Official WWE/ECW/WCW/TNA talk, or whatever v2

[Blaster86]

Originally Posted by trackercowe

too many cokes in the kitchen.

( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)

[TheIronMaiden]

The announced card is as follows:

Street Fight: Wyatt Sicks vs. American Made

WWE Women’s Tag Team Championship: Jade Cargill & Bianca Belair (c) vs. Alba Fyre & Isla Dawn

WWE Intercontinental Championship Number One Contender’s Tournament Finals: Pete Dunne vs. Braun Strowman vs. Jey Uso vs. Ilja Dragunov

Zelina Vega, Lyra Valkyria & TBA vs. Pure Fusion Collective (Shayna Baszler, Zoey Stark & Sonya Deville)

Drew McIntyre speaks

Dragon Lee vs. Dominik Mysterio

Bret Hart returns to RAW

[TheIronMaiden]

There will probably be some sort of Gunther vs Zayne angle as well.

[SuperMatt18]

Sounds like a pretty good show - probably not too surprising with it being the first Monday they are going head to head with Monday Night Football.

Wonder if they start to plant the seeds of a Jade / Bianca split, as the top end of the Raw Women's division could use some help beyond Liv/Rhea.

[albertGQ]

I wonder if any local kids get to make an appearance as a jobber

Kid Chocolate? Raj Singh?

[Ozy_Flame]

I'm watching raw only because it's in Calgary tonight.

That opening match was fun, but holy that uncle howdy / Wyatt stuff is crinnnnnnnge. Like Dollarama undertaker. Bolieve was a better gimmick for him.

[SuperMatt18]

Originally Posted by Ozy_Flame

I'm watching raw only because it's in Calgary tonight.

That opening match was fun, but holy that uncle howdy / Wyatt stuff is crinnnnnnnge. Like Dollarama undertaker. Bolieve was a better gimmick for him.

He needs to lose the Uncle Howdy mask, it's doing him no favours.

One of his strengths is how expressive he is with his face and the mask hides all that.

[White Out 403]

Of course raw comes to Calgary just after I leave

[Mathgod]

Very good Raw. The tribute to Johnny was a very nice touch. Nice to see Bret in the ring again throwing some verbal jabs. I do have one question though, any particular reason why Punk skipped this Raw? Seems like last week's booking was done just for him to avoid making the trip here?

[trackercowe]

^ Pretty much. Just as Orton (and Reigns) missed Smackdown. The big names often miss coming to shows north of the border, unless it's a PLE. I don't think John Cena and Orton have been to a show in Alberta.

[Paulie Walnuts]

Have Bret and Triple H made up? I saw them hugging.

Bret made up with Vince and bashes him all the time. Can’t really blame him.

[trackercowe]

Rumours that AEW are planning a new show, AEW Shockwave. Are they insane? Nobody is watching Collision and Rampage. Viewership for Dynamite is consistently declining as well. They haven't broken 800,000 viewers since they aired the Punk footage back in April. Khan should be focusing on improving their current product, not starting new shows.

[SuperMatt18]

Originally Posted by trackercowe

^ Pretty much. Just as Orton (and Reigns) missed Smackdown. The big names often miss coming to shows north of the border, unless it's a PLE. I don't think John Cena and Orton have been to a show in Alberta.

I'm pretty sure I've seen Cena here before and Orton too. Cena for sure because I remember a kids mom being mad at me for booing him.

Edit: Looked at Cage Match and looks like they were at the shows in 2009-2011

I wonder if Punk had other commitments. He came to Calgary for Collison with AEW last year, and is a huge Bret Hart fan.

Wouldn't surprise me if he would have wanted to come here to do something with Bret

Alright show tonight. The crowd was hot (to start at least) which always helps, but by the end 3 hours is a long time

[Muta]

Just got back from the show, was a ton of fun! I think the booking in the middle of the show slowed the vibe in the building a bit, but it picked up near the end and I had a blast. Was loud as hell to start the show and it was a great time.

