RAW Spoiler

Watched it in fast forward so can't really comment on the quality of the show, however, two things that struck me:

The last match featured the Bella Twins, tons of funk, Rhodes scholars, Naomi and the other one on the go home show before Mania. This match finished about 10 minutes before the end.

But what I really wanted to talk about was the ending.

Someone dressed as Paul Bearer? Really?

If this is the direction they are going, I truly expect to see a Owen Hart lookalike Zip Line down to the ring before cutting to WWEs new family Sitcom, "At home with the Benoits".

And if my worst fears are true, and that Paul Bearers death is a work, then thats even worse.

All in all, I am appalled in how this has played out. I wonder if Percys family are aware?

WWE will try to justify it with the usual "It's what William Moody would have wanted" line. Yeah I'm sure he'd have got a massive kick out of his death being turned into a wrestling angle a day or two after he died.


On a sidenote, "At Home with the Benoits" would be a huge ratings success:


"Dad, can you help me with my homework?"

"Sure son"

"Okay, so Lima's the capital of Peru right?"

"No, London is"

"I'm pretty sure it's Lima Dad"

"IT'S LONDON!"

"I think London's the capital of England"

~Chris locks in the Crippler Crossface~

"Prove me wrong! PROVE ME WRONG!"

Cue laughter track.

Bearer's son stated in an interview that WWE had contacted the family to ask their permission to use Bearer's death in the storyline. I'll try and find a link for it. I think it has made the match much more believable now.

BD21 wrote:Bearer's son stated in an interview that WWE had contacted the family to ask their permission to use Bearer's death in the storyline. I'll try and find a link for it.

If true, does that make it being a work more likely?

I highly doubt its a work. Yes WWE has a history of using real life tragadies in stories, and Paul Bearer has "died" in WWE before, but WWE have never fabricated a death like this. No way is it a work.

Is it bad that this actually got me more interested in the match, CM Punk looks like he is losing it and will stop at nothing to get in Undertaker's head...it reminded me of the days when story lines were larger than life and OTT.

I understand that it might not be the most moral way of getting heat to a feud but it seems like the X Factor technique of using a death in the family is working. The general feedback that I saw after it was that people were all of a sudden excited wether it being to see Undertaker destroy CM Punk and make him pay or to see how far CM Punk will go.

theundisputedY2D2 wrote:
On a sidenote, "At Home with the Benoits" would be a huge ratings success:


"Dad, can you help me with my homework?"

"Sure son"

"Okay, so Lima's the capital of Peru right?"

"No, London is"

"I'm pretty sure it's Lima Dad"

"IT'S LONDON!"

"I think London's the capital of England"

~Chris locks in the Crippler Crossface~

"Prove me wrong! PROVE ME WRONG!"

Cue laughter track.

"son, its time for your shots"

"but its not winter dad and there is no flu going around"

"Yeah....flu...."
*Chris winks at the camera.

Cue laugh track.

At the end of the episode Jerry Lawler can guest star and as they all laugh at the end at one of the jokes Jerry can begin to have a heart attack. Maybe Benoit's son brings his first ever girlfriend back.

Benoit: What's her name some?
Son: Katie Vick...
Benoit: We better keep her away from uncle Paul

I don't really see what the problem is, if Paul Bearers family are happy for wwe to use it, then why not? I'm sure Paul Bearer would be quite happy that WWE are still using his charecter for angles.

I did think it was a tad OTT emptying an urn of ashes onto him

My 2 biggest problems with the show were

a) I actually skipped the Rocks promo, I actually cannot be bothered listening to his crap anymore, at least Cena's is laughably bad, Rock's is just boring

b) Undertaker didn't actually eviscerate CM Punk live in the ring as they promised, as much as I love Punk that would have been a spectecale to behold

tbh i did the same, i have literally no interest in rock cena.

lol, percy pringle is dead. end of. and i think if he was watching down, he'd be enjoying it

unfortunately its now obvious undertaker wll win. punks got the upper hand on undertaker, but when taker said "the streak may end" that nailed it for me

still look forward to it.

i look forward to 'at home with the benoit's' though. viper's storyline is class.

hey dad can we wrestle?

sure son, who are you gunna be?

i wanna be cactus jack "bang bang"

haha, okay son. hey, why dont i be mankind? mandible claw!! weaaah weaaah weahhhh weaaah weaahhhh......

son... comon, get up, stop playing...

