wrestling / TV Reports

Tremendous Tirades 9.16.13: WWE Monday Night Raw

September 16, 2013 | Posted by Larry Csonka

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Introduction
As a reminder, this will not be another traditional recap, but instead it will be a mash up of the Rs, Instant Analysis and my usual Twitter ramblings I would do during the shows; completely uncensored and as the ideas flow unfiltered to the old keyboard. Remember, this is a review; and I am here to review the show. As always, I encourage discussion and even disagreement, just do so in a respectful manner. I will be doing the review for Raw and most PPVs and iPPVs going forward.


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WWE MONDAY NIGHT RAW

  • The numbers don’t matter until the end, so lets have fun.

    The Beard is Here: Daniel Bryan hit the ring to kick off the show, and got a great reaction. It was cut short by the appearance of Triple H, who looked pissed and was walking with a purpose. Right away he brought up the fast count, and said that the win was tainted. Scott Armstrong was brought out, we got to see video evidence of his normal cadence and then the fast count. Armstrong admitted his mistake, and then the game was on. He told Bryan, “they got us.” Triple H then said Bryan was behind a conspiracy to steal the WWE Title, and Bryan then had the title taken away from him as the Hs was holding up the title while he investigates things. IT’S A TRAP! That’s right, there is no WWE champion at this time. Triple H hit true dick mode, adding in, “I thought Shawn taught you better.” Orton appeared, RKO’d Bryan and Triple H left with the title. On one hand the giant conspiracy theory is pretty great. I thought they would go with the injured ref angle; instead it is Triple H using his power (and 15-year relationship with Armstrong) to manipulate the finish. It allows for Bryan to appear to finally be triumphant, for Triple H to appear to have his hands clean when he promised no interference; it is interesting and in a way very creative. But the one thing I dislike is how the WWE Title is being treated. In a month’s time it went from Cena to Bryan to Orton to Bryan to vacant (or as Triple H stated, held in abeyance). Also, I still hate the show opening promo because it makes every show feel the same, and I do not think that it is a good thing. But the good news is that the live crowd loved the angle, and it came across well on TV.

    Rating (1-10): 1.6180

  • Orton cried about not getting the belt back, and Stephanie told him to become a sick bastard like he used to be, the one that DDT’d her and felt her up while Triple H was handcuffed to the ropes. Otherwise, they will find a new face of the WWE.

    Non-Title Match: Dean Ambrose © vs. Dolph Ziggler: Nothing like the immediate rematch from the PPV show the night before to make you feel like you spent your money well. For real though, it does bother me when we have immediate PPV rematches because I feel like I wasted my money. Even though the PPV match got 9-minutes last night, it felt rushed and like they were going through the motions. This one got nearly 12-minutes, but once you take out the commercial it was basically the same timeframe as the PPV. This one felt like it had a sense of urgency, both guys worked hard and this was a good opening match for the show. Ziggler gets another shot at the US Title with the victory. Please give these guys 15-minutes or so on PPV and let them do their thing, we’ll be better off for it.

    Rating (1-10): 3.14

  • Brad Maddox met with Big Show. He will be meeting with Stephanie and Triple H. Someone’s in trouble…
  • Show got reprimanded, and will have to stay in Brad Maddox’s office. There’s no catering in there you know. That’s not a fat joke, Show may want some fruit or water if he has to stay there for three hours.

    Fandango vs. R-Truth: This match was set up after that spectacular dance off that aired on Smackdown last week. With Fandango losing to Miz at Night of Champions, this appears to be a rehab assignment for Fandango. Unfortunately for these guys, once their entrances were done, so was the crowd’s ability to care. Fandango won with the leg drop off the top. It was a completely average match with not much crowd reaction. I have no idea what they do with Fandango next, but they need to have him feud with someone that the audience actually cares about.

    Rating (1-10): 867-5309

  • Dusty Rhodes is backstage and will head to the ring next!

