WWE RAW Weekly Thread

[Bad News Gertner]

No such thing

[Evil Vito]

It's okay, I speak Gertner: who cares? she's hotttttttttttttt

[drave]

No such thing




Does exist. Same level of Baron Corbin heat. Just go away.

[drave]

Srsly though, there's things like this that make me believe they are going to go more soap-opera, less wrestling.

[Bad News Gertner]

It's weird that the fans say Baron has go away heat when actual wrestlers like Edge say otherwise.

[drave]

I speak only for myself, and I only watch PPV's. Edge can also go away..... o wait.




He has?

[Bad News Gertner]

Yeah, he loves him some Baron Corbin

https://www.google.com/amp/s/comicbook.com/wwe/amp/news/edge-is-tired-of-hearing-complaints-about-baron-corbin/

[Gerard]

Eva Marie :rofl::rofl::rofl::rofl:

You could tie a Barbie Doll to a bungee cord, attach it to the ring ropes and it would be better in the ring than her. Alternatively just tie her to the bungee cord, about the same amount of plastic in both.

Wwe describes her return as "Highly Anticipated" on their youtube video, would take her to be doing a porn for it to get any amount of anticipation.

[#1-norm-fan]

It's weird that the fans say Baron has go away heat when actual wrestlers like Edge say otherwise.

USA Network: “Fuck the general public! What do actual wrestlers like Edge say!?!”

[Emperor Smeat]

According to recent online speculation, this Bliss creepy doll storyline is sort of meant to explain some of RAW's weird direction in recent weeks.

Like Sonya Deville didn't actually become a heel authority figure but instead is only evil because she got suddenly possessed by Bliss' Lilly doll. Lilly made an apperance in the background during a segment Deville had backstage on Monday's show.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Alexa Bliss said &quot;someone caught Lilly's eyes&quot; <a href="https://t.co/teUzRJeDcQ">pic.twitter.com/teUzRJeDcQ</a></p>&mdash; Lasik'd, Fully Vaccinated PS5 Haver Sean Ross Sapp (@SeanRossSapp) <a href="https://twitter.com/SeanRossSapp/status/1389407926276788226?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 4, 2021</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

Same for Angel Garza deciding to actually shove a rose up Drew Gulak's butt was only due to him being consumed by Lilly's evil presence since the doll was also in the background during his backstage segment with Gulak.

[Bad News Gertner]

USA Network: “Fuck the general public! What do actual wrestlers like Edge say!?!”

I wouldn't consider neckbeard internet goobers the general public. Like those dweebs are gonna turn the T.V off when she's on. She'll probably have the highest rated segment of the show.

[#1-norm-fan]

Pretty sure the general public that was interested in wrestling turned off the TV a long time ago and I can’t imagine Baron Corbin brought any of them back. Not even with Edge’s coaxing.

And the neckbeards are becoming the majority. They stop caring about wrestling as it turns to shit at a much smaller rate than everyone else.

[#1-norm-fan]

When I picture someone who sits and spends their Monday night watching WWE Raw, unable to turn the channel because Baron Corbin is on the screen, I don’t exactly picture some middle class average joe who has his shit together.

I don’t picture a neckbeard either.

I picture a delusional wrestler with Vince-goggles on and a stake in the business trying to convince himself that one of his wrestling friends is a star.

[xrodmuc316]

Pretty sure the general public that was interested in wrestling turned off the TV a long time ago and I can’t imagine Baron Corbin brought any of them back. Not even with Edge’s coaxing.

And the neckbeards are becoming the majority. They stop caring about wrestling as it turns to shit at a much smaller rate than everyone else.

That is probably the biggest problem with wrestling today. The companies know they have that base audience, and that base audience is enough to keep them on TV, so the companies do just enough to keep the minimum amount of fans needed to keep cashing TV checks.

There is zero sense of urgency or taking risks because there is no reason to.

They could take a bunch of risks and work 3 times harder, and maybe they can grow the audience by 10% and get a few more Million$, or they can coast and do just enough. It's why WWE bailed on Heyman about halfway through his plan to create new attractions And grow the audience.

I go back to somebody like Strowman. I know he is debated here, but the dude was poised to be red hot for a while. Instead of letting that happen, they decided he needed to be buried because he showed up 4 hours before Showtime instead of 7 hours beforw, so he needed to be taught a lesson. They buried a guy who could have made them so much money, for being less early than they preferred. But that is the point, they are making enough money that they would rather their product be less good but have complete control.

And that is AEW too. All the talk about them pushing to change the business, but they haven't created any new stars. I am not talking about guys who were unknown 2 years ago, I mean that it's all the guys they told us were going to be something at the beginning of AEW. Darby and MJF and OC and Jungle Boy. They haven't opened up anything, it's The Elite and the few former Indy Guys they hyped at the start, mixed in with former WWE and Impact wrestlers.

They have their built in audience, and they haven't really done much of anything different to try and grow it or let anybody unplanned take over. If you love The Elite, then you are hyped they have been the focus for over 2 years. Why change that up when the core fan base is content with that.

The closest thing I can think of is John Silver, who got some real steam by accident, but all it has done is give him maybe 10% more TV time. He certainly isn't leapfrogging the Young Bucks on the card no matter how over he gets. There is no reason to take that chance and go outside the original plan when there is no real pressure to do better.

[Supreme Olajuwon]

Raw is for nobody. We can all agree on this.

[Bad News Gertner]

Their base audience are a bunch of old people. Not young dweebs as per "muh demos"

[Bad News Gertner]

Eva Marie is a modern day Roddy Piper

[#1-norm-fan]

Their base audience are a bunch of old people. Not young dweebs as per "muh demos"

This is a good point in the Eva Marie debate.

Does a hot chick draw if your audience is too old to get a boner?

[erickman]

that's what blue pills are for. that's why all the wrestling podcasts sell blue chew

[Bad News Gertner]

This is a good point in the Eva Marie debate.

Does a hot chick draw if your audience is too old to get a boner?

Haha well Sugardaddies are a thing

[XL]

That is probably the biggest problem with wrestling today. The companies know they have that base audience, and that base audience is enough to keep them on TV, so the companies do just enough to keep the minimum amount of fans needed to keep cashing TV checks.

There is zero sense of urgency or taking risks because there is no reason to.

They could take a bunch of risks and work 3 times harder, and maybe they can grow the audience by 10% and get a few more Million$, or they can coast and do just enough. It's why WWE bailed on Heyman about halfway through his plan to create new attractions And grow the audience.

I go back to somebody like Strowman. I know he is debated here, but the dude was poised to be red hot for a while. Instead of letting that happen, they decided he needed to be buried because he showed up 4 hours before Showtime instead of 7 hours beforw, so he needed to be taught a lesson. They buried a guy who could have made them so much money, for being less early than they preferred. But that is the point, they are making enough money that they would rather their product be less good but have complete control.

