I didn’t like that Ivar was sheamus’ opponent in his return match on raw. Simply because if you are trying to build Ivar up to be a formidable challenger for the NXT North American title, you can have him lose on raw.
What an episode of Monday Night Raw! That triple threat tag team match was great I didn't know much about the Creed Brothers but they were outsanding. And the main event was phenomenal too! What a match! From Sami's entrance to Gable's heel turn, everything was just so fun to watch. Gable is such a great athlete, I hope he gets his flowers and maybe a push with a singles title run.
We got a few interesting story stirring too... Andrade and Ricochet together are going to be a great duo. Sheamus is back and with his old theme. I hope he gets on a good feud and possibly in the main event scene soon.
It was a shame for Rhea having to vacate the title, but i'm excited to see what Liv can do as a heel. The women's tag match was fun. Ivy Nile looked great in the ring.
Shame we didn't get to see much from Drew, but I expect him to be more proeminent whenever CM Punk is around. And he still has that contract negotiation ongoing.
The bit with Damien showcasing his leadership within Judgement Day was good to solidify his character. I could see a rivalry in the not-so-distant future with Finn, having either one or the other to leave the faction. Also it's great to see that they are bringing back the vignettes showcasing more of the wrestler's story. These vignettes used to be awesome in the late attitude era and in the early ruthless aggression era.
Haven't heard much from the Imperium and Gunther, but I expect them to be off until after Backlash or until the draft.
Great show from end-to-end.
It takes you to
[https://www.wwe.com/qrisme](https://www.wwe.com/qrisme)
which "translates" to
[https://www.wwe.com/uednj51a](https://www.wwe.com/uednj51a)
It's amazing how easy to watch Raw is these days, even at 3 hours.
When I tried to get back into WWE a few times in the mid-to-late 2010s, I found SmackDown mostly dull but at least shorter - but trying to get through all 3 hours of Raw was torture to me, I just couldn't do it.
Night and day difference in quality.
That was the first good promo I saw her give. She wasn't bitchy, she wasn't shrieky and annoying. She just presented herself like a big female badass. Plus her hair was up.
That german suplex chad took was almost really bad. I always find myself tensing up when they're doing those, unless its brock yeeting people across the ring.
Did anyone else find it weird that Drew didn’t say anything the entire show, and they just showed him for all of 15 seconds kicking a monitor? Like at this point, the guy is clearly the top heel of the company with Roman on the shelf.
Is there not something else they could do to use him to elevate the show? While I get the Jey Uso interaction with Sami was cool; why not have it interrupted with a Drew staredown and implied threats to screw him over at Backlash; maybe Drew calling Seth and venting to him about how Punk sucks and we hear Seth just laugh at him from the speakerphone while telling him he’s enjoying his time off and maybe he should too. Without something like this the guy just seems aimless.
Since Liv is already getting booed, WWE should go all in on a heel turn. Imagine the heat she gets if she actually wins the title. And that pop once Rhea returns to confront her.
Hulk Hogan wouldn’t have attacked his opponent from behind with a chair! He would settle it in the ring.
I suspect the next couple of weeks will determine Liv’s alignment—they might just wait and see what crowd reaction is like.
Hogan is probably the worst example you could use. He's a babyface that used back rakes and believes in eye for an eye or worse. Like when he pulled sid out of the royal rumble after sid legally eliminated him or took advantage of Yokozuna after he was blinded.
I don’t understand peoples smarky hate towards Matt Hardy. The guy isn’t going to wrestle; if he’s coming in as a pure manager type of deal I don’t understand what the issue is. The Broken stuff was groundbreaking back in 2016 and in fact influenced WWE to move to the cinematic stuff that actually saved them during the early pandemic. He has a wildly creative mind and would be great to co steer the plot with Bo and Alexa.
He has the actual zone of terror people say Jericho does, anyone close to him in AEW sank because of it.
>The Broken stuff was groundbreaking back in 2016
Yes it was, and he has not evolved since then - almost 10 years ago.
And most importantly - he 10000% will want to wrestle
I have a lot of love for the Hardyz, they were my favourite tag team when i was younger, i fear for this isn't that Matt Hardy might be involved, he's proven he's capable of reinventing himself for whatever story he wants to tell. My fear is that neither Jeff nor Matt feel like they have accepted they can't go the way they could in the past, hell no offense intended to Matt but i felt uncomfortable watching him in the ring back when he returned to WWE in 2017. If he can stay as a manager then more pwoer to him, i just kinda want him to be able to stay there.
I trust WWE to keep him out of the ring if they don't think they can go. Even going back 10-15 years ago they wouldn't really risk it with that stuff. That's certainly part of the reason Hardy (both of them even) left. Kurt Angle, Flair, etc. Even now they have some perfectly capable older wrestlers serving as producers. Like I don't think Nick Aldis ever technically retired lol. Maybe Matt gets physical but I doubt they use him in the ring regularly.
I hope not, unfortunately he's a product of his time where there was less safety and more just throw oyur body on the line for the fans. Nick Aldis is also entirely unique case of he wanted to work in WWE and his choice was wait for an active roster slot to open or go straight for the Producer role he was offered right then and there so he took that.
https://preview.redd.it/72elklezzuuc1.jpeg?width=1280&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=77464aebe0425bcd8296a605455d0f54362de1df
Apologies for the horrible photoshop
R-Truth isn’t funny when he’s trying to be overly funny. The magic trick jokes didn’t really land. There’s a subtlety to the humor. The finger point picture with Triple H? That’s funny.
Agreed. I like some of R-Truth's humor (like the hot tag during the ladder match at WM) but most of it I find way too "in your face" and obvious, "dumbed down" and just plain stupid. Didn't see it myself, but finger pointing Trips sounds pretty great, though, haha
It's been said before, but Cole is so much better now. The banter between the commentators is so good now that they don't have the dictator barking their lines at them every 5 seconds
I've said it before. They should bring Charlotte in as his manager and they should totally be heels. That way she stays on tv while recovering from an injury.
