*OFFICIAL* RAW Discussion for July 30, 2012

[RyPrax]

• 1001st episode; move to 3 hours under new normal format.
• Fallout from RAW 1000: Punk kills The Rock
• Cena cashing in and losing fallout.
• AJ is the new permanent GM.
• Ziggler / Jericho build.
• Sheamus/Berto build; how does Mysterio figure in?
• TOUT TOUT TOUT

[Adampro123]

Randy Ortons suspension is officially over so I'm interested in seeing what they do with him tonight and leading towards SummerSlam.

[RyPrax]

Weren't there rumors they were keeping him off TV until after SummerSlam? If I had to guess, maybe a program with D-Bry? Unless they go through with that Charlie Sheen thing.

[Adampro123]

I Think that was Wade Barret. I doubt they will leave one of their biggest stars off of TV leading into the 2nd biggest show of the year unless they had to

I'm thinking they might do Kane vs Bryan and the Sheene will get involved somehow i just don't see them doing an actual match with Sheen. But i do see him coming in like Hugh Jackman did to Ziggler.

I'm guessing Orton could start a feud with Cody Rhodes since Cody hasn't done anything but lose to Sheamus last week on SD since MITB PPV.

[Adampro123]

I wrote a long ass review of Raw and my cat came up and rubbed against my hand and caused my to X the browser and made it all pointless. 

Anyways in short

Good stuff

Punk owning king throughout the night was good

Sheamus vs Bryan was great with a weak ending. Sheamus wins, Bryan loses. Same old shit.

Miz & Ziggler vs Jericho & Christian was really good. really enjoying both of these feuds.

Glad Kofi and Truth got on the show.

Sandow beating the shit out of Clay was enjoyable.

Was Glad to see Orton back

Meh stuff or bad stuff

Daniel Bryan going crazy stuff i just found annoying and they just let it go on for too long i got sick of seeing it.

Clay & Vickie dancing was horribly stupid.

Santino vs Del Rio was meh. Del Rio looked good and all but Santino losing yet again and making the US title look weaker and weaker each week annoys me. just have the guy drop the belt already.

Albert beats Tyson Kidd... and then loses because he has roid rage and then they reverse it and Kidd wins via DQ. Albert wins but looks like an idiot. Kidd wins but looks like shit doing so. then Albert beats up his man slave...Yeah. would have rather watched Ryback kill a couple of guys in this segment.

I felt Orton return was sort of wasted. Could have been a much bigger deal than job beating Slater.

Kofi vs Titus was okay. glad Kofi was on the show but i just don't find titus or young or AW interesting at all. i would rather see Kofi & Truth feud with Hawkins & Reks or just throw a team together like McIntyre and Swagger who are both very misused and extremely underutilized.

Show vs Cena was alright but predictable and boring. Punk on commentary wasn't though.

Not liking AJ as GM so far. I love AJ but i just don't know if she's a good fit for the role.

The show had some good content but i didn't enjoy the show watching it live. The show had WAY too many recaps and videos and then it also had retards on tout and a bunch of social media stuff. it was just a drag to watch.

From now on i think I'm gonna watch Raw via DVR like i do Smackdown because all the social media stuff and especially all the recaps are just extremely annoying and boring.  its a shame too because they waste so much time and yet they have so much talent they don't use. Cody Rhodes, Zack Ryder, Ryback, Swagger, Mcintyre, Antonio Cesaro and im not a fan of the divas but i kind of feel sorry for those girls and anyone who is a fan of them for not being on the show in any way other than AJ.

[RyPrax]

Sheamus vs Bryan was great with a weak ending. Sheamus wins, Bryan loses. Same old shit.

You only think it was weak because the guy you wanted to win lost. Sheamus is the champion, they're doing something different with Bryan. The ending made sense and Sheamus isn't going to lose while building to SummerSlam unless Del Rio is involved, and Bryan didn't need to win this. If anything it was a little sudden but that's it. Thought it was a great match.

