Denver, Colorado was the host of tonight’s Raw and I felt sorry for them, minus Goldberg, Seth Rollins, KO and Y2J, the rest was hogwash…we didn’t even see Sasha or Charlotte wrestle, just interviews! Raw is a Drama and Smackdown is wrestling…end of! I live in the UK and rarely stay up late enough to watch this live, I record it and fast forward the many many adverts! Raw is not worth staying up most of the night to be fair!
Let’s get the big thing out of the way first, Goldberg! For the first time in 12 years, we stood witness to the return of WCW’s greatest champion to a WWE ring and it was cool to witness that entrance again, ok so he didn’t have the officers lead him out but we couldn’t get everything! Bill Goldberg emerges and people chant his name, the loudest the crowd was all night! It was great and I’m glad Goldberg was so well received and as we all knew would happen, he accepts Brock Lesnar’s challenge for a match in the near future. I wanted Ryback chants just for the hell of it! You know because they always chanted Goldberg at Ryback, why not have a laugh and do the same to Goldberg? Probably because fans like Goldberg and found Ryback to be boring and not really going anywhere…just a thought?
He has one more spear in him, one more ass kicking! One more jackhammer in him to take on the beast! He wants to let his son watch him fight in the ring and I admire that…it will be a headlining match that will be better than the 1st encounter in 2004 but to be fair, that won’t be hard to do really, even if Goldberg hasn’t really wrestled in 12 years! It would have to be a shambles to be worse….a massive shambles!
Next week, we see Brock Lesnar respond on Raw which will be good as well and it’s nice to see that stars of the past are better at putting over a big match than the current batch that we have…How are part timers made to look so much better than a Kevin Owens, Seth Rollins or Roman Reigns? After nearly 3 hours we got to Goldberg and it was a tough ask to wait so long to be honest! From decent to awful along the way, you realise how bad WWE and it’s roster is compared to say 10 years ago! We rely on stars of the past to return often and why is that? Doesn’t WWE rely on it’s current stars for drawing power, to be able to fill the arenas and stadiums, sell merchandise etc? They should do!
Moving on to today’s generation of superstars, Kevin Owens is the top dog but a apart of me wishes that Finn Balor had never gotten injured and would be still our champion right now! KO bores me as Universal Champion and it pains me to say this…I love KO, I have supported this superstar in NXT, and when he debuted on Raw by taking out John Cena, yet now as he stands atop of Raw’s mountain, I find myself not caring what he does at all! A feud with Seth Rollins that has gone nowhere, it is beyond boring! They are both great athletes by my god, the matches aren’t that impressive…heck, so far, face Seth Rollins is putting me to sleep…he’s doing what Roman Reigns did last year with the little insults that are cheesy as anything…only difference is people enjoy this, unlike with Roman Reigns. I love Seth Rollins and I am so mad at Raw for making me not care about either guy! Chris Jericho is the best thing about this feud, he gets all the chants when all three are in the ring because he’s the most entertaining one! Seth just feels dry, his humor isn’t that good and KO just moans about absolutely everything which is his character but it’s not helping the show at all!
Sparklecrotch?!-2016 Tater Tots-2015
The only reason Rollins is even in this feud is because he was Raw’s 1st pick, he’s the man and who else would fit the bill….Roman Reigns is facing Rusev, Finn Balor is out and Y2J is KO’S’Best Friend’ so Seth is the only one who can face KO on Raw…doesn’t that just sum up Raw…only one credible challenger for KO…what about after Hell In A Cell? Who else is credible to take on Kevin Owens right now who isn’t busy in another feud…Brock Lesnar…Goldberg?
Triple H has still not appeared ever since he stabbed Rollins in the back and chose Owens to be the top guy…hasn’t helped the storyline and the obvious twist that Stephanie knew all along etc I guess the fact that HHH and Stephanie pretty much choose the champion hurts Raw in a big way because it’s been like this for nearly 4 years…4 F%$%&&G years of Authority…it’s still on…HHH will appear again and all will be revealed as they head to Wrestlemania where Rollins fights the Game…so easy to see it!
Seth Rollins took on Chris Jericho again in the show’s opener and it was a decent match, enjoyable to watch, nothing really wrong with the match,especially since Y2J told KO to stay in the back for the match, he had a point to prove but did his ‘best friend’ listen….nope, he comes out and pretty much costs Jericho the match! Paints KO as a coward who uses Jericho as a shield to avoid Rollins at all costs! It does make me feel bad for Jericho although he is putting over the future talents.
Kevin Owens could be written to be that arrogant, cocky champion that we saw against Cena, yet he’s mostly in a suit every week, moaning for twenty minutes about Mick Foley…boring, get in the ring and FIGHT! I hate it when a champion does not fight but just does promos week in and week out….speaking of promos, does every single Raw have to start with a promo?! Smackdown often has a match first, yet Raw has to have Stephanie McMahon/Mick Foley, Roman Reigns or Kevin Owens start off with a promo! Am I watching Wrestling or a Drama?!
The Women’s Revolution….consisting of 3 Women?! Why isn’t this so called revolution taking place on Smackdown Live? At least they use of all the women they have…where are all the other Raw Women Wrestlers at? Here are all the Raw Women Wrestlers
- Sasha Banks
- Charlotte
- Bayley
- Dana Brooke
- Nia Jax
- Alica Fox
- Emma (soon to be Emmalina)
- Lana (doesn’t wrestle)
- Paige (suspended)
- Summer Rae
- Tamina
Why do we only see four of them? Admittedly some are out of action but how can you build hype for this division? Oh, I know have them inside the Hell in a Cell! I hated this idea and still do because why does it need the Cell? Give me one good reason, other than ‘first time’ do we need Sasha and Charlotte to fight inside the Cell? It screams desperation to me because Raw has been awful in 2016 and I thought they couldn’t get worse than 2015! How wrong was I?
