flipped to Raw during halftime of the NBA game, saw Action Bronson sitting front row behind the announcers table

that's pretty rad

5/19/2014 10:17:08 PM

stephanie has got to be the best heel in years. so much hate.

5/20/2014 10:37:35 AM

^ she's been pretty good at it lately. I still miss Shane

oh and...

http://www.thepostgame.com/blog/dish/201405/wwe-ceo-vince-mcmahon-loses-350-million-third-his-fortune-one-day

5/20/2014 12:47:52 PM

Stephanie's Bryan entrance was fantastic. Between her performance at Mania and recent promos, she's killing. Took good notes from Vicki in her Edge/wheelchair days, it seems.

5/20/2014 6:27:38 PM

Dammit, I am not looking forward to Cena's inevitable win in the Last Man Standing match. Isn't the point of this feud supposed to be making the up-and-coming guy look good?

5/21/2014 8:54:29 AM

But the people demand more Super Cena overcoming the odds!!!!1

Cena could put anyone in the company over if he wanted to do it, with no ill effect to his "legacy". He just refuses to do it apparently, or creative is really out of touch with the reality that a large chunk of their paying fanbase is sick of seeing the same old shit with Cena.

Completely unrelated to Cena, but I'm running low on desire to follow this crap on a weekly basis at this point. I'm just not that interested in anything they are currently doing.

5/21/2014 9:28:53 AM

DVR and the Network are a godsend for skipping the shitty stuff and getting right to the good segments they do. I can usually get through Raw in about an hour. So as long as there's at least one thing I really enjoy I'll keep watching.

But dammit, I want Daniel Bryan to come back asap. And never do another segment with his wife.

5/21/2014 12:46:32 PM

Quote :

"Cena could put anyone in the company over if he wanted to do it, with no ill effect to his "legacy". He just refuses to do it apparently, or creative is really out of touch with the reality that a large chunk of their paying fanbase is sick of seeing the same old shit with Cena."

Ratings show he's by far the top star. Sorry, it's the truth.

They're scared shitless of beating him clean, although believe it or not it's gotten better in the past year if you see the list below. When he does lose it's bullshit with interference or 5-on-1 beatdowns or some kid at ringside scaring him when Cena's on top of a cage.

List put together on a board I'm on, "Times John Cena has Lost Clean since WrestleMania 21" (9+ years ago):

Quote :

