Tag: RAW

Shane McMahon returns on RAW!

Vince saying “fucking beating” at 11 seconds!

In a huge shocker, THE BOY WONDER Shane O’Mac returned on RAW! Storyline-wise, Shane revealed Vince was once in a bind and Shane helped him out, silently gaining a lot of power of the company. Vince fumbled through his lines/explanation, but set up Shane’s match (oh shit! at WrestleMania! vs The Undertaker! A hell in the cell!); if Shane wins he gets control of RAW, if Vince wins he gets his stock back.

So amazing and surprised at the incredible pop and sustained marking out he received. Tons of Attitude Era fans in the crowd – if you started watching a decade ago you probably wouldn’t care about Shane, but if you watched in the Attitude Era, he is your boy and you know why! He’s tremendously likeable and will kill himself for your enjoyment with escalating high spots. You can imagine him looking at the set construction at Cowboy Stadium to see what he can jump off! Great to have a babyface authority figure after years of only heels, a never-ending weekly grind trying to recreate Austin vs McMahon. There was a mild undercurrent of CM Punk as he lambasted Stephanie for WWE’s woes (stock, ratings, injuries) and Stephanie dismissed it calling him a quitter, which is exactly how they handled Punk. No word if they put a post-it note over pictures of him!

They mentioned a maguffin (“Vince’s lock box”) which I hope doesn’t actually become a thing. Reminds me of TNA Knockouts lock boxes where Angelina found the women’s title inside and “won” it! Watching it, they could’ve worked in more real-life points to worm Shane in, that Steph sold a ton of shares last year for her new house and that she stepped down from creative (well, don’t call it creative) years ago to focus on her women and children’s charities. All in all it was a fantastic segment seeing the prodigal son return home, and a huge increase in interest for me watching Mania.

Notes/my thoughts from Wrestling Observer Live:

• They pitched a similar battle for control of WWE 2 years ago of Hunter/Steph (heel) vs Vince (face) which would lead to Hunter vs Austin or Rock at WrestleMania. Vince nixed it as at the time thought he was too old to be on TV. – plummeting ratings always drags Vince back out. It’s noted that Vince has had problems every week on live RAW, such as fumbling through his promos, being shown flipping off someone in the crowd, not being able to open plastic balls, or this week, messing his lines and DROPPING AN F BOMB ON LIVE TV!
• Saying FUCK on live TV. Worth mentioning that Brad Maddox was fired for saying “pricks” before a Dark Match, and Titus was suspended for 60 days for grabbing the boss during the Bryan celebration.
• Shane doesn’t have a management position in WWE, he’s on-air talent.
• “Shane lives in NY so he could be doing weekly TV whilst running his company based in China.” – worth noting he stepped down as CEO of You on Demand in 2013 (he was trying to get PPV up and running in China – it lost almost $45 million over the last 4 years/since he joined).
• “There is a significant amount of life imitating art. Apparently there’s a belief that a real life power struggle will occur if Shane’s fully back in the picture.” He’s been gone so long Stephanie has moved on from the creative team. He’s 46 and is still with YouOnDemand. I find it hard to believe Shane would get a significant place back in WWE (i.e. above or on par Triple H, Dunn, Barrios etc), enough to cause a power struggle.
• “Shane felt he would run WWE after Vince but Stephanie surpassed him to due her product knowledge” – this is news to me. Everything I’ve read before suggests there wasn’t any kind of power struggle. He tendered his resignation in late 2009 (as EVP of Global Media) but had been on the business side of things for a very long time – Steph wielding power in creative and Shane taking a back seat has been the way since 2000.
• Noting Triple H was not involved in the opening segment, only with Roman Reigns at the end “there’s a lot going on”.
• Shane & Creative: He’s a lovely guy, but “when it came to wrestling angles, it was like Stephanie & Paul are so far ahead of him that it’s not even funny” – from what I’ve read the general view of Shane was that he was great to work for but wasn’t ruthless, unlike Stephanie. It’s definitely possible he had lots of clunkers we’ve never heard about, but his business ideas included buying UFC before it exploded, ECW before it closed, a more serious wrestling-based/less child comedy product (kinda what NXT is now) and was poised to run WWECW as an online show before it landed a TV deal.
• What about a Fingerpoke of Doom scenario with Taker (so Shane can win and run RAW)? Cobblers. Taker doesn’t do bullshit shoot angles. Although facing Undertaker it’ll be face vs face; which is a very odd dynamic as people would want Shane to get his way and run RAW. Of course it’ll be grand if Shane does a massive high risk bump and wins, nobody will remember Taker losing, he’ll save face. No need for WCW ideas here, and forfeitting another spectacular Shane McMahon moment.

