By Jason Powell, ProWrestling.net Editor (@prowrestlingnet)
WWE Raw (Episode 1,507)
Live from Detroit, Michigan at Little Caesars Arena
Aired April 11, 2022 on USA Network
[Hour One] Raw opened with a recap of Cody Rhodes returning to WWE at WrestleMania 38 along with his promo from last week’s show. It also included the footage of Seth Rollins joining him in the ring and shaking his hand…
Jimmy Smith, Byron Saxton, and Jerry Lawler were on commentary. Lawler thanked Corey Graves, who married Carmella last week, “for sacrificing his future happiness” so that he would appear on Raw…
The Miz made his entrance and hosted a Miz TV segment. He said his guest was Cody Rhodes and noted that he beat Rollins at WrestleMania, then questioned whether Rhodes could beat him later in the show. Miz told the fans that their opinions didn’t matter because they cheered for the Lions (football team).
Cody Rhodes made his entrance. Once in the ring, Miz said they broke their pyro budget and Cody took 45 minutes to get to the ring while celebrating himself. Rhodes told Miz not to get hot and not to begrudge him this moment because it had been a long time. Cody stood up for his chair and played to the crowd, which cheered and then broke into a Cody chant.
Miz said one of the reasons Cody returned to WWE was to make his father proud. Miz said that if it wasn’t for Cody’s family name, he wouldn’t be the grandson of a plumber, he’d just be a plumber. Cody told Miz that was clever. Cody asked Miz why it would be a good thing to be a plumber. “You are completely full of… I stopped myself, but you guys know what I meant,” Rhodes said. He added that Miz hadn’t changed a day.
“You’re a full blown carny,” Rhodes said. “And you know what that makes you? Reliable. Good old reliable Mike.” Cody asked if he looks the same to Miz. Cody spoke of being gone for six years and how he now wants to win the WWE Universal Championship belt. “It’s a title, a belt holds up your pants,” Miz responded. Lawler laughed.
Miz said anyone who can beat Rollins at WrestleMania deserves to be in title contention. Miz said he heard that Rollins wants a rematch and this time Rhodes won’t be able to surprise him. Miz said he didn’t like Cody’s chances against Rollins or against him. Miz complained that of everything that happened at WrestleMania, people were talking most about Cody. The fans chanted for Cody, causing Miz to bark at them.
Miz said everyone knows where Cody has been for the last six years, but he said Miz TV is his show and Cody doesn’t get to embarrass him. Miz told Rhodes that he wouldn’t stand for it. Cody stood up and told Miz to settle down. He said he respects Miz and all of his accomplishments. Cody said he got the sense that all of the hostility was because Miz felt threatened by him. He said he would be happy to give Rollins a rematch, but he said Miz was making things personal.
Rhodes said he knew where would be questions and doubt when he returned to WWE. He said he’s mature enough to handle it all. Cody said he came back to be the very best wrestler in WWE. “Superstar,” Miz corrected. Cody said he was looking forward to his first match on Raw in six years. Another Cody chant broke out. “May the best man win,” Cody told Miz before handing him his microphone. Miz tried to attack Cody, who sidestepped him and tossed him to ringside…
Powell’s POV: A very good segment that made me more excited about their match than I was going in. I got a kick out of Miz correcting Cody on the WWE lingo. For what it’s worth, they may have given up on the Codyvator entrance due to the Raw set. It was hard to tell for sure because there was smoke/fog and other effects.
Footage aired of Roman Reigns giving the Usos the order to unify the WWE tag titles. The broadcast team hyped RK-Bro vs. Alpha Academy along with previously advertised Raw matches…
Dominik Mysterio made his entrance for a match against Veer Mahaan… [C] Veer Mahaan made his entrance…
1. Veer Mahaan vs. Dominik Mysterio. Rey Mysterio did not accompany Dom to the ring. Veer ended up at ringside early in the match. Dom tried to dive onto him. Veer caught him and stumbled back into the barricade, but stayed on his feet. Veer threw a clothesline at ringside. Smith played up his million dollar arm. Back in the ring, Veer threw another clothesline and applied his Cervical Clutch submission hold for the win.
