Raw Discussion Thread (Spoilers)

[Dr Gregory House MD]

Anyone else watching?

Hogan opens to a sickening pop, please stop saying WWE universe

[Good Golly I'm Olly]

God he sucks something horrible. Hopefully the end of him till wrestlemania

JBL is quality

[hodge]

Was hogan being paid per time saying universe? Is it just me or is there some kind of background sound during the Batista vs del rio match? Actually took off my head phone to check it wasn't here.

Batista HAS to be turned heel

[Dr Gregory House MD]

Batista vs Del Rio was a mild improvement on last night, but he was soo gassed for his promo was rambling and pretty crap, not sold on the feud yet

[Good Golly I'm Olly]

Well its pretty clear to me they need to ditch Batista.

He's reaching The Great Khali zone of awfulness

Wtf was that promo

[Dr Gregory House MD]

Not really enjoying the show so far, could step up a gear here now

[hodge]

It needs something else, I don't necessary mean adding Bryan or something but feel it could be better to start with some sort of gimmick match and the next 3/4 weeks would cause that

[Dr Gregory House MD]

Much more enjoyable match, Cesaro was fantastic as usual and Big E continues to impress me, shame he got a bit jobber-fied at the end, looks like we're heading for a split though

[hodge]

What's up with the accent Cena went with?

[Dr Gregory House MD]

What's up with the accent Cena went with?

I have no idea, he played his part well there though I thought, Wyatt's were very good as well though, love Bray's ability to make to sense of his motives while not actually really making sense at all, looking forward to this feud.

[Dr Gregory House MD]

Reigns vs Wyatt, sounds exciting, weird they started the Shield in mid conversation, who do they think they are TNA?

[Dr Gregory House MD]

Bryan vs Kane- John McClaine hasn't looked this good in years

[Dr Gregory House MD]

Well the finish to the show was certainly something, in just a couple of seconds I went from laughing at the faintly ridiculous sight of Undertaker with a pen, to just slack jawed amazement

[andy_14clark]

Well i guess we didn't see Lesnar v Taker coming. I think they either need to leave the streak as history and stop bring Taker back or it's just going to be the same crap every year when he returns and wins. There is no way they can end the streak now.

I think we're stuck with just Orton v Batista unless ADR & Punk are thrown in.

Bryan looks like he's heading down the road with HHH as I am not convinced his rivalry with Kane will last til Mania.

I can't see what they doing with The Shield at Mania yet as it looks like they've tied Wyatt up with Cena so it looks like the split maybe on or something happens with Ambrose (turns on The Shield).

IC Title match could be interesting. There are many people who could be put in this match (but not all one on one with Big E). Cesaro, Swagger, Sheamus, Christian and i think Sandow is good just not used enough for me. I think him and Cesaro would be a decent heel team.

And will it be a triple threat for Tag Team gold? They look to be putting NAO v Usos again but the Rhodes brothers will be included somehow i reckon.

[Hero]

Few things that the dirt sheets are mentioning this morning if anyone wants to know:

Cena is injured, the extent unknown at present but it could mean no Mania match v Wyatt.

Cesaro v Swagger is meant to be a Mania match

There may be a stip on the HHH v Bryan match that if Bryan wins he gets added to the main event thus WWE really trying to milk Bryan's popularity by him having a double appearance.

To add to this speculation Batista's heel turn looks to be moved forward to before Mania, if that occurs then Bryan has to be a shoe-in.

[JamesLincs]

hmm, hes pretty much heel already, despite his promo where he praised fans his entrance before that and the micky taking of the crowd reaction suggests hes pretty much heel anyway.

gunna watch it now to see the taker bit. i was half asleep at the point cena came out but as i knew the wyatts would be there i tried to stay awake for it, so i dont really remember what was said, but i do remember cena being hurt. im guessing it was legit? this kind of feud doesnt involve having someones leg targeted

[Hero]

A number of the dirt sheets are saying it's a work, but if so the large bump are Cena's knee has more acting skills than Cena himself.

[XR]

Bryan vs Kane- John McClaine hasn't looked this good in years

Someone follows the Attitude Era Podcast   

[JamesLincs]

tbf, john mclain came to mind when i first saw it. john mclains the only guy who can pull off a plain white vest

[XR]

Which is ironic because it was clean for about 15 minutes of the whole movie.

Such a great film for quotes.

Now i have a machine gun...Ho Ho Ho.

[bretmeharty]

Even though it was a solid raw for the build up and clear indicater of who is wrestling who at wrestlemania, for me its very disappointing.

There's no way a part timer is taking the streak.
Orton and Batista on its own is shocking, are wwe not listening when Batista is in the ring.

Etc Etc

[Samo]

WWE are hyping "The Animal Unleashed" on SmackDown with Batista going to speak his mind about the fans reaction.

If WWE are acknowledging the resentment the fans feel toward a Orton-Batista main event, I cant see it staying that way. Batista is being forced into a heel turn, no way they will habe two heels in the main event for the title.

They need to find a way to shoe-horn Bryan into the mix, otherwise its going to be a disaster. Have him beat Kane in a TV epic to earn a spot in the match, and aligned Batista with The Authority. Bryan wins and defeats both Authorities hand picked guys. At Extreme Rules he does it again in a stip match, Triple H ditches both Orton and Batista and makes himself no1 contender. If you want a job done right, do it yourself. Bryan beats Triple H for the WWE title, and the story comes full circle, in time for the Summer of YES!