"At home with the Benoits" could feature a South Park style moment that happens in every episode.

"Oh my God, you killed Daniel! You ba$tard!"

i assume most of you have seen those chris benoit animations on youtube?

"Hey Dad, whatcha got there?"

"It's my new weights machine, it's awesome"

"Sure it is. Be careful though, those things can be dangerous"

"Stupid kid! What the hell could go wrong with a weights machine?!"

Cue laughter track.

What about a movie adaption called "Weekend At Benoit's" where he has some friends over and has to keep the secret of what he's done .

Benoit: Hey The Rock, is the meal ready yet?
Dwayne: If you smeeeellll what what The Rock...just burnt
(laughter track)

and when his friends find out they decide to help their friend.
Booker T: We need to hide the bodies!
Benoit: how?
Booker T: A grave...can you dig it sucka?

cue the group of them laughing for a minute as the movie ends.

I can already hear them reserving my room in hell for this haha

chris: hey hunny, is it time for bed?

nancy: yeah i think so, comon lets go..

ding dong!

chris: whos that at this time? (answers door)

hey chris, its stone cold steve austin. lets go for a beer?

chris: steve, its a bit late isnt it?

austin: chris, youre coming with me, and thats the bottom line, coz stone cold said so

(hahaha)

voice shouts... hey, its the rock.

chris: rocky, what are you doing here?

rock: i came to see how my old pal chris was doing.

chris: but rock its almost midnight!

rock: i know, but dont you wanna join me and steve for a beer?

chris: well..
rock: it doesnt matter if you wanna join us for a beer

(hahahaha)

sorry guys, not tonight, cya tomorrow

..door shuts

ding dong!

chris: oh what now!? ..answers the door, its the undertaker

undertaker: rest in peeeaaace

chris: hey, i will once you all let me go to bed!

(HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA)

roll credits

Am I the only one who thinks making a laugh and joke about a guy killing his wife and son, is a little distasteful!

JamesLincs wrote:chris: hey hunny, is it time for bed?

nancy: yeah i think so, comon lets go..

ding dong!

chris: whos that at this time? (answers door)

hey chris, its stone cold steve austin. lets go for a beer?

chris: steve, its a bit late isnt it?

austin: chris, youre coming with me, and thats the bottom line, coz stone cold said so

(hahaha)

voice shouts... hey, its the rock.

chris: rocky, what are you doing here?

rock: i came to see how my old pal chris was doing.

chris: but rock its almost midnight!

rock: i know, but dont you wanna join me and steve for a beer?

chris: well..
rock: it doesnt matter if you wanna join us for a beer

(hahahaha)

sorry guys, not tonight, cya tomorrow

..door shuts

ding dong!

chris: oh what now!? ..answers the door, its the undertaker

undertaker: rest in peeeaaace

chris: hey, i will once you all let me go to bed!

(HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA)

roll credits

Is that supposed to be funny?

Funny this thread started with the questioning of using a dead man as an angle for a match yet now it's turned into a comedy skit of another dead man who killed his wife and son.

quite clearly not ant. but as always its gone straight over your head

It's pretty perverse to joke about someone killing their wife and child

Yeah, I get they got permission from Bearers family, but that segment was a bit too much really. In poor taste pouring ashes over Taker.

Frank Butcher died in real life and Eastenders used his death in a storyline, is that also wrong?

