raw review / wrong guy wrong time

Another Monday night raw has come and gone and while I thought it was a decent show two things really stood out to me and neither were positive for the show.

 Raw started with a "hall of fame" panel of Ric flair, hulk hogan and Shawn Michaels where they debated if john cena could beat the beast Brock lesnar. Flair and Michaels agreed he couldn't while hogan believed in cena. The brief discussion brought a much more stoic john cena came out to ringside. Stoic in the sense that he barely waived his "never give up" towel and when he saluted the camera man he was smiling like a goofball. The promo he cut, however, was stoic and serious. The promo had to be serious after the match he had with lesnar and cena kept it short but said all the right things delivered the right way.

 The john cena promo was rebutted later in the show by a taped sit down interview from Brock lesnar and Paul heyman. This video package was excellent, not surprising, but was predominantly lesnar talking, which is surprising and lesnar was great. Brock lesnar has the presence, body language and attitude of the unbeatable bully. He has really found his stride in this part time role with heyman doing most of the talking and with wwe protecting him he is succeeding.

 The uso's are quickly becoming a great tag team and if wwe allowed the tag division to build it would guarantee at least one very entertaining match per night per show. With the uso's, rhodes', Wyatt's, rybaxel and even Los matadores the wwe has some pretty polished teams and building teams with less utilized guys like Kofi Kingston and big E could potentially turn their careers around. Tag team matches are so easy to watch and always offer entertainment value for a solid 10 minutes it seems like it would be a no brainer to put some spotlight on the tag division but wwe continues the stop/start focus on tag team wrestling. It is a shame because there is a lot of talented teams out there who seem content being successful tag teams.

 Nikki Bella proved last night that it is not necessarily Stephanie McMahon making brie Bella appear below average as an actor but it really is just brie Bella being below average. I thought Nikki Bella did pretty good in the family reconciliation segment on raw; however, I just don't care about the story or its players (aside from Stephanie), the segment was given too much time and it is way too much "wwe theatrics" for me. It will sooner rather than later have "change the channel" heat for me.

 But, that was not one of the raw disappointments for me those are as follows.  Roman reigns interrupted a good effort of cementing Seth Rollins as a top heel last night and it led to a handicap match between reigns versus Rollins and Kane. Roman reigns has already become stale to me. He does the same four moves in every match, like a lot of wrestlers use the same signature moves, but reigns doesn't do any other moves. None! I understand that he has the look, the size and he lineage but what he doesn't have is psychology or wrestling moves to fill the time he is not doing signature moves. Reigns is approaching a level where he will have to work longer matches and this is only going to expose him. I watched his match from raw and instead of being interested or excited I just got the feeling that it was another quick roman reigns match where the whole idea is to position guys for his punches, jumping foot, superman punch and spear. There was really nothing else and it was disappointing.

The worst part of raw was the main event. John cena taking on bray Wyatt with the Wyatt family. In an effort to make john cena, the most over and recognized star in the wwe, look more ferocious than ever wwe chose to have him destroy bray Wyatt. Bray Wyatt currently has the most upside of any young superstar in wwe, has gotten over with the wwe universe and is the most unique character wwe has developed since mankind or the undertaker. Wyatt is on the ascent to being a, or the, top star.  Wwe chose to have him get absolutely destroyed at the hands of john cena getting zero offense and being beaten to a pulp while the Wyatt family watches on. The demonstration, al be it short, did nothing but make bray Wyatt, a major part of their future, look like a bum. Wyatt looked weak in a way a wrestler can't afford to look weak.

But, you say, the same thing happened to john cena at summerslam? John cena is the only wrestler on the roster that could allow a defeat like that with no lasting negative effects. John cena is the established top guy in wwe and has been for the last 10 plus years, cena has made a career out of rising above and coming back with his super strength. Cena preaches never quit, don't back down and is a role model to kids; he can afford a beating like he took from lesnar and bounce back because of his spirit and it can make him stronger. Beating up cena like took place two weeks ago st summerslam gives him credibility when he comes back to fight another day.

 Bray Wyatt is a brain washing lunatic who leads his followers while getting in the heads of his victims with his words and his mind games. He has a mythical element to his character the way he can appear out if thin air. He is also just coming into his own as a potential top superstar, with a failed character already under his belt, and he still benefits from rivalries with established competitors. Beating the tar out of bray Wyatt the way he was on raw doesn't set him up for any kind of redemption and only makes him weak and vulnerable, things bray Wyatt shouldn't look like. Raw saw john cena humanize bray Wyatt when he destroyed him in a lopsided main event. Humanizing bray Wyatt is the worst thing wwe can possible do, why make the unique become regular? John cena beat up the wrong guy in the wrong time last night and it won't effect john cena in anyway. But, it will effect the guy that could potentially be the top star as a heel or a face going into the next 10 years and I don't believe bray Wyatt can afford that right now and wwe should not have done it. That is just this marks remarks.

Raw moving forward / where can everyone else go?

