5 Talking Points Coming Out of WWE Raw

Last night's WWE Monday Night Raw had alot of gaining interest with the events coming out of the WWE TLC PPV. The road to the Royal Rumble began last night with special guest general manager Chris Jericho. Brock Lesnar made an impactful return to the WWE and John Cena took on Seth Rollins in a Steel Cage Match. Here's the five things I took away from last night's Monday Night Raw.

1.) Fox News Announce Team 

You ask the regular wrestling fan, Who got you hooked into professional wrestling? My answer is always Jim Ross, I started falling in love with wrestling/sports-entertainment because the story telling aspect from the ring and also on the commentary. I know that Michael Cole, JBL and Jerry Lawler is trying their best to put on a entertaining performance every single week and it's alot to cover with the bevy amount of programming the WWE producer, but last night was another reoccurance of the JBL show where he talks over everybody and it's the constant back and forth barbing between him and Cole and then again Jerry tries his 1990's one liners which are outdated and once again you sit three hours of Raw and once again you don't get anything from the announce because they don't give you a reason to care about the stuff that goes on WWE programming. I go out of my way to find the positives in wrestling and now with being a wrestling analyst I'm more paying attention to what's in the ring and I decided to mute the commentary. Unless it's a in-ring promo I mute Raw because I don't know anybody that would want to listen to Bill O'Reilly, Mitt Romney and Wolf Blitzer for three hours I just throw my hands up in the air. I can be enjoying the show for what it is, but listening to announce team is like listening to a three hour news radio show and I honestly think it's the commentary team that drags these shows down.

2.) Roman Reigns Short and Sweet 

Coming out of WWE TLC, I was really feeling that Roman Reigns was going to be treated like Batista and I'm glad that Reigns got the pop he got last night. Roman Reigns came down during a in-ring promo with Fandango and spear Fandango and then Big Show came out and what made Reigns stand out to me last night, was that Reigns was short and sweet to his point he warn Show "Don't come down here unless you want to get punch in the face" What happens? Show comes down to the ring and Reigns gives him the superman punch. I think we'll see Roman Reigns vs. Big Show program heading towards the Royal Rumble and WWE Fast Lane. WWE will throw as many "Big" performers towards Reigns direction to prepare him for Brock Lesnar. To avoid the same thing that happen with Batista last year, try to go out of your way to convince the fans that they're multiple people that can really win the Royal Rumble match and try to not make it so freaking obvious. Also what will help Reigns is that while he's trying to get his character down, have him cut as short of promos as he can possibly can plus keeping the bad ass persona. I liked what I've seen from Roman Reigns last night and we found out that Reigns will be in a match on SmackDown tonight we'll see what happens on Super SmackDown Live!

3.) Raw Is Jericho! 

I enjoyed seeing Chris Jericho on Raw last night. I don't know why you need 23 minutes to set the hook for the two main events of the show, but the promo wasn't that bad until John Cena came out. Rollins may have a good point when he called Cena a coward especially with his "white meat" baby face persona and then he goes out there and question Rollins man hood and acts so tough when tells Rollins oh go to the corner let the big boys talk. WOW YOU'RE TOUGH BRO I'M SUPPOSED TO BE SCARED OF YOU LOL. I enjoyed the interaction Jericho had with Rusev and Lana because he was trying to point out the characteristics that we don't know about Rusev and Lana even though he was treating Lana like Stephanie McMahon. I kinda wish we do see a Ryback/Rusev program that intrugies me alot. I don't get how everybody was moaning about the bevy of stipulations in the Jericho/Heyman match and i'm sitting back during the show and i'm like why are making a big freaking deal over a stipulation when the match is barely even going to happen. Overall with the nice 70's rock references and old school Jericho promos I enjoyed seeing Jericho. I'm not sure if they're are going to do another Jericho/Fandango program, but hopefully Jericho is effective the next time he comes back to the WWE.

4.) The Beast is Here!