"10.10.2005 Carlito, Edge & Kurt Angle defeat John Cena, Shawn Michaels & The Big Show (19:49) (John Cena tried applying an ankle lock to Kurt Angle, Kurt Angle reversed it into a victory roll for the clean pinfall) 23.04.2007 Shawn Michaels defeats John Cena (55:49) (After 50 amazing minutes and two Sweet Chin Music's, Shawn Michaels finished Cena off) 22.01.2007 Over The Top Rope Challenge: The Great Khali defeats Charlie Haas and John Cena and Lance Cade and Shelton Benjamin and Trevor Murdoch and Viscera (4:44) (John Cena tried his hardest at throwing Great Khali over the top rope, but Khali just brushed him off and easily threw him out of the ring for the win) 28.05.2007 The Great Khali defeats John Cena (6:20) (Great Khali easily squashes Cena) 30.03.2008 WWE Heavyweight Title Triple Threat: Randy Orton (c) defeats John Cena and Triple H (14:06) (Triple H knocked Cena out with the Pedigree, but Orton was the one to steal the pin after doing the Punt on Triple H. This won't be the last time Triple H or Orton beat Cena) 29.06.2008 WWE Heavyweight Title: Triple H (c) defeats John Cena (19:39) (Triple H wins clean via Pedigree, nothing else to it) 20.07.2008 New York City Parking Lot Brawl: John Bradshaw Layfield defeats John Cena (17:00) (John Cena tries to FU JBL into the car on the stage, JBL gets out of the FU and pushes Cena face-first into the car, which allows JBL to pinfall him for the win) 17.08.2008 Batista defeats John Cena (14:10) (This was the match where Batista nearly killed Cena by reversing a top rope move into a Powerbomb. A kick and another Powerbomb later and Batista won the match. Might have not been the planned finish, but kayfabe wise, Batista won impressively) 30.03.2009 The Big Show defeats John Cena (9:22) (Big Show basically kicked Cena's ass for 10 minutes and finished him off) 23.08.2009 WWE Heavyweight Title: Randy Orton (c) defeats John Cena (20:45) (This match was restarted every time Randy Orton cheated to win, on the final restart, Randy Orton managed to actually beat Cena clean by catching him off-guard as he was frustratingly trying to bring him into the ring) 04.10.2009 WWE Heavyweight Title Hell In A Cell: Randy Orton defeats John Cena (c) (21:24) (Randy Orton choked Cena out using the ropes and then used the punt for the win. It was a Hell in a Cell match, though, so it was fair game) 19.10.2009 Triple H defeats John Cena (20:20) (Triple H beats Cena clean via Pedigree, again) 13.12.2009 WWE Heavyweight Title Tables: Sheamus defeats John Cena (c) (16:25) (Cena trips onto a table, Sheamus wins) 13.09.2010 Tables: Randy Orton defeats John Cena (16:50) (A lot of interference in this match for both sides, but in the end of the match, Cena tried to FU Randy Orton through a table and Randy Orton reversed it into a RKO for the win) 01.04.2012 The Rock defeats John Cena (30:35) (Clean win, you all know the score) 18.11.2012 WWE Heavyweight Title Triple Threat: CM Punk (c) defeats John Cena and Ryback (17:57) (This one is mind boggling. John Cena goes for the FU, Ryback reverses it into the Shellshock and is attacked by The Shield, 50 seconds later, CM Punk pins the still down John Cena for the win) 17.06.2013 WWE Heavyweight Title Three Stages Of Hell: John Cena (c) [2] defeats Ryback [1] (24:30) (Even though John Cena won the match 2-1, he did lose the first fall (a Lumberjack Match) pretty cleanly. He was going for a STF and Ryback reversed into a shellshock for the win. 18.08.2013 WWE Heavyweight Title Match (Special Referee: Triple H): Daniel Bryan defeats John Cena (c) (26:53) (Great close match between the two that Daniel Bryan wins at the end with a running knee in a hard fought battle) 15.12.2013 WWE Heavyweight Title / World Heavyweight Title Unification Tables, Ladders And Chairs: Randy Orton beats John Cena (24:35) (It was a hardcore match, so it was all fair. There was no interference of any kind, just Orton outsmarting Cena and using the rules to his advantage)"

I would not count the 1/22/07 battle royal loss (no pinfall), Ryback's 6/17/13 win (best of 3 falls), or Sheamus' 12/13/09 win (falling on a table is not getting clearly beaten by the better man in wrestling logic).

Best match on that list is Michaels' 50-minute win on Raw, completely unplanned. They were on a tour in Europe, Randy Orton had been advertised for a match on the next Raw, Randy destroyed a hotel room, and they sent him home. They still advertised him during the show, but used the excuse of "Michaels-Cena going long" to cover for why the Orton match didn't take place til the following week.

[Edited on May 21, 2014 at 8:59 PM. Reason : /]

5/21/2014 8:50:30 PM

This is quite a list:

The Great Khali (can't walk) defeats Charlie Haas (fired) and John Cena and Lance Cade (dead) and Shelton Benjamin (fired) and Trevor Murdoch (fired) and Viscera (dead)

5/22/2014 1:21:09 AM

Quote :

"13.12.2009 WWE Heavyweight Title Tables: Sheamus defeats John Cena (c) (16:25) (Cena trips onto a table, Sheamus wins) "

LOL

5/22/2014 8:02:34 AM

I think it was Edge or Jericho that mentioned on a podcast somewhere that Cena has a tendency to pull rank at the last minute and put himself over if the original script calls for him to lose.

5/22/2014 9:38:44 AM

that was certainly true when he buried The Nexus (namely, Wade Barrett), which Jericho tried to talk him out of

it's just getting to that point where I'm going to stop watching again. I watched during the "Summer of Punk", stopped after Rock dropped the belt to Cena, started again during The Authority vs DBD. the only thing I'm enjoying at the moment is The Shield and The Wyatt Family, and I have a feeling both will lose at "Payback" so the PPV lives up to its name, which really isn't the direction they should be going in.

5/22/2014 10:48:50 AM

I agree with pretty much all of that. I'm in the same boat. I've already stopped watching Raw on a weekly basis and have just been reading a message board to get the general idea of what's going on from week to week. I plan to watch Payback, but I canceled the auto-renewal on my WWE network account, and I don't expect to change that unless they really kick shit up a notch between now and August.

