WWE RAW/Smackdown/NXT/Superstars Discussion Thread 2010

BTW, if you're not watching the Jay Lethal "Flair" promos on TNA..you're missing brilliance

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EHbQe7QJjNQ]YouTube - Jay Lethal's Tribute To Ric Flair[/ame]


(sorry about the quality of these...but since it was last night the good copies aren't up)

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KsEOOmNL-l4]YouTube - Jay lethal and ric flair best wrestling promo ever part 1[/ame]

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F8MlaRmrqvs]YouTube - Jay lethal and ric flair best promo ever part 2[/ame]

Smackdown Review - 6/18/10

Straight Edge Society/Jack Swagger/Kane/Rey Mysterio/Big Show segment - Great opening segment! I'm not quite sure why CM Punk is mocking Undertaker's vegetative state but it was really funny to watch. The crowd cheering for the fake Undertaker was a great trick. Luke Gallows really made a good Undertaker. ;)

I couldn't tell if all the Fatal Four Way participants did this intentionally to get revenge on Kane or not, but it did work out perfectly. Kane stormed out to destroy SES for making fun of his brother but Jack Swagger ambushes Kane from behind. Kane gets dominated by Swagger + SES. Then it looks like Mysterio and Big Show are coming out for the save, but Swagger and SES just go back to the ramp.

It was great to see the crowd cheer for this, only to go.. "What the hell?" When Rey Mysterio gave Kane a 619 and Big Show followed it up with a Chokeslam.

So did they work together to get revenge on Kane?

The Gate Crashers (Curt Hawkins & Vance Archer) vs MVP & Christian - Very standard tag match. I'm very confused as to why Vince McMahon is burying Christian.. =\

Either way... Hawkins and Archer had just signed a new "contract" so it would be dumb for them to lose. Thankfully, they didn't and they destroyed MVP and Christian. I really like Vance Archer's finishing move. No idea what its called but it looks pretty neat. Hawkins need a better finish than a elbow drop off the top rope though.

JTG vs Chavo Guerrero - I need to ask... where the **** is Shad?! He turned on JTG saying its "My time" and then he vanishes. Way to go WWE! lol

So JTG is still using his Cryme Tyme song and dancing as stupidly as ever. This match was a quick one and poor Chavo can't get a victory to save his life. After the match, we saw 3 kids in the ring dancing with JTG. I wonder if he'll do that from now on to gain popularity with the kids.

Drew McIntyre vs Teddy Long - I personally felt that this segment went far too long. We understood it the first time. Teddy Long isn't a wrestler. He isn't going to fight Drew. But they wasted like 10 minutes establishing that with Teddy cornered in the ring.

I couldn't help but laugh when Drew said to Teddy. "Hit me" because it sounded like, "Hat me." :40smile:

So Teddy eventually ended up on his knees and said on the mic that Drew is the chosen one and laid down so Drew pinned him to win the "match".

Kofi and Matt did try to make the save but Drew's personal security grabbed them and Drew destroyed them. I wonder if he'll win the IC Belt back at the Fatal Four Way. Because if he doesn't... where does Drew go from here?

Kelly Kelly w/Tiffany vs Layla (Women's Champion) w/Michelle McCool - Not too long of a match. Kelly Kelly beat Layla with the K-2 finisher. I guess Kelly Kelly is the #1 contender for Layla's title?

Dolph Ziggler w/Vickie Guerrero vs Chris Masters - Filler match. Ziggler continues his push or "win streak" or whatever by beating Masters with the Zig Zag. Moving along!

Rey Mysterio & Big Show vs CM Punk & Jack Swagger (World Heavyweight Champion) - Same exact main event like RAW. Very creative don't you think? :loco:

The only difference is that this match had a finish and I didn't like it. Jack Swagger loses yet again. Rey Mysterio reversed Swagger's Gutwrench Powerbomb and got him for the quick 1-2-3.

The finish was pretty cool because Kane is back to cause some more destruction. He gives Swagger and Punk a Chokeslam each. Big Show tried to get back into the ring but got knocked down by Kane. Then Rey Mysterio became a victim of a very rare Kane Tombstone Piledriver.

