Post by The Biff on Sept 9, 2014 9:18:09 GMT -5
This article will be appearing for Inglourious Fiction later this morning.
With another Monday night in the books, welcome to the Raw Cut here at Inglourious Fiction! Last night's action in Baltimore, Maryland was billed by the WWE as a 'Season Premiere', which is a rather transparent marketing ploy considering the company runs programming fifty-two weeks out of the year. Last night's show was the first head-to-head showdown with ESPN Monday Night Football of the new football season, and the company was primed to pull out all the tricks in the book to capture eyeballs and prevent an erosion of their core audience. How well did they do? As per usual, the product cycled through a series of refreshing hits and painfully dreadful lulls, but it certainly set the stage for next week's broadcast. For a show that likes to bill itself as the 'longest-running weekly episodic show in television history', perhaps that's a good thing? Here's a prime cut of the action that went down last night.
Heyman Hustles His Way to MVP of the Night Honors
Despite headlining the upcoming Night of Champions Special on the WWE Network (for just $9.99!) and Pay Per View, storyline advancement for the Brock Lesnar-John Cena program only occupied one segment tonight, which was at once an interesting change of pace and a bit confusing, considering the company's normal reliance on John Cena to carry more important broadcasts. Paul Heyman's monologue and ultimate Emperor Palpatine act to John Cena's Luke Skywalker was the highlight of the segment and one of the biggest highs of the night, attempting to draw Cena to embrace the HATE in an ode to his 2012 feud with Kane. Creatively speaking, Cena once again rose above to embrace his loyal fans and refute his inner heel, but the real purpose of the segment was as a plot device to promote an in-ring showdown between Cena and the World Heavyweight Champion Brock Lesnar on next week's show.
As an in-ring talk segment, Heyman and Cena continue to deliver the goods, though the former champ's shallow characterization and stubborn insistence on remaining squeaky clean continue to polarize an audience that has been watching the act unfold for almost eleven years (!) and counting. The company is doing everything in their power to milk the redemption storyline arc for Cena's character heading into Night of Champions, but history indicates that the most likely outcome of the bout will see some sort of chicanery that allows Lesnar to keep the title and facilitate Cena's next feud heading into the Fall. At the same time, ratings over the next two weeks could always force the WWE into panic mode, which traditionally means a restored focus on Cena as the top dog. As seen last night, however, there were bigger things in play that gained the lion's share of attention from the writers, which may signal a new era for the company.
Orton vs. Reigns: Schmozz City in Charm City
For the second time in a month, the Authority ran roughshod over a former Shield member on Monday night, as the "anticipated" rematch between Randy Orton and Roman Reigns headlined last night's season premiere. Generally speaking, the same fatal flaws that lessened the impact of their Summerslam match were apparent here: Reigns possesses a handful of moves that illicit a response from the crowd, but overall his ring work leaves a lot to be desired for someone who has the proverbial rocket strapped to his back in preparation for his (long-rumored) push to the WrestleMania main event. Randy Orton continues to look semi-resurgent in the ring, despite delivering some cheesy lines throughout the evening. As a match, things were good, but not great; the after-match shenanigans however definitely played into the storyline development that will ultimately culminate with some major twists and turns in the weeks to come.
Seth Rollins continued to look sharp last night, picking up a victory over Sheamus in a decent match that served more to prepare the ground for Sheamus's upcoming U.S. Title defense over Cesaro at Night of Champions than anything. Still, a win over the heavily-protected U.S. Champion is nothing to sneeze at, nor was his epic dive from the top of the steel cage during the end segment for the show (the second such leap of the night). The beating given to Reigns by the Authority looks to play into a possible tag team match at the upcoming Special, with Orton and Rollins almost assuredly teaming to face Reigns and one of two partners. Chris Jericho could make his final appearance for awhile in the slot after being attacked unexpectedly by Orton in a backstage segment, though the potential return of Dean Ambrose is a far juicier prospect. In any event, Reigns should continue to figure heavily in the upper card scene moving forward.
As the Bella Twins Turn: Now Featuring Jerry Springer and More Bellas!
The insidious focus on the Bella Twins angle continued its streak of lowering the quality bar for programming last night, as the company's indefensible insistence on promoting the feud as a serious angle continued. Jerry Springer was hauled out of syndication Hell to serve as a mediator of sorts for an in-ring segment that actually went shorter than expected, which isn't saying a whole lot. After a few token appearances from some random Bella family members, the gratuitous catfight scene involved a lot of sound and fury, ultimately signifying nothing. Shockingly (or not, depending on your expectations), little was accomplished by the segment, as Brie continues to remain outside of the scheduled Triple Threat for the Divas Championship at Night of Champions, which makes one question what the point of any of this storyline is. Dwelling on it for too long will make one spontaneously explode Scanners-style, so it's best to move on.
