Raw debut on Netflix (Rant)

[rktaker]

so Last night Raw left Cable tv for the first time and made it's debut on Netflix a subscription streaming service (which I have a problem with anyway but that's not the point of this post) and it was filled with Debuts, returns, big moments, title changes, guest appearances. At least that's what WWE would tell you yeah the show imo wasn't good like at all. so I might as well start at the top if I had to suffer trough watching it you have to suffer through reading it.

so the show started with Triple H, makes sense he is a legend he was on Raw for a long time and he's head of creative he talks for 15 minutes about how big Raw being on Netflix was that's all well and good but that didn't really lead anywhere. then the Rock comes out alright fine bring out one of their former biggest stars , whatever he basically praises Cody and Roman Reigns who he had been in a feud with for the past year so is he a face now? idk crowd was cheering him too so I guess? then after 30 minutes the first match starts Roman Reigns vs Solo Sikoa winner becomes Tribal Chief.

the match itself was good and WWE presented the match as a Big deal and made it Feel special (notice a theme here?) Roman ends up winning and becomes tribal chief, Rock comes out and shakes his hand which i guess cements the face turn. this was probably the best match of the night and it was 30 minutes long. so 1 hour into this 3 hour show and there has been 1 match. then John Cena comes out and again this makes sense another legend been on Raw,for a long time and he's fully retiring after this year. he rambles on about nothing for 15 minutes before finally getting to the point. he's gonna be in the Royal Rumble......cool you really needed 15 minutes to tell us that? and after a bunch of commercials and video packages the next match begins so halfway through the show and there has been two matches,

next match is Liv Morgan defending the Raw women's championship against Rhea Ripley, the match was fine if you're not a fan of Liv or Rhea this probably won't change your mind on either. Rhea wins the Raw women's championship as she was leaving Undertaker comes out on his motorcycle he does his trip around the ring does his raised fist posed with Rhea and then leaves........WHY WHAT WAS EVEN THE POINT? disregarding Undertaker's political opinions or anything outside of the ring......what the fuck was the point of this? it completely took away Rhea's moment what did this do for Rhea? absolutely nothing. more commercials and hype packages who cares at this point I'm just annoyed.

next is Jey Uso vs Drew Mcintyre I don't care about Jey being a singles wrestler and I didn't really care for this match, Jey wins moving on. backstage Gabriel Iglesias.....yes the comedian Gabriel Iglesias is being interviewed for some reason Heel New Day comes in try to explain why they turned on big E and gets interrupted saying they're out of time whole segment was like 3 minutes. oh and Hulk Hogan was here talking about his beer...he got more time talking about his beer than NEW DAY WHO ARE CURRENTLY ON THE ROSTER............. moving on main event

Punk vs Seth Rollins. this was a good match best match since the opener for sure Punk wins....and that's it

so that's the whole show for all the time WWE was telling was this was a special show and didn't organically let it be special they shoved so much nonsense in our face that the show just felt like nothing. well I take that back it did feel like something LONG and it was for sure. not to mention Pentagon el zero m was supposedly supposed to debut tonight but that had to be cut for time allegedly because the Rock and Cena segments went on for so long. I don't watch Raw very often anyway but if the shows keep being like this I can't see this being something I check in on very often

 

[Crystal]

It was hot garbage. So underwhelming, and four matches on a three hour show is a disgrace.

 

[Spiner202]

I'll post a more detailed review later, but I generally agree with your thoughts. I was probably more positive on it than you, although I think WWE failed spectacularly at what they were trying to do with this show. For me, this was very similar to my first show that I tried to get back into WWE with (Raw after Mania 39). I also found it very similar to the Raw after Mania 40, which is wild, because both Manias were amazing, and the Raws after were bad.

 

[Spiner202]

Ok time for a more in-depth review.

Overall: I thought this show was disappointing for fans, and really bad for enticing new people to watch. The biggest problem WWE has as a TV show is that it moves very slow and not a lot happens. The entrances take forever, there are tons of recaps, and storylines wear out their welcome. IMO, last night's show exacerbated all of those issues. What they should have done was have more matches with more exciting-styles of wrestling. I understand they had their biggest draws wrestling, but a Roman-style match is very different from a high-flying type match.