What was interesting was that Kane said on the mic that at the Fatal Four Way PPV... he said, "It will be a fatal night for the guilty party." =)

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I'm definitely looking forward to the PPV. As of this post, its in about 25 minutes.. :)

Is it sad that I don't really care about whats on the PPV but I am more interested in the NXT and Kane angle?

A quick run-down of the matches for the PPV and my prediction:

WWE Championship Match - John Cena (WWE Champion) vs Sheamus vs Randy Orton vs Edge

Cena will probably win this one... It's either that or there isn't a clear finish because of the NXT angle.

World Heavyweight Championship Match - Jack Swagger (World Heavyweight Champion) vs Rey Mysterio vs CM Punk vs Big Show

I personally would love to see Jack Swagger retain his title. If he loses his title, I am unsure as to what they can do with him to keep him in the main event. The idea of a heel chasing a face champ doesn't really work as well as a face chasing a heel champ.

If Swagger were to lose though, I have a feeling Rey Mysterio will capture the title.

Divas Championship Match - Eve (Divas Champion) vs Gail Kim vs Maryse vs Alicia Fox

The only true threat to Eve's title would be Maryse. It would be great to see Gail Kim finally win a match, but WWE always finds a way to bury her. Which would lead me to my next point. I think if anyone is getting pinned, it's Gail Kim. Alicia Fox winning would definitely surprise me but I don't see it happening.

United States Championship Match - The Miz (U.S. Champion) vs R-Truth

R-Truth invoked his re-match clause after losing it this past Monday on RAW. I think R-Truth will become the U.S. Champ again after tonight.

Intercontinental Championship Match - Kofi Kingston (IC Champion) vs Drew McIntyre

Drew really needs to win this match... but I don't see it happening because Matt Hardy will get involved yet again. For a guy who is "suspended without pay", he sure is able to run into the ring and assault Drew a lot isn't he? britt:

- So can you believe it? A PPV with only 5 matches advertised? WWE, you're smarter than that! That is not going to generate buys! The NXT and Kane angle is certainly going to have to fill up a lot of time to make this PPV worthwhile.

Fatal 4-Way PPV Review - 6/20/10
My Review Score: 9/10

I hope some of you guys are reading this... otherwise I'm rambling on by myself. ;) I know you're reading it Watti so thanks! But hopefully not because you feel like you have to. =P
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Going into this PPV, we only had 5 matches that was advertised. As I said in my previous post... that is not smart business. They added two matches to the card and the PPV overall was surprisingly REALLY good.

Vince McMahon segment to start the PPV - Vince McMahon came out on stage and started the show with bad news. He told the crowd that Bret Hart won't be there because of the limo accident on Monday. Vince also said he's leaving right now to meet with Bret's representatives to see what Bret's role is from now on so he can see what type of action he can take on the NXT Rookies.

I know it's a PPV... but you're going to having a meeting on a Sunday? lol

WWE Intercontinental Title Match: Drew McIntyre vs Kofi Kingston (IC Champion) - Before the match started, Drew made Teddy Long come out to watch this match so that Teddy can hand Drew the IC Title when he wins.

This match was very entertaining to watch. Drew pretty much worked on Kofi's shoulder all match long and it was back and forth for the most part. I was very surprised that Drew kicked out of the SOS as well. The ending of this match came when Drew was locked in a head scissor-like submission move and he threw Kofi off of him and inadvertently hit the ref, knocking him out. Drew then gave Kofi the Future Shock DDT and went for the cover but the ref out cold.

This is where it got a little iffy. We all knew Matt Hardy was going to run in, but they took a lot of time with Drew trying to wake up the ref. Drew then grabbed Teddy, threw him in the ring, ripped off the refs shirt and gave it to Teddy. Teddy took his sweet *** time putting on the shirt.