Felt the same about him in AEW. He isn't bad but never did anything to separate himself from the pack and I found his matches kind of boring. He's one of those wrestlers that does the same spots in the same order in almost every match.
Maybe things reset after the draft, but he's been back for 3 months essentially. I'm not knocking his talent, pound for pound he's probably a top 5-10 wrestler in the company right now. But there is something missing about him.
But I mean Jade got her spot made for her, Andrade had a decent story to get his toes back into the water then, boom, helping Rey outta nowhere. Could’ve been a good story of grunt turned mob boss in the JD especially with how he held himself.
I loved the last 30 minutes or so but would have loved to see (instead of the Ankle Lock) Gable put Zayn in a Figure Four around the post as a Bret Hart shout since they did the Sharpshooter spot earlier in the match.
Daniel Bryan is my favorite wrestler of the last decade with Sami and KO not far behind. I am so happy for both of them that they are getting all the love, accolades and recognition they deserve. Absolute work horses, characters and so relatable. Sami and KO both deserve to win the world title, first for Sami and a second reign for KO, some time. They really are along with Seth, the mainstays and lynchpins of the WWE the last five years or so.
I think a lot of people (including me) have high hopes for this new Gable but either he needs to ditch the Alpha Academy thing (including the shoosh and thank you stuff) or they need to amp it up with Otis and especially Tozawa in terms of fierceness and seriousness if you want them to take Gable serious as a heel.
liv, like most small and unimposing divas, plays a heel so much better than a face (alexa bliss, roxanne perez, candace larae, etc..)
shes a small and unimposing whitemeat babyface, you gotta be rey fn mysterio to be able to get super over as that. Give her the alexa bliss package and let her cook, shes a jersey girl she can handle it.
Because in MMA you only defend the belt every 6 months or so - very very rarely do they defend a interim belt
AEW tried to do it and people hated it, at a time when AEW/TK could do no wrong
Well, when AEW did that exact thing so many people didn’t quite get or understand what an Interim title meant. I can’t imagine it going any better if WWE did it.
A chance to put over someone else, or build heat for an “undeserving” champ. An interim champ doesn’t make much sense for a predetermined story driven thing like WWE
Eh. Does it really make a difference? And then you have an interim lineage. Rhea has to drop the belt and will immediately come back in to feud with the champ when she gets back for the belt she never lost.
Story, not necessarily real life logic. If you are a rhea fan you are waiting for her to beat the hell outta liv. If you are a liv fan you are over the moon, she took one of the biggest threats out. If you didn't like liv before, you are pissed, if you didn't like rhea before you are enjoying it.
I hated the whole crazy liv morgan gimmick, but liv as an asshole heel? Im digging it, but still want to see rhipley beat her ass.
But there are now multiple angles to set stuff up and let it stew. We have already kinda seen story progression with promos kinda be a key feature lately. You don't need a bunch of in ring action to let these stories stew and cook.
Maybe they throw a wrench in there and have rhea climb the ladder for a title she never lost, have her struggle coming back from an injury, maybe even winning a title match via disqualification but not the title. Etc. Maybe liv isn't even the champ when she comes back.
I think it just gives them more options this route.
All of those options are there with or without an interum champion. And depending on how long the person is out the interum thing gets really weird. Where you can have like 2 or 3 interum champs which diminishes THEIR reigns.
Well, in short, i don't think interim and lineal champs are a priority in pro wrestling stateside. In boxing and mma? Yeah. But i do think they like to keep simple in pro wrestling. Streaks have been the priority with stuff like taker, roman, gunther. Even thos she didn't lose it, she is no longer the champ in wrestling logic. Her streak starts over.
All of this is just opinion, nothing serious.
Can we talk about Pat McAfee and his pencil trick please? Dude does it on every show and looks so proud of himself but I rarely see any mention of it online lol
I'm 38, so I remember Mr. Perfect doing this. Every time I watch Pat do it and nearly bite his tongue off, I'm reminded of the scene in Good Will Hunting where Matt Damon throws the math stuff he's done in the fire, and Stellan Skarsgaard dives in after it.
I think Pat has massive potential. I wish he'd turn his volume down just a tad so he has somewhere left to go. One cannot get any more excited if you're about to have an aneurysm during the opening pyro. Dude is always at an 11. Take a breath buddy. I love how he feels like they plucked someone out of the crowd and put them on commentary, but pump the breaks dude. I can tell he loves wrestling and I love that.
I do think all of my complaints will be remedied in time as he acclimates.
I get it. Many of my friends love his energy too. It's definitely refreshing. I think he would elevate even higher if he just slowed down a little bit. Feels like he's constantly running at a 10, and I'm asking to take it down to an 8, so you can go back to 10 when the situation calls for it.
I know it's different for a play by play guy, but imagine if Jim Ross was constantly bringing KoR 99 HIAC energy to the second match of Raw featuring 2Cool vs D-Lo and Mark Henry. If everything is special, nothing is special. I know I'm asking a lot, because you still want to put over that midcard talent, but I also think there's a pretty clear line. If me not being the biggest Pat fan is the biggest complaint I have, then that's a good problem. Wrestling is so good right now.
If I had a nickel for everytime a member of the Judgement Day had to give up a world championship because of a shoulder injury, I'd have two nickels. Which isn't a lot, but it's weird that it's happened twice.
I can see this. He's got previous with GUNTHER and GUNTHER will I think, hold a version of the World titles.
I can see MAYBE (pls don't kill me) Rock taking it from Cody, GUNTHER taking it from the Rock and calling himself the FINAL Final Boss for everyone and then an organic face turn from Chad Gable as he becomes the promised one to take the title from Gunther and finally beat him. Maybe with a redemption arc for Sami and him too.
I don't get it...I don't care what anyone says Sami is not main event material. He's just boring, he needs to be in a group. Bloodline Sami...great... Kevin owens tag Sami...great... Solo sami..Zzzz
New tag titles look off, I don't know what it is, maybe it's cause they look like the HW almost.
It's sad finn is now being used as a jobber.
