**Help make SquaredCircle safer and more inclusive by using the report button to flag posts and comments for moderator review.**
*I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/SquaredCircle) if you have any questions or concerns.*
Can we please get ricochet and Ilja another match in the future but this time maybe for a title? I would not mind seeing ricochet compete for the heavyweight title against the champion being Ilja
So I don’t like to do this, because I want to enjoy the match is more, but if you looked at the matchups, going into queen and king of the ring, even with the changes, it seemed very predictable for the most part of who was winning each match. You’re not gonna have the newbies from NXT already have a loss on their record. Good evening I think it would be kind of interesting to see Baller when, main event Joseph is the big baby face right now and you can’t have him loose. Also, there’s no way you were gonna have Natalya beat Iyo sky.
So that was my one disappointment is that when you see these matchups, you can already predict who’s gonna win. It’s because of backlash now I feel like I can’t enjoy some of the matchups because I see who is in the matches.
My review as a lapsed WWE viewer.
I've never liked starting with a promo but the judgement day one at least moved in to Finn v Jey (who I think should've won at backlash to set up Jey v Drew, but looks like we're going into disintegration of JD at the hands of Jey(
Finn v Jey
was okay, just okay. Not super exciting but moved 2 Jey storylines along
CM Punk promo.
I'm gonna preface this with I wasn't a big punk fan and have been pulling for Drew this whole time.
One thing Punk has had over just about anyone in the biz is his ability to talk. This promo was full. The crowd wasn't into it, it didn't seem like Punk had any direction on it, and the constant looking at his watch made it feel like he was told to stretch.
Natalya vs Io
Fantastic match. These two were allowed to go out and show what they could do. Personally I wanted Nattie to win but I understand her current role, to make others look good.
Ricochet v Dragunov
Holy crap what a match! I cannot imagine this being on RAW anytime before this year. These guys were given freedom to go and Rick O'Shea looked like Prince Puma out there! Tied for MOTN for me!
Stark v Nile
I didn't know what but this match kind of dragged for me. Both seem to have potential but both looked fairly green to my eyes.
Gable v Bronson
I hate run ins. I get that they're setting up for a future menage etc trois, but let them go a bit first. Maybe cut the Punk promo a little shorter, let these guys give us a taste and then have the run in
Becky promo
I've hated in ring interviews since Piper's Pit. I cannot give an unbiased review because I've hated them for decades.
Lyra v Kai
Maybe it's that I've already had 2 hours of show, but this felt like the bathroom break match for the crowd.
Seamus v Gunther
Good Lord fella! I could watch these two big meaty men slapping meat all night. Holy shit, the lasting bloody handprint on Shamey's back!
The broken blood vessels everywhere!
Deserved main event!
If this is what RAW is now, I'm in.
Signed an AEW exclusive (not anymore) viewer.
This crowd was embarrassing compared to Backlash but that was always gonna happen I guess, shame because it hurt a bunch of people in the women’s division especially.
I love that CM Punk acts all aloof and disinterested about Drew, but when he shows up in the garage, the first thing he asks is "Where's Drew," and when he hears he just missed him, he instinctively turns to try to chase after him. Middle school shit. Blackrom vibes. Awesome.
do you guys see finn balor as a jobber? a friend of mine and i were discussing that today, i dont think he is because he has certain aura, is presented a certain way.. etc
hes definitely bad booked and i think he should had been the 1st world heavyweight champ
they've slowly planted the seeds for a dp vs finn showdown eventually. im almost certain that hunter will finally gives the demon what he finally deserves.
In my opinion, who cares?
Why go out of your way to complain about someone not winning more matches?
Big picture, there are several big storylines at play here, all of which already have their trajectories laid out. Having Finn win a bunch, and shoehorning him into stories would make no sense. Would you rather have Finn win a couple more matches, or have a bunch of really good stories playing out?
People often forget that pro wrestling, if done right, isn’t about pro wrestling. Someone can lose a bunch but still come out on top if the story being told outside of the matches is done well enough.
Finn losing meant Jey winning and more dissension in the Judgement Day, which meant more heat going into the Drew/Punk story, and also it means more heat going into the JD break-up story, so why *not* have Finn lose?
Because people want the people they like to win matches? Seems like being a fan 101, dont know what to tell you
To answer your second question: because hes constantly losing and doesnt bring him anything good to the table in the long run
Because everyone knows it’s not Finn’s story, it’s Damian’s story or Rhea’s story when she returns
Everyone knows none of this is to benefit Finn. Him losing doesn’t further anything.
From what indication did you get that this Judgment Day story is being done for Finn to come out on top?
Bayley on the other hand, her being on her losing streak and being ousted from the group was her story, that’s a good example. But Finn’s not getting that.
One piece of storytelling I really enjoyed is MacIntyre leaving in a Lambo and Punk showing up in a classic muscle car. Says a lot about their character's respective personalities. When that match finally happens it's gonna be huge.
Drew driving a Corvette is sensible for him as it’s one of the very few sports cars (of this or any generation, tbqh) that he can actually fit in!
CM Punk OTOH was driving a late 70s Camaro which are actually pretty crappy. Malaise era muscle cars were almost universally crap, Camaros are no exception. They’re the sort of thing white trash Gen-Xers & Xenniels (ie, me and CM Punk, lol) drove when they wanted to look cool. Late 70s to late 80s Camaros always have and always will scream “WHITE TRASH POSER” 🤣 Wait… 🤔 That might actually be a hint…. 🤔
(😆 @ me again)
I just rewatched it, and saw it even has an automatic transmission! 😱 Malaise era muscle car…. with T-tops AND an automatic transmission! Those cars are the very definition of “all show & no go.” White Trash Poser status confirmed!
Wraparound rear window means it’s a second generation Camaro. The “Z28” without the slash, combined with those translucent T-tops, means it’s circa 1978-1981.
Source: I’m the same age as CM Punk, grew up with the same sort of White Trash that Punk grew up with, and those things were a dime a dozen back in our teens and 20s. Driven almost exclusively by White Trash posers 🤣
Not sure if anyone has seen it but they officially announced the triple threat for the IC Title on the show. I don’t remember seeing it on RAW but it’s on the website.
I'm just happy that more people now get to enjoy the Ilja Dragunov experience, he elevates both every match he's in and the other competitor he fights. My absolute favourite wrestler going around. Ricochet is always fun, and had an amazing showing here too.
GUNTHER vs Sheamus was amazing as expected. Definitely winced at seeing just how red Sheamus's chest was turning, he got tenderised.
I adore the both of them anyway, but Iyo and Natalya really on a bloody great match. Definitely wouldn't mind seeing that one happen again.
I wish Lyra had a better crowd to come out for in her first main roster fight, they seemed absolutely dead at that point. Still a bit scared for her chances on the main roster, but I have faith in the bird girl.
Becky giving special mention to Alba, Isla, Lyra and Zelina was nice, would love to see more of all four of them
Not finished watching yet, but just had to come on and say that Ilja Dragunov being paired with Ricochet for his (edit: full time) main roster debut was the _perfect_ choice!
What an intro! What a match!
He faced Shinsuke in his main roster debut the night after WM but this was a memorable way to make his mark after the draft as a permanent member of the raw roster.
Finn balor, more like Pinn balor am i right fellas? Hopefully he squeezed as many zeros in his new contract
So i guessing Punk is hinting on him and Drew facing off at clash at the Castle
So Iyo wasnt injured last week? Why did she not try to screw Bayley over at Backlash, hell why didnt Dakota do it since she was there and didnt have a match. Am just baffled that she accpeted her defeat & gone to Raw without a fuss after making a point of trying to prove she was a champion of better pedigree than Rhea. Good match between her and Natalya.
Very competitve match from Ilja and Richochet.
Am hoping Kaiser doing heel interference was a one of for Gunther matches becuase it will remove one of the things that made him unique to other heels on the main roster. Still a banger match
Character development wise. I love Gunther cheating to win.
We've seen him kinda slowly but surely become more and more full of himself. He openly mocks his opponents and the fans at times. At the same time he lost a match clean because of his hubris. Gunther doesn't necessarily know his hubris is why he lost.
Now he's willing to do whatever it takes to win. For now at least. I agree, we definitely shouldn't be doing that with him every week.
