RAW Attempts to Light a Fire for Survivor Series...

How’s It Going, Enthusiasts?

 

Enjoying this Monday? Well, there was some wrestling to partake of this weekend so I’ll get into that a bit before bringing it back around to RAW.  There will be some AEW talk today since they had their Full Gear PPV so, don’t worry. I’ll talk about what’s going on in the wrestling world. I don’t have to stay myopic.

 

These interesting times are beginning to display interesting truths so, I make sure I take a gander at what else is going on.  I didn’t watch Full Gear but I checked out a few of the well-received matches. I will have to say that MJF vs. Darby Allin was match of the night. They should be proud. I doubt Allin will ever walk WWE halls but MJF may have a future there. I wouldn’t be surprised if that’s the plan when he hits 30.

 

Have to say I’m proud of Eddie Kingston. With Jon Moxley out in recovery, what would happen to him was a big question. I’m glad he showed he can stand on his own 2 feet. As for CM Punk, well, he was willing to spill blood and the match was decent but it wasn’t anything that WWE would think it’s missing out on. I know neither one of them care but given how word is last week’s Rampage didn’t catch many views compared to previous weeks that may amount to something.

 

I found that Miro vs. Bryan Danielson and the match with Cody Rhodes & PAC facing off against Andrade & Malakai Black were supremely executed yet not very well-received by fans. I would attribute that to their WWE training which isn’t necessarily a bad thing. Like I’ve said, AEW is like the hipster alternative to WWE. In a homegrown environment such as that, connection to the crowd is key. In WWE, performance is key. Being on such a grand stage, there will inherently be an impersonal sensibility. Not everyone out there is sane so they just can’t go out there and act like they’re everyone’s friend. And given how WWE can be quite arbitrary and last minute, one has to be able to have a match with little to no warning. This leaves wrestlers like these in a unique position. They have to decide whether they want to connect with the crowd and not just be idolized by it. That decision may be what determines whether they stay in AEW. Just looking at the group, I would say Rhodes assimilates but I don’t know about the others.

 

If you ask me, all of those guys save for Andrade, should be back at WWE. They’re simply choice, quality wrestlers and they just won’t have the proper stage at AEW. It’s still developing and WWE is fully formed. Yet, it does need this overhaul it’s initiated so, if more releases lead to that, I would have to say I’d be in favor. Naturally, I would hope they’d use some tact and I don’t see this happening immediately but maybe in 2-3 years. With RAW in the state that it is, 3 hours is hard to get through and people have been saying they should shorten it for years. Fill the roster with A+ players and put them to work, not leave them in catering. Make it must-see television again and the 3 hours makes sense. Mid-card timeframe is a place for rotation. That way no one thinks it’s an indication of their status or talent. It should be a stacked 3 hours so a wrestler should just be happy to get on the show. Which means SmackDown would have to be even tighter which I don’t think anyone would mind. It may be a pipe dream but it’s one they should consider.

 

As for WWE, it had a minor offering in the form of Tribute to the Troops. We all know it was taped previously so you had to check your local listings to catch it. The matches are circulating but it looks like only Hulu Live has the show. Got to wait until it posts to Peacock otherwise. FOX is certainly in no hurry. It was what it was. Big E & Dolph Ziggler put their history to use and had the best match. Liv Morgan got to show off some of her stuff against Bianca BelAir but did take the L. Roman Reigns and Shinsuke Nakamura was solid, especially for no build. It ends like you think it would but it’s not disappointing. They’re just doing their jobs; you can’t really knock ‘em for it.  In the future, since they have so much foresight on the event, they should sneak little leads/hints into the matches for what’s next. I know they don’t work like that now but they should aim to. This lack of accommodation for itself is one of the main reasons people don’t take ‘em very seriously. It doesn’t seem like anyone’s thinking of things like that. If they’re just slapping it together, they can’t expect casual fans to care. It’s as simple as that. They want people to give a shit, give ‘em something to get a shit about.

 

All right, that brings us to tonight. So, it’s Go Home time for RAW and…it doesn’t really feel like it but that’s not all that surprising. Get the feeling they have other things on their mind yet still, it’s a matter of professionalism. Bobby Lashley will return having disposed of Mysterio’s Boy, Dominik. Becky Lynch sizes up Liv Morgan as a #1 Contender and Big E has unfinished business with Kevin Owens. We’ll see if any of that gets us thinking about Survivor Series.  Funny tweets and Likes get retweeted. Let’s see if this just turns out to be a “shit-talk” night.

 

 

See You in a Bit,

-Nicole Alexis (^_~)