5 Talking Points Coming Out of Raw ( 01/05/15 )

The return of the Authority brought with it a pretty brutal edition of Raw. There were many reasons why this Raw was terrible which came on the heels of at least an interesting Raw to close out 2014. There was a change to Royal Rumble main event, the continuation of terrible booking for Roman Reigns and end of a disappointing Ambrose and Wyatt feud. It really was disappointing and for those who sampled NJPW they had to be scratching their heads. I did not think Wrestle Kingdom was as awesome as others did but in comparison to what we saw on Monday night, it was mind-blowing difference in the products. So let’s dive into it and figure out where this is all heading.

1. Roman Reigns Continues To Be Killed By WWE’s Pushing of Him: People blame Roman Reigns for not getting over but in reality, he has been handcuffed and I am not sure anyone could get over with the crap he has been given. Booking him against the Big Show is the first part of the problem. Name me the last person Big Show actually got over in a feud. The WWE is booking him strong against the guy in Reigns they are trying to push to the moon. Every time Reigns has to sell to Big Show, it kills him a little more.

There could be some debate about that but not much that makes sense. What can’t be debated is terrible writing that has been given to Reigns in terms of promos. People talk about his lack of ability to get over a promo. I suggest to you that you need to have the material to have a chance to get over. The latest Reigns literal Superman promo was the worst yet and trust me you can BELIEVE THAT!

2. Seth Rollins Added to Royal Rumble Main Event: Perhaps the most debatable point in recent months is if Rollins is over as a heel. WWE has booked him into the Royal Rumble Championship match with John Cena and Brock Lesnar. No one really wanted to see Lesnar vs. Cena III straight up for the title. So adding Rollins to the mix is interesting and does make sense based on how the second Cena vs. Lesnar match ended.

Maybe I am in the minority but I have a hard time buying Seth Rollins as a serious threat to become the World Champion. I can’t imagine Rollins as the Champion in the Main Event of Wrestlemania 31. Perhaps putting him in his title match is a step to making folks like me buy Rollins as a legit contender for the WWE World Championship. The Authority returning does not help him though as in their absence at least he was booked as the top heel. In the large shadows of Triple H, Stephanie not to mention Brock and Heyman, he quickly becomes irrelevant.

3. The End of Ambrose vs. Wyatt: When it first was set up even with the wacko hologram, many people myself included, still thought this could be a great feud. In the end, we saw some good to great matches but not a great feud. Tonight’s ambulance match was ok but seemed out of place on this horrible show. It also didn’t stand out from any of the other brawl-based matches they have had. Wyatt got the better of this feud in terms of wins and losses. Ambrose who was very hot coming into this feud comes out of it not nearly as hot. It really failed to deliver what fans had expected going into this feud.

Wyatt seems to be being protected for some big Wrestlemania program. The rumors have been if Taker comes back, he would face Bray Wyatt. Which is a wrong move considering Sting will also be on Wrestlemania as well facing Triple H by all indications. Fans have clamored for a Sting vs. Taker match for over a decade. This will make both matches fall flat. What about Dean what is his future for Wrestlemania? I have no idea other than if Seth is not your Champion perhaps another match with him for the briefcase at Mania would work. In the end, Wyatt and Ambrose the first time around did not set the world on fire.

4. John Cena Attempt To Get Him Over Number 1.734.204 fails: John Cena was once again a focus for the Authority as they attempt to build sympathy for John Cena who that is just not possible to do at this stage. After being forced to bring back the Authority to save Edge, now in the conclusion of Raw former members of Team Cena were fired after being screwed with earlier in the night by the Authority.

Ziggler was booked in I-C title match with Wade Barrett by Triple H. Ziggler would win the match and Barrett would have a vicious attack on his shoulder. Corporate Kane came out and informed us that this was actually a two out of three falls match. Barrett would win quickly in the second fall. Ziggler would put up a good fight but eventually lose. Barrett wins the I-C Title, which in reality is actually nice, as he never lost the title.

Rowan was booked against Harper with special guest refs the Stooges 2.0 Jamie Noble and Joey Mercury. They screwed Rowan and joined in on a three-way beat down with Harper on Rowan. While Ryback originally booked in a one on one match with Seth Rollins ended up being in a handicap match with Kane and Seth. He would fight hard but eventually lose.

