WWE Raw Discussion Thread

[Oaf]

Having watched all of the draft on Smackdown and then on the network to see the ass end of it... the overwhelming thought for me...

SIX superstars pulled up from NXT. So much potential.

One of those picked is...

EVA MARIE.

EVA MARIE IS ON SMACKDOWN. BAYLEY IS NOT.

EVA MARIE IS ON SMACKDOWN. NAKAMURA IS NOT.

EVA MARIE IS ON SMACKDOWN. AUSTIN AERIES IS NOT.

EVA MARIE IS ON SMACKDOWN. SAMOA JOE IS NOT.

EVA MARIE IS ON SMACKDOWN. ASUKA IS NOT.

Rinse and repeat for the entire roster.

Fuck it. I can't even comment on the rest of the draft yet. I'm just fucking lost right now and not sure I understand the world.

 

[Oaf]

Ok, to be honest, I'm still watching the ass end on the network. And I've just seen another NXT pick...

MOJO RAWLEY.

DONE.

 

[This Charming Mike]

The draft lacked logic and consistency for me. The initial picks were good - I was particularly pleased to see the younger, fresher guys on Raw, Cena/Orton on SmackDown and The Club being split ahead of the inevitable reunion with Devitt. But from about the point SmackDown picked Becky Lynch and American Alpha, my interest dwindled and it became abundantly obvious that the company had no clear plan with regards to the draft. The women should have been kept together as one division. Same with the tag teams. There just aren't enough wrestlers in either of these divisions to split them down the middle. And what are those on the brand without their division's title supposed to aim for? Bizarre booking.

Devitt and American Alpha aside, the NXT picks were poor. I sort of get that, as they don't want to completely ransack NXT of all their better performers but don't promise me 6 NXT draft picks and give me Mojo bloody Rawley.

 

[Libertine]

Bit of a damp squib re: the NXT call ups but Bayley will inevitably be debuting Sunday so there's that. Carmella on Smackdown is a bit odd. Maybe put her on the same show as E&C then you've got the chance to put her with them if it doesn't work out. Not gonna slag anything off until we see the longer term plans - especially re: the tag/women's division. Think there'll be 2 tag titles sadly but really hope not for the women, would dilute it a lot. We'll see.

 

[T.A]

All a bit meh really.

 

[Bluebird_Dai]

Just like the rest of the product, the draft was a load of shit.

 

[Oaf]

Ok though, but after all of the moaning about the draft...

The very, very end segment on the WWE network was actually fucking hilarious. Heath Slater sat as the last, unpicked superstar in a dark room on his own Poor Heath.

 

[Baz]

Well Vince's two love children now seemingly get big singles roles on their respected brands, Braun on Raw, Eva on Smackdown.

I like the new announce team setup too. King has been put out to pasture, and Otunga eurghh but yeah will see if it works. Cole/Graves/Saxton should work well so should JBL/Mauro/Otunga over on SD. Would have preferred to see Corey bounce off JBL though haha.

 

[Luke]

Think the draft looks okay, time will tell though.

Please for fuck sake turn Seth face, give up on this Roman bollocks make him heel and you have your leading face & heel for the shows.

Do get the comments about tag teams & women on Smackdown if there is no title what's the aim? Unless they are making secondary ones.

Strowman on his own though, eww.

Edit- I thought Oaf's use over the word shag and shaging was quite amusing but it would appear it's an auto correct for swear words. Not impressed.

 

[Libertine]

Graves would be much better on Smackdown IMO. Otunga can sod off. Token black guy just like Saxton sadly. Offers nothing..

 

[Oaf]

Think the draft looks okay, time will tell though.

Please for fuck sake turn Seth face, give up on this Roman bollocks make him heel and you have your leading face & heel for the shows.

Do get the comments about tag teams & women on Smackdown if there is no title what's the aim? Unless they are making secondary ones.

Strowman on his own though, eww.

Edit- I thought Oaf's use over the word shag and shaging was quite amusing but it would appear it's an auto correct for swear words. Not impressed.

Yeah, but thankfully the filter is gone now.

If they're gonna do it, at least change the word fuck to "damn and blast" like they once did on TFF. I remember it got to the stage where even in real life members were thinking "damn and blast it!" instead of "fuck it!".

 

[Saddlerrad]

Didn't realise they were going back to not only, PPV's for each brand, but a PPV EACH MONTH for both!

That's mental, Monday 3 hours, Tuesday 2 hours, Wednesday NXT.. then 6 hours of PPV content a month.

I've read that things are going to go totally tits up financially if the gamble they are taking to pay for Smackdown live doesn't equate to larger viewing numbers. All seems a bit risky to me.

They immediately need to bin an hour of Raw and make NXT later in the week. 1 PPV per month is fine, just split the matches on the event.

 

[Libertine]

Didn't realise they were going back to not only, PPV's for each brand, but a PPV EACH MONTH for both!

That's mental, Monday 3 hours, Tuesday 2 hours, Wednesday NXT.. then 6 hours of PPV content a month.

I've read that things are going to go totally tits up financially if the gamble they are taking to pay for Smackdown live doesn't equate to larger viewing numbers. All seems a bit risky to me.

They immediately need to bin an hour of Raw and make NXT later in the week. 1 PPV per month is fine, just split the matches on the event.

I know, really don't like this idea. It becomes a chore to watch sometimes as it is. They are bringing back some classic AE PPVs though like No Mercy and Backlash (old tron please!)

