LIVE Raw thoughts - December 29, 2014

11:14 - I'm kinda surprised by how many people hated that segment (and I'm actually referring to former wrestlers here).  I thought it was really fun and had me watching more intensely than I had all night.  Was it long and drawn out?  Yes, but not necessarily in a bad way.  I kept wondering what would happen next.  Would Cena grab Noble and hold HIM hostage?  Would he try to save Edge?  Would Christian return only to get pummeled?  Would Orton return and save the day?  Would Cena submit to the demands?  Would Cena make a counter offer?  The fact that it was drawn out helped me think of more possibilities.  Yes, I am a bit disappointed that the Survivor Series match -- which was built up as this monumental, company altering thing, didn't even last two months, but that aside I enjoyed what happened.  Overall a stronger show than what we've seen the past few months, but still overall weak.

11:10 - "You gotta know me better than that, I'm going to kill him anyway" is an awesome line.

11:05 - So, uh, nobody else cares about Edge?

10:56 - I have to say, the set is kinda tame.  I thought we'd see a more grandiose amalgamation of the Cutting Edge and the Peep Show.

10:39 - WWE is in a tough boat right now.  After hitting the absolute peak of any career and having it all taken away from him, it's going to be tough to get the fans to root for anybody other than Daniel Bryan.  And he's already mega popular.  I'm not sure people would root for Roman Reigns over him.  We may be in for another Batista situation.

10:26 - It's already 10:30 and we still have the Ascension debut, the Daniel Bryan interview, and the Cutting Edge Peep Show.  Also, curious decision to have Ambrose and Wyatt battle again, ESPECIALLY if it just leads to Ambrose losing again.  And if Ambrose wins, I hope it's the blow off.  Yes, it's 50/50 booking, but that might be the best Ambrose gets in this feud.

10:15 - Really awesome match.  Seth Rollins has easily become one of my new favorite Superstars of 2014.  Always super fun watching him.

9:58 - Odd that this match is taking place before the Cutting Edge Peep Show segment.

9:52 - Really fun segment (that's what I was talking about!) but how must Christian have felt during the prep for that segment?  "Okay, first Cena and Edge are going to go back and forth about the memorable and monumental moments they took part in.  We're then going to need you to leave the room so that Cena can talk about how the two of them are the best ever."

9:43 - By the way, regarding Daniel Bryan.....I'm guessing he either retires or enters himself in the Royal Rumble.

9:38 - So who gets fed to the Ascension?  The New Day seems too fresh.  So I guess Los Matadores?

Also, I'm surprised by the lack of Edge & Christian tonight.  They've interacted with so many people throughout the years -- where are the fun backstage segments?

9:32 - That guy who doesn't connect with the audience is awfully good at getting people to react to that signature move you had him stop doing.

"Cesaro did a lot of talking tonight but couldn't get the job done."  Yeah, I'm sure it's not lines like THAT that is  holding back Cesaro.

9:27 - Ohhhhh, it was going well enough until he corrected himself with the "four sides" remark.  And yes, indeed, this promo is going to culminate with a clean loss to a returning Bad News Barrett.

9:26 - Now Cesaro gets some promo time?  I love it!  Let's just hope it doesn't end with Jack Swagger coming in and making him tap.

9:20 - Watching this video just makes me sad thinking about how Ambrose has been booked recently.

9:17 - The Usos and Naomi "played" Miz?  Did they forget to pay that off in the actual booking of the match?

9:15 - I'm actually a bit surprised that they ended the Miz/Mizdow reign so quickly.

9:02 - Miz and Mizdow are one of the only heel teams you'll see stand on the upper left corner so that you can see Mizdow's miming.

8:54 - Methinks this is just a ruse and that Naomi will "turn" on Miz and help the Usos win.  Although it'd be a tragedy to end the Miz/Mizdow title reign.

8:50 - By the way, I'm on the Tyson Kidd bandwagon now.  While I'm not personally a cat person, I love the fact that he built the fact that he IS a cat person into his on-screen character.  He's got them air brushed onto his shin guards.

8:45 - That Ryback promo got a bit of flack on Twitter but I honestly enjoyed it.  It allowed Ryback the character to connect with the audience on a human level, while remaining true to the nature of his character.  It actually made him pretty likable.  I'm not a huge fan of Ryback (at least at the main event level), but I personally applaud WWE for putting the spotlight on somebody new.

8:32 - Ugh, didn't love that ending.  Like I said, they've done a fantastic job of rebuilding Ziggler as a guy who overcomes everything and wins.  And how do they end this match?  With Rusev getting DQ'd because he's beating up Ziggler SO BADLY.  Then they have him make Ziggler tap anyway, only to be rescued by the muscley fella.  Who did that benefit?

8:21 - No title introductions, so clearly this is a non-title match.

8:16 - Champion vs. Champion is a confusing way to push the match.  Are you merely saying that both men are champions?  Or are both championships on the line?

For what it's worth, I don't love this.  They've done an awesome job with Dolph since Survivor Series.  It would be too bad if they undid any of that with an unnecessary loss to Rusev.  Culminating the Rusev push with a clean loss to Ziggler would be an awesome way to REALLY strap the rocket to Dolph, but I don't see that happening.  And a screwball finish doesn't really help anybody.

8:09 - Did Jerry Lawler just retire Christian?

8:03 - Man, they're not even coming out to the Edge & Christian version of the theme.  This is pure Edge.

8:02 - You can't help but feel bad for Christian just based on that opening video.

7:28 - This is the first time in nearly a month that I've done a LIVE thoughts post and for good reason:  Raw and even the PPV's have been extremely difficult to get through, and I HATE coming across as ultra negative.  But with Edge & Christian hosting tonight, I'm optimistic for a more enjoyable than usual show.

