Raw Talking Points Featuring The Debut Of Kevin Owens On Raw

It was just over a year ago I met Kevin Steen and now he is of course Kevin Owens and he showed up on Monday Night Raw! This alone was reason to love this episode on Monday Night Raw but there was lots more reasons to love Raw as it turned out. For the second time in a month, Raw really hit a home run in my opinion. I was not as fond of Payback the event the night before but after this Raw, any thoughts of Payback were a distant memory. So let’s dive in and give you five talking points that made this Raw one of the best of the year. This was headlined by one of the best WWE debuts in perhaps the last 10 years.

Kevin Owens meets John Cena: This was as if some ROH fans dream come to life in the WWE. A year ago that is wear Kevin Steen was facing guys like Adam Cole and Shinsuke Nakamura. Last night he was in the ring face to face with as John Cena calls himself the man that runs the place that is WWE. Kevin Owens got the better of John Cena on the microphone and instead of answering the U.S Challenge like Neville and Zayn before him; he simply laid out John Cena. He stated that he would fight Cena on his own terms.  Holding his NXT title high and stepping on the United States title.

As a Canadian the stepping on the U.S belt was a sign of the fact that Kevin is Canadian and he really has a chance now to be Canada’s big star in WWE like guys like Edge, Chris Jericho and Bret Hart and others have been in the past. Later in the night, Kevin announced that as he promised earlier he would fight John Cena but not on this night instead at the Elimination Chamber event in two weeks. For my money, this was one of the best WWE debuts in a long time. It easily was short of The Shield the best NXT debut we have seen. Kevin Owens is a guy who can deliver. WWE to this point has booked him as the massive star he truly was on the independent scene in North America and in ROH. This is something that never happened for the likes of Daniel Bryan, C.M Punk and others. Kevin is the right man at the right time to make a massive impact on the WWE. People talk about Finn Balor, Sami Zayn as big stars for WWE in the future. To me Owens is the safest bet they have to make a major impact and he showed that tonight.

Stephanie Returns To Raw: People may hate her but let’s be honest Raw is a lot more fun with Stephanie than without her. I just enjoy the hell out of her character and she was involved in to angles throughout the night. She ultimately ended up being forced into booking Dean Ambrose in a WWE World Title match with Seth Rollins. She also continues her feud with Brie Bella and now Nikki Bella by forcing Nikki to go out and defend her title alone. Suggesting that Brie might need some therapy with all she has gone through with her husband Daniel Bryan’s medical issues. No one pulls of fake sincerity like Steph. There are a million little things that Steph does that are truly great.

Lana and Rusev Soap Opera: It has been teased and rumored for a while that the break-up of Lana and Rusev was coming. A legit couple in real life saw their on screen partnership break apart. The final blow was Lana actually being the one to quit on behalf of Rusev at Payback. Rusev would come out with no Lana and eventually she would come out against his wishes. She stated that Rusev quit in his native tongue of Bulgarian. Rusev denied it, called her weak, and sent her to stepping. Later in the night, Lana would return and get in a lip lock with Dolph Ziggler, which would lead to Rusev coming out and getting involved with Dolph. Both will be participants in the Elimination Chamber match for the vacant I-C title. A nice sub-plot to the larger match that will also see Sheamus, Ryback, R-Truth and King Barrett take part in. I would assume Ziggler will Americanize Lana and work a program with Rusev coming out of Elimination Chamber regardless of if either wins. Rumors have been that Sheamus will ultimately win this match. This is based on him being billed as the reigning I-C champion for an upcoming event.

New Day: Continues to Suck Impressively: The New Day got a controversial win as Kofi and Xavier Woods performed “Twin Magic” to win the final fall of their match with Cesaro and Kidd at Payback. They would be forced to defend the titles again with Woods banned from ringside on Raw. It would merely be the set up to the first ever Tag-Team Elimination Chamber Match. Other teams involved beyond the two mentioned include a cast of jobber teams. Los Matadors, The Ascension, The Prime Time Players and Lucha Dragons will all be in this match. Expect New Day to find a way to beat the odds and retain. These there guys have really embraced this role as over the top baby faces that are in reality massive heels. One of the biggest turnarounds of a bad gimmick in wrestling that I can personally recall. New Day Rocks at Sucking and the fans love to hate them.

No Reigns, No Orton, and No Problem: Payback saw both Roman Reigns and Randy Orton in the main event but nowhere to be found on Raw the next night. This left the stage open for Dean Ambrose to swoop in and get his title shot with Seth. Reigns was promoted as returning on Smackdown and there was no mention of Orton at all who took the pin in the fatal-four way match. The show didn’t miss either as it worked out very well without them allowing the Owens’ debut and Ambrose title opportunity to get their shine. What Roman and Randy are doing for Elimination Chamber may not be decided yet or it can get its own stage on Smackdown to announce that. It was the right call to give both the night off.