Keep in mind that while all of this is happening, Kofi hasn't moved an inch. So Drew covers Kofi and Teddy counts... 1... 2... then he doesn't count to three. Again, Kofi still has not moved from one Future Shock DDT. Is he dead? lol

So they spend like 2 more minutes with Drew cornering Teddy before Matt Hardy finally running in. He gave Drew the Twist of Fate and Kofi is suddenly alive and hits the Trouble in Paradise. Teddy Long counts to three and that's that. Kofi Kingston retains the IC Title.

The match was fun. The ending took too long. Overall, it was quite enjoyable nonetheless!

Fatal 4 Way - WWE Divas Championship Match: Eve (Divas Champion) vs Gail Kim vs Maryse vs Alicia Fox - The match was quite sloppy. I think the Divas were a little unsure of their spots early on because they were kind of just standing. I think every Diva had a chance to showcase their offense a little. The ending came when Eve hit the Moonsault finisher on Maryse only to get thrown out of the ring by Alicia Fox. Then Alicia Fox covered Maryse to win her first ever Divas Championship. Congrats to her.

This finish reminded me of the US Title Fatal 4 Way match they just had on RAW.

Chris Jericho vs Evan Bourne - The first filler unadvertised match of the night. Jericho comes out and cut a great promo. He talked about how he was always the underdog in WCW. He had to work his way up by interrupting The Rock on RAW when he first came to the WWE. Jericho basically said that he's at the top of the mountain and he doesn't know what is wrong with him and his losing streak. But he's here to get revenge on Evan Bourne for what happened on Monday night.

Evan Bourne actually came out to some boos because the New Yorkers were cheering for Jericho. The match itself was great. It might have stolen the show even! Jericho pretty much controlled the match, and rightfully so. Jericho even got the Walls of Jericho locked on Bourne for awhile and he didn't tap. I was thinking to myself... "Damn! Evan's push is for real when they don't have you tapping to the Walls of Jericho!"

Evan later went for the Shooting Star Press but Jericho moved out of the way. Evan surprisingly landed on his feet but when he turned around he ate the Codebreaker! Jericho goes for the cover but before the ref counted to 3, Evan got his foot on the ropes.

The advantage shifted to Evan Bourne as he tried again and again to put the Shooting Star Press. This is where the match was great because it was filled with suspense! Every time you think Evan has Jericho down, Jericho kept getting right back up.

The end came when Jericho went for a superplex off the top rope for the 3rd or 4th time and Evan knocked him down again. Then Evan hits the Air Bourne and got the 1-2-3.

Major props to Jericho for again, putting younger stars over.

Fatal 4 Way -World Heavyweight Championship Match: CM Punk vs Rey Mysterio vs Big Show vs Jack Swagger (World Heavyweight Champion) - These four guys put on a really fun match. The beginning of the match was hilarious because everyone was looking at Big Show and rightfully so. He's the giant and you should take him out first right? But no! They all attacked Rey Mysterio, the smallest guy in the ring! LOL

This was a really fast pace match and these Smackdown Superstars really knew what to do in the ring with each other. Big Show got to show his dominance when he pretty much manhandled everyone. It was great to see Punk and Mysterio working together to take down Big Show.

When all four guys eventually beat each other to a pulp, Kane comes out with a casket. He wants VENGEANCE!. What really annoyed me was that he went straight after Punk with no proof that Punk or the SES did it.

So Kane grabbed Punk at ringside and chokeslammed him in the casket. He was trying to close the casket on Punk but Luke Gallows made the save. Punk and Gallows then retreated to the back as Kane chased after them...

Back to the match, Rey got up and hit the 619 on Swagger and a top rope splash to win the World Heavyweight Title. As I said on the Smackdown review... what the hell are they doing to Swagger? Good for Rey for winning, but burying Swagger isn't quite right.

WWE United States Title Match: R-Truth vs The Miz (U.S. Champion) - The Miz came out first and sang his version of "What's Up!" It was quite hilarious! I'm pretty sure The Miz forgot his lines because he held the mic up to his mouth and just didn't say anything. The King and Michael Cole were cracking up because they knew he forgot his lines. Either way, the intro came off really funny.

