WWE RAW & SMACKDOWN REACTION
Wednesday, June 6, 2018
Check out my great, good, bad, and pathetic from WWE TV this week.
GREAT
The highlight of the show, and only great thing I saw on RAW was when the Big Show came out with a bunch of the athletes who compete at the Special Olympics. This was a truly great moment to see these people with disabilities live out a dream on National TV. Big Show looks like he lost a lot of weight as well. When Finn Balor came out and they all did the Balor pose, it really put things into perspective. WWE caters to so many different demos and its great when they can do things like this, even if people will say its a PR stunt.
GOOD
There wasn't anything great from a storyline or wrestling perspective, but I did enjoy Stroman vs Roode. I think Roode needs to be turned heel, and this match showed you exactly why. He's just a way better performer in this role and I think these two could really have a good program once they switch Roode over. Stroman was super over, and breaking that ladder was well done and well shot by production.
The main event was good, and it had to be with Balor and Owens. The problem is, it should've been so much better. I don't know what it is, but a lot of KO's matches are too slow and plodding with the restholds. These two should have torn the house down, but it was just OK.
I actually was really enjoying the tag match after Alexa Bliss got out of there, which is a credit to how good Sasha and Ember Moon are. They actually made Liv Morgan look like she knew what she was doing and there was cool spots in there. I also didn't mind Bayley coming out for the save and the storyline that followed. I get it, the feud is stupid and I have complained about it for months here. But at this point, I'm numb. I just want to move on.
BAD
I know shit when I see it. This is shit. It was better than the last few weeks, so it's climbed out of pathetic, but its still shit. Why not let Lashley just destroy guys? Why does he need to a "personality" driven character? Terrible. And Sami Zayn is dying with this shit too.
Look, it was a funny prelim storyline a few weeks ago. But this is ridiculous. The Miz-tourage is supposed to be the best tag team available to face Bray and Hardy for the titles? Really? This division is a complete joke. And where the hell are the Authors of Pain? They would've destroyed all these jobbers. I guess the Bludgeon Brothers stole their gimmick.
It wasn't the worst thing on the show, but Seth Rollins should not be getting bogged down trying to give Roman Reigns a rub of his popularity. He also should be getting bogged down in matches with Jinder and the Drifter. He should be the main event.
PATHETIC
Speaking of foolishness. Why would they put Ziggler and McIntyre, a team with some real promise and a chance for future, in this scrub Battle Royal with a bunch of nobodies? Then, then, to top it all off, not only are they in the match, and not only do they no win it, but they are the FIRST DAMN TEAM ELIMINATED!!!! WHAT!!!!!!
I know I sound like a broken record sometimes, but why do they insist on highlighting bad workers? Nia Jax is horrible. Natalia is a good solid worker and she looked like utter shit in there with Nia. So what do you think Ronda is going to most likely look like against Nia? I really just don't get it. And Ronda on commentary and the script they had her perform was fucking horrible!!! Nia with the terrible acting, Natty with the overselling of a tweak knee, it was all the shits. This feud must end!!!!!!!!!!!!!
GREAT
I absolutely loved the contract signing and the small details that went into it. I really think they need to utilize this pretape approach alot more with segments like this that die in the ring due to crowd heat and overall risk of shooting things live. It reminded me of the Hogan vs Andre signing pre wrestlemania 3. This was great and Nakamura continues to be a excellent heel who you want to see get his ass beat.
These six man tags with the New Day the last few weeks have been really good and this was the best. All 6 men are over with the crowd and good performers, so we got a fun main event. I like the build to MITB from the Smackdown side of things.
GOOD
There is just something about Jimmy and Naomi being together as a team that just works, and the crowd eats them up as natural babyfaces. Lana really tries hard and as much shit as people give her, she always puts in maximum effort to get better. Aiden English is an excellent performer and he has mastered his character. Kudus to him.
I liked everything about what the did to build to Asuka challenging Carmella for the title at MITB, and I thought it was great balance. They showed Asuka's struggles and used it to build heat, while allowing her to kill two people and show she's still a killer. She better destroy Carmella and win the belt.
Much like the backstage contract signing, I liked how they utilized the stage for an interview with Big Cass and Renee. It gave it a different feel and it felt like the days of Prime Time wrestling, where they interviewed on the platform off to the side of the entrance way. They should do this way more often and move away from the long in ring segments that don't involve wrestling.
BAD
Sure the action was solid and people who love these too will applaud the match as being very good. But what exactly did this accomplish other than giving Charlotte yet another loss? This made no sense!!! At least when she lost to Carmella it could be excused away as a cheap victory that she got beat down before, or that Carmella cheated. She lost clean to Becky here, and not only did she lose, she tapped out and it made no sense. Plus it wasn't an epic encounter that was worthy of such a defeat. And it further devalues the purpose of Asuka losing to her at Mania.
PATHETIC
Final Thoughts: Once again, Smackdown was just a much better show than RAW, and was a hell of alot easier to watch. There were nonsense on both shows, but RAW just presents way too many stupid segments that are not good for progression of the product.