Veer Mahaan defeated Dominik Mysterio in 2:00.
Veer reapplied the hold after the match. WWE producers ran out and tried to pry his arms loose. Veer gave up the hold, then reapplied it again. Veer released the hold and then EMTs came to the ring with a stretcher…
Powell’s POV: Are they writing Dom off of television? He took the quick loss last week and now they did the injury angle this week. Dom would benefit from a run in NXT, and it would be nice to see Rey positioned as a singles star again. Speaking of Rey, he was advertised as Veer’s opponent for tonight, but they called an audible for some reason.
Dom was stretchered to the back and loaded into an ambulance…
Veer Mahaan was interviewed by Kevin Patrick, who asked why he destroyed Dom. Veer said he strikes fear into the heart of any man…
A video package recapped last week’s segment with Edge and Damian Priest’s promo segment and the beatdown of AJ Styles that followed…
Footage aired from earlier in the day of Sarah Schreiber asking AJ Styles for his game plan in his match against Damian Priest. Styles spoke about having to fight two men. He said Edge spoke about his family and when that happens they have to throw hands. Priest walked by and was spotted by Styles, which led to a brief pull apart brawl… [C]
The top ten WWE photos of the week on Instagram were shown… Damian Priest made his entrance. A pre-taped promo aired. He said he pledged his loyalty to Edge and now it would be judgment day for Styles…
2. AJ Styles vs. Damian Priest. Styles clotheslined Priest over the top rope and then Priest landed on his feet at ringside. Styles hit him with a flying forearm from the apron. The crowd chanted for Styles, who returned to the ring and then leapt over the top rope and hit Priest with another flying forearm. [C]
Priest took offensive control. A graphic listed Bianca Belair vs. Queen Zelina for later in the show. Styles made a brief comeback and played to the crowd while setting up for his finisher, but Priest caught him with a kick that knocked him off the apron. Priest knelt down in the ring and raised his arms. The lights went out and then the Edge lighting was used. [C]
AJ Styles fought Damian Priest to a non-finish.
The broadcast team recapped the previous match and said they didn’t know what happened, but power in the building had been restored…
Backstage, AJ Styles, who had cuts on his face, was interviewed by Schreiber. He said he didn’t care what Edge or anyone else did because they wouldn’t stop him from getting to Priest…
Powell’s POV: So the Styles vs. Priest match ended because the lights went out for a second and then Edge’s special effects lighting replaced the usual lighting? Um, okay.
The Miz made his entrance.
[Hour Two] Cody Rhodes made his full entrance again…
3. Cody Rhodes vs. The Miz. The ref called for the bell to start the match. Seth Rollins made his entrance before Cody and Miz could lock up. Miz took advantage of the distraction and went on the offensive to start. Cody came right back with a bodyslam. Miz ducked to ringside. Cody followed and chased him back inside the ring. Miz tried to hit Cody with an elbow when he returned to the ring, but Cody avoided it.
Cody held up Miz for a vertical suplex and dropped him face first and then covered him for a two count. Rollins was shown applauding while seated at ringside with his feet on the broadcast table. Miz applied a chinlock. Cody fought free and punched Miz a few times. Miz sent Cody into the corner where he flipped over the ropes and landed on his feet on the apron. Miz hit Cody with a boot to the head to knock him to ringside. [C]
Cody picked up a near fall coming out of the break. Miz rolled to the floor where he was hit by Cody’s suicide dive. Cody rolled Miz back inside the ring. Cody went up top and leapt over a charging Miz and then sold knee pain when he landed on his feet. Miz dropkicked Cody’s knee.
Miz applied a figure four. Cody and Miz traded slaps and then Cody rolled over the figure four. Miz reached the ropes to break the hold. Cody put Miz down with a springboard cutter. He followed up with CrossRhodes and scored the clean pin.
Cody Rhodes defeated The Miz in roughly 11:45.