    Aaaaaaaammmerrrriiicannnnn Dreaaaamm…: Dusty Rhodes came to the ring, and he was Dusty FUCKING Rhodes. Even in 2013, the man knows what to do when you hand him a microphone. The man sells the angle, the man sells the emotion and the man held a master class that I hope the young guns were watching because the Dream stepped up to the pulpit and preached to the congregation. AMEN DREAM! Stephanie arrived, tried to give Dusty a Bed, Bath and Beyond card for the newlyweds. She then went into full on bitch mode and stated that there was a job, one either for Cody or Dustin, and that Dusty had to choose. Give it to the son that did it the right way (Cody) or the one Dusty neglected all those years (Dustin). That’s a spectacular bitch move to make the father choose between his two sons. Dusty then told that bitch to go to hell, and the Shield arrived! Then Stephanie called out Big Show. She gave Dusty a choice, death by Shield, or KO by Show. Stephanie hen ordered Show to KO the Dream, but he refused. The Shield then got chairs to destroy Dusty, and Show ended up KOing Dusty after giving him a hug and saying he had no choice; apparently they weren’t nWo for life. Tremendous touch as Show hit him and then caught him and gently laid him on the mat because he did not want to do it. I do hate the “Big Show is broke” deal, but he is playing his role extremely well.

    Rating (1-10): .57721

  • Dusty was loaded into an ambulance, and Show went with him.

    Brie, Cameron and Naomi vs. Layla, Alicia Fox and Aksana: AJ and Natalya are on commentary. Typical short divas match, but it wasn’t too bad because they generally kept things simple. It broke down and Brie scored the pin for her team. AJ and Nataya argued on commentary, likely setting up the next title program. Although I do not know how you get to that logically since Natalya tapped to AJ last night.

    Rating (1-10): 555

  • The Miz and Brad Maddox talk backstage.

    RVD vs. Damien Sandow: This is a rematch from the August 30th edition of WWE Smackdown, where RVD won in under three minutes. The same thing happened here. You know, there is nothing like building up that Money in the Bank winner. I get that they wanted RVD to get a win following last night’s PPV, just pick someone else.

    Rating (1-10): 3:16

  • Miz will face Randy Orton tonight.
  • Triple H meets with Scott Armstrong about the situation. He is giving Armstrong a severance package, because he is letting him go. Armstrong tries to interrupt, but Triple H promises to take care of him.

    Randy Orton vs. The Miz: Miz came to the ring to a good reaction since they are in Cleveland. As he was hugging his parent, Orton attacked and just started to beat him down and slammed him into the steps. This was to set up a simple story, Miz having to fight back to overcome the odds, and Randy Orton being more relentless at the request of the new regime. They spilled to the floor and we had a DQ finish as they used several reaction shots of Miz’s mother to reinforce the angle. Orton even beat the piss out of Miz right beside his parents, and then hit the hangman’s DDT onto the floor. Orton then wrapped the chair around Miz’s head and gave him a Pilmanizing knee drop to close out the angle. I really liked the idea behind this. They want to make Orton that unlikable asshole, so they do the angle with Miz in Cleveland, where he will get a big reaction, and you have his parents in attendance. If Miz’s parent were better actors it would have come off better, but overall this was a good angle.

    Rating (1-10): 6.626068 x 10^-34 m^2 kg/s

  • Some stills from Night of Champions, and Ryback saving Paul Heyman from CM Punk.

    Professor Heyman and His Guys Come To The Ramp: Axel disappeared quickly to leave Ryback and Heyman alone. Heyman proclaiming that he is the best in the world right away, because he pinned Punk, was the best way to kick off the promo. Heyman, once again, is so good at what he does. On one hand putting over Punk’s beating, while being a complete asshole in celebrating his victory. He is able to be here today to make Punk’s life hell because of Ryback’s help. Heyman even stated that he owed his life to Ryback. Ryback hates bullies, and that is why he helped Heyman, because he is here to stop CM Punk. Ryback promised to protect Heyman, and Heyman gave him a kiss on the cheek while sporting the biggest shit eating grin you’ve ever seen.

    Rating (1-10): 0.12345678910111213141516171819202122232425

  • Los Matadores are coming.