Apparently the 3rd hour over the course of the year makes them a boatload of money in extra ad revenue so don't think they're gonna scrap it sadly unless the network decides otherwise.

 

[Stevencc]

The new logos for each show...

 

[Bluebird_Dai]

Smackdowns first victory right there.

 

[Stevencc]

Agreed, the RAW one is strange.

 

[Libertine]

Both really basic and poor but Raw's is really bad.

 

[Captain Scumbag]

Apparently the 3rd hour over the course of the year makes them a boatload of money in extra ad revenue so don't think they're gonna scrap it sadly unless the network decides otherwise.

The basic problem is that Raw, even on a bad day, will be the most watched show on USA Network. NBCU (who own USA Network) pay WWE a small fortune for the TV rights; ergo, they want to maximise the return on their investment by scheduling as much commercial time around the programme as possible. From that perspective, it's simple: 3 hours is better than 2 hours because there's more commercial time to sell.

I suspect WWE would gladly do away with the third hour. Indeed, I vaguely remember Triple H throwing the whole 3-hour Raw concept under the bus during his last podcast interview with SCSA. But yeah… he who pays the piper calls the tune, I guess. To get back to 2-hour episodes of Raw, WWE would have to convince the suits at USA Network and NBCU that (1) losing the extra hour will increase the viewership, and (2) the increase in viewership would justify a rate rise that would compensate for the reduction of commercial time.

I think there's probably something in that, but it's a tough sell, as "less is more" type propositions usually are.

 

[Stevencc]

Spoiler: LOL

That new title name...

 

[JoeJoeJoeJoe]

Finn is just a magnificent

 

[mase]

RAW was really really good last night. I won't post any spoilers but it was the best RAW in a long time imo.

 

[Stevencc]

I thought it was decent, nothing special.

Do you reckon Sonny Boy will make his in-ring debut next week or will Smackdown poach him?

 

[iesty wfc]

squash match against Strowman that he will win

 

[Hooray]

Kevin Owens lookalike in the crowd was sensational.

 

[Libertine]

Very good Raw. Excited for Smackdown too. Though yeh, the title name is a bit lame - though I think not having 'heavyweight' in the name helps the smaller guys seem more credible in a way.

 

[Stevencc]

I'm looking forward to Smackdown too - I hope they make it clearly distinct from RAW in terms of the image of the show, the set etc.

 

[Christian Slater]

That title name sounds like something a youth club or Butlins would come up with.

Good show. As always the question is whether quality can be sustained.

 

[Bluebird_Dai]

So, does this mean the Raw title is better? Only asking because the universe is bigger than the world...

 

[Oaf]

Yeah, very good Raw. It actually felt really fresh and new... the lighting, new set, new theme, new commentary and overall new vibe of the show was great. I'm actually quite looking forward to seeing what Smackdown does now.

Spoiler

But besides the new, fresh feel of it all, it was a great episode as well. Superb womens title match (though, like with the BG main event, done at COMPLETELY the wrong time... I get that they wanted a big title change on this first episode of the "new era", but that should have been on the Summerslam card as Sasha vs Charlotte is pretty much the biggest match they could have done in womens wrestling right now) two good fatal four ways and an absolute shock result come the end of it all. Roman Reigns lost clean... Jesus. I don't remember that happening before. Is he actually getting properly punished for the whole suspension thing?

Wow though... last time I saw Finn Balor live, it was in the main event in an NXT live show in Plymouth just last month. Next time I see him live, just two months after that, it'll be main eventing Summerslam with a chance of becoming the first ever WWE (sigh) Universal Champion. Not a bad jump in a 2 month spell.

Saying this though, like with Gallows and Anderson, I actually think Balor still needs to impress me if I'm honest. Don't get me wrong... a few months ago I really didn't see much appeal at all in the guy and he's won me over a little since then... but I still don't see him as being the bonafide megastar that most people seem to see him as quite yet. Hopefully he'll win me over with this Seth Rollins feud/Match.

 

[Christian Slater]

Yeah, very good Raw. It actually felt really fresh and new... the lighting, new set, new theme, new commentary and overall new vibe of the show was great. I'm actually quite looking forward to seeing what Smackdown does now.

Spoiler

But besides the new, fresh feel of it all, it was a great episode as well. Superb womens title match (though, like with the BG main event, done at COMPLETELY the wrong time... I get that they wanted a big title change on this first episode of the "new era", but that should have been on the Summerslam card as Sasha vs Charlotte is pretty much the biggest match they could have done in womens wrestling right now) two good fatal four ways and an absolute shock result come the end of it all. Roman Reigns lost clean... Jesus. I don't remember that happening before. Is he actually getting properly punished for the whole suspension thing?

Wow though... last time I saw Finn Balor live, it was in the main event in an NXT live show in Plymouth just last month. Next time I see him live, just two months after that, it'll be main eventing Summerslam with a chance of becoming the first ever WWE (sigh) Universal Champion. Not a bad jump in a 2 month spell.

Saying this though, like with Gallows and Anderson, I actually think Balor still needs to impress me if I'm honest. Don't get me wrong... a few months ago I really didn't see much appeal at all in the guy and he's won me over a little since then... but I still don't see him as being the bonafide megastar that most people seem to see him as quite yet. Hopefully he'll win me over with this Seth Rollins feud/Match.

Reigns has lost clean in his last three appearances. He's in the doghouse. I think it's a good thing for him, now he's not seen as the golden boy he's like everyone else that has to earn it.