Condo On The Moon Podcast #61: NXT and ROH Invade Philly

We go off on Macho Mandow being worse than the Nacho Man. We run trough all the action at ROH War of the Worlds and NXT in Philly and we as required by some law preview Payback. We also talk about Ronda Rousey and her thoughts on WWE return as she does her book tour.


If you are not able to listen or download here on the site head over to Podomatic and listen or download there.

5 Talking Points Coming Out Of Raw In Denver

It was back to normal for the gang in the WWE as they hit Denver, Colorado for last night’s Monday Night Raw. It was a very interesting show followed by a Stone Cold Podcast with Triple H. This show had a couple of great matches and a lot of interesting moments giving us lots of talking points coming out of last night’s Raw. Some horrible stuff was mixed in but as Triple H admitted to Stone Cold, writing 3 hours of television is not an easy thing to do. So let us dive in with what most people would be talking about around the water cooler. If they ever get past, why Seattle didn’t just run the damn ball on Sunday?

1. Rehabilitation of Roman Reigns Continues: It was a mixed bagged night for the man the WWE want to crown the next king of the company in Roman Reigns. He finished strong I suppose that is the main thing. In the opening segment, he is forced into conceding his Wrestlemania title shot to have a match with the winner between Seth Rollins and Daniel Bryan for that right. This ended up being the big announcement that Triple H had promised on the Live Smackdown on Thursday. This to me made Reigns look foolish and dumb not how I want to feel about my babyface making a run at the championship. WWE was going for more of this guy is not afraid to fight but it didn’t work for me.

The night seemed to continue to go down hill for Reigns as he yet again had to face the Big Show and worse yet he got screwed by Rollins and lost the match. Why you have your top guy or the guy you want to be the top guy losing to Big Show in 2015 is a mystery to me regardless of the circumstances. Later in the night, Daniel Bryan came to talk with Reigns and hoped he would not let his anger for Seth Rollins get in the way of Bryan's match with him later that night. He also informed Reigns that is was not going to be Rollins he would face at fast lane as Bryan stated he was going to win and move on to face him. A less than amused Reigns was rather dismissive of Bryan and told him to get out of his locker room. All making him look very much like a heel. Having his own locker room even gave the impression of being a heel.

At the end of the night everything would come full circle as Reigns come out and Spear the Big Show take out one half of J&J security and when Noble was caught trying to nail Bryan with Rollins briefcase Reigns would Superman Punch Rollins and Bryan would hit the running knee for the 1-2-3. Reigns in effect helped Daniel Bryan win and thus the two will square off at Fast Lane. A good night for Reigns but the real question will be what happens when he beats Bryan and retains his shot? That is what is going to happen, for any of you holding out hope for Daniel Bryan. I can say with full certainty he is not going to win this match. His job is to get a great match out of Roman Reigns and get him ready to battle the Beast Brock Lesnar. If fans accept, Reigns after that WWE will have pulled one over on them. I don’t sense fans not being smart enough to see through this whole charade.

2. Bray Wyatt Calling Out Taker?: It has been widely speculated that Bray Wyatt has been being build strong with the hopes for a match with the Undertaker at Wrestlemania 31.  Bray after another big win in which he pretty much no sold on Dolph Ziggler to hit his own finisher. He later would cut a promo that seemed to be geared at the Undertaker. It could be in reference to others if Taker isn’t the guy but the tease is clearly implied at Taker. Bray is asking a man who was once feared and now is a shadow of himself to come find him. If this ends up being true, it will be two huge names for Bray Wyatt in back to back Wrestlemanias. He lost to John Cena last year it would seem likely he would lose to Taker if he does in fact show himself this year. Still it is yet another big match potentially for Bray on the largest stage of them all. 

