WWE Raw
- Thread starter BrunoMars420
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Garcia took a couple elbows flush in the Danielson match, too.
When I lived in Southern California I went to Joey Ryan's Bar Wrestling a lot. It was standing room only, and I stood nearly in the ring every show I went to. Penta and Fenix were there all the time. Fenix gave no cares to the people of the crowd and took people out all the time. I got kicked in the head once by him. It was awesome.
You forgot his legal surname of 'McFingerBang'....lol
I don't always agree with him, but, agree with him more often than not, and he is an entertaining cuss...
It's a rare unicorn, where I am surprised when watching wrestling in that it all gets hinted at or leaked...this was a unicorn tonight. Another great show tonight, if he keeps this up, this Paul Levesque may have a future in this business....
Great crowd, great show, had an old Raw after Mania vibe to it.
Great crowd, great show, had an old Raw after Mania vibe to it.
Intriguing move by the booker of the year TK. Punk I assume is still injured and they didn't want to put on a stinker in Chicago with him? But they thought he'd be ready, so they didn't put him on the shelf sooner? The lack angle out of this for the PPV was telling, Omega/Ospreay is the new big thing, if they keep going to the Bucks/Omega well...it's not going to end well for AEW.
All of this hours after Tony reportedly announces to the the roster they sent a "don't tamper with our talent" letter to WWE, (WWE didn't tamper)...the change in atmospheres between the AEW/WWF locker rooms in the past month is likely baffling.
Kane's history is ... well ... strange. And Bryan's acting! 
I've got a gut feeling that with the Discover/Time Warner merger, TK has been give some kind of pressure or ultimatum to get ratings up some percentage. As far as I see it, they've essentially been hotshotting the last 5-6 Dynamites.
- Return of Punk
- Return of Omega
- Two 5-star/near 5-star Garcia-Danielson matches
- Mox kicks out of Judas effect
- World title unification
- Insane trios match between Death Triangle and United Empire
- Plus blood everywhere
It's made for some pretty bonkers television. But also long term booking is a mess. The tag titles have no angle, and they've got their most over tag team FTR in a trios situation with Wardlow, who's push has also stagnated. The women's division is a mess again.
It just looks to me like the wheels have come slightly off and they're trying to pop a TV rating from week to week a lot more than they're trying to tell story arcs.
Curious to see if MJF comes back on Dynamite tonight, if I'm right about ratings desperation.
Things have been off since the whole MJF fiasco. And really compounded with giving Punk the title without going through Mox first. Khan is overwhelmed right now.
I think it goes back to Hangman's title run. It was way overdue, maybe somewhat beyond their control.
But after all the build up to Hangman as the homegrown face of the company...his programs were vs:
1) Bryan Danielson, one of the most popular wrestlers on the roster. Unconvincingly turned heel to poor effect strictly for the duration of the fued.
2) Adam Cole, who is a heel only in the loosest popular sense, as he's massively over
3) CM Punk, another face, arguably the most over guy on the roster
That's some real bullshit for a babyface champion, to program against three of the most popular, over, essentially babyface wrestlers in the promotion. They guaranteed that he would be wrestling in matches half the audience wanted him to lose.
Just terrible, terrible booking after an amazing two year program leading him to the title, and they basically buried him.
I get it, AEW is light on heels, and that's a big problem of theirs. They let too many guys be "heels" but don't make them actually act the heel. I know it isn't easy, because the AEW crowd is going to somewhat embrace anyone who can really work, but it can be done. But their refusal to actually develop disciplined heels other than MJF really bit them in their ass, and I don't think they recovered. I know they probably felt that they had to move the title to CM Punk because Hangman's momentum was stagnating, but it was stagnating totally because of the way they booked him.
Should have been Hangman vs Black. Would have been the more traditional vs stacked odds route.
I always felt they rushed Strowman/Brock as well as Joe/Brock...they could of gotten more out of those two combos that today could be decent attractions not needing a title.
Yep, that looks promising. AEW has a terrible record booking monster heels...see Lance Archer, see Brian Cage, see Brodie Lee (although he eventually found his way). They bring in a monster heel to challenge the champion in a match which nobody thinks the heel will win, burning them, and then not knowing what to do with a guy who's whole gimmick is he's unbeatable. It's Kamala vs Hogan booking.
If Morrissey is the real deal, and he looks it, they need to let him build. Get him to the point people think he might actually go over. Hopefully Stokley's stable can do good heel work.
I also think there is a great setup for all out. If they put Dark Order over on Rampage, then you've got Hangman against the Elite. Have Hangman betray the Dark Order at the end and cost them the match, and then reunite the Elite as heels. Keeping Callis around makes me think that's possible. That could reinvigorate Hangman and would go a ways toward balancing the roster, especially at the top. That would give you Hangman and Omega as title level heels, and another if MJF comes back. And guys like Morrison and maybe Ethan Page developing down the road.
And I guess you've got Malachi Black also. He's sort of a heel, but the crowd is nuts for him. I just don't get it at all, I don't see anything in the guy or his gimmick, but the people seem to love it, so I guess its a me thing.
One good thing is a heel elite could break with Adam Cole and let him turn fully face. Having a heel who everyone loves and pops for and roots for just makes a mess of storytelling and the crowds. It messed up the woman's division with Britt Baker in that exact same position.
A mega face vs. face showdown is ok once in a while, but I think it really dulls emotional investment. This will be four PPVs in a row without a hated heel in the main event. And I'm a guy who has mostly rooted for heels since I was a little kid, but its not as much fun when they aren't really heels.
A fued would have been a strong showcase for both acts. The goal for any fued is to make each act stronger coming out.
Even if it's a mixed response Black is nowhere as big of an act as Punk or Bryan. So both guys get something from it. People will accept him losing. Black in a showcase fued is already a win. Fans just aren't going to want to see Danielson or Punk lose to someone they don't have the same connection to.
Using his real name is a good start.
All Out is uneven but going to be good. Only thing I'm really not caring for is Trios Titles and FTR/Wardlow team up. Much rather it be FTR vs MCMG.
Clash at the Castle was really good. Only flaw was singing Don't Look Back in Anger to close show. WTF?
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Has to be. The twirl in the ring is on brand. Will be interested to see if he costs Punk or Mox the match tonight. You'd think it would be Punk guaranteed huge Chicago heat. But a Combat Club fued works too
Only thing about it is I think it might be TOO on the nose, but so was Punk's AEW debut. I'd enjoy it if it was MJF, but I'd enjoy it more if it wasn't now.
The physique matches MJF. And honestly can't think of anyone else. That fits and is a big enough draw. Christian, Kenny, Josh Alexander,?
Andrade was in the match. Hangman. Wasn't big enough to be Cardona.
