Raw Review 4/12/2016: BULLET CLUB TOO SWEET!

From what I watched of Raw, most of the show wasn't that bad. When I wasn't watching I watched The Voice. For those that don't know, I keep the WWE timeline open via Twitter, and when it's something I'm interested in, I change the channel to USA to watch the promo or match. When I become uninterested I change the channel. I got that idea from a tweet I saw on Twitter, Never the less, I enjoyed most of what I saw. The show opened with Shane McMahon. That gimmick has a lot of people up and arms. Some are trying to make sense of Shane losing to Undertaker so why is he running Raw? It's all a work. Wrestling is a work. None of it is real. No matter how much we want it to be. There's a difference between reality, and wrestling reality. Sometimes, art and life intertwine, but most of the time, all the stuff that happens on TV is mostly a work. Some of us think way to hard when it comes to this sport. We forget that WWE is an entertainment company. It's not a wrestling company. Vince said it himself. "I'm not in the wrasslin business, I'm in the entertainment business." So most of us tend to forget that simple thought.

Maybe Vince figured that the Authority angle was running stale and something needed to change on the show. So Shane is probably part of that change. I personally expect a swerve to come along the way with all this. Maybe Stephanie McMahon and Triple H opening up the show and they make the statement, "Didn't Shane lose at WrestleMania? Why has he been running Raw?" And all that. I truly believe all the questions we have, WWE will try to answer them in the coming weeks, and it'll all come together, or apart, at SummerSlam, which is the next "big" PPV or Live Special.

We need to stop watching RAW expecting the same booking we see on NXT. Even though they're under the same umbrella known as WWE, Raw and NXT are two different shows. Raw is coming around to NXT's style of booking little by little, but still two different shows.

Then we had Kevin Owens vs Cesaro. What a clinic that match was. If Cesaro hasn't grabbed that "brass ring" by now, I don't know what Vince is smoking or sniffing. Cesaro is one of the best athletes on the roster. The surprising thing about this match was that it was a clean finish. Cesaro won clean. Another thing this match showed that getting heat and selling is not a lost art that some of the old timers like to think it is. Cesaro sold that shoulder injury, and Kevin Owens had heat most of the match. He blocks people on Twitter. If that's not heat, I don't know what is.

The WWE Tag Team tournament. Who ever came up with that idea seems to have come with a good one. One match was the Dudley Boys vs the Lucha Dragons. Dudley Boys won and team of Enzo and Cass came out. The back and forth between them and the Dudley Boyz was a money segment to me. I missed their appearance on the Raw after Mania, and I missed their stuff on NXT, but they seem to be over with the crowd. They also seem to have the gift of talking on the microphone. I have to look up some matches on the WWE Network to see their ring work. But I'm already a fan of them because of that back and forth with the Dudleys.

The Women's Division gets better and better regarding match quality. But there's an old turd that still seems to have to get his stuff in, and that turd's name is Ric Flair. Ric was great for his time, but Ric Flair, it's time to go home. Charlotte is a grown woman. She can't grow as a character if you keep handcuffing her. Look I understand being a heel, and all that but Flair interfering in Charlotte's matches is not good heat to me. That's cheap heat. I said on Twitter after Flair interfered at WrestleMania that Flair needs to be put in a home. Flair, your time is up. Go away. The women's division doesn't need your old tired self to make it relevant. Other than the old timer, and the ending of the match, Natayla and Charlotte had a good match. Again, Flair needs to go away or at least get away from his daughter.

Dr Phil was on the show and that's all I'm going to say about that.

The Bullet Club. Luke Gallows made his return to the WWE and Anderson made his debut, I think. They saved what was a lack luster match between the Usos and The Social Outcasts. It was expected for them to make an appearance but it wasn't really known in what capacity they were going to show up. So after Usos pick up the W, Gallows and Anderson showed up and beat up the Usos. It was tremendous. I was at home holding up the too sweet. Hopefully WWE doesn't drive Gallows away, again.

AJ Styles vs Sami Zayn. Another match that was a straight clinic. I'm so glad the higher ups and in the WWE let these two wrestlers do their job. It was a great match. They woke up what was a dead crowd. They should've main evented the show, but of course they didn't.

I didn't watch what was the main event, because Reigns' character is not getting over at all, and it all seemed threw together randomly. Roman, in my opinion, is a great worker. His character has just become stale. But he does get a response from the crowd, so I guess that's all Vince cares about. Roman's character needs some upgrading. If Hogan of all people do upgrade his character, why can't Roman upgrade his?

