Professional Wrestling (WWE, TNA, ROH, etc)

[Andrew]

"Universal Championship"? That's not even a subtle way of Stephanie and HHH politicking to keep RAW as the A show backstage.

[Lean]

Indeed. And Foley said it's named after the WWE Universe.

I expect it to look better than the WWE Championship, if they're gunning to make it look better than Smackdown's belt.

EDIT: SASHA BANKS IS THE NEW WOMEN'S CHAMPION!

[Lean]

BALOR WINS AND WILL FACE ROLLINS AT SUMMERSLAM! THEY ACTUALLY DID IT!

Also, this was the announced line-up for the Manila event this September:



All talents advertised are from Raw, I believe. They might have to rename this as WWE Raw Manila Tour or something, And also, all of the heels that I wanted to cut a promo on Pinoys are scheduled!

[JaoSming]

Very impressed with the production of RAW, at least through the clips I watched through their Twitter and YouTube. Graves, Cole, and Saxton sounded great too. No idea if the entire show dragged on too long despite these changes, but overall I'm liking what I see for this new era.

I just really really really hope JBL doesn't ruin Smackdown. Please.

[[Q]]

despite me not liking graves, he's still way better than JBL's constant blabbering and random shouting.
I liked that the shining stars finally got some time and had a purpose.
you could totally see Cesaro's frustration all night long from the initial walkout to him tripping for his entrance to his entrance getting cut off. I hope they put the US belt on him to make him happy. Or Kevin Owens. That man is easily the most entertaining wrestler on both shows. Also, I do not like Zayn but I can't help but like his great in-ring work especially last night and tonight. Maybe one day i'll like him but he's not my kind of character.
I agree I like the different way they produced the show and the moving shots were fantastic. The in-ring Sasha interview and the Roman loss interview while Finn was celebrating were the two most noticeable and best examples of this. I will say it'll be sad that there will be no more spots on the announce table unless they bring em back for the PPVs
Once they announced Sasha vs Charlotte I had the feeling they'd have her drop the belt to drive ratings, but never in my wildest dreams would they push Finn for the main event win and summerslam main event on the first night!
They kinda had to create new titles because the whole point was to help with travel and scheduling, so they needed it to be 2 separate shows. I'm now assuming Shane & DB counters with a new WWE Women's Universal Championship (LOL): Becky vs Natalya and Becky takes it for her first title since joining the company and I will get choked up watching just like I did when sasha won
Overall I was pleasantly surprised with tonights raw as i was expecting the same ol' stuff we've been fed, got high hopes for tomorrow's show.

[bigh0rt]

This was the most enjoyable RAW I've watched in some time. And the first time I stayed awake for the full 3 hours in almost as long. I hope they keep this up.

[[Q]]

That nia jax squash match made we wonder how awesome it would have been if awesome kong had never gotten pregnant and had a run in WWE.

Has there been any mention of David otunga as SD commentator outside of dirt sheets? I have a feeling they'll put renee young there so she can be with Dean

[JaoSming]

Yep, Otunga confirmed
https://www.wwe.com/article/new-wwe-ann ... or-new-era

Also Renee is on Smackdown as the interviewer

[Lean]

American Alpha to debut next week, Rhyno is on SmackDown, Shelton Benjamin is announced to return, Dolph Ziggler will face Ambrose on Summerslam, Backlash is announced to return as a SmackDown PPV. Shame that their intro isn't as pumping as that of Raw's. And NO SMACKDOWN FIST on the set.

[bigh0rt]

Good episode of SmackDown Live, as well. I enjoy the new format. It reminds me of boxing/UFC, with the immediate post-match interviews on the way to the ramp, or in-ring with Sasha. I really hope to see the newer superstars getting pushed, allowed to have longer matches, etc. Haven't been this enthused about the possibilities going forward since I started watching wrestling again ~2.5 years ago.

[[Q]]

I was honestly shocked by the main event results. That was one of the last people I thought would win that

[JaoSming]

Can we re-evaluate the spoiler "policy"? At some point if you can't watch it live, maybe you avoid this thread. Kinda limiting what we can say and react to live or otherwise if we're spoilering stuff or being vague.

[Andrew]

Sounds fair enough to me.

[Lean]

phpBB [video]

That kick by Ibushi at the end of the sequence!

[Lean]

Enjoyed Smackdown more than Raw this week, that promo between Ambrose and Ziggler was fantastic. I see a Ziggler turn.

Also, Matt Hardy is Jericho's guest in his podcast, and he's in his "broken" character.

[Andrew]

Seemed both men were getting some heel and face reactions there, crowd is definitely a little split. It was a really good promo though, and also nice to see Bray Wyatt given some direction with his character. That's been the problem with his character for a long time. Sure, losses don't help build him up, but neither does giving his character nothing to do except be generically creepy.

[Lean]

Now that he's on Smackdown, I expect Bray to have a title soon. It's been long overdue.

Just watched this week's CWC: It's still an amazing show. THAT GARGANO-CIAMPA MATCH. Easily the best match of the tournament thus far. Perfect storytelling and just stiff action from both guys. I wonder if the results play out on NXT.

[[Q]]

Tbh after the initial shows to promote change, they've been pretty lackluster. To be fair though, it's tough to have a touring show and have filler matches in between ppvs that don't seem like filler matches. Raw was the better show this week as SmackDown has struggled a bit since the draft other than having ziggler become #1 contender

[Andrew]

Not every show can be better than the last. Consistently engaging and logical storylines would be a marked improvement, even if some episodes in those stories aren't as exciting as others.

[bigh0rt]

The fact that storylines seem to make some semblance of sense at the moment is refreshing. I hate when I'm made to feel like I should have the memory of a goldfish. Not everything will be A+ but I've been more engaged and entertained overall recently than in some while.

[[Q]]

I guess the way they're doing it (heel attacks face, 2nd face makes the save for an eventual tag match) is better than a Teddy Long random "let's have a tag match"
I am glad guys like Cesaro & Ziggler are finally getting some face time and looks like Reigns got demoted to US picture for the time being. also, AJ is a little less interesting without the club, who for good reason hasn't been associated with Finn despite being on the same show.

[Andrew]

Dropping Reigns back to the midcard is a good move. They've tried to push him too hard against a negative crowd reaction, so they need to give him a rest as far as the main event picture is concerned. Let him properly establish himself, and get the crowd reactions they're after. Try the main event scene again later, when it needs a fresh face.

[Lean]

Plus booking Reigns against Rusev (the typical heel foreigner schtick) would probably make the crowd care more for Reigns.

[[Q]]

phpBB [video]

will watch this for AJ. man I miss her so much

[Lean]

Oh my, AJ looking more beautiful!

Okay, skipped Raw and Smackdown but watched NXT and the CWC. THAT IBUSHI-ALEXANDER MATCH IS AWESOME!And that post-preview at the end where the Full Sail crowd chants "please sign Cedric" then Triple H comes out to shake Alexander's hand and gave a thumbs up, what a moment!