This was one of those Raw shows that suck you back in as a disgruntled fan. Kevin Owens had one of the best debuts in a long time probably since The Shield arrived and Dean Ambrose got a chance to return to the main event scene. It really seemed like a show that was designed for the hardcore fan base there was a ton of promotion for the NXT Unstoppable card this Wednesday on the Network. It was mentioned a ton in and based around the Owens appearance. No one loved this Raw more though than Owen Steen the son of Kevin who was surprised to find out his dad was fighting John Cena. When Kevin first signed in NXT and had to move his family to Orlando Owen’s question for his dad was when was he going to get to fight John Cena? The answer is May 31st at Elimination Chamber.

Check out his reaction via Kevin’s wife’s instagram if you have not seen this already. Cool stuff!

Seeds of A John Cena and Rusev Feud Have Begun

The first step to a John Cena vs. Rusev feud has been thrown down on Twitter. Lana in response to a tweet from Hulk Hogan declares that Rusev will crush John Cena.

. @HulkHogan BOO HOO HOO so sad! WE DO NOT CARE! @RusevBUL will #CRUSH your precious @JohnCena & then take your #WWEHWTitle. 🇷🇺
— LANA (@LanaWWE) November 5, 2014

On this past Monday’s Raw prior to Rusev capturing the U.S title, defeating Sheamus was offered a spot on Team Authority to face Team Cena at Survivor Series. Lana and Rusev said they would consider the offer of Stephanie McMahon. This seems to be planting the seeds for the much-expected Cena vs. Rusev feud. Some thought it would be the mania program for John Cena but it seems more likely it will happen sooner than later based on the direction WWE seems to be taking.

Cena would be facing Brock Lesnar it would be assumed for the third time at the Royal Rumble. This at least suggests that Rusev may face Cena as soon as the December special event for the WWE. The involvement of Hogan in all this might see him end up in some kind of manager role for such a match.

A win over the undefeated Russian would be in the WWE’s view the way to establish Cena as strong heading into the third match in a span of 6 months with Brock Lesnar in January.

It is all speculation at this point but it seems John Cena is on a collision course with the big Russian sooner rather than later.

Other News From Day in Condo On The Moon

Randy Orton written off WWE Television. 
Wade Barrett to appear on Canadian T.V This Weekend

Follow us for all the latest @Condoonthemoon

When Did South Park Become More Edgy Than The WWE?

We have all heard for years now how the WWE can’t be what it was back in the attitude era. WWE has become too corporate and concerned about their sponsors and business partners.  It all sounds somewhat logical and makes sense to a rational thinking person. However, is that really the case or just an excuse to go the safe route?

I give you South Park the Comedy Central show that has pushed the limits of a politically correct society. They have made fun of everyone and everything including the WWE in an episode back is season 13 of the popular cartoon series. They are on a network that is owned by Viacom which few would not argue is just as big a corporate company as the WWE.

So can someone explain to me how South Park has been able to survive with what that show does? They are able to get advertisers, seem to have little issue merchandizing their product and all the while pushing the limits. At some point WWE who was always willing to push the limits and see how far they could go, even going as far as having D-X read an actual letter sent to them complaining about the gimmick of the group and making fun of it. What was the result from USA? The network? They loved the segment and D-X continued with their antics for years to come on WWE  television on the network.

Some might argue times have changed and the reaction might be far different now. Really well than explain shows like South Park, Family Guy and host of other shows that all push the limits more than WWE does now. Anytime an angle even borders on being controversial, the WWE seems to run & hide and kill the angle for the most part. If not kill, really take the teeth out of it and make it far more generic in nature.

I give you three recent examples of this from the last few years. Let us start with the Real American Jack Swagger and Zeb Coulter. At first, this was an angle that was clearly representing a radical faction of the Republican Party that had strong opinions on immigration and American values. This was represented in the character of Zeb Coulter. So much so it got people tied to that wing of the Republican Party to notice it like Glen Beck. The WWE responded by making an infamous video that Zeb and Jack break the fourth wall, step out of a promo, and act as themselves. Acknowledging the obvious that they are playing roles and this is just a storyline in a show.

After that though the ranting and raving of Zeb became less and less controversial and to the point that he is now a babyface character spouting American values that are much easier for everyone to support.

The official face turn came when Jack Swagger and Zeb from out of the blue came out to challenge Rusev and Lana. This angle had been slowly changed from a Bulgarian sympathizer with the blond Russian to both being billed from Russia. It was a very old school angle that at first came of as very corny and a modernized version of Rocky 4. It ended up becoming a very edgy angle based on the real life drama that started to unfold in the Ukraine. Things reached a boiling point when Lana indirectly referenced a tragedy in which a passenger airline was downed in the Ukraine that she referenced only as ‘current events” involving Russia. There was a major backlash despite it being very different from having an Iraqi sympathizer during a war with the country and the United States. The WWE backed off pushing Rusev for a week and would bring him back but the whole gimmick has been really toned down in its ties to current events and reality.