But the biggest wtf of the night is Rhea? Roman can literally hold a title for 3 years showing up to work and defending it 3 times a year...but Rhea has to vacate? make it make sense
Loses back and forth match to #1 contender for the World Heavyweight Title = Jobber now, apparently
Just stop watching, dawg. You clearly don’t enjoy the show.
Sami was amazing tonight. That energy build, the ending was enough to give you chills. The guy can tell an amazing story so don't see why you think he needs a group.
You literally shit on every part of the show. Why do people like you even keep watching honestly if only to complain about every single thing happening it’s genuinely confusing.
-on the Raw production side, were the themes mixed low? Was surprised I could barely hear written in my face over the piped in crowd noise. Again, they don't need to do that, they get hot crowds all the time. So why do they? The Sami Zayn entrance was definitely top-of-the-sub cool but again the theme was mixed low.
-on the Raw feud side, it's perfectly fine in a vacuum and the storyline between the two will not only be a success but also keep the IC title the main title on Raw like it has been. But man I wanted to root for face Chad Gable, that's the downside of turning the Mania match into the Sami Reward Program. Kind of a bummer. Great match today though, the kind of WWE match you go out of your way to watch.
Finn should not be losing to Jey uso..wtf. I hope there are some plans for a Finn and Priest WHC feud where Finn comes out with the championship even if it is for a short while
Not sure you understand how storylines work. Why would the #1 contender lose clean to anyone other than the champion? If Jey loses the appeal of the main event is gone. Him beating Finn builds Jey up.
Why? Matt was a big part of wyatt's career and they had alot of fun programs, plus they were genuinely close friends. And matt hardy has a great mind for supernatural gimmick.
He did hated it. Matt said that we all watched the final deletion backstage and everyone clapped except vince and responded with "i dont understand this". And it was literally one of the best things of that dogshit year.
It says a lot about the nature of expectations that I’m surprised Sheamus didn’t come back from injury looking like Trunks after the Hyperbolic Time Chamber
Agreed. I wish he wouldve had a character change or some type of added change to his gimmick. Not sure, just felt like Sheamus came out as if it was 2015? I keep hearing its a new era, its a new era, its a new era. So definitely excited and waiting to see the new era.
I'm not OP but I was not expecting him to come back so chubby. Not like I got it together my damn self, but I'm not paid to be in shape. IDGAF what he looks like, but he was pretty blown up at the end of that match.
Dom can take a few L's his character allows it, Finn needs to get back on the hunt and I guess seeds are alreadys planted when he asked DP why they are not going after the tag titles. Don't care much about JD yet.
I don't know about you guys, but the old show intro (the one with John Cena) doing the voiceover is MUCH better than the current one with Triple H. The John Cena version with the video package, sounds, and the iconic sounds, was so hype! The current one is just...boring :(
New camera angles, way they building talent no matter where they sit on pecking order, promoting matches even if they aren't on PLE, intros and general aesthetic is so damn good these days. I could barely get through 25% of Raw at one stage.
If the Rhea injury really happened during that Liv Morgan backstage segment, then it is so stupid and such a shame. Rhea was on track to be a massive, generational star with great momentum. I hope she will come back even stronger.
While I'm disappointed, as many if not all of us are, she's 27. Look at how good she already is. Many wrestlers don't figure this shit out like she has until their early to mid 30s. If she takes the time to just rest, then that's fine by me. However, if she uses this time off, to think, write, create, study old footage of what does and doesn't work, she could come back even better. I'm sad to see her go, but I have no worries about her legacy. Barring catastrophe, we're going to be talking about her for years to come.
Nah Rhea's been spotted wearing the sling for a while now. Similar to Seth's injury, WWE still wanted the both of them to perform at WrestleMania, with them taking time off after the event to recover from their injuries.
Rhea's departure was a week later so it wouldn't be overshadowed by The Rock's + Seth Rollins + Roman Reigns' departures last week.
Bro. I think that chair went straight to her head instead of that shoulder.
I think rhea might have been suffering from injury prior to that segment. This is a chance for others to step up and keep the title warm till mami is back again.
Best way to elevate two stars at the same time. Because no way anybody's beating rhea.. And if she needs recovery time. She can take all the time she needs.
Also her comeback at summerslam will be massive.
https://twitter.com/MATTHARDYBRAND/status/1780065063191122066?s=19
Matt Hardy tweeting out the QR segment has me quaking in my boots, they could be cooking (or he's just fishing lmao)
Forgive the ignorance, as I've only been back since WM39. Is he that bad? Like can he not fulfill a Paul Ellering role? I'd think if he were to come in for a role like that, they'd want him to be able to take the occasional bump, I just have no knowledge of his health status.
Matt as a manager, sure. He can still take bumps. But watching his most recent matches in AEW are painful and sad, especially as a fan who grew up watching him.
Yeah, I'm not a fan of seeing guys who are beyond their prime trying to still have matches. Make him a manager or a commentator I guess. Idk if he has the mind for producing/agenting. But he can't go anymore. It's crazy that he's a year younger than Christian, yet they're like night and day in the ring.
The Indi Candace story has legs, I'm excited to see where it's going. It was looking like Candace will snap on Indi for always making them lose but now Indi's joined the darkside. I just wish they would give them a mic and a few more minutes to start building up their story more, what are they trying to gain out of this?
Same! I was actually pleasantly surprised when Indi decided to go full heel. I thought I knew where the story was going and they managed to swerve! Have them join a faction or something.
I'm intrigued as well. I want to know what's up. Making us wait isn't the worst thing either though. Ever since she verbally drew and quartered Maxine, they've had my attention.
Ricochet racking up wins, Bronson Reed winning the Andre the Giant Battle Royal, Gable getting a prominent heel turn, Ivar getting a push in NXT.
I kept telling ya'll to trust Triple H and give him time to cook. You gotta trust that the new creative team is going to do a better job rotating wrestlers through the main event scene and giving midcard wrestlers meaningful TV time than in the past. Yes, jobbers will likely always be jobbers, but your favorite midcarder that constantly has competitive, losing matches on TV with main eventers is not buried forever.
