Thoughts on Raw based on highlights:
Regarding Roman/Brock:
Poor segment both from a storytelling perspective and in terms of making Roman a face and Brock a heel. Brock returned to the beatdown so many times it made people think of him like Braun and cheer him.
Roman being the āfaceā who just doesnāt care and wants to stall the show by sitting in the ring and doing nothing. Who wants to cheer that?
This could have worked better as a concept but execution was poor.
Regarding Alexa:
Mickie James continues to be there for no good reason but Iām happy to accept itā¦sheās been fun in her lackey status. Alexa continues to deliver a strong heel promo in that you WANT to cheer for Nia Jax here. Whenās the last time WWE has TRULY made you care about the outcome of a match?
Bliss is such a good heel and this is such a basic yet effective story that I canāt help but want to see Nia get her comeuppance. Excellent feud and is easily one of my top 5 WM matches right now.
The Alexa vs Bliss match was completely unnecessary and I disagree with having it to begin withā¦could have just had Nia run in during the interview segment.
Regarding Braun Promo and Match:
Iām disappointed by the announcement of giving him a tag partner. This just weakens the concept and gives you a lazy out when youāre ready to push Braun past the tag team thing.
The match made me want to see Cesaro get a singles push and do a serious feud with Braun. Braun did as well as he could in a āstandardā match which is not saying a whole lot. This didnāt damage or expose him but I continue to prefer Braun out of ring than I do in Ring.
Regarding Mark Henry Hall of Fame:
Mark Henry has a good story in the business in pretty much the ultimate rags to riches story. His career is a fascinating one and ends on such a strong note that I canāt really deny him belonging in a Hall of Fame.
Regard Bayley/Sasha Segment:
This has been a really well told story during wrestling matches but I have to admit that when it comes time to their promos I lose a lot of interest. They arenāt terrible by any stretch of imaginationā¦this isnāt Bray Wyatt levels of tuning out but it its not up there with Bliss/Nia in terms of investment either. I think its a HUGE shame these two arenāt getting a singles match at WM. I would give up Cena/Taker in a heartbeat to give 20+ minutes to these two in order to blow people away in ring.
Regarding Cena:
WWE has given soo much time to this and I just want no part of it. Cena is performing his role wellā¦the man is clearly entertaining on the mic but like everyone else Iām not buying into the storyline and its just eating up far too much tv time. If they somehow deliver an epic match then consider this all forgiven but I have no faith in Takerās in ring ability at this point. Cenaās been passed his prime for a while now as well and both men look weak going into this feud.
Regarding Miz/Balor:
Iām not feeling this match or build. It was thrown together for Mania and you can really feel it. I think Miz adds to the title and knowing that heās going to drop it at Mania to this nothing feud saddens me. Miz deserves better but I canāt deny that Balor or Seth will give us FAR superior matches as champion.
Regarding the Rousey segment:
Brilliant. WWE hits it out of the park yet again with her.
It baffles me that they can put together these packages consistently and yet we get soo many bullshit stories shown on tv. Imagine how much better Nakamura/Styles build would be right now if we saw packages of both of these people rather than the awkward and ultra basic Nakamura promos followed by adequate at best AJ styles promoās.
Regarding Ultimate Deletion:
(Note: I watched this match in FULL and I also watched House of Horrors match in full prior to this comment rather than just going by highlights.)
This was a terrible match that comes with a few positives.
- WWE trying something new and breaking formula. Iām completely behind this and support the experimentation. This is FAR more important than my opinion on the match.
- Ending this match on a cliffhanger was the only truly compelling part for me. As one of the many who are completely sick of Bray this brings hope to the future and gives the Ultimate Deletion some potential long term importance.
As for the negatives thereās a lot. To put it simply I lost interest during this match and found my mind wandering. The same thing happened on my re-watch of House of Horrors. This match was as effective as House of Horrors to me save for the ending that was a cliffhanger rather than just a pin and victory. If this was supposed to sell me on Woken Matt it completely and utterly failed. Matt is still a TERRIBLE in ring performer who canāt make me care. A lot of the stuff showcased continues to feel lawls random which is admittedly NOT my kind of comedy. This is also the kind of wrestling that makes me feel embarassed to be a fan of wrestling.
Ultimate Deletion was better than House of Horrors but only in the way that 2* match is better than a 1.5* match. WWE could never do this again and Iād be fine with it. They could bring it back rarely like your typical gimmick match and I could live with that as well. So glad that this wasnāt on Wrestlemania.