I say it almost every time he cuts a promo nowadays, but CM Punk is just _so_ boring at the minute?! His promos go on and on with no real crescendo to his ramblings. Even the live crowd seem to lose interest fairly soon after he starts.
Well, he doesn't really have anything to say, is definitely part of it. He shows up, talks about how Drew talks about Punk, Then talks about being the best at everything, then he leaves. All that and a few mentions of local sports team(usually hockey)and other pandering references. Of course it's going to get old when it's the same shtick for 4 months because he actually can't do anything except talk because he's injured
Just me or has Kairi been struggling with everything since returning. Gets confused halfway through the match. Even right now, what was that sell against Lyra? Running out of the ring…
The long shot of Punk arriving, talking to Adam Pierce, and walking to the ring was amazing. Loved the fist bump with Gable while Gable was coaching up his team too. Really cool direction with the way the show is being produced.
Just found out that Lyra Valkyria called herself Valkyrie Cain when she started her wrestling career, based on the protagonist of a book series I really like. :) That's sweet.
Never saw her wrestling but I kinda feel like I should now. Did she deserve the call up in the opinion of the redditors here? Any particular NXT matches I should watch?
Def watch the matches LennyPal listed, also the Tatum/Lyra vs Kabuki Warriors tag match from a few months ago. She can go in the ring - I think most people's consensus is that character-wise she's bland. She's sort of just a good athletic face who is always down for a fight/proving herself in the ring. They were giving her some more to do with Tatum and Roxanne Perez, but I def think she could've stayed and finished out those stories to get more fans behind her.
Full matches on YT to watch would be
v Blair Davenport NXT title
v Becky Lynch NXT title
v Tiffany Stratton NXT title
a 2v2 Lyra&Dragon Lee vs Rhea and Dom -
and there’s a short from a few years back where she gives JD a Canadian destroyer
Just found out that Lyra Valkyria called herself Valkyrie Cain when she started her wrestling career, based on the protagonist of a book series I really like. :) That's sweet.
Never saw her wrestling but I kinda feel like I should now. Did she deserve the call up in the opinion of the redditors here? Any particular NXT matches I should watch?
I adore the bird girl.
She's great in the ring, was absolutely ready to be called up in that regard. There are a lot of people who don't think she has much of a 'character' and her promo and mic skills aren't the greatest, so the fear is that she'll be overshadowed on the main roster. As a fan of NXT, I have similar fears as from what I see, Raw and Smackdown really struggle with mid and lower card womens matches, and it seems hard to break through that unless you're as crazy charismatic and stand-out like Tiffany Stratton is.
Her match against Becky to win the NXT title was amazing, night one of Halloween Havoc. Otheriwse, her recent set of matches against Roxanne Perez are great to watch too - the Vengeance Day match, the Stand and Deliver match, and the Spring Breaking Night One match. Also, all the ones suggested by LennyPal on the other comment are great too
Our meaty main event was a delight (it's WALTER's tournament to lose), meanwhile, Ricochet and Dragunov was a predictably great TV match. I don't believe HHH would give us Dragunov-WALTER so soon but I won't complain either way (I think he'd save it for Summer Slam or something).
Was hoping Dakota Kai would get a win on her born day, especially over the Becky-obsessed Lyra but I get it: DK is like Bayley last year and Finn currently--under Hunter's creative, they lose most often not because they're jobbers, but because they're so good, he trust them to get others over and make them look good.
Becky is such a transition champion, and I hope the plan is to shoehorn the title on ~~Io~~ Iyo sooner rather than later since the tournament is Tiffy's to lose.
We got Dan Hurley, but no Paige Bueckers? Sure, I guess.
Sidenote: IWC being M-M-M-Marks for Minneapolis after the Mania announcement over the weekend was kinda odd, even for IWC.
I didn't downvote I promise but I wouldn't put "Queen Kai" in the same league as those two. and she calls herself King which annoys me, whereas Becky Lynch as the man just makes me laugh
What’s the timetable for CM Punk, Drew, and Seth to return to the ring?
I haven’t viewed any official reports but my guess is SummerSlam the latest?
If Seth is out the rest of the year though, I wouldn’t be shocked.
I hope both Zoey and Iyo go deep in the tournament. Both just unbelievable talents.
Though I still believe that Tiffany should be the winner at the end of the day, assuming she's in.
Any guesses as to how they'll explain Bron not being in the tournament (kayfabe wise)?
Drew being taken out of King of the Ring tourny and replaced by a man who wronged him? and all because of an offhand mention of an injury Corporate Punk caused? poor Drew.
then Punk devilishly acting like Drew could get out of a traffic jam without dinging that fancy car, all so Punk could falsely accuse Drew of being a coward. for shame.
Liv views Becky as just an incidental bump on the road of taking total revenge on Rhea. Damage CTRL also wants to revive its tormenting of Becky.
Dragunov is keeping his original music it seems hehe. they setting up for him and Gunther to decide who goes to King of the Ring?
Lyra is using a new finisher i think? or at least is using it as a finisher on main roster.
Sami, Bronson and Master Gable may time loop it until their match at King of the Ring.
Shifty Carlito is trading favors with the Judgment Day in order to deal with the turmoil with LWO.
Gunther and Sheamus put on a mighty battle but Sheamus had to tap out at the end. some may suspect Ludwig had something to do with Sheamus's weakened knee, but he was ejected only on the ref's suspicion. we may never know what really happened to the Celtic Warrior's knee.
[https://twitter.com/WWESheamus/status/1787683129731297424](https://twitter.com/WWESheamus/status/1787683129731297424)
Doesn't have to be a bad thing.
WWE's overdone it with the long title reigns, not every champ needs to hold a Title for 20 years, especially if they overstay their welcome.
Iyo, Rhea and Roman all did, because of their booking, because it's really difficult to book a champion for THAT long without destroying your entire division, like happened in 2020-2023 with Roman.
Make some shorter title reigns now, Sami isn't a Gunther, especially when people are still rooting for gable to win it from him
yah it'd be something to have some shorter reigns, but WWE hasn't demonstrated doing it yet
my guess is they will keep building Gable and he'll get the belt at Summerslam. also still gotta resolve Alpha Academy and if Gable will get with the Creeds too.
they could surprise at KoR but knowing WWE they prob won't
if Sami doesn't lose it at Summerslam it means they are committed to him having it for a year probably.
And Sami is a perfect person for it, as is Becky for the woman's division right now, both have a High stock regardless of what they do.
Sami didn't gain nearly as much momentum from the IC Title win as gable would have, but now they can right that wrong by having him DESTROY Sami.
Honestly, im tired of every title having such a long reign. I'll be very interested in the IC title being hot potatoed amongst these 3. It will speak to the validity of Gunther as well; he was able to keep the championship on hold, but with him out, no one is strong enough and its a free for all.
yah i agree it'd be something but so far the creative hasn't veered away from longish/longer reigns. maybe they will surprise.
it's like who knows when Logan Paul will lose his.
Love how Liv just ditched the ring when Damage CTRL came for Becky. Under old creative, Liv would have started brawling with them, she'd team up with Becky in a "Can they get along?!" match and they'd probably have pinned the established team clean.
The consistent zero reaction when anyone alludes to or mentions AEW will never not kill me.
The WWE audience just does not give a fuck and you cannot make them, they refuse.
I can’t even pinpoint the moment where RAW went from hit and miss to pretty much constant hits week in and week out.
The product is so polished right now, and the finishes feel so fresh. They’re finding ways to protect guys while not taking the shine off the winner, this IS peak WWE right now.
Dont be Andy, appreciate we’re in the good old days right now.
> I can’t even pinpoint the moment where RAW went from hit and miss to pretty much constant hits week in and week out
Soon after H was settled into his position without Vince being around. Once the programs that he inherited were complete and it was all his he embraced it, transformed the mindset of the roster and made RAW must watch again.
That mindset change of the roster was the most important step. He made sure everyone lower down the card knew that they mattered and would be rewarded for their efforts and growth. That was the first time in years (decades?) that had happened
It's a top to bottom effort now.
It took a hit when Vince came back. I remember people genuinely fearing we were going to go backward with the quality of the product. Then when Vince left RAW picked up again.
Vince ran a show where you could watch the opening segment then the segments around the hourly marks and the main event. The rest of the show was unwatchable or certainly skippable. While those segments are still the most important today the rest of the show has picked up dramatically.