3. Mizdow vs. Miz starting to come to a head? Miz last night fired Mizdow as his stunt double and re-hired him as his personal assistant. Miz has been growing more and more frustrated with Mizdow stealing the attention that he feels he deserves. Give WWE credit on this one they took a character that most of their audience felt had X-Pac type of heat and have used that to make a star out of Damien Sandow. They also have been patient building this mid-card angle slowly with more care than almost any other mid-card angle you can name in the last 6 months. It has been a good job and should land the two a singles match at Wrestlemania. Sadly in might be on the pre-show but will see it has been a great feud and Mizdow is insanely over with the people. I hate to admit this but it is not just of his own doing but the great work of the Miz in his role. I will never like the Miz and if he left WWE T.V, tomorrow I would never miss him. He has done a remarkable job in this angle and really, in the end the person who will get the most out of this isn’t himself. So good for him for acting like heel and getting someone over that is rare today in wrestling. Someone has to do it, as it is clear the people on commentary on Raw can’t get anyone or anything over. I would complain about the horrible job they do but we can do that every week. Booker traded out for Lawler has fixed nothing and things are status quo.

4. Randy Orton Return Teased: Seth Rollins and Triple H made mention of Randy Orton who since making his movie has been in MIA from the WWE. Triple H referenced him in stating that Seth needed to step up and make the most of his opportunities unlike how Randy Orton never did. Referring to his failed title run at this time last year at this time Rollins also reminded us all how he was the one that took Orton out of action by curb stomping him on the announce table. This is likely going to be Seth’s Mania program with Randy Orton and I have it as my earlier favorite for match of the night at Wrestlemania. I do this with full realization we could have a Daniel Bryan against Dolph Ziggler match. I still give the nod to Seth and Randy. They have a better story and more reason to be invested in their match. Bryan vs. Ziggler would be a great match but I am not sure what  exactly I am suppose to be rooting for in that match other than that. Faces against face matches are tough under any circumstances but without a belt or reason for them to fight it become even tougher.

5. Triple H talks with Stone Cold: It was an interesting chat between the two. I would not consider it even half as compelling as the McMahon and Austin interview. Triple H gave what I expected, which were very politically correct answers and even on topics that were designed to get a reaction and Austin got none. Triple H stated the choices Chyna has made since leaving the WWE are why she would never get into the WWE Hall of Fame when asked if she was worthy. Triple H did put her over and say based on her resume of work she deserved to be inducted. In terms of C.M Punk, it was pretty much nothing topic. Triple H referred to Punk being distant and odd at times. When he heard rumors of Punk’s discontent, he would go to him only to be told by Punk that everything was fine. When asked If Punk were to ever-return, Triple H said, he would not be opposed to it and claims to have no beef with him at all. In talking about the current product and the fallout of the Royal Rumble and his work at NXT Triple H made it fairly clear where to direct your blame. It wasn’t at it him, it was at Vince McMahon. He didn’t say it in such a direct fashion but when you contrast his talk about current main roster issues and NXT it was fairly obvious that as he stated the buck still stops with Vince McMahon. It was a friendly chat that never seemed to get the least bit hostile which if you had listened to first time Triple H was on with Austin should not have shocked you. Both freely admit to being friends and the interview always stayed in that tone. This was an interesting interview but not the compelling must see T.V that Vince’s sit-down with Stone Cold was. Speculation on who is next to sit in Austin’s chair? My guess would be Stephanie McMahon. Not sure, how that one would go as Stephanie tends to be the most guarded of the three family members active in the company.

Therefore, the road to Wrestlemania marches on as we hit a little off-ramp heading towards Fast Lane. While it promises to add some stakes to Wrestlemania, it will merely confirm the directions we were already heading. Keeping in mind the network is free for new subscribers and here in Canada free all month as well they needed to make this special event before Mania mean something beyond just being a throw-a-way show and they have attempted to do that. I am much more excited to see Triple H’s latest vision in NXT with their special coming up on February 11 being headlined by Kevin Owens challenging Sami Zayn for the NXT Championship. In any case, the WWE seems to have steered the ship out of troubled waters for now as they hope for clear sailing the rest of the way to Wrestlemania. Something tells me the water will get really choppy when Daniel Bryan losses to Roman Reigns. This might have been a very bad idea or a brilliant idea time will tell. My guess is this like the Rumble will end badly if the goal is to get Roman Reigns over as a babyface heading to Mania.