Bray Wyatt vs. Chris Jericho: A Steel Cage Showdown
The show opened with what ended up being a surprisingly entertaining cage match between Jericho and Wyatt, featuring a somewhat-clever and unique twist on the conventional cage match ending. Several flashy highspots, including a flying press off the top of the cage from Jericho made the match standout from its counterparts on the evening, but the right man went over in the end. Whether or not Jericho is written out of programming for the foreseeable future depends entirely on whether Dean Ambrose will make his return to the company prior to Night of Champions, but the Jericho-Wyatt program is now almost certainly over with for the time being. The win and post-match assault on Jericho helped give Bray some sorely-needed heat heading into what looks to be an uncertain future for the character. It remains to be seen whether he will continue to flirt with the upper card or not when storylines begin to shake out for the Fall run.
Assorted Leftovers from the Evening's Show
As expected, the Usos and the Dust Brothers continued their budding young feud last night, with Jay and Jimmy attacking Cody and Goldust with a crutch after what amounted to an extended squash for the Gold twins over Los Matadores. Adam Rose got another victory over Titus O'Neil in a rematch from last week, and even the rabbit got in on the action with a post-match splash off the top. Dolph Ziggler continued his angle with The Miz, aping the nude photo / Cloud hack scandal by showing compromising pictures of the Miz in a skit we've seen ad nauseum over the last decade. Paige and A.J. continued to fawn over the Divas Title, coming away successful as wacky tag partners who hate each other over Natalya and an embarrassingly bad Rosa Mendes. Rusev put in a token appearance with a Russian anthem and flag exhibition on the stage, but Mark Henry and Big Show were both strangely absent. Both Bo Dallas and Jack Swagger were also missing from the card last night.
By far, the biggest surprise—and perhaps most exciting development—of the show was the utilization of several NXT competitors in a quasi-preview match for the upcoming NXT Special on the WWE Network. While Tyler Breeze looks to need a bit more polishing, both his partner Tyson Kidd (who has formerly competed on the main roster as part of the Hart Dynasty several years ago) and the winning team of Adrian Neville and Sami Zayn came off looking like stars. Neville in particular popped the crowd huge with a fresh look in the ring that should get him over like gangbusters when he finally gets the call to the main roster, and Sami Zayn looked crisp as well. All four men busted their asses to get over in what basically amounted to a chance to make an impression, and they certainly accomplished their objective. It amazes me that a company can put such a stout focus on its developmental territory, and yet produce such a meandering main show each week.
Positive and Negative Feelings
+ The show's pacing, while still leaving a lot to be desired, moved better last night during the season premiere, which helped lessen some of the boring stretches. Generally speaking, the right people went over in their matches, and enough storyline development took place to keep things moving smoothly as we continue on the build towards the upcoming Special. The evolution of Seth Rollins as a main event player continues to entertain, and Paul Heyman brought his A-game yet again to elevate his one segment and keep eyeballs glued to the television set. The NXT rookies did a fantastic job trying to steal the show, and Bray Wyatt and Chris Jericho put on the best opening match for the show in months.
- The quality of actual wrestling action was still sketchy; for a three hour show, far too little time was spent on the actual in-ring product. The writing continues to be hammy, with Dolph Ziggler and Randy Orton both getting some especially bad dialogue on the script this week. The abominable Bella Twins storyline continues to suck the fun out of the show every time they're on, and the decided lack of storyline resolution means we can expect more from them next week. Without Daniel Bryan or Dean Ambrose in the picture, the company is suffering from a decided lack of star power, which dulls things somewhat. On the technical end, the production crew continues to regress from week to week, sloppily missing some high impact moves during the matches.
The Bottom Line
The 'season premiere' broadcast for Raw was billed as Event TV, and in some cases it delivered. Overall though, the product continues to suffer through a malaise while two of its brightest stars are sorely missed. Brock Lesnar's return to programming next week should spice things up, but too many nonsensical storylines and too little wrestling action can make Raw more of a chore to watch than an entertainment option on the evening. The talent is there on the roster and in their development territory, but the septic, sterile nature of the show is in dire need of a visual overhaul, as is Creative. The show is what it is at this point: mediocre on average, with flashes of greatness that inspire hope for the future, but stretches that are almost unwatchable at its worst.