5/22/2014 10:52:24 AM

Buff Bagwell does a Canadian Destroyer. https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=GsHja1TU1c0

5/26/2014 10:10:24 PM

Couldn't even get the pin. What a scrublet.

Also, that announcing is hilariously bad.

5/27/2014 10:13:53 AM

Twenty years later, the Joey Styles school of announcing doesn't actually involve paying attention to what Joey Styles did; you just yell everything.

5/27/2014 12:14:22 PM

this is what's advertised for the house show when WWE comes to town next month, don't believe I'll go

Quote :

"Main Event - US Title Sheamus vs Kane Triple Threat - Intercontinental Championship Bad News Barrett vs Big E vs Alberto Del Rio Rob Van Dam vs Cesaro Also appearing: Kofi Kingston, Sin Cara, The Usos, Ryback, Cody Rhodes, and Goldust."

[Edited on May 28, 2014 at 7:39 AM. Reason : .]

5/28/2014 7:28:21 AM

In Raleigh? Cesaro, RVD, and BNB would be the only draws for me.

5/28/2014 8:32:02 AM

another house show? we've got to be due for at least a smackdown by now.

5/28/2014 9:19:17 AM

another city, I don't live in Raleigh

I went to a Smackdown taping in December 2011 at the RBC Center and I think they only did an attendance of 3500.

[Edited on May 28, 2014 at 1:07 PM. Reason : .]

5/28/2014 1:06:13 PM

I went to the last edition of the Raw Draft in Raleigh a couple of years ago. It was pretty full from what I can remember, but the crowds in Raleigh are extremely tame.

5/28/2014 1:14:26 PM

I went to the Raw in Raleigh at the beginning of 2006 I believe. Opened with an Angle/HBK match (I think for the WH title) and closed with Edge/Flair TLC match for the WWE title (which was pretty damn good).

5/28/2014 2:00:37 PM

^ that was the last really great Ric Flair match IMO

5/28/2014 8:41:47 PM

I sat ringside for the match (they moved us back a foot before the match to make room for Flair/Edge to fight on the outside) and was 30% sure I was going to see Flair die that night.

5/29/2014 7:50:17 AM

100 most obsessed-over people on the web & 15 of them are current/former wrestlers:

http://time.com/109947/web-ranking/

The method of using Wikipedia for the "study" is suspect, but I though this was interesting:

Quote :

"One of the most curious findings is that professional wrestlers have amazingly detailed Wikipedia pages that often surpass heads of state in their breadth and detail."

5/29/2014 10:28:36 AM

lol @ Big Show at #24

and no STONE COLD STONE COLD STONE COLD? WHAT?!

5/29/2014 10:56:04 AM

I always love the Wikipedia articles where you can tell it was written by either a true believer in the person or a hack with an axe to grind.

5/29/2014 12:35:16 PM

The Nattie/Charlotte championship match at NXT Takeover tonight was crazy good.

5/30/2014 2:41:05 AM

I enjoyed the whole show to be honest. I thought Zayn/Breeze was pretty damn solid.

5/30/2014 12:07:50 PM

NXT is better than Raw at this point. And Takeover will be better than Payback.

5/30/2014 2:40:30 PM

^^ It was good, and I like them both a lot, but that power bomb botch was pretty ugly.

Charlotte/Natalya was put together really well and executed almost perfectly; the only thing I could ask to be different was that Charlotte should've stared Bret down as she put on the Sharpshooter.

5/30/2014 11:32:45 PM

^ for putting the move on his ex-tag team partner's daughter?

5/31/2014 12:27:23 PM

You say ex-tag team partner's daughter.

I say niece that he helped train.

5/31/2014 2:24:49 PM

BTW, absolutely zero chance Punk returns tonight, no matter the offer.

The Blackhawks have a Game 7 at home for a trip to the Stanley Cup Final. Puck drop is 8:07 EDT.