That IC match to end RAW was amazing, Bret / Gunther / Sammy was amazing (the hot crowd for Bret, Gunther's Goldberg line and Sami's Gaudreau jersey were all great), WWE's tribute to Johnny, and the street fight to kick off the show were all highlights.

[SuperMatt18]

To me the Wyatt Sicks can work, and that was a really entertaining match tonight, but the Uncle Howdy mask doesn't work

Gacy, Lumis, Rowan, and Cross can work in the ring, look menacing, and when the mask's comes off it feels like their actually almost even more menacing because they seem even crazier with the masks off.

The Uncle Howdy mask has never worked though IMO, didn't work at the end with Bray either, and doesn't really work now.

Keep the masks for the entrances, have them all take the masks off for actual matches and it's going to work a lot better.

[trackercowe]

Joe: Do you know Calgary was once voted the cleanest city in the world? Well... It may go down a few notches. Because Dirty Dom is in town... The 'stach... The mullett... The dirt attitude.

Barrett: No, no, no. There was a vote on WWE.com exclusively available for lonely housewives. The answer loud and clear was i
Dirty Dom Mysterio!

Joe: They must have been extremely lonely...

lol.

[TheIronMaiden]

That was a lot of fun.

[trackercowe]

Neidhart really killed the crowd. I don't think she adds much to the roster in 2024. I think she works better in developmental as a trainer/coach. Maybe put her in NXT and let her work with the talent down there. She doesn't really bring much to the main roster in 2024. She was the best wrestler during the Total Divas days, but those days are long gone. Nowadays everyone has a better work-rate that the Divas.

[LIP MAN]

Originally Posted by trackercowe

^ Pretty much. Just as Orton (and Reigns) missed Smackdown. The big names often miss coming to shows north of the border, unless it's a PLE. I don't think John Cena and Orton have been to a show in Alberta.

They were at Raw here years ago. Kind of odd neither made it out, is Orton going to take a break before Rumble season maybe?

[Ozy_Flame]

After watching RAW for the first time in months, maybe well over a year (and the full episode, as well, which is a feat for 3 hours of wrestling), here's my thoughts:

The Great:
- Gunther's reference to Goldberg, good meme spot.
- Sami Zayn and Bret Hart together, with the Gaudreau jersey on.
- Jackie Redmond's Gaudreau segment (didn't even know she was in WWE, very cool!)
- Pete Dunne finally got his name back. Butch was terrible.
- Joe Tessitore: I love this guy as an announcer. Has Mean Gene Okerlund vibes, but can crank it up to Mauro Ranallo when he's excited. So much better than Pat McAfee (still don't get that appeal).
- Announcers on the mic hyping the start of the show in the arena. Good bit.
- Drew McIntyre - I like his delivery, am glad they kept his music too from years back.

The Meh
- I don't get the popular appeal of Gunther in his current character. I know his in-ring work is sublime but his character is kind of . . . . muted? Better as Walter IMO.
- Bron Breakker. He was in limited use last night, but I do like his mic work. Good at soft-spoken stuff, but I would like to see full Scott Steiner at some point.
- Jey Uso: I take it he's just a spot monkey and crowd pleaser?

The WWE=NG:
- Way, way, way too much Judgement Day on screen. What was it like, 50 times? How much Finn Balor do we need in a three hour show?
- Wyatt Six . . . . Gacy, Lumis and Erik make it work somewhat, but the rest is dumb. Bless Nikki Cross' ability to play characters, but that's just a straight up Abadon ripoff.
- Way to throw Dragon Lee in the LWO. There's the WWE I know.
- Why did they get rid of Pete Dunne's original theme?? That was a banger.
- Nattie Neidhart should not have been that mystery partner. What a letdown, even in Calgary. Should have been Trish or a Canadian female talent you don't see often.
- The 2nd and 3rd hour had to catch up on ads, so they were pervasive and always throwing WWE action figures in my face for 2 straight hours. Definitely catering the product to kids.


Overall, I can see the appeal, glad it's popular and wrestling is doing well, but it's too much of a big, shiny plastic product for my liking at the moment. I like more pure wrestling shows, a bit more violence, and that indie feel.