As for the match itself... it wasn't that good. Maybe because it followed the exciting World Heavyweight Title match or something... but this match was SLOW. Lots of rest holds and all that. The crowd was dead and it killed the match. The Miz ends up winning by a roll-up to retain the US Title.

Six Person Tag Match: The Hart Dynasty vs The Usos and Tamina - Yet another filler match. This one wasn't exciting but they wrestled a good match. The Hart Dynasty said they were going to win this for Bret... and they did.

Tyson Kidd got worked on for most of the match. There wasn't really a hot tag because Tyson tagged in Natalya instead of David Hart Smith. The finish came when Tamina went for the Superfly Splash off the top rope. She missed and Natalya did her spinning clothesline finisher and got the 1-2-3.

Fatal 4 Way - WWE Championship Match: Randy Orton vs. Edge vs. Sheamus vs. John Cena (WWE Champion) - When this match started.. it was only 7:10 PM. You can tell that is not good because of the poor planning of the PPV. There was no way this match was going over 20 minutes and it didn't.

The match was good. No complaints here! Edge went after Orton and Cena went after Sheamus. The crowd pretty much only chanted "Let's Go Cena!" and "Cena Sucks". It was very clear that the "Let's Go Cena!" chants were from women and children while the "Cena Sucks!" chant were from all the grown men in the crowd.

Some good spots in this match like the double DDT at the ropes by Orton on Sheamus and Cena. Then there was a part when Cena tried to give Edge the Attitude Adjustment but turned around into a RKO from Orton.

When Orton pinned Cena after the RKO, I thought it was really funny that Sheamus shoved the ref to breakup the 3 count instead of attacking Orton.

The finish came went Orton threw Sheamus at the announce table. Right here is when the commentary stops because apparently Sheamus knocked out Michael Cole or whatever. The King mentioned something about "checking on Cole" and Matt Striker didn't say a word. Then Edge speared Orton outside the ring right onto the barrier.

Cena is left alone in the ring. The camera immediately goes backstage and for some reason... Tyson Kidd, David Hart Smith, Evan Bourne, and R-Truth was watching the WWE Title match. Obviously, since the camera cut to them watching, we see the NXT rookies ambush them. Heath Slater even destroyed the very nice looking HDTV. =x

The NXT Superstars come out and fight Cena 7 on 1. Exactly like we saw on RAW. Edge comes in to help Cena but the NXT guys assault him as well ringside.

With all the NXT stars distracted ringside with Edge... Sheamus covers Cena and the ref counts to 3! Sheamus is the new WWE Champion! Sheamus retreats into the crowd because the NXT guys were going to go after him! lol

Cena then stupidly gets up and gets assaulted again by the NXT guys. Wade Barrett hit his finisher and Justin Gabriel hit his 450 splash on Cena. Then we see Sheamus posing with the WWE Title at the entrance ramp. The NXT stars take notice and they all run after Sheamus. I found myself screaming "Run Sheamus Run!!!" :dancing:

The camera cuts to Orton, Edge, and Cena all unconscious from the NXTers assault as the PPV goes off the air.. at 7:35 PM. :notsure:

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Poor planning of the PPV ends it extremely early... oh well. So there you have it! It was a surprisingly good PPV. I had a really good time watching it and I can't wait to see what will happen tomorrow night on RAW! Thanks for reading! Looking forward to comments/questions.

Nice recaps! I really need to start paying attention more on Smackdown... lol Nice write-up, though, and I may need to catch a replay of Fatal 4 Way now.

Mysterio winning the belt? Boo

Sheamus winning the belt? Cool

NXT Invasion continuing? :woot:


I like these WWE GDT's ;)

In before Mel! :lostit:

Virgil: "What will you do for protection?"
Dibiase: "I'll go to a drug store..."

:facepalm:


Overall, solid episode. I only fast-forwarded through the Khali thing.

Rob Zombie (Kings fan) hosting next week :good:

The "Nexus" invasion continues to entertain. I'm actually considering watching NXT now... :shocked:

Mysterious GM, it'll end up being someone lame. Were they chanting "Linda" at one point? Is she still running for congress? If this ends up being an angle for her campaign... :rolleyes:

McMahon getting jumped is always fun to watch. The Nexus guys didn't take it easy on him, either.