I can honestly say that last night made me feel like a kid again, it was the first time in a very long time that WWE made me sit up and think oh my god...I didnt think about it being scripted or acted or anything like that, I just watched. It took me back to the days where WWE did go a bit OTT from time to time but that's what made me love it, it didn't care what it did because that's the nature of the business.

My head says the Taker will win and I know he will but for a second last night I wondered "what if?" and I know some people will hate this storyline and I understand that, but for me it's literally the only thing that has excited me about WM29 so far (apart from possible heel turns for Orton/Cena, the slim chance Ziggler will cash in).

When Heyman came out as Paul Bearer my jaw dropped. I really thought it was him. I know Taker is going to win but I am actually interested in the match now. I have a feeling that Taker will win and then shake Punk's hand, Punk will say that he now feels like he has the respect he deserves, turns face and that will leave Cena free to beat Rock in some sort of screwy heelish way that will prevent Wrestlemania being a massive rip off.

a show of respect isnt unlikely

10 years ago.. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bVE7qCSYXSY

The thing is, I don't think the match needed it. It felt really cheap and Punk is much better than that.

They should have just gone down the respect angle and that was it, using his death just feels unnecessary. I don't even think it fits in with Punk's character. For me, it's made the storyline a little silly.

I hate the whole concept of the storyline, it fits well though, the whole thing has been a rush job so why not just phone it in like the basis of the feud itself

For the final Raw before mania i was a little bit disappointed.

Things i liked

Jericho vs Cessaro the match was superb, really hope Cessaro gets a push after Mania.

The ending - I actually thought it was brilliant and it is the perfect finish to the build up for the match on Sunday, between taker and Punk.

The Shield - Great promo, esspicaly by Ambrose. Really looking forward to there match on Sunday.

Ryback and Mark Henry - Found it pretty decent and enjoyed Ryback, using Santino as the weapon.

Things i didn't like

The Rock and John Cena's promos. Both boring and don't understand why they weren't in the ring together at all, also don't understand why they wouldn't close the show since their match is the main event

Mr Mcmahon is on twitter, and the fact that all night they were biging this up more than Wrestle Mania!

I actually thought Cena's promo was very good, he came across as a heel though which was very surprising. I thought the Rock's promo was his usual stuff.

I liked the heel style promo from Cena, it's getting my hopes up for a turn but I have a feeling that WWE did it for that reason, if people really think he'll turn then they'll be more likely to buy a Wrestlemania that is all honesty is a bit lacklustre.

The reason it wasn't closing the show though is because nothing could follow that CM Punk/Taker thing...it's another reason why I know for sure Punk won't beat the streak otherwise it would have been the main event. No match could follow the streak dying.

I skipped both their promos, the two of them just bore me to death now, wish both would bugger off.

Yeh Rock/Cena feud is just not doing it for me. I just don't like Cena full stop so he could turn heel for all I care I still think he's stale and boring. Only time he does anything meaningful is when he feuds with Punk. When he does take the title, next year should all be about Punk/Cena in regards to the WWE championship. Hopefully it changes hands a few times to keep it interesting.

Bearers death has given this feud an edge, but its really cheapened it

For the last raw before wrestlemania is was pretty bad, the whole wrestlemania season has felt a bit flat to be honest and I had to think twice that wrestlemania was this Sunday.

HHH is giving it a real go to try and make us believe and care he is in real danger of his career being ended, but fact is I don't belive he will lose, just like I never believed he was quitting last year.

You have the 6 man match with shield and Orton, Sheamus and big show but even this match feels rushed, just like a lot of the wrestlemania card.

I'm not feeling the CM Punk/taker match, distasteful or not again it feels rushed and I'm not buying into Undertaker wanting to hurt Punk for being disrespectful, Undertaker is just old now. Best thing would be to have Punk win and taker gone. How bad will taker look in another years time.

Then there are 3 throw away matches (imo) rhodes/sandow against planet funk, Zigg/big E against hell no and Jericho/fandangoo, what ever happened to mania's in previous years, the card was stacked from jerker to main event.