Rollins remained seated and applauded after Cody scored the pin. Cody went to the ropes and signaled for that thing that keeps his pants up while playing to the crowd. Meanwhile, Rollins entered the ring.
Rollins laughed when Cody dropped off the apron and noticed that he was in the ring. Rollins said he heard all of the kind things that Rhodes had to say about him earlier and also heard him use the word rematch. Rollins pointed out that Rhodes was a surprise opponent and that gave Cody the advantage. “And now that I see what I’m working with…” Rollins laughed.
Rollins called for a rematch and asked “Mr. Nightmare” for his thoughts. “Yes, absolutely, yes,” Cody said off-mic. Rollins laughed and then danced while the crowd chanted his entrance theme. Lawler said Cody was reeled in by Rollins and called it a thing of beauty…
Powell’s POV: A solid match, but Miz has been the punching bag of the babyfaces for so long that it actually feels strange to see him have a competitive match with a guy like Rhodes. It was also a bit much to see Cody’s full entrance twice in an hour. The post match angle was fine. I like that they are taking an ambiguous approach with Rollins for the moment.
Highlights aired of last week’s segment involving Kevin Owens and Ezekiel/Elias…
Backstage, Tommaso Ciampa was introduced by Kevin Patrick as the newest member of the Raw roster. Ezekiel showed up before Ciampa could say a word and welcomed him to the roster. Ciampa thanked him and said it was nice to meet him. Kevin Owens showed up and accused Ezekiel of being Elias. Ezekiel left. Ciampa told Owens that Ezekiel is the younger bother of Elias. Owens questioned if he’s the only one who is sane and told Ciampa to grow up…
Liv Morgan made her entrance for a match against Naomi… [C]
Powell’s POV: Card Subject To Change – WWE previously advertised Sasha Banks and Naomi vs. Rhea Ripley and Liv Morgan for the WWE Women’s Tag Titles, but they’ve called another audible.
Saxton spoke about WrestleMania 38 while mainstream headlines regarding the event were shown…
The broadcast team recapped Banks and Naomi beating Ripley and Morgan last week and then the post match angle was shown with Ripley informing Morgan that Adam Pearce had granted them a title shot. Footage also aired of Morgan beating Banks on Smackdown. Saxton said it gave the challengers momentum heading into their eventual tag title shot…
4. Liv Morgan vs. Naomi (w/Sasha Banks). The entrance of Naomi and Banks was televised. Both women went for simultaneous kicks. When they stood up, Morgan went for her Oblivion finisher, but Naomi held onto the ropes. Moments later, Morgan leapt from the ropes and was caught by Naomi, who powerbombed her. Naomi went for the pin. Morgan reversed it, then Naomi reversed it again and got the three count…
Naomi beat Liv Morgan in 2:20.
Powell’s POV: This is the strangest feud in WWE right now and that’s really saying something.
Highlights aired of MVP turning on Bobby Lashley and joining forces with Omos…
Bobby Lashley made his entrance. The broadcast team hyped MVP hosting the VIP Lounge with Omos as his guest… [C] Lashley stood in the ring with the VIP set and said he decided to invite himself to the talkshow. He said last week should have been a celebration for what he was able to do by beating Omos.
Lashley put over the size and strength of Omos, then said he was stabbed in the back by the one man in the world he thought he could trust. Lashley called for MVP to come to the ring and explain why he turned on him. When MVP didn’t come out, Lashley threatened to destroy the talkshow set.
Omos and MVP made their entrance together dressed in suits. They stood on the stage where MVP told Lashley to stop embarrassing himself by being so emotional. MVP said his lawyers would send Lashley a bill if he damaged any of the set.
Lashley told MVP to come to the ring to explain his actions. MVP said Omos was learning to become a businessman. MVP said Lashley and his fans should be thanking him. MVP conceded that Lashley deserved an explanation.
MVP said that when he returned to WWE, Lashley was floundering. he recalled “some sawed-off runt and some wannabe TikTok star” (Lio Rush) lead his career. MVP said he made Lashley and told him not to forget it.
