Coming at you from Buffalo, and say what you will about the ice trolls that live in upstate New York, at least they’re a reliable wrestling crowd. A welcome change from the poor crowds of the last two weeks. This should be a good show.
Is it just me or are these recaps getting longer and longer (and you’ll recall I’ve already voiced my opposition to said “recaps” but I digress).
Well, it’s not every day that I get to say Welcome Mr. McMahon! FYI kids, the owner of a billion dollar company used to come out EVERY week. He’s fired people, had objects stuck up his own ass, had people kiss the same ass, even had a club made from people that have kissed his ass, physically fought his top performers and insinuated that he’s had some sort of sexual relationship with many of the Divas. This is just scratching the surface. But by god, when I see the McMahon strut coming down the ramp, I can’t help but love it.
This month’s “Free” PPV, Survivor Series (which by the way, am I getting refunded one month on my subscription?) is getting undermined by the fact that on Monday’s RAW we got multiple PPV level match-ups, including Ziggler / Rollins, RKO / Rollins, Henry / Big Show (while no one is looking forward to this match, you know it would be on the PPV card) and Rusev / Sheamus for the US title (which isn’t technically on the show but post-RAW airing on the WWE Network).
Check out this week’s BEARcast - WrestleCast for all the detail and rundown (www.worldofbear.com and subscribe on iTunes). Our best and favorite guest, Dustin, drops by so we can get his hot takes on the WWE. Always a lot of fun.
So with that, let’s get to the rankings as of this week’s RAW on 11/03/2014...
- Seth Rollins w/ his Minions (Mercury and Noble) (3) – Pulling true double duty and ending the show as the top heel (sorry Brock, if I can’t see you, you don’t exist) is what puts Rollins over RKO this week. Going against Ziggler and RKO in the same night is like having a colonoscopy and a tooth pulled all in the same day.
- Randy Orton (4) – Welcome all you bandwagon-ers to the RKO show. Don’t worry, I’ve been riding this train a long time and there’s more than enough room, come on board. When RKO has a direction to point his anger to and he can focus on something, he’s the best. RKO got bloodied, beaten and curb stomped. And I can’t wait to see how he comes back at Rollins and The Authority. After last week’s rant about how I never want to see RKO and Cena in the same ring again; now I have to take that back. I can’t wait to see RKO and Cena as partners with a true common enemy to which they’ll have to and want to work together.
- Miz w/ Damien Miz-dow (2) – Not only did they pull semi-double duty but they were great both times. I’m bored praising them. They’re so fun to watch in the ring, outside the ring, hell, even on the ring apron I love them.
- Cesaro (9) – You know it’s bad when my doctor’s office is wondering why every time Cesaro gets a push, the WWE immediately buries him (shout out to Gio). The man puts on great matches, like always. Lest we forget he won that silly Andre The Giant Rumble at WM? He’s swimming around the top tier guys but hasn’t yet been put in a solid feud with anyone. Fix this WWE. Fix it now.
- Dean Ambrose (5) – A fine match against Cesaro. We’ve got Crazy vs Creepy in Ambrose vs Wyatt. It doesn’t have the sizzle or background of Ambrose vs Rollins but I think it could be even better. Neither is tied to anything (like Rollins is tied to MitB and The Authority) so they could go anywhere with this.
- HHH and Stephanie (7&8) – Steph looked great in her curvy black and pink rorschach dress. HHH’s viper charm has worn off. While being all over the show, they didn’t seem to dominate the proceedings. The only issue one could have is that no matter what, even is Team Authority loses, they’re not really going to lose any “power”. We’ve seen it time and time again with Mr. McMahon. He would always end up losing these types of matches but magically he’s still the owner. Stephanie was great at pushing HHH to “take care of him” and HHH really showing a reluctance to turn on RKO.
- Dolph Ziggler (1) – Ziggler and the IC strap getting elevated to a higher tier because of talent and the fact the WHC is no where to be found, hmmmm, where have I heard that before? OH Yeah, on the BEARcast - WrestleCast (www.worldofbear.com or on iTunes). Check it out.
- The Usos (12) – There’s not much to say other than I like the slightly darker / more aggressive version of The Usos. They wrestle good matches. I am entertained.