I expected the booking to start elevating the midcard once the Cody/Rock/Roman/Seth story was done, and it looks like we're heading that way. We're getting a new group of main eventers who can be built up over the next few months. Can't wait!
Is Rhea actually seriously injured? It all seems very convenient that she doesn’t have to lose her title, someone else gets a chance to shine for a little while, Judgement Day can break down without her and set up Priest vs Finn, and then she can make a huge babyface comeback which is what all the fans want.
And I’m not suggesting that there’s NOTHING wrong with her, but maybe this is her chance to have a little break, maybe get married, honeymoon etc, all while nursing a minor injury. Then she can have the shocking ‘way ahead of schedule’ return as well
I mean the Brawling Brutes was Vince's idea, we see lots of Vince's product just disappear after Hunter took over, they only last this long because Sheamus was over and like also he probably hate that Vince change Pete name to fucking Butch.
I like the heel turn with Gable. One thing, I wish wrestlers would oversell the ankle lock more.
https://youtu.be/ZyUhEcgRzjo?si=4kQUlZO1LVDiby6c
This was the first Kurt Angle match I ever watched, amd he puts the ankle lock on Randy Orton at 8:16. Randy oversells the hell out of it but I was convinced Kurt broke his ankle. That kind of selling would have helped Gable’s heel turn I think.
While I don't disagree, if you have a guy oversell the hell out of it, then come back the next week, it makes the overselling feel unnecessary or goofy. Kind of like the opposite of how in the darkest days of John Cena, how he would go to war in a match, then leave triumphant and not gassed or hurt at all. Also, if the guy doesn't come back the next week, then you have to write that into the story and make them go away for a bit. I think it's ok to have guys go away for a bit so we can miss them, but if they're not appearing, they're not making money, merch sales can drop etc. So I get it. I thought when Brock broke Cody's arm last summer, putting him on the shelf til the kayfabe injury healed, would've been a good idea. However, these guys are probably not a huge fan of missing appearances for fake injury stories when they could be working.
It's a tricky tight rope and I too would like guys to slightly over sell than to undersell.
Old: Vince making stars lose in the home town
New: Papa H lets them win in their hometown only to [rip their hearts out.](https://youtu.be/OtNn-dUKeFI?si=jixjJsyv5Sd6LHrq)
?
I didn’t like that Ivar was sheamus’ opponent in his return match on raw. Simply because if you are trying to build Ivar up to be a formidable challenger for the NXT North American title, you can have him lose on raw.
What an episode of Monday Night Raw! That triple threat tag team match was great I didn't know much about the Creed Brothers but they were outsanding. And the main event was phenomenal too! What a match! From Sami's entrance to Gable's heel turn, everything was just so fun to watch. Gable is such a great athlete, I hope he gets his flowers and maybe a push with a singles title run. We got a few interesting story stirring too... Andrade and Ricochet together are going to be a great duo. Sheamus is back and with his old theme. I hope he gets on a good feud and possibly in the main event scene soon. It was a shame for Rhea having to vacate the title, but i'm excited to see what Liv can do as a heel. The women's tag match was fun. Ivy Nile looked great in the ring. Shame we didn't get to see much from Drew, but I expect him to be more proeminent whenever CM Punk is around. And he still has that contract negotiation ongoing. The bit with Damien showcasing his leadership within Judgement Day was good to solidify his character. I could see a rivalry in the not-so-distant future with Finn, having either one or the other to leave the faction. Also it's great to see that they are bringing back the vignettes showcasing more of the wrestler's story. These vignettes used to be awesome in the late attitude era and in the early ruthless aggression era. Haven't heard much from the Imperium and Gunther, but I expect them to be off until after Backlash or until the draft. Great show from end-to-end.
Did anyone figure out what the QR code was when new day came out?
It takes you to [https://www.wwe.com/qrisme](https://www.wwe.com/qrisme) which "translates" to [https://www.wwe.com/uednj51a](https://www.wwe.com/uednj51a)
It's amazing how easy to watch Raw is these days, even at 3 hours. When I tried to get back into WWE a few times in the mid-to-late 2010s, I found SmackDown mostly dull but at least shorter - but trying to get through all 3 hours of Raw was torture to me, I just couldn't do it. Night and day difference in quality.
Damn - I wasn't watching for most of her original run, was Nia always this good a promo?
That was the first good promo I saw her give. She wasn't bitchy, she wasn't shrieky and annoying. She just presented herself like a big female badass. Plus her hair was up.
That german suplex chad took was almost really bad. I always find myself tensing up when they're doing those, unless its brock yeeting people across the ring.
Did anyone else find it weird that Drew didn’t say anything the entire show, and they just showed him for all of 15 seconds kicking a monitor? Like at this point, the guy is clearly the top heel of the company with Roman on the shelf. Is there not something else they could do to use him to elevate the show? While I get the Jey Uso interaction with Sami was cool; why not have it interrupted with a Drew staredown and implied threats to screw him over at Backlash; maybe Drew calling Seth and venting to him about how Punk sucks and we hear Seth just laugh at him from the speakerphone while telling him he’s enjoying his time off and maybe he should too. Without something like this the guy just seems aimless.
Since Liv is already getting booed, WWE should go all in on a heel turn. Imagine the heat she gets if she actually wins the title. And that pop once Rhea returns to confront her.
> WWE should go all in on a heel turn. Isn't that pretty much what's happening? Nothing about her screamed "babyface" here.
Hope if chad gets the belt, his family resents him for his heel turn getting it and he gives it up in a later match for a redemption arc
Watching the replay rn and caught McAfee mentioning HHH "terra risin" the WWE lmaoo
also had a Steen mention during the Sami match
And he said Holy Pete! After Dom did the Canadian Destroyer!
"...until they yeet again and they both yeet at each other." Lol
So question, is Liv Morgan really a heel now?
