smeat]

So if they were just going to continue running Triple H anniversary celebration stuff, wouldn't it have made more sense to do the actual celebration segment on tonight's RAW or this week's SD instead of last week?

Its like holding a birthday party but continuing with the celebrations a week later.

[Droford]

I hope there's another awkward HHH segment at the end. Can't get enough of those

[xrodmuc316]

2 absolute buzzsaw women having to put over this fat piece of garbage wrestler is such a joke.

[Emperor Smeat]

So did someone forget this was supposed to be a Triple Threat match?

That was a big waste of time in the end.

[Droford]

Well that was dumb

[Emperor Smeat]

:| don't think I needed to know that Lashley gets horny whenever he sees Lana at ringside.

[rez]

goddamn i'm entertained

[Emperor Smeat]

That trailer for WWE Battlegrounds looks bad.

[Emperor Smeat]

This Liv vs. Rubby feud has been somewhat boring.

Guess this Riott Squad breakup storyline is also over based on that promo from Liv. Pretty anti-climatic if so.

[slik]

I ran to McDonalds and saw on twitter the Nia/Asuka/Shayna match didn't happen, they just had Nia attack both?

[slik]

did they tease a break-up between Garza/Theory/Andrade earlier?

[Droford]

Make the Vikings Heel Again

[Emperor Smeat]

:lol: at trying to do a serious promo for the Viking Raiders after last week's sing-along car segment.


I ran to McDonalds and saw on twitter the Nia/Asuka/Shayna match didn't happen, they just had Nia attack both?

Shayna decided to yank Asuka out from the ring before it could start and all three starting brawling with the ref not really caring to stop things.

[Droford]

instead of them saying "we want the smoke" it should have been "we want the fire" cause you know they raid and pillage
Then they could replace the AOP as Seth's goons and become civilized and drop the Viking cosplay gimmick

[slik]

Jinder Mahal is back

[Droford]

The hindering of Jinder ceases tonight

[Droford]

the #5 of Hs career is him hyping up NXT

Lol

[Droford]

you just know we are going to get Jinder vs Drew
(RIP heath slater)

[Emperor Smeat]

Akira Tozawa being on jobber duty despite being a participant in the on-going Cruiserweight tournament just makes the tournament look weak by association.

[slik]

Jinder vs Drew feud will definitely happen before the end of the year

[slik]

This is too much Apollo Crews for one episode

[slik]

I could see this episode doing less than last week's 1.84 million

[Emperor Smeat]

This is too much Apollo Crews for one episode

Same for Zelina's group.

WWE has done a poor job rotating out talent for these empty arena shows despite having more of their main roster and NXT on hand than AEW while also resuming live shows.

[Emperor Smeat]

Well that US title match was a big waste of time.

That's like the 3rd week in a row or so a match on RAW ended via an injury stoppage spot.

[slik]

I enjoyed Evolution more than DX

[slik]

Tired of seeing clips of Becky from WM35...

[rez]

I could see this episode doing less than last week's 1.84 million

<iframe width="1280" height="704" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/ngF3bw0UvzU" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe>

[slik]

looks like shane thorne/brendan vink drafted to raw

[Emperor Smeat]

Guess MVP hasn't been paying attention to the past few weeks of RAW since why would he want to manage a team of jobbers.

[Emperor Smeat]

This is like the 3rd or 4th time WWE ran the same exact commercial for NXT that wasn't the generic "We Are Awesome" or "We Are NXT" ones.

Them over-hyping the Lee vs. Priest and Yim vs. Charlotte matches probably not going to get them the big ratings win they are expecting. Neither is really that appealing compared to other big hyped up NXT matches in recent times.

[slik]

this episode has been super boring overall

[slik]

Jerry Lawler appears

[Emperor Smeat]

Guess Lawler didn't get canned from RAW since he's the host of this contract signing segment.

[Emperor Smeat]

Seth looks a bit goofy with the man bun and suit combo look.

[slik]

Seth is boring

[rez]

RIP Murphy

Not a bad signing segment.

[Emperor Smeat]

Nice of Murphy to save his best pal ... nevermind he got destroyed.

Contract signing was decent but RAW itself was one of the most throw-away shows in a while and even more so than the empty arena Road to Mania shows.

[XL]

I’m assuming there’s a big chunk of workers that are opting not to work, or have been asked not to, or are not able to travel down to Florida, just by how much Vega’s guys are being used every week, appearing in multiple matches/segments every week, and the amount of NXT talents being cycled in.

