Tuesday, March 26, 2019

RAW (March 25th, 2019): Joe Got His Headbutt Back

So in light of Kurt Angle taking on Samoa Joe for the final time, I decided to fire up the DVR and recording this week's episode of RAW, so that I can sample that match. I didn't watch the whole episode of course (perish the thought), but as per usual, I will offer five points of interest that came to mind when watching some (but not all) of this episode.


1. Smart move to get the headline program out of the way
So the show opens with the Beat The Clock challenge where Ronnie, Baby Flair, and The Geek each face against members of the Riott Squad to see who can beat who the quickest. Ronnie nails one Riott girl in a minute something, Baby Flair doesn't quite make the cut, and Becky beats Ronnie's time by a few seconds. As much as my point could be seen as a point of mockery, I really do mean it. More people are watching during the first hour than the third, so why not get it done when more viewers are tuning in? On a whole, I liked the segment, but then I wonder why they couldn't just do more stuff like this instead of the past couple months worth of stupid, nonsensical storylines?

2. The Riott Squad Are Losers... And This Is Fine
As far as the Riott Squad being punching bags for the big stars... I honestly have no problem with this. They're the antagonists; of course, they need to be on the losing end or else there'd be no reason to care about the good guys. It is unsettling when you have this "challenge" that is supposed to build your headline stars as these big badasses that you can't wait to see at the end of Mania... and instead, everyone is upset because the bad guys lost quickly. Guys, they're playing the roles they're meant to play. Sometimes, they have big programs that makes them seem like a big threat and sometimes they don't. So what?

3. This HHH/Batista thing is ass backwards
So Batista comes back, "beats up" Ric Flair, and challenges HHH to a match at Mania for... some reason. Because he was "held back" or something by HHH... you know, the guy who never beat Big Dave in his prime? And then now we have this HHH promo where he cuts silly jokes that were kinda funny before announcing that his career is on the line. Wow, the part-timer who only wrestles once or twice a year could potentially no longer do so if he loses his match with Batista, who hasn't wrestled a match in years. You know, I'm not going to deny that this'll be a fun match if they go crazy on each other, but this whole story is ass backwards.

But hey, HHH jobs to an envelope in his pocket. Back in 2003, that envelope would eat a pedigree, stay on the ground for five minutes, and not kick out of a pinfall attempt.

4. Kurt Angle Is Old
So this Kurt Angle/Samoa Joe match that was the sole reason for my watching this show... I like the fact that Joe started the match by headbutting Kurt Angle - it's a nice callback to their first TNA meeting when Kurt headbutted Joe, which also meant that Joe got his headbutt back after a decade and a half. That having been said... Kurt Angle has seen better days and maybe Kurt beating that geek Corbin in less than a minute at Mania is perhaps the right call. If nothing else, this serves as a nice advert for the Global Wrestling Network service where you can the old TNA PPVs and see these two go at it in their prime.

5. Three Hours Is Too Damn Long
That's all I've got. Out of three hours worth of programming, I got three minor bits while the rest of the show was worthless. Reigns accepts Drew's challenge and then Drew beats up Dean. Braun is apparently feuding with a couple SNL guys because his stock hasn't been lowered enough. My brain hurts watching this shit. Thank fuck they got rid of that overrun, but still...

Yeah, there's a reason why I don't watch RAW anymore. Even though the original reasoning is no longer a major factor - though she might rear her ugly, ear-raping head - the show itself is just three hours of nothing happening with maybe an inkling or two of something worthwhile. It's no longer "must see TV" if you can just catch all the important bits on Youtube or read a quick recap online. It's one of those things where you watch something and promptly forget about it moments later... so yeah.

Maybe tomorrow, I'll do a write-up on that Smackdown show or something, which features old Kurt Angle taking on AJ Styles or something.

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