WWE: Monday Night Raw 145 - Oh, Shane is so gonna pay for this...

[Serac]

Russo: Balor Defeating Roman Reigns And Rusev Was The Nail In The Coffin For Me

Apparently Russo wasn't a fan

His rant is one of the most ridiculous things I've ever read too.

That was one of the worst things I've read in a while
And I frequent the Canucks board, so that's saying something

 

[Fro]

That woman's title match was fantastic!

Loved the "Eddie Guerrero" fake being hit with the belt spot.

I really enjoyed Cory Graves on color commentary.

idk, there were a couple of times I wasn't sure what to think of Graves...I'm sure it's the "vince in his ear" syndrome, but I wasn't as impressed with him as I thought I would be

 

[Ensane]

idk, there were a couple of times I wasn't sure what to think of Graves...I'm sure it's the "vince in his ear" syndrome, but I wasn't as impressed with him as I thought I would be

I was worried about that too, but thought he was fairly unfettered. I was also concerned that Cole would overshadow him, but that also wasn't the case.

Byron Saxton, on the other hand, was pretty superfluous though.

 

[Kimi]

First night with new guys, and he's also not being edited like he is in NXT (they re-do bits and add in extra details during post-production). But he was fine. Give him time to grow use to working with different guys and he'll be much better.

 

[Pinkfloyd]

Graves was a breath of fresh air on the commentary for Raw. When he gets comfortable with the position, he'll get better. His banter with Saxton isn't the overbearing kind of banter that JBL frequently does which takes away from the in-ring product. Hopefully JBL is a little more toned down on Smackdown like he was in the past. For whatever reason, his Smackdown run at the table seemed better to me than his Raw run. They still need to get rid of Saxton. He is a complete drag on the entertainment value of the show.

I agree with Ensane about the pacing of the show. It flowed very nicely. The things that were obviously filler still had a purpose that they got across in a precise manner.

Smackdown has a tough act to follow and I look forward to it.

 

[BonMorrison]

At times, I could hear some of JBL's "isms" bleeding into Graves commentary especially during banter but I'm 100% sure that it's Vince in his ear which is why it was so familiar. That said, Graves is great and will continue to improve.

 

[Emperoreddy]

This is why I don't like a cruiserweight division back.

People automatically want to pigeon hole guys under that glass ceiling.

Russo is just Russo.

 

[BackToTheBrierePatch]

Y'all already know how I feel about babyface Balor.

Doesn't mean last night wasn't awesome, though.

if babyface Balor helps bury Reigns I am in.

 

[Emperoreddy]

A double turn st Summerslam could be pretty amazing.

 

[DenisSamson3]

Anyone notice the new designs at the top?

 

[iamjs]

At times, I could hear some of JBL's "isms" bleeding into Graves commentary especially during banter but I'm 100% sure that it's Vince in his ear which is why it was so familiar. That said, Graves is great and will continue to improve.

I forget whose entrance it was, but there was a part where Graves said "I love this part" as if he was reading off the JBL script of things to say during an intro.

But overall, Graves makes the announce team more bearable to listen to.

 

[GKJ]

I'll take graves and tom phillips just the two of them tbh

 

[Disclose]

wwe universal champion.... dont like the name. but last night was a step on the right direction.

 

[GKJ]

i don't mind the name bc it's something new. I didn't want the "world heavyweight championship" or the big gold belt to come back

 

[Pinkfloyd]

i don't mind the name bc it's something new. I didn't want the "world heavyweight championship" or the big gold belt to come back

I think the name could grow on me over time but at this point it seems more like it jumped the shark over anything else. I'm just surprised someone green-lighted it just based on how ridiculous it sounds. I understand the thought process and it's at least reasoned well enough to name it after the fan base but because their name for the fan base is just so pretentious and ridiculous, it makes the subsequent title pretentious and ridiculous as well. Hell, they could've legitimately made a title and called it the People's Championship. It would've been hokey as hell but I think that may have stuck better than Universal Champion.

 

[Big Poppa Puck]

Entrance is a huge thing. William Regal says that by the time you're a third of the way down the ramp, the crowd has already decided if they're going to care about you. Who are the faces who are most over right now and how do they enter the arena? Seth and KO of course, didn't need it they're already over but they're heels.

Remember when Alex Riley was over solely because of his theme?

 

[M.C.G. 31]

Remember when Alex Riley was over solely because of his theme?

It started because Miz was such an awesome heel. THEN he got reactions just for the theme after that program.

Miz is seriously so good.

 

[Big Poppa Puck]

It started because Miz was such an awesome heel. THEN he got reactions just for the theme after that program.

Miz is seriously so good.

I love The Miz. I legit marked when he cashed in a few years ago. He got kinda stale after losing the title but a lot of that had to do with the Rock/Cena burial of him. But he's been great again since he came back with the Hollywood gimmick.

 

[GKJ]

Remember when Alex Riley was over solely because of his theme?

Not enough to matter

 

[BonMorrison]

The failure of The Miz as a world champion was in no way his fault at all. WWE booked him like ass, had him feud with Jerry Lawler, than third wheel The Rock/Cena. Is he a main event talent? Nah but he's better than people made him out to be and I'm glad people are once again starting to get behind him again because revisionist history likes to ignore how much of an IWC darling he was when he held the MITB and his subsequent cash in.

 

[Pinkfloyd]

The failure of The Miz as a world champion was in no way his fault at all. WWE booked him like ass, had him feud with Jerry Lawler, than third wheel The Rock/Cena. Is he a main event talent? Nah but he's better than people made him out to be and I'm glad people are once again starting to get behind him again because revisionist history likes to ignore how much of an IWC darling he was when he held the MITB and his subsequent cash in.

Miz is exactly in the spot he should be in. A midcard heel with a title for someone to chase down. If Miz had better wrestling ability, he'd be a main eventer honestly. I think he has enough personality traits and vocal talent to be a relatively consistent draw to want to see him get beat up but his matches will almost never deliver to a high enough quality to justify the top spot.

 

[BonMorrison]

Miz is exactly in the spot he should be in. A midcard heel with a title for someone to chase down. If Miz had better wrestling ability, he'd be a main eventer honestly. I think he has enough personality traits and vocal talent to be a relatively consistent draw to want to see him get beat up but his matches will almost never deliver to a high enough quality to justify the top spot.

I don't disagree, his current spot is perfect.

 

[Sheppy]

Anyone notice the new designs at the top?

Apparently, this is an old summerslam set they brought back for RAW.

 

[Pinkfloyd]

Apparently, this is an old summerslam set they brought back for RAW.

Yeah, it had that look but I still think it's way too much stage for where wrestling ought to be heading.

 

[DenisSamson3]

Yeah, it had that look but I still think it's way too much stage for where wrestling ought to be heading.

Yeah these stages are best for ppv's. The reason is that they use the raw and smackdown stages typically for ppv's and the ppv should be bigger in nature than a regular show.