Raw and Survivor Series: Talking Points

It was an eventful Survivor Series for a number of reasons and an interesting Monday Night Raw in the aftermath of the special event. We saw the long anticipated debut of Sting a return to television for Daniel Bryan. Many things going on but not necessarily making the product better. I did for first time for me DVR Raw and it made avoiding Larry the Cable Guy segments. I have been little out of the mix with my birthday on the weekend. Back at it full force now with the five things were talking about coming out of Raw and Survivor Series.

1. Sting is Here: I admit that I am in the minority in not caring about Sting being here. In fact even a little angry that he is in a sense that he for me is a traitor after staying away as long as he did he returns at the very end of his career to join the company he was always against in WCW. That is not opinion of the majority though who seem genuinely excited to see Sting final here. It appears he is on conclusion course with Triple H for Wrestlemania. This would answer the question about the Undertaker returning as likely a no. Sting after affecting the main event at Survivor Series he did not appear on Raw.

2. Bellas are Bad and A.J is Still Here: So the Bellas screwed over A.J Lee and Nikki became the Diva’s Champion. Most felt it was the exit of A.J Lee from WWE but she was back on Raw and faced a now heel Brie Bella. It appears the WWE has just given up on the Bella vs. Bella feud. A.J perhaps had the line of the night on Raw when she informed Nikki and Brie that talent is not sexual transmitted. The Irony of whom all these three ladies are with makes the line quite interesting.

3. Dolph A Top Guy Again?  Can we finally believe that WWE has finally got behind Dolph Ziggler? It certainly seems like it based on the Survivor Series and follow up on Raw that he is being booked as a high-end babyface. He being paired with Cena is a big issue though as we have seen many times being tied to Cena can be a death sentence at some point. For now, Ziggler is riding high and skeptical fans can still feel that way based on history. This all being stated it has been the strongest push he has been given since cashing in his briefcase to become World Champion.

4.  Mizdow Remains A Huge Hit and Tag-Team Champion: It seems like Damien Mizdow is over and WWE is starting to get in line with his fan reactions that have been growing for months and months. This gimmick is really working with the Miz as people genuinely hate the Miz and love Sandow even prior to this run as Mizdow. It is nice to see, this should lead to the break-up of the team and a major mid-card angle for the show. 

5. Roman Reigns Declares A Return Point: Almost lost in everything was yet another hey Roman Reigns in injured, but still coming back promo at the pay-per-view. Reigns claims he will be back by the end of the year. It is likely after the TLC event in just 3 weeks as he made it clear the end of next week. Reigns will have a ton of work to do just to get back to the spot he left with in the company. Many people took him being out as an opportunity and at top of that list is Dean Ambrose.

In other news, the Anonymous G.M gimmick is back. Yet I thought we made it clear that was Horns waggle. In any case, it appears we are going to have a series of rotating G.Ms until some angle allows the Authority to return which will eventually happen. In the end, there is a lot buzz about Sting but this is no solution to wrestling’s problems. People, who claim to want change, pop for nostalgia acts like Sting. That is the problem fans sending mixed messages of change but still cheering for Sting and other people well past their prime.

Santino Retires In Toronto: Perhaps Explains Sandow's New Gimmick

Some big news coming out of the house show in Toronto as Santino Marrella announced he is done as an in ring competitor. He announced to the crowd that he has re-injured his neck and was disappointed that he would never have the chance to wrestle under his real hometown of Toronto. Technically he is from Mississauga, Ontario and he owns a gym Battle Arts which he opened in July of 2013. Real name Anthony Carelli says he will remain with the company in some non-wrestling capacity.

