LIVE Battleground thoughts - 7/20/14

10:49 - Right winner.  Right person took the pin.  Now they need to keep Roman Reigns out of the title picture until they're ready to have him win it.

10:44 - I'm constantly complimenting John Cena....but one thing he does that he's awful at is he always looks up (when he's supposed to be knocked up) when somebody is supposed to come in for a save.

10:28 - And the Big Gold Belt lives on.  Will it survive the logo update of 2014?

By the way, I'm guessing Cena retains here tonight.

10:27 - New gear for Reigns as well.  Looks like army green trim instead of gray.  Sidenote:  I love that he doesn't high five the fans when he walks through the crowd.

10:24 - Hold the damn phone.....for the first time in, I think, 10 years or so.....RANDY ORTON IS NOT WEARING BLACK TRUNKS!!!!!!!!  Welcome back to the world of color, Randy!

10:22 - I beg to differ, Triple H.  I think the big question is whether or not John Cena comes out with the Big Gold Belt -- speculated to have been retired when Cena handed it over to Flair on Raw.  It's probably my favorite title of all time, but I do think it's time to consolidate to one physical championship.

10:16 - Based on that booking, you had to expect Miz to win it.  I am surprised that it was at Dolph's expense and not Sheamus', though.  Not that I'm complaining....I love that Dolph got his fake moment in the sun.  Sidenote:  My feed crapped out A LOT during the Sheamus/Dolph portion of that match.  A lot of freezing and the quality got fuzzy.  Let's see if it's just another blip....it has otherwise been fine.

10:09 - I kinda love the booking of Miz repeatedly sneaking in and FAILING to eliminate people.

10:05 - Did Ryback eliminate Axel and did the camera and announcers all miss it?

9:59 - New gear alert - Zack Ryder (black/silver), Sin Cara (red, white, and blue), ADR (IC title colors), Ryback (blue), Heath Slater (back to tights), Kofi Kingston (green/orange -- I assume for Florida?), and Dolph Ziggler (new expression on the back of his trunks -- couldn't make it out).  Not too shabby.

9:55 - Smart money seems to be on Cesaro here, but honestly, who knows?  Could be anyone, really.  Part of me does want to see Sheamus win just to consolidate the secondary titles.

9:49 - Wow, pretty shocked by that victory.  I didn't expect Bray to win the feud with Cena or the championship in last month's ladder match....but he's really in need a big, major victory.  He had that when he beat Daniel Bryan (when, honestly, he probably shouldn't have).  I'm sure Wyatt WILL win this feud, so I'm not too hung up on this result.  Just....surprised.  And they definitely ARE making it seem like a fluke/underdog victory.

9:45 - I do love the visual of that Bray Wyatt crab walk.

9:34 - Does Jericho even have a shot at winning this one?

9:03 - I'm really glad that someone explained to Zeb that Boris, and not Bullwinkle, was Natasha's partner in crime.

9:00 - Well that answers that one.

8:55 - By the way, according to some websites this is a "hot storyline" and people are concerned it might be dropped because of the Putin aspect of it.  This is a hot storyline?

8:47 - Love that AJ is back and really enjoyed that match. I'm also glad that the fans got over their CM Punk chanting and gave these ladies the respect that they deserve.  I don't think the announcers, though, did the justice to the storyline and emotions that they could have.  Also, right person won.

8:36 - Of course I'm disappointed if Ambrose/Rollins doesn't happen....but I can't complain if AJ/Paige are about to have a full blown match.

8:25 - The Usos are a true Cinderella story here.  These guys KEEP overcoming these pushed teams....which I love.  The first two falls were kinda lame, but the action for the last fall was fantastic.  Great opener.

8:11 - I wouldn't be surprised to see the Wyatts win this in two straight falls.

8:04 - When they update the titles with the new WWE logo, what are the chances that they just create a new pair of tag titles altogether?

Also, I'm guessing the Wyatts finally win the gold tonight.

7:48 - Alright, I AM here with my LIVE Battleground thoughts tonight.  Things are improving, but when I first turned on WWE Network the visual was EXTREMELY choppy and practically unwatchable.  Like I said, it's improved now....but that was not good.  Granted, it is the first time I've had issues since before WrestleMania.....so let's hope that was just a momentary blip.

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LIVE Raw thoughts - July 14, 2014

11:08 - Yikes, I sure hope Rollins isn't legitimately injured.

10:44 - Personally, I wouldn't mind if that was how they wrote off the World Heavyweight Championship.  Handing it off to Flair -- arguably the man most associated with the Big Gold Belt -- would be fitting.  Don't get me wrong, I love that championship.  Probably my all time favorite.  But the vast majority of champions look awkward with two titles, let's consolidate to just one.

10:19 - Loved that Paige/AJ scene on the commentary table.  Their insincere interaction was brilliant.  Loved it.

10:15 - Did Paige just take credit for inventing the term "frenemy"?

10:14 - AJ vs. Paige in a legit match?  Sign me up!