6/1/2014 4:57:57 PM

Cody and Goldust just lost to Ryback and Axel when Ryback pinned Cody clean

post-match, Cody got a mic and told Goldust he needed a better tag team partner and walked out

so they're not even going to be allowed to do their feud it looks


now on the screen: Lana's legs (and Putin's screenshot)

so far:

-Torito pinned Hornswoggle in the pre-show to win a hair vs. mask match and Hornswoggle got shaved.
-Sheamus beat Cesaro with a small package to retain the U.S. title
-Ryback & Axel beat the Rhodes Brothers
-Alexander Rusev beat Big E, match was better than you'd think, there was an insane spot where Rusev was outside the ropes and Big E did a running spear and both fell to the floor

They were about to start Bo Dallas vs. Kofi Kingston and Bo did a short promo. And out came Kane to interrupt. Kofi went to attack Kane and the match never started, Kane beat Kofi up. Bo Dallas ran off. Then post-beatdown Bo told Kofi he just had to Bo-lieve.

-Bad News Barrett beat RVD.

So far this show is pretty much a glorified Raw.

[Edited on June 1, 2014 at 9:03 PM. Reason : /]

6/1/2014 8:38:54 PM

Quote :

" Kofi went to attack Kane and the match never started, Kane beat Kofi up. Bo Dallas ran off."

The match DID start; the bell rang because Kane got in the ring with Kofi?

6/1/2014 9:47:59 PM

what a shameful john cena

6/1/2014 10:02:59 PM

Just canceled my network subscription. I'm done.

6/1/2014 10:11:49 PM

Dave Batista has the most ridiculous gear on. BLUE!

On a side note, either tonight or tomorrow he's done with WWE for the time being.

[Edited on June 1, 2014 at 10:26 PM. Reason : .]

6/1/2014 10:23:38 PM

Evolution vs. The Shield had the mother of all long heat spots as Evolution just beat on and beat on and beat on everybody. Seth Rollins did a Jeff Hardy and jumped from the top of the stage entrance onto all 3 Evolution members. Then back in the ring Batista, Orton, and Hunter all got eliminated in that order. None of the Shield was eliminated.

6/1/2014 10:57:49 PM

I really didn't give a shit about the main event. It wasn't bad so much as it's just not my type of match. LOL'd at Bluetista and Ambrose again doing his awesome second-rope bounce, and I laughed a lot at the low shot of five guys not pursuing each other, but just crawling towards the ring.

6/2/2014 3:47:01 PM

Damien Sandow's gimmick sucks.

6/2/2014 8:41:26 PM

I hope Lana's weekly mention of Putin leads to Raw one week being from Moscow and Putin actually appears to do something.

6/2/2014 10:48:52 PM

Rollins turned on Reigns and Ambrose and joined up with Hunter and Orton.

Alas, the Shield it appears is no more.

6/2/2014 11:19:48 PM

This is all worth it if Rollins starts dressing like Batista.

6/3/2014 10:29:42 AM

[Edited on June 3, 2014 at 12:41 PM. Reason : .]

6/3/2014 12:16:51 PM

I think using this fucking dumb feud to break up the Shield is stupid, but anything that leads to more Ambrose solo mic and ring time is A+ stuff to me.

6/3/2014 12:22:32 PM

the rollins turn hurt so bad.

BUT. it does open several doors. FINALLY a rollins-ambrose match. and, high hopes, a rollins-DB championship match? (I can dream, right?)

6/4/2014 10:03:26 AM

^With Triple Haitch's COO role, it's not a stretch to force a title match vs an Evolution member.

6/4/2014 12:24:04 PM

from Wrestling Observer:

Quote :

"The problem is that Bryan’s rehabilitation of his right arm is going slower than anticipated. One person said that not only is he not makings gains, but he’s actually losing strength in the arm while doing rehab, which is concerning. Bryan was in Indianapolis for Raw and backstage, his situation was the most talked about thing among those in power. He was sent back to Pittsburgh to see Dr. Joseph Maroon, who did his neck surgery, to see what was wrong. Bryan will return on the 6/9 Raw for another confrontation with Stephanie. Because of that, there was no certainty and they created the Money in the Bank backup plan because they didn’t want to do a PPV without the world title at stake. The idea is Payback had it at stake in the angle. Nothing is definite. There is a feeling, knowing Bryan’s wanting to be in the thick of things and mental toughness, that even if it’s not the right thing for him, that he’ll wrestle on 6/29. There is tremendous real life pressure being put on him right now to be ready, whether direct or just implied. As of right now, if Bryan doesn’t work, they will do a ladder match for the title. They are considering a second ladder match where the winner would have the briefcase, but right now they are going with the idea Bryan vs. Kane will headline."

6/4/2014 9:40:19 PM