Given this news this brings to light perhaps the direction of Damien Sandow turning into a fairly comedic based character around the last time we saw Santino in the ring. Santino was paired with Emma in his last run in ring that had been missing prior to her incident at Walmart last week.

Sandow this past Monday took his comedy gimmick to the next level playing Vince McMahon and having some interaction with Stephanie McMahon. While some have pegged this a burying of Sandow it may just be he has been given the role Santino has filled for years. I at first was not a fan of all the non-sense it has grown on me and he is doing a great job.

No one can deny that Sandow has committed 100% to everything that has been thrown in front of him. Time will tell what becomes of this, but it sure seems that he has a secure role with the company even if you may not like it.

It also makes a very logic reason for why all this has taken place for Sandow. It certainly all seems to line-up in terms of a time table.




Condo on the Moon is on Twitter and Facebook and check out our weekly podcasts Every Friday! You can find us now at Condoonthemoon.com 

 

Update: 1pm July 7th- WWE Releases Video from house show of Santino's Announcement: 


 

Raw Notebook: Best Raw In Recent Memory

It didn’t start out as a Raw to remember, but by the end of the night it might have been one of the best Raw’s in the past 5 years. I wanted a night of sleep to consider it and not just scream out this is the best Raw ever, when I know it would be just said in excitement. It really was a good show and one of the best in a long time. That has little to do with the opening segment in which John Cena tried to play babyface to The Authority with Stephanie and Triple H. It was revealed as part of the segment that Cena will appear on the cover of WWE 2k15. Rather than give a whole rundown of the show I will speak more to some general themes that made it great.

Surprise Returns:

This show featured three big returns and two of them came within the same segment of Raw. The other was the new wife of one C.M Punk the lovely and talented A.J Lee. I went into great detail about her return last night and what it all means which is up on site for you to check out if you missed it.

The WWE promised a returning Champion that was a social media star and basically a global icon. The word on the street was The Miz was in waiting to return and the description fit him well. He would come out to basically crickets and this looked like a case of the WWE over hyping something and failing to deliver. Some had speculated close to Raw hitting the air it would be Chris Jericho returning, so when the Miz showed up it was underwhelming to say the least. Yet Chris Jericho would come out and interrupt the Miz’s horrible promo on how he was this big star that he clearly isn’t. Jericho before saying a word would eventually hit a code breaker on Miz and lay him out and start a promo of his own. That alone seemed like a fantastic segment for Raw. Jericho would be cut off by the famous noise that means the Wyatt’s are coming and the lights went out which is the name of the new Fozzy track ironically and Wyatt’s were all in the ring when the lights came back on. They attacked Jericho and laid him out. It was perhaps one of the best segments of Raw in quite some time and really had a feel of the much beloved attitude era.

It was brilliant and had twitter exploding through out it. A.J Lee did return later and interrupt Paige as the two flipped roles with A.J as the baby face and Paige as the heel and A.J would skip away as your new Diva’s Champion. That might have been the most significant women’s match in some time. It was very short but what it lacked in length and over skill it made up for in shock value.

More Character Development beyond the Main Event Angles:

We saw a few examples of some honest to good story building for guys that are not in the top angles. Fandango and Dolph Ziggler have been paired together as Summer Rae came out and laid a lip lock on Dolph in the middle of his match with Fandango. He seemed to like it and when all was said and done he had a win over Fandango and Summer Rae’s gum in his mouth.

Naomi and Cameron’s break-up is now on as the two were booked in a handicap match against Nikki Bella as she was put in there by Stephanie McMahon as a form of punishment for her sister Bri’s appearance on Money in the Bank and insulting her.

Bo Dallas came out and cut a promo complete with Tebowing and asking for the Crowd to be silent for injured superstars Daniel Bryan and Wade Barrett as a way to honor them.