10:07 - Did the production of that segment seem odd?  Returning to Jericho from Wyatt's promo, only to continue Wyatt's promo and cut to black.  Then going to the announce team when the lights were still off.

10:03 - The thing about the Wyatt character that bothers me is that all of his opponents always talk about how crazy and everything he is, but he never seems to do anything particularly crazy.

10:00 - Loving this Jericho promo so far.  Very reminiscent of his early stuff.  And best of all -- FUN!

9:51 - That chair throw was surprisingly dangerous.

9:40 - I kinda get a kick out of the fact that Cody and Goldust need to paint their faces for 30 second backstage segments.

9:34 - Pretty cool commercial for the Sting reveal.  But two generations?  Does that mean we get surfer Sting AND crow Sting?

9:28 - Shouldn't Stephanie have given that speech to Reigns and Cena?  And if you don't have enough Divas to sustain these matches, just stop with them.  Enough with this Nikki vs. Alicia and Blank matches.

9:20 - For virtually his entire WWE run, I never really recall RVD submitting.  Certainly not on a frequent basis.  But man, RVD has been tap happy lately.

By the way, I do love the emphasis on the Intercontinental Championship -- with the title on display throughout the entire show.

9:10 - "It was an obvious set up!"  Yeah, apparently the Authority knew that Cena and Reigns were both dicks.

9:06 - Wow, Zeb is an immensely sexist babyface.

9:04 - Wow, shocked that McMahon actually used an image of Obama to draw some face heat.

9:01 - It's hard to fault a segment when the crowd is this riled up for it.

8:55 - Why does WWE insist upon debates?  Do they think we want to see debates?  And why do muscular people wave flags so awkwardly?

8:48 - What the hell is Adam Rose looking at?

8:47 - Jesus, between the WWE Network shilling and this Sonic segment, Raw is basically just a giant commercial now.

8:41 - So how about the fact that Dolph was more distracted by Fandango dancing than Summer and Layla?  Oh, whatever, I guess I'm happy he at least won.

8:32 - That make out scene was beyond unnecessary and awkward.

8:18 - This is the exact character the Miz should be playing.  Well done.

Also, I'd hate to see Sheamus win...but I would love to see the US and IC titles unified.

8:15 - Wait, they're not even going to show that Cena and Reigns DID try to save him?????

8:12 - Loved the Ambrose interruption.  It quickly made me recognize that he's the best part of Raw right now.  Even the beatdown was fun -- the reveal of Kane, and then Rollins, and then Orton....and then to have Ambrose be the one to make the attack.  The biggest issue is the obvious one -- they didn't do anything to show the audience that Cena and Reigns cared.  I have no doubt they'll show the two of them tending to him backstage...but too little, too late.  They should have shown Cena and Reigns run out of the ring, only to not get there in time.

8:04 - With the WWE apparently changing their logo to the Network version (a great move, in my estimation) next month, one must assume they'll be redesigning the "Big Logo" WWE Championship.  It'll probably be as simple as swapping the two logos...but I do wonder if, when they make the switch, they'll just abandon the former World Heavyweight Championship (Big Gold Belt) and merge to one physical title.  Which they should do, honestly.

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Summer of Excitement: Independence Weekend - [a case of the summer]

As one might expect, the aforementioned excitement that occurred last week centered mostly around the activities of July 4th weekend.  I actually took off July 3rd (Thursday), although not for exciting reasons.  I had a dentist appointment at 10:00 (which I incorrectly thought was at 10:30, so I was a half hour late.  Oops), then dropped by my parents' house to do some laundry, and then finally went to the barber to get a haircut.  That evening I also decided to grab a few more things for the apartment (including a TWO TIER fruit bowl!) at which point it started to absolutely pour out.  Like, blankets of water falling from the sky.  Within minutes streets and parking lots were literally flooding.  I don't think I've ever gotten THAT drenched in such a short amount of time from just being outside for less than a minute at a time.  It was ridiculous.  Unfortunately, I was so massively uncomfortable that I couldn't meet a few friends later, so that ended up being a relatively tame night.  But that's okay, because there would be more fun later.

On Friday, my friend had people over for an intended BBQ.  However, since it was raining, we ended up having everybody inside (using the toaster oven in place of the BBQ), which was just fine.  However, when I walked in, I noticed three of my guy friends all wearing the USA World Cup Jersey with matching shorts, in addition to American Flag bandannas.  They explained that they went to the dollar store down the street and, on a whim, talked the guy down to $24 and got everything.  Not to be left out, I went to the very same dollar store and did the same.  He even remembered my friends, which meant I got the same discount.  And so we spent the whole afternoon wearing our matching outfits, and then went to the bar doing the same.  Somehow, we managed to pull it off and had a great time.

Saturday was our yearly tradition of taking my nephew and nieces to the boardwalk in Point Pleasant.  It was a beautiful day and a lot of fun, but holy hell was it crowded.  And I was exhausted, too.  Plus we didn't even eat until, like, 3:00, and I don't like to be kept from food.  But, of course, it was nice to have a beautiful day.