And that is AEW too. All the talk about them pushing to change the business, but they haven't created any new stars. I am not talking about guys who were unknown 2 years ago, I mean that it's all the guys they told us were going to be something at the beginning of AEW. Darby and MJF and OC and Jungle Boy. They haven't opened up anything, it's The Elite and the few former Indy Guys they hyped at the start, mixed in with former WWE and Impact wrestlers.

They have their built in audience, and they haven't really done much of anything different to try and grow it or let anybody unplanned take over. If you love The Elite, then you are hyped they have been the focus for over 2 years. Why change that up when the core fan base is content with that.

The closest thing I can think of is John Silver, who got some real steam by accident, but all it has done is give him maybe 10% more TV time. He certainly isn't leapfrogging the Young Bucks on the card no matter how over he gets. There is no reason to take that chance and go outside the original plan when there is no real pressure to do better.

This seems like an incredible non sequitur.

[Emperor Smeat]

Preview for tonight's show:

Raw preview, May 10, 2021: Bobby Lashley to collide with Drew McIntyre days before WrestleMania Backlash

WWE Champion Bobby Lashley battles Drew McIntyre, Asuka teams up with Mandy Rose & Dana Brooke against Charlotte Flair, Shayna Baszler & Nia Jax, and The New Day and R-K-Bro join forces against AJ Styles, Omos, Jaxson Ryker & Elias.

Raw Preview : Quick Hits

WWE Champion Bobby Lashley to collide with Drew McIntyre six days before WrestleMania Backlash Triple Threat
Asuka, Mandy Rose & Dana Brooke to battle Charlotte Flair, Nia Jax & Shayna Baszler
The New Day team up with R-K-Bro against AJ Styles, Omos, Jaxson Ryker & Elias



<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr"><a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/WrestleManiaBacklash?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#WrestleManiaBacklash</a> is what happens to <a href="https://twitter.com/WWE?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@WWE</a> stock come May<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/RAWTonight?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#RAWTonight</a></p>&mdash; WWE Creative Humor (@WWECreative_ish) <a href="https://twitter.com/WWECreative_ish/status/1391751444223647746?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 10, 2021</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

[Emperor Smeat]

:eek: at RAW starting off with a match and not some long talkie segment.

Although also one of those Money Paw type situations since its kicking off with a women's tag match featuring some of the least entertaining women on RAW's roster.

[erickman]

ahhh the nia beast what did flair do wrong to get this

[erickman]

more crap to the fire

[Emperor Smeat]

:| at Bliss randomly interrupting the tag match just to say her and Lilly just wanted to stop by and watch the rest of the match.

Not even 10 minutes into the show and its already gone downhill.

[erickman]

atleast randy is still good

[xrodmuc316]

If Alexa Bliss can lead to no more Charlotte for good, all the Fiend/Randy/Alexa stuff will have been worth it.

[Emperor Smeat]

When Miz teased a potential breakup with Morrison several weeks ago, thought Morrison was going to get demoted back to NXT to be with his wife. Instead that potential storyline barely lasted a week and Miz went right back to acting as if he was never mean to Morrison to begin with.

[Emperor Smeat]

Poor juicy giant tomato. Got viciously squished by Omos.

45 minutes done and RAW's been meh. The 8-man tag match up next should be good though although don't have any high hopes of WWE not screwing it up.

[Emperor Smeat]

RKBro & New Day vs. Elias, Ryker, Styles, & Omos was pretty good overall.

Guess Orton's not a fan of New Day after those post-match RKOs.

[erickman]

randy may be the best part of raw

[Emperor Smeat]

Still can't believe WWE threw away a 2-year win streak for Mansoor on his debut on RAW as if it was nothing just to continue this Carrillo vs. Sheamus feud that's been almost all one sided soo far.

[Emperor Smeat]

Yikes at the botched landing from Carrillo's sunset flip powerbomb to the outside. Sheamus came crashing down hard on Carrillo's legs.

[Emperor Smeat]

Sheamus US title run has been cursed soo far in terms of matches.

2 non-matches, another match that ended via a DQ, and now a no contest due to both Carrillo and Sheamus getting hurt.

[DaveWadding]

Smeat, are you telling me that Alexa Bliss is walking around with a possessed doll? Jesus Christ. Of all the Lucha Underground storylines to steal...

[Emperor Smeat]

Whelp there goes whatever potential Cedric Alexander's heel turn might have had after last week.

RAW must have a serious phobia when it comes to having interesting new things last beyond a week or so since the wankers running creative there keep doing a great job of killing whatever interesting stuff RAW could have on a consistent basis.

[Emperor Smeat]

Smeat, are you telling me that Alexa Bliss is walking around with a possessed doll? Jesus Christ. Of all the Lucha Underground storylines to steal...

Yes and its been even lamer than you could imagine.

[Emperor Smeat]

Not sure if Rhea just doesn't mesh that well with Asuka outside of their Mania match or whoever has been putting together their singles matches since Mania has been doing a really bad job. Back-to-back matches they've had that ended up being duller than it should have been.

Doesn't help tonight's match also has to deal with Charlotte's shenanigans dragging it down.

[xrodmuc316]

Not sure if Rhea just doesn't mesh that well with Asuka outside of their Mania match or whoever has been putting together their singles matches since Mania has been doing a really bad job. Back-to-back matches they've had that ended up being duller than it should have been.

Doesn't help tonight's match also has to deal with Charlotte's shenanigans dragging it down.

It doesn't help things that they have zero direction with her booking. I'm still not sure if she is a face or heel. Very few have the skill to be a tweener, and Rhea certainly isn't one of them.

Change of topic, Damien Priest still has the coolest entrance music!

[Emperor Smeat]

Yeah, the only people who have any sort of direction on RAW's Women's division are Charlotte and Alexa Bliss. Everyone else is either just a bit player or an afterthought.

Even though WWE did a terrible job with her Mania build, Bianca has felt like a much bigger star and future top star of WWE's women's division than Ripley despite Ripley being the one who was getting all the high praise and as a "can't miss" top star of the future that not even WWE could manage to screw up.

[Volare]

I walked by my roomate watching RAW and saw everyone scared of a doll....A DOLL IS NOW THE MOST OVER FEMALE!!

[Ruien]

The main event was fun. Braun destroying people is always entertaining.

[Emperor Smeat]

Drew vs. Lashley was very good until Braun crashed the party and the whole thing ended via DQ.

Outside of Drew vs. Lashley and the 8-Man tag matches, RAW was really boring and dull overall this week.