Lashley said MVP came back for his farewell return and then he did what he does best by latching on to his next meal ticket. Lashley said he beat everyone and became WWE Champion. MVP said he was with him every step of the way. MVP said that was the past, this is the present, and he was looking at the future in Omos.
MVP said Omos will take Lashley’s place atop the mountain because he’s smart enough to realize that he needs him. MVP said Lashley barely survived his first match with Omos and promised him that he wouldn’t survive the next. Lashley said that he’ll take Omos down just as he did at WrestleMania, and then he’ll come for MVP. Lashley started tossing set pieces to ringside…
Powell’s POV: A logical explanation from MVP. And I suppose a lot of fans will be waiting for Lio Rush’s response on social media.
Highlights aired from two weeks earlier of Reggie proposing to Dana Brooke, who accepted before Tamina tried and failed to pin her to win the WWE 24/7 Championship. And then Tozawa tried to propose, but Tamina grabbed him, held her hand up, and said yes…
Akira Tozawa, Reggie, and R-Truth were shown at a bachelor party with three random guys. Reggie noted that there was also a double bachelorette party in place. Truth was concerned about what might happen to Brooke and the title, and then said they had a bachelorette party to crash…
Powell’s POV: Wasn’t Reggie’s idea to propose so that he and Brooke could have a WrestleMania moment together? Maybe he meant WrestleMania 39? I don’t think so either.
Raw Women’s Champion Bianca Belair made her entrance for a match against Queen Zelina… [C]
Backstage, Austin Theory told Adam Pearce and Sonya Deville that Vince McMahon promised him a U.S. Title match. Pearce said they were well aware. Theory then informed him that he and McMahon decided that “Austin just doesn’t suit me.” Pearce called him Theory and said he would face Finn Balor for the U.S. Title next week.
Kevin Owens showed up wearing a Dusty Rhodes t-shirt while Theory made his exit. Owens was upset about Elias claiming to be Ezekiel and said he wanted to give him a lie detector test on next week’s show. Deville agreed to it. Owens left.
Deville informed Pearce that she would inform Belair who her first challenger would be. Pearce indicated he had no knowledge of who the challenger would be. Highlights aired of the Queen Zelina and Carmella spilt that occurred on last week’s show. An Instagram shot was shown from the Graves and Carmella wedding. Saxton was asked what it was like and he said he wasn’t invited…
Queen Zelina made her entrance while a pre-taped promo aired with her saying she felt liberated and would be the next Raw Women’s Champion…
5. Raw Women’s Champion Bianca Belair vs. Queen Zelina in a non-title match. Zelina got a little offense in before Belair took control. Belair placed Zelina on the top rope and then pressed her over her head and did squats before dropping her face first in the ring. Belair followed up with the KOD and scored the pin…
Raw Women’s Champion Bianca Belair defeated Queen Zelina in 2:10 in a non-title match.
Sonya Deville made her entrance… [C] Deville was in the ring with Belair coming out of the break. She pointed out that Belair suffered an eye injury and that it didn’t slow her down. Deville encouraged the crowd to cheer for Belair. Deville said Belair had inquired about who her next challenger would be.
[Hour Three] Deville said it wasn’t an easy task because there are so many viable contenders in the women’s division. She mentioned Becky Lynch, Rhea Ripley, Carmella, Liv Morgan, Alexa Bliss, Doudrop, and Dana Brooke.
Belair said she would be happy to face any of those women because she’d be facing the best that Raw had to offer. She said she would walk out with her title regardless of who it is. She did the EST routine and said she would face whoever she had in mind.
Deville said she was happy to hear that because she had an open contract with her and encouraged Belair to sign it. Belair said she saw what Deville was doing, but she said what she said and then signed the contract. Deville gave a big buildup for Belair’s opponent and then pointed to the stage.
