Summer Slam's Payback Is Complete! RAW Now Wants You to Think of Clash of Champions...

 Hello, Enthusiasts!

How is this Monday treating you?  Well, did you catch Payback?  To be honest, it was a lot cleaner show than I was anticipating.  Though the creative issues are still there, WWE is at least making the most of what is working which couldn’t always be said in the past.  There’s still a lot of work to be done but for the first time since I’ve started watching again, it appears that they’re actually going to take a shot at doing it.

So, there were some pleasant surprises at Payback, the most underrated of which was probably the opening match with Apollo Crews and Bobby Lashley.  This was the best display of wrestling for the night.  I suppose we shouldn’t be too surprised but I certainly wasn’t expecting Lashley and Crews to come out and set the tone but they did and popular or not, they established themselves as true forces to be reckoned with in the WWE Universe.  Kudos to them!

Also, a little side play from Buddy Murphy continues to prove interesting.  Whatever you may think, I appreciate how he’s made himself “untrustworthy”.  What piques my interest is that you’re never sure of to what end.  What’s Murphy trying to do?  To me, it almost seems like he’s playing 2 angles, the Kayfabe and the real time.  It’s like he’s just trying to get into people’s heads any which way he can.  Is this just for show, or is he for real trying to maneuver?  It will be forever be a mystery and I’m strangely intrigued by that.

And, so that leaves us with the “shocker” of the night as Roman Reigns showed his true allegiance…to himself?  Well, I suppose we’ll see how Reigns manages this “heel turn”.  I think playing the classic Paul Heyman move could prove to be a point of contention in the future.  All unions are subject to dissolution in the WWE Universe.  We have to presume that they have the end game for the heel turn in their sights as well.  Rumors have it that Reigns is set to hold the Universal Title until WrestleMania.  I’m not sure if fans will find it so amusing if they keep him off TV for that time, as has been with Brock Lesnar in the past.  On top of that, they’ll only accept these bullshit matches for so long.  At some point Reigns will have to prove, in the ring, that he has the actual showmanship to pull off this sort of stunt.  Say what you want about Lesnar, he knows how to sell the show.  We must admit, we don’t exactly come to see Reigns for his ringwork.  He’s going to have to demonstrate he’s done more than just get into better shape.  And with the rumor out that Lesnar is now a free agent as well, that leaves how WWE plays this kinda open. We shall see.

So, that brings us to RAW’s double Fallout Show.  Not much is currently advertised.  Rey Mysterio will be around as well as Seth Rollins so I’m sure some words will be shared.  We’ll probably get some shit talk from the Hurt Business.  They handled themselves well collectively last night so, they’ll probably want to strut and preen a bit more.  Randy Orton is probably going to have to find someone else to pick on as well since Drew McIntyre may be out for a time.  Word going ‘round is that he’s got a hairline jaw fracture courtesy of Orton.  Those typically take about 6 weeks to heal.  Not sure if his jaw will have to be wired shut and not sure if that’s really what’s up but that’s what’s being said. Given Keith Lee took the W on Payback, I guess that’s who’s next on the Hit List.  Let’s see if he gets jumped.  In the meantime, funny tweets get retweeted and as for Likes/Favorites, well let’s get a better lay of the land before we settle on our tone going forward.  WWE is attempting to present better product but a lot of the old problems remain.  We have to stay on ‘em if we want this stuff to get palatable on the reg. but at the same time, you don’t want to be too persnickety.  Give them a chance but if they just should have plain known better, let it rip.

  

See You in a Bit,

-Nicole Alexis (^_~)