Sunday was a beautiful day as well, as we went to my aunt's house for a BBQ.  A day in the pool with lots of food (see, told you I like food) and family.  Oh, Margaritas too (those are American, right?)  A very nice time.  It was certainly a long, tiring weekend, though, and I didn't feel especially good on Monday!

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LIVE Raw thoughts - July 7, 2014

11:08 - Once again, the final segment of the show was (in my opinion) red hot.  They've got great stuff going on now with Cena, the Authority, and the former Shield.  Love the stuff with Ambrose and Rollins, especially.  I think they made a huge mistake in ending the show with Reigns and Cena repeatedly raising each other's hands instead of them staring each other down.  People who are drawn to Reigns probably don't like Cena....and as a result, having him pal up to him will only turn away the fans' support of him.  They like the Reigns who said that Cena DOES suck.  Does he need to be an outright jerk and spear Cena when Cena had done nothing to him?  No.  But at least tease it and entice the audience.  Other than that, the ending was great but the show, overall, seemed to drag a bit.  Or maybe I'm still not feeling well.

10:52 - I wasn't blown away by that Monday Night War preview.  It didn't show us anything that we wouldn't have otherwise seen on countless DVD's related to that era.  If it is something different -- and I sure hope it is, since it has been anticipated since the announcement of the Network -- then show us HOW it is different.

10:34 - Trust me, I love seeing Kofi win but I hate these victories.  They make Cesaro look bad without making Kofi look good.

10:31 - It's a strange pet peeve of mine that Cesaro doesn't complete shave his head anymore.  The horseshoe look isn't a good one.

10:25 - That was already more intensity than we saw from Tons of Funk.

10:19 - Paige and AJ Lee together?!?!  I'm down with that!  Also, which of these two teams do you see turning against each other first?

10:11 - REALLY love the visual of the audience turning on their cell phones for Wyatt.  It is an AWESOME shot....why are they just doing gilmpses of it?  USE THAT SHOT!

10:03 - LOVE the new Miz entrance.  Obvious allusions to Hollywood Rock, but that's a good thing!  But why on EARTH is the heel commentator (JBL) badmouthing him and the face commentator (Lawler) defending him?

10:02 - I'm kinda over Jericho in the trunks.  Wish he'd go back to his long tights.

9:55 - Eck, didn't care for Sandow/Sheamus.  One character is beyond bland and the other is just frustrating to watch.  I did enjoy that Miz promo, though....and it was the first time I enjoyed him in years.  THIS is exactly the character he should be playing.  And not to toot my own horn, but I was firmly in belief that he never should have turned face to begin with.

9:30 - Ziggler:  "Okay, so how does the match end?"  WWE:  "Well, you lose.  After getting distracted by a man dancing."  Man, way to make him look like a schmuck.

9:28 - How many times do we need to see these two wrestle, also?  And I certainly hope it's not for us JUST to see Ziggler tap to Del Rio again.

9:19 - Don't love the fact that Ambrose lost that one (and that top turnbuckle spot was a bit odd), but I get it.  One's in the title match and the other isn't.  Still, disappointing, despite being a strong match.

9:01 - Still not completely sold on this Dean Ambrose gear.  I like the jacket/vest thing he wears.  I don't mind the jeans (it's close enough to his Shield gear while also being distinctly different).  I think my main issue is the wife beater.  First off, it's so close to what Luke Harper wears (just cleaner).  Why not a sleeveless athletic shirt like he wore with the Shield?  Or even a black wife beater (which I know he's worn on occasion).

8:51 - Acting as fodder on Raw for a Jack Swagger PPV match....why does RVD even continue to return?

8:38 - What in the blue hell was Jerry Lawler babbling about just then?  With the hand tied behind their back thing?  Jesus, this guy is awful.

8:31 - I'm so tired of this whole "challengers win a non-title match to become #1 contenders" thing.

I did really enjoy that Kane, Orton, Rollins segment, though.

8:15 - Still think it was a massive mistake changing the Wyatts' music.  And haven't we seen this match enough times?

8:03 - It is extremely easy to bring up instances in which an association with Triple H has slowed down, halted, or completely killed somebody's momentum or even career.  But I cannot say this enough:  An alliance with Triple H ABSOLUTELY meant gold for all three members of the Shield.  It is very easy to forget that the Shield was losing traction before the creation of the Authority.  People were already writing them off, saying that the Wyatts would be the new favored three man team.  But simply standing in front of the ring during each and every Authority promo and segment meant that they were a fixture in the main event scene.  And throughout the entire Authority storyline, they remained strong.  And just take a look at the end of last week's show.  Who were the exciting parts?  Rollins with the cash in, Ambrose with the interception, and Reigns with the save.

7:22 - Yes, I do plan on doing some LIVE Raw thoughts after last night's spectacular show (from what I've seen, anyway).  However, I'm not feeling great and I have to go away Thursday, so if I'm really struggling I'm going to call it a night.  But here's hoping WWE rides their momentum from last week.

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