Raw Meat for 8-13-12

Cant believe the huge drop off Raw had this week. I dont feel like being grumpy, so I may make this short and sweet. Ive avoided writing for a few days, because I dont like to complain a lot, but a lot was wrong with this Raw.

First of all, WWE has three hours of Raw and decided to just stop pushing towards any match that wasnt the WWE Title or Lesnar/Hunter. They've made Jinder Mahal look like a legit threat, they announced Miz vs Rey, and not to mention the non-feud that has been Kane vs Daniel Bryan. For those three matches, the people literally didnt come in contact with one another over the three hours of Raw. Really? You're Kane. You hate Daniel Bryan because....well we still really dont know why. I assume it has something to do with AJ, or maybe Bryan cut him off in traffic. Whatever, you're Kane. You hate Bryan. You don't find the time over the THREE HOURS to sneak out of your weird lair with the red glow to rough up Daniel Bryan a bit? Jinder Mahal? No where to be seen? Rey? Anybody?

But boy, sure am glad we could have that Sin Cara vs Tensai match. Thats gonna be meaningful on Sunday when they're....golfing, or whatever they do when they're no were near the Summerslam card. That match however, was actually a good little match. Kudos to them.

That triple threat was a helluva match too and Im excited to see Jericho and Dolph mix it up at SummerSlam. The two main matches had a nice build of course, with Punk continuing to evolve and Lesnar getting monster heat. This was the first week though that the last hour dragged on a lot. I felt like every segment, from the contract signing, to the Punk interview, to the car crash seen all could've been strong show endings. I kept thinking, okay now its over....holy shit there's still a half hour! We'll see how Summerslam goes down, and how the post-ppv Raw shakes out.

Raw Meat For 8-6-12

Just got done finally finishing this week's Raw and I was impressed. The idea of a three hour Raw sounded down right dreadful but this week more than any it delivered. The segments were entertaining and the matches for the most part mattered going into SummerSlam. Some great matches with Rey/Punk and Bryan/Cena leading the pack. I of course, have a few things I feel I need to touch on so lets get at it.

First thing that comes to mind with this Raw, is the first thing we see, the opening segment. Raw had a great opening segment due to the great performances from two of Raw's most featured and talked about acts: AJ Lee and CM Punk. First off, AJ Lee is doing a great job in the General Manager role and the only downside is she's one of the few women in the company that can work and isn't going to be wrestling anytime soon. What I noticed this week (and this is just as much a compliment to the writers as it is her) is that she is coming off very in control, which is fun to watch. From settling down the ol' "every guy comes down to the ring" chestnut to looking these guys dead in the eyes and not cracking, AJ is being positioned as a very good character and a strong, positive influence for women (if you skip past the fact that she kinda got around the last few months). Its fun to watch this like 5'5 girl have control over all these giants. We'll get to CM Punk later.

Greatness in this business is only handed to a chosen few. People can work their ass off and become great wrestlers in the ring or good talkers on the mic, but it seems that only a chosen few have that aurora about them. Watching Paul Heyman and Shawn Michaels go at it on the mic is a huge moment to me. They can sit on their couch for years or months and not only come back and be entertaining, but be driving forces behind a major angle. This angle is nothing without Heyman and Michaels added a lot with his mic work on Raw and promised presence at SummerSlam. I'm very proud to say I grew up watching these guys and every time they even do a guest appearance I feel like I should write a book about them, but I'll have to settle for a paragraph in a inconsistent blog.

I thought the Zigglar loss to A-Ry was very interesting and didn't see it coming, not to mention it was a very good match. Zigglar can obviously afford the loss while he holds the briefcase, it'd be nice if it goes on to mean a little something for him (though it probably won't). I'm looking forward to Jericho Vs Dolph as it could be Jericho's last match for awhile, or who knows, ever. I feel bad, honestly, as somebody who calls themselves a huge Jericho fan. I don't feel like I've really cherished this latest run, or even paid a whole lot of attention. Maybe it'd because reports kept saying it wouldn't last long, maybe it's because his feud with Punk was largely overshadowed by Lesnar and Rock, whatever the case I've just been sorta...waiting for him to leave. I'm gonna watch that Summerslam match like it could be his last though, because you just never know.

Finally, let me get to CM Punk and his Raw performance. As a huge fan of Punk and his work let me say...Thank God CM Punk is interesting once again! Punk was very much lossing my interest and to an extent, getting on my nerves. Punk's fight the system attitude and "Pipe bomb" routine was becoming just that, routine. Everything you say is not a biting pipe bomb, to say the least. For Punk to have that bite that he had in the "Summer of Punk 2", he's got to have something to fired up about and I think this storyline is perfect. He has been overshadowed by Rock, Lesnar, and even AJ (I'd like to think WWE forshadowed this with the Eve segment a few weeks ago) and he's sick of being overlooked by not only WWE, but the fans he fought so hard for only a year ago. It's entertaining and more than anything the thing I love about it, it makes sense. I'm not hard to please, just make it all make sense.