Intro: As much as Triple H loves himself, I actually had no issue with this. I loved the intro video and I didn't find Triple H to take too long. The Rock on the other hand, cut his shortest promo in years, and it was still pointless. It suggested he isn't working Mania (which I'm in favour of) because it undid his character work with Cody, and he didn't attack Roman. The worst part of it all is that his return at Bad Blood was the reason why CM Punk vs. Drew McIntyre didn't headline, and that was the best match of 2024 IMO.

Bloodline Match: I am one of the few people who doesn't love the Bloodline. There are good moments within, but they take up a material portion of Smackdown every week when the main guy that people care about never shows up. The matches usually get good at the end, but are a slog. I just can't understand how you expect to entice new fans with a match where nothing happens, and then it's basically a repeat of Wrestlemania (where the overbooking made way more sense). I liked Kevin Owens' appearance, but most of the rest of the match did nothing for me.

Rhea vs. Liv: This feud has dragged on way too long, so my only hope was for a definitive end to it. I think we actually got that, although Dom abandoned Liv way faster than I was expecting. I actually wanted Liv to win because there are no heels on Raw and I have no idea what Rhea will do except run over the entire division again. Anyways, this match was probably the second best one of the night, but it wasn't as good as their Summerslam match.

Drew vs. Jey: Drew is a great worker and Jey is not. I don't feel that Drew dragged a good match out of Jey. I understand he's popular, but he's not really for me. I know Drew always beats Jey, but he should have last night too.

Rollins vs. Punk: This was a good match. It would probably disappoint if this were at Wrestlemania, but they did the best they could last night. I think the build for this needed to be longer because the end result was a little underwhelming, even if it was technically solid.

Other: Cena's promo was low-key great. He was probably the only segment that was needed. I'm excited to see what they cook up for him this year. Hogan's was the best part of the night because of how badly he got booed.

I think the format definitely needs some tweaking, and I honestly don't think next week's show will be anywhere near as bad as last night's was. They really need to stop telling everyone how great of a company they are and just keep being great.

Also, my last complaint is that they need to figure out what to do with Gunther. He's their champion on Raw and it barely feels like it. He should have had a marquee match instead of Jey. Maybe even do a heel vs. heel against Drew or something, since this entire event felt somewhat cobbled together.

Anyways, tonight's NXT New Year's Evil will be much better!

 

[Crystal]

I am one of the few people who doesn't love the Bloodline.

Right here, as well. Sick of it. Was sick of it BEFORE there was a second one, sure as hell sick of it now that it's two bloodlines a Rock, a fake championship, some painted stones and as many nepotistic hirings as possible

 

[MC74]

It was hot garbage. So underwhelming, and four matches on a three hour show is a disgrace.

This, I watched the highlights and barely anything about it is noteworthy. Also as disgrace is the fact Penta never got to debut like he was supposed to. Instead, his debut got cut for time and pushed to next week.

This was the show you have him debut. That would've made it and the show more memorable.

 

[rktaker]

I am one of the few people who doesn't love the Bloodline.

I'm also one of the people that don't like the bloodline, I liked it when it first started and then it dragged, and dragged, and dragged and overstayed its welcome and just needs to end at this point

 

[MC74]

I'm also one of the people that don't like the bloodline, I liked it when it first started and then it dragged, and dragged, and dragged and overstayed its welcome and just needs to end at this point

I'm in the same boat as you. I loved at first because the heel turn is exactly what Roman needed so badly, but WWE dragged the story on for way longer than it needed to be, and have grown tired of it as a result.

 

[VashTheStampede]

I was actually kind of hyped to give the show a chance, haven't watched WWE in a hot minute and I keep hearing about how good it's been lately.

Then yesterday before the show they had the duo of announcements about Racist MAGA Hulk Hogan partnering with them to hock his beer...and that they're going to do Royal Rumble in Saudi Arabia next year. So I decided to skip.

This thread has convinced me I did the right thing. I wish I could get into WWE again as it was a huge part of my life for so long, but we've just grown apart and I'm much happier following a different company.

 

[VashTheStampede]

Also, my last complaint is that they need to figure out what to do with Gunther. He's their champion on Raw and it barely feels like it.

Well, the rumor about his next opponent was very...interesting.

Spoiler: Possible Future WWE Spoilers

I've been hearing that Goldberg is going to have his retirement match against him...

