Welcome PCU-Maniacs

My name is Ben Taylor and these are my five thoughts from the Raw that aired July 6th, 2015 from Chicago, Illinois.

First of all Chicago has, in recent times, been fertile, yet dangerous, territory for WWE. The abrupt departure of CM Punk, The Second City Saint, left a large hole in the roster for many. And the Fans in Chicago were very, very vocal about the loss of one of their own. Over the years WWE has tried many, many “tricks” to keep the chants to a minimum, but the one thing they have never tried: booking a good show. And last night was no different, with the Main Event and the Lesnar segments aside, the show was horrible. Again. We’ll talk about this much more on the MBM Wrestling Podcast, so tune into that if you want to hear more on these topics.

1) THE IC BELT: No one cares. NO ONE. Especially apparently not in the WWE creative team because they stuck it on Ryback and plopped him into a feud with Big Show. Seriously guys, when you have one belt being defended every week (please do not end this when Cena drops the belt, it really is MUST SEE TV) in amazing matches, then you have this going on, the IC belt may as well not exist, and that hurts me to say. Get that belt off of Ryback and onto someone who can at least make the damn thing look good.

2) THE 11TH COMMANDMENT: I am very vocal about how I hate Raw opening with a 20 minute promo every week. But you know what, Paul Heyman is the exception to that. Last night he returned to the ring and he lit the house on fire with his Client. It was a thing of greatness. From the structure of the promo to his aside to the crowd when they booed the end of the streak. He even went for the cheap pop with the arena’s name, something Heyman doesn’t do very often. Then Lesnar delivered on his end too as the asskicking machine that we want to see him being. Last week Mike, Mansa, and I were sad to see the car not getting its comeuppance but this week did they EVER deliver. WOW! It was such a statement. The whole reason that Seth was calling out Lesnar was to catch him “On Tilt,” but Lesnar proved that he’s above those mind games and then played a few of his own. In all fairness, the moment I saw the arena didn’t have a ramp, I thought the car was getting involved somehow, but holy moly! Also a great in-story way of writing J&J out of the match at battleground, though I doubt that was the intent.

3) TURN THE PAIGE ALREADY: See what I did there? Basically I just want to know how Paige is a contender? The Divas Division makes no sense at all. Ever. In any world. First the Bellas are heels, then faces, then heels again for NO REASON. Then Paige is pegged as the number one contender, and either loses every week or when she does win, wins with the DIVA DIVISION PATENTED ROLLUP OF DOOM! and looks sloppy and horrible. THEN they have this big story line building up about Paige wanting to get a stable together to stand against the Bellas, and then not delivering on it. No promos. No backstage segments. No advancement at all. It’s just there. Beating us in the face with its “I make no sense, deal with it!”-ness.

4) FINALLY IT’S GOING SOMEWHERE: Yes, Finally the Ziggler/Lana/Rusev/Summer thing is going somewhere. Unfortunately, where is it going is not back in time to a point where they could alter it so this feud makes sense from a writing standpoint. This is one of the subjects here I have a LOT to talk about on the podcast. I have no doubts at all that the match that comes at Battleground will be a good match, I have no doubts that in the end the good guys will win out or that it is going to have been revealed to be a ruse all along (even though the writing does nothing to suggest that at all, given all the creepy stalker pictures taken by Rusev), but yes, it is finally going somewhere. Also, wasn’t Summer, Miz’s gal? When is he getting involved?

5) DOES HE, CHICAGO?: What can I say? Chi-town has historically been a very anti-Cena town. And as was expected, as he came to the ring we hear that all too familiar “John Cena Sucks” chant along with his music. We heard the crowd giving him hell for poking at Kevin Owens. And when Owens showed up and wasn’t IN the match, I thought there was going to be a riot. But the other thing about the Chicago crowd? They know something special when they see it. And as such, after the match with Cesaro, they gave Cena the applause he deserved. Is he the best at selling? Nope…but you know what? Since winning the US title, 99% of the time, he’s in the best match on the card.

So there you have it. My thoughts coming out of a raucous night of WWE action. There’s not a whole lot to say in summation really. As I mentioned before, we’re going to discuss this Raw in depth on the next MBM Wrestling Podcast, as I have called for a special recording because I have realized a lot of my issues with current WWE and I want to get them off my chest. Speaking of MBM, Find us on Twitter (@MBM_Wrestling) and Facebook (MBMWrestlingOnTauRadio) and follow us there for links to the show. You can also follow me on Twitter individually (@BobTGoldfish).

My 3 Stars of the show

1)Cena

2)Cesaro

3)Lesnar/Heyman

Yes I know Lesnar and Heyman are 2 people, but they are a package deal!
Thanks for reading and I look forward to hearing from you guys.
See you in the Squared Circle!