I really liked that Team Vega wore matching colours this week - even if Garza wore green pants for most of the match. On the subject of this team, they need a name. Suggestions? I’ve always liked The Vanguard as a stable name, not sure it fits these guys but there’s an alliteration with Vega there.

6 man was an adequate time filler.

Seeing Nia Jax with a ladder in her hands ready to strike must have put the fear of god in everyone.

Bobby Lashley still looks weird in long tights.

Wonder what’s next for Liv Morgan?

Akira Tozawa being on jobber duty despite being a participant in the on-going Cruiserweight tournament just makes the tournament look weak by association.

These were my thoughts too. Given how many jobber matches they’ve had over the last few weeks why would you chose to squash someone who’s in the middle of a tournament to crown a new champion?

This Garza/Curaso thing is interesting.

The US Title match was a weird one; I was fearful that they were going to put the belt on Crews and give him “too much, too soon” before he’d built some sort of connection with the audience. The knee injury is interesting; does this take him out of MITB, or does it affect his performance in the match?

Despite not being “onboard” with the Ricochet & Alexander pairing I like that they’re wearing matching gear and mixing in some double team moves. Ever-Rise are a strange one; they look like a team but there’s something missing.

Last week I mentioned how I’d like to see MVP in a manager role, I wasn’t expecting it to be for Thorne & Vink. Let’s see how this goes. Seems like WWE is putting additional effort into the tag division given they should be trying to limit how many people are in the ring at any given time.

I actually liked the contract signing. Seth looked very much the douche in his suit with the glove and top knot. That last spot with Murphy taking the Claymore was great. I’m looking forward to Drew v. Seth.

[XL]

they couldn't have six people in a ladder match at mania but can for mitb

They couldn’t have six people in the Mania Ladder Match because one of them was The Miz who turned up to a taping ill/with symptoms.

[Sepholio]

Apollo is out of the MITB match according to an announcement on wwe.com.

This is an odd situation though....from my understanding, the MITB has already been taped. So do they retape the whole match? I dunno, seems off. Leaning towards this one being a work.

[Evil Vito]

It's possible they didn't have Apollo in the original match they filmed and they still wanted to give him the "rub" of earning his way in and being screwed out of the spot.

[Evil Vito]

Honestly, I think they could do worse than a Jinder Mahal/Drew McIntyre feud at this point. Throw Jinder straight into the main event mix, play off their shared past and similar stories of being cast aside and then returning to greatness. It's a story that makes sense, gives Drew a heel he can comfortably beat and look dominant doing so - whereas Rollins will likely involve some screwy non-finishes to protect him, and hurt McIntyre early in his reign as a consequence - and frankly nothing happening at the moment matters, so get it out of the way now when audiences don't have to sit through it.

[XL]

Actually Drew vs Mahal could have been a decent match for MITB as the MITB Match itself will be the main event/focus, and Drew vs Seth could have headlined elsewhere. For me, I’d need a strong undercard to get excited about if Drew/Mahal is your title picture, or the Universal Championship Match has to be solid - and with Braun as champ I can’t think of many/any matches that get me excited.

Seth did mention a “Big Picture” so that could carry through to the next PPV or 2.

[XL]

Apollo is out of the MITB match according to an announcement on wwe.com.

This is an odd situation though....from my understanding, the MITB has already been taped. So do they retape the whole match? I dunno, seems off. Leaning towards this one being a work.

Oh, I assumed it was a worked injury angle. Really interesting that they’ve already filmed the match. Does he get replaced by Andrade, and they can resume a feud when Crews returns? Maybe Andrade wins the briefcase and Crews thwarts his attempts to cash in?

[xrodmuc316]

Jinder is much better as an angry powerhouse than a comic relief character.

[Sepholio]

Im not as cool with a potential Jinder/Drew feud as I was when Slater was still employed. Him playing the comedy role of trying to get 2 of his friends to stop fighting each other would have made it more palatable to me.

[Anybody Thrilla]

Oh, I assumed it was a worked injury angle. Really interesting that they’ve already filmed the match. Does he get replaced by Andrade, and they can resume a feud when Crews returns? Maybe Andrade wins the briefcase and Crews thwarts his attempts to cash in?

I'm wondering if they've filmed multiple endings to the match, and maybe they don't even know which one will air yet.

[XL]

Could be. Could be.