Decent match between Jericho and Bourne

Bret fired again... Don't worry, he'll be back on the mic in a week or two :nerd:


I still can't help but think that Daniel Bryan is going to show up sooner or later to a big pop from the crowd.

RAW Review - 6/21/10

Interesting episode of RAW. The first hour was a blast to watch. About 30 minutes of it were boring... but the ending was great. :)

Vince McMahon segment - So Vince McMahon is back on television again. So much for him wanting to stay behind the scenes after his Wrestlemania match. I liked it when Vince said he hired Bret to make tough decisions, not dumb decisions as GM.

So Bret is fired and gone for the time being, but obviously thats not the last we've seen of Bret.

The new RAW GM wants to remain anonymous? Are you kidding me? :facepalm: The computer "e-mail" sounds annoying. They could have at least made it funny if they used the cheesy "You've Got Mail!" sound, but they didn't.

I have a feeling Michael Cole is the new GM of RAW by the way. If he's not the GM of RAW, he is probably the mastermind behind the NXT invasion. :)

Chris Jericho vs Evan Bourne (Round 3. If Jericho loses, he quits.) - Good match by these two superstars again. Not as good as the Fatal 4 Way PPV match, but still solid. I must say... Jericho is SO good at finding ways to lock in the Walls of Jericho.

I'm glad Jericho finally got the win. I could be wrong, but that is his first television victory in like 2 months. In the end, the job has been done. Jericho put Evan Bourne over. Sure, Jericho won last night but he had to. Either way, the audience now sees Evan Bourne as someone who can hang with the top dogs in the WWE.

Ted DiBiase, Virgil, and Maryse backstage segment - It was nice seeing you Virgil. I think this is a step in the right direction. Maryse, clearly a gold digger... is a better fit with Ted. I wonder what The Miz has to say about that.

Virgil was just there for people to think, "Oh cool. He still looks good". But Ted DiBiase (and Cody Rhodes) has done nothing ever since The Legacy broke off. Hopefully Maryse being his manager/valet can help Ted win some matches like a true heel. Is Ezekiel Jackson still around? Ted could use a bodyguard.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Watti

Virgil: "What will you do for protection?"
Dibiase: "I'll go to a drug store..."

:facepalm:

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When I first heard that, I thought... "How is that PG related?" :)

Natalya w/Hart Dynasty (Unified Tag Team Champions) vs Tamina w/Usos - Natalya said this match was going to be her first singles match on RAW. What a slap in the face. NXT interrupted this segment pretty quickly!

NXT "apology" semgent - When the NXTers were about to apologize, I thought it was funny when The Hart Dynasty attacked them. I originally thought, "How rude! They were trying to say sorry!"

So after The Hart Dynasty got taken out, each NXT rookie got to talk. Skip Sheffield said something like, "Yup yup yup! What it do?" When the hell did he even say that? I don't recall that in NXT either. (Then again, I didn't really watch NXT.)

Wade Barrett is absolutely solid on the mic. Especially if you compare him to the other NXT guys.

This looks like a true stable. Something WWE has been missing since they had D-X, Nation of Domination, Ministry of Darkness, etc.

They're called Nexus (which WWE trademarked a few days ago). I hope they stay together for a long while. While they all got what they wanted... a "contract", they would be jobbers if they were not together.

John Morrison w/Eli Cottonwood vs Zack Ryder w/Titus O’Neil -
As much as I like Zack Ryder (Woo Woo Woo! You know it!) or the Monday Night Delight John Morrison, this match was dull. John Morrison needs a new finisher because the Starship Pain looks weak and its hard to pull off.

The Great Khali & Eve vs Primo & Alicia Fox (Divas Champion) - Stupidest/Useless match of the night.

Randy Orton Promo/The Miz + Edge run-in) - Orton has the right idea. He wants revenge on each and every Nexus member because they cost him a chance at winning the WWE Title. Aside from Cena, why doesn't Edge want revenge?