Overall, outside of the 12 million recaps of the same fucking triple H promo and the fact that I didn't even bother watching the main event because I knew what would happen, it was a decent raw for 3 hours. But I can't watch this shit live every week for 3 hours, not when at least 45 minutes of it is filler. Like Adam said. to the DVRs and Youtube. I love how this is probably the exact opposite of what WWE wanted to. Who did they think was going to watch three hours of wrestling live every week?

[chappers]

I felt like I enjoyed this show, all the matches got a decent length of time and I enjoyed Punk putting Lawler in his place, found he came out with some brilliant comebacks and completely owned Lawler. However, even though I enjoyed most of what was on offer, I found the show just dragged too much, 3 hours is too long when it just doesn't feel like a big deal.

Punk was a million times more enjoyable, and I like the direction they are taking him.

Christian/Jericho vs Miz/Ziggler tag match was pretty good, I hope Jericho stays around, I think Jericho and Christian should team together as they both looked refreshed there and both could do a good job in the Tag Division.

Orton coming back was good, and he got to face the ONE MAN BAND BABY!

I kind of enjoyed Tensai, he isn't amazing but I think he could be a good staple mid card guy. Kidd making the show is good as well, I just wish he'd drop the lame good guy gimmick as I know he can do better then that.

However, I'm hating the way they are directing Daniel Bryan, whether you like him or not, he has been their biggest and best heel for the past six months and is now just a catchphrase monkey in joke segments, same thing is happening to Del Rio, who the WWE seem to push no end but then have him feud with Santino at the same time; just fucking dumb. Does anyone give a toss about Sheamus vs Del Rio as well, I don't even know why they are feuding. They really need to take the belt off Sheamus or turn him heel, I'm just bored of him, his character has been on the wane since winning and it doesn't help that he won the title in the worst way possible, they had the whole of last year to give him the title, when his character was fresh. Doesn't help that they have directed his reign in the worst way possible, I can't think of anything he has done with the belt. Sooner someone takes that title, the better, I just don't want Sheamus or Del Rio holding it as both guys need to do something different and interesting. Having said all that though, Bryan vs Sheamus was probably match of the night and the best TV match we've had in a while.

The main event felt like a real drag to watch, it went on and on, we've seen it all before and I just don't care about Big Show's character at all, even though he's doing an alright job. I can't take him seriously though, I know he won't win the title at Summerslam, if Punk's dropping that title, the only person that is taking it off him is The Rock or John Cena. It doesn't help that he's sluggish in the ring, and has been in the pecking order for most of his career, I can't exactly take him seriously with the direction they've given him, particularly when he broke down to tears and went on his knees begging for his job a week before the mega badass came out .

AJ is really good, but she shouldn't be on the pedestal the WWE are giving her; at the moment she is getting the biggest push out of anyone and I just don't see what the payoff will be, she's just a diva at the end of the day and they can't even make the show.

[RyPrax]

The WWE has issued an full apology after an on-air personality joked that one of the wrestlers was "like Kobe Bryant at a hotel in Colorado ... he's unstoppable."

It all went down during a live broadcast of "Monday Night Raw" ... when a manager named Abraham Washington -- who was wearing a live mic -- was ringside for a match involving a wrestler named Titus O'Neil ... and during the action, A.W. let the Kobe crack fly.

The comment is an obvious reference to Kobe's 2003 sexual assault case -- when he was accused of raping a woman in his hotel room in Eagle, Colorado. The accuser eventually reached a settlement with Kobe and dropped her case.

A rep for the WWE has issued a statement to TMZ ... telling us, "A.W. made an inappropriate comment and WWE immediately apologized."

The rep adds, "WWE has taken appropriate action in the matter."  It's unclear what kind of "action" the org. has decided to take.

Sources tell us A.W. "felt horrible" after he made the comment ... claimed he simply "got caught up in the moment" ... and realizes the comment could be hurtful to rape victims and their families.

A.W. immediately apologized to WWE honchos, including the McMahon family, and several wrestlers ... and has also vowed to refrain from making similar comments in the future.


10:20 PM PT -- Washington has issued an apology on Twitter ... calling his comments "inappropriate and insensitive."

He adds, "I went too far with that joke."

TBH it was a funny joke.

[Adampro123]

Sheamus vs Bryan was great with a weak ending. Sheamus wins, Bryan loses. Same old shit.