My third and final example started with the WWE being criticized for their lack of pushing black athletes and having black people as part of the company in general. In typical old WWE fashion a week or two later they responded with a group of Xavier Woods, Big E and Kofi Kingston. They were presented like a second coming of perhaps the Nation of Domination. The WWE in the past created a group under similar circumstances when a parent’s council was angry with the WWE for their product not being fit for children. The WWE response was to create the group the “Right to Censor” that made a mockery of that group and their concerns. In 2014, WWE the new group of disgruntled black wrestlers’ angle was dropped the next week. The three continue to work on house shows but it is assumed the angle is being re-worked.

Some where and some how Vince McMahon lost his grapefruits. You may only look to the week it has been for the NFL as they have been the focus of the national media spotlight for their handling of the Ray Rice situation. Causing an uproar over domestic violence and the NFL has become society’s pinata. Worse for the NFL former M.V.P Adrian Peterson later in the week was charged with child endangerment. It has been a horrible week for the NFL the likes we have never seen.

So perhaps society would not take to the attitude era at all. Maybe the fact the South Park and other cartoon based shows are the only ones that can get away with pushing the limits these days. Involve real people in a world where reality and fiction are always at the best times hard to get people to understand in wrestling it doesn't work. 

In any case, society has changed to a point that it makes it hard for wrestling to push the boundaries. Wrestling still has the same stigmas that it has always faced. The recent death of Shawn O’Haire was an example of yet another performer dying far too young that the average person sees as the norm in wrestling. It has improved a tremendous amount in the last 10 years and heart warming stories about Jake Roberts and Scott Hall being pulled back from destroying their lives have happened in the past couple years. WWE and Wrestling in general will never get past some clichés about the business to the average person. 

Wrestling is at a low point and everyone thinks they have an answer how to fix it. Society has changed a lot and the idea of simply turning back the clock might not be the answer. To say the WWE is afraid to take chances is not really the answer either. They have taken perhaps the biggest gamble they ever have with the WWE Network. The issue is though they need the product to put on that network that people feel they can’t live without. This is hard to do in this world not just for the WWE but all sports and all entertainment.

Still a change in direction clearly needs to take place. The numbers on the WWE Network are evidence of the need for that change.

Summerslam: Swagger (USA) vs Rusev (RUS)

The classic wrestling angle of the evil foreigner and the baby face American. It is as old as wrestling itself or so it seems. The latest version trying to cash in on this classic angle has been the feud between Jack Swagger and Rusev with their respective mangers Zeb Colter and Lana. In many respects, this feud has been made by the mangers with the wrestlers more in the background.

The Rusev arrival from NXT to get him to the point we find ourselves now has been a rocky road. He started, as the Bulgarian Brute and transitioned into being from Russia as go figure people hate Russia more than Bulgaria. Let us be honest, there are many things about this feud that could not have been foreseen.

It probably begins with Jack Swagger being turned baby face along with Zeb Colter. They have been booked as radical tea party like supporters that had very controversial opinions on America. Unexpectedly they come out and confront the evil foreigners and instantly they were turned. It kept with their logic as heels to come out and confront Lana and Rusev.

The real life issues involving Russia and their involvement in Ukraine and the downing of a commercial airliner. Lana referenced the tragic event in a promo on the last WWE pay-per-view. It was just a comment about people blaming Russia for “recent events in the world” and it was wrong. It caused a backlash in mainstream media that threaten this feud. This was set up with match between the two ending in a countdown out victory for Rusev leading to this flag match at Summerslam.

In the end, the WWE weathered the storm issuing a very sarcastic apology and moved forward with their plans for these two. It does remind me of the situation the WWE landed them in with Slaughter vs. Hogan angle that started just prior to the first Iraq war. This angle is walking a line that is similar in nature. . Let us hope for peace and not war and this angle to continue being totally secondary to that.

In any case, this is a feud that deserved to continue as Zeb and Lana have more than done their share as the soundtrack to this feud. While Rusev and Swagger both who lack the microphone skills are a good match-up in the ring. This is a feud that honestly shows you the value of some performers need for having a manager that can do their talking for them. Makes total sense that an Old School angle would point out one of the other aspects of Old School wrestling that can still work today.

You also have Lana who has become the pin-up girl for the WWE despite her less than American values of her character. Zeb has become the American patriot all of the sudden for America to rally behind. 

The outcome has been fairly predictable in this one as America always wins in the end in the WWE. Nothing a crowd of Americans especially wrestling fans love to do more than chant U-S-A. People claiming Jack Swagger is over and this has made him might be going too far. Ultimately, though a win here will help him a great deal.

In contrast Rusev does not have to be pinned to win a “flag match” if it is done in the last version of this we have seen it just takes claiming the flag off a pole. Therefore, he remains strong to some extent. Which is perfect wrestling booking, in which the match harms no one and everyone should come out stronger on the other side.

So America have fun chanting U-S-A like Hacksaw Jim Duggan for 2014. Rusev can be your Volfoff but Lana is in no way resembling Classy Freddie Blassie or Slick. Which males from all nations are thankful for that!

Check out the rest of our In-Depth Summerslam previews so far: 

Stephanie vs Brie     

Dean Ambrose vs Seth Rollins   

The Miz vs Dolph Ziggler   

Jericho vs Bray Wyatt

 

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