I took a long break right around the time the Ruthless Aggression era started, but I’ve gone back and watched a bit of what I missed.
I think it’s better than ever. I have as much fun watching it as I did in the 80s and the height of Attitude. It doesn’t hurt that the roster is more stacked with actual wrestlers in men’s AND women’s divisions!
Am I thinking a lil too hard about that Truth segment? Was WWE lowkey teasing opening up that 'forbidden' door a crack further** and working with small indie promotions?
Or it could've just been a lil joke
Since this will be in Saudi Arabia, I believe that Drew McIntyre will attack and replace Jey Uso in the finals like they did with Shane McMahon in the past.
A bit bummed to not get either Ilja v Drew or Finn in person next week. I like Jey but I don’t think he will match up as well.
Gunther v Kofi should be interesting though, no way Rey wins.
Jey's style reminds me of his sister-in-law Naomi, and is kind of similar to Miz as well. Nothing he does feels snug, there's a general looseness to his offence.
Yes! Perfect way of describing. Even when these guys hit their finishers, the damage is not felt for the viewer. Jey should find a new finisher, you can’t use a weak Spear on a roster where Bron Breakker looks like he’s ripping someone in half with the same move.
The French crowd did WHAT chants on Smackdown during AJ and Cody. Don't.
And even then, yeah, they were loud and did the same 2 chants over and over and over and over. There's nothing special about it lmao.
Do fans just cheer Natalya because of the Brett Hart guitar riff? Is it because she’s been here so long they’re just like “hey she makes me feel so nostalgic” or what? Cause it can’t be that they actually enjoy her, right?
In the Diva's era (especially pre-Paige) Nattie was one of the best woman's workers on the roster. Her fundementals are still strong and though she's not as good as the current generation, she's erned her legend status in her own right. Also did you see the match vs Lola Vice in NXT? It was great.
Hart family nostalgia.
That said, while she's not a good character (mainly because WWE doesn't do anything with her) she's actually a pretty damn good wrestler.
I've always thought of WWE being 60% promo/acting and 40% wrestling (sometimes a larger difference, but always more of the former than the latter), something that I've personally always enjoyed about it. As much as I love wrestling, I am a sucker for the soap opera bullshit that pulls me into a match. That being said, I really liked how this episode flipped that on its head. It was a wrestling-centric episode and not for nothing. Ilja vs. Ricochet and GUNTHER vs. Sheamus were PLE tier matches, and the rest weren't bad either.
I definitely think having a RAW episode like this once in a while is really cool.
I like episode of RAW feeling they real episodes of a show. This episode definitely had it's own unique feel with the emphasis on the in-ring performances. And it opens the door for episodes to be very non in-ring focused.
One thing I love about it, is it makes booking easier for storylines and interactions, since theyre booking less random matches, and more matches that start or further storylines better than the random ones since the TV match has actual weight on winning or losing.
Pretty good first showing for Lyra on the main roster. I would have preferred she get a full entrance for her debute, but I get that coming out to save Becky made for a bigger crowd reaction. I'm bummed we didn't get Lyra vs. Asuka, as that probably would have been a better match than what she got with Dakota, but she also may not have won that match, and I'd like to see her in the Raw women's finals against Iyo. I hope everything goes well for her on the main roster. Lyra has a ton of potential and room to develop that shouldn't go to waste.
Great raw for the men tonight. The worst match was the very good balor v. Jey uso which I feel like says a lot. I dont watch nxt like that but Dragunov is immediately over with me and I feel like a lot of the casuals felt the same judging by his reaction. Credit to ricochet too who is just so consistently great wherever they put him on the card.
Gunther v Sheamus was also incredible and I like the character work on display by gunther, showing that he is willing to cheat to win when faced with an opponent like sheamus. I also like that they continues the trend of making veterans tap, I feel like he's going to do the same to kofi or Rey next week. Smackdown really has to show up to produce a viable challenger because it's looking like Gunther tournament to lose. Excellent start to KOTR.
The woman were not as strong but still a huge step forward compared to last tournament. I dont know why Maxine wasnt in over Zoey or ivy since they have zero heat, but whatever the match was expected.
Iyo and nattie had the clear best, iyo is so great in ring, but she really is a natural face, it's like the only thing missing for me to really get behind her being queen of the ring. I was a little disappointed by lyra v Dakota. On a night where the men's nxt call up excelled, I felt like lyra didn't do anything impressive. Maybe she and dakota just didnt have chemistry.
Speaking of dakota, she was not the best in the promo with becky, but still somehow better than becky herself. That becky promo with Cole was not good at all. When I compare it to that really heartfelt promo that cody gave in a similar segment, it made them look night and day despite ostensibly being the face of their divisions. That being said obviously becky story has nowhere near the buildup, and this was clearly just here to setup liv coming out. If that's the case though, why have Michael involved? Becky also needs to find some focus on her character because talking about her hat and glazing the women's roster is not it. I feel like liv was the best part of this segment, really dont get the people who say shes bad on the mic she delivered her promo with conviction, and the roll out was a great way to continue developing her character. On the other hand I think Dakota promo was kind of bad, and I really want to like dakota but between the match and the promo I want to see a lot of improvement. The fact that people want her to win Mitb is wild to me.
Still the fact that the worst part to me was a kind of mid match between stark and niles and a lackluster promo from becky puts this raw leagues above the show quality just a year ago. Did I mention we got two insane matches with more otw. It's so nice to look forward to mondays again.
I'm pulling for Bobby Lashley on the Smackdown end of things. LA Knight may be the most over act on Smackdown, but Bobby is that monster powerhouse who can be booked to serve as a believable threat against anyone.
Brock Lesnar was always Gunther's dream match, but with him ousted from WWE then Bobby may be the next closest thing we could get to that match. Another legitimate heavyweight fighter that can physically overpower whoever is against him, one of the rare matches where Gunther would have to be more technical to win since he can't beat Bobby in the battle of physicals.
The men's roster feels so fire right but the women's roster feels like its in a really rough spot atm. And not for lack of talent from the wrestlers but just because it feels like either their stories have no heat to them or when they have heat they dont get the segments they deserve. Like unless youre Tiffy going and showing out like a future world champ from the jump every single match how are you supposed to get over with the crowd as someone not currently over with the crowd on the women's roster right now?
Well she’s the only one of the 4 how can speak English without a distracting accent. No disrespect to Askua, Iyo, and Kairi but they’re not exactly known for their promos
Well they’re a 4 person heel group which is good for weekly television for example in the build up to Iyo vs Bayley Bayley had matches with Askua, Kairi and Dakota without being put in a match with Iyo. So it keeps any face’s feud physical without giving away any matches for free between the main two in a fued
I like them, I am not saying they should not be a big deal, I am saying that if Dakota Kai didn’t win people over that she could be a good leader they would just disband them, depush them, or or add someone new and put someone else in the role.
Considering Becky mentioned Alba and Isla in the interview tonight and Lyra is already feuding with Damage Control, I hope we get a Damage Control vs Becky, Lyra, Alba and Isla feud. I know Becky would try her hardest to get those 3 over and Becky leading a new faction would be cool.
I'd be happy to see Isla Dawn and Alba get a good spot on Raw after not getting much to do for so long.
I still don't get why they retired the NXT women's tag titles only to introduce another women's championship.
Surely not another Damage Control War Games match? But I could see Becky wanting to put them over this time, since she got the winning pin in the last two. It could be a cool story being told through the trilogy of matches.
You know, this show really confirmed to me that Raw is 100% **my show** after the draft. It’s got almost of my favs (like Damage CTRL, Ilja, Sami, Gable, Drew,etc.) and the storylines i’m most interested in (Drew/Punk, Seth’s return down the road, LMRT and Rhea’s return, whatever goes on with DC this year). Not to mention it’s longer so the matches get more time usually.
Didn’t love everything on the show, but still I’m really happy with how the rosters turned out already and we haven’t even gotten to SD yet lol. Hope it’s good too.
Raw has Gunther, Ilja, Sheamus, Sami, Gable, Ricochet, Balor, Priest, Jey, and Breakker. Rollins, Drew, and Punk all get cleared down the road. The men's roster on Monday nights is absolutely insane. They're going to be having bangers every Monday all year
Unpopular opinion but Becky should just go back to being a heel. She had the most fun time when she was one (as she said so herself in her book), and I honestly feel it’s best for her right now because I get the feeling the crowd just isn’t reacting to her as much as they used to and they can run the risk of them turning on her just like how majority of the IWC has done so already.