- Sheamus (N/A) – Is it still pulling double duty if no one sees the second part on the Network? My theory of having the US belt held by an American isn’t so crazy now, is it?! Let me whisper something in the WWE’s ear, HIRE KURT ANGLE A.S.A.P. FOR THE LOVE OF GOD. They’ve figured out a way to waste both the US title and Sheamus vs Rusev in one quick push.
- Bray Wyatt (13) – He’s getting closer! He was backstage last week and on the top of the ramp this week. Yes, it’s a slow burn but when you know the guy can wrestle and a feud with Ambrose is a lock to be great, I’m willing to be patient. It wouldn’t seem so bad if the roster was so thin.
- Rusev w/ Lana (N/A) – Drop the Russian, keep the white suit and find a new sugar daddy. Mr. McMahon should have had Lana draped on his arm as he came out.
- Mark Henry vs The Big Show ( ) – This is one of the best matches you’ll see from Big Show / Henry. Where you entertained? Do you want to see more on a PPV? Do you!?!? Answer me!!!
- Stardust w/ Goldust (11) – Y’all know how much I love these two so it pains me to rank them this low but when you’re losing to any combination of Los Matadors, I can’t rank you higher. At least it doesn’t seem like they’re going to loose their belts to El Torito’s handlers (fingers crossed). I might have to stop watching for a while if at the next PPV we hear, “…and the NEW WWE Tag Team Champions…Los Matadors!”
- Ryback (N/A) – I’m going to have to ask Dustin “The Doc-ta” why he likes this “The Big Guy” and why is he so over with the crowd? It makes no sense to me.
- AJ Lee (14) – She’s great on the mic because she doesn’t play into the corny JBL / Cole / King comedy black hole. She pulls a CM Punk and just lets them sit in awkward silence when they fall flat on their faces. I love it.
- Emma (N/A) – Here begins the line of jobbers that fleshed out the RAW lineup on Monday. Keep in mind, as Fred always says on the BEARcast - WrestleCast (www.worldofbear.com and on iTunes), just being on TV is the most important thing a wrestler can do is be on camera each week. In order from least to most pathetic, Emma gets the nod at #16. When she’s not shoplifting iPad cases, she’s actually a very good wrestler.
- Titus O’Neil (N/A) – From the backstage antics of Total Divas, The WWE presents… Titus O’Neil! Cut to getting destroyed by Ryback. Is Titus pregnant? He’s still super muscular (not because I look at these things) but he also seems to have something growing in his belly. If he isn’t staring in Tyler Perry’s version of Junior, then he’s got an Alien chest-burster growing inside of him. I don’t know which is worse?
- Zack Ryder (N/A) – When the camera comes back from commercial and fades in on Ryder, don’t you quickly run through the remaining roster to try and guess who he’ll be jobbing to?
- Un Matador w/ otro Matador y El Torito (N/A) – I never thought I’d hate a feud / gimmick more than Los Matadors but congrats to…
- N-Bella w/ B-Bella (20) – Here’s a positive spin, this is exactly as bad as I thought it was going to be.
Honorable Mentions:
Mr. McMahon – Listing one’s rivals would normally be a way of propping up one’s accomplishments but in Mr. McMahon’s case, he truly is underselling himself. Sure he’s lost a few times but when all is said and done, he’s got many more wins on the scoreboard of life than almost anyone alive. I do a lot of criticizing and joking but it’s only because I love the WWE and wrestling. While I might not always agree with Mr. McMahon, there’s no one I respect more for taking chances and putting everything he has on the line, whether it’s his money, his business, his reputation or literally his own ass and body in a match. This is the first chance I’ve been able to publicly “tip my hat” and show him the respect he deserves. Now let’s get back to me complaining about how thin the WWE roster is… Team Authority vs Team Cena, and if the Authority loses, they lose authority
No Cena? – One of the best jobs HHH and Stephanie did was to move the Team Cena storyline forward without John Cena, he of Team Cena, nowhere in the building.
Xavier Woods – I’ll reserve the WTF until I see more but this Rev. Brown / Mr. James Brown character. It’s as if the WWE brain trust just finished watching the documentary on HBO from last week and said, “Woods, do something like that…”
Tyson Kidd w/ Natalya – I still haven’t watched the last episode of Total Divas and I feel great! It’s just sitting on my DVR like a car crash that I prefer not to see.
Until next time…
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