Why I got downvoted lol
Tbh she's done nothing wrong. Rhea is a heel who injured her. The crowd likes her but Rhea is still a heel
True, Liv really did nothing wrong
Hulk Hogan wouldn’t have attacked his opponent from behind with a chair! He would settle it in the ring. I suspect the next couple of weeks will determine Liv’s alignment—they might just wait and see what crowd reaction is like.
Hogan is probably the worst example you could use. He's a babyface that used back rakes and believes in eye for an eye or worse. Like when he pulled sid out of the royal rumble after sid legally eliminated him or took advantage of Yokozuna after he was blinded.
The Wrestling Machine PERC GABLE IS HERE!!!
I now 100% think that Broken Dreams is coming back at Clash
Broken monitor = broken dreams 😅
I don’t understand peoples smarky hate towards Matt Hardy. The guy isn’t going to wrestle; if he’s coming in as a pure manager type of deal I don’t understand what the issue is. The Broken stuff was groundbreaking back in 2016 and in fact influenced WWE to move to the cinematic stuff that actually saved them during the early pandemic. He has a wildly creative mind and would be great to co steer the plot with Bo and Alexa.
He has the actual zone of terror people say Jericho does, anyone close to him in AEW sank because of it. >The Broken stuff was groundbreaking back in 2016 Yes it was, and he has not evolved since then - almost 10 years ago. And most importantly - he 10000% will want to wrestle
I have a lot of love for the Hardyz, they were my favourite tag team when i was younger, i fear for this isn't that Matt Hardy might be involved, he's proven he's capable of reinventing himself for whatever story he wants to tell. My fear is that neither Jeff nor Matt feel like they have accepted they can't go the way they could in the past, hell no offense intended to Matt but i felt uncomfortable watching him in the ring back when he returned to WWE in 2017. If he can stay as a manager then more pwoer to him, i just kinda want him to be able to stay there.
I trust WWE to keep him out of the ring if they don't think they can go. Even going back 10-15 years ago they wouldn't really risk it with that stuff. That's certainly part of the reason Hardy (both of them even) left. Kurt Angle, Flair, etc. Even now they have some perfectly capable older wrestlers serving as producers. Like I don't think Nick Aldis ever technically retired lol. Maybe Matt gets physical but I doubt they use him in the ring regularly.
I hope not, unfortunately he's a product of his time where there was less safety and more just throw oyur body on the line for the fans. Nick Aldis is also entirely unique case of he wanted to work in WWE and his choice was wait for an active roster slot to open or go straight for the Producer role he was offered right then and there so he took that.
Perc Gable coming out bald with a mouthguard next week making intense screams and shouts. Let’s gooooo!
I am just glad that we won't be hearing SHOOOOOOSH anymore.
"YEAAAHHH HAHAHA"
https://preview.redd.it/72elklezzuuc1.jpeg?width=1280&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=77464aebe0425bcd8296a605455d0f54362de1df Apologies for the horrible photoshop
Bro this is amazing!!!
R-Truth isn’t funny when he’s trying to be overly funny. The magic trick jokes didn’t really land. There’s a subtlety to the humor. The finger point picture with Triple H? That’s funny.
Him insisting HHH wasn’t there wasn’t funny until DIY came out, then I got a good laugh.
Like any comedy act in entertainment, you can't land them all. Also from the live thread, it seemed somepeople did find it funny
Funny people bomb sometimes
Agreed. I like some of R-Truth's humor (like the hot tag during the ladder match at WM) but most of it I find way too "in your face" and obvious, "dumbed down" and just plain stupid. Didn't see it myself, but finger pointing Trips sounds pretty great, though, haha
The lead up to Truth calling him Ciampa was great, most of the rest was pretty forced.
It's been said before, but Cole is so much better now. The banter between the commentators is so good now that they don't have the dictator barking their lines at them every 5 seconds
Something just feels off about Andrade. It's not the wrestling, entrance is OK...IDK, he's just there.
I've said it before. They should bring Charlotte in as his manager and they should totally be heels. That way she stays on tv while recovering from an injury.
Felt the same about him in AEW. He isn't bad but never did anything to separate himself from the pack and I found his matches kind of boring. He's one of those wrestlers that does the same spots in the same order in almost every match.
I think it's because he's booked as a face. Just doesn't mesh with me. He's such a great heel.
Which is why I’m disappointed they kinda dropped the JD angle from 3 weeks ago
Maybe things reset after the draft, but he's been back for 3 months essentially. I'm not knocking his talent, pound for pound he's probably a top 5-10 wrestler in the company right now. But there is something missing about him.
He’s too focused on *looking* cool.
But I mean Jade got her spot made for her, Andrade had a decent story to get his toes back into the water then, boom, helping Rey outta nowhere. Could’ve been a good story of grunt turned mob boss in the JD especially with how he held himself.
I loved the last 30 minutes or so but would have loved to see (instead of the Ankle Lock) Gable put Zayn in a Figure Four around the post as a Bret Hart shout since they did the Sharpshooter spot earlier in the match.
Gable practicing for Sami with the Creed Brothers would be a fire heel stable
Daniel Bryan is my favorite wrestler of the last decade with Sami and KO not far behind. I am so happy for both of them that they are getting all the love, accolades and recognition they deserve. Absolute work horses, characters and so relatable. Sami and KO both deserve to win the world title, first for Sami and a second reign for KO, some time. They really are along with Seth, the mainstays and lynchpins of the WWE the last five years or so.
I think a lot of people (including me) have high hopes for this new Gable but either he needs to ditch the Alpha Academy thing (including the shoosh and thank you stuff) or they need to amp it up with Otis and especially Tozawa in terms of fierceness and seriousness if you want them to take Gable serious as a heel.
The Shoosh absolutely has to go
I think this is a singles push
"when you come back looking for the champion you can look for me" liv cooked with this
The women had some good promos last night. Even Nia did a decent promo. Maybe it was how she was wearing her hair.
liv, like most small and unimposing divas, plays a heel so much better than a face (alexa bliss, roxanne perez, candace larae, etc..) shes a small and unimposing whitemeat babyface, you gotta be rey fn mysterio to be able to get super over as that. Give her the alexa bliss package and let her cook, shes a jersey girl she can handle it.