A drumroll played and then Deville clipped the knee of Belair from behind. Deville attacked Belair, left her lying, and then announced that she would be Belair’s first challenger. Deville signed the contract and left the ring while Adam Pearce came out and checked on Belair…
Dana Brooke and Tamina were shown at their bachelorette party with a bunch of other women. Brooke thanked Tamina for agreeing to their truce so that they could enjoy the party. Tamina said absolutely, but said it would be open season following their honeymoons.
“Los Lotharios” Angel and Humberto showed up and did the Kiss Cam routine while kissing Brooke and Tamina. Nikki ASH showed up and pointed to a couple of male strippers. Tamina removed the jacket of one of the men and discovered a referee’s shirt. Tamina warned Brooke, who was rolled up by ASH. Tamina broke up the pin and then placed ASH on the bar and shoved her down it Roadhouse style.
R-Truth, Reggie, and Tozawa showed up. Truth said no one wants the title more than he does, but he called for a the attack on Brooke to stop until they had a double wedding next week. Truth showed off his ordained minister certificate…
Powell’s POV: If tonight’s changes are any indication, Brooke will marry Theory, Tamina will marry Ciampa, and Omos will officiate the double wedding.
Randy Orton and Riddle made their entrance… [C] The broadcast team recapped the Belair and Deville angle…
Backstage, Pearce told Deville that she was guilty of abuse of power and asked her who the hell she thinks she is. She said she was the first to answer an open challenge and will shock the world. He said she couldn’t get away wit it. She said there was nothing to get away with because the match is official…
Chad Gable and Otis made their entrance. Gable spoke as they walked to the ring. He said his genius didn’t rub off on the fans because the fans look and sound dumber than the last time he was there. Gable said he heard what the Usos said on Smackdown and they wouldn’t let them take their titles back to another brand. Gable also brought up Gable Steveson and accused him of trying to steal his spotlight at WrestleMania…
6. Raw Tag Team Champions RK-Bro Randy Orton and Riddle vs. “Alpha Academy” Chad Gable and Otis in a non-title match. Otis got the better of Riddle and knocked him down heading into an early break. [C] In the end, Orton hit the RKO on Gable and pinned him clean.
Raw Tag Team Champions RK-Bro Randy Orton and Riddle beat “Alpha Academy” Chad Gable and Otis in roughly 8:30 in a non-title match.
Afterward, an SUV arrived in the backstage area while Orton and Riddle were celebrating. Smackdown Tag Team Champions Jimmy Uso and Jey Uso exited the SUV… [C]
Powell’s POV: It’s a shame to see Alpha Academy losing so many matches lately. They haven’t won a television match since late February. But the focus is clearly on RK-Bro and The Usos, so the outcome is hardly a surprise.
Orton and Riddle were still in the ring coming out of the break. Jimmy Uso and Jey Uso made their entrance. Orton said The Big Dog let his bitches off their leash. The Usos challenged Orton and Riddle to a unification match to create the Undisputed WWE Tag Team Championship. After a Riddle crack about The Avengers, Orton tried to respond, but he was interrupted.
“The Street Profits” Montez Ford and Angelo Dawkins made their entrance and accused The Usos of “using their Bloodline privilege” to cut in line. Ford said they would be happy to face the Usos after he and Dawkins take the titles from Orton and Riddle. Yes, they still want The Smoke. The Profits and Usos bickered. Orton called for a match between the two teams and got the crowd worked up for it. Smith said the match would take place after the break… [C]
The broadcast team recapped footage of Veer Mahaan attacking Dominik Mysterio, who was stretchered out of the arena… Lawler praised Orton for the mental manipulation of setting up the tag team match…
Finn Balor vs. Theory for the U.S. Championship, and Sasha Banks and Naomi vs. Rhea Ripley and Liv Morgan for the WWE Women’s Tag Titles were announced for next week’s Raw…
7. Smackdown Tag Team Champions Jimmy Uso and Jey Uso vs. The Street Profits in a non-title match. Randy Orton and Riddle sat in chairs next to the broadcast team. The Usos threw Dawkins at Orton and Riddle. As the teams were jawing at one another, Ford performed a dive from the ring that took out the Usos. [C]
The Profits picked up some great near falls down the stretch, including when Ford hit a top rope frogsplash and had the pin, but the other Uso broke it up. The crowd chanted “this is awesome.” Jimmy made a blind tag and then the Usos hit 1D on Ford and pinned him.