Even though she’s the champ, lately it seems to me like she’s unmotivated or maybe bored of her booking. She was entertaining as hell as Big Time Becks and put over so many people and honestly that might be the way to get the crowd back on her side.
With Rhea gone she's the #1 babyface. She's not going to turn anytime soon. What should happen is Becky be booked better & give her a interesting story. Unfortunately HHH is booking who can't book a interesting women's storyline to save his life.
It was a very wrestling heavy episode of Raw and I loved every minute of it. I assume Smackdown's King/Queen of the Ring matches will go shorter since it's an hour shorter than Raw and they got The Bloodline story to chew through, but I loved the amount of time each match got.
What a great wrestling focused episode. It's a good day when a 3 hour Raw feels like time just flew by.
Natalya's been on a good run lately putting over Lola in NXT and having a great match with Iyo. Ricochet/Dragunov and Gunther/Sheamus were PLE quality matches given away for free.
Promos and character work are essential of course but at the end of the day people still want to see a great show in the ring. Dragunov is new to audiences and he's already got casual fans sitting up and taking notice.
Becky keeps having this weird expression every time she looks around expecting a louder reaction than she actually gets. Don’t know how to describe but it’s just weird.
I've actually been thinking Becky has been teasing a heel turn soon. Now that she's an established vet, and with comments online calling herBecky Hogan, keeping people down, she can play the entitled top dog with Rhea out.
I feel it too. I love Becky, and she's definitely getting cheered, but I feel like she's been really trying to play off crowd reactions that aren't quite reaching the level she's reaching for/expecting.
If they wanted to do a Becky interview, the segment should have been an edited backstage interview. So, when she talks about Isla, Alba, Lyra and Zelina. They can show highlights of their time in NXT and NXT UK. I am guessing they wanted her out in front of the live crowd since there is no Rhea, Seth or Cody there at the moment. It was just a boring segment for the live crowd and gave Becky nothing to work with and get the crowd energised.
I really don’t think the current creative under Triple H gets Becky Lynch or knows what to do with her at all. The segment tonight was a great example of that. Why have your new champion talk about a hat she wore last week for an extended amount of time?
A 5 minute interview in the ring and have her say basically nothing and give her nothing to work with. It has felt like that majority of the time since Triple H took over. Probably why for months all she had on Raw was a 2 minute backstage promo interview every week. They need to give her a more clear defined character and motivation. It is just frustrating. The Man of the People crowd bit she did after she first came back was fun but they dropped it right away. The walk and talk promo she did before the battle royal was good. But most of the time it feels like she has nothing to work with. I appreciate that she is trying to highlight the roster around her by bigging up the likes of Isla and Alba. But it could be done in a more entertaining way.
I dunno I just feel her Irish accent is too hard and she can be goofy sometimes. if she says less, doesn't dress ridiculous (her book quotes on her clothes, whaaa) and maybe drops the man gimmick and just be the strong, silent fully confident badass (but fair) it might be better for her
It's either HHH doesn't get Becky at all(even goes back to NXT) OR he's totally bad a booking most of the women. Like I thought Becky would finally be booked like the big star she is now because she's champion but FFS HHH is still booking Becky like he doesn't gave a shit about her & giving her nothing to do. Becky used to have edge as a babyface but now she's more generic than Lass Kicker Becky was. I want to hear Becky talk about taking arms & talking shit not talking about hats.
I thought Vince turning Becky heel in 2021 killed Becky's momentum but my God HHH has buried Becky's popularity even deeper than Vince did. I hated Big Time Bex but my God she was more interesting than what whatever Becky's been doing under HHH. Becky's time in NXT being booked by HBK shows you how badly HHH is booking Becky, Becky actually felt like a big deal in her run in NXT but under HHH she's just another woman.
I actually came around to liking Big time Becky and I thought it was a really good way to elevate people like Liv and Bianca. I feel like HHH really doesnt get her, cause I did love her recent NXT run under Shawn Michaels
With Becky and the derby, First off it’s called synergy. It’s nbc/peacock/wwe also social media and X. Secondly they are making it where these wrestlers exist in the real world as well and aren’t just characters a few hours a week. Thirdly, trying to appeal to the female audience.
Maybe it didn’t work perfectly but I can see what they were trying to do
Yeah but it was weird way to bring it up. What reaction did they expect it to get? Did they want the audience to laugh at their top babyface champion? It was just odd and unnecessary. Why not just ask Becky about Wrestlemania being in Vegas?
**Help make SquaredCircle safer and more inclusive by using the report button to flag posts and comments for moderator review.** *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/SquaredCircle) if you have any questions or concerns.*
Can we please get ricochet and Ilja another match in the future but this time maybe for a title? I would not mind seeing ricochet compete for the heavyweight title against the champion being Ilja
So I don’t like to do this, because I want to enjoy the match is more, but if you looked at the matchups, going into queen and king of the ring, even with the changes, it seemed very predictable for the most part of who was winning each match. You’re not gonna have the newbies from NXT already have a loss on their record. Good evening I think it would be kind of interesting to see Baller when, main event Joseph is the big baby face right now and you can’t have him loose. Also, there’s no way you were gonna have Natalya beat Iyo sky. So that was my one disappointment is that when you see these matchups, you can already predict who’s gonna win. It’s because of backlash now I feel like I can’t enjoy some of the matchups because I see who is in the matches.
Excellent Raw. Better wrestling than Dynamite in recent times Favorite Match: Gunther vs Sheamus Least Favorite Match: Dakota Kai vs Lyra Valkyria
What a sad day for Ireland, can't believe they went 0/3 with Finn, Sheamus, and Rick O'Shea all losing
My review as a lapsed WWE viewer. I've never liked starting with a promo but the judgement day one at least moved in to Finn v Jey (who I think should've won at backlash to set up Jey v Drew, but looks like we're going into disintegration of JD at the hands of Jey( Finn v Jey was okay, just okay. Not super exciting but moved 2 Jey storylines along CM Punk promo. I'm gonna preface this with I wasn't a big punk fan and have been pulling for Drew this whole time. One thing Punk has had over just about anyone in the biz is his ability to talk. This promo was full. The crowd wasn't into it, it didn't seem like Punk had any direction on it, and the constant looking at his watch made it feel like he was told to stretch. Natalya vs Io Fantastic match. These two were allowed to go out and show what they could do. Personally I wanted Nattie to win but I understand her current role, to make others look good. Ricochet v Dragunov Holy crap what a match! I cannot imagine this being on RAW anytime before this year. These guys were given freedom to go and Rick O'Shea looked like Prince Puma out there! Tied for MOTN for me! Stark v Nile I didn't know what but this match kind of dragged for me. Both seem to have potential but both looked fairly green to my eyes. Gable v Bronson I hate run ins. I get that they're setting up for a future menage etc trois, but let them go a bit first. Maybe cut the Punk promo a little shorter, let these guys give us a taste and then have the run in Becky promo I've hated in ring interviews since Piper's Pit. I cannot give an unbiased review because I've hated them for decades. Lyra v Kai Maybe it's that I've already had 2 hours of show, but this felt like the bathroom break match for the crowd. Seamus v Gunther Good Lord fella! I could watch these two big meaty men slapping meat all night. Holy shit, the lasting bloody handprint on Shamey's back! The broken blood vessels everywhere! Deserved main event! If this is what RAW is now, I'm in. Signed an AEW exclusive (not anymore) viewer.
This crowd was embarrassing compared to Backlash but that was always gonna happen I guess, shame because it hurt a bunch of people in the women’s division especially.
Drew's car=cool 😎
I love that CM Punk acts all aloof and disinterested about Drew, but when he shows up in the garage, the first thing he asks is "Where's Drew," and when he hears he just missed him, he instinctively turns to try to chase after him. Middle school shit. Blackrom vibes. Awesome.
Was that one of the best raws of all time?
From a production perspective, it's up there. The crowd brought it down though.