Damien Sandow was in the Role of Vince McMahon. This led to Stephanie coming on screen furious with him and booking him in a match with Khali he ended him with one chop. You may see this as a poor Sandow moment and it might be but the fact Stephanie was involved might actually be something that will advance his storyline of goofy gimmicks.

A Wild Final Segment:

The Main Event was booked as Cena and Reigns vs. Orton and Kane. Cena would get laid out while Reigns and Orton ended up brawling to the back. Kane would lay out Cena and Seth Rollins would come from the back with briefcase in hand ready to cash in on Cena. This was all being directed by Triple H who was at ringside for the match. Before the cash in could go down Ambrose came storming in and he and Rollins would brawl out into the crowd. Triple H upset his plan had backfired order Kane to get a chair and as he waited poised to lay out Cena, Roman Reigns would return and spear Kane saving Cena. Talk about a role reversal their not often Batman saves Superman’s butt. After that, he would lock eyes with Triple H who had made his way up to the apron. This will be in the package when Reigns and Triple H meet at Summerslam which is almost a lock at this point.

All in all it was a show that still had its low moments like Adam Rose and Santino doing a terrible obvious ad segment for Twisted Ice Tea. It still was a vast improvement from what Raw has been giving up definitely since Wrestlemania and honestly maybe even beyond that. The elements I focused on are a big reason why that was the case.

Some notes from my colleges at Between the Ropes:

Emma was arrested

Cesaro injured his eye (Cesaro laid a vicious beat down on Kofi Kingston that I failed to mention on Raw)

Wade Barrett is out and requires Surgery on his shoulder.  




Condo on the Moon is on Twitter and Facebook and check out our weekly podcasts Every Friday! You can find us now at Condoonthemoon.com

The Raw Notebook: June 9th, 2014

 The Raw Notebook is back after a Raw that love it or hate it you have to call it a significant Raw. First and foremost the obvious reason for that Daniel Bryan being officially stripped of the title. Outside of the storylines of WWE it is sad that Bryan is legitimately unable to compete and build off the great momentum he had coming off his wins at Wrestlemania 30. The question now becomes how he will be treated when he is ready to return to action.

The Future of the WWE Title:

So now the Money in the Bank match becomes for the WWE World Heavyweight Championship. This will feature seven superstars four of which have already been established at this point. Del Rio won the first qualifying match over Ziggler so he is in. Randy Orton was appointed to the match by the authority. While Sheamus got in defeating Bad News Barrett and Cesaro getting a win as well to get in as well. With only three spots left some people are going to be left out clearly. John Cena, Roman Reigns, Dean Ambrose, Seth Rollins and Bray Wyatt. That is five names that you clearly could see in the mix for the world title and only 3 will get into the match.

I would think we get a match with either Seth Rollins against Dean Ambrose or a match between Bray Wyatt and Roman Reigns. Leaving the remaining three not involved in one of these match suggestions in the match for the Title. For what it is worth Reigns is working a house show here in my hometown of Hamilton against Bray Wyatt. It would make sense for Triple H and Rollins to screw Reigns out of a shot at the title. This was keeping the build alive to Triple H against Reigns at Summerslam. This has been the rumored match for sometime now.

The Shield Divided Are Standing Tall: 

As for the Shield divided I thought it came off pretty well. It was a great promo and explanation from Seth Rollins. Dean Ambrose also did a good promo talking about what he would like to do Seth Rollins. The little things that Ambrose does with reactions and movements are just brilliant. Reigns cut a decent promo as well for him and in terms of the storyline I am happy with where we are at.

The Shield having Cena make the save and tag with them is just the latest attempt to have John Cena tied to the most over baby faces not named John Cena. He is the Hulk Hogan of modern wrestling always trying to tie him to the hottest act that is getting over more than him. Hogan did this with so many guys most famously the “Macho Man” Randy Savage. Randy was one of the few guys that did not crumble and fall off with Hogan casting his shadow over him.