Smackdown Tag Team Champions Jimmy Uso and Jey Uso beat “The Street Profits” Montez Ford and Angelo Dawkins in 15:10 in a non-title match.
After the match, Orton and Riddle entered the ring and went face to face with the Usos. Jimmy and Jey left the ring. Dawkins returned to the ring and tackled Riddle, causing them both to tumble over the ropes. Ford also returned and took an RKO from Orton. The Usos returned and dropped Orton with a double superkick. The Usos held up the Raw and Smackdown Tag Title belts. A graphic listed Omos and MVP, Sonya Deville, and Ezekiel for Raw Talk to close the show…
Powell’s POV: A really good main event. There was no real mystery regarding the outcome given that they are building to the unification match between the Usos and RK-Bro, but some of those late near falls were very convincing.
Overall, an entertaining show that effectively filled the three hours for the most part. I like the direction of the tag title unification, and the Belair vs. Deville matches. By the way, I missed Jimmy Smith stating that Rhea Ripley is “in protocol” earlier, so that’s why they didn’t go with the tag title match. I will be back later tonight with my weekly same night audio review of Raw for Dot Net Members (including our Patreon patrons). Let me know what you thought of Raw by grading it below.
Veer Mahaan just had the biggest babyface turn in history.
So did Vince tear up the script again?No Veer Mahaanvs.Rey Mysterio and now the women’s tag title match isn’t happening apparently?
Ripley “in protocol.” They didn’t say if it was concussion or covid.
I was hoping this was the night they pulled the trigger on her going heel. Guess we’ll get it in a week or two.
When Punk or Danielson has a competitive 10 min match vs someone no one has ever heard of it’s applauded here. Cody’s second wwe match in 6 years is a 10 min match vs Miz and it’s criticized. I’m not totally sure why the discrepancy
Or when Kenny Omega had that long match with Alan Angels and I was critical of it and some people still complain and claim that it made Angels a star (yes, this is actually claimed)? Or much more recently when I praised AEW for not making the mistake of having The WorkHorsemen have a competitive match with Danielson and Moxley? Plenty of other examples, but you guys go ahead and stick with your narrative.
The discrepancy is WWE = bad, AEW = good. Same way that nearly all WWE comedy spots are stupid, but AEW’s repetitive, juvenile comedy is hilarious. It just comes with the territory of dirtsheets.
Yes, because I hated the Jackass match, right? Oh, wait… Stop projecting your tribalistic shit on me and everyone else who couldn’t care less about the company banner.
The point of Cody vs Miz was to shine up Cody. The Miz has been portrayed as a joke for years. No way the match should’ve gone longer than 5 minutes .
How dare you offer a fair and reasonable criticism of something that happened on a WWE television show?!? Had you offered this same piece of criticism four years ago, then most people would have nodded along. But now that certain people watching pro wrestling like it’s a team sport, you’re clearly biased and out to get WWE.
Miz wrestled a 20+ minute match against Edge on Day 1. The mixed tag at the Royal Rumble went 12+. He went 9:30 against Rey on Raw in February. The WrestleMania tag match went over 11 minutes.
He’s routinely featured in matches of that length. Nobody considers it a joke outside of hack dirtsheet writers and unwashed neckbeard smarks.
Now do pre-Edge (whose matches have often been criticized for overstaying their welcome since he returned) and talk about those Miz and Morrison classics where they were booked like absolute comedy losers. I’ve been a Miz defender over the years, but they damaged both of them during that tag team run and I wrote about it many times while it was happening. And if this same match had taken place on Dynamite rather than Raw, lord knows you’d be the one criticizing the length of the match rather than defending it. Again, stop projecting your own biases on everyone else.