Byron passes Reigns a blood packet

Other notes from RAW:
Lesnar will face Ambrose at Mania, No Holds Barred (not the movie); Dean doing his crazy never-quit underdog gimmick. He’s excellent at this (and in general) – he’ll have a great match with Lesnar at Mania. They will need to show him as stronger/smarter as physically Lesnar easily batted him away. People love seeing Brock maul people as well.

The Godfather joins Sting in the 2016 Hall of Fame. Hopefully they’ll celebrate PAPA SHANGO, which is a far cooler gimmick. Anyone prefer Supreme Fighting Machine Kama?

TRI appeared in leather jacket & jeans (he’s still missing one more jean jacket!) in full babyface mode, crotch chopping Roman and face posing. Oh man, legit Triple H chants when beating up Reigns. If I were betting on it, Trips would just allow the fans to hate on Reigns, like he did vs Cena at Mania…maybe they’ve accepted Roman will be booed regardless at WM32 (which is true) and are rolling with it. Hilariously there’s a gif above showing Byron handing Roman his ketchup sachet (the blood packet).

So, happy to have Shane back in WWE, or is it another case of McMahon family bollocks? I’m a massive fan of Shane (despite knowing better!) so I’m ecstatic to see him back.

February 23, 2016
Royal Rumble 2016 & RAW Review

Thoughts on the Rumble:

• Before I start I have to say congratulations to the graphics department – the CG marble statues of all the wrestlers look fantastic. It will be one of the most memorable wrestling graphics for years to come, that everyone will remember!

• Pre-Show had a 4-way tag for 2 Rumble spots. (Mark Henry/Jack Swagger (?!) def. Darren Young & Damien Sandow (?!), Dudleyz, and the Ascension. Sandow got repeated chants, match was not noteworthy otherwise. Sadly Sandow didn’t win, so Mark Henry & Swagger could both get eliminated immediately later on tonight.

• Well impressed with Ambrose vs Owens. Both are great wrestlers and the two took some vicious bumps. They work very well together, recommend watching. Throughout the night we got the fun booking rule that whoever sets up tables, goes through them. KO perfectly somersaulted through two tables so Dean could retain the IC belt.

• New Day def. Usos. New Day (as always!) are one of the best reasons to watch current WWE. Xavier – I’m certain he was quoting the Mortal Kombat Movie (“your brother’s soul is mine! This is a taste of things to come!”). Big E with the best spot of the match, perfectly catching a mid-air splash and turning it into a Big Ending. Entertaining but forgettable.

• Kalisto def. Alberto Del Rio. Del Rio can’t feud with Mysterio or Sin Cara (he injured his shoulder – hilarious he botched again!) so he’s moved onto another Mexican. I was surprised how well Kalisto works as a singles. I’m a fan of his high-flying lucha stuff, as nobody else on the roster does it. They worked well apart from one big blown spot they just moved on from. Del Rio’s ripped, holy shit. He’s like a bulkier Orton now, he’s lost a good deal of mass but gained a ton of definition. Looks awesome. No wellness testing in Mexico! His character is the same though. Kalisto got the big babyface clean win. I don’t think he’s portrayed as anything important, especially getting and losing the US title so quickly, hopefully they feature him as a bigger deal.

