Latest PPV and weekly show discussion thread

@dynablade: Last year's crowd was just as good. Putting RAW in a huge dome will make the crowd sound about as good as it is will be at Mania (really shitty).

Just 100%ed Guacamelee! Really fun game throughout.

The dome should be fine, open air is where they get into trouble. The crowd was loud and chanting basically the whole time at Wrestlemania but the open air stadium deadens that.

But I think that Post-Mania Raw has just became "Smarks Night Out" over the past few years. Opening it up further lets the casuals in, thus bringing the crowd down a bit. At least that's how I see it.

So I know it's a day early, but I am actually really looking forward to RAW tomorrow. It's amazing how much one episode of TV can change your interest levels. But the lack of part-timers last week made the show feel a whole lot fresher. I mean, Jericho/Fandango/Ziggler in the closing segment of Smackdown makes me so happy. Interested to see where the WWE title picture goes as well, although I'm not sure how I feel about Ryback/Cena. If that's the case.

@turboman: It won't be near as good. Only a fraction of that huge crowd will chant. Why would they try tamper with a good thing.

@doesitoffendyou_yeah: I'm saying it now. Ryback vs. John Cena is the Ultimate Warrior vs. Hulk Hogan of our time...

or at least I'm sure that's what WWE is pushing for/should be pushing for.

Ugh, a Cena/Ryback feud is something I could not be any less interested in. I'm not sure they would have any chance of having a 'good' match.

I can't deny that I enjoyed Ryback giving Cena a 'fuck you' sign. Also, did anybody see that HHH allegedly got 2nd degree burns from the dry ice that stuck to him during his 'Mania entrance?

EDIT: Here's a link: http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/the-turnstile/triple-h-suffered-second-degree-burns-during-dry-201702028.html

@doesitoffendyou_yeah: He posted a Photo on twitter it look painfull.

Im gonna be honest Im not intrested in Ryback vs Cena, at all, it might be cool but I've never been a fan of Big Guys feuds, I blame this tonally on Bret and Shawn for making me like the "small" guys but yeah not looking forward to that, on the other hand Ziggler is all I need for the time being.

On other things Tanahashi vs. Okada is a great match, they have good chemistry but I do agree with Turbo that Tanahashi/Suzuki was a better match, but thats saying Taker vs Shawn 97 is better than Jericho vs Shawn in Mania 19 it all comes down to personal preferences.

I trust Cena enough his skill of having big dumb stipulation filled matches, so depending on the Ryback/Cena stipulation I think it could be fine. I also think Henry will be included and they will hold off on Ryback/Cena 1 on 1. How about Ryback/Henry/Cena in a cage match?

Note: I really liked the Orton/Cena Iron Man match if you want a scale of just how dumb I can tolerate a match being.

I would point to Cena/Umaga. Sometimes Cena can pull off miracles

The Extreme Rules 2013 Main Event (according to WrestlingObserver.com)

Do not want.

@drx25: Eww. Just...eww.

Guys, I'm watching Smackdown, and Biggie needs to do his best Ricardo impression EVERY TIME Dolph comes to the ring.

@drx25: GREAT use of Brock; stick him in feuds which elevate nobody and harm his long-term drawing power.

Jesus Christ seriously... what is the point? I get the feeling they feel like they need to use Brock since they paid him all of that money but have no real good ideas of what to do with him.

The Ass Cape is Dead. LONG LIVE THE ASS CHAMPIONSHIP!

all though I enjoyed the Cena/Lesnar match, the wrong guy won.

Lesnar/HHH makes sense on the surface, and would have been perfect if the whole feud ended at Summerslam, but there's no need for two more matches. I think they might have missed their chance to have their real money match for Lesnar vs. Taker at WM (Punk/Taker was excellent, so no complaints here). Lesnar will have to put one of the younger guys over at some point, I'm sure, but I don't exactly know who it could be. Ryback? Cesaro?

I didn't know John Morrison had workout videos.