I am with you, Jason. I will throw this in just to further confuse the WWE vs AEW nimrods: I like The Miz. I think Mike Mizanin is a talented guy who deserves better. However, it was nonsensical for his match with Cody to be competitive. This was Cody’s first match on Raw in several years vs a guy who has been a punching bag for several years. It shouldve been a 5 minute showcase win for Cody. That’s it.
BTW, now that Cody is back in WWE, watch as all the criticism that TheGreatestOne had for him suddenly disappear.
You guys crack me up. Y’all bitch about Jason’s writing every week. Yet you still show up. I mean, I’m impressed with his writing, most Viqueens fans have trouble with subject/verb agreement 😉
Btw, Jason, did you catch Moss’ Wisconsin diss on Talking Smack? What is it with Minnesnowta and wrasslers?
The funniest part about this is wondering if I watched Talking Smack. Now stop picking on my glorious state.
I think my point was more that miz is a brand name and a good wrestler while the wrestlers Danielson and Punk wrestled were less well known / not established.
Miz has great matches and while his W-L record may not be stellar he can always draw interest because he is good on the mic
I would have a bigger complaint with how most WWE tv matches go 3-5 min while this one went almost 11 and THAT feels inconsistent. But as was noted above Miz does have a recent track record of 10+ min matches so maybe that’s why
Personally I have always found Cody to be pretty mediocre. Decent in the ring but no one who moves he needle. And I’m not sold at the sustainability of his current push. That said. In his first 3 appearances they have made him look like a major star. Well see how long it lasts.
I didn’t watch RAW tonight, but I would definitely turn in to see Omos officiate a double wedding
Match length seems to be an issue with a company that featured 45mins to an hour (no match length for the Priest/Styles match) of wrestling on their flagship show.
I loved WWE and enjoyed their product for many, many years. Even when Raw and Smackdown couldn’t be easily watched in the UK I still paid for the WWE Network and watched NXT and each PPV. But then something creeped in, I felt I was watching the same matches on multiple consecutive PPVs (and let’s be honest part of that is because WWE loves its rubber matches and parity booking).
In short I got bored and cancelled after last years Wrestlemania, yet reading and watching reviews I never felt like anything had changed. I couldn’t care less about the 1/4 hour ratings because it all seems formulaic like they’ve settled back into the rut that preceded the Attitude Era.
I don’t get all the criticism above (or below). Imo, Powell is one of the few unbiased wrestling writers today. Way better than Wokeside Seats
Match length doesn’t matter to the 10 million former pro wrestling fans. The first Wrestlemania had 2 matches go over 10 minutes and had celebrities crawling all over the place including one in the main event.
That’s why WWE is finally back on an upswing. They remembered what works for the vast majority who made them the #1 company in the first place, and it’s not two 158lb weaklings flipping around and doing moves for 20 minutes at a time. It’s big dudes with big personalities and attractive women, and everyone actually goes out there like they’re trying to win a fight instead of just set up for the next move.
This year was the best Wrestlemania in a while, and it’s precisely because they started going back to what has always worked and stopped trying to appease the people who would intentionally go to an ROH show.
Oh, and the Cody babyface push won’t work because it’s not intended to. They’re using people like Miz and Rollins early on to get him some immediate sympathy, but the Rollins character being so ambiguous right now is a huge hint that the heel turn that he refused to do in AEW is going to happen on WWE TV and he’s probably going to get one of the belts if they split them back apart.
RK Bro vs. Alpha Academy AGAIN? Thank goodness I tape this show and am able to fast forward the garbage. I wonder…think next week we’ll see RK Bro against the Street Profits?!?! AGAIN!?
PS – I agree with Powell, quit projecting your biases, “One.” How about this: start your own Twitter under your name (or write for a major wrestling site), and let’s see how you do.
“everyone actually goes out there like they’re trying to win a fight”
You did see a match just magically end because someone turned the lights out, right?
Honestly, are you trying to say stupid things?
Also, TheLamestOne, what is up with your neckbeard fetish?