Well it was nice to see the WWE Champion brace us with his presence last night. I'm a fan of Brock Lesnar don't get me wrong, but he hasn't done jack crap for the WWE World Heavyweight Championship. I never wanted him to be the champion and if anything I wanted him to have a Rock esque title reign, but that's not where we are right now. I don't understand why we need Brock to become champion just because he defeated The Undertaker at WrestleMania. Brock could have done the same thing with Cena and take him out and then at the Royal Rumble this year he would could have won the championship and then lose it to Reigns at WrestleMania 31. I liked the Brock interaction with Jerich it was short and sweet it was kind of predictable with the time slot of that match between Jericho/Heyman since it was during the half time of the Saints/Bears game. Brock also came out later that night and laid out John Cena during his Steel Cage Match with Seth Rollins and made a major statement heading towards their final battle at the Royal Rumble. Brock Lesnar will be back on Raw on December 29th in Washington D.C. It is what it is we'll see Lesnar one week and he won't be there the next week and I would be surprise if he shows up on any of the Raws toward WWE Fast Lane. Regardless it was nice to finally see Brock Lesnar and hopefully this expermient project comes to a end.

5.) Steel Cage Match

I personally enjoyed the Cage match between Rollins and Cena more than I enjoyed the Tables Match at WWE TLC. I find it interesting how Joey Mercury always finds a way to make himself busted open. I thought it was cool seeing Rollins winning the match after being made to look like a complete and other joke earlier in the show. The handshake between Rollins & Heyman was sure interesting maybe some foreshadowing just in case Brock doesn't head into WrestleMania as WWE World Heavyweight Champion. 25 minutes was the estimated time for this steel cage match and despite Cena's lack of in-ring skills these gimmicks matches does provide the outlet for Cena to hide his weaknesses. Overall good match I thought Rollins is gaining a lot of this as a heel due to Lesnar interference, but I think the WWE made the right choice with Rollins winning last night.

Overall I thought WWE Monday Night Raw was okay it wasn't earth shattering. We got a couple things confirmed for the Royal Rumble which I like. I like that they did hit everything they needed to hit with the fallout of the pay-per-view. I felt really bad for The New Day that Detroit was pretty bogus and for fans to say they want new characters and this and that and when somebody tries to do something different they shit all over it. I thought the commentary drag the show down for me. I always like Kane and now I like him more since he not only choke slammed the Bunny and Adam Rose he also tombstone The Bunny. I gave this Raw a C+ and I think that's fair we won't have balls to wall Raw's heading to the Royal Rumble especially since there's 5 weeks left, but we'll see what happens next. What's your thought's on last night's Monday Night Raw?

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Renee Young Rises To Superstars Status

Never really made much note in the blog of Josh Mathews being let go by WWE. The reason why seems pretty clear as people like Renee Young and Todd Phillips were simply better than him. Young who has been being groomed to have a role in commentary is getting her shot calling matches on WWE Superstars. Another step up the ladder for her in the relatively quick rise she has had within the company. People in Canada know Renee with a different last name from her time working at The Score in Canada. The Score was the broadcaster for WWE Programming in Canada. She was part of a show call Right After Wrestling that changed into Aftermatch and hosted with Jimmy Korderas former WWE Official for 22 years and Arda Ocal.

Young was a huge hit on that show and obvious caught the attention of WWE and she was hired and left the Network which no longer exists and was re-branded when purchased by Rogers to Sportsnet 360. I personally have never been as crazy about her as most seem to be. I can not deny her fast move up the ladder since arriving in the WWE though. She is a talented broadcaster in her own unique way and has a great personality that shines through in the WWE as it did in her work on The Score.

Rumors had been that ESPN had interest in Young as they have had success with a couple of other former WWE announcers turned into ESPN guys. This latest challenge for Young should be very interesting as to the best of my knowledge she never did an kind of commentary in working with The Score. She has been doing it for awhile on NXT after quickly moving away from being the backstage interviewer on NXT. She has a charming chemistry with William Regal who really should be doing commentary on the main shows by now at this point. Why he isn’t, I have no idea and wrote about his brilliance in the past. Phillips and Young have been working together on NXT so the transition should be smooth. WWE .com had an article about the move playing up the fact that Young will be the first female commentator for the company in over a decade. I am not sure who they are claiming was the last. Sunny had roles on various shows so maybe that is who they are referencing. In any case this is a big deal and WWE commentary has been in bad need of a makeover for sometime.