Some Minor Segments: 

The segment with Summer Rae and Layla was clearly not a “PG moment,” and was a little nod to fans still hanging around from the attitude era. It was fairly obvious to anyone that is over a certain age what they were going for there.

Paige continues to be booked terrible as she was over shadowed by Alicia Fox in her segment/match once again. It makes me wonder why they didn’t just put the belt on Alicia as Paige is getting nothing out of this run as Diva’s champion.

The silly gimmicks for Damien Sandow are getting over with me. He also got a reaction with a chant from fans as he was tagged with Fandango.  It may not be good for his long term future but I am enjoying him. I also give the guy a lot of credit for him giving his 100% with all of these silly gimmicks.

Other notes not of much note:

Zack Ryder bought new gear to get squashed with Rusev as WWE teases an Obama vs. Putin match or maybe not.  Ryback and Axel beat down Goldust and R-Truth as looks like Cody is setting up to be a heel again by picking terrible partners for Goldust. Eventually will get a Cody and Goldust match and this will be worth it.

Overall, I thought the show was decent and did a fairly good job continuing the angle with The Shield from last week. Perhaps they are slowly getting some momentum back as they head towards the summer and Summerslam in August. Daniel Bryan’s short term future decided allows the WWE to move forward instead of standing in place.It sucks for him but you honestly have to move forward if your WWE if you are not willing to have an interim WWE World Champion.

Condo on the Moon is on Twitter and Facebook and check out our weekly podcasts Every Friday! You can find us now at Condoonthemoon.com

10 People That Might Not Have Much Future Left In WWE

WWE has not made cuts from the main roster in a long time. It’s not like the WWE can’t afford to have the deepest roster of any wrestling company on the planet they can. Still with all the talent in the NXT system you would have to think looking over your shoulder might be wise at this point. Here are ten wrestlers that from the outside looking in might not be long for remaining in the WWE.

I would say JTG should be number one on this list, but at this point I see him as almost a mascot for employment in the WWE.  This list is based completely on observation and has no inside information attached too it.

#10 Great Khali: It is time for him to go for his sake and all of our sakes as well. I have seen him dance and sing enough and don’t ever want to seem him do that or have a match. What is left for him outside of that? Nothing so enjoy retirement big man.

#9 Damien Sandow: Was the X-Men costume a sign that you can’t go much lower? Sandow has been in the WWE system for a long time and is not getting younger.

#8 Jack Swagger: We gave him the boot in are game of Push, Repackage and Fire. It the real world his firing seems to be something to really be concerned about happening at this point. He has lost his more over tag-team partner in Cesaro and for the moment has Zeb. I think he could be replaced and the gimmick moves on without him.

#7 Jo Jo: She got the boot from Total Divas and supposedly is still training at NXT. But honestly in a divas’ division that is full. She failed to get attention on Total Divas and that may be her only shot in the big time.

#6 Brodus Clay: Recently demoted to NXT and had his gimmick stolen by Xavier Woods who has got nothing out of it. Clay meanwhile mixed it up with the NXT Champion. Is he doomed to go the way of Mason Ryan only faster? It seems like a realistic thing to think at this point.

#5 Yoshi Tatsu: I saw him on NXT a few weeks ago and was stunned he was still in the company. WWE really is almost to the point of like the old WCW with no real competition their roster has got to the point that you honestly forget some of the people they employ. Sadly Yohsi has become one of those guys. He never really had any significant run or chance to be anything. He just has lingered around as a very infrequent jobber. He is now doing his jobs on NXT for that roster.  His next job is not going be with WWE.

#4 Evan Bourne: I feel that Evan Bourne has become an urban legend at this point. He is always rumoured to be returning from injury. I assume he may have been healthy for years at this point. I honestly could walk by Evan Bourne on the street and not remember what he looks like.

#3 Zack Ryder: We all know the story here but let’s put everyone out of their misery and say WOO WOO GOOD BYE!