[Mr H]

I wouldn’t be surprised to see Bryan added to the main event. Raw is in Chicago next week, there is going to be some huge CM Punk chants going up from the crowd and I wouldn’t be surprised in the slightest to hear Cult of Personality ring out. Picture this – Orton and Batista are in the ring, both portraying heels, both bickering about who is the face of the WWE. Triple H says they will find out at Mania because it is what is best for business. The crowd are dumping all over it until ‘No Chance In Hell’ plays and out struts Vince. Vince asks the crowd if they think Orton v Batista is best for business, he says he has always given the WWE Universe what they want and tells them someone else will get a shot at the WWE Title at Mania and introduces this guy – Daniel Bryan. Triple H is peed and asking Vince what is he doing but Bryan comes out to a big pop. Vince says not so fast, he says Daniel Bryan will get his chance but he will be facing this next guy in a match and the winner gets spot in the main event at Mania, and out comes CM Punk to a monster pop. Punk v Bryan is set later that night infront of a red hot Chicago crowd to see who gets added to the Mania match.

You could have it go one of two ways. Triple H costs Punk to give Bryan the win, or Triple H costs Bryan to give Punk the win, with the loser facing HHH at Mania.

I can totally see Punk returning next week one way or another though. Vince will want it and I think Punk will want it too. It’s Chi-Town, he knows he’ll blow the roof off.

[Brilliant_yep]

I would have played it a slightly different way,but my idea is too similar to WrestleMania 2000.
I'd have Vince backing Batista to be the face of the company,HHH backing Orton,a returning Shane McMahon backing Daniel Bryan and Hulk Hogan (for some reason,personally I don't like him but we can't have Linda involved and if the rumours are to be believed he will be the Raw GM) backing Punk. Maybe swap Hogan and Shane and have Shane return with Punk.
Either way I think I'd watch that main event and it would feel like it mattered and that anything could happen.

[NickisBHAFC]

Standard Raw, but good booking.

I actually enjoyed the introduction with Hogan, kept it short and sweet and the pop was decent.

2 great matches. Big E vs Cessaro, and Bray Wyatt vs Reigns, loved the bit when Rollins came out of no where! That move also got me thinking about a post i saw on here the other day, about him becoming the next Jeff Hardy, i can really see that.

The ending was decent. But i really doubt Lesnar will take the streak, also i can't imagine it will end at 21-0.

[RanjitPatel]

Hopefully they'll give Bryan a chance to get a main event title spot if he beats HHH first at wrestlemania.... Then have him lose clean to HHG

[Adam D]

I watched Raw last night and my main observations were:

Hogans sunglasses were too small for his face. They barely covered his eyes.

Hogan said the word universe a million times. He said it the first time when he meant to say "network". He covered up though by saying universe another 400 times.

Flair looked incredibly fat. And as usual incredibly red and this was before he bladed. His heyday is long behind him (TNA Flair)

Emma - I just dont get it. Rubbish.

The Undertaker looked particularly thin. And old. Still cool though!

[Marky]

Emma - I just dont get it. Rubbish.

Contradiction surely. How can you call it rubbish if you don't get it?

[Statto00]

Emma - I just dont get it. Rubbish.

Seriously. And why no Paige? I have this terrible fear they're going to have Paige drop the belt to Emma on the live NXT too.

[psycho-gooner]

I fear Emma and Summer Rae will barely be given more than 4mins for each of their matches on Raw. Some of their matches on NXT have been excellent.

[Kay Fabe]

So all that seems to be left now is to add Punk to the Title Match, if they're ever going to het him back in time for Mania it looks like the only avenue to go down now that Bryan has challenged Triple H, that is the match choice they should have went with all along anyway.

[nadeem2099]

Who really even watches the divas when they wrestle. They are just some eye candy although I've heard that Emma chick is having some decent matches on NXT. But on Raw she's turned into Santino's side act.

[CenaNuff]

I wouldn’t be surprised to see Bryan added to the main event. Raw is in Chicago next week, there is going to be some huge CM Punk chants going up from the crowd and I wouldn’t be surprised in the slightest to hear Cult of Personality ring out. Picture this – Orton and Batista are in the ring, both portraying heels, both bickering about who is the face of the WWE. Triple H says they will find out at Mania because it is what is best for business. The crowd are dumping all over it until ‘No Chance In Hell’ plays and out struts Vince. Vince asks the crowd if they think Orton v Batista is best for business, he says he has always given the WWE Universe what they want and tells them someone else will get a shot at the WWE Title at Mania and introduces this guy – Daniel Bryan. Triple H is peed and asking Vince what is he doing but Bryan comes out to a big pop. Vince says not so fast, he says Daniel Bryan will get his chance but he will be facing this next guy in a match and the winner gets  spot in the main event at Mania, and out comes CM Punk to a monster pop. Punk v Bryan is set later that night infront of a red hot Chicago crowd to see who gets added to the Mania match.

You could have it go one of two ways. Triple H costs Punk to give Bryan the win, or Triple H costs Bryan to give Punk the win, with the loser facing HHH at Mania.

I can totally see Punk returning next week one way or another though. Vince will want it and I think Punk will want it too. It’s Chi-Town, he knows he’ll blow the roof off.

There is no way I want Punk to return like this. Have Bryan in a match vs Orton/Kane/Harper & Rowan handicap match. Have him win the match clean or via DQ, have the names listed above beat him down. Triple H comes out seemingly to stop the attack as he has been pretending to do for a long time until he then jumps on Bryan and then Punk's music hits. The crowd would go crazy.

On a separate note, is that Cena injury legit or a work? If it is the latter, kudos to him because he sold it very well.

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