23/09/2014

Night of Champions & Raw Review (21,22/09/14)

Both these shows were entirely hit and miss with me; I won’t go into detail about every single match/segment, simply the moments that I believe need to be talked about.


I thought this image was appropriate after NOC + Raw

The one thing that really frustrated/annoyed me about NOC were the IC/Divas/US title matches.; the way they were booked was nothing less than ridiculous.
The IC Title match between The Miz/Ziggler was an absolute mess and this is solely down to the commentary team and having a country band that no wrestling fan cares about also calling the match and ultimately taking away from two guys attempting to put on a solid match in the ring. I’ll be honest, I stopped paying attention to the match because of how annoying the commentary was coming across; they were all talking over one another, not paying attention to the action in the ring and overall not calling this as if it were a title match (I guess that’s nothing new but it reached another level on Sunday). The Miz getting the victory with a roll-up was unnecessary and made no sense, fast-forward 24 hours to last night’s Raw, Ziggler won the strap back… I just do not get it. WHAT IS THE POINT? If someone can provide me with a decent explanation of what the point of throwing the tile around like that is for, then fine but until then, I hate it. The IC Title is meant to be the second most important title in WWE, yet this is how they handle and disrespect it. Well, at least last night on Raw, the commentators actually attempted to call the match… If anything, I just want WWE to move away from Miz/Ziggler and give Ziggler a legitimate feud for the strap that fans can be invested in e.g. Bray Wyatt. Which then leads me to my next point… what have WWE done to the masterpiece that was Bray Wyatt?! And the Wyatt Family overall; all their momentum has disappeared and it’s clear that the company has no idea what to do with them which is ridiculous. Wyatt needs to be put in a legitimate feud looking STRONG and well, Harper/Rowan should have won the tag titles a long time ago.

The Divas title match at NOC, was surprisingly pretty decent, considering it was a Triple Threat match; I did have a pre-conceived idea that it would be a slight car-crash but I was wrong. One thing I took away from this match is that Nikki has improved heavily and I have to applaud her for that… Anyone see that bump she took off the ring-apron towards the end of the match? Kudos to her. I once again, like the IC match, did not understand the outcome of it; why was the belt put back on AJ?! They need to stop throwing the belts around; it’s unnecessary and destroys credibility. After last night’s Raw, I don’t understand where exactly they’re going with the Divas title now. WWE ruined the potential great feud that could have been, between AJ/Paige. Paige needs to bring back the anti-diva gimmick, it worked perfectly for her.

The US Title match between Cesaro/Sheamus was, like I had predicted on my previous post, an all out fight. There were so many incredible spots and near-falls; these guys just have great chemistry, because they’re both brawlers. The one match I really want to see, is Sheamus Vs. Cesaro Vs. Barrett – now that would be something to see; all three men are flat out fighters. Hopefully one day in the future when Barrett is back we’ll have the opportunity to see it.
Yet, once again, I was not happy with the outcome; Cesaro HAD to win imo, he needed it, especially after all his momentum post-WM30 has been lost. A loss for Sheamus would not have hurt him. The way Cesaro has been booked lately has been awful, the guy is a future STAR and booking like this is hurting him; fans have lost interest. Also, isn’t it hilarious that WWE can throw around the IC/Divas Title, yet the one title that fans WANTED to see change hands, didn’t happen? The US title is probably the least cared for title in WWE.


My favourite moment of the entire show was when Dean Ambrose finally made his long-awaited return. 5 weeks felt like 5 months and the show definitely felt the lack of his presence. With Roman Reigns out for a few months due to having hernia surgery (which really does suck), the match with he and Rollins was off, so myself, along with a lot of others knew that Rollins would most likely come out and cut a arrogant, conceited promo, which is exactly what he did! (Can I just say, I am really loving Rollins right now, he’s playing the role of a heel incredibly well). With Seth getting the ref to count to 10 and having Justin Roberts announce him as the winner due to forfeit, everyone was anxiously waiting to see if Ambrose would be back. I genuinely thought that on the 10 count, Ambrose’s music would hit; but I was wrong. With Seth putting out an open challenge…a taxi pulls up and guess who gets out of it? Dean Ambrose of course! The crowd erupted as he ran out from the back to attack Rollins. I loved the brawl throughout the crowd whilst security came out to attempt to drag Ambrose away. Overall, I loved this segment; Dean was definitely needed back at NOC especially after we found out that Reigns will be out for a while, although I am curious to know how it would have gone down if Reigns were still in the picture. The Rollins/Ambrose feud is not over and that is one thing that is keeping me invested in the WWE right now; both of them together have incredible chemistry and can translate that into great matches/segments, in turn, providing us with some entertaining TV. – You can check out here, why I think the Ambrose/Rollins feud will usher in a new era in the WWE http://thewrestlingmenu.blogspot.co.uk/2014/08/ambroserollins-feud-will-usher-in-new.html