They all end up fired and John Cena is made to be held responsible for these people being fired. It is another failed attempt to build sympathy for John Cena. Wrestling fans have seen these firing angles to many times to take them seriously. Cena is just not a sympathetic character at this point. Will see what corny way John Cena saves the jobs of his supposed friends.

5. Bad Gimmicks Continue to Be Bad: The New Day, The Ascension and Adam Rose. They all suck for different reasons but are all proof of the fact the WWE can’t come up with interesting gimmicks in 2015 for mid-card or lower card talents. What all of these gimmicks have in common is they were dead literally a couple weeks after being launched. The latest being the Ascension who have become a joke by their own hand comparing themselves to Demolition and Road Warriors.

Honestly it is so terrible what we have seen lately if you are in NXT you should consider yourself fortunate and not be in any hurry to get up to the main roster.

It’s a new year but Raw is stuck in the same place drowning in it’s own crap at this point. For those hoping for Daniel Bryan to be some savior to all of this it should be noted there was zero reference to his announcement last week that he is returning in the Royal Rumble. That is not a good sign for the Yes movement.

What To Expect From Raw In U.K?

Last week we got to see Vince McMahon make a rare appearance on Raw that will be hard to top. We will have a lively and possibly a bit hostile crowd in Liverpool, England. We will never know as far as the broadcast goes if they were as Raw will be on tape delay and not live in North America. People in the U.K have been extremely upset with the delays in them getting the WWE Network. They like folks in Canada are unable to enjoy the WWE Network for free in November like the rest of the world and all of the U.S.

Speaking of United States, we have a new United States Champion so let’s start with that:

1. What will Rusev and Lana have to say? A new U.S Champion was crowned on the WWE Network after Raw went off the air last Monday. What will the New United States Champion have to say? As we reported last week, Lana on Twitter was already talking about crushing John Cena in response to a tweet from Hulk Hogan. Cena was a rare “MIA” for Raw last week. Thought is he was working on a movie and that kept him from attending. In any case we also have an invite from the Authority to join their team at Survivor Series If they want to get their hands on Cena that is only way to do it at Survivor Series. Will we see a new Russian Federation title or bringing back the European Title with Rusev? We will see but if it was the European Title that would likely get a positive reaction in U.K so not likely to happen.

2. John Cena is Back Kids: So John has this big match with the Authority and needs to build a team to face them so why not take a week off and worry about that this week. It falls in line with all the rest of the flawed Cena logic we have come to expect. In any case, we should see Cena firming up his team, which looks to include Dolph Ziggler after last week. This week Cena is scheduled to face another potential teammate as the Authority has booked him against Ryback. Memories of the ill-fated heel turn that Ryback made that has taken him 2 years to recover from more or less. Cena likely will have something to say about Rusev as well seeing as both Lana and Hogan have made mention of him tied to Rusev on social media.

3. Who fills the Randy Orton Void? Randy Orton a month ago could have missed a Raw and it would have been almost unnoticeable. The last few weeks we have seen a Randy Orton that you can’t help but ignore. He is off to film a movie and is in a similar situation Dean Ambrose found himself heading into some time off to film a movie being red hot. Orton as far as storyline is concerned was like Ambrose taken out by Seth Rolling. Curb stomped into steel steps that left him with a storyline concussion and a real life gash in his head that came earlier in the brawl. It will be interesting if there is a whole in Team Cena that will be left for Orton could potentially fill.

4. What is next with Wyatt and Ambrose? This feud started with an over top hologram at Hell in a Cell. Since this feud has limped out of the gate without much reason, as to why it is happening. Wyatt has been claiming that Ambrose is similar to him. This seems to be a weak motivation for a feud with one of the hottest superstars in the company at the moment. This feud desperately needs a spark to get it burning. Wyatt can’t afford another feud not going well for him at this point. His feud with Chris Jericho did not live up to the hype. So far, this feud with Ambrose has been much the same early on.