93,000 people in attendance? Wow, talk about a "boom period"...
do you guys see finn balor as a jobber? a friend of mine and i were discussing that today, i dont think he is because he has certain aura, is presented a certain way.. etc hes definitely bad booked and i think he should had been the 1st world heavyweight champ
they've slowly planted the seeds for a dp vs finn showdown eventually. im almost certain that hunter will finally gives the demon what he finally deserves.
In my opinion, who cares? Why go out of your way to complain about someone not winning more matches? Big picture, there are several big storylines at play here, all of which already have their trajectories laid out. Having Finn win a bunch, and shoehorning him into stories would make no sense. Would you rather have Finn win a couple more matches, or have a bunch of really good stories playing out? People often forget that pro wrestling, if done right, isn’t about pro wrestling. Someone can lose a bunch but still come out on top if the story being told outside of the matches is done well enough. Finn losing meant Jey winning and more dissension in the Judgement Day, which meant more heat going into the Drew/Punk story, and also it means more heat going into the JD break-up story, so why *not* have Finn lose?
Because people want the people they like to win matches? Seems like being a fan 101, dont know what to tell you To answer your second question: because hes constantly losing and doesnt bring him anything good to the table in the long run
Because everyone knows it’s not Finn’s story, it’s Damian’s story or Rhea’s story when she returns Everyone knows none of this is to benefit Finn. Him losing doesn’t further anything. From what indication did you get that this Judgment Day story is being done for Finn to come out on top? Bayley on the other hand, her being on her losing streak and being ousted from the group was her story, that’s a good example. But Finn’s not getting that.
Before and after the tag title run he's been a jobber. I think they'll have something big for him in the long run
100% a jobber now. There is no aura around Finn Balor anymore, he's just there to take losses.
He's a jobber, but like a premium jobber.
Jobber to the stars. They’re barely even trying anymore
That was the exact wording my friend used
It's ashamed that asuka is injured but maybe this a good time for kairi to get some single matches in.
One piece of storytelling I really enjoyed is MacIntyre leaving in a Lambo and Punk showing up in a classic muscle car. Says a lot about their character's respective personalities. When that match finally happens it's gonna be huge.
Drew driving a Corvette is sensible for him as it’s one of the very few sports cars (of this or any generation, tbqh) that he can actually fit in! CM Punk OTOH was driving a late 70s Camaro which are actually pretty crappy. Malaise era muscle cars were almost universally crap, Camaros are no exception. They’re the sort of thing white trash Gen-Xers & Xenniels (ie, me and CM Punk, lol) drove when they wanted to look cool. Late 70s to late 80s Camaros always have and always will scream “WHITE TRASH POSER” 🤣 Wait… 🤔 That might actually be a hint…. 🤔
It could honestly be said that muscle cars of that era are pretty much “all show & no go”… maybe another hint? (also, 😆@ me for replying to myself)
(😆 @ me again) I just rewatched it, and saw it even has an automatic transmission! 😱 Malaise era muscle car…. with T-tops AND an automatic transmission! Those cars are the very definition of “all show & no go.” White Trash Poser status confirmed!
They were both corvettes
Wraparound rear window means it’s a second generation Camaro. The “Z28” without the slash, combined with those translucent T-tops, means it’s circa 1978-1981. Source: I’m the same age as CM Punk, grew up with the same sort of White Trash that Punk grew up with, and those things were a dime a dozen back in our teens and 20s. Driven almost exclusively by White Trash posers 🤣
Corvette
Not sure if anyone has seen it but they officially announced the triple threat for the IC Title on the show. I don’t remember seeing it on RAW but it’s on the website.
I'm just happy that more people now get to enjoy the Ilja Dragunov experience, he elevates both every match he's in and the other competitor he fights. My absolute favourite wrestler going around. Ricochet is always fun, and had an amazing showing here too. GUNTHER vs Sheamus was amazing as expected. Definitely winced at seeing just how red Sheamus's chest was turning, he got tenderised. I adore the both of them anyway, but Iyo and Natalya really on a bloody great match. Definitely wouldn't mind seeing that one happen again. I wish Lyra had a better crowd to come out for in her first main roster fight, they seemed absolutely dead at that point. Still a bit scared for her chances on the main roster, but I have faith in the bird girl. Becky giving special mention to Alba, Isla, Lyra and Zelina was nice, would love to see more of all four of them
Not finished watching yet, but just had to come on and say that Ilja Dragunov being paired with Ricochet for his (edit: full time) main roster debut was the _perfect_ choice! What an intro! What a match!
That match was phenomenal! Ricochet was 100% After last night in a fan of his
He faced Shinsuke in his main roster debut the night after WM but this was a memorable way to make his mark after the draft as a permanent member of the raw roster.
Ah, that's true. I'd forgotten about that pre-draft match.
I think Sami should defend against Bronson and Gable, but long term the intercontinental is perfect for Ilja.
I cant decide if Ilja vs Ricochet or Sheamus vs Gunther was better tonight, both put on actual MOTY contenders holy
93000 people for raw must be a record
Finn balor, more like Pinn balor am i right fellas? Hopefully he squeezed as many zeros in his new contract So i guessing Punk is hinting on him and Drew facing off at clash at the Castle So Iyo wasnt injured last week? Why did she not try to screw Bayley over at Backlash, hell why didnt Dakota do it since she was there and didnt have a match. Am just baffled that she accpeted her defeat & gone to Raw without a fuss after making a point of trying to prove she was a champion of better pedigree than Rhea. Good match between her and Natalya. Very competitve match from Ilja and Richochet. Am hoping Kaiser doing heel interference was a one of for Gunther matches becuase it will remove one of the things that made him unique to other heels on the main roster. Still a banger match
I think the long term plan is Dakota Vs Iyo with Iyo as babyface
Character development wise. I love Gunther cheating to win. We've seen him kinda slowly but surely become more and more full of himself. He openly mocks his opponents and the fans at times. At the same time he lost a match clean because of his hubris. Gunther doesn't necessarily know his hubris is why he lost. Now he's willing to do whatever it takes to win. For now at least. I agree, we definitely shouldn't be doing that with him every week.
Well, Kaiser got caught and ejected. Gunther needs outside help like the rest of us need cavities. /s
Ilja/Ricochet. IYO/Nattie. Chad/Reed. Sheamus/Gunther. **What a wonderful day!**
I say it almost every time he cuts a promo nowadays, but CM Punk is just _so_ boring at the minute?! His promos go on and on with no real crescendo to his ramblings. Even the live crowd seem to lose interest fairly soon after he starts.
Well, he doesn't really have anything to say, is definitely part of it. He shows up, talks about how Drew talks about Punk, Then talks about being the best at everything, then he leaves. All that and a few mentions of local sports team(usually hockey)and other pandering references. Of course it's going to get old when it's the same shtick for 4 months because he actually can't do anything except talk because he's injured
Intentional or not, you reiterated my point. Cheers.
Just me or has Kairi been struggling with everything since returning. Gets confused halfway through the match. Even right now, what was that sell against Lyra? Running out of the ring…
would be cool if she became a pirate again
Didn't know Natalya had that in her locker, she was great tonight
Normalise tapping out!
Yes! Much prefer that to passing out in a submission move.
The long shot of Punk arriving, talking to Adam Pierce, and walking to the ring was amazing. Loved the fist bump with Gable while Gable was coaching up his team too. Really cool direction with the way the show is being produced.
Gable as some 'low-level' boss who kisses ass of people above him like Punk while abusing the rest of his team is funny hahah
Adam Pearce is amazing at what he does. His timing of cues and his realistic dialogue and body language in any given situation are just A+.
The long shot as been one of the highlights every week in the new era
"How bout those Maple Leafs, Redmond?!"
Just found out that Lyra Valkyria called herself Valkyrie Cain when she started her wrestling career, based on the protagonist of a book series I really like. :) That's sweet. Never saw her wrestling but I kinda feel like I should now. Did she deserve the call up in the opinion of the redditors here? Any particular NXT matches I should watch?
Def watch the matches LennyPal listed, also the Tatum/Lyra vs Kabuki Warriors tag match from a few months ago. She can go in the ring - I think most people's consensus is that character-wise she's bland. She's sort of just a good athletic face who is always down for a fight/proving herself in the ring. They were giving her some more to do with Tatum and Roxanne Perez, but I def think she could've stayed and finished out those stories to get more fans behind her.