Strangely enough the only match I'm looking forward to is Rock/Cena, and I was dead against a rematch and have been all year. But with actual build up and a tease of a turn which could really happen its made me wonder just enough.

To sum up as you can tell I'm not very excited for Sunday but a shock or two it might be one to remember, with HHH wanting to usher in a new era you just never know,

Yeah I'm def not feeling this WM for 17 quid.

How much better is the commentary when JBL is there with Cole and Lawler? It's so refreshing to hear and Lawler is actually bearable.

Apparently both of Paul Bearer's sons have released statements saying the way last night's angle was presented to them was nothing like what happened. Not only have WWE presented an angle that isn't entertaining, it's actually offending a loyal performer's bereaved family weeks after his death.

This is what they said:

Michael Moody: "If anyone is wondering, yes WWE did come to us wanting approval for tonight's storyline. The way it was presented to us was ok. Seeing it on screen was a different story. I don't even know what to say."

Daniel Moody: "Totally different."

Hero wrote:This is what they said:

Michael Moody: "If anyone is wondering, yes WWE did come to us wanting approval for tonight's storyline. The way it was presented to us was ok. Seeing it on screen was a different story. I don't even know what to say."

Daniel Moody: "Totally different."

Few points:

1) Think that the point of the contents were for them to represent the mysterious substance that fuels Taker's power. Yes there was the implicit idea of it being ashes and with William Moody's death that leap could have been made, but it has been widely reported that he was buried and not cremated.

2) The comments from the Moody family are interesting because they do not actually specify that they are in any way negative to the WWE. Firstly the kay fabe implication is that CM Punk deviated from storyline. Secondly, there is no actual criticism in either statement. From this I would suppose that the WWE requested them to release something in a carefully worded manner to stir up controversy ahead of WM.

3) In essence the storyline built very well. It is stating that the heel is looking to win by any means necessary (inc. DQ) and that his actions may have driven the face to the extent whereby the Streak may be at threat. Given the actions of the last few years it was the only realistic way that a heel was going to have the perceived chance at breaking the Streak.

4) Thought the rest of the show was good with Ziggler/Bryan being a notable highlight. Was left after Jericho/Cesaro thinking that the build for Fandango was really good but wishing that Jericho/Cesaro had a 15 min WM match... Incidentally given how strongly Fandango has been presented to date Paddypower are offering 7/4 on Y2J to win. Looks tempting.

5) Rock/Cena was meh though it will be interesting to see if the crowd is written off as a smark one or if the chants to Cena that stopped his promo are taken on board. He was more serious, which was good, but didn't half ramble on. To paraphrase my teachers at school, he could have cut about 500 words from that easily.

6) Michaels / HHH / Lesnar was OK. Their big moment was the blood from a few weeks ago though this does set things up for Shawn to help HHH win.

7) Miz/Barrett is the most must see pre-show since... all the others

8) The tag match is intriguing. I can see it going either way though whatever, the build for Big E has worked very well. As a note it was the first time that I have heard the commentators mention that Dolph has until MITB to cash in. Personal prediction is that they make this into a storyline with a running countdown to when he can cash it in. Potentially having to make it a proper match for the title at MITB...

9) On the topic of commentary much better with JBL there. Cole as a face play-by-play works better and it is really refreshing to have a heel colour guy there. This has been missing for too long and keeps King's white noise comments to a minimum.

10) Sierra Hotel Indigo Echo Lima Delta. Shield. Still a fan. Great promo and looking forward to how this one pans out.

11) Ryback / Henry was awful though thought that Santino played the fear reaction really well. I am just not a fan of Ryback at the moment. Character is so one dimensional. Only attraction to the match is seeing if he can pick up Mark. Most people seem to be banking on a Ryback win here but still in the back of my mind I am wondering if Vince has gone off him and he is being fed to the World's Strongest Man?... A victory either way would do either character good.