As a bit of pre-Raw discussion, I thought I'd talk about an idea I have for the post-Authority era.  At the moment, it seems like we're re-entering the guest host era, which -- in my opinion -- is not a good thing.  For every Chris Jericho (and, I assume, Edge & Christian) you have a Grumpy Cat and Larry the Cable Guy.  But that doesn't mean we need the Authority, or even Vince McMahon, to return.  So what should they do?

In my opinion, they should form an unseen (but not unknown) championship committee.  John Cena, who, presumably, has the power to create such things and seems to do things in the interest of fairness even if that means it could conceivably benefit a heel, can even be the one to create it.  Simply say that there's a committee where every living Hall of Famer and former World Champion currently on the roster, in addition to Vince McMahon, has a vote.  They have the power to create every match, regardless of whether it's a title match.  And since it's not a completely blind committee, they have the built in excuse to introduce certain characters (Hogan has a vote because he's a Hall of Famer.  He can immediately take issue with up-and-comer Seth Rollins).  Somebody like Batista could return and immediately make a play for the championship, since he has a vote on the committee.  Triple H, since he's technically on the roster, can make a play to regain power since he'd be on the committee too.  Or, best of all, they can be an unseen force without people asking "Who's making these matches anyway?"  And if they decide to do a power struggle, they have a lot of fun possibilities with various Hall of Famers creating alliances as a certain side attempts to seize power.  You can even have current Superstars attempt to curry favor with the new Hall of Fame class with the hope that they might support their run at the title.

Anyway, it's better than what we've been seeing, I think.

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LIVE Raw thoughts - December 1, 2014

11:05 - Alright, off to the Podcast!

11:01 - Glad that Ziggler got the pin, of course.

10:45 - Not that I was looking all that forward to the Anonymous Raw General Manager, but isn't it a bit strange that it's been such a non-factor throughout the show?  Couldn't they just as effectively had McMahon announce Rollins vs. Cena, and then just allow matches to happen?  Like, nobody wondered "who booked Truth vs. Wyatt?" so why can't they get away with a main event just happening without an official announcement being made?  Was it worth retconning the whole Hornswoggle reveal and bringing back a mechanism that was just as unpopular as it was popular?

10:31 - Don't get me wrong, I'm thrilled that Dolph is in yet another Raw main event....but I am disappointed that he's getting the "second guy out" treatment of the three man team.  The first and last guy are always considered the stars.

10:25 - Heyman is magic as always.  Somebody brought it up -- I think it was Kevin Sullivan -- but the absence of the WWE Champion has really taken the luster and mystique out of the Money in the Bank contract as well.

10:16 - I know Foley's wife is quite pretty, but who would have ever imagined that Mick Foley would have such a pretty daughter?

10:12 - Granted, Naomi is the only person they pushed fans to vote for, but I'm still sorta surprised she won.  I figured Natalya would.

10:05 - So, again, are the Bellas back together?  Nikki still seems to be bullying her but it's been acknowledged that the term of the servitude is over.

9:51 - JBL just said, "That's a great name for a finishing maneuver, Sister Abigail" with no sense of sarcasm.  Why, exactly?  What about that makes it a great name?

9:38 - After the year Sandow (I still prefer to refer to him as that) had, it's kinda really awesome seeing him get so much attention.

9:28 - Jack Swagger is the weirdest looking runner.  And Rusev hasn't even been around for a year yet and we're ALREADY recycling feuds?

9:19 - Our current secondary champions are great examples of WWE not allowing their Superstars to go full throttle with their characters.  You have an American hating United States Champion and you don't have him rechristen the title as the Russian Championship?  You have a guy wearing soiled clothing but then carries around a pristine white Intercontinental Championship?

9:11 - So what's the deal with the Bellas?  Are they back together?  Are they still pretending Brie is a servant?

9:08 - WWE is anything subtle when they're trying to get a nickname over.  Do you think they want us to call him Big Red?

8:59 - Really?  Is there anyone who was clamoring for the days of the Guest Host era?

8:54 - What's the benefit of adding Naomi to the Usos storyline?  Has it really helped anybody?

8:51 - Is this the first time they've acknowledged that it's just a guy in a bunny costume?

8:42 - Unless Cesaro and Kidd win this, that was a waste.  Why make your new team lose to a team nobody recognizes as a pair?

8:33 - Big E looks so uncomfortable dancing.  I do like the idea the three of them merging their original gear with their New Day gear.  Not sure I'm loving this gimmick, but if it means a renewed push for Kofi then I'm all for it.

8:23 - I'm kinda "Meh" about that opening segment.  Not only did they not mention that Hornswoggle was the General Manager, but they went straight back to saying the GM was faceless.  Worse off, Cena closes the laptop in this grand gesture of shutting off his power, only for it to not have any impact whatsoever.  And the segment was kinda disjointed.  GM speaks, Cena interrupts.  Cena speaks, Rollins interrupts.  Cena and Rollins speak, GM interrupts.  And then there was an onslaught of Survivor Series participants.

For that matter, what is Big Show's motivation to attack his team?  I understand him turning (he thought he would be better off with the Authority).  I understand his issue with Rowan (they had an altercation).  But with the Authority out of power and with Cena seemingly with the upper hand, why make things worse by continuing to attack his former teammates?

7:51 - So the big question about tonight's show seems to be whether they'll acknowledge that Hornswoggle is the Anonymous Raw General Manager (I think they will) and whether they'll acknowledge CM Punk and his comments on the podcast (I don't think they will).  What do you think?  Come back in about 10 minutes for my LIVE Raw thoughts.

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