Seeing that video made me think of his backstage parkour video.

I hope Brock Lesnar continues his Scott Steiner tribute at Extreme Rules

Last minute Monday Night Chat

Thoughts on Raw:

Man, there ain't no comedown like the 2nd RAW after Wrestlemania.

Compared the state of pure joy that last week's Raw left me, this week's left me in an equal state of confusion, anger and sadness. I'm not even sure what to say about it. None of it made any sense, none of it was entertaining and none of it at all capitalized on what was so amazing about last week. Besides Ryback's shockingly sensible promo and the brief seconds of Mark Henry doing what he does, everything was just the worst.

What happened on Raw:

• Wade Barrett lost to R-Truth
• Antonio Cesaro lost his belt to Kofi Kingston
• Lawler and a really forced package made Fandango uncool
• Ziggler lost on his first Raw after one of the loudest moments in WWE history
• We lost CM Punk

I mean, who thought any of this would be good?

I admit, Punk deserves his break after his title reign where he gave it his all in every PPV match. But the problem is that WWE never really provided a safety net for themselves once Punk left. After tonight, Ziggler continues to remain a joke kayfabe-wise, Daniel Bryan is still handcuffed to Kane, and Cesaro and Barrett both look like chumps.

If there's anything good to come out of Raw, it would be that The Shield still looks dominant and Rhodes Scholars might take off again. I like the idea of a Ryback/Cena feud, but if they think Ryback as a heel is going to replace Punk as a heel, then they are just plain dumb.

Man this weeks RAW sucked, well back to not recording Raw again.

Here are my thoughts on Raw

[Makes an infinite fart noise]

I was definitely surprised by how cogent Ryback was. That storyline was put together pretty well considering that the WWE doesn't usually think so long-term. Ziggler, Barrett, and Caesaro all seem to be getting ripped from the spotlight. I hope it is meant to make the storylines more interesting, but I am worried that Caesaro will be thrown aside.

I don't know what to think of the IC Battle Royale. It could be interesting, but it may just be fodder for Barrett. If nothing else can excite you about RAW, the six-man tag match for next week looks pretty good.

@jewunit: Agree about Ryback, he did a good job and his motivation makes sense.

I'm cool with Cesaro dropping the US title. I see that more as an opportunity for him to move on to bigger things than a setback. On the other hand, regarding Barrett, I HATE when champions lose non-title singles matches. Champions just really shouldn't even have non-title singles matches... just a pet peeve of mine.

This was the most insufferable RAW in months, that's saying something.

They tried that a few years back and he failed a drug test. Pretty much ended his career.

I beat the final boss on normal, but never bothered with the orbs. Is it worth going back to get the orbs? The bit in the Tule Tree is pretty rough.

Tule Tree is as hard as the game gets. There's nothing major that happens if you don't go for 100%, but it was just satisfying to backtrack and get all the treasure and orbs.

Cena and Orton are super great friends, guys.

@turboman: That second video is so good. John Cena literally EXPLODES, fade to black....YOUR TIME IS UP MY TIME IS NOW

Instead of making my triumphant return to RAW IS CHAT. I drove to Philly and saw Deerhoof play songs.

It was pretty amazing. BUT- did I make the right decision?

edit: yes i did

Holy shit, that Raw. :(

@joshthebear: I know right WTF happened!

If you need a good laugh, read this: http://wrestleshoot.com/diva-editorials/people-who-should-apologize-to-kelly-kelly.html

I'd be happy with Cesaro losing the belt if it seemed like Vince had any interest in pushing him beyond the mid-card but it doesn't seem that way. The Swagger/Ziggler/ADR stuff was booked horribly. I don't know what's going on with Punk so if he's taking a break my interest in Raw goes WAY down. Nothing about this RAW made me care. Well, back to watching season 1 of Pokémon.

I'm going to try and break down my thoughts on this weeks RAW into positives and negatives. I'm trying to be objective about this and accept that this week was never going to match last weeks episode.