I think the negative part is implied, else why make a statement.

I still think it was in bad taste, and pretty cheap

The last raw before mania, how appalling was it. I didnt like cenas promo, was pretty much the same as last week, the rocks promo was pointless, (although i did chuckle when he said from barrack to the rock, couldnt help imagine him being a president and before any speech sayin FINALLY THE ROCK HAS COME BACK) lool. Also HBK he doesnt add anything to the feud for me, him turning up to just say im going to be in your corner was pointless. Apart from that it was ok, dont have a problem with cm punk taker segment, although the paul bearer bit was abit of an "i cant beleive they did that" moment.

oh and the divas tag on last? wtf is that all about.

Bit of a follow up to the Michael Moody view on the angle:

WWE issued Prowrestling.net the following text message that was sent to the company received by Michael Moody, son of the late Bill Moody (a/k/a Paul Bearer), regarding Monday's Raw television show.

"Hey. I woke up in time to watch the tail end of the show. What you explained would happen happened. Which is fine. Just it was a little difficult to watch it play out. I put a message on Facebook last night saying that we approved it but it wasn't what I envisioned. That I didn't have anything to say. Well woke up this morning and that quote is being used all over 'media outlets.' For the record. I was fine w(ith) it. Was hard to watch but y'all are professionals and I trust."

Some people will never be happy with wrestling. I genuinely think you should just pack up and go home as clearly wrestling doesnt do it for you anymore.

While I actually do disagree with them using the death of Paul Bearer, the final segment on Raw was fantastic. I cannot remember the last time The Undertaker got layed out and battered outside of a Mania match. Punk has really got the better of him leading up. Obvioulsy Taker will win on Sunday, but after all the respect feuds of the last 4 years, it is refreshing to see him antagonised by the best heel in the business - but everyone seemed to forget about this.

I found it a quite enjoyable Raw. Not as good as last week but still very good.

1) Think that the point of the contents were for them to represent the mysterious substance that fuels Taker's power. Yes there was the implicit idea of it being ashes and with William Moody's death that leap could have been made, but it has been widely reported that he was buried and not cremated.

"In his most dastardly deed yet, CM Punk brutally assaulted The Undertaker and dumped the contents of Paul Bearer’s urn on him!"

That statement is taken from the front page of the WWE website if there was any doubt what those ashes were supposed to be.

My problem isn't that they're trying to build Punk up as a real threat against the Undertaker, my problem is that it's just not even an entertaining storyline. Why use the death of a real person? Forget the disrespectful aspect of it, it's just not entertaining and it doesn't suit Punk's character.

I also think it makes the match even more predictable (if that's possible) because Undertaker is obviously going to get the better of Punk who has acted the total despicable heel and laid the Undertaker out the night before. I also can't see a match where Punk is acting sneaky and devious being a good match.

I think that comment is open to interpretation Crimey.

It could be the Urn belonging to Paul Bearer as opposed to the contents of the urn being Paul Bearer.

I fear the Punk/Taker match isn't going to be the 25min classic everyone expects. Both guys are banged up and i wouldnt be suprised to see this one finish within 15 mins.

The only person you can blame for the lack of creative strength in this fued is The Undertaker. If it's true that he waited until the last minute to confirm his Wrestlemania status then he doesnt leave anyone with much of a chance to come up with something in the same vein as the HBK/HHH matches. I feel sorry for Punk for being thrown into this, i know its a huge prime match against a huge draw but after carrying the company for 2yrs he's now being asked to drag a 47yr old carcass around for 20mins only to do the job at the finish. I just hope Punk looks strong at the end and Taker shows him some sort of appreciation.

Adam D wrote:I think that comment is open to interpretation Crimey.

It could be the Urn belonging to Paul Bearer as opposed to the contents of the urn being Paul Bearer.

im of the same opinion, but i do think the ashes are supposed to be those of paul bearer.