RAW has felt mostly lifeless compared to SmackDown and NXT and even other wrestling shows. Like SD has been just a one storyline driven show in recent months but that one storyline with Reigns has been way better than all of RAW's stuff combined. Even something like NPJW Strong that barely has any storyline stuff and has suffered a lot from the empty arena setting still feels more lively than RAW these days.

[Evil Vito]

Smeat doing God's work. Or maybe Satan's. Cannot imagine sitting through Raw every week.

[Ruien]

Drew vs. Lashley was very good until Braun crashed the party and the whole thing ended via DQ.

Outside of Drew vs. Lashley and the 8-Man tag matches, RAW was really boring and dull overall this week.

RAW has felt mostly lifeless compared to SmackDown and NXT and even other wrestling shows. Like SD has been just a one storyline driven show in recent months but that one storyline with Reigns has been way better than all of RAW's stuff combined. Even something like NPJW Strong that barely has any storyline stuff and has suffered a lot from the empty arena setting still feels more lively than RAW these days.

How many times did you see Hulk vs Macho or Hulk vs Warrior on Raw ending clean? What about Rock and Austin? Of course they are not going to give you this match clean on Raw.

[Emperor Smeat]

My main issue is WWE does that style of finish way too often these days and feels like its gotten way worse over the past year or so. Even the amount of no contest finishes feel like its gone up in usage in recent times.

Plus was feeling very bored of the show until that match happened and to get that buzz kill of an ending left a very sour taste in my mouth.

[Emperor Smeat]

Also majority of the time, it comes across as WWE doing it just for the sake of it because they constantly back themselves into a corner booking-wise instead of being an actual important or integral part of an on-going storyline.

[XL]

How many times did you see Hulk vs Macho or Hulk vs Warrior on Raw ending clean? What about Rock and Austin? Of course they are not going to give you this match clean on Raw.

Hulk v Macho never happened on Raw. Nor did Hulk v Warrior. Rock v Austin happened 4 times with 3 non-finishes.

I think the wider issue is that Braun/Drew/Lashley have been involved in DQ and distraction finishes for most of the last few weeks. You want to keep guys strong but there are more interesting ways to do it.

[Evil Vito]

Lance Storm had mentioned that for him it’s nigh-on impossible to get invested in any Raw match, especially the main events, because he’s been conditioned to assume there won’t be a finish in the first place.

[Emperor Smeat]

Preview for tonight's show:

Raw preview, May 17, 2021: Alexa Bliss welcomes the new WWE Women’s Tag Team Champion Natalya & Tamina onto Alexa’s Playground

In the wake of WrestleMania Backlash, what will be the fallout of the WWE Championship and Raw Women's Championship Triple Threat Matches. Plus, Alexa Bliss welcomes the new WWE Women’s Tag Team Champion Natalya & Tamina onto Alexa’s Playground. Don't miss Raw, tonight at 8/7 C on USA.

Raw Preview : Quick Hits

Alexa Bliss welcomes the new WWE Women’s Tag Team Champion Natalya & Tamina onto Alexa’s Playground



<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">We had the craziest dream last night involving zombies.<br>That'll teach us to smoke something <a href="https://twitter.com/SuperKingofBros?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@SuperKingofBros</a> gives us.<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/RAWTonight?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#RAWTonight</a></p>&mdash; WWE Creative Humor (@WWECreative_ish) <a href="https://twitter.com/WWECreative_ish/status/1394317527648509956?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 17, 2021</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

[xrodmuc316]

Lashley now just banging a bunch of chicks, now that's a gimmick!

[Emperor Smeat]

Lashley channeling his inner Ric Flair tonight.

Got the stylin and profilin part down. The Space Mountain ticket likely already booked. All that's missing is a random "wooo" or him doing a random elbow drop to his clothes for this opening segment.

[erickman]

Lashley now just banging a bunch of chicks, now that's a gimmick!

guess his wife did not sign a contract

[Emperor Smeat]

Styles vs. Elias happening now is a bit weird since WWE doesn't really like to do heel vs. heel matches.

[erickman]

Styles vs. Elias happening now is a bit weird since WWE doesn't really do heel vs. heel matches.

yeah who will come out the face teem.

[Emperor Smeat]

yeah who will come out the face teem.

Probably Styles & Omos since Styles has been doing the "face in peril" stuff a lot recently in matches despite him being a heel.

Then again, wouldn't really matter who turns face since RAW's tag division has been a mess for a long while.

[Emperor Smeat]

:| at the lame DQ finish for Styles vs. Elias

Minus that ending, that might have been Elias' best singles match on the main roster in a long while.

[erickman]

:| at the lame DQ finish for Styles vs. Elias

Minus that ending, that might have been Elias' best singles match on the main roster in a long while.

well aj can get a good match out of a mop

[Emperor Smeat]

WWE airing a match hype vignette for tomorrow's North American title cage match and not just some generic style commercial NXT is interesting.

They didn't really bother putting that type of effort during the Wed. Night Wars when that would have been way more effective and meaningful for the brand.

[erickman]

randy the best part of raw

[Emperor Smeat]

:lol: at Tamina's reaction to being on Alexa's Playground.

That was the best part of a bleh segment.

[Emperor Smeat]

On one hand, its nice that Drew Gulak is finally getting some quality screen time and an actual feud on RAW.

On the other hand, his feud with Angel Garza revolving around a rose getting stuck up his ass is soo stupid and probably would have been better off just chilling in catering.

[Emperor Smeat]

:lol: R-Truth

[Emperor Smeat]

Wonder what it is about today's era of wrestling that wrestlers seem to get busted way more often in the mouth than in the past.

Like the Attitude Era was way more violent and bloody in terms of shots to the head and face but feels like bloody mouths have been way more common during the last 5-10 years in wrestling.


Also so far tonight's matches have either ended via shenanigans or was a squash. Orton vs. Kofi was no different.

[Emperor Smeat]

Poor Shanya Baszler, doesn't deserved this BS booking on RAW nor being the sacrificial lamb for this shitty Alexa Bliss spooky stuff.

Also make that 4 for 4 on tonight's matches ending via some lame shenanigans or was a squash.

Worst part is the Women's Tag title match was actually looking to be a potentially good match before the Bliss stuff happened.

[Lock Jaw]

Wonder what it is about today's era of wrestling that wrestlers seem to get busted way more often in the mouth than in the past.

Like the Attitude Era was way more violent and bloody in terms of shots to the head and face but feels like bloody mouths have been way more common during the last 5-10 years in wrestling.

I remember Ken Shamrock bleeding from the mouth in like every single match and Jim Ross always yelling "HE'S BLEEDING INTERNALLY!!"

