Official 1,000th RAW Discussion Thread

[Schmidty]

If aj was my gm I would do Whatever she tells me too

 

[~Fallen Angel~]

Alright i'm going to put my thoughts of the show in here. Overall I was left pretty disappointed by the show and wanted something more, something huge to mark out to on this historic night but for the most part I was left disappointed.

The opening video was fantastic but that's pretty standard WWE always creating great montages.

Vince's opening promo was fine, if not a little odd when he introduced DX given their history.

DX I literally cringed over. Hunter and Shawn were everything I worried they would be when it was announced however long ago it was. They were so unfunny and out of touch but i'm not surprised because like I said I expected that. Was great seeing the NAO back together and X-Pac aswell, although I swear they didn't even mention his name at all nor did they give him a brief mic cameo. Obviously the jeep entrance was well done, but if i'm being picky I would probably have preferred the unfunny duo to arrive in it as I would love to have heard the NAO and X-Pac get seperate entrances. Not a fan of Damien Sandow but his involvement was great but again if i'm being picky I would have preferred to see Road Dogg's shake rattle and roll, Billy's fame asser and the X-Pac's bronco buster.

Great to see JR back, shame he wasn't used the whole night though.

Six-man tag was fun and built more for Ziggler/Jericho although i'm unsure what happens with Del Rio and whether he continues with Sheamus, or picks up his feud again with Mysterio. Speaking of Mysterio, I wonder what his thoughts are towards Sin Cara because I swear (foggy memory) when I was watching he didn't look overly excited Cara was alongside him.

The backstage AJ thing was pretty cool with different guys going past the door. Can never get enough Hacksaw, I would seriously bring the guy back in a tag team with Swagger. The 'hand' was great, i'll give them their props for that.

Bogus Clay / Swagger was utterly pointless and I dunno what the deal was with Bogus rocking the USA style singlet. Dunno what I felt really about the Dude Love appearance, guess I was hoping for a much better Mick Foley segment later on.

I think most of us were expecting the Trish/HHH/Stephanie moment to be recreated but obviously that didn't happen. It's a pretty well known fact that I don't like Trish, but I just find it weird that she is their supposed golden girl and she was just shoved in a meaningless backstage segment and i'm pretty sure they didn't even make reference to her either as if she was just some random extra.

The wedding was just a massive letdown and I thought Slick was awful and almost ruined and already bad segment. The whole Vince thing I really didn't like and I kind of feel as though he should have come out during the part where if anybody had any issues with the proposal then speak now (not the official lines, but you get the picture.) You could have still carried the marriage on then with Bryan looking super smug as if he's about to marry the GM only for it to backfire in his face. That's how I would have preferred it but that's just a personal opinion. Like everyone else though, I was expecting Kane to be the other person she said YES! to. As far as her being GM goes, I really don't like it but i'll go into that in another thread.

Marked like a little bitch for Rock getting a title shot at the Rumble, least that will the Rumble infinitley times better than this years travesty. I honestly thought Punk was just being his useful douchey self with the faces in the background, but obviously he wasn't and that showed later on. If Punk/Rock do square off then i'm interested in how they will build it though because as of what we saw on RAW and by putting two and two together, the build reeks of how Cena/Rock started.

Bret's promo was a nice touch, was kinda expecting him to put over Michael McGillicutty too and how he's being ruined with that name after what he said about Mr Perfect.

Christian / Miz was a decent match. Great selling by Christian throughout the match and played in perfectly with the finish of the match. Was actually surprised to see Miz the win thing but he definitley needs it more than Christian does.

The HHH/Heyman/Steph was a great segment but I still felt as though it could have been miles better. They had all of DX in the building, guys who were 99% sure aren't going to even wrestle for them let alone appear over the next few weeks and they didn't even have Brock Lesnar attack them? Massively missed opportunity in my opinion. I don't wanna harp on about the Attitude Era, but if this angle was happening then you would have had the camera cut to back with Lesnar either laying out all the guys of DX with a chair or be stood over all the bodies of them. Trips would run to the back in their aid obviously and either be laid out by a waiting Brock Lesnar, o chase away Brock who speeds away in a waiting started car. Again personal preference, but I think they could have done more.

Lita, I love Lita and depending on what side of the bed I get out of on the day she's my favourite Diva of all time over Mickie. Even though I marked out for her return I was somewhat disappointed because I was expecting Austin even though he was never confirmed in any way. I then marked out like a bitch again for the APA, god those guys were amazing. Again though, personal preference I wouldn't have had the APA involved this match but another match I would have put together. R-Boom vs PTP, standard tag match where the PTP try to do their usual shtick of walking away mid match. APA stops them, rolls them back into the ring and R-Boom pick up the win with the APA then getting in their finishers. This would then lead to the Lita/Slater being a lumberjack match with the legends surrounding the ring.