#2 Alberto Del Rio: He has had more pushes than a shopping cart on a Saturday at the local grocery store. He has faded into the abyss of the mid-card. He was booked in a match with Daniel Bryan the world champion and he was an after thought to the horror film awful storyline and lost clean and tapped out. He may want out before the WWE pushes him out.

#1 Dolph Ziggler: WWE and Dolph seem to be playing a game of chicken and I am betting on the people running the show not trying to steal it. Dolph has been told to slow down and shut his mouth. He has failed to either and remains buried at the bottom of the card. The latest blow, being eliminated from the U.S Title Battle Royal by Santino’s Cobra a new record low.  I can’t see Dolph suddenly finding God and doing what he has been asked to do for several years now.

Raw Notebook: April 28th, 2014 from St Louis

I should start by saying that I like to do these things the next day because it allows everything to settle in. It is far less reactionary when you do it this way. I do love recap shows right after Raw as well and they have a place as well, but often are based on instant reaction like social media as we watch. Not to say we may not do similar shows in the future, but for now we have the notebook.

Show Opening/ Cena vs. Wyatt

I struggle to think of a better start to Raw in quite sometime. This opening segment was validation of why we are wrestling fans for me. You had John Cena out in the ring for the first time admitting that maybe the WWE Universe is not on his side. He questions why this is which in many ways is comical I could list about 100 but will save that for another day. He is interrupted by a child’s voice in the darkness as only the ring was lighted. Singing that familiar tune of “He’s got the whole world in his hands,” and than the lights come up and a whole choir of children join him singing. They are joined by Bray Wyatt and his family, with Bray joining in singing and the children follow him and surround the caged ring. The lights go out again and all of the children have on sheep masks and continue to sing. They cut to Bray in his rocking chair with a small child on his lap in the sheep mask. Just a brilliant visual and the symbolism of this was off the charts.

Cena later in the night is approached in the back by Renee Young and asked to comment and he is speechless. At this point GOLD go ahead and take my money I want to see these two go at in a cage on Sunday. You need Cena entering a match doubting if his supporters will actually support him any longer as he faces a dangerous and demented man in a cage.

But as always with John Cena they take it one step to far for what purpose I have no idea. Later in the night he talks to Young and apologizes for earlier and not addressing her question. He goes into John Cena comedy and talks about buying Bray a donkey and he realizes his fans are still behind him and he is going but a fist in Bray’s face and a foot in his ass.

Why can’t we have Superman be vulnerable every once in awhile heading into a match? Isn’t that best for business to not know who is going to win?  Even the actual Superman is paralyzed by Kryptonite. What is John Cena’s Kryptonite commitment? Ok I am being like Cena making bad jokes I will stop now.

Kane/Bryan & Steph and Brie

Plugged throughout the show was Stephanie was going to apologize to Daniel Bryan for Kane’s actions last week. While some may have groaned at the thought of this, not me I love what she does in roles like this.  If there is anyone better at insincerity on this planet I don’t know who that is. I think Stephanie will one day run for political office and win avenging Linda’s losses. She has about the same level of sincerity as most politicians. Anyway the short answer is I love Stephanie in roles like this. 

So when we roll around to that Steph true to form was almost in tears addressing her regret to Bryan and Brie who are on the entrance way. Bryan continues to say that Stephanie is full of crap and talks about the trauma his wife was put through. To which Stephanie says she can totally relate to as she has spent many a night in a hospital beside her husband Triple H falling asleep in his room worrying about him being ok.

Stephanie invites Bryan to come to the ring which he refuses because his mamma didn’t raise no fool. I say this, he didn’t say that, I did and it sounded more like something Mr.T would say as opposed to Daniel Bryan. If not for Kane I believe he still would be thanking his mamma. Anyway back to this and Stephanie informs Bri that she is going to have a shot at the diva’s title and she could be champion along side Bryan defending that title at Extreme Rules and the match it starts now.