[Emperor Smeat]

:lol: at Ricochet boinking Sheamus on the head with that splash to the outside. Either he misjudged the jump or Sheamus was a bit too close for the dive.

:lol: at the ref botching the pin count.

Sheamus vs. Ricochet was pretty good and also managed to break tonight's streak of matches not having a satisfying or clean ending. Easily the best thing on tonight's show so far.

[Emperor Smeat]

Oh god the zombies might be returning tonight since Damian Priest vs. John Morrison just got revealed for later tonight and as a Lumberjack match.

Only saving grace is if Miz & Morrison are now zombies after what went down last night. If not, why even bother bringing back what was arguably the worst part about last night's Mania Backlash show.

[Emperor Smeat]

Either Asuka or Charlotte had an accidental boob slip or someone in production accidentally pressed the wrong button and cut the video feed for a bit.

:eek: at Asuka beating Charlotte. Sure it was via shenanigans but a win is a win.

Asuka vs. Charlotte was very good and Charlotte's best singles match since her return last year.

[Emperor Smeat]

Yeup, the zombies stuff from last night was extra stupid since Morrison isn't a zombie after all.

[Emperor Smeat]

:eek: at a rare Nikki Cross sighting on RAW.

Must be a bit short-handed for people backstage if they needed her to be one of the lumberjacks.

[Emperor Smeat]

Ouch at Morrison landing hard on his tailbone to the suplex to the outside since the Lumberjacks were way too close to catch him properly.

Lumberjack match ended up being pretty good.

[erickman]

yep time to move on

[Emperor Smeat]

Probably won't happen but this Open Challenge match for Bobby Lashley would be a great way to debut someone new for the RAW brand.

Too bad it won't because of Triple H becoming very stubborn with call-ups in recent years and he would rather just hoard as much talent as possible for his NXT brand instead.

[Emperor Smeat]

Kofi being the big mystery challenger is a bit of a buzz kill.

[Emperor Smeat]

Why did WWE bother recapping what MVP said earlier unless they are having a laugh at fooling fans into thinking tonight's big hyped up Open Challenge match was for the WWE title.

[Emperor Smeat]

:lol: at Kingston beating Lashley via shenanigans.

Match itself was nothing special after all that hype done for tonight's show.

Tonight's show was average at best overall. First half was mostly meh while the second half was mostly good. Only stuff I'd recommend is the Sheamus vs. Ricochet and Asuka vs. Charlotte matches. Everything else ranged from good to really bad.

[Emperor Smeat]

Preview for tonight's show:

Raw preview, May 24, 2021: Shayna Baszler & Nia Jax to challenge WWE Women's Tag Team Champions Natalya & Tamina

Tonight, Shayna Baszler & Nia Jax will look to reclaim the WWE Women's Tag Team Titles from Natalya & Tamina and Riddle will take on Xavier Woods. Plus, what will the fallout following the chaos in WWE Champion Bobby Lashley’s Open Challenge? Don't miss Monday Night Raw at 8/7 C on USA.

Raw Preview : Quick Hits

Shayna Baszler & Nia Jax to challenge WWE Women's Tag Team Champions Natalya & Tamina tonight
Riddle and Xavier Woods set to go one-on-one on Raw



<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Most of our morning has been spent trying to figure out where <a href="https://twitter.com/AngelGarzaWwe?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@AngelGarzaWwe</a> should stick his rose on <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/WWERAW?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#WWERAW</a><a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/RAWTonight?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#RAWTonight</a></p>&mdash; WWE Creative Humor (@WWECreative_ish) <a href="https://twitter.com/WWECreative_ish/status/1396901869126144004?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 24, 2021</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

[Emperor Smeat]

Guess Lashley decided to channel his inner Ric Flair again this week since he brought out more women to hang around him.

[xrodmuc316]

Lashley's Ladies have gone downhill from last week

[erickman]

damn those women are ugly enough to work at swingers place

[Lock Jaw]

Did he ever get officially divorced from his wife Lana?!?!

[Emperor Smeat]

That opening segment with Lashley, MVP, Kofi, and Drew was somewhat boring.

[Emperor Smeat]

Did he ever get officially divorced from his wife Lana?!?!

Was thinking the same thing when he brought out the women again.

Outside of one of them saying they wanted a divorce, don't remember WWE ever actually following up on it on RAW.

[Emperor Smeat]

Drew almost spiked Kofi's head with that Michinoku Driver he busted out.

[Emperor Smeat]

Kofi almost whiffed on that backwards dive he likes to do from the top rope. Barely managed to land on Drew to cause the domino effect to Lashley.

:| A very good and entertaining match between Kofi and Drew ended via a DQ because WWE doesn't like to give satisfying payoffs to matches on tv.

[erickman]

is nicki cross getting her match before they fire her

[Emperor Smeat]

:lol: at Rhea Ripley vs. Nikki Cross ending in a draw because Ripley's a dumbass when it comes to a Beat The Clock Challenge stip.

[Emperor Smeat]

So Drew vs. Kofi going 30+ minutes tonight ended up being completely meaningless since instead of just making it a triple threat at Hell in a Cell for the WWE title, they are just going to redo Drew vs. Kofi next week.

[erickman]

:lol: at Rhea Ripley vs. Nikki Cross ending in a draw because Ripley's a dumbass when it comes to a Beat The Clock Challenge stip.

yeah what was that about make there champ look dumb.

an it was not a draw since rhea could not beat nicki in 2 mins nicki won.

[Emperor Smeat]

Charlotte somehow managed to botch getting tossed out of the ring. Like instead of going straight through the ropes, she decided to do a mini-flip and bounced right off of it.

[Emperor Smeat]

yeah what was that about make there champ look dumb.

an it was not a draw since rhea could not beat nicki in 2 mins nicki won.

Yeah Ripley's booking since she won the belt has been mostly bad.

Didn't help that she also felt like a big afterthought to Charlotte tonight since not only was the match a dud, they quickly played Charlotte's music for her match right after it ended.

[Emperor Smeat]

That was one goofy looking Judas Effect/spinning elbow strike by Charlotte.

[Emperor Smeat]

:lol: the ref botched the pin count win for Charlotte since Asuka's left shoulder kept coming up and he didn't stop.

Match itself was pretty good but came to the realization during it that I don't really care about Charlotte and her booking and matches anymore on RAW. Even her win felt anti-climatic since there was no way Asuka was getting the upper hand over her 2 weeks in a row and WWE's rock solid fascination with 50-50 booking.

[Emperor Smeat]

WWE is going to drive their return of fans to shows announcement hard into the ground if all these promos on RAW is any indication.

I give it until around the 2nd show before fans go back to booing WWE's booking of things and only because RAW won't be their first tv show back with fans.