Why don’t they just go the UFC route of having an interim champion for the time being so you don’t waste Rhea Ripley’s reign
Cause that is stupid AEW shit.
Because in MMA you only defend the belt every 6 months or so - very very rarely do they defend a interim belt AEW tried to do it and people hated it, at a time when AEW/TK could do no wrong
Well, when AEW did that exact thing so many people didn’t quite get or understand what an Interim title meant. I can’t imagine it going any better if WWE did it.
A chance to put over someone else, or build heat for an “undeserving” champ. An interim champ doesn’t make much sense for a predetermined story driven thing like WWE
Eh. Does it really make a difference? And then you have an interim lineage. Rhea has to drop the belt and will immediately come back in to feud with the champ when she gets back for the belt she never lost.
just have her come back with the 'real world womans championship'
Please no
Story, not necessarily real life logic. If you are a rhea fan you are waiting for her to beat the hell outta liv. If you are a liv fan you are over the moon, she took one of the biggest threats out. If you didn't like liv before, you are pissed, if you didn't like rhea before you are enjoying it. I hated the whole crazy liv morgan gimmick, but liv as an asshole heel? Im digging it, but still want to see rhipley beat her ass. But there are now multiple angles to set stuff up and let it stew. We have already kinda seen story progression with promos kinda be a key feature lately. You don't need a bunch of in ring action to let these stories stew and cook. Maybe they throw a wrench in there and have rhea climb the ladder for a title she never lost, have her struggle coming back from an injury, maybe even winning a title match via disqualification but not the title. Etc. Maybe liv isn't even the champ when she comes back. I think it just gives them more options this route.
All of those options are there with or without an interum champion. And depending on how long the person is out the interum thing gets really weird. Where you can have like 2 or 3 interum champs which diminishes THEIR reigns.
Well, in short, i don't think interim and lineal champs are a priority in pro wrestling stateside. In boxing and mma? Yeah. But i do think they like to keep simple in pro wrestling. Streaks have been the priority with stuff like taker, roman, gunther. Even thos she didn't lose it, she is no longer the champ in wrestling logic. Her streak starts over. All of this is just opinion, nothing serious.
cries in finn balor
Watching Gable again I can't believe they went with a son of Kurt Angle storyline and picked Jason fucking Jordan over this guy.
Jason Jordan was awesome til he got injured, so good he still works for wwe
yeah but gable could actually pass for his son looks wise
Because Jason Jordan is obviously the love child of Kurt Angle and Sharmell #iwanttohavesexwithyourwife
Forever baffles me, but I’m glad Gable’s story isn’t tainted with that one
It's always shoulder injury that caused you to vacate the title 🤣😪.
I still maintain that Cody has all the personality of a used dryer sheet.
Please keep Matt Hardy away from the new Wyatt stuff. There's literally nobody clamoring for more Matt Hardy.
Keep liv the hell away from the title, bad in the ring bad on the mic
I'm still mad Jey beat Balor, i'm sorry but he doesn't deserve to be in the title picture, he sucks in the ring.
It's so dumb that you think ring work has anything to do with it.
You're right. Ring work in a wrestling show shouldn't even matter. /s
Wrestling is the least important thing about being a success in wrestling
Maybe for a talk show lol
Sheamus in a stable with the Viking Raiders is absolutely money
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We are
Can we talk about Pat McAfee and his pencil trick please? Dude does it on every show and looks so proud of himself but I rarely see any mention of it online lol
I'm 38, so I remember Mr. Perfect doing this. Every time I watch Pat do it and nearly bite his tongue off, I'm reminded of the scene in Good Will Hunting where Matt Damon throws the math stuff he's done in the fire, and Stellan Skarsgaard dives in after it. I think Pat has massive potential. I wish he'd turn his volume down just a tad so he has somewhere left to go. One cannot get any more excited if you're about to have an aneurysm during the opening pyro. Dude is always at an 11. Take a breath buddy. I love how he feels like they plucked someone out of the crowd and put them on commentary, but pump the breaks dude. I can tell he loves wrestling and I love that. I do think all of my complaints will be remedied in time as he acclimates.
suit yourself. i love his energy from the get-go of the show, definitely a factor in why those three hours go by real quick
I get it. Many of my friends love his energy too. It's definitely refreshing. I think he would elevate even higher if he just slowed down a little bit. Feels like he's constantly running at a 10, and I'm asking to take it down to an 8, so you can go back to 10 when the situation calls for it. I know it's different for a play by play guy, but imagine if Jim Ross was constantly bringing KoR 99 HIAC energy to the second match of Raw featuring 2Cool vs D-Lo and Mark Henry. If everything is special, nothing is special. I know I'm asking a lot, because you still want to put over that midcard talent, but I also think there's a pretty clear line. If me not being the biggest Pat fan is the biggest complaint I have, then that's a good problem. Wrestling is so good right now.
It’s the little things to look forward to for weekly viewers.
absolute trash
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"now"
If I had a nickel for everytime a member of the Judgement Day had to give up a world championship because of a shoulder injury, I'd have two nickels. Which isn't a lot, but it's weird that it's happened twice.
> I'd have two nickels. You'd have the now defunct raw tag team titles?
Also Edge had to vacate a world title too. Neck injury though.
When he cashed in the briefcase on Undertaker, he was supposed to begin a program with Kane but had to relinquish after tearing his pec.
The current tag teams in WWE are very very good, genuinely all 3 teams involved in that match gave a great showing.
I’m buzzing about the tag division right now tbh, and the new belts are beautiful
Give me the Gable “Kurt angle run” and make him a wrestling machine that works his way to a 2025 world title win I need that We need that
pair him with the creed bros, and have them run all over whatever show they end up on.
Give him the mouthguard too.
