Every week, Kevin Eck will run down his burning questions from the past week in professional wrestling.
‘RAW’ thoughts'
Am I the only one who …
… was not entertained watching Kurt Angle be orally emasculated by Stephanie McMahon?
Look, I like Stephanie’s heel character and she does a great job of playing it. It’s realistic that she would intimidate and talk down to her subordinates, but it’s unrealistic that someone of Angle’s stature would swallow his pride and just stand there and take it the way he did.
It was reminiscent of a few years ago when Stephanie repeatedly bullied Big Show, reducing the mighty giant to a whimpering wuss. In that angle, WWE at least tried to come up with an explanation for why Big Show didn’t stand up for himself (it was said that he was broke after making some bad investments and he needed the job to support his family).
In a callback to a segment with Angle and Stephanie from 15 years ago, perhaps it’ll come out that Angle cut Stephanie some slack because he figured the reason she was cranky was that her Aunt Flo was making her monthly visit.
Regardless, after the way Angle has been treated the past two weeks by Stephanie and her brother Shane, I’m expecting Vince McMahon to show up on next week’s show and kick Angle in his testicles.
Actually, that can’t happen. Angle’s testicles are in Stephanie’s purse.
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… noticed that the garbage truck Braun Strowman emerged from was different than the one he was stuffed into at TLC?
I was totally believing that a human being could be trapped in a garbage truck compactor for eight days and then come out of it without so much as a scratch until that continuity error ruined it for me. Now I’m thinking the whole thing was a work.
Either way, there’s probably a good chance that Strowman didn’t smell very good. You know what they say about hanging around trash. But enough about Tammy Sytch.
Seriously, though, I recommend Strowman use some of this stuff. Or this.
… found myself missing Roman Reigns and John Cena during this episode?
Love them or hate them, there’s no denying the star power of these two. On a three-hour broadcast, their absence was felt.
ALERT! ALERT! WE INTERRUPT THIS ARTICLE TO BRING YOU BREAKING NEWS (I know, it actually broke yesterday, but just play along, OK?)
Wow, that’s a blockbuster announcement. So, am I the only one who …
… really, really, really hopes AJ Styles wins the WWE Title from Jinder Mahal on next week’s “SmackDown Live?’
Hmmm, let’s see: Brock Lesnar vs. Jinder Mahal or Brock Lesnar vs. AJ Styles.
Yeah, I can guaran-damn-tee I’m not the only one.
WE NOW RETURN YOU TO YOUR REGULARLY-SCHEDULED ‘RAW’ THOUGHTS
Am I the only one who ..
… was disappointed in the finish of the Micke James-Alexa Bliss match?
With Bliss’ “RAW” Women’s Title defense against James placed in the main event slot, I had myself convinced that WWE was going to deliver an exciting, feel-good moment by putting the title on the affable James. Instead, Bliss pinned James clean after a single punch.
Not only was it a flat finish, but it also was far-fetched that little miss Bliss — all 5-feet-nothing and 100 pounds of her — could deliver a one-punch knockout. Scotty 2 Hotty pinning people with “The Worm” was more believable.
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… didn’t realize being team captain of the “RAW” women’s Survivor Series team meant that Alicia Fox could book matches?
Citing her status as captain, Fox backed out of her scheduled match with Bayley and named Nia Jax as her replacement.
During my time on the WWE creative team, I distinctly recall Vince McMahon saying in a booking meeting that “our Superstars cannot book matches. Come on, guys, it’s just not logical.” Of course, he also said, “Show me the stone. I can break my own rules, damn it.”
Ah, good times.
… was confused at first when Michael Cole included Nia Jax with Stephanie McMahon and Samoa Joe when he said it was a “night of returns?”
After doing some checking online, I learned that Jax hadn’t been on “RAW” in four weeks. Who knew?
… thought WWE made Titus O’Neil look like an idiot for turning his back on Samoa Joe?
That’s the dumbest move O’Neil has made since he grabbed Vince McMahon.
… wonders why The Miz (and Daniel Bryan before him) still hasn’t figured out that when he delivers a series of kicks to his opponent’s chest, his opponent is always going to duck the final one?
Then again, I also have wondered why John Cena’s opponents have never figured out that they shouldn’t swing wildly at him after he knocks them down with two shoulder blocks.
… didn’t find the Trick or Street Fight pitting Luke Gallows and Karl Anderson (as their “Southpaw Regional Wrestling” characters Tex Ferguson and Chad 2 Badd) against Heath Slater and Rhyno (as Santa and Mrs. Claus) to be a treat at all?
I love sports entertainment Halloween hijinks as much as the next guy, but for this type of silliness to be worth watching, the fans actually have to care at least a little bit about the participants. That’s why I enjoyed the Trick or Treat Street Fights in recent years in which Dolph Ziggler faced The Miz, and Dean Ambrose took on Cesaro.
The only thing that could’ve made me interested in this tag match is if Gallows and Anderson were dressed up as Jesse and Festus. Actually, with the way G&A have been booked by the nerds in WWE, a return to being the semi-comatose Festus might not be a bad idea for Gallows.
‘SmackDown Live’ thoughts
Am I the only one who …
… accurately predicted exactly how the finish of the Shinsuke Nakamura-Kevin Owens main event was going to go?
It couldn’t have been more obvious that Sami Zayn was going to interfere on Owens’ behalf and Randy Orton was going to neutralize Zayn to help Nakamura go over.
The only other thing that predictable on this show was that “The Fashion Files” segment wasn’t the least bit funny. Again.
… thought Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn were spot-on when they said Shane McMahon is making the show all about him?
Shane O’Mac was in the main event of the Hell in a Cell pay-per-view and now he’s in the main event of Survivor Series.
Remember that promo he and Daniel Bryan cut last year after the brand split about how their show wasn’t going to be all about the authority figures?
… realized that Shane McMahon was wrong when he said that “RAW” got twice as many picks as “SmackDown Live” in the draft last year?
Actually, “RAW” got three picks for every two “SmackDown Live” picks, which was fair considering “RAW” is an hour longer than “SmackDown Live.”
Who taught Shane O’Mac how to do math — Scott Steiner?