WWE RAW 2nd January 2012 - It Begins LIVE Discussion

[John McHenry]

anyone under 75 posts and all i've seen them post is trashing anything I consider just trolling for one reason or another.

 

[John McHenry]

Just realized that starting once again Brodus was supposed to return and didn't.

 

[No More Sorrow]

John Laurinaitis's said this on twitter.
“And to those wondering why Brodus didn’t debut tonight, I have my reasons, He will debut next week, I promise. Why would I lie?â€￾


Right.

 

[Heisenberg]

Yeah, I've lost count of how many times he has supposed to debut the next week on RAW now.

 

[Andrew]

It's quite annoying.

 

[Zen]

They did a fair few bits to develop some storylines, no idea why they're doing it when the Rumble's around the corner. Maybe for after Mania but still wasn't too bad, not many matches or segments killed it.

I thought the return promos were brilliantly done and kept us guessing until the last minute, which is why I definitely tuned in today. However, the problem was that if you have already kept people on suspense for a particular date(Jan 2nd in this case) for 5-6 weeks, well then it is simply anti-climactic and bad booking to use yet another uneventful script for the day advertised. I don't have anything against Jericho turning heel, but he should have done it in a more definitive way. The crowd wasn't angry at being trolled, they were just dead -- so in that sense I think it was very ineffective.

Way too much focus on Kane/Cena and it's interesting to see what's next.

I don't think the problem is the focus, as much as them not doing anything with the time allocated. They need to further the feud, so they should actually be doing something with the time. I mean, a good old fashioned beat down would be the best thing, since that way you can at least have Cena cut a promo about their problems, but how is Cena supposed to be angry at Kane when all Kane does is weird stuff? Maybe annoyed, but hardly angry. The booking just needs to get better

Like last week, the premise between the promo and their attempt to get Kane to appropriate "Cena sucks" as a catch phrase was fucking BRILLIANT, but the delivery was awful. The crowd was really hot when Kane came out, and there were duelling chants between Cena supporters/haters, but Kane kept on going and going, it was unnecessarily verbose, a word salad and kind of pointless. By the time Kane actually got to the climax of the promo("Cena sucks"), the crowd was *completely* out of it and dead.

If the promo had been written better I think with that premise it could have been very powerful creatively, and would have done a lot and given the feud an interesting twist("rise above hate); the twist being that Kane is basically trying to allure Cena into being a heel(with Cena trying to stay face and "rise above the hate") just before his mega-match with Rocky -- that would be a fantastic 2 month feud before Cena heads to Mania. Basically you get a tease at the heel turn but still leave things open ended in a major way for Mania where something big can happen.

The pieces are definitely there and there is a lot of potential on the roster but I feel it is being mismanaged and wasted.

 

[Vivido]

I thought the return promos were brilliantly done and kept us guessing until the last minute, which is why I definitely tuned in today. However, the problem was that if you have already kept people on suspense for a particular date(Jan 2nd in this case) for 5-6 weeks, well then it is simply anti-climactic and bad booking to use yet another uneventful script for the day advertised. I don't have anything against Jericho turning heel, but he should have done it in a more definitive way. The crowd wasn't angry at being trolled, they were just dead -- so in that sense I think it was very ineffective.

.

Try looking at his actions as a way to keep us guessing, rather that that been the climax. It's Jericho, not often does he dissapoint. Wait till next weeks Raw before suggesting it's bad booking, for all we know the writers have a brilliant twist up there sleave.

Clearly he won't come out get a pop and leave next week.

 

[SAIYANS]

Undisputed would resolve best in the world not saying who wins it all but it'd be the only way for the championship matches to be as important as the streak or Rock Cena and not be sitting back seat to them.

Jericho even if they had every title on the line in the company in that match and he won, would be inferior to the streak and Rock/Cena. He isn't that big of a star.

 

[Heisenberg]

Anyway, how long has Jericho be signed for and how long do you think he'll be around for? Is he going to be appearing weekly and on a wrestling schedule? Is he back to put CM Punk over or something?

Surely he has things to do with Fozzy or has that been put aside for a while?

 

[Troy]

I feel bad for Brodus Clay, they have pretty much destroyed his character by delaying him again and again and again since fans no longer care about his return. I say save him until the Rumble now, no point bringing him back before the Rumble now as the fans won't get into it.

I liked the ending since Kane is my favourite, slightly strange how he is so dominant yet again.

Good to see that Ziggler and Punk had another good match and I like the idea of them facing each other again at the RR.

Is Truth a face now or is he still a heel? Glad that he is getting so much offense against Miz.

I like how they handled the Jericho return. Every new it was Jericho and he got the cheers early on but by not talking and by continuing to play up the the crowd and stall it quietened down the crowd. He managed to go from hugely over returning babyface to a place where fans were annoyed at him for doing nothing. Nice way to ensure that fans treat him as a heel.

Disappointed to see no tag team champions again, Bourne really stuffed it up for Air Boom.

 

[Andrew]

Truth's face by the looks of it but he's still insane and is using Jimmy a lot.

 

[Troy]

I haven't seen it so I wasn't sure if they had turned Truth or were somehow going to turn Miz face after all this.

 

[Zen]

I think the use of Jimmy is fine, Truth is still surprisingly over, and has been very consistent as a character since his Cena feud and turn. I wonder what he will do for Mania, I was personally hoping Miz would move onto better things(including, possibly a program with Punk) but it looks like he will be busy with Truth.

As far as Kane, I think they need to push him hard, and keep the cartoony stuff to a minimum, it won't get over in this day and age. Just book him dominantly, have him come and do some strong beatdowns. I think with a strong worker like Cena to work with, he could produce some good work, but the booking definitely needs to improve.

 

[Heisenberg]

I think The Miz is heel and R-Truth is turning face, I think The Miz would make a much better face and he can cut good promos, would be well and truly over with the crowd. He needs a character change and I'm sort of getting sick of him as a heel.

 

[Dale]

Can't be bothered typing out a full review because different people in different posts have basically said what I feel in more detail, so to keep it short and sweet i'll say that Raw sucked and was a pretty huge fucking letdown.