[erickman]

well that was a waste of a segment must be killing time.

[Emperor Smeat]

Alexander's voice cracking during his pre-match promo sounded like he had just hit puberty.

[Emperor Smeat]

Between the multiple long matches and people showing up in multiple segments, WWE barely put any effort in the writing for the 1st 2 hours of tonight's show.

Also that makes it 3 out of 4 matches soo far that either didn't end clean or was a quick nothing match.

[erickman]

oh hell no orton he has been the best part of raw the last few weeks.

[Emperor Smeat]

Riddle somehow pulled a Marko Stunt with him jumping right into position for Woods suplex counter.

Never seen that done before for someone of Riddle's side.

More impressed with how smooth Woods caught Riddle and him managing to balance Riddle enough to pull off the suplex.

[Emperor Smeat]

Ouch at Woods landing right on his head from Riddle's German suplex from the ropes.

[Emperor Smeat]

:lol: at Riddle busting out an RKO OUTTA NOWHERE.

Riddle vs. Woods was very good and best thing on the show soo far.

[Volare]

I walked by my roomate watching RAW and saw the RKO, almost spit out my drink!

[Emperor Smeat]

Whelp Ripley can kiss her RAW Women's title goodbye at Hell in a Cell since her vs. Charlotte just got announced for it.

[Emperor Smeat]

:| at Jaxson Ryker beating AJ Styles albeit via some cheating by Elias.

[Emperor Smeat]

One one hand, nice of WWE to air vignettes for low to mid tier feuds on RAW tonight but on the other hand, it really does feel like they are just padding out the time since they very likely half-assed the script more than usual this week.

Take away all the pre-match vignettes and the multiple superstars promos about the return of fans that were just filler and the Ripley vs. Nikki match would have gotten enough time to be a real match instead.

[Emperor Smeat]

Match count on tonight's RAW soo far has been just 2 clean matches, 1 mostly nothing match, and 4 matches ending via DQ or shenanigans.

Odds of the Women's Tag title match ending in a satisfying manner are currently very low.

This pre-match Nia & Shayna promo stunk.

[Emperor Smeat]

Either Eva Marie managed to pull off a heel-to-face turn via a vignette or WWE changed their minds on her heel/face alignment while filming these.

That new vignette was a lot more positive and face-like than the initial ones she had.

[Emperor Smeat]

:| at the ending to the Women's Tag title match.

That's going to go down as one of the worst and/or dumbest in recent years in WWE.

Seriously who did Shayna piss off backstage to get this shitty booking treatment.

This week's show was average overall even if that feels a bit harsh of a rating. The in-ring stuff was mostly good and entertaining and the non-ring stuff was a lot less shitty than usual but something about this week's show felt off and a lot more filler than usual as well.

[Tom Guycott]

Did he ever get officially divorced from his wife Lana?!?!

Was thinking the same thing when he brought out the women again.

Outside of one of them saying they wanted a divorce, don't remember WWE ever actually following up on it on RAW.

Well, this is the same company that conveniently forgot that Dominic Mysterio is himself a title to be won, so we don't need to worry about such details. But since he is an active wrestler now, it would be interesting if he were able to win custody of himself.

[Sepholio]

Missing Smeat already.

[erickman]

Missing Smeat already.

what is smeat off this week

[RP]

My Raw predictions




DQ
DQ
pin
DQ
DQ
pin

DQ


on too PPV!

[erickman]

guess miz was not eating by the undead

[erickman]

now nicki cross will make flair look bad

[Sepholio]

LOL Riddle just gave the best delivery of the word "shucks" ever. I am dying over here. He was so legit about it like that is just honestly the word that came to his head.

[RP]

I'm in for 5 DQ's... how many so far? I'm not watching.

[erickman]

flair lost in beat the clock against cross

[erickman]

orton won clean with riddles move against woods, so no dqs yet

[erickman]

or shit here comes the nia beast i am out of here

[RP]

You better stay Erick.

[RP]

You take this shit erick!

[erickman]

make the wwe fans watch it i am back to impact wrestling on thur nights

[RP]

Lost another...

[rez]

Raw is on

[erickman]

anyone want to take over for smeat

[rez]

nah

[Sepholio]

hard pass

[Ruien]

Is there any chance Lily becomes a wrestler? Or possess Alexis to become Lily? Because this doll crap has to go.

[erickman]

sounds like the segment is bad enough i must watch i was thinking deleting last night ep.

[Fignuts]

OSW Review marking out right now over anew mirror segment in wrestling.

[Fignuts]

I will say, Miz falling down the ramp during Morisson's slo mo entrance got a good chuckle out of me. That was well played.

[Evil Vito]

Jaxson Ryker is a face???????

Lmfao

[drave]

He got the face haircut n stuff.

[erickman]

i got it now lily is realated to chucky

[RP]

I get it too

This show is terrible!

[erickman]

i kind of want to watch tonight to see how bad bliss and basler will be

[Jordan]

Remember when we used to come here and be like "I wonder what's gonna happen on Raw tonight".

[erickman]

and we start with bliss talking about our complaints, oh here comes the nia beast.

[Evil Vito]

Remember when we used to come here and be like "I wonder what's gonna happen on Raw tonight".

Lmao as recently as like 3 or 4 years ago you could still get decent sized Raw threads. Couldn’t care less now.

[erickman]

cross and flair atleast 2 women that can wrestle.

[erickman]

Lmao as recently as like 3 or 4 years ago you could still get decent sized Raw threads. Couldn’t care less now.

just come here and laugh at how bad it is. i did that when tna got bad.

[erickman]

an cross wins again making fool of flair

[erickman]

uh oh hardy in a retirement match

[erickman]

good hardy won looked like they were sending jeff to pasture.

[DAMN iNATOR]

"Top 10 wrestlers you forgot still worked for WWE"

[DAMN iNATOR]

uh oh hardy in a retirement match

Correction - CAREER THREATENING MATCH.

[DAMN iNATOR]

Who the fuck is the small planet with Eva?

[Bad News Gertner]

She'll be the most over heel in the company within a month

[xrodmuc316]

Raw booking is something else.

1. Take 2 guys hardly ever used, put them in a faction that gets over
2. Kick those 2 guys out of that faction WAY earlier than necessary
3. Have those 2 guys fued WAY longer than necessary
4. Finally put the younger guy over
5. Immediately feed that younger guy to Jeff Hardy
6. Feed Jeff Hardy to John Morrison
7. Immediately feed that younger guy to a just lost weakened Jeff Hardy
8. ???

[RP]

Raw booking is something else.