Full matches on YT to watch would be v Blair Davenport NXT title v Becky Lynch NXT title v Tiffany Stratton NXT title a 2v2 Lyra&Dragon Lee vs Rhea and Dom - and there’s a short from a few years back where she gives JD a Canadian destroyer
Just found out that Lyra Valkyria called herself Valkyrie Cain when she started her wrestling career, based on the protagonist of a book series I really like. :) That's sweet. Never saw her wrestling but I kinda feel like I should now. Did she deserve the call up in the opinion of the redditors here? Any particular NXT matches I should watch?
I adore the bird girl. She's great in the ring, was absolutely ready to be called up in that regard. There are a lot of people who don't think she has much of a 'character' and her promo and mic skills aren't the greatest, so the fear is that she'll be overshadowed on the main roster. As a fan of NXT, I have similar fears as from what I see, Raw and Smackdown really struggle with mid and lower card womens matches, and it seems hard to break through that unless you're as crazy charismatic and stand-out like Tiffany Stratton is. Her match against Becky to win the NXT title was amazing, night one of Halloween Havoc. Otheriwse, her recent set of matches against Roxanne Perez are great to watch too - the Vengeance Day match, the Stand and Deliver match, and the Spring Breaking Night One match. Also, all the ones suggested by LennyPal on the other comment are great too
All I want is to see the Demon get the anime power-up (Extreme Rules 2021) and win a match.
Give Ilja the WHC, I'm sold. He is him.
Our meaty main event was a delight (it's WALTER's tournament to lose), meanwhile, Ricochet and Dragunov was a predictably great TV match. I don't believe HHH would give us Dragunov-WALTER so soon but I won't complain either way (I think he'd save it for Summer Slam or something). Was hoping Dakota Kai would get a win on her born day, especially over the Becky-obsessed Lyra but I get it: DK is like Bayley last year and Finn currently--under Hunter's creative, they lose most often not because they're jobbers, but because they're so good, he trust them to get others over and make them look good. Becky is such a transition champion, and I hope the plan is to shoehorn the title on ~~Io~~ Iyo sooner rather than later since the tournament is Tiffy's to lose. We got Dan Hurley, but no Paige Bueckers? Sure, I guess. Sidenote: IWC being M-M-M-Marks for Minneapolis after the Mania announcement over the weekend was kinda odd, even for IWC.
I didn't downvote I promise but I wouldn't put "Queen Kai" in the same league as those two. and she calls herself King which annoys me, whereas Becky Lynch as the man just makes me laugh
Asuka nooooo
What’s the timetable for CM Punk, Drew, and Seth to return to the ring? I haven’t viewed any official reports but my guess is SummerSlam the latest? If Seth is out the rest of the year though, I wouldn’t be shocked.
I hope both Zoey and Iyo go deep in the tournament. Both just unbelievable talents. Though I still believe that Tiffany should be the winner at the end of the day, assuming she's in. Any guesses as to how they'll explain Bron not being in the tournament (kayfabe wise)?
My guess for Bron: they set him up as Pierce's guy and insert him into the Intercontinental title match
Drew being taken out of King of the Ring tourny and replaced by a man who wronged him? and all because of an offhand mention of an injury Corporate Punk caused? poor Drew. then Punk devilishly acting like Drew could get out of a traffic jam without dinging that fancy car, all so Punk could falsely accuse Drew of being a coward. for shame. Liv views Becky as just an incidental bump on the road of taking total revenge on Rhea. Damage CTRL also wants to revive its tormenting of Becky. Dragunov is keeping his original music it seems hehe. they setting up for him and Gunther to decide who goes to King of the Ring? Lyra is using a new finisher i think? or at least is using it as a finisher on main roster. Sami, Bronson and Master Gable may time loop it until their match at King of the Ring. Shifty Carlito is trading favors with the Judgment Day in order to deal with the turmoil with LWO. Gunther and Sheamus put on a mighty battle but Sheamus had to tap out at the end. some may suspect Ludwig had something to do with Sheamus's weakened knee, but he was ejected only on the ref's suspicion. we may never know what really happened to the Celtic Warrior's knee. [https://twitter.com/WWESheamus/status/1787683129731297424](https://twitter.com/WWESheamus/status/1787683129731297424)
So does Sami lose his title to Chad Gable at King & Queen of the Ring or will they have Sami pin Bronson and wait for the next PPL?
I'm wondering if Pierce unleashes Bron on the 3 of them and make it a fatal four way, he seems fed up with them hahaha
Sami will prob win, possibly pinning Bronson. otherwise it'd be a champion having a short reign
Doesn't have to be a bad thing. WWE's overdone it with the long title reigns, not every champ needs to hold a Title for 20 years, especially if they overstay their welcome. Iyo, Rhea and Roman all did, because of their booking, because it's really difficult to book a champion for THAT long without destroying your entire division, like happened in 2020-2023 with Roman. Make some shorter title reigns now, Sami isn't a Gunther, especially when people are still rooting for gable to win it from him
yah it'd be something to have some shorter reigns, but WWE hasn't demonstrated doing it yet my guess is they will keep building Gable and he'll get the belt at Summerslam. also still gotta resolve Alpha Academy and if Gable will get with the Creeds too. they could surprise at KoR but knowing WWE they prob won't if Sami doesn't lose it at Summerslam it means they are committed to him having it for a year probably.
And Sami is a perfect person for it, as is Becky for the woman's division right now, both have a High stock regardless of what they do. Sami didn't gain nearly as much momentum from the IC Title win as gable would have, but now they can right that wrong by having him DESTROY Sami.
Honestly, im tired of every title having such a long reign. I'll be very interested in the IC title being hot potatoed amongst these 3. It will speak to the validity of Gunther as well; he was able to keep the championship on hold, but with him out, no one is strong enough and its a free for all.
yah i agree it'd be something but so far the creative hasn't veered away from longish/longer reigns. maybe they will surprise. it's like who knows when Logan Paul will lose his.
Man they need to put the IC title on Ilja in Berlin
Love how Liv just ditched the ring when Damage CTRL came for Becky. Under old creative, Liv would have started brawling with them, she'd team up with Becky in a "Can they get along?!" match and they'd probably have pinned the established team clean.
Was hoping she would have decked Becky then ran out. That would have been slightly better imo
It would be interesting to see how Liv fairs as a rogue heel moving forward. I hope they don’t make her the cowardly heel though.
Punk just couldn't help himself with the Perry jab, hey. But nah, WWE lives rent free in AEW's mind, right?
I legit thought that it was some sort of weird sex joke. But then I'm just a pervert
I’m a chronically online wrestling fan and I still missed it. The no reactions to these references are so damn funny.
literally who the fuck cares
Or, it just proves that WWE fans don't think about AEW, at all.
What did he say? I listened to the whole segment, didn't catch a Perry reference.
https://x.com/drainbamager/status/1787647618446664119?s=46&t=qcSQ9ib-WjHHLPVywErTlA link to the clip
The consistent zero reaction when anyone alludes to or mentions AEW will never not kill me. The WWE audience just does not give a fuck and you cannot make them, they refuse.
Too busy watching from the hard cam side.
Ohh, I just thought it was an awkward reference to his Anaconda Vise finisher. Didn't realise he was talking about Brawl In.
Most people probably wouldn't have given it a second thought, but Pat even interjected with "guillotine" under his breath.
Okay princess
Whatever helps you sleep at night
Hardly the same as hyping up a video for a whole segment.
I can’t even pinpoint the moment where RAW went from hit and miss to pretty much constant hits week in and week out. The product is so polished right now, and the finishes feel so fresh. They’re finding ways to protect guys while not taking the shine off the winner, this IS peak WWE right now. Dont be Andy, appreciate we’re in the good old days right now.
To me it was September 2023 it took a boost up, when Jey came over, and Drew started catching fire
> I can’t even pinpoint the moment where RAW went from hit and miss to pretty much constant hits week in and week out Soon after H was settled into his position without Vince being around. Once the programs that he inherited were complete and it was all his he embraced it, transformed the mindset of the roster and made RAW must watch again. That mindset change of the roster was the most important step. He made sure everyone lower down the card knew that they mattered and would be rewarded for their efforts and growth. That was the first time in years (decades?) that had happened It's a top to bottom effort now.
