WHAT I LIKED:
Woooooooooooooo!: The perfect way to kickoff 'Old School' RAW. Ric Flair will always be one of the best in the business. I sorta figured that it'd be Randy Orton who came out to confront Ric Flair. They could've added Triple H to the fare and have a little mini-Evolution reunion. If they'd waited for two more weeks, they could have the entire Evolution reunion. Instead, they had to have John Cena come out and once again levy criticism at Randy Orton that's really been directed at him. He has no business having a resume akin to that of Ric Flair. I'm gonna be sick the day he surpasses Flair's thought-to-be unattainable record of 16 World Championship reigns. Can we put an asterisk next to it?
The Fourth Wyatt: I am so glad they are actually allowing Daniel Bryan to be a part of the Wyatt Family. It's not a flat-out lie like it was when John Cena 'joined' Nexus. I heard a rumor online that he's going by the name Daniel Wyatt now. If true, that's ridiculous. Luke Harper & Erick Rowan hasn't adopted the 'Wyatt' name and neither should Daniel Bryan. They picked the right opponents for Daniel Bryan to face in his first match as a Wyatt. Rey Mysterio & The Usos are small enough for Daniel Bryan to look dominant against. I wasn't expecting a loss in their first match together, but I understand it if Daniel Bryan is sabotaging them from the inside. At least they're not making it too obvious.
Piper's Pit: This has gotta be great for Dean Ambrose, who has drawn comparisons to Roddy Piper from a lot of people, including me. This was definitely the segment I was looking forward to the most. I would have liked it if they had more time to talk, but I LOVED the surprise appearance by the New Age Outlaws backing up CM Punk. It was too short. It was too short. I wanted more.
Sin Cara vs Del Rio: I actually LIKE the series of matches that these two are having. They have similar styles and Del Rio is perhaps the best opponent on the WWE roster to face a luchador like Sin Cara - be it the Mistico or Hunico rendition of Sin Cara. They always put on good matches. Alberto Del Rio just entered himself in the Royal Rumble and signed his death warrant in the match. A heel cannot call out a babyface in the Royal Rumble and not expect to get eliminated by said babyface. That's like Rule #1 - Don't be a target of a babyface in the Royal Rumble match. It never ends well.
Real Americans vs The Brotherhood: Goldust brings the 'Old School' every night. It's sort of a spoiler for them to have the home audience to use #WeThePeople during this match. It kinda gives away the winner. There's no reason to tweet the hashtag of losers. Yet another reason why the involvement of Twitter and Social Media is detrimental to professional wrestling. I am glad that The Real Americans are set to win this match and get back into the hunt for the Tag Team Championships. I really want to see them win Tag Team gold. And based on the gathering support for Antonio Cesaro and the chants of 'We The People,' I'm not the only one cheering them on. I was wrong about the winner of the match being spoiled, but that was an awesome match and The Real Americans deserve to get a Tag Team Title match after delivering performances like that. MOTN candidate.
Heyman/Lesnar: Thank you Paul Heyman for clarifying the definition of 'Old School.' He lost me at the beginning, but I agreed with him in the end. Bruno Sammartino, Hulk Hogan & Steve Austin was truly 'old school.' I don't know if I'd compare a part-time wrestler like Brock Lesnar to guys like Sammartino, Hogan and Austin who lived, breathed, sweated and bled wrestling. And I don't LIKE that Heyman is just proclaiming Lesnar as the #1 Contender after Royal Rumble despite doing nothing to gain that distinction. And I didn't LIKE that it was Mark Henry who once again came out to challenge Lesnar. They gotta have somebody else to be the sacrificial lamb, right. Henry just made his return and now they may have to kayfabely (is that a word?) keep him on the sidelines again if they run with the 'breaking the arm' storyline that they normally do when Lesnar uses that Kimura Lock. Yeah, someone like Big Show. I wouldn't mind seeing him out of action for a while. Instead, just one week back into his return, Lesnar is already being booked as the cowardly heel by backing down from Big Show and attacking from behind. Lesnar is supposed to be 'The Beast'. Big Show was a crying fool only three months ago. He should not be intimidated.
Too Cool vs 3MB: When I said there was a select few 'old school' wrestlers that I wouldn't mind watching wrestle, neither member of Too Cool was on that list. I was thinking more along the lines of the New Age Outlaws or Ricky Steamboat. But it's a nice nostalgic moment as I was, begrudgingly, a Rikishi & Too Cool fan.
Punk vs Reigns: I was worried we wouldn't get the classic introduction for the New Age Outlaws from Road Dogg & Billy Gunn. No matter how many times I've heard that, I still find myself in front of the TV screen reciting the lines right along with them. Their presence at ringside leads me to believe that there will be some feuding outside the ring that will take away from the match inside the ring. But with Roman Reigns only being good for a few power moves, the extra attention outside the ring may be necessary. Good match, but I don't LIKE the 'Roman Reigns is the best of The Shield' mantra they have going on. I'll elaborate on that later.