Overall Rating: 5.6 / 10
With another Monday night in the books, welcome to the Raw Cut here at Inglourious Fiction! Last night's action in Baltimore, Maryland was billed by the WWE as a 'Season Premiere', which is a rather transparent marketing ploy considering the company runs programming fifty-two weeks out of the year. Last night's show was the first head-to-head showdown with ESPN Monday Night Football of the new football season, and the company was primed to pull out all the tricks in the book to capture eyeballs and prevent an erosion of their core audience. How well did they do? As per usual, the product cycled through a series of refreshing hits and painfully dreadful lulls, but it certainly set the stage for next week's broadcast. For a show that likes to bill itself as the 'longest-running weekly episodic show in television history', perhaps that's a good thing? Here's a prime cut of the action that went down last night.
Heyman Hustles His Way to MVP of the Night Honors
Despite headlining the upcoming Night of Champions Special on the WWE Network (for just $9.99!) and Pay Per View, storyline advancement for the Brock Lesnar-John Cena program only occupied one segment tonight, which was at once an interesting change of pace and a bit confusing, considering the company's normal reliance on John Cena to carry more important broadcasts. Paul Heyman's monologue and ultimate Emperor Palpatine act to John Cena's Luke Skywalker was the highlight of the segment and one of the biggest highs of the night, attempting to draw Cena to embrace the HATE in an ode to his 2012 feud with Kane. Creatively speaking, Cena once again rose above to embrace his loyal fans and refute his inner heel, but the real purpose of the segment was as a plot device to promote an in-ring showdown between Cena and the World Heavyweight Champion Brock Lesnar on next week's show.
As an in-ring talk segment, Heyman and Cena continue to deliver the goods, though the former champ's shallow characterization and stubborn insistence on remaining squeaky clean continue to polarize an audience that has been watching the act unfold for almost eleven years (!) and counting. The company is doing everything in their power to milk the redemption storyline arc for Cena's character heading into Night of Champions, but history indicates that the most likely outcome of the bout will see some sort of chicanery that allows Lesnar to keep the title and facilitate Cena's next feud heading into the Fall. At the same time, ratings over the next two weeks could always force the WWE into panic mode, which traditionally means a restored focus on Cena as the top dog. As seen last night, however, there were bigger things in play that gained the lion's share of attention from the writers, which may signal a new era for the company.
Orton vs. Reigns: Schmozz City in Charm City
For the second time in a month, the Authority ran roughshod over a former Shield member on Monday night, as the "anticipated" rematch between Randy Orton and Roman Reigns headlined last night's season premiere. Generally speaking, the same fatal flaws that lessened the impact of their Summerslam match were apparent here: Reigns possesses a handful of moves that illicit a response from the crowd, but overall his ring work leaves a lot to be desired for someone who has the proverbial rocket strapped to his back in preparation for his (long-rumored) push to the WrestleMania main event. Randy Orton continues to look semi-resurgent in the ring, despite delivering some cheesy lines throughout the evening. As a match, things were good, but not great; the after-match shenanigans however definitely played into the storyline development that will ultimately culminate with some major twists and turns in the weeks to come.
Seth Rollins continued to look sharp last night, picking up a victory over Sheamus in a decent match that served more to prepare the ground for Sheamus's upcoming U.S. Title defense over Cesaro at Night of Champions than anything. Still, a win over the heavily-protected U.S. Champion is nothing to sneeze at, nor was his epic dive from the top of the steel cage during the end segment for the show (the second such leap of the night). The beating given to Reigns by the Authority looks to play into a possible tag team match at the upcoming Special, with Orton and Rollins almost assuredly teaming to face Reigns and one of two partners. Chris Jericho could make his final appearance for awhile in the slot after being attacked unexpectedly by Orton in a backstage segment, though the potential return of Dean Ambrose is a far juicier prospect. In any event, Reigns should continue to figure heavily in the upper card scene moving forward.
As the Bella Twins Turn: Now Featuring Jerry Springer and More Bellas!
The insidious focus on the Bella Twins angle continued its streak of lowering the quality bar for programming last night, as the company's indefensible insistence on promoting the feud as a serious angle continued. Jerry Springer was hauled out of syndication Hell to serve as a mediator of sorts for an in-ring segment that actually went shorter than expected, which isn't saying a whole lot. After a few token appearances from some random Bella family members, the gratuitous catfight scene involved a lot of sound and fury, ultimately signifying nothing. Shockingly (or not, depending on your expectations), little was accomplished by the segment, as Brie continues to remain outside of the scheduled Triple Threat for the Divas Championship at Night of Champions, which makes one question what the point of any of this storyline is. Dwelling on it for too long will make one spontaneously explode Scanners-style, so it's best to move on.