It was good to see The Miz interrupt Orton and talk about how its his turn to main event. It's hard to elevate someone from mid-card status to upper-card status unless someone from the upper-card (like Jericho) put them over.

Orton put Rhodes and DiBiase over up until Wrestlemania.. but then WWE dropped the ball by doing nothing with Rhodes and DiBiase after that. So we'll see where The Miz goes from here.

Not quite sure why Edge speared Orton. What the hell are they even feuding about? :nutkick:

WWE Championship Match: Sheamus (WWE Champion) vs John Cena - Not much happened here.. a little back and forth but that was it. The main point was to have Nexus invade yet again.

Oh by the way, Vince McMahon was suppose to be the guest ref wasn't he? Why did the regular ref work the match instead of Vince?

So Nexus comes in again. Sheamus retreats. Cena gets owned and apparently "died" under the announce table. This is why I think Cole is the GM or behind the Nexus invasion.. they never attack him and he conveniently disappears everytime. :)

So Vince made it seem like he was the mastermind behind all of this but it turns out hes not.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Watti

McMahon getting jumped is always fun to watch. The Nexus guys didn't take it easy on him, either.

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Can you imagine what was going in Justin Gabriel's head as he went up for the 450 splash? He was probably praying he wouldn't screw up or else he'd be fired on the spot.

They were really rough on Vince. Made me worry! Go easy on the boss!

But a good ending to RAW. The NXT invasion has really spiced up RAW and took away the staleness of the show.

Can't wait for Smackdown.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by TooCool

I must say... Jericho is SO good at finding ways to lock in the Walls of Jericho.

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I agree, but last night I couldn't for the life of me remember when the last time the Walls of Jericho actually caused his opponent to tap out... :think:

Quote:

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Originally Posted by TooCool

Skip Sheffield said something like, "Yup yup yup! What it do?" When the hell did he even say that? I don't recall that in NXT either. (Then again, I didn't really watch NXT.)

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Haha I thought the same thing... what the hell was that? The crowd didn't even react, so I think we're all in the same boat of confusion.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by TooCool

Can you imagine what was going in Justin Gabriel's head as he went up for the 450 splash? He was probably praying he wouldn't screw up or else he'd be fired on the spot.

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Yeah, he seemed to stand up on the turnbuckle for a long time before going for it... Life flashing before his eyes, maybe.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by TooCool

They were really rough on Vince. Made me worry! Go easy on the boss!

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Especially the one move, I think it was Wade Barrett, where he put Vince up on his shoulders and then drilled him straight into the mat... That could not have felt good. :ouch:

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Crapgame13

BTW, if you're not watching the Jay Lethal "Flair" promos on TNA..you're missing brilliance

YouTube - Jay Lethal's Tribute To Ric Flair


(sorry about the quality of these...but since it was last night the good copies aren't up)

YouTube - Jay lethal and ric flair best wrestling promo ever part 1

YouTube - Jay lethal and ric flair best promo ever part 2

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Jay Lethal = my new fav wrestler

I thought he did a GREAT Macho Man, but the Flair imitations are effin' priceless! I LMMFAO!

Those are some of THE best promos I've seen since The Rock and Stone Cold days!

nXt....


Percy is obviously the fan favorite, but is pretty annoying on the mic. He has some sweet moves though. Titus is one of the better stories at least, but needs to work on the mic. Kaval is trying to be Rey I guess. Cottonwood looks like Test while trying to be Kane. Sucks in all aspects. The rest flat out suck.

Really? Michael McGillicutty is really great, I think. None of them are offensively bad to me.

Glad to see that there is a thread like this here. I'll be posting a lot more frequently, methinks. I actually just wrote some stream of consciousness thoughts on Raw and NXT for another board, so I'll copy and paste them here.

Oh, one more thing before copy/paste: WWE IS TAPING 2 WEEKS WORTH OF RAW AT STAPLES CENTER ON AUGUST 16, THE NIGHT AFTER SUMMERSLAM. TICKETS GO ON SALE SATURDAY AT 10 A.M.