• Charlotte def. Becky Lynch. These girls had a great match on RAW recently, so it’s disappointing to see them have an average match on PPV. Haven’t heard anyone giving out about Ric’s sexual assault, forcing himself on Becky! JBL smartly quipped he’s “kiss-stealin’” – great save. The match wasn’t anything special from these two, who are much better than their main roster matches would suggest. There’s two factors into making a good match: great wrestlers and great booking. They’re both very talented so this match was just booked to be boring, which helps nobody. Marked out seeing Sasha Banks return after the match. That’s Becky done with, so Charlotte and Sasha next.

Royal Rumble Match:

• Roman Reigns – started #1, didn’t have many spots — and much like Austin in the 99 Rumble, sat out most of the Rumble match. I don’t know why they’d book him to go #1 (so an hour) as he’s not that seasoned/talented a performer to pull that off. So the League of Nations took him out (Rusev with a big splash through the announce table) and Roman was stretchered away. Very oddly, they showed Roman walking backstage. Maybe he was supposed to look strong that he’s walking out under his own power, but I thought he looked cowardly, actively walking away from the match, he’s had enough, lemme come back later.
• #3 — I loved this. Holy shit. Flipped my wig. Not a fan of the song, but I loved how the music played and they kept on Roman’s face (and hearing the crowd roar) so we know it’s something huge. Great job. AMAZING to see AJ Styles. Holy shit. I love this guy, it’s incredible to see him finally in WWE (and bypassing NXT). He got a Pele in and later a springboard flying forearm but other than that, with Roman and AJ in the ring they couldn’t eliminate each other, so nothing really happened. I’m really worried about AJ, that they’ll “Del Rio” him into the midcard. Please, please don’t. He can be a gigantic babyface for WWE.
• Kofi’s big spot was being caught on the way out, landing on Big E’s shoulders, who paraded him around the ring. Was a fun spot, but less memorable than past Rumble spots. It made sense to do something with the New Day members.
• 4 Wyatt members, dominated for a bit, but most were eliminated before Bray entered. Was fun to see Brock tear it up but Suplex City didn’t last very long – Wyatts beat up and eventually eliminated Brock (who had already eliminated the Wyatt boys — V1 would go nuts!). I don’t think Bray can be built up enough to make a WrestleMania match with Brock a draw. His past few feuds have all been sub-par. I do like the look of Braun Strowman though. I hope he’s not a useless wrestler – otherwise he’ll die off after he loses his first few matches!
• R-Truth’s “I thought we were in a MITB match” dumb guy spot atop a ladder was great. I wish Kane dumped him out from the top of the ladder but you can’t have it all.
• Very cool to see Sami Zayn and KO go at it – I always love feuds that carry over from previous companies. Like when Austin would always attack Pillman in WWF.
• There weren’t many spots, sadly….bit of Big Show, Kane, Titus, Swagger, Miz, Leaguey Weegies…
• Finally, #30 was Triple H, you could tell he booked this silent staredown spot with Reigns as he did the same with Undertaker. Crowd popped huge for Reigns getting eliminated and poor Ambrose never had a chance, he hilariously kept running at Aitch. In the end Triple H wins the Rumble and a 14th world title.

Parting thought, I’m really impressed how WWE have gotten fans in general to stop booing Reigns, despite him retaining all of his flaws. It’s booking very well done. (I know it was worse at the Rumble but it’s a lot better than a few months ago, where the boos were vicious.) Nobody seems to mind Reigns’ character walked away from the match and sat out the bulk of it (making him unworthy if he won it). Reigns getting eliminated makes sense, he doesn’t have to be pinned/submitted to lose — and can get his big win back at Mania. Aitch winning makes perfect sense as he’s already the top heel on RAW – it capitalises/vindicates him spending 20 minutes doing promos each week talking down to the wrestlers. I just have no interest in seeing it!

Overall I thought the PPV was ok, KO/Ambrose tore it down and seeing AJ (even if he did nothing) was just amazing. The Rumble suffered from a lot of ‘who cares’ entries and not many spots, but the booking makes sense to build to a Roman/Aitch WM main event. Sorry to say I didn’t like it.