This might be some baby steps in that direction which I think we all would welcome. The Cole, Lawler and JBL commentary team is about as stale as the current WWE Champion John Cena.

So congrats to Renee who I only ever briefly met at a Raptors game we both were covering. She really has made the most of her opportunity with the WWE. 




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William Regal Is Coming Into His Own As A Broadcaster

I am going to save my thoughts on NXT Takeover for our podcast that will be out tonight. It is a big show for us as we welcome former ROH T.V Champion Matt Taven to our show. It is a very good interview and Matt has some really cool things to say about ROH heading to PPV on June 22nd. I really like Steve Corino who does commentary for ROH. I think he is growing into his role as commentator. He like many, not just in wrestling, but in sports was a former competitor in the ring. Not every former wrestler or pro athlete is cut out for broadcasting.

This all leads me to the point of this blog to talk about William Regal and the tremendous job he did last night and has been doing for awhile lately down in NXT. I have made it no secret that I am not happy with commentary on the main roster. I may have much more critical opinion having studied broadcast journalism. Still, I think the average person can tell the difference between good and bad. It isn’t rocket science but it isn’t as easy as people thing it is either. One of the things you can try if you think you can do it, mute your T.V and call the action you’re seeing and record it. Listen back and evaluate if you did a good job at describing and adding to what you were seeing visually. It isn’t easy for the average person it is truly a craft.  This is a skill that you always are looking to constantly evolve in. Each time you do a broadcast, or have a chance to interview someone it is a new chance to improve and grow. If you fall into a rut and just start to mail it in the results in that will show. That is what I feel is happening with the main broadcast crew on Raw.

One of the things in that little experiment that I failed to have you experience was having people talking in your ear as you talk. That is what happens during a real broadcast with director and in case of WWE a producer named Vince McMahon in your ear. That is a jarring experience the first time you do a real broadcast to both listen and talk at the same time is a unique skill. Add in the fact that it is Vince, which I have never experienced, I would think that only amps up the pressure.

William Regal has both an entertaining way about him, but a brilliant way of mixing that and telling the story of a match. He can have you laughing one moment about how he talked with Tyler Breeze and comes up with some ridiculous things his fur or feather jacked is made from. In the next moment he can get across the gravity of the match Breeze is about to compete in for a chance to be NXT Champion. He describes things in the ring and really sells the import aspects of a hold or point in a match. He does something that J.R was oh so skilful at and still is. He makes you get emotionally invested in the product and people you are watching.

Where wrestling separates from traditional sports is that it is a wrestling announcer’s job to get over the talent. While there is some of that in pro sports especially in hometown broadcasts, at the end of the day we expecting objectivity. While in wrestling we have no real expectation of that and in fact sometimes it is great if it is totally irrational thinking. You can play favorites, as wrestling announcer especially in a heel role on commentary. Jessie Ventura and Bobby “The Brain” would lay the verbal smack down on the babyface wrestlers. Jessie use to go to town on Tito Santana to the point I wonder if Jessie was owed money by him.

William Regal really has grown as commentator and is truly reaching the peak of his skills at it. When Bray Wyatt took out JBL I hoped for a brief second that Regal would come out and replace him. No such luck in terms of this happening.

I love him on NXT and he does a wonderful job getting the new talent over, but he is needed far more on the main roster. Where some of the people he has put over so well in NXT, are having a difficult time adjusting to things on the big stage. A big part of the reason for these failures of recent arrivals from NXT happening falls at the feet of Cole, Lawler and Bradshaw. They have failed in their role to get these new talents over. It takes the talent and writers as well, but commentary is a big part of that.

William Regal we need you on Raw or Smackdown to help bring your brilliance to a larger audience. You would be shocked how much better an average match can become with great commentary. It is not all that different from how a great crowd can make a show seem better and bad crowd can make a decent show seem terrible.

So save us William Regal, you maybe our only hope to save commentary from the evil trio of liars that Bray Wyatt has pointed out.