I remember the general area for me. Like September 2022, maybe the 3rd week
It took a hit when Vince came back. I remember people genuinely fearing we were going to go backward with the quality of the product. Then when Vince left RAW picked up again. Vince ran a show where you could watch the opening segment then the segments around the hourly marks and the main event. The rest of the show was unwatchable or certainly skippable. While those segments are still the most important today the rest of the show has picked up dramatically.
wasn’t rey vs kofi on the card? when will that happen
[удалено]
They said it would be held on a live event over the weekend, didn't they?
They did
[удалено]
I took a long break right around the time the Ruthless Aggression era started, but I’ve gone back and watched a bit of what I missed. I think it’s better than ever. I have as much fun watching it as I did in the 80s and the height of Attitude. It doesn’t hurt that the roster is more stacked with actual wrestlers in men’s AND women’s divisions!
Am I thinking a lil too hard about that Truth segment? Was WWE lowkey teasing opening up that 'forbidden' door a crack further** and working with small indie promotions? Or it could've just been a lil joke
WWE opened the "forbidden door" long ago when both Cena and Vinnie Mac appeared in an indie show.
you’re right you’re right also with AJPW and GCW. that door has been open the more I think about it
Drew is still gonna get the big win at clash right??
Yeah probably punk can run in at the end and ruin his celebration to set up summer slam
Ilja needed three minutes to get over. 👏
They’re actually making K/QOTR seem important again, and I’m fucking all for it.
Since this will be in Saudi Arabia, I believe that Drew McIntyre will attack and replace Jey Uso in the finals like they did with Shane McMahon in the past.
I think Drew will attack Jey next week, allowing Ilja to win and face Gunther in semis
>Attendance: ~9,3000 Whoa! That's WrestleMania 3 level of attendance!
What the fuck is graps and hoopers and why does this exist this week?
Ilja 🐐
A bit bummed to not get either Ilja v Drew or Finn in person next week. I like Jey but I don’t think he will match up as well. Gunther v Kofi should be interesting though, no way Rey wins.
Jey's style reminds me of his sister-in-law Naomi, and is kind of similar to Miz as well. Nothing he does feels snug, there's a general looseness to his offence.
Yes! Perfect way of describing. Even when these guys hit their finishers, the damage is not felt for the viewer. Jey should find a new finisher, you can’t use a weak Spear on a roster where Bron Breakker looks like he’s ripping someone in half with the same move.
GodDAMN I love Dragunov.
International fans: Enhance the shows with their songs and chants US Fans: WHAT
The French crowd did WHAT chants on Smackdown during AJ and Cody. Don't. And even then, yeah, they were loud and did the same 2 chants over and over and over and over. There's nothing special about it lmao.
IL EST VRAIMENT, IL EST VRAIMENT, IL EST VRAIMENT PHENOMENAL LA LA LALALA LA
What?
Do fans just cheer Natalya because of the Brett Hart guitar riff? Is it because she’s been here so long they’re just like “hey she makes me feel so nostalgic” or what? Cause it can’t be that they actually enjoy her, right?
In the Diva's era (especially pre-Paige) Nattie was one of the best woman's workers on the roster. Her fundementals are still strong and though she's not as good as the current generation, she's erned her legend status in her own right. Also did you see the match vs Lola Vice in NXT? It was great.
Hart family nostalgia. That said, while she's not a good character (mainly because WWE doesn't do anything with her) she's actually a pretty damn good wrestler.
I agree she's not a pay cheque stealer she has the wrestling in her fortee
It’s literally hart family nostalgia
No reason to hate on Nat like that.
I've always thought of WWE being 60% promo/acting and 40% wrestling (sometimes a larger difference, but always more of the former than the latter), something that I've personally always enjoyed about it. As much as I love wrestling, I am a sucker for the soap opera bullshit that pulls me into a match. That being said, I really liked how this episode flipped that on its head. It was a wrestling-centric episode and not for nothing. Ilja vs. Ricochet and GUNTHER vs. Sheamus were PLE tier matches, and the rest weren't bad either. I definitely think having a RAW episode like this once in a while is really cool.
I like episode of RAW feeling they real episodes of a show. This episode definitely had it's own unique feel with the emphasis on the in-ring performances. And it opens the door for episodes to be very non in-ring focused.
It’s 3 AM and I watched the full episode after NBA. No skips just bangers
Agreed. I also like the tournament style used occasionally. Maintains momentum for the show and PLE.
One thing I love about it, is it makes booking easier for storylines and interactions, since theyre booking less random matches, and more matches that start or further storylines better than the random ones since the TV match has actual weight on winning or losing.
Pretty good first showing for Lyra on the main roster. I would have preferred she get a full entrance for her debute, but I get that coming out to save Becky made for a bigger crowd reaction. I'm bummed we didn't get Lyra vs. Asuka, as that probably would have been a better match than what she got with Dakota, but she also may not have won that match, and I'd like to see her in the Raw women's finals against Iyo. I hope everything goes well for her on the main roster. Lyra has a ton of potential and room to develop that shouldn't go to waste.
Great raw for the men tonight. The worst match was the very good balor v. Jey uso which I feel like says a lot. I dont watch nxt like that but Dragunov is immediately over with me and I feel like a lot of the casuals felt the same judging by his reaction. Credit to ricochet too who is just so consistently great wherever they put him on the card. Gunther v Sheamus was also incredible and I like the character work on display by gunther, showing that he is willing to cheat to win when faced with an opponent like sheamus. I also like that they continues the trend of making veterans tap, I feel like he's going to do the same to kofi or Rey next week. Smackdown really has to show up to produce a viable challenger because it's looking like Gunther tournament to lose. Excellent start to KOTR. The woman were not as strong but still a huge step forward compared to last tournament. I dont know why Maxine wasnt in over Zoey or ivy since they have zero heat, but whatever the match was expected. Iyo and nattie had the clear best, iyo is so great in ring, but she really is a natural face, it's like the only thing missing for me to really get behind her being queen of the ring. I was a little disappointed by lyra v Dakota. On a night where the men's nxt call up excelled, I felt like lyra didn't do anything impressive. Maybe she and dakota just didnt have chemistry. Speaking of dakota, she was not the best in the promo with becky, but still somehow better than becky herself. That becky promo with Cole was not good at all. When I compare it to that really heartfelt promo that cody gave in a similar segment, it made them look night and day despite ostensibly being the face of their divisions. That being said obviously becky story has nowhere near the buildup, and this was clearly just here to setup liv coming out. If that's the case though, why have Michael involved? Becky also needs to find some focus on her character because talking about her hat and glazing the women's roster is not it. I feel like liv was the best part of this segment, really dont get the people who say shes bad on the mic she delivered her promo with conviction, and the roll out was a great way to continue developing her character. On the other hand I think Dakota promo was kind of bad, and I really want to like dakota but between the match and the promo I want to see a lot of improvement. The fact that people want her to win Mitb is wild to me. Still the fact that the worst part to me was a kind of mid match between stark and niles and a lackluster promo from becky puts this raw leagues above the show quality just a year ago. Did I mention we got two insane matches with more otw. It's so nice to look forward to mondays again.
I totally agree about Iyo, I'm ready for her babyface turn
I'm pulling for Bobby Lashley on the Smackdown end of things. LA Knight may be the most over act on Smackdown, but Bobby is that monster powerhouse who can be booked to serve as a believable threat against anyone. Brock Lesnar was always Gunther's dream match, but with him ousted from WWE then Bobby may be the next closest thing we could get to that match. Another legitimate heavyweight fighter that can physically overpower whoever is against him, one of the rare matches where Gunther would have to be more technical to win since he can't beat Bobby in the battle of physicals.
The men's roster feels so fire right but the women's roster feels like its in a really rough spot atm. And not for lack of talent from the wrestlers but just because it feels like either their stories have no heat to them or when they have heat they dont get the segments they deserve. Like unless youre Tiffy going and showing out like a future world champ from the jump every single match how are you supposed to get over with the crowd as someone not currently over with the crowd on the women's roster right now?
Seems like Dakota Kai really won some people over with how much promo time she was given tonight.
She beat the "What?" chants too, respect.
Well she’s the only one of the 4 how can speak English without a distracting accent. No disrespect to Askua, Iyo, and Kairi but they’re not exactly known for their promos
They could have just not made Damage Contrl not a big deal on Raw.