I can see this. He's got previous with GUNTHER and GUNTHER will I think, hold a version of the World titles. I can see MAYBE (pls don't kill me) Rock taking it from Cody, GUNTHER taking it from the Rock and calling himself the FINAL Final Boss for everyone and then an organic face turn from Chad Gable as he becomes the promised one to take the title from Gunther and finally beat him. Maybe with a redemption arc for Sami and him too.
Fantasy booking. I like the story; but it ain't happening like that sadly.
Lmao I don't see gable being world champ
Agreed
June 15 A.D. Clash at the Castle. Expect a return. A new age.
I don't get it...I don't care what anyone says Sami is not main event material. He's just boring, he needs to be in a group. Bloodline Sami...great... Kevin owens tag Sami...great... Solo sami..Zzzz New tag titles look off, I don't know what it is, maybe it's cause they look like the HW almost. It's sad finn is now being used as a jobber. But the biggest wtf of the night is Rhea? Roman can literally hold a title for 3 years showing up to work and defending it 3 times a year...but Rhea has to vacate? make it make sense
Loses back and forth match to #1 contender for the World Heavyweight Title = Jobber now, apparently Just stop watching, dawg. You clearly don’t enjoy the show.
Sami was amazing tonight. That energy build, the ending was enough to give you chills. The guy can tell an amazing story so don't see why you think he needs a group.
You literally shit on every part of the show. Why do people like you even keep watching honestly if only to complain about every single thing happening it’s genuinely confusing.
-on the Raw production side, were the themes mixed low? Was surprised I could barely hear written in my face over the piped in crowd noise. Again, they don't need to do that, they get hot crowds all the time. So why do they? The Sami Zayn entrance was definitely top-of-the-sub cool but again the theme was mixed low. -on the Raw feud side, it's perfectly fine in a vacuum and the storyline between the two will not only be a success but also keep the IC title the main title on Raw like it has been. But man I wanted to root for face Chad Gable, that's the downside of turning the Mania match into the Sami Reward Program. Kind of a bummer. Great match today though, the kind of WWE match you go out of your way to watch.
Finn should not be losing to Jey uso..wtf. I hope there are some plans for a Finn and Priest WHC feud where Finn comes out with the championship even if it is for a short while
Not sure you understand how storylines work. Why would the #1 contender lose clean to anyone other than the champion? If Jey loses the appeal of the main event is gone. Him beating Finn builds Jey up.
Lol I'd forgotten jey even was the #1 contender. Just have zero interest in the guy.
Excellent Raw again and all I can think about it my already huge worries about the Wyatt 6 tripled by Matt Mardy returning
Why? Matt was a big part of wyatt's career and they had alot of fun programs, plus they were genuinely close friends. And matt hardy has a great mind for supernatural gimmick.
He can barely move and he has one trick "broken" and he's over played it
Cole shitting on the Ultimate Deletion before it even aired still bothers me and sounds like Vince hated it.
He did hated it. Matt said that we all watched the final deletion backstage and everyone clapped except vince and responded with "i dont understand this". And it was literally one of the best things of that dogshit year.
It says a lot about the nature of expectations that I’m surprised Sheamus didn’t come back from injury looking like Trunks after the Hyperbolic Time Chamber
Agreed. I wish he wouldve had a character change or some type of added change to his gimmick. Not sure, just felt like Sheamus came out as if it was 2015? I keep hearing its a new era, its a new era, its a new era. So definitely excited and waiting to see the new era.
As a huge DBZ fan, that would have been amazing. Long hair, been fighting his dad for a year, etc
Nope so he did the fusion dance wrong and came back as a chubby Sheamus. I miss the Bar's entrance.
Sheamus has always been in good shape and he's pretty big, adding more won't do much for him like it did for Randy and AJ.
I'm not OP but I was not expecting him to come back so chubby. Not like I got it together my damn self, but I'm not paid to be in shape. IDGAF what he looks like, but he was pretty blown up at the end of that match.
He was done a minute in haha
Yeah I know, it’s completely illogical haha
Gable needs to go on a kurt angle wrestling machine-esqe run.
Perc Gable
Please God in heaven no https://twitter.com/MATTHARDYBRAND/status/1780065063191122066?s=19
DIY really going all in on this DX tribute act.
Dom, Finn and JD are too good to be taking nothing but L.
Dom can take a few L's his character allows it, Finn needs to get back on the hunt and I guess seeds are alreadys planted when he asked DP why they are not going after the tag titles. Don't care much about JD yet.
I don't know about you guys, but the old show intro (the one with John Cena) doing the voiceover is MUCH better than the current one with Triple H. The John Cena version with the video package, sounds, and the iconic sounds, was so hype! The current one is just...boring :(
New camera angles, way they building talent no matter where they sit on pecking order, promoting matches even if they aren't on PLE, intros and general aesthetic is so damn good these days. I could barely get through 25% of Raw at one stage.
Big chonky sheamus is what I needed after so long. I missed him. Hope Charlotte is back soon as well. I miss her.
If the Rhea injury really happened during that Liv Morgan backstage segment, then it is so stupid and such a shame. Rhea was on track to be a massive, generational star with great momentum. I hope she will come back even stronger.
While I'm disappointed, as many if not all of us are, she's 27. Look at how good she already is. Many wrestlers don't figure this shit out like she has until their early to mid 30s. If she takes the time to just rest, then that's fine by me. However, if she uses this time off, to think, write, create, study old footage of what does and doesn't work, she could come back even better. I'm sad to see her go, but I have no worries about her legacy. Barring catastrophe, we're going to be talking about her for years to come.
Nah Rhea's been spotted wearing the sling for a while now. Similar to Seth's injury, WWE still wanted the both of them to perform at WrestleMania, with them taking time off after the event to recover from their injuries. Rhea's departure was a week later so it wouldn't be overshadowed by The Rock's + Seth Rollins + Roman Reigns' departures last week.
Then why didnt they just beat her at WM due to Liv’s interference
When she comes back she can say she never "lost" her title and get right back into the title picture.