WHAT I HATED:
Old School?: I know this is nitpicky, but I wonder if WWE knows what an anachronism is. For those who don't know, it's a chronological error. When there's something that exists in an time where it doesn't belong. For an episode of RAW that is supposed to be 'old school', I found it very annoying that they still had that goddamned twitter feed going at the bottom of the screen. They can't go one week without making having a social media presence? Just for one week? And don't get me started on the WWE app voting.
Special Referee: Speaking of the WWE app... why do they insist on having the WWE fans vote for special referees? And moreover, they do it at the behest of their own paid officials. Are we really supposed to believe that a washed-up wrestler is better at officiating and refereeing a match than an actual referee? Technically speaking, since this is all staged, a trained monkey could do what the WWE Referees do. Probably doesn't even need to be trained.
Lansgton vs Axel: I seriously changed the channel during the commercial break before this match and by the time I changed it back a few minutes later, the match was already over. I blinked and I missed it. Yeah, well. Nobody had Langston losing this match anyhow. I do LIKE that they are setting up a rivalry between Langston and Ryback, though. Perhaps Ryback could finally win a title in WWE.
Divas Tag: Why have a Divas Tag Team match if the Divas Champion isn't involved in any way? Where's AJ Lee? It doesn't matter because I couldn't take my eyes off of Alicia Fox's outfit for the entire match. That's gotta be something out of a japanese manga. I'm having cosplay fantasies right now.
QUOTE OF THE NIGHT:
"You should be glad that The Shield wasn't around back then, or you wouldn't have made it to 112 years old." - Dean Ambrose
"This is Piper's Pit, not Ambrose Alley" - Roddy Piper
WWE, book it. Book Ambrose Alley right now. It'd be amazing. Give Dean Ambrose something to do after The Shield breaks up aside from not defending the United States Championship.
MATCH OF THE NIGHT:
I think I chose Punk vs Rollins for this honor last week, a match that CM Punk called 'garbage.' Well, he would know better than I do. And his match tonight against Roman Reigns wasn't near as good as his match last week. So, what's worse than garbage? A landfill? I'm going to give this award to The Real Americans vs The Brotherhood. A shining example of why the Tag Team Division is the best division in WWE, the Tag Team Titles have the most viable contenders and The Real Americans should be the #1 Contenders for those titles.
BEST IN SHOW:
I almost want to give this award to Triple H for not feeling the need to usurp this gimmick show with any Authority bullshit. But I'll give it Jake 'The Snake' Roberts for making a surprise eleventh hour appearance at the end of the show. That was unexpected and very well-received. Maybe he'll get his Royal Rumble entry that he's been calling for all last year. I sure hope so.
REACTION:
As much as I LIKE the ongoing rivalry between Punk & The Shield, I don't LIKE how they setup the main event match between Punk & Reigns as a match where Reigns can prove he's better than Dean Ambrose & Seth Rollins by defeating Punk. I mean, I don't LIKE the impending breakup of The Shield altogether, but I definitely don't LIKE how WWE is trying to force Roman Reigns down our throats and make him the better part of The Shield. He's the muscle, no doubt. But he's not the best part. In fact, I'd say he's the worst part. But considering how awesome and dominant The Shield has been over the past year, even the worst part is vital. I LIKE Roman Reigns a lot, but I'm never going to buy that he's better than Ambrose or Rollins. Never.
I wonder what this big announcement will be that will 'change WWE forever'. Probably nothing that serious, but you know WWE. They overhype everything. Best guess, it'll be the long-delayed announcement of the WWE Network. One of my predictions was that the WWE Network would be launched and find success as long as they stick to the Netflix model. The dirtsheets mentioned that they have been pulling some content off of Youtube lately, most likely due to the start of WWE Network. I might give it a try. I do find myself lost in a Youtube haze of watching old matches from time to time. And if it comes with the added bonus of being able to watch PPVs for free, then I'm definitely in.
I think WWE missed out a big opportunity to breathe some new (old?) life into the Divas Division, having no former divas on the show for AJ Lee to have a confrontation with. None of the current divas can challenge AJ Lee, so why not bring back a Lita or Michelle McCool or a Mickie James? They could have at least used this 'Old School' episode to tease a possible match for the Divas Champ. Instead, she was conspicuously and noticeably absent.
Did WWE learn from last week that they don't need Cena and Orton to anchor the show? I hope so. Because aside from the opening segment, they were nowhere to be found for the rest of the show. ME LIKEY!!! We should keep this up. Let CM Punk. Brock Lesnar and Daniel Bryan be the focal points of the show. I'd tune in every week to see that. Who needs a WWE World Champion anyway? Before last month, that title didn't even exist.
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