And that's about all I got to say about RAW. From what I watched, it was an ok show. Thanks for reading. I don't claim to know everything, but I'm just stating my thoughts on the product.

~Daniel Richerson

The Main Roster is still the Main Roster...

I hear a lot of fellow smarks, yes you're a smark embrace it, say that going to the main roster is a downgrade as far as going from NXT to Raw. Ok, I understand that the main roster has been none too good lately. I understand that NXT has had the better product lately. Now that that's out the way. NXT is on the WWE network. Not everybody has the WWE Network. Raw is on USA. Raw gives you more exposure than NXT. Raw gives you more money. I'm pretty sure they don't come to NXT to stay at NXT. I'm pretty sure if you sign a contract with WWE, your goal should be on the main show, right?

We want Raw to be better. We want Raw to create better stars. You can't create better stars if the NXT stars stay in NXT. Samoa Joe will never have an opportunity to main event a WrestleMania if he stays in NXT. Like it or not, Wrestlemania is a main roster show. Royal Rumble is a main roster show. AJ Styles is on the main roster. AJ Styles is on RAW like it or not. He's not in NXT. He's on RAW. In my opinion, Samoa Joe should be on the main show right now. But the only problem with the main roster is the bad booking. That was my main problem with the Royal Rumble 2015. It was a poorly book Royal Rumble match that year. I feel it was more than the fact Roman Reigns won, it was how he won. My opinion, Big Show and Kane ruined that match.

But back to the topic at hand. The main roster is still the main roster. No matter how bad the show is. It's still the main roster. I know we all want the main roster to be better, but to say that moving to the main roster is a down grade. It's still the main roster. One of the problems with the main roster is like the "it's better to ask for forgiveness than permission" mentality is none existent. When DX was just the Kliq, they did stuff that got them in trouble every week. HBK is now in the Hall of Fame, and HHH is basically Vince's right hand man.

So yes, NXT is the better product in most people's eyes. You tune in to NXT expecting the great, and you tune in to Raw expecting the worse. I get that, but that doesn't change the fact that Raw is still Raw. There's a lot of people that think Football is not as good as it once was, yet people still tune in. Some people don't think the NBA is as good as it once was but people still tune in. I think Raw will get better. Vince still micro-manages the product, which is a major issue that no one talks about. I feel that as soon as Vince lets go of the reigns, not a shot at Roman,  a little bit, that's when the product will get better.

Daniel Richerson

12/05/2011 Raw review plus other thoughts

This is LONG overdue, and I do apologize for that. I hope this blog makes up for it.

Before getting into this week’s Raw, let me talk a little about last week. How epic was the Hot Rod? The man still got it. I hope young wrestlers in and out of the WWE watched and learned from that exchange with Cena. Let me say this, this thing with Cena and the fans, what took the WWE so long? Does anybody agree that this should’ve been done at least a couple of years ago? I say as far back as 2006 after his now infamous appearance at WWECW One Night Stand 2006. Anyway, on to this week’s Raw…

The show starts out with Cena coming to the ring. The usual kids and women screaming and the real wrestling fans booing him. Cena sucking up to the fans. It’s barf material. I’m begging Cena to go heel already. Seems like they’re teasing Cena going for the title again. Three words WWE: Just Say No! Alberto Del Rio has potential to be a better heel, but when Vickie Guerrero gets more boos than you do? Enough said. I would love to see Dolph get a title shot against Punk. Y’all see that match they had a couple of weeks ago? I saw someone online compare Punk to Bret Hart and Ziggler to Mr. Perfect. I can’t argue with that. That match was an instant classic. Why oh why did Johnny Ace become an on air character? I’m begging the fans to start chanting boring when this tool comes out. The first segment felt longer than 20 minutes. Good things that happened: Zack Ryder mention…that’s about it. Yes, I am a Zack Ryder guy. The fact that they even teased Cena getting another title shot had me screaming NO to the television set.

Randy Orton vs Miz ends in a countout. Not like the match was that good anyway. The Miz is a good heel, I give him that. Every time I think about the Miz, I think about his time on the Real World. Miz’s dream came true. WWE had turned him into a major player. Personally, I think Miz still got a little ways to go, but he’s getting better every week.

Michael Cole. WWE took the fact that everybody hated Cole, to turn Cole heel. Even when Cole was the “face” commentator, people hated him. Not because he was a heel or face, but it was because he was and still is terrible at his job. Cole still has his job, and JR has been fired many times. I don’t get the logic to tell you the truth.