    For a Tag Title Shot: Usos vs. Tons of Funk vs. Real Americans: This is a match that shows the issue with the booking of the WWE tag team division. There are simply no real feuds happening right now despite the fact that they have some teams. There were no feuds, so they did a multi-team gauntlet last night to crown a contender for the PPV. Tonight, they do another multi-team, elimination match to crown contenders, because there are no feuds happening and no real contenders. And the crowd didn’t care as they chanted for JBL, Lawler and other things. It’s a shame, because when they got down to the Usos and Americans, it tuned into a good little match. They have worked a lot together (and trading random wins doesn’t mean they are feuding) and it showed here. He work paid off as the crowd started to react to the Usos, which was nice to see. Good finish with the blind tag and Usos getting the Superfly Splash for the win. The Usos are a really fun team, and I say again, have a lot of untapped babyface potential.

    Rating (1-10): 911

  • Creepy Wyatt Family video goes here.
  • Highlights of the Dusty Rhodes segment.

    Daniel Bryan vs. Roman Reigns : Ambrose, Rollins and Orton are all at ringside. Interesting change up here, as Bryan vs. Rollins is always great, but they have done it a lot. On the plus side, working an extended match with Bryan is nothing but good for Reigns’ development. For his first extended showing in a singles match, I thought that Roman Reigns did very well. Sure he was in there with Daniel Bryan, but to have a good match the other guy still has to pull his own weight. Side note, if Rollins doesn’t have a concussion, I will be surprised. That bump into the table was nasty. Good work by both guys, and the finish was fine because Reigns is protected, ad Bryan had the visual victory. The Shield and Orton did the big beat down on Bryan, and this was called a punishment match, so it plays into that theme. Orton looked to Pilmanize the head of Bryan like he did to the Miz, but the babyface locker room emptied, in a moment that showed that they have had enough of the current regime. The faces cleared the ring and chanted YES in unison with Bryan and the crowd as they held Bryan on their shoulders as their hero. This needed to happen, as the locker room played the scared card for long enough, and it got a tremendous reaction from the crowd. You could see for weeks that they supported Bryan, but felt handcuffed due to the Triple H power game. Prior to the match they gave Bryan support, but finally did so in the ring. This was a very strong way to end the show.

    Rating (1-10): 4. 669201609102990671853203820466201617258185577475768632745651
    343004134330211314737138689744023948013817165984855189815134 408627142027932522312442988890890859944935463236713411532481
    714219947455644365823793202009561058330575458617652222070385
    410646749494284981453391726200568755665952339875603825637225

  • Thanks for reading.

    The Tirade

    After a poor Night of Champions PPV, I felt that WWE followed things up with an overall very good edition of Raw. The main story is still Bryan vs. the Triple H regime, but the tide has turned. He got screwed, but now the faces have united with Bryan to fight the power. The angle was strong overall, and added a lot to the show. Will the Big Show be next to join in the fight?

    The Dusty Rhodes appearance was everything I hoped for. Rhodes was as good as ever on the mic, and brought the passion needed for the angle. From the Cody match with Orton, Goldust’s appearance last week, and now this, they have built the angle up very well. It also needs to be said that Cody being off TV is the best thing right now. He has been so damaged as a character, that no one would buy him in the angle as a foe for the Triple H regime. Having him off TV, and the things they have done are setting the stage for a big return. It will just be up to WWE to go with the momentum and book Cody as a serious threat.

    There were still some things on the show I was not a fan of (Sandow always losing, always opening with the promo, ect) but I felt that the good far outweighed the bad. Most importantly, the show did not drag for me this week.

    What you have to watch: The Dusty Rhodes segment, Heyman being Heyman and the main event segment.

    Show Rating: 8.0

    As a reminder, I will be going by the 411 scale…

    0 – 0.9: Torture
    1 – 1.9: Extremely Horrendous
    2 – 2.9: Very Bad
    3 – 3.9: Bad
    4 – 4.9: Poor
    5 – 5.9: Not So Good
    6 – 6.9: Average
    7 – 7.9: Good
    8 – 8.9:Very Good
    9 – 9.9: Amazing
    10: Virtually Perfect

    The final rating is not simply an average of the rated segments above. The rating takes them into account as well as the segments that are small but not scored, the flow of the show, the overall booking, build to PPV, crowd reactions, and so on and so forth.


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