1. Take 2 guys hardly ever used, put them in a faction that gets over
2. Kick those 2 guys out of that faction WAY earlier than necessary
3. Have those 2 guys fued WAY longer than necessary
4. Finally put the younger guy over
5. Immediately feed that younger guy to Jeff Hardy
6. Feed Jeff Hardy to John Morrison
7. Immediately feed that younger guy to a just lost weakened Jeff Hardy
8. ???

WWE BABY!

[RP]

I cant wait til RAW ends with Alexa on a swing.

[Sepholio]

I bet you still get a boner every time you think about Alexa. Which is all the time.

Don't worry brother. Me too.

[Fignuts]

Breaking up the Hurt Business was dumber than all the fiend stuff combined.

[erickman]

I cant wait til RAW ends with Alexa on a swing.

even better we will get a bliss nia match

[Bad News Gertner]

Workrate nerds VERY angry about Eva Marie lol

[RP]

I bet you still get a boner every time you think about Alexa. Which is all the time.

Don't worry brother. Me too.

Her ass is getting fatter. I can tell cause when she sits on that swing, the ass fat takes up most of the swing.

And yes i jerk off to it.

[RP]

Is she still with that treasure troll?

[Evil Vito]

Much as Bray Wyatt sucked at least he stayed off social media for long periods and on the rare time he used it he stayed on character

Alexa goes from all this demon girl shit straight back to Instagram to post basic white girl pics with her fiancé

[erickman]

Much as Bray Wyatt sucked at least he stayed off social media for long periods and on the rare time he used it he stayed on character

Alexa goes from all this demon girl shit straight back to Instagram to post basic white girl pics with her fiancé

she should learn from rosemary, she stays goth chick 24 7

[erickman]

davari sighting

[erickman]

time for the crap match of the night

[erickman]

and reggie gets involved

[RP]

Guys ? What's happening on RAW right now? Wrestling right?

[Fignuts]

Who the fuck is the small planet with Eva?

Piper Niven. Think Nia Jax, except she knows how to wrestle.

Having a big monster come down and destroy someone in a match, and then delusionally claiming you won said match is a fantastic gimmick.

[Bad News Gertner]

Exactly

This is going to get over.

[Evil Vito]

I've heard a lot of people say Piper's genuinely one of the nicest people in the business. Good for her getting a chance.

[Bad News Gertner]

Her on screen persona definitely comes off that way.

[XL]

I've heard a lot of people say Piper's genuinely one of the nicest people in the business. Good for her getting a chance.

Released this time next year.

[Ruien]

Even if that happens her value is going to sky rocket in the Indy scene.

[Fignuts]

It would be awesome if they don't even give her a name. Just keep announcing Eva Marie and having Piper wrestle for her.

Graves can ham it up by exclaiming "Amazing maneuver by Eva Marie!" when Piper hits a big move.

[Bad News Gertner]

Raw ratings up 6.2% this week

Eva Marie = ratings

[GD]

There was a "Hell in a Cell" match on RAW and not a single post in this thread. Wow!

[Fignuts]

Hell in a Cell doesn't mean anything. We've been over this.

[GD]

Ah come on! We got finishes on both shows. That’s gotta count for something?

[erickman]

There was a "Hell in a Cell" match on RAW and not a single post in this thread. Wow!

i watched it but did not come here. tonight was the best raw in a month all the crap was in 1 match.

[Mr. Nerfect]

i watched it but did not come here. tonight was the best raw in a month all the crap was in 1 match.

Internet forum engagement in echo chambers is the wrong way to judge the show’s success. AEW will get more conversation going on here, but Raw will be watched a much, much larger and “hipper” audience.

[GD]

i watched it but did not come here. tonight was the best raw in a month all the crap was in 1 match.

I saw clipz on Reddit. Gonna write a 300-word essay on how RAW pwned AEDubya.

[GD]

In all seriousness, was surprised by the upset victories. And that Woods promo was sweet.

[Mr. Nerfect]

I can’t say I watch myself, but hearing it had a HIAC made me check it out. Hot-shotty, but I understand why they did it to put emphasis on MITB. It’s all so gimmicky, but not horrible.

Ricochet, John Morrison and Matt Riddle confirmed for Money in the Bank. Not a bad line-up right there. The Viking Raiders seem to be building something with AJ & Omos. Charlotte and Rhea will go at it again. Lashley and Kofi for the WWE Title. Nothing is horrible about any of that.

Lashley will hopefully be presented as the guy who won two HIAC matches in two nights. Kind of weird that Xavier Woods has now been in two HIACs.

[GD]

Internet forum engagement in echo chambers is the wrong way to judge the show’s success. AEW will get more conversation going on here, but Raw will be watched a much, much larger and “hipper” audience.

Calm your nickers, grandpa. I’d say it’s the same case over at SquaredCircle and many other “elite” forums.

[Mr. Nerfect]

They’re also building towards a Women’s MITB, it seems. Alexa Bliss, Nikki Cross, Naomi and Asuka. I’ve got a feeling Bliss is winning that and it’ll be awful. My hope is that their desire to have black stars has Naomi take precedence and win the thing.

[Triple A]

Seems like they had Piper Niven turn on Eva Marie already... after 1 week

[GD]

Her new name is horrendous.

[erickman]

Seems like they had Piper Niven turn on Eva Marie already... after 1 week

that was a surprise i wanted to see dewdrop get them in money in the bank then eva somehow win it.

[Fignuts]

So one week. They get a great gimmick for Piper Niven and they're already breaking it up in one week. What the fuck.

Also lol @ Nikki Cross. By tagging with Alexa Bliss, she's caught th e same awful creative ideas.

[#1-norm-fan]

Seems like they had Piper Niven turn on Eva Marie already... after 1 week

Lol What??

[Evil Vito]

Lmao couldn't even wait for the crowds to return for Piper to turn on Eva

[slik]

Ratings dropped post HIAC instead of getting a bump

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Raw: 1.719 million</p>&mdash; Bryan Alvarez (@bryanalvarez) <a href="https://twitter.com/bryanalvarez/status/1407487962376409088?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 22, 2021</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

[Damian Rey 2.0]

Very hip ratings drop

[xrodmuc316]

Damn what happened to Randy?

[erickman]

i guess that is for riddle to win orton in to make orton look like a bitch

[slik]

If you want a great example of how terrible WWE is at making new stars, look at how Damian Priest could have been elevated after Bad Bunny but instead hasn't had a feud/storyline since the Miz.

[erickman]

If you want a great example of how terrible WWE is at making new stars, look at how Damian Priest could have been elevated after Bad Bunny but instead hasn't had a feud/storyline since the Miz.

and tonight he lost out to riddle

[erickman]

who do i feal more sorry for shayna or cross right now.

[RP]

who do i feal more sorry for shayna or cross right now.