5. More matches for Survivor Series Under-Card:  We have almost nothing on the under card of this show. A.J Lee vs. Nikki might be a match or some Survivor Series style match for the women with Team Brie vs. Team Nikki theme to it. There is very little set up right now. Perhaps we get Miz and Mizdow going for the Tag-Team Titles. Cesaro will job out to someone because he is not allowed to win matches these days. Survivor Series is being planned like a show they are giving away for free….Oh right they are in most places except parts of Canada and the U.K.

Anytime Raw makes its way over the pond to the U.K, you can guarantee a lively and active crowd. The U.K fans are truly special as they most weeks stay up to crazy hours of the morning to watch Raw live. They are dedicated and hardcore in their wrestling fandom. So expect lots of crowd craziness with the stuff WWE does not approve of likely edited out. They will have 5 or 6 hours with the delay to edit out any forms of fan protest over the network.  Likely, no Bad News Barrett surprise as he was in Canada over the weekend. It would be great if there were though. In theory, it is possible but Barrett is still at least a month away from return to the ring.

Wade Barrett Still At Least A Month Away From A Return

Wade Barrett is in Canada doing a number of media appearances with Rogers the WWE broadcast partners in Canada. Barrett gave an update on his condition and according to him he is 4-6 weeks away from returning to the ring. When he returns he claims to want to go after Dolph Ziggler and the Intercontinental title he never lost.  While when asked who he would like to be paired with at Wrestlemania he said he would like to be paired with Sheamus.

Barrett was hoping to have made a faster recovery and be part of the WWE’s current tour in Europe. Raw is going to be in Liverpool on Monday in Barrett’s homeland of England.

In terms of what type of Bad News Barrett will we see when he returns if it is up to Wade it seems he would prefer to remain a bad guy. He was looking on his way to a babyface turn prior to being injured back in June. All this comes from an interview on the Aftermath show on Sportsnet 360. The interview begins at the 15:18 mark.

Barrett also appeared on the radio on Sportsnet Fan 590 on there fun segment “name that wrestler” featuring former I-C Champions.

Wade Barrett To Appear On Canadian Television This Saturday

Wade Barrett has been out of action for some time. He was injured in June with a shoulder injury and forced to vacate the Intercontinental Championship. He was hoping to be back in time for this upcoming WWE tour of Europe and his homeland of England. It appears that will not be the case. He will be working on the weekend covering EPL soccer with the folks from Rogers Sportsnet which is owned by Rogers the WWE’s broadcast partner in Canada. They are also the partner with the WWE on the WWE Network here in Canada. Unlike elsewhere Canada has the WWE Network on cable television. From the latest conference call last week the WWE Network is still only available to 20% of Canadians all Rogers based subscribers.

Barrett seems excited to be doing this as he tweeted earlier this week announcing that he would be part of the broadcast on Saturday for the game with QPR vs. Manchester City.

*BREAKING (good) NEWS*: I'll be the @Sportsnet studio guest pundit for the @QPRFC vs @MCFC @premierleague game this Sat. Can't wait! #BNB
— Bad News Barrett (@WadeBarrett) November 3, 2014

In studio would suggest that Barrett would be in Toronto where Sportsnet is based. This is not Barrett’s first attempt at being a soccer analyst as the WWE had him doing videos based on the World Cup this past summer that they featured on WWE.com

Obviously, aside from the soccer people will be interested in hearing how Barrett is doing in terms of his recovery. He is expected to be returning in December despite his desire to have made an earlier return to be on this current tour for the WWE in Europe including his homeland of England.

If you are Canadian you can catch him on one of the Rogers channels Saturday as an in studio guest on their weekly coverage on the EPL. WWE and Rogers made a 10-year deal for the WWE’s broadcasting rights in Canada as well as the distribution of the WWE Network.  One wonders if other WWE superstars will be getting to play sports reporter going forward. Time will tell going forward.

Other News From Day in Condo On The Moon:

Randy Orton written off WWE Television. 