Bray Wyatt vs. Chris Jericho: A Steel Cage Showdown
The show opened with what ended up being a surprisingly entertaining cage match between Jericho and Wyatt, featuring a somewhat-clever and unique twist on the conventional cage match ending. Several flashy highspots, including a flying press off the top of the cage from Jericho made the match standout from its counterparts on the evening, but the right man went over in the end. Whether or not Jericho is written out of programming for the foreseeable future depends entirely on whether Dean Ambrose will make his return to the company prior to Night of Champions, but the Jericho-Wyatt program is now almost certainly over with for the time being. The win and post-match assault on Jericho helped give Bray some sorely-needed heat heading into what looks to be an uncertain future for the character. It remains to be seen whether he will continue to flirt with the upper card or not when storylines begin to shake out for the Fall run.
Assorted Leftovers from the Evening's Show
As expected, the Usos and the Dust Brothers continued their budding young feud last night, with Jay and Jimmy attacking Cody and Goldust with a crutch after what amounted to an extended squash for the Gold twins over Los Matadores. Adam Rose got another victory over Titus O'Neil in a rematch from last week, and even the rabbit got in on the action with a post-match splash off the top. Dolph Ziggler continued his angle with The Miz, aping the nude photo / Cloud hack scandal by showing compromising pictures of the Miz in a skit we've seen ad nauseum over the last decade. Paige and A.J. continued to fawn over the Divas Title, coming away successful as wacky tag partners who hate each other over Natalya and an embarrassingly bad Rosa Mendes. Rusev put in a token appearance with a Russian anthem and flag exhibition on the stage, but Mark Henry and Big Show were both strangely absent. Both Bo Dallas and Jack Swagger were also missing from the card last night.
By far, the biggest surprise—and perhaps most exciting development—of the show was the utilization of several NXT competitors in a quasi-preview match for the upcoming NXT Special on the WWE Network. While Tyler Breeze looks to need a bit more polishing, both his partner Tyson Kidd (who has formerly competed on the main roster as part of the Hart Dynasty several years ago) and the winning team of Adrian Neville and Sami Zayn came off looking like stars. Neville in particular popped the crowd huge with a fresh look in the ring that should get him over like gangbusters when he finally gets the call to the main roster, and Sami Zayn looked crisp as well. All four men busted their asses to get over in what basically amounted to a chance to make an impression, and they certainly accomplished their objective. It amazes me that a company can put such a stout focus on its developmental territory, and yet produce such a meandering main show each week.
Positive and Negative Feelings
+ The show's pacing, while still leaving a lot to be desired, moved better last night during the season premiere, which helped lessen some of the boring stretches. Generally speaking, the right people went over in their matches, and enough storyline development took place to keep things moving smoothly as we continue on the build towards the upcoming Special. The evolution of Seth Rollins as a main event player continues to entertain, and Paul Heyman brought his A-game yet again to elevate his one segment and keep eyeballs glued to the television set. The NXT rookies did a fantastic job trying to steal the show, and Bray Wyatt and Chris Jericho put on the best opening match for the show in months.
- The quality of actual wrestling action was still sketchy; for a three hour show, far too little time was spent on the actual in-ring product. The writing continues to be hammy, with Dolph Ziggler and Randy Orton both getting some especially bad dialogue on the script this week. The abominable Bella Twins storyline continues to suck the fun out of the show every time they're on, and the decided lack of storyline resolution means we can expect more from them next week. Without Daniel Bryan or Dean Ambrose in the picture, the company is suffering from a decided lack of star power, which dulls things somewhat. On the technical end, the production crew continues to regress from week to week, sloppily missing some high impact moves during the matches.
The Bottom Line
The 'season premiere' broadcast for Raw was billed as Event TV, and in some cases it delivered. Overall though, the product continues to suffer through a malaise while two of its brightest stars are sorely missed. Brock Lesnar's return to programming next week should spice things up, but too many nonsensical storylines and too little wrestling action can make Raw more of a chore to watch than an entertainment option on the evening. The talent is there on the roster and in their development territory, but the septic, sterile nature of the show is in dire need of a visual overhaul, as is Creative. The show is what it is at this point: mediocre on average, with flashes of greatness that inspire hope for the future, but stretches that are almost unwatchable at its worst.
Overall Rating: 5.6 / 10