SORRY I DIDN’T LIKE IT EARLIER! Ok that doesn’t work. but I hope you enjoyed it much more than I did! What say you, thumbs up, middle or down?

RAW thoughts:
• Cole recapped the McMahon/Triple H opening 20 minute promo in 8 seconds after coming back from break. Cheers!
• Bo-Rida rap-battled Flo-Rida. Bo legit won that battle, seriously. It’s so hilarious to hear his high-pitched voice breaking while rhyming.

• Styles had his first match on RAW against Jericho. The commentators kept bringing up parallels to Jericho’s career, who wallowed in shit for almost his first year. A lot of “this is the big leagues, you need to prove yourself” sentiments. I saw that Jericho was very proud of his match, but I thought it was a poor showcase for AJ – as it was 90% AJ selling for slow Jericho offense. I don’t think it showed the potential of AJ as an incredible talent – it wasn’t spectacular, dynamic or anything memorable. I’m also concerned about the lack of reaction for his RAW entrance, despite a much bigger pop for the backstage bit. I’m a massive fan of AJ, he’s one of my favourite wrestlers – I’m worried they’ll Alberto Del Rio him, in that they spent a lot of money but don’t have anything huge for him to do, so he’ll quickly gain a mid-card title and languish around the area. Hopefully I’m wrong on it but WWE aren’t treating him like a big deal. His debut RAW match didn’t open or close the show.

• The Rock returned and had a massive segment, meeting Lana and Big Show, working the crowd and beating up the New Day with the Usos. He’s incredible, so charismatic and captivating. You alright! He slipped in “see you at WrestleMania” so that’s about that then. Loved the booty-shaking New Day rocks, perfect comic foil.

• Alicia Fox has a new do that looks like Luna/Sheeva from MK.

• Reigns (no longer in gold chest outline ’cause he’s not the champ) got a shave (making him much less Gypsy) and is mooching off Ambrose again. Steph announced a triple threat at No Way Out (sorry, Faaaaaastlane!) between Ambrose, Reigns and Lesnar. So Reigns will pin Ambrose after the Wyatts take out Lesnar, so Roman goes on to face Aitch, save Lesnar for SummerSlam I guess?

Lots of fluff but the Bo-Rida, Rock and seeing Styles make the RAW definitely one to check out.

New Golden Nogger voting opening tonight: Favourite Quote Award!

January 25, 2016
RAW 11th December, 1995

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]

RAW 11TH DECEMBER, 1995 Review
From Salisbury, Maryland, taped 3 weeks prior to airing.
TV rating: 2.5
Commentators: Vince McMahon & Jerry Lawler
Raw on the Roof intro song sucks but the video’s really cool – contains snippets later used in the DX video

OWEN HART VS JEFF HARDY
Wow! Oh wait. It’s Jobber Jeff hardy. Owen’s wearing my favourite of his attire, two-time Slammy award winner tights. Jeff literally gets no offense. Rocket dropkicks him, decides against a sharpshooter and pins instead. Then Yokozuna squishes Jeff, “641 pounds coming down at the speed of gravity” as Vince calls it, and then Diesel runs the heels off.

CHAPARITA ASARI VS AJA KONG
A Japanese women’s match? We’re at another peak in McMahons stop-start push for a women’s division. ASARI really looks like the red ranger/JTL. She initially fails and just repeats the Kronus chick spot which ends in a backwards dropkick. Wow, check out ref Mike Chiota’s wonderful corrugated mullet. Kong looks like a female Mabel. Fable. She hits an amazing package Piledriver (although back facing the hard camera). Lots of snapmares, lots of kicks. Her gimmick is the dominant larger woman and Asari tries to knock her down. Fucking gorgeous corkscrew moonsault (aka Vince’s “this daring manouvre”) which misses and is sandbagged by the commentators and crowd. Much like Amazing Kong, Aja Kong hits a spinning back fist, which seals the win. Damn, these ladies can wrestle, but were not over and not given featured time, and the commentators don’t care, so it’s a losing battle. They were grooming her to take on Women’s Champion Alundra Blaze but lost interest and didn’t re-sign Blaze (so she showed up in WCW with the belt instead). That was the nail in the coffin until they brought the women’s division back in 98.