My friend who bought our SummerSlam tickets for section 101 told me today. He's going to try to get us tickets when they go on sale. Good thing I'll be getting some cash for my birthday on July 30th! Tickets range from $20-75, which is a great deal considering we get 2 whole Raw shows, and probably a Superstars match or two.

That being said... on to my Raw and NXT thoughts:

RAW

I wasn't sure what to think of Bret Hart being fired as GM. That caught me completely off guard. But I read that he's getting married (again), so maybe that's the deal. Still, I'm not sure what other role he could play if he ends up back on TV. He has a beef with the NXT guys, but he can't really wrestle, ya know?

I wish he and Vince both never came back to TV after WrestleMania, or at least the night after with Bret. While Bret's my all time favorite and Vince is just great, that Mania match was the perfect sendoff for both. And while I marked out for Bret's US title win, saying your last match was against The Miz on Raw doesn't really have the same luster as saying you beat the **** out of your enemy of 12 and a half years at WrestleMania and got him to tap out.

I'm wondering, like everyone else, about the new GM. Daniel Bryan would make the most sense. I could almost see Bret Hart turning heel and being the mystery man, having fooled Vince into giving him "absolute power" with the idea that he'd **** the NXT guys, only for it to turn out that the limo thing was a ruse all along (again!) and that Bret's using NXT as a means of getting back at Vince along with more job security. Michael Cole did use the adjective "ultimate" in some statement about the GM last night, but... nah, it couldn't be. Could it?

The whole NXT angle has played out perfectly. I never wanted to see guys like Darren Young, Michael Tarver, or Skip Sheffield on my screen again, but WWE has even made them interesting. I'll be Ryan Reeves/Skip Sheffield never thought, while he was on Tough Enough, that he'd be clotheslining Vince McMahon in the main event angle on Raw one day. And Darren Young- who looks much less goofy and more badass with the stubble- acknowledging the "black John Cena" comparisons was great. However, still don't think that Michael Tarver repeatedly mentioning the fact that he's a philanderer who has 5 kids by 5 different women is a good idea. Using an insulting black stereotype as part of his character... way to go, WWE!

It sucks that, when Natalya finally got a chance to wrestle a singles match, she really didn't get to wrestle that match. The only logic I see in doing that part of the NXT deal then (other than most people not caring about women's wrestling in WWE) is if The Hart Dynasty will be a part of some anti-NXT army, which would also consist of John Cena and Randy Orton, of course.

Oh, and the exchange between DiBiase and Virgil? Golden. Maryse and DiBiase are a great pair.

NXT

Why do they need 2 different women to handle the announcing on a 1 hour show? The new woman is, as they said, Ashley Valence. The blonde goes by "Aksana" in FCW. Maybe Ashley got her period mid-show and they needed a replacement. We all know blood isn't allowed on WWE TV these days.

I liked tonight's show a lot. Pretty good matches all around, save for the main event. Terrible names aside, I definitely like the season 2 rookies a lot more than the season 1 guys as far as their work on NXT goes. The NXT 7 have been really good in their angle on Raw, no doubt.

Percy Watson is just remarkably charismatic, and it's hard not to smile when he comes out. He's like a modern, better (as far as character, at least) version of Norman Smiley. They need to tweak his gimmick a bit so that, once someone riles him up, he goes from happy go lucky to ****ing DESTROYSMASHKILL.

Are they giving Kaval the Daniel Bryan treatment? He's a 10 year indie vet who's not a big man, who keeps losing, and has a mentor (well, mentors) who he completely clashes with, yet he can't even get revenge in a match down the line. I mean, LayCool is pretty entertaining and the segments the group has together on NXT are funny, but I don't know where they're going with this. Also, having Kaval come out to the tune of, "You're not enough for me; just another man in love with me" is just... wrong.

NXT has a lot of faces. Do you think they'll eventually do season 1 (heels) vs. season 2 (faces) on Raw or Smackdown, or as an inter-brand thing?

Like I said- good show overall. Michael McGillicutty and Kaval stand out most on the wrestling side, and Percy Watson and Alex Riley play their characters very well. There's no one on the show who I actively dislike, which is definitely a departure from season 1.