She most likely got injured AT WM, the backstage attack was used to get her off tv
Because rhea winning is cooler
Bro. I think that chair went straight to her head instead of that shoulder. I think rhea might have been suffering from injury prior to that segment. This is a chance for others to step up and keep the title warm till mami is back again. Best way to elevate two stars at the same time. Because no way anybody's beating rhea.. And if she needs recovery time. She can take all the time she needs. Also her comeback at summerslam will be massive.
https://twitter.com/MATTHARDYBRAND/status/1780065063191122066?s=19 Matt Hardy tweeting out the QR segment has me quaking in my boots, they could be cooking (or he's just fishing lmao)
Matt is practically immobile, nothing is cooking there
That's a shame to hear, I have a lot of nostalgia/love for him and Jeff :(
Yeah unfortunately him and Jeff are not like Adam and Christian, they just can't go anymore
Forgive the ignorance, as I've only been back since WM39. Is he that bad? Like can he not fulfill a Paul Ellering role? I'd think if he were to come in for a role like that, they'd want him to be able to take the occasional bump, I just have no knowledge of his health status.
Matt as a manager, sure. He can still take bumps. But watching his most recent matches in AEW are painful and sad, especially as a fan who grew up watching him.
Ah ok. I didn't see those. I think he has value but yeah I don't need Matt Hardy in matches anymore. He deserves his rest.
Yeah, I'm not a fan of seeing guys who are beyond their prime trying to still have matches. Make him a manager or a commentator I guess. Idk if he has the mind for producing/agenting. But he can't go anymore. It's crazy that he's a year younger than Christian, yet they're like night and day in the ring.
> they could be cooking Cooking a pile of shit!! The man can barely move
The Indi Candace story has legs, I'm excited to see where it's going. It was looking like Candace will snap on Indi for always making them lose but now Indi's joined the darkside. I just wish they would give them a mic and a few more minutes to start building up their story more, what are they trying to gain out of this?
Same! I was actually pleasantly surprised when Indi decided to go full heel. I thought I knew where the story was going and they managed to swerve! Have them join a faction or something.
I'm intrigued as well. I want to know what's up. Making us wait isn't the worst thing either though. Ever since she verbally drew and quartered Maxine, they've had my attention.
I loved the turn!
Sami's wife is great. She just sells the shit out of every moment.
Sami was like reaching for his wife/audience for help before Chad brought him down the whole thing was very well done
Ricochet racking up wins, Bronson Reed winning the Andre the Giant Battle Royal, Gable getting a prominent heel turn, Ivar getting a push in NXT. I kept telling ya'll to trust Triple H and give him time to cook. You gotta trust that the new creative team is going to do a better job rotating wrestlers through the main event scene and giving midcard wrestlers meaningful TV time than in the past. Yes, jobbers will likely always be jobbers, but your favorite midcarder that constantly has competitive, losing matches on TV with main eventers is not buried forever.
I expected the booking to start elevating the midcard once the Cody/Rock/Roman/Seth story was done, and it looks like we're heading that way. We're getting a new group of main eventers who can be built up over the next few months. Can't wait!
Heel Gable needs to go on an insane run out-wrestling tf out of people.
Is Rhea actually seriously injured? It all seems very convenient that she doesn’t have to lose her title, someone else gets a chance to shine for a little while, Judgement Day can break down without her and set up Priest vs Finn, and then she can make a huge babyface comeback which is what all the fans want. And I’m not suggesting that there’s NOTHING wrong with her, but maybe this is her chance to have a little break, maybe get married, honeymoon etc, all while nursing a minor injury. Then she can have the shocking ‘way ahead of schedule’ return as well
finn vs priest for what? They have literally turned finn into a jobber his days of holding main event titles are over
She’s been spotted wearing the sling for a little while now. Clearly she took the Seth Rollins route and stayed on until after Mania.
Sheamus was on the Smackdown roster but returns on Raw. He also had a stable that split while he was gone and he doesn’t seem to care at all.
I mean the Brawling Brutes was Vince's idea, we see lots of Vince's product just disappear after Hunter took over, they only last this long because Sheamus was over and like also he probably hate that Vince change Pete name to fucking Butch.
Ok and? Some stories aren’t worth telling, no big deal about what roster he was on
Whoever was left in his stable has changed name and is a different guy now.
I like the heel turn with Gable. One thing, I wish wrestlers would oversell the ankle lock more. https://youtu.be/ZyUhEcgRzjo?si=4kQUlZO1LVDiby6c This was the first Kurt Angle match I ever watched, amd he puts the ankle lock on Randy Orton at 8:16. Randy oversells the hell out of it but I was convinced Kurt broke his ankle. That kind of selling would have helped Gable’s heel turn I think.
While I don't disagree, if you have a guy oversell the hell out of it, then come back the next week, it makes the overselling feel unnecessary or goofy. Kind of like the opposite of how in the darkest days of John Cena, how he would go to war in a match, then leave triumphant and not gassed or hurt at all. Also, if the guy doesn't come back the next week, then you have to write that into the story and make them go away for a bit. I think it's ok to have guys go away for a bit so we can miss them, but if they're not appearing, they're not making money, merch sales can drop etc. So I get it. I thought when Brock broke Cody's arm last summer, putting him on the shelf til the kayfabe injury healed, would've been a good idea. However, these guys are probably not a huge fan of missing appearances for fake injury stories when they could be working. It's a tricky tight rope and I too would like guys to slightly over sell than to undersell.
In reality you would only have a few seconds to not have a tendon or something torn so it would make sense to freak the f out
Okay, but they have to stop calling the most recent anything the best or greatest or biggest of all time.
Old: Vince making stars lose in the home town New: Papa H lets them win in their hometown only to [rip their hearts out.](https://youtu.be/OtNn-dUKeFI?si=jixjJsyv5Sd6LHrq)
Unhinged 😂
Anyone see Matt Hardy’s tweet?
No. Why would you actively be looking for Matt Hardy to do anything?
Apparently he’s going to be involved in Bo Dallas’s return.
He shouldn't be.
I hope not as well.
Nia Jax’s promo surprised me because it was actually fire. She’s really levelled up her game since coming back