Follow us for all the latest @Condoonthemoon

WWE Money In The Bank: Some Final Thoughts

Some final thoughts as we get ready for Money in the Bank. I admit, as I said on our podcast this week (which you can find a link to at the bottom of this post) that I am not that excited for this pay-per-view. I base this on my lack of faith in the WWE taking a major risk on this show. So anything that likely doesn’t go to how I expect the script to play out tonight will have more impact. It always seems having low expectations gives you a better chance of enjoying a WWE Pay-Per-View or Raw. That might be a very negative way to look at it but it also is an honest one, especially in this post Wrestlemania funk the company has been in not all of their doing.


Here are some things that I feel we need, will or should get some answers to on this PPV:

Maybe more important than any match is some clue as to where Daniel Bryan’s health status is at currently. It is likely the biggest factor in how the WWE has chosen to move forward from here. Is he going to be back sooner or later and has the WWE regardless of that lost any faith in his ability to be a top guy coming back. They may not be as keen after fighting all the way to put the title on him in the first place and now seem him as a high risk in a main event program?

The Shield will have their real first opportunity on a large stage to come off as individuals now that the group is basically split apart for the future in the short term. All three have their positives and negatives as individuals and those will now been easier to point out and evaluate as they are separated. Reigns has always been the chosen one in the eyes of fans by the WWE. That will still be the case even if he is not the WWE World Heavyweight Champion at the end of the night. Rollins needs to establish he is a player and validate his choice to be on his own. While Dean Ambrose seems to have the least support in terms of storyline but still is perhaps the most complete product of the three. While some may see that as a negative for Ambrose it might be a show of faith by WWE that he doesn’t need as much support from his storylines to get over. Just give the man a microphone and he will take care of that on his own. People marvel at the selling ability of Dolph Ziggler. I maintain that best guy at selling in the WWE is Dean Ambrose he just goes about it in a much safer way. That might not be the case tonight but in general he sells with his expressions and movements without having to take crazy bumps like a Ziggler.

As for the former Shield members future their matches for Battleground have already leaked out as we reported this morning. 

State of Wyatt Family will be a little clearer perhaps by the end of the night. It seems that the WWE would like to create some distance between Bray Wyatt and his followers Harper and Rowan. If all walked away with WWE Gold tonight they could easily get right back to the tight unit they have been and hold all the power in the WWE in a sense with all being champions. I see this more as a way to see what they want to do with Bray. He is starting to seem more and more like a baby face as each day passes.

Can Paige honestly be able to get out of the funk her booking as created? She is booked as one of the weakest and most insignificant Diva’s Champion in a long time. That is saying a lot too give that the title has rarely had meaning in the last 5 years or so with the exception of A.J Lee’s run as champion. She is not expected to return anytime soon and may in fact be having a child with he new husband CM Punk. In any case on paper this seems like another time where the Champion will be an after thought and all the heat will be on the angle with the challenger Naomi.

Rusev will continue to crush you would assume. This makes you seriously wonder about Big E’s future in the short and long term.

Fandango a chance to perhaps build some momentum out of being in the middle of this cat fight and get a fresh coat of paint and another layer added to his character. I think a womanizer Fandango is a perfect kind of gimmick for him. The idea of making him this bad boy temperamental artist, which goes through women like he goes through a dance routine, is a good route to go. 

What is the status of Wade Barrett and if it is “Bad News” who steps into his spot and will they offer a surprise and are a factor in the Money in the Bank Ladder Match.

Will we see shocking Cash in on the winner of Money in the Bank resulting in a re-match at Battleground? It is an option and if Cena wins one that might be a way to avoid the negative reaction that is likely to happen if he wins. Which by the way is pretty sad to say given this PPV is his home town of Boston. It is the total opposite of what happened in Chicago when CM Punk won and took the title home to his fridge in Chicago. That still remains the best match in the history of Money in the Bank for me.

Those are some of the main things I have on my mind entering this PPV. So let me know what your thinking as it goes on tonight. Give us follow on Twitter, a like on Facebook and please when you have the time check out our weekly podcast that has a ton of work put into it every week. Links for all are below. Thanks to everyone for helping the site continue to grow with more people coming to the site this month as we continue to trend in a positive direction. Still we can do better and that happens with all of you not just coming here as you have now but, telling others how much you like. If you have issues let us know those too, we may not be able to solve them but always want to hear from you.

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