You only think it was weak because the guy you wanted to win lost. Sheamus is the champion, they're doing something different with Bryan. The ending made sense and Sheamus isn't going to lose while building to SummerSlam unless Del Rio is involved, and Bryan didn't need to win this. If anything it was a little sudden but that's it. Thought it was a great match.

I don't "Only" think it was weak ending because it was the same old result. Yes i find it extremely boring that Bryan loses every match and Sheamus wins every match and that takes away enjoyment. But it's been a theme with Sheamus matches, They all end in a lackluster way and seem to come out of nowhere. This doesn't seem much different than that but like i said still a great match the ending just wasn't up to par as the rest of the match and yes the fact that the same old boring result happens does take away enjoyment.

[RyPrax]

I think they're trying to make the Brogue Kick for Sheamus what the RKO or Stunner (or Sweet Chin Music to a certain extent) were to those wrestlers. Just a move you can get hit with out of nowhere and lose. But Sheamus doesn't have the subtlety that Orton, Austin or HBK have to pull it off sometiems, which is why it might seem to come out of nowhere. like i said I agree that it was sudden compared to the flow of the rest of the match.

[J.D]

The WWE has issued an full apology after an on-air personality joked that one of the wrestlers was "like Kobe Bryant at a hotel in Colorado ... he's unstoppable."

It all went down during a live broadcast of "Monday Night Raw" ... when a manager named Abraham Washington -- who was wearing a live mic -- was ringside for a match involving a wrestler named Titus O'Neil ... and during the action, A.W. let the Kobe crack fly.

The comment is an obvious reference to Kobe's 2003 sexual assault case -- when he was accused of raping a woman in his hotel room in Eagle, Colorado. The accuser eventually reached a settlement with Kobe and dropped her case.

A rep for the WWE has issued a statement to TMZ ... telling us, "A.W. made an inappropriate comment and WWE immediately apologized."

The rep adds, "WWE has taken appropriate action in the matter."  It's unclear what kind of "action" the org. has decided to take.

Sources tell us A.W. "felt horrible" after he made the comment ... claimed he simply "got caught up in the moment" ... and realizes the comment could be hurtful to rape victims and their families.

A.W. immediately apologized to WWE honchos, including the McMahon family, and several wrestlers ... and has also vowed to refrain from making similar comments in the future.


10:20 PM PT -- Washington has issued an apology on Twitter ... calling his comments "inappropriate and insensitive."

He adds, "I went too far with that joke."

TBH it was a funny joke.

To be honest I find AW fucking funny, I can see how people got offended though.

I really liked Punk's opening promo, he needs to be that anti-hero type and I think he nailed it. This heel role was needed to prevent him becoming the generic Cena like face as I think if his face run went on much longer it would have become harder to use him as a heel again. Punk is very adaptable though and can work well as either but I personally prefer him as a heel as the WWE seems to now believe a face is someone who makes lame jokes and sucks up to the audience despite the fact some of the most successful face runs ever (such as Stone Cold and Kurt Angle) never did that.

I will get back into WWE probably after Summerslam when Sheamus stops beating everybody and at least one of the current champions loses their titles. I dig long face runs but there doesn't seem to be much purpose to these and frankly both have bored me but seeing as Punk has turned heel I am happy for him to continue as it is at least fresh and exciting.
I'm just tired of seeing guys like Daniel Bryan beat all the time when they have so much more to offer.

On a side note I enjoyed Damien Sandow. And Orton's back which is good

[Leonardo Lunchbox]

The only thing I liked with Punk was his talk with John Cena and him being 30 inches away from teabagging King at one point.

[RyPrax]

According to Nielsen Media research, this week's edition of WWE Raw finished with a 3.1 cable rating, which is down from the previous week's 3.8 cable rating.

The show did an average audience of 4.49 million viewers, which is down from the previous week's 6.02 million viewers.

Here is how the show broke down hourly:

Hour one averaged 4.06 million viewers.

Hour two averaged 4.71 million viewers.

Hour three averaged 4.70 million viewers.

No surprise but those are some pretty bad numbers.