The Official WWE Thread, Brother!

[-Raiga-]

Well that didn't take long at all for me to get tired of Axel. I think after a certain point giving him a million count out victories does more to hurt his credibility. Did they really think just pairing him up with Heyman would make people magically get behind the guy?

The problem I have with his pairing with Heyman is the same problem I had with Punk's title reign. In that they are talking about their gimmick more than actually doing it. During the second half of punks reign we had about 34, 15 minute promos of him saying a different number for the streak. In this case, all Heyman and the announcers do is talk about how great of a manager heyman is, as opposed to him actually doing....heck just about anything for Axel.

It doesn't help that they say Axel is trying to become greater than his father yet everything from his music to his promos is based around him...

[DarkGengar]

I think Jericho might be turning heel at Payback. I can't see this match end with a simple pinfall or submission, it'll end in controversy.

[Platinum fan.]

I could see Punk turning face if something like Curtis Axel, Brock Lesnar, or even Paul Hayman cost Punk the match. It would actually be more interesting that way and setup a possible Summerslam match. I think Jericho needs the win more then CM Punk. Punk beat Jericho twice last year and one of them was at Wrestlemania, so this defeat won't hurt CM Punk at all really.

Also I saw Smackdown last night and in the Alberto Del Rio/Jericho vs Dolph Ziggler/Big E Langston match, why did Dolph Ziggler get pinned? He's the World Heavyweight Champion! This is no way to treat Team Zigglypuff! I'll let it go because Ziggler will surely retain at Payback, but Platinum fan did not like what he saw last night. This is suppose to be Dolph Ziggler's WWE now! AJ better win the Divas belt, even though she's a forced heel, and Langston better grab a IC or US title so Team Zigglypuff can hold all the gold. And the Shield finally lost a six man tag match. Good, because it still doesn't hurt them since they'll retain their belts at Payback, and seeing them always win was getting almost as bad as seeing Sheamus and Orton win everything. The Shield still look strong to me and they are sure to retain their belts and hold them for awhile.

[Laser Shuckle]

I could see Punk turning face if something like Curtis Axel, Brock Lesnar, or even Paul Hayman cost Punk the match. It would actually be more interesting that way and setup a possible Summerslam match. I think Jericho needs the win more then CM Punk. Punk beat Jericho twice last year and one of them was at Wrestlemania, so this defeat won't hurt CM Punk at all really.

Won't hurt CM Punk? he's been losing quite a bit between Cena, The Rock and the Undertaker. This is their No. 2 guy, Not to mention it's his return match in Chicago no less. I think it would be ridiculous to have him lose especially when Jericho is pretty much just a part timer now.

[Platinum fan.]

Won't hurt CM Punk? he's been losing quite a bit between Cena, The Rock and the Undertaker. This is their No. 2 guy, Not to mention it's his return match in Chicago no less. I think it would be ridiculous to have him lose especially when Jericho is pretty much just a part timer now.

They could make a storyline out of Punk losing and trying to get back to the top, maybe it all leads up to capturing the WWE title again. I'm not saying he won't win, nor will I be upset if he does, it's just that this will be Jericho and Punks 3rd match against each other. I wouldn't mind a different outcome, but either way I won't be disappointed. The setup does look like CM Punk will win, but I wouldn't have mind a redemption storyline and not the John Cena one, but a real one where Punk loses turns face, gets cheers, and starts winning big matches again. I guess that's why I said it wouldn't hurt him, though I have no idea the outcome of Payback.

[celestial phantom]

I'm not really expecting much from tomorrow's PPV. It's all kind of predictable with the way things are going in the build up to SummerSlam.

-Cena will win, ryback probably gets either one more match at MITB or both men move on.

-Dolph wins since he's more over than Del Rio is, and shoving Del Rio down our throats again as champ so soon will tick off a lot of people, especially since they didn't strip Ziggles of the title a bit back.

-Both matches with Shield members I expect to be the great undercard matches with all 3 men retaining, but their opponents being the performers they are will put on damn good matches.

-It's time for AJ to take over as the face of the diva's division unless they make this a trifecta PPV feud and she gets it at SS.

-I can see them trying to shoot Axel to the moon, which I hope they don't or have Barrett retain which I'm hoping since he's a great performer and he needs to show that again to management and creative.

-Punk/Jericho probably will be the match of the night, and this is the only one I can't toss an obvious predict out against.