I kinda enjoyed the Ryder segment with G-TV. Yes I remember that from yesteryear, made for some cool moments during RAW.

Kane/Taker I really didn't mark over or get remotely excited for. Hand on heart, I would have marked out if Paul Bearer was present though, he really should have been.

WWE Title. I need to rewatch this before giving my thoughts on it because I fell asleep before it started but i've seen bits of it and wasn't overly surprised it ended the way it did as well pretty much saw it coming. What I didn't see coming was the GTS on The Rock though so I definitley need to catch that so I can determine whether it's a possible heel turn like people are suspecting to be.

Overall, like I originally put I was dissapointed with the show because I felt as though there should have been more. If this was just a special 3 hour RAW then it would have been perfectly fine, but for a 1000th Episode celebration, I really don't think it delivered.

There seems to be conflicting reports about Austin with him saying it was because of his knee, other sources saying he's on set of a movie and couldn't get away. I'll take his word on the matter but there's still no reason why he couldn't be there in a backstage promo with Vince or The Rock and nobody would have been any wiser about his supposed injury. RAW 1000 with no Stone Cold is also a crock of shit.

Where the hell was Edge too?

All the stops were supposedly being pulled out for this show to get people on the show who we wouldn't expect, but on a night when the old DX reformed, Rock, Brock, Heyman, BOD reunited, a wedding, Steph returned to TV I was left marking out over Lita and the APA.

Conclusion: Could do better.

I agree. It was good but definitely could have been better. The wedding was stupid and I suppose I expected more from the legends as well.

Also, it's great to encounter another Lita fan that isn't crazy about Trish Stratus.

 

[Angelo]

About the Rock :

This is not because WM 28 has not exceeded the record that sales were poor. It's just that the WWE have packed in their forecasts. But in the end WM 28 garnered a lot of $.

Do you really think The Rock needs to come wrestle in WWE in 2012/2013? Since the success of Fast Five, he became a star of the silver screen and the guy is shceduled for five films coming soon with Rocky in the first role). The Rock is bankable in Hollywood. It is multi-millionaire. He just spinning a hand in the WWE, to make the elevator to the business that made him famous with the key risks (injury, bad image given).

Is it the fault of the People's Champion if wrestling is in bad shape and struggling to regain its past success? Is it the fault of the Brahma Bull if the current wrestlers (Cena included) are not sufficient to ensure good sales of PPV in WWE to the point that VKM must use a worn out Undertaker and Rocky and Lesnar to be quiet compared to the results of WM 29? You have the wrong target guys. These are the WWE, the bookers, the wrong choices made by policy makers in general and the lack of competition since 2001 and its consequences that slowly but surely taken its toll.

I understand that the return of The Rock might upset some, it is only once every 36 months, it is perhaps the place of another who is there all year so ... And yet stealing spotlight talk about it! Sheamus, Punk, Bryan's only been three wrestlers actually put forward for a long time from 2007 to present wholesale. And it is still very new! How many guys were made to fly their career opportunities or slow down by Cena, Batista, Orton and Triple H all the time? We must stop stigmatizing The Rock. This is not Joe the bum, it's not an old crumbling, it is in full possession of his means, he does what he wants in a crowd, and his match at WM was up to event, even if it will not remain as one of the best fights in the history of the show. Cena and Rocky are not HBK and Kurt Angle, for sure, they play to their strengths clips (charisma, playing with the public). Anyway, Cena / Rock is one of three strengths of WM 28 (with Taker / HHH and Punk / Jericho) and the fans will remember always addressing this issue.

Again, this is the Rock, the guy who beat Cena at WM clean, it's an immeasurable accomplishment in WWE since 2007. Those who managed to beat Cena clean since 2007 can be counted on the fingers of one hand. (Punk even push open failed: MITB 2011: distraction by Laurinaitis, Summerslam 2011: Cena has one foot in the ropes!) That alone lends credibility to the Rock as number one contender, but also the guy is a legend . I do not see anything shocking. A Triple H, Taker, a Jericho, a Cena, Orton and a many others before them have had title shots on their simple name / status, without this causing public outcry. If there's one area where it grants special favors to people solely on their name / reputation that is wrestling.

I also believe that consciously or unconsciously, the fact that some fans have not seen The Rock (or any particular legend) the time of his glory, forging a home or even a negative a priori rejection phenomenon, whatever its achievements, its reputation, its business impact.