Neither! This program has been utter shit for 2 years now. Everyone there should be fighting there way out.

[erickman]

bliss comes out to stink the place up.

[erickman]

well reg was kicked in the balls thats good

[RP]

Alexa Bliss could rub her vagina with Bray and Brauns shit and i would grab i fork and spoon and eat that motherfucker like Thanksgiving Dinner.

[Triple A]

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">THIS IS INCREDIBLE.<a href="https://twitter.com/KingRicochet?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@KingRicochet</a> just soared on <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/WWERaw?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#WWERaw</a>! <a href="https://t.co/5PKEpqa6J7">pic.twitter.com/5PKEpqa6J7</a></p>&mdash; WWE (@WWE) <a href="https://twitter.com/WWE/status/1409689024575414274?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 29, 2021</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

[slik]

Good spot

[slik]

lol @ jaxon ryker in the yellow and red brotherjack

[slik]

I thought u had to touch all 4 corners in a strap match...

[Sepholio]

I thought u had to touch all 4 corners in a strap match...

I swear this is the case.

[slik]

Riddle seems to be supplanting Drew as 'top face' on RAW

I wonder if this builds to Riddle vs Brock at WM

[slik]

Drew seems ripe for a heel turn and move to SD

[Damian Rey 2.0]

Heel Drew on smack down is second fiddle to Roman though and Roman needs new babyfaces to devour while they try to see off they can get Rock to come in.

[slik]

I expect Roman to turn face post SummerSlam tbh.

If the rumor of Rock returning to work Survivor Series with Roman/Usos is true it wouldn't make sense for Roman/Usos to be heel and Rock a face on a Survivor Series team...I mean if WWE could do subtle storytelling it would work but...it's WWE.

[Bad News Gertner]

Stone Cold Steva Marie hits it out of the park again!

[Damian Rey 2.0]

I expect Roman to turn face post SummerSlam tbh.

If the rumor of Rock returning to work Survivor Series with Roman/Usos is true it wouldn't make sense for Roman/Usos to be heel and Rock a face on a Survivor Series team...I mean if WWE could do subtle storytelling it would work but...it's WWE.

I would not mind them bringing in the Rock with Roman saying he may be the tribal chief but the Rock is some higher ranking title in the family, only to have them turn on the Rock at Survivor Series. But that’s prob unlikely.

It would make more sense to just have Roman jump the Rock at his next TV appearance to establish his chiefdom to the highest ranking guy in the family.

[Bad News Gertner]

Eva Marie rules lol

[Evil Vito]

Nikki Cross’ superhero character has been renamed to Nikki ASH.

Meant to be an acronym for “almost super hero”. But it is probably just more confirmation that Karrion Kross is on the way.

[Fignuts]

Eva Marie rules lol

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">As <a href="https://twitter.com/SKWrestling_?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@skwrestling_</a> has correctly reported: With the my wins on RAW, I have more victories in 2021 than Becky Lynch, Ronda Rousey, Trish Stratus, Lita and Mae Young combined. <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/WWEHallOfFame2022?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#WWEHallOfFame2022</a><a href="https://twitter.com/WWE?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@wwe</a><a href="https://twitter.com/WWEonFOX?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@wweonfox</a><a href="https://twitter.com/USANetwork?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@usanetwork</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/EVALution?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#EVALution</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/ALLEverything?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#ALLEverything</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/WWERaw?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#WWERaw</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/EvaMarie?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#EvaMarie</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/WWE?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#WWE</a> <a href="https://t.co/PM49WKoiHq">pic.twitter.com/PM49WKoiHq</a></p>&mdash; Eva Marie (@natalieevamarie) <a href="https://twitter.com/natalieevamarie/status/1412156336989671427?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 5, 2021</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

[Bad News Gertner]

Lol she's so great. The comments on her posts are incredible.

Idea: Eva Marie brings back the Divas title.

[Fignuts]

I've heard people say that all the fans are smart marks these days. The replies to that tweet say otherwise. Holy shit, some of those people definitely eat cereal with a fork.

[Bad News Gertner]

She could be such a great heel if they book her correctly. You could build her up as this delusional, chicken shit heel and have Becky Lynch make her big return and squash her like a bug. People would love it

[xrodmuc316]

She is working the Marks at a HOF level!

[Bad News Gertner]

It's so good!

[Fignuts]

Still think it's a mistake for Doudrop to be annoyed by her already. Give people time to invest in her before the face turn. As it is, fans don't even know her, so why should they give a shit.

The way I would do it is I would have doudrop actually be ecstatic that she's getting wins for Eva. Then, in time Eva starts to act a little meaner towards doudrop, thus gaining the fans sympathy. Meanwhile, Eva is untouchable, having been saved from every match or beatdown by doudrop. And the fans just get more incensed.

It all builds up to when doudrop finally turns on Eva, and pays it off by beating the ever living shit out of her. You've just made Piper Niven a star.

[Lock Jaw]

Lol she's so great. The comments on her posts are incredible.

Idea: Eva Marie brings back the Divas title.

Book it. It could be incredible.

[Bad News Gertner]

Exactly. I hated the quick turn. Why would they do that!

[Fignuts]

Because it's being written by people who don't even know who the champion is when they get hired.

[drave]

Quick turn for quick return to live crowds. Think they're saving the beat down pop for a live crowd.


Also believe it will be Lynch who will be the "feud" to beat her ass, it just makes too much sense.

[XL]

The “lackey turns on the heel” angle has been played out a lot over the years, largely because it works (remember when it looked as if Alex Riley was going to be something?) so I understand why they’d try something a little different, but it does seem at the minute like it’s the standard storyline in fast-forward. I’m willing to give it some time.

It’d maybe be a little bit more nuanced if the commentators acknowledged who Doudrop actually is rather than pretending she’s this completely unknown entity. You can have Piper completely besotted with Eva, convincing herself that it’s a loving pet name, and everybody else be like “that’s Piper Niven, 13 year veteran who’s wrestled all over the world”.

[Mr. Nerfect]

Eva Marie for Divas Champion definitely works.

[Bad News Gertner]

She should just one day come out wearing the belt after one of her ridiculous wins

[drave]

How long till they have her face off with Nia Jax and dub it the Unstoppable Force vs the Immovable Object 2.0?


Sounds shitty to say, but it's gonna happen.

[RP]

Everytime i turn RAW on, Alexa Bliss is doing retard shit and it ruins wrestling for me.

[#1-norm-fan]

Wrestling should have been ruined a long time ago.

How does it affect Alexa Bliss for you?

[RP]

Wrestling should have been ruined a long time ago.

How does it affect Alexa Bliss for you?




BECAUSE SHE NOT SITTING ON MY DICK!