Positives

• The Shield beat down John Cena.
• Having Ryback nonchalantly walk away as Cena got his ass kicked was pretty cool to see. Guy may get some heat.
• Lesnar decimated 3MB and has pyro back for his standard entrance.
• Ryback's reasoning for turning on Cena was actually done pretty well.
• The Ziggler/ADR/Swagger triple threat could help Ziggler look credible if he goes over cleanly.
• The Miz wasn't on the show.
• Paul Heyman was once again gold throughout the entire Punk 'promo'. Quietly assuring him he is still 'The Best in the World' - it was brilliant.

Negatives

• Dolph Ziggler was pinned cleanly YET again.
• The whole WHC title picture is a complete clusterfuck.
• Triple H/Lesnar serves very little purpose bar having Lesnar go over.
• Fandango was ruined. Okay, not ruined. But it was a cringe-worthy segment none the same.
• Wade Barrett not only got pinned clean; but by a nobody who hasn't seen TV time in months.
• Cesaro loses the belt and is now pretty much on one hell of a losing streak.
• The guy he loses it to has lost more than Cesaro himself as of late.
• CM PUNK IS GONE.
• Chris Jericho wasn't on the show.
• Prime Time Players continue to be squashed every single week they appear on television.
• John Cena/Ryback ending promo was so bland and you could tell nobody was interested.
• Ryback's earlier promo was pre-recorded. Obviously don't trust the guys live mic skills.
• The Shield's direction lacks any continuity. First they go to attack Undertaker, Team Hell No make the save. Then they go to attack HHH, Hell No make the save. Then they ignore Team Hell No and Hell No go back to squashing tag teams, and instead attack Cena just to help the Cena/Ryback feud. Then next week they go back to Team Hell No and Undertaker and you just know the Cena attack will have no point. I'm being moany, but it pisses me off that the Shield are just thrown about with little thought.
• Randy Orton/Sheamus bromance is fucking insufferable. I couldn't detest the tag match for Smackdown anymore.
• I don't mind Smart Mark, but a feud between him and Sheamus couldn't be any more depressing.
• The Great Khali.
• Rhodes Scholars have been thrown back together. This is bad, as they obviously have NO idea what to do with them.

Nice, long negative column there.

It's great that all 4 of the singles champions that wrestled last night got pinned. It really adds value to holding belt

Fandango had a good thing while it lasted

I will always enjoy watching Lesnar fuck shit up

Fandango is going to burn out quick. The fact that his music got over and not him is going to adversely affect his career. Its even worse that the WWE couldn't help but acknowledge that it was a "thing" as well.

This week on Backstage Fallout, the Primetime Players find themselves in trouble with IRS

Holy shit, that site is insane. They're actually using the fact that people got annoyed with them on twitter and blocked their account as evidence that... I don't know, they're too real?

Mission: To provide fair and balanced yet brutally honest opinions backed with logic and facts. And to put the success of the business as the number one goal and how that is best achieved, rather than just pandering to "smark darlings" and burying non smark darlings like most Internet fans and sites.

Jesus Christ! Most of their articles are about Kelly Kelly. Why does that thing exist? It's a joke, right? Please tell me it's a joke

@mildmolasses: I can't imagine it's anything besides somebody being a giant troll.

My god was Raw ever bad this week. Worst thing about the show was by far the Fandangoo stuff. I was never on board but now I never will be after that. Talk about forced and just not entertaining. I'm sorry but Fandangoo fucking sucks. Cesaro loses his title to Kingston? I loved how after the match Kingston says something about the US title finally coming back to the US and the crowd is dead. Damn you WWE. Hopefully this leads to bigger and better thing for Cesaro. Fuck R Truth. Basically sums up why I hated Raw.

Just checking in to remind everyone that Raw last night was a rancid fucking asshole of suck. I'm still reeling from it. I've never seen a show do so much wrong in a such a little amount of time. It's hard to believe that any of it actually happened.