I hope that for MITB build up any qualifying matches they have will get some guys to actually show off their talents. Let the WWE have like Antonio Cesaro, Kane, Wade Barrett, Miz, Ryback, R-Truth, Kofi, and Randy Orton. If I could have it, let Orton or Barrett win it, that way if rumors are true about DB going on to eventually face Cena, either guy has a past history with both men. But that's logical booking for feuds, and well that probs won't happen. For the WHC I'd like to see a Returning Christian, Cody Rhodes, Sheamus, Sin Cara, Big Titus, Damien Sandow, Zack Ryder, and Mark Henry/Swagger. Since this one can be used to build to bigger stars with good showings, I'd like to see Cody/Sandow win it. Sheamus could be a go to guy since he's already a WHC contender with the fans and it'd be a safe option. Or have it be a returning Christian to give him one more run with it since he's got the ability to be one of those top guys but usually is a name used for putting guys over now.

Either way I hope we get some good build up to the spotfest that is supposed to be known as MITB with 4 weeks of build after payback.

[rocky505]

Man I'm excited for Axel's first singles title match. I just hope Miz doesn't walk out with the IC title because I am sick and tired of him going after Barrett.

[Shadow Lucario]

I have no idea why, but I just love Daniel Bryan now. Before I didn't understand the whole yes and no thing, but now I love it. Also, Dolph's merch is pretty sick. If it didn't cost an arm and a leg for one shirt then I would be all over it.

[flamebeam]

They could make a storyline out of Punk losing and trying to get back to the top, maybe it all leads up to capturing the WWE title again. I'm not saying he won't win, nor will I be upset if he does, it's just that this will be Jericho and Punks 3rd match against each other. I wouldn't mind a different outcome, but either way I won't be disappointed. The setup does look like CM Punk will win, but I wouldn't have mind a redemption storyline and not the John Cena one, but a real one where Punk loses turns face, gets cheers, and starts winning big matches again. I guess that's why I said it wouldn't hurt him, though I have no idea the outcome of Payback.

that sounds a lot like the MVP storyline from a few years back. i think storylines like that can work for midcarders, but IMO cm punk is too good for that.

wow, it's been a few weeks since I've seen WWE, but with CM Punk returning, and school winding down, I think I can get back into it

[Laser Shuckle]

I streamed the PPV just to see Kaitlyn vs AJ (yes you read that right) and wow, that was easily the best divas match I've seen yet.

Kaitlyn looked wicked strong throwing AJ around like that, and the match had a good story with AJ getting into Kaitlyn's head and outsmarting her during the match.

[celestial phantom]

I streamed the PPV just to see Kaitlyn vs AJ (yes you read that right) and wow, that was easily the best divas match I've seen yet.

Kaitlyn looked wicked strong throwing AJ around like that, and the match had a good story with AJ getting into Kaitlyn's head and outsmarting her during the match.

GOD DAMN....THAT SPEAR! Best damn divas match in years, now I hope they continue through the summer, debut a few divas from NXT and give AJ some future opponents.

As well watched Payback, and I'm not going to complain. I liked 90% of it. I mean outside the fact Ambrose/Kane and Jericho/Punk weren't connecting as matches last night, it was a damn great PPV.

-Double turn in the WHC match basically
-Damn great Divas match
-Shield were looking strong (lol @ ambrose outright slapping Kane)
-The Triple Threat was a great match although clunky at the start, but Miz actually got it going with a great work rate. Props to axel for the cheap win while Miz had the figure 4 locked
-Ryback should be out of the main event picture now
-Sheamus v. Sandow actually made for a great match, and Sandow would be a great foil for Sheamus like Punk is to Cena.

Only other thing I wanted more of maybe would be friction between Bryan/Orton for furthering their story.

[flamebeam]

i've been hearing some good things about payback (from here and from what i've collected tonight on raw). that's definitely gonna get me back into wwe. so what exactly happened with aj and kaitlyn? this, i must know.

also, cm punk's mutton chops... ehhh :/

[-Raiga-]

Holy cow, this Raw has been AMAZING from start to finish, and its not done yet!! Every single thing has advanced a storyline or been entertaining.

Also, that Mark Henry segment>anything of the last 2 years. He really did an amazing job with that segment. I went from not being fooled before he started to being fooled as he did it. Kudos to WWE for giving him a good 6-7 minutes to make it believable.

[Mye]

Odd, just like wrestlemania we have a bunch of heel/face turns the night after:

-del rio to "anti-usa" heel: bit of an odd choice here in my opinion, as it basically makes dolph's entire title reign seem useless. Only way I can see this working is if dolph loses at mitb, and then wins another briefcase
-antonio cesaro to "sellout" heel: for me, antonio cesaro has always been one of the more funnier superstars on the roster, as he always gave off that "borat" kind of vibe. Paired with zeb, it should provide some comic mischief up until swagger returns.
Punk to "anti-hero" face: they say that in order to combat a heart of true evil, you must shed all parts of it from you. As is the case with punk, who in order to shed himself of heyman, has to combat lesnar. While I would've loved to see punk face axel first, facing lesnar does add some intriguing possibilities (perhaps a triple threat with cena at summerslam? ).