To sum it up simple, that's why I loved Raw this week. Kofi and Truth's beef with the Prime Time Players, Sheamus messing with Del Rio, HHH and Lesnar's feud, Jericho and Dolph's story, and CM Punk's turn are all realistic, well thought out storylines. Raw was at it's best this week the more I think about it, and yet, I'm sure most probably still complained. That's why you read my blog, and not the other's.

Wrestling Round Up 8-3-12

Once again Ive missed a few weeks. Had some crazy stuff going on in the ol personal life, but its all good. I'll try to wrap up my major thoughts on the last couple weeks in wrestling, Raw and otherwise.

First off all, I'll give some sweeping thoughts on Raw 1000. I was lucky enough to attend Raw 1000 with my close friends and family and I loved it. It was not the best wrestling show Ive ever witnessed, but anyone who expected three hours of Steamboat/Flair is out of touch. The show was going to be based around nostalgia, and with that in mind, I had a few major goosebump moments. The opening video package was brilliant, and my friend Jason and I looked at each other about halfway through thinking "Thats our entire lives!". It was awesome to see the full DX reunion, and its always special to see Shawn for me. Other than my father, I dont know theres a man on this planet that has had a bigger affect on me than ol HBK. My entire idea of cool is based around 1997 Shawn Michaels. I will say,  even though I also enjoyed the Lesnar segment, I didnt see the need to seperate these segments. You could've had DX crush Sandow, only for Heyman to come out and draw Triple H away from the ring....with Lesnar sneaking in and tearing apart DX and accepting the challenge. That would've opened up another slot for a match.

The main event came off well and I loved Punk's attack on Rock. Notice I will not call this a heel turn. I dont know if Punk is a "good guy" or a "bad guy" because of this one moment. Punk has been the antagonist going way back before last year's money in the bank. I think they're just going to turn up the heat and yes, eventually the crowd will turn. Hopefully, as his "face" shtick was growing old quickly.

This week's Raw I think came off better than I expected. Hard to go into details because nothing really blew me away or turned my stomache. I did really enjoy AJ and Daniel Bryan's work not only this week, but the week before. And let me take a second to call out all you internet jackasses that think the WWE is ran by misguided idiots and question every little thing. Everyone seems to enjoy all this success AJ Lee is having. I am a huge fan of hers and have been since NXT. She's talented, charismatic, and cute which is the makeup of a star female worker. With that said though, all her talent and cuteness was getting her nowere. She was drowning before she became Daniel Bryan's girlfriend and even then, I didnt hear anyone raving about her. Im going to go ahead and point out something I havent seen anyone say...

None of this would have happend if Daniel Bryan wasn't squashed in 18 second by Sheamus at Wrestlemania.

That is the stone cold truth folks. That was the event that ignited the switch in AJ's character that has gotten her more over than Jesus. This is proof we all need shut up and see where a story goes before we get outraged. Not only is Daniel Bryan doing just fine, that "mistake" at Mania launched AJ to the moon. So WWE Creative, consider this my formal apology for doubting you on that match.

While Im ranting, a big "Hahahahaha!" is due to anyone who said "Well golly, TNA sure is awesome now that Austin Aries is champion". Ive watched the past two weeks (which btw, how much TNA did you all REALLY watch after your messiah won the title? I doubt you made it through more than a week) and guess what? About 75% of the show is devoted to 8 guys running around in masks assaulting people and a bad actress yelling about having sex with AJ Styles. The other quarter is spent tallying points for some tournament and trying to make Chavo Guerrero look like a star.

I fucking win!

See ya next time.

Authors Note: I realize after saying "wait and see where things go" I immediately criticized TNA for their two major, in progress storylines. Let me be a bit more clear on what I was saying, to avoid smartass-ery. Im not saying you shouldnt have an opinion on things as they happen. You either enjoy something or you dont. If you didnt enjoy the Daniel Bryan/Sheamus match, that's fine, I didnt either. I also didnt get on here and claim the WWE had lost their minds and they were going to cut Bryan's balls off and they have no idea what they are doing, ect. It'd be like me coming on here and saying the Clair Lynch story is going to ruin AJ Styles career. It's bad, but he'll survive. Just like Bryan might not have gotten his Mania moment, but he survived. In short, love or hate what you see, just don't play Chicken Little and tell me the sky is falling before you see where it heads.