All this promotion for the WWE Network, I hope it doesn’t go out like the XFL. Remember the promotion for the XFL? Yeah…

Of course I got to talk about Mr. David Hudson…ahem, Otunga…ok that’s done.

Big Kev, Big Sexy, Kevin Nash. I will admit. I am a fan. I am a mark if you will. I’m a mark for the Kliq as a whole. I don’t think a day goes by when I’m not holding up the wolf pac sign. I’m not kidding. I am also a fan of the Kevin Nash and Triple H storyline. You got two professionals that know what they can do and can’t do in the ring, and they make it work.

I can’t wait for Bryan Danielson to get his just do in the WWE. The man can work in the ring, and yet gets treated like a second class nobody on television. Plus he’s a verbal punching bag for the verbal diaretic known as Michael Cole. So Bryan getting the title has now turned into nothing more than proving Cole wrong which is not what it’s supposed to be about. Have Bryan kick Cole’s teeth down his throat, turn Cole into a manager, and bring JR back. Turning Cole manager may seem like a crappy idea, but look at it this way, we would hear and see him less. Cole is trying to be what Jerry Lawler was during the Attitude Era, and for some odd reason, WWE seems to think it’s working.

Kelly Kelly and Eve Torres get no reaction what so ever. The Divas ask for more time. They beg for more air time. Get a reaction from the crowd for a change, and you might get more time. Personally, I think WWE is sleeping on Alicia Foxx, as wrong as that reads. Blog on the divas coming later this week.

This “Social Experiment” thing on Raw has Vince McMahon written all over it. It’s that stupid. I said before I’m a Zack Ryder guy, but are we the fans supposed to believe Zack has a legitimate shot against Cena? If WWE would’ve had Cena lay down and let Ryder get the win, I wouldn’t have been mad. But WWE had to stick to the same old stuff. Using what would actually work? Seems farfetched, I know...

Zack Ryder is nothing but a money maker for the WWE that gets no respect. Zack had everyone in Madison Square Garden chanting his name. And how does the WWE repay him? Having him face not only John Cena, but Mark Henry. Remember, this is the same Vince McMahon running the show that said on tape, “The crowd loves DX, so I was going to love DX.” Now it seems to be, “The crowd loves Zack Ryder, so I’m going to screw Zack Ryder.” It’s not right. It’s not good business.

Noted after I typed the paragraph above, Zack Ryder gets the win the help of Cena. I guess I’m supposed to be satisfied, but it seems to me WWE has a tendency to wait until the fans are ready to riot to finally give them what they want.

The classic nWo theme plays over the speakers, and Kevin Nash walks to the ring with the sledge hammer. Yes I did hold the wolf pac sign as it happened.

Santino Marella. The only question I got is why? Why is he still around? What is he good for?

If Kevin would’ve hit Cole with the sledge hammer—never mind.

Dolph is money in that ring. No doubt in my mind that Dolph will be in WWE or World title hunt very soon.

Did Brodus Clay show up on Raw? I must’ve missed it if he did.

Did Johnny Ace just say that he’s mister excitement? Excite…what?!?

Miz is trying way too hard to be psycho. I see what he’s trying to do. I sorta like it, but he’s trying too hard. Let it come natural. Brian Pillman—by the way, the fact that he’s not in the Hall of Fame is ridiculous—loose cannon character was real. It looked and felt real. Miz on the other hand looks and sounds phony.

CM Punk, as always, was money on the mic. I love the fact that Punk comes out and shoots.  When Punk says he’s the voice of the voiceless, he’s right.

So this week's, December 5, 2011, edition of Raw was average at best. Was nothing spectacular in my opinion. I mean the vignette with the kid and the desk and that whole thing, is interesting. Kane coming back in the mask in what I’m assuming is one last run, is cool. Cena helping Ryder get his deserved and WAY past due US Title shot was cool as well. I am interested to see where this Cena and the fans thing is going.

Thanks for reading. Be sure to follow me on this blog. Leave your comments below sharing your thoughts and opinions. Share this with all the wrestling fans, dirtsheets, independent wrestling companies, etc that you’re connected with.  Read the last blog. Follow my other blog. Friend me on FaceBook. Follow me on Twitter. Follow me on Dailybooth. Follow me on Tumblr. Subscribe to me on YouTube.  And I’m out.

Stay Saved,

Daniel Richerson aka Big Dusty