Bryan protests and says there is no way he is going to allow this unless he is accompanying Bri to the ring. Stephanie is fine with this and we have a Diva’s Title match.

All through the night they had shown Kane’s mask in a case which Stephanie had mentioned in trying to prove her sincerity was locked in her office as proof Kane was not going to attack Bryan. Right before they cut to break the mask is gone and we return for the Diva’s title match. You know what happens next Kane’s music interrupts the match and he comes from under the ring and tries to drag Bri Bella under the ring with him. Bryan fights him off while wearing a neck brace from the attack on Raw last week. He manages to get Bri out of the ring and than Kane Chockslams him and Bri comes back in the ring distracts Kane and Bryan is able to be taken out to the ring and Bri is able to escape from Kane.

Later in the night a concerned Stephanie goes to the medical room and is almost tearful that this has happened again and asked if Bryan will be ok for Sunday. Bryan says he will be there Sunday to defend his title. She than apologizes again to Bri who is trying to be very concerned and emotional as best as Bella can act. She screams at Stephanie “You Bitch” and tells her to get out.

All and all some pretty good stuff, but despite it all I don’t consider Kane a real threat no matter what they do and the fact this match will likely not be last on the PPV that is a sign that the  WWE doesn’t either to some degree.

Shield/Evolution- Ric Flair WOOOO!!!

Well Evolution hit’s the ring for the final segment that is supposed to be a match with Roman Reigns and Randy Orton. They cut a promo showing that they were impressed as The Shield systematically took out the 11 guys they had faced on Raw a few weeks ago on last week’s Smackdown. Triple H even going as far as saying it reminds him of them. Shield hit the ring and before they can say much Ric Flair’s music hit he cuts a very odd promo that lacked logic and he basically endorses the Shield after reminiscing about his times in St Louis and his time as part of Evolution. Flair was just not himself and he is a legend and all of that can never be taken away but I can’t help but feel sorry for him as he seems a shadow of his former self.

Anyway we do have a bit of match which ends with a flat out brawl and another no-contest on the night as the Diva’s Title Match earlier. Dean Ambrose was going after Triple H like he owed him money. It was a long brawl that saw the Shield get the better early than Evolution did before the Shield made a final rally and controlled the ring. That was how Raw left you to head into Extreme Rules on Sunday.


Other Notes:

• As expected Bad New Barrett became the number one contender for the I-C belt. Cesaro and Swagger who has a match earlier would get involved. After losing RVD would take care of both Swagger and Cesaro setting up a three way at the PPV for those three as Chris Walder predicted on our Podcast.
• A forgettable segment with Hugh Jackman, Dolph Ziggler and Damien Sandow took place.  Some X-Men movie Promo non-sense that makes me so sad for both Sandow and Ziggler who were a year ago in much higher profile places. They are now reduced to doing bad comedy bits.
• The Uso’s defended there titles against Ryback and Axel. This was nothing spectacular but nice to see titles being defended on Raw and T.V in general.
• Speaking of titles not being defended Dean Ambrose on Smackdown will have a three on one match against Del Rio, Ryback and Axel for his seldom defended U.S Title.
• Storyline of a Cody and Goldust break-up coming was advanced a little tonight.
• Speaking of little we had the El Torito and Hornswaggle epic feud continue…..They are set to go one on one at the PPV in a mini TLC match.
• Paul Heyman proved he can get over anything as he told a knock knock joke and got it over with the punch line we all saw coming MY CLIENT BROCK LESNAR CONQUERED THE STREAK.
• All in all I liked this show my fellow podcasting partner Chris Walder was not as big a fan. Will find out why and sort it all out on Friday on the IWCP. To this point we do not have a guest booked so we may have more time to talk this week will see. 
• Oh and ADAM ROSE debuts next week....Can't wait. 

After having a drop off of 600 thousand viewers in the final hour last week on Raw will see if this show was able to rebound. It was clear a lot of effort was put in to make sure that is does.

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