[Platinum fan.]

Well so much for my break from RAW. What else am I doing on Monday nights? Anyway RAW was good. Yes, I am upset that Dolph Ziggler lost the World title, but Ziggler will be back to reclaim it. Though I do expect Team Zigglypuff to break up soon I enjoyed all the face and heel turns. Alberto Del Rio is heel again, I guess after running over Santa Claus was never going to escape him. CM Punk is back to being a edgy face and that face reminds me of Hugh Jackman XD he even ditched Paul Heyman and is setting up a feud with Brock Lesnar. This will be new for Punk. Christian returned and RVD is returning at Money in the Bank. Glad to see Christian back, I almost forgot about him.

Mark Henry's "retirement" had me fooled. At first I thought it was fake, then I thought it was real, but it was fake. Still it was one of the best performances of all time. Mark Henry played everyone and I loved that Worlds Strongest Slam on John Cena. The Triple H and Vince struggle for top authority on RAW isn't bad, I just wonder where it's leading to. Certainly not a match between the two.

AJ's still a heel and her segment with Stephanie was alright. When Stephanie said she expected something original from AJ in terms of insults, I so wanted AJ to be crazy enough and insult Linda's senate race failures and how it ruined the direction of WWE and for Stephanie to then slap AJ. AJ would have pulled a CM Punk if she had said that. Oh well.

Overall RAW was enjoyable, nice to see returns, and face/heel turns. I can't tell if Daniel Bryan or Randy Orton will turn heel. It looks more like Daniel Bryan might, even though he's really over with the crowd and Orton needs the heel turn more. So much for Ryback Rules lol.

[Laser Shuckle]

That was easily the best Raw of the last few years. I loved the AJ/Stephanie segment and Mark Henry's too. I thought his speech might have been a ruse from the beginning like you guys but I bought into it along with everyone else midway.

I'm still shocked they actually filled all 3 hours with substance without resorting to predictable filler or WWE app/social media BS.

The stars must have aligned or something too because we didn't get treated to Cena in some boring main event, Cena 2.0 Sheamus winning everything or having to sit through a boring Ryback heel segment.

[Mye]

The stars must have aligned or something too because we didn't get treated to Cena in some boring main event, Cena 2.0 Sheamus winning everything or having to sit through a boring Ryback heel segment.

I actually hope that ryback does what punk does (taking a bit of a break, then returning on a pay-per view). With ryback appearing in dozens of consecutive pay-per-views, his "act" has gotten boring. Have him take 3 months off, then bring him back at hell in a cell (perhaps attacking undertaker in a build-up to wrestlemania).

[celestial phantom]

Mark Henry's segment pretty much made RAW for me. I didn't think he was going to retire, but as the segment went on I kept hoping and saying in my mind, "If this segment does end without him slamming Cena with his finisher, I'm going to be disappointed because I would like a proper mini program between the two." I loved all the chants, and the emotion aimed at Henry too, I mean come on the ONE MORE MATCH chant, SEXUAL CHOCOLATE, and THANK YOU HENRY were just great.

It seems that Sunday and Monday night, WWE fired on all cylinders to keep storylines going. We got Punk v. Lesnar getting set up, the response showing that they got the pull off of a double turn with Dolph/Del Rio (Thank you for Face Ziggler). Also Christian returned too, so I hope they actually have a program lined up for him. I hope that it looks like we get Orton v. Bryan at MITB now since it gives reason, meaning maybe we'll get Orton heel turn since DB is just too over to think about turning heel now. Also it seems that Colter is starting to build a stable or at least team of Cesaro and Swagger, but having 3 heel ones with no real face stable seems kind of weird if the Wyatt's debut as heels. Also, speaking of Cesaro, REGAL SIGHTING! in a squash match but hell did he let Cesaro show his dominance.

[Laser Shuckle]

I don't think Cesaro joining Colter will be a new stable, I think it will be more like with Heyman where he's just taking on someone new.

Both Wyatt Family and the Shield on the same show seems kind of overkill though.

[Mye]

If the wyatt family joins raw as faces though, then it could work. Don't get me wrong, it'd be a complete waste of their talent, but it could work.

[Platinum fan.]

Cesaro with Zeb Colter is fine but it also feels like a way to get Colter on TV since Jack Swagger seems to be missing lately. But I don't mind, a tag team between Cesaro and Colter would make for a interesting storyline...if we had any face teams to fight them. I suppose they could use the Usos or Tons of Funk? Kane and Daniel Bryan were the top face tag team and with them split, the Shield don't even have real Tag Team opponents at the moment. It does feel like we have more heels then faces getting pushes right now. And like it's being said if the Wyatt's are heels then we have many heel teams and not enough faces to face them.