[Bad News Gertner]

Eva Marie is so great

[slik]

New pyro and sets will definitely fix all the problems


<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Drip drip! Drop drop! <a href="https://twitter.com/TheRealMorrison?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@TheRealMorrison</a> and <a href="https://twitter.com/mikethemiz?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@mikethemiz</a> soak <a href="https://twitter.com/KingRicochet?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@KingRicochet</a> and <a href="https://twitter.com/SuperKingofBros?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@SuperKingofBros</a>. <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/WWERaw?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#WWERaw</a> <a href="https://t.co/G69ZiILVTZ">pic.twitter.com/G69ZiILVTZ</a></p>&mdash; WWE (@WWE) <a href="https://twitter.com/WWE/status/1414768017058238468?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 13, 2021</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

[Noid]

WWE has done a wonderful job of humbling Ricochet. I pity the miserable smarks who were salivating because he did some flippy shit on the independent circuit. But when it came to swimming with the sharks on RAW, he floundered and got exposed. He's better off doing flippy shit on Tony the Tiger's shitty bingo hall promotion.

[Fignuts]

I think there's a very big difference between your average flippy shit and what Riccochet does. Granted the Ospreay match was dumb nonsense, but in general I enjoy their work otherwise, because they're better at that style than pretty much anyone else out there right now.

[Triple A]

I`m also glad that Ricochet is forced to work like the "big boys" and do the same exact insanely boring style as every1 else in WWE

[Lock Jaw]

I haven't seen him much on the main roster but remember not liking him very much on NXT.... don't like guys who come off like all their moves/matches are "rehearsed"/"carefully choreographed"

[Noid]

I think there's a very big difference between your average flippy shit and what Riccochet does. Granted the Ospreay match was dumb nonsense, but in general I enjoy their work otherwise, because they're better at that style than pretty much anyone else out there right now.

While Ricochet excels at flashy aerial offense, he is a charisma void. He's been on the main roster for a while now and still can't cut a half decent promo to redeem himself. No wonder he's stuck at the bottom.

[Fignuts]

Guys with excelleny ring skills but shit talking skills are great for the midcard. See, Cesaro, Malenko, Mysterio, etc. Even taking into account that his limited mic ability would prevent him from being a top guy, he still could have been utilized far better. There's a place for people like Ricochet, and it's not at the bottom.

[Noid]

Guys with excelleny ring skills but shit talking skills are great for the midcard. See, Cesaro, Malenko, Mysterio, etc. Even taking into account that his limited mic ability would prevent him from being a top guy, he still could have been utilized far better. There's a place for people like Ricochet, and it's not at the bottom.

Quite frankly, Ricochet would make a fine addition to the flailing cruiserweight division. That's the height of what Malenko achieved, right? He's clearly undersized and doesn't fit the mold of a superstar. And Cesaro is incredibly overrated. I wouldn't be surprised if he never became a world champion in WWE.

[#1-norm-fan]

Noid with another spot-on assessment. Ricochet is built for a niche cruiserweight division that he can be a star in away from the actual headliners.

Cesaro may get a title run though just because everyone seems to eventually get one in the two title era(s).

[Noid]

It's not a participation trophy. Not everyone deserves to be world champion.

[Bad News Gertner]

Cesaro is not remotely World Champ material

[#1-norm-fan]

Like 90% of guys who have won world titles in the past 15 years aren’t world champion material.

I’m not saying it’s not dumb. But Cesaro getting a title run at this point would be on par with WWE’s standards nowadays.

[Noid]

I wouldn't be surprised if Jaxson Ryker wins the belt at Tribute to the Troops.

[Fignuts]

You guys keep going back to discussing whether these guys are world champion material. No one here is saying these guys should have a title run. They're good hands that could make potential stars look like a million bucks in the ring, when they're ascending through the midcard.

205 live is the perfect place for ricochet if you don't want anyone to see him.

[xrodmuc316]

In all of WWE they have had maybe 2 guys who never were but could have been World Champs if WWE didnt drop the ball so badly within the past 5 years, Shinsuke Nakamura and Samoa Joe.

The only one currently that has a chance would be Big E, he looks the part, but they are pretty much out of time with him. He needs to win MITB and have a good build to cashing it in.

[Fignuts]

Joe was too injury prone. He was perfect in his role of upper midcard wrestler, who occasionally could give a top guy someone to fight.

Definitely dropped the ball on Nakamura though.

[xrodmuc316]

Joe was too injury prone. He was perfect in his role of upper midcard wrestler, who occasionally could give a top guy someone to fight.

Definitely dropped the ball on Nakamura though.

Very true about Joe sadly, although even so I dont think WWE ever intended Joe for more than what you just said. A guy they could heat up when needed to give the champ some credibility with a win.

[Tom Guycott]

Joe was too injury prone. He was perfect in his role of upper midcard wrestler, who occasionally could give a top guy someone to fight.

Definitely dropped the ball on Nakamura though.

I say both.

WWE killed Joe when he looked to be the guy who was going to knock of Brock Lesnar back when he was just this unstoppable force. They even built it to look like he was going to be the guy, and he talked himself into the rest of it. So what happens? WWE took *that* opportunity to go back to a single finisher in the center of the ring to stop a guy cold, and that guy was Joe. They deflated every bit of that build by making him look unworthy in a clean loss.

And while I get the notion about him and injuries, that's also a problem WWE kinda created for themselves. If Lesnar, as champion, could show up 5 times a year, and part of Joe's kayfabe gripe is that he wanted that "guidled schedule", he could have remained champ and rested up. They don't have to have either world champion on every goddamn show. If they went back old school (at the time) to not having 800 finshers thrown in a match, and they went back old school with Brock doing about as much on TV as Hogan did at the height of Hulkamania, they could afford to have the guy heal up and still come in and promo like he's hot shit. Another one of those baffling decisions.

As for Shinsuke, it didn't matter how much of a command of *perfect* English he lacked - he had crowds shushing and hanging on his every word and popping for everything. It would have been a major international coup to crown him with one of the main belts fairly early in his main roster campaign. His whole "Shorry, no shpeak Engrish!" is one of the greatest heel moves in company history (made better by Renee's reaction). He was ready made and white hot and came in championship caliber much like AJ Styles. In fact, they ACKNOWLEDGED AJ as a former IWGP Champion... did they ever extend that courtesy to Shinsuke?

Both of them should have been former world champions at this point. Goes back to my comments elsewhere about Dolph vs Kofi. The company has plenty of folks they can groom into stars given time and effort, but they just don't give a shit to. They either get laser focused like they did with Roman or Jinder and push them through hell or high water, or they give up if the person doesn't have "it" in their eyes.