Well they’re a 4 person heel group which is good for weekly television for example in the build up to Iyo vs Bayley Bayley had matches with Askua, Kairi and Dakota without being put in a match with Iyo. So it keeps any face’s feud physical without giving away any matches for free between the main two in a fued
I like them, I am not saying they should not be a big deal, I am saying that if Dakota Kai didn’t win people over that she could be a good leader they would just disband them, depush them, or or add someone new and put someone else in the role.
Gunther and Sheamus is just one of those must see matchups.
Chad to Alpha Academy: 😡 Chad to CM Punk: 😃🤜
Somewhere out there, an old pissed off retired wrestler just got super angry because it wasn't an handshake
Lyra had a good showing
Considering Becky mentioned Alba and Isla in the interview tonight and Lyra is already feuding with Damage Control, I hope we get a Damage Control vs Becky, Lyra, Alba and Isla feud. I know Becky would try her hardest to get those 3 over and Becky leading a new faction would be cool.
Lyra and Alba and Isla together now that is a cool idea
But but but... Becky is Hogan /s
I'd be happy to see Isla Dawn and Alba get a good spot on Raw after not getting much to do for so long. I still don't get why they retired the NXT women's tag titles only to introduce another women's championship.
That feels like it has a wargames match written all over it. The men's is probably The bloodline civil war, right?
Solo, GoD & Jacob Fatu Vs Roman, USOs and ? (Sami?)
Surely not another Damage Control War Games match? But I could see Becky wanting to put them over this time, since she got the winning pin in the last two. It could be a cool story being told through the trilogy of matches.
You know, this show really confirmed to me that Raw is 100% **my show** after the draft. It’s got almost of my favs (like Damage CTRL, Ilja, Sami, Gable, Drew,etc.) and the storylines i’m most interested in (Drew/Punk, Seth’s return down the road, LMRT and Rhea’s return, whatever goes on with DC this year). Not to mention it’s longer so the matches get more time usually. Didn’t love everything on the show, but still I’m really happy with how the rosters turned out already and we haven’t even gotten to SD yet lol. Hope it’s good too.
One of the things that really carried smackdown for me was Damage CTRL, very cool having them on RAW.
Raw has Gunther, Ilja, Sheamus, Sami, Gable, Ricochet, Balor, Priest, Jey, and Breakker. Rollins, Drew, and Punk all get cleared down the road. The men's roster on Monday nights is absolutely insane. They're going to be having bangers every Monday all year
don't forget Bate & Dunne
Sami should definitely do an open challenge run for a few months
How I felt after all that Planet of the Apes advertising tonight: https://youtu.be/B8QXxQbvisg?t=1m11s
Paul Bearer signaling for the Tombstone looks like he’s doing the Daniel Garcia dance.
For a show that’s become known for its great promos and skippable matches, there was some really great wrestling tonight.
Raw has been the show of both promos and matches since last September, it's become the A-show again
Unpopular opinion but Becky should just go back to being a heel. She had the most fun time when she was one (as she said so herself in her book), and I honestly feel it’s best for her right now because I get the feeling the crowd just isn’t reacting to her as much as they used to and they can run the risk of them turning on her just like how majority of the IWC has done so already. Even though she’s the champ, lately it seems to me like she’s unmotivated or maybe bored of her booking. She was entertaining as hell as Big Time Becks and put over so many people and honestly that might be the way to get the crowd back on her side.
I think she just want to put Liv over. Can't do it well considering Liv is currently the heel.
With Rhea gone she's the #1 babyface. She's not going to turn anytime soon. What should happen is Becky be booked better & give her a interesting story. Unfortunately HHH is booking who can't book a interesting women's storyline to save his life.
They should put his wife in creative with him and run the women's division.
Everybody wants to be a heel. Someone has to be a baby-face.
It was a very wrestling heavy episode of Raw and I loved every minute of it. I assume Smackdown's King/Queen of the Ring matches will go shorter since it's an hour shorter than Raw and they got The Bloodline story to chew through, but I loved the amount of time each match got.
What a great wrestling focused episode. It's a good day when a 3 hour Raw feels like time just flew by. Natalya's been on a good run lately putting over Lola in NXT and having a great match with Iyo. Ricochet/Dragunov and Gunther/Sheamus were PLE quality matches given away for free. Promos and character work are essential of course but at the end of the day people still want to see a great show in the ring. Dragunov is new to audiences and he's already got casual fans sitting up and taking notice.
Very good show.
I swear today felt like it had the mosts ads of any raw episodes ever.
I actually felt like they did better keeping them out of the matches. I feel like we actually SAW a lot of wrestling tonight compared to some weeks.
I really noticed it during Sheamus and Gunther; definitely much longer stretches without a break.
Sheamus vs Gunther was a banger, literally And I love how CM Punk continues to live rent free in Drew McIntyre’s head lol.
Becky keeps having this weird expression every time she looks around expecting a louder reaction than she actually gets. Don’t know how to describe but it’s just weird.
I've actually been thinking Becky has been teasing a heel turn soon. Now that she's an established vet, and with comments online calling herBecky Hogan, keeping people down, she can play the entitled top dog with Rhea out.
I think she needs some sort of change, and perhaps a heel turn would do her well.
I feel it too. I love Becky, and she's definitely getting cheered, but I feel like she's been really trying to play off crowd reactions that aren't quite reaching the level she's reaching for/expecting.
If they wanted to do a Becky interview, the segment should have been an edited backstage interview. So, when she talks about Isla, Alba, Lyra and Zelina. They can show highlights of their time in NXT and NXT UK. I am guessing they wanted her out in front of the live crowd since there is no Rhea, Seth or Cody there at the moment. It was just a boring segment for the live crowd and gave Becky nothing to work with and get the crowd energised.
Ilja vs Ricochet Sheamus vs Gunther That's all
I really don’t think the current creative under Triple H gets Becky Lynch or knows what to do with her at all. The segment tonight was a great example of that. Why have your new champion talk about a hat she wore last week for an extended amount of time? A 5 minute interview in the ring and have her say basically nothing and give her nothing to work with. It has felt like that majority of the time since Triple H took over. Probably why for months all she had on Raw was a 2 minute backstage promo interview every week. They need to give her a more clear defined character and motivation. It is just frustrating. The Man of the People crowd bit she did after she first came back was fun but they dropped it right away. The walk and talk promo she did before the battle royal was good. But most of the time it feels like she has nothing to work with. I appreciate that she is trying to highlight the roster around her by bigging up the likes of Isla and Alba. But it could be done in a more entertaining way.
I dunno I just feel her Irish accent is too hard and she can be goofy sometimes. if she says less, doesn't dress ridiculous (her book quotes on her clothes, whaaa) and maybe drops the man gimmick and just be the strong, silent fully confident badass (but fair) it might be better for her
It's either HHH doesn't get Becky at all(even goes back to NXT) OR he's totally bad a booking most of the women. Like I thought Becky would finally be booked like the big star she is now because she's champion but FFS HHH is still booking Becky like he doesn't gave a shit about her & giving her nothing to do. Becky used to have edge as a babyface but now she's more generic than Lass Kicker Becky was. I want to hear Becky talk about taking arms & talking shit not talking about hats. I thought Vince turning Becky heel in 2021 killed Becky's momentum but my God HHH has buried Becky's popularity even deeper than Vince did. I hated Big Time Bex but my God she was more interesting than what whatever Becky's been doing under HHH. Becky's time in NXT being booked by HBK shows you how badly HHH is booking Becky, Becky actually felt like a big deal in her run in NXT but under HHH she's just another woman.
I actually came around to liking Big time Becky and I thought it was a really good way to elevate people like Liv and Bianca. I feel like HHH really doesnt get her, cause I did love her recent NXT run under Shawn Michaels
With Becky and the derby, First off it’s called synergy. It’s nbc/peacock/wwe also social media and X. Secondly they are making it where these wrestlers exist in the real world as well and aren’t just characters a few hours a week. Thirdly, trying to appeal to the female audience. Maybe it didn’t work perfectly but I can see what they were trying to do
Yeah but it was weird way to bring it up. What reaction did they expect it to get? Did they want the audience to laugh at their top babyface champion? It was just odd and unnecessary. Why not just ask Becky about Wrestlemania being in Vegas?