 

[Crystal]

I was actually kind of hyped to give the show a chance, haven't watched WWE in a hot minute and I keep hearing about how good it's been lately.

Then yesterday before the show they had the duo of announcements about Racist MAGA Hulk Hogan partnering with them to hock his beer...and that they're going to do Royal Rumble in Saudi Arabia next year. So I decided to skip.

This thread has convinced me I did the right thing. I wish I could get into WWE again as it was a huge part of my life for so long, but we've just grown apart and I'm much happier following a different company.

You made a great decision.

 

[MC74]

I was actually kind of hyped to give the show a chance, haven't watched WWE in a hot minute and I keep hearing about how good it's been lately.

Then yesterday before the show they had the duo of announcements about Racist MAGA Hulk Hogan partnering with them to hock his beer...and that they're going to do Royal Rumble in Saudi Arabia next year. So I decided to skip.

This thread has convinced me I did the right thing. I wish I could get into WWE again as it was a huge part of my life for so long, but we've just grown apart and I'm much happier following a different company.

I wasn't planning to watch it anyway because of my beef with Netflix, but was still curious enough to watch the highlights afterwards. See what big matches might have happened, Penta's debut with the company, among more memorable moments.

But nope, it was another stark reminder of why I've grown so far apart from WWE over the years. It's a shame, because I really want to get back into watching wrestling full-time like I used to.

 

[Spiner202]

This is exactly why I think this show was a failure - it really wasn't all that much like a regular Raw, but there are multiple people in this thread who checked it out on the basis that it was a good point of re-entry to WWE. NXT last night was much better (especially if you exclude the Rock's appearance).

 

[Crystal]

This is exactly why I think this show was a failure - it really wasn't all that much like a regular Raw, but there are multiple people in this thread who checked it out on the basis that it was a good point of re-entry to WWE. NXT last night was much better (especially if you exclude the Rock's appearance).

I don't understand his appearance there at all. He showed up to say that the people appearing might be headlining WM in 3 years...or not. And that needed to take 13 minutes? What a waste of time! lol

But I do agree, the matches of NXT were better.

 

[Spiner202]

I don't understand his appearance there at all. He showed up to say that the people appearing might be headlining WM in 3 years...or not. And that needed to take 13 minutes? What a waste of time! lol

The funny thing is that no one from NXT is going to be headlining Wrestlemania in 3 years. Not because they don't deserve it, but because as long as Roman/Cody/Rollins/Punk/Rock/whoever comes out of the woodwork are around, new talent isn't getting a shot.

It's actually crazy to think about the women main-eventing a couple Wrestlemania's over the years because I don't see that happening again any time soon.

Also, I feel like last year's NXT call-ups were either hit or miss. Bron feels underused even as IC champ. Carmelo is getting a lot of screen time, but you can tell he's better than his spot on the roster. Tiffany is probably the only person who is being used exactly right. They have no idea what to do with Lyra but clearly want to feature her. Kiana/Blair have disappeared (I know Kiana is injured, but she was doing nothing beforehand). Corbin and Dijak got released. Ilja got hurt too, but he also seemed directionless.

So really, 3/9 did ok. Maybe 4 if you include Lyra, who I do think will have better opportunities now that there's a new belt.

 

[rktaker]

Bron feels underused even as IC champ

think because his first reign which should have been long and made him a monster was only a month long because they wanted to push the bloodline storyline and give Jey a reason to join Roman and Jimmy to face the snoreline

 

[Spiner202]

think because his first reign which should have been long and made him a monster was only a month long because they wanted to push the bloodline storyline and give Jey a reason to join Roman and Jimmy to face the snoreline

I didn't have a big problem with this for a couple reasons. Firstly, until that point, all of the major title changes in the Triple H era seemed to happen at Wrestlemania or Summerslam. I like the idea of both a short reign and unpredictable matches.

The other reason I didn't mind it is because Jey was always going to get a title eventually (and he still might get a World title eventually) - I'd rather it be something minor and a short reign so that we can get the title back to someone who is better.

The reason why I'm not sold on Bron's IC reign is that it seems like he barely has an active feud. It's some combination of Sheamus and Ludwig Kaiser, but he hasn't had a 1-on-1 feud that he built on his own in a while. I think the Raw midcard is just so massive, and once they went down to 2 hours, there were too many mouths to feed.