SHAWN MICHAELS SIT-DOWN INTERVIEW WITH TODD PETTENGILL
Shawn (shockingly) fumbles over his words “I’m not suffering from any symptoms my doctors claim I have”. What? He dodges giving a return date and gets upset being asked about possibly retiring.

Ad for Bulldog vs Bret at this Sunday’s in your house. The Mancunian barks “YURR SCURRED, HITMAN!” (You’re scared, Hitman)

AHMED JOHNSON VS RICK STOCKHAUSER
THE Rick Stockhauser to you, buddy. Unlike Jobber Jeff Hardy, Rick doesn’t even get an on-screen graphic, never mind an entrance or ring announcement. Inset promo with dean Douglas pimping his match with Ahmed at December’s In Your House. Sloppy spine buster and pearl river plunge (the jobber looks like a frog) and Johnson gets the win. Post match, Jerry The Mullet Lawler insults/interviews Ahmed. (he asks if the toughest 4 years of his life were the 4th grade, ha!)

Lots of non-wrestling next. Doc Hendrix hocks WWF wrestler denim jackets. Awesome. Oh man. YES. Then a Happy Holidays featuring a police lineup of WWF Santas as one of them was makin’ kids cry, brah. Next is a cool black and white RAW Bowl ad for New Years (featuring College Kane). In-ring, Vince interviews the Million Dollar Corporation, Ted DiBiase’s tag team of Sid and newly heel 123 Kid. He prognosticates the team will cut it, and be the next tag champions. Fewer predictions would be more wrong! Horrendous opening-level promos by both. Sid says they’ll enjoy beating Razor. Vince isn’t impressed.

MAIN EVENT: HAIL TO THE CHIMP! It’s Duckarse BOB BACKLUND VS BRET HART
To promote it they had a promo package replete with flu puns, Bret will inoculate him, Backlund virus etc. Stone-faced scowling Diana hart is in the crowd, Bret’s sister and Bulldog’s wife. She blankly answers Lawler’s questions like it was actually real and not entertainment. He asks about Bulldog being with heel Cornette. “I’m for Davey’s association with Jimmy Cornette because he’s the only one to get him a title shot (at Bret’s title).” Fair enough!

Bret and Backlund, what a star-studded affair! I love Bret, but the lads have a boring, countering mat-wrestling affair. Bret makes total sense of applying a waist lock, ducking hiding behind the back as Backlund looks to back elbow Bret to get out of it. Backlund takes control with multiple rest spots, repeated lying down arm bars, working the left arm with a view to a chicken wing. Two ads during this 12 minute match. Cool that they left in the ads, there’s a fair amount of them – like karate fighters and “erector” (aka ghetto mecano) Ticker at the bottom plugs Vince’s infamous AOL chat! Bret hits the closing sequence countering a slam into a body press. When about to apply the sharpshooter we get the New Generation/2014 RAW finish of a run-in and DQ. Bulldog and Backlund put the boots to Bret, until WORZEL takes command! The officials are largely ineffective so Vince calls for monsoon to see us out.

Overall, a tight 46 minutes. A easy watch, but they’re seriously hurting for star talent and decent matches. During the dark (but bright neon) days where business was way down with no way out in sight. Can’t say I’m intrigued to watch “In Your House 5: Seasons Beatings” but random RAWs are pretty cool.

[/vc_column_text][vc_gallery type=”flexslider_fade” interval=”10″ images=”1972,1948,1949,1950,1951,1952,1953,1954,1955,1956,1957,1958,1959,1960,1961,1962,1973,1974,1963,1964,1965,1966,1967,1968,1969,1970,1979″ onclick=”link_image” custom_links_target=”_self” img_size=”full”]tricker[/vc_gallery][/vc_column][/vc_row]

December 10, 2014