We saw two interviews by Lita to ask Charlotte and Sasha Banks about Hell In A Cell and both of them made me annoyed, because they both acted like the Cell didn’t even matter, they weren’t intimidated or afraid of Satan’s Structure, Charlotte did her usual routine that she was the greatest off all time, Woman or Man…wonder what her Father thought of that? I liked it but it didn’t add to the Cell concept…Sasha never impresses me on the mic and she made it worse by not being afraid of the Cell…why does WWE need to convince us so much that neither woman is afraid of the Cell yet it’s perfectly fine for Triple H, Mick Foley, Brock Lesnar to admit that they were afraid? And I wonder why do we have this match in the first place if the Cell isn’t doing it’s job? I don’t care if it’s a man or woman who steps inside that cell, if it makes no sense, It shouldn’t happen at all!
And what about after Hell In A Cell? Who will either woman face? Bayley? Nia Jax, they are the only two credible challenges available…Dana Brooke…sod off…she botches everything and she had no business beating Bayley, it will do nothing because no one can stand Dana Brooke at all. I love the Women in WWE, Sasha, Charlotte, Bayley, Becky Lynch are leading lights that can do something amazing in removing that horrible era of the Divas! Yet right now, they aren’t using them properly…they are using these women in a horrible Women’s Revolution idea to make them relevant when it isn’t needed at all, you just need good writers for them….great storylines is all you need and the Women will easily be over! Wasn’t the Women’s Revolution started because of other Women Athletes in other sports doing well? They don’t need a Revolution and they are well respected for what they do…WWE…use less than half of their women and only a couple are well received…great revolution!
Did Trish or Lita need such gimmicks to get over…No?! Yet stars that can surpass them someday need a Revolution to get over because WWE creative isn’t on Par with NXT’S Creative? I want the Women to succeed but using the Cell just for the sake of it is a bad move, I mean I don’t expect any moonsaults off the cell…I don’t even see the Cell barely being used to be honest…so why bother? Last year, Seth Rollins vs Kane wasn’t inside Hell In A Cell because it didn’t need to be, it had a story but the Cell was not needed..WWE has just forgotten what the Cell is really all about, because it’s a PPV! any match can be in it now…it’s a shame if you ask me.
Build up Nia Jax, have her destroy the winner after the match!, build up Emmalina…shudder and give Sasha, Charlotte and Bayley opponents and build up for Wrestlemania where we need Sasha vs Bayley for the Championship! Move Charlotte over to Smackdown and have her feud with Becky Lynch maybe, two great Wrestlemania Matches right there…no gimmicks, just a great story and WRESTLING!
As for Brawn Strowman…we all know where this will probably lead too….he wants strong competition, well come January…Big Show is meant to come back….I shudder at the mere thought of this match up…yet Big Show has a toilet break type of match at Wrestlemania…Shaq…let’s all be strong people. Strowman destroys 3 nobodies and demands competition and is about to head to the back when the worst moment of the night for me happens…Sami Zayn appears! A stupid decision because I don’t want another David vs Golliath! Khali vs Mysterio vibe all over it!
Why oh why are WWE going to feed Sami Zayn to Brawn Strowman? A talent as great as Sami Zayn should be feuding for a mid card championship at the very least, not being used to push a superstar that no one could care about! If we see this match at Hell In A Cell or a future episode of Raw, I shudder to see what happens to Zayn, I want more for him, he can be a future champion, easily…over with fans and putting on classics for years to come. It just shows to me that WWE does not know what to do with him! No feud for the United States Championship or another match with Kevin Owens for the Universal Championship! Easily done, KO vs Sami Zayn for the Universal Championship would be awesome. Same can be said about Neville here, he’s being jobbed to Bo Dallas?! BO DALLAS! WTF?! A member of the former group known as Social Outcasts goes over Neville!
Make Neville and Sami Zayn a Tag Team, simple as! Have them challenge the New Day for the Tag Team Championships! Speaking of New Day, they take on Cesaro and Sheamus at Hell In A Cell and for me, I hate the idea and I’ll tell you why, if Cesaro and Sheamus lose, they have no reason to remain a Tag Team and if they win, New Day won’t break Demolition’s record. The New Day need to lose the belts because it gets boring and stale. No idea what the future of the Tag Team division on Raw is but I feel that New Day’s reign is hurting the other teams too much, look at Gallows and Anderson!
Will Enzo and Cass have a reign? 3 Good teams and a possible 4th one if Sheamus and Cesaro stay as a team….highly doubt that though, Cesaro needs to be on Smackdown and shine as the star that we all know he is! But to save this division, New Day must first lose the tittles and give someone else a turn…all gimmicks get old and they are getting close to that now.
Golden Truth and Mark Henry face the Shining Stars and Titus O Neil and I really can’t think of much to say about this match…something about Rolexes and I’ll just say…World Strongest Slam, end of match! I feel bad for Mark Henry for being in this match but I know he’s good friends with Titus…I know they are great guys but their WWE Characters are embarrassing…WWE, please use Titus in a much better role, he can be a star if you build him up properly.
All tonight’s Raw told me was that the WWE Draft was a massive mistake! Raw has suffered so much, it’s laughable and I am glad that I don’t stay up so late to watch this rubbish, I record it and watch it during the day, I value my sleep too much to watch this show… Forget making Darren Young great…We need Raw to be great again!
Total score- 2/10 (Extremely Poor)
Brian G. James
The Northern Light 