Tonight's Raw is stacked with big name talent and legends being featured on the program.  Shawn Michaels, Ric Flair and Hulk Hogan will be taking part in a "panel discussion" regarding Brock Lesnar as champion and his rematch with John Cena at Night of Champions.  This is a unique way to utilize talent to camouflage the fact that Brock Lesnar will probably not be appearing on the show.  I, personally, don't think anything needs done to mask the fact that Lesnar will not be appearing weekly, I think it makes Brock Lesnar and the title seem more of an attraction that he is not there regularly.

 There was a time, a time where wrestling did very well, that the title nor the champion were featured every week and it only made his appearances seem more special.  Remember seeing Hulk Hogan on WWF Superstars every Saturday afternoon?  No, because he wasn't on, sure he was mentioned but rarely seen; but when he was on, most likely cutting a promo to Sean Mooney it meant something.  The same can be done for Brock Lesnar and champions moving forward.  Especially with the WWE network capable of being a vehicle to feature whomever WWE wants to there is no reason why Lesnar can't still be a major focus without being on weekly.

 I am looking forward to seeing the development of the Rollins versus Ambrose feud, from what I gather from wwe.com, Ambrose abruptly left the care of physicians and ran off after being curb stomped through cinder blocks last week.  This is an excellent way for the an unstable character to miss a few weeks, while shooting a movie, as I believe Dean Ambrose could be the type to just disappear for awhile into thin air.  I hope that Ambrose missing time to film doesn't negatively affect his momentum because he is the hottest ticket wwe has going right now and this storyline is making him and Rollins big stars that i believe everyone is taking note of.

 I expect the main event of Raw to be the return of John Cena after being destroyed by Brock Lesnar at SummerSlam,  I would assume John Cena will come back with his typical mantra of never back down and don't give up but it will have to be delivered in a different way that normal.  I feel that Lesnar's dominance of Cena gives the wwe a great opportunity to kind of reinvent Cena, or re-tool him maybe more appropriate, by going back to a much more serious and determined John Cena.  Getting pummeled the way he did can actually create a fan base that earned respect for Cena because of his toughness and if he came back as a serious and more stoic superman the universe may be less likely to give up on him again.

Per circumstance at work that I couldn't get around I missed out a "buddies get-away weekend", but did have an evening to take in an independent wrestling show.  I attended the International Wrestling Cartel (IWC) show this past weekend and came away from the performance thinking a number of things.  First, independent wrestling quality has gotten much better since the last time I took in a show; second, the workers on these independent show care so much and work so hard to put on a good show and finally, the options for really good independent wrestlers is so limited in the current wrestling landscape and that is ashame.

 The IWC Caged Fury show consisted of about nine matches and top to bottom there was not one performance that was lousy, nothing offensive to the audience; but instead a roster full of talented young men, all of different skill levels, who tried their best to really entertain the fans.  And, they succeeded!  The moves were snug and stiff but not dangerous, each match flowed together and made sense and every match told an up and down story that fans of ages could enjoy with high spots and good psychology for the most part.  There were a few guys that stood out and there a few guys that you could tell needed a little more seasoning but no one was put on a bad show and every wrestler had the ability to carry themselves in the ring.  The wrestling quality of this show was really good and was great to see that IWC is bringing in guys as well as training guys to meet a quality standard that is sometimes lost at independent shows.

 One thing that was also certain was how much the wrestlers cared about putting on a good show for the fans and for themselves. There was multiple dives to the outside, many high risk moves including during the cage matches and off the top of the cage and there was even a "car wreck" of crash through two tables where the two men certainly put their bodies on the line. The crowd was into the entire event and the presentation is not childish but is also, for the most part, child friendly. I can't imagine anyone left the show being disappointed.

 The last thing that the iwc show made me think about is how limited an independent worker is for major employment anymore. It used to be that a young Indy work could work his way getting attention from wcw, wwe or even ECW and the competition between the two major promotions created a lot of opportunity for young hungry workers. Now, it is wwe or bust for a lot of guys who would jump at the chance to go to Japan to work; but the downside is you have to go to Japan, or try to catch on with ring of honor which does not mean good pay necessarily. IWC, which is probably the best Indy in the pittsburgh area, has featured wrestlers over the years like cm punk, Austin Aries, aj styles and Christian to name a few and currently boast talented men like facade, Sammy guevera, RJ city and John mcChesney who are all exciting watch and understand how to entertain the audience. I believe that is we were still in the boom wrestling period you may be able to see any of these competitors on television. It is unfortunate that now it is pretty much wwe or struggle because I feel there are many quality independent promotions that utilize very talented and hard working men and women.

 In closing, if you would be willing to see a local band at a bar, or would take in an Indy film at the local theater why not give local independent wrestling a shot? Most likely there is a promotion in your area and it is filled with hard working guys and girls who love wrestling, could use the support and will put on an entertaining show for the fans. But that is just this marks remarks.
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