It wasn't a good show, it wasn't a bad show, it was a good show. I don't know man, you find some other way to end it.
There's been a lot of talk over the past few weeks over the supposed "new era" of the WWE, and tonight's show gave us a brief taste of what the era could have in store. I'm reminded of early to mid 1998, after a few horrible years of programming, when the WWF finally regrouped and started to put together some very solid programming. It wasn't until 1999 when the WWF finally dethroned WCW, but 1998 is one of my favorite years of WWF programming, as Vince and Co. demonstrated just how good they could become.
I normally wouldn't cover pre-show matches, but these two were pretty important. First, in remarkably the only questionable booking move of the night, Ziggler for some reason picked up a win over Baron Corbin. It's a demonstration of just how bad 50/50 booking is, and we should all move on. In the greatest pre-show match I've ever seen, Kalisto and Ryback tore the house down, leading one to wonder why the never got an actual storyline.
It's at this point I'd like to send my prayers and well wishes to Enzo Amore, who suffered a nasty concussion, competing in the opening match against the Vaudevillains. From everything I've seen on Twitter, he seems to be fine, but it's another reminder of just how dangerous this line of work is. Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn got the unenviable task of attempting to follow that up, but if anyone can do it, it's these two. Certainly a match of the night candidate, and is another chapter in the greatest professional wrestling rivalry of this generation.
Kevin Owens on commentary is the greatest thing to ever happen to the WWE, and made an otherwise forgettable match between Cesaro and The Miz very memorable. Another nice call on the finish here, as Miz losing the belt this early doesn't make a lot of sense. A fatal four way with these guys should go over very well, as the Extreme Rules match card begins to fill out.
I've spoken in the past about just how old Chris Jericho looks in the ring, and this is yet another example. Dean simply cannot carry someone like Jericho like Styles could, and the match suffered as a result. I am glad that Dean could finally get a pay per view win though. The next hour of programming was a definite step down, with yet another forgettable match, this time between Charlotte and Natalya, that served only to let Bret Hart and Natalya slap on the Sharpshooter, which I'll admit was pretty cool. Also, f*ck you WWE for the god damn Chicago Screwjob. Seriously, f*ck you, man.
This obnoxious war for power on Raw is really, really starting to get on my nerves, and tonight definitely didn't help that. I understand that, with all of the injuries on the main roster, a brand split would be very difficult, but I would love to see them try. I think that's still the end game, but they're likely waiting for guys like Cena and Orton to return before pulling the trigger. Just a colossal waste of time.
I've heard some fans say that the main event was too overbooked, but I gotta admit, I'm a sucker for overbooked main events. I love my main events to feel like absolute wars, and you can't top this one for delivering on that feeling. This match felt like a main event of Wrestlemania, and perhaps should have been. I loved the spots, the interference of Anderson and Gallows and The Usos, the near falls, and hell, I didn't even mind Shane and Steph getting involved, as that furthered the intrigue of their next match, with AJ technically having won the match twice. If these are the main events we can expect in this "new era", sign me up.
A great main event and another fantastic Owens-Zayn match could not lift this show from being anything other than a run of the mill pay per view. However, the WWE is in a much better place than they have been over the past few years, and have me genuinely interested in what is in store, with a potential brand split in the works, the reformation of the Bullet Club, and hell, even Roman's title reign. One other thing of note: other than the obvious exception of the tag match, and the techinical exception of the women's match, every match on this card ended in a clean pinfall finish, and that's the best news I've heard all day.
7/10
There is a hell of a lot of promise in this show. Sort out the Stephanie-Shane thing, bring back guys like Cena, Orton and Rollins, and you got yourself a show.
There's been a lot of talk over the past few weeks over the supposed "new era" of the WWE, and tonight's show gave us a brief taste of what the era could have in store. I'm reminded of early to mid 1998, after a few horrible years of programming, when the WWF finally regrouped and started to put together some very solid programming. It wasn't until 1999 when the WWF finally dethroned WCW, but 1998 is one of my favorite years of WWF programming, as Vince and Co. demonstrated just how good they could become.
I normally wouldn't cover pre-show matches, but these two were pretty important. First, in remarkably the only questionable booking move of the night, Ziggler for some reason picked up a win over Baron Corbin. It's a demonstration of just how bad 50/50 booking is, and we should all move on. In the greatest pre-show match I've ever seen, Kalisto and Ryback tore the house down, leading one to wonder why the never got an actual storyline.
It's at this point I'd like to send my prayers and well wishes to Enzo Amore, who suffered a nasty concussion, competing in the opening match against the Vaudevillains. From everything I've seen on Twitter, he seems to be fine, but it's another reminder of just how dangerous this line of work is. Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn got the unenviable task of attempting to follow that up, but if anyone can do it, it's these two. Certainly a match of the night candidate, and is another chapter in the greatest professional wrestling rivalry of this generation.
Kevin Owens on commentary is the greatest thing to ever happen to the WWE, and made an otherwise forgettable match between Cesaro and The Miz very memorable. Another nice call on the finish here, as Miz losing the belt this early doesn't make a lot of sense. A fatal four way with these guys should go over very well, as the Extreme Rules match card begins to fill out.
I've spoken in the past about just how old Chris Jericho looks in the ring, and this is yet another example. Dean simply cannot carry someone like Jericho like Styles could, and the match suffered as a result. I am glad that Dean could finally get a pay per view win though. The next hour of programming was a definite step down, with yet another forgettable match, this time between Charlotte and Natalya, that served only to let Bret Hart and Natalya slap on the Sharpshooter, which I'll admit was pretty cool. Also, f*ck you WWE for the god damn Chicago Screwjob. Seriously, f*ck you, man.
This obnoxious war for power on Raw is really, really starting to get on my nerves, and tonight definitely didn't help that. I understand that, with all of the injuries on the main roster, a brand split would be very difficult, but I would love to see them try. I think that's still the end game, but they're likely waiting for guys like Cena and Orton to return before pulling the trigger. Just a colossal waste of time.
I've heard some fans say that the main event was too overbooked, but I gotta admit, I'm a sucker for overbooked main events. I love my main events to feel like absolute wars, and you can't top this one for delivering on that feeling. This match felt like a main event of Wrestlemania, and perhaps should have been. I loved the spots, the interference of Anderson and Gallows and The Usos, the near falls, and hell, I didn't even mind Shane and Steph getting involved, as that furthered the intrigue of their next match, with AJ technically having won the match twice. If these are the main events we can expect in this "new era", sign me up.
A great main event and another fantastic Owens-Zayn match could not lift this show from being anything other than a run of the mill pay per view. However, the WWE is in a much better place than they have been over the past few years, and have me genuinely interested in what is in store, with a potential brand split in the works, the reformation of the Bullet Club, and hell, even Roman's title reign. One other thing of note: other than the obvious exception of the tag match, and the techinical exception of the women's match, every match on this card ended in a clean pinfall finish, and that's the best news I've heard all day.
7/10
There is a hell of a lot of promise in this show. Sort out the Stephanie-Shane thing, bring back guys like Cena, Orton and Rollins, and you got yourself a show.
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