I have mixed emotions about the Cena/Lesnar match for the WWE World Title. On one hand, I knew that this match was not going to end cleanly, since SummerSlam had Cena completely beat down; it was clear that Vince wouldn’t allow that kind of beat-down for Cena two PPV’s in a row, because you know, they have to protect Cena, right?... I did not like the fact that Cena got in as much offence as he did, I knew he would but not as much as that… the fact that the commentators, especially Michael Cole (who is so far up Cena’s ass, it’s unreal) were basically saying that Cena had the match won if Rollins did not interfere and then Cole saying that exact thing the next night on Raw, is RIDICULOUS. In an ideal world, Lesnar would have looked completely dominant once again but I guess that’s asking for a bit too much, isn’t it? The fact that Lesnar had 3 matches prior to NOC and 100% dominated in all and demolished his opponents, yet suddenly in this match, Cena was able to get in so much offence makes no sense. All it is, is to cater to fans, fans who think Cena is some superman, fans who think this is completely REAL, fans who won’t be able to hack it if Cena is destroyed two PPV’s in a row and well, because Vince wants to protect him. Rollins also attacking Cena, instead of Lesnar also showed that as well. Can I also just add that Lesnar took and sold that curbstomp like a champ. Overall, I’m okay with a DQ finish because WWE would unfortunately never let their goldenboy get destroyed twice but I was not okay with the booking of the match and how they destroyed a lot of Lesnar’s momentum. Is anyone genuinely surprised though?


Raw last night was very, very lacklustre. I’ll put it simply, Dean Ambrose saved the show; without him I would have been much more critical about it. Ambrose opening the show was a nice change, although I was hoping for a promo of him explaining what exactly he had been doing for the past 5 weeks and I doubt we’re going to get that now. Once Cena appeared, my attitude towards this segment completely changed. I understand why Cena was involved but imo, Ambrose should be kept AWAY from Cena; he’s fine on his own and doesn’t need to mix with him. I find it funny how paranoid fans get whenever Cena mixes with a younger guy or a guy that is talented and has a bright future… I mean, we’re allowed to be…look at past examples of Ryder/Bray Wyatt for proof of what can happen. Overall, I enjoyed the opening segment, it did set up the rest of the show (not saying it was a good show) and I loved the closing moments of Ambrose jumping into the moving car when Rollins was attempting to get away; he is just pure entertainment. You wouldn’t see that from anyone else.

There was nothing that stuck out to me as absolutely incredible on this show, which is why I will not go through anything that I didn’t enjoy. You could call it the "Dean Ambrose show" as it overall did revolve around him. The main-event of Cena Vs. Orton (for the millionth time) had me intrigued simply because of the prior events of Ambrose being locked up in a room by The Authority and Rollins telling Orton he had a “surprise” for him – that “surprise” being cinder blocks again... or were they? Dean Ambrose was revealed to be under there for all that time, which I think most people called! But nonetheless I still enjoyed. I would have loved to see a segment prior where they opened the door that Ambrose was meant to be locked in to find him missing and a ceiling tile left open to show that he had escaped… that would have seriously been amazing and made for better TV but I was still content with what we got. Next week, there has to be some kind of explanation for how he actually escaped and made his way under that box. As I have said many times before, Ambrose Vs. Rollins rematch needs to happen and it needs to happen inside HIAC. I know I may be asking for too much but I will be majorly disappointed if we don’t get that match. There needs to be a major pay off for Ambrose and also, as we are unsure of whether or not the WWE WHC will be defended at HIAC then this makes the most sense. However, with Rollins/Cena now butting heads, how will this play out for Dean and how will he be involved? There are a lot of questions surrounding this but all I want to see is an Ambrose/Rollins rematch and Cena FAR away from it all.  


I try not to be overly critical about the WWE but that was a very, very weak Raw and it has been weak for a long time now. I don’t know how they themselves, can watch that show and believe they are doing or even trying their best to put on the greatest possible wrestling show. WWE are HEAVILY lacking stars and they are the only ones to blame for that. The amount of talent on the roster and in NXT has been the best in arguably 10 years, yet the company is failing to build MULTIPLE guys up as big time stars and players. Cesaro and The Wyatt Family are major examples of that. It has been done in the past where MULTIPLE guys have been at the top yet they seem to be unable to do the same now. It is not as if these guys can not get over, Cesaro/Wyatt, for example were both gaining major momentum and fans were beginning to show interest and be invested, yet WWE put a stop to that. As a fan, its frustrating seeing how weak the product has gotten, especially when the roster is heavily improving. You can check out where I think WWE are going wrong, here - http://thewrestlingmenu.blogspot.co.uk/2014/09/where-are-wwe-going-wrong.html

Fix up, WWE.

- Zara 

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