OO Column: Online Onslaught by Rick Scaia (Pro Wrestling News, Analysis, and Commentary... WWE, WWF, WCW, ECW, The Rock, Brock Lesnar, Triple H, Rob Van Dam, Hulk Hogan, Undertaker, Trish Stratus, Lita, Stacy Keibler, Divas, RAW, SmackDown, WrestleMania

OO RAW RECAP
Booked to Fail...
October 5, 2015

by Rick Scaia
Exclusive to OOWrestling.com

Sorry about last week, kids.... there was a bit of a technical snafu that tied up the initial version of the RAW Recap, and then, if you watched the show, you know it wasn't very good. So I decided not to make any additional efforts towards a RAW Recap. Sue me.

I also thought Pyro was gonna be back, but that wound up not being the case, either, so you got a whole week-long OO black-out. I can only assume you managed to make do....

But no excuses, and I'm back on the case this week. So here's what happened on tonight's just-completed edition of Monday Night RAW:

Opening Video Package for the Benefit of Those with ADD: OO does not recap recaps.

And then we're live in Boston, MA, where Cole & The Gang welcome us to the show by revealing a Special Attraction Match for later on in the evening.... it'll be the Dudley Boyz vs. Seth Rollins and the Big Show. Sounds like a good one to me. But in the mean time, Brock Lesnar is headed to the ring, so let's go see what he's got to say. Or what he's got to let Paul Heyman say for him....

BIG SHOW PASSES THROUGH SUPLEX CITY, WALKS AWAY UNDER HIS OWN POWER, BUT IS STILL MYSTERIOUSLY DEBILITATED

Is it just me, or is the audio seriously screwed up? Kind of tinny and with a bit of a weird echo...

But I'm more of a substance over style kind of guy, so let's pay attention to what Paul Heyman is saying, rather than how the words sound.... and his words are quite remarkable, as is Heyman's wont. Heyman quickly reminds us of what Lesnar did on Saturday at MSG.... but then he moves on to the Undertaker.

The Undertaker, who walked into our lives in November 1989, and who has always had his way with everyone who stepped into his path. The Undertaker doesn't know how to deal with defeat, because it so rarely comes up. The Undertaker pioneered Hell in a Cell to the point where he (Taker) considers it to be "his" match.

But the Undertaker is forgetting about one thing: BRRRRRRRRRRRRRRROCK LESNAR. Brock Lesnar already taught the Undertaker what it is like to lose at WrestleMania. So it will be no skin off Brock Lesnar's nose to teach the Undertaker what it is like to lose "his" match.

The Undertaker couldn't wrestle again for one year after facing Brock Lesnar. But then he returned, and he got back to his winning ways.... so the Undertaker took another 4 months to plot his revenge, and came back to cheapshot Brock Lesnar to cost Brock Lesnar the WWE Title. Then, in their return match, Undertaker cheapshot Lesnar again AFTER Taker tapped out while the ref wasn't looking. Paul Heyman is not impressed. Taker may think he's accomplished something with this last little outburst, but he's just pissed off the Beast.

So on October 25, inside Hell in a Cell, one man will walk out as the ultimate winner of the Brock Lesnar/Undertaker war. And the other won't walk out at all. That's not a prediction. That's a spoiler.
And that's when the Big Show decides to interrupt.... not sure what's he's gonna say, since he was suplexed about a half dozen times on Saturday night, and also F-5'd twice....

Lesnar just chuckles as Show gets into the ring (but Heyman does bail out, showing at least some respect).... Show says he's the "bigger man" and puts his hand out, admitting that Lesnar beat him on Saturday. But Lesnar declines the handshake, and walks out of the ring....

Show keeps flapping his guns, though. Show says Lesnar may have beat him on Saturday, but Lesnar is still a punk, and he (Show) hopes Lesnar gets beat by the Undertaker again at Hell in a Cell.

Well, that wasn't smart, Big Show. Lesnar gets a bit salty, gets back in the ring, and after a quick exchange of fists, Lesnar hits another F-5 on Show, and leaves the ring to huge cheers. Big Show rolls out of the ring, and manages to stumble away under his own power.

Backstage: Seth Rollins storms into Stephanie McMahon's office, and says "What the hell? Big Show was supposed to be my partner tonight!" Uhhhh, Seth, Big Show just rolled out of the ring, and was on his feet at the end of that segment. But I guess we weren't supposed to notice that? D'oh.

Rollins suggests that maybe they just scrap the whole match where he's supposed to face the Dudleys. But Steph doesn't see it the same way. She says they won't cancel the match, and that Seth is the Champ. He says he's "The Man." So maybe he should just "figure it out."

I imagine Seth will recruit the New Day to make it a handicap match, right? But the whole idea of needing a replacement for Big Show would have worked a lot better if Big Show had been, you know?, incapacitated, rather than on his feet, after Lesnar's F-5. So lame....

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ROMAN REIGNS, DEAN AMBROSE, RANDY ORTON vs. THE WYATT FAMILY

Before the match, Cole & The Gang make sure to make a big deal of the various pink amenities, as it is Komen For Kancer Month. I'm anti-cancer, and all, but they didn't bother mentioning the best Pink Thing.... NO, not my penis, you savages! I meant Lilian's dress. Very pink. Eye-rapingly so. Not my favorite color. But she wears it well.

So, this is a big six man super-battle, and it comes just 7 days after WWE promised that the Reigns vs. Wyatt feud was going to end last week on RAW. And just 20 days before the feud might ACTUALLY end inside a Cell Match. Is it wrong that I kinda don't really care, at this point? WWE's really jerked us around on this one, so I don't think it's my fault....

Meantime, the bell rings, Braun Strowmann shows off a bit, but then the faces all team up to tackle him out of the ring. As they celebrate the moral victory, the heels regroup, and we break for....

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Back, and Ambrose gets a sneaky small package on Harper, but then Harper bails out of the ring. Ambrose lays down and invites Harper back into the ring. Harper gets in, and Ambrose gets another sneaky small package. But then there's a tag to bring Stromann into the match, and just like that Ambrose ends up as the Face in Peril.

The heel beatdown goes on for a couple minutes, with Ambrose finally taking a tumble out of the ring. So we break for yet more....

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Back, and it's finally Bray, himself, getting involved, and kicking Ambrose's ass for a moment or two. But then Wyatt goes for a senton, and Ambrose dodges it... finally some separation! Ambrose makes the tag to Orton. Harper in on the corresponding move.

Orton goes on a tear, leading up to a Hanging DDT on Harper. Orton coils for the RKO, but Bray and Strowmann create distractions, and things break down into a Pier Sixer.

I missed the specifics, but somehow, Reigns became the legal man, setting up a spot where Reigns was calling for the Superman Punch on Harper.... but Bray interfered, and Harper hit the Lariat for a convincing near fall. But then, as Wyatt threatened to sneak in a Sister Abigail on Reigns, Orton got back into the ring. RKO on Bray, spear on Harper. Reigns gets the pin.

Your Winners: Reigns/Ambrose/Orton, via pinfall, in about 12 minutes. But with fully half of the match taking place during ad breaks, it was just disjointed and forgettable. The story -- Wyatt powders out and lets nature take its course, which is Reigns getting the pin -- isn't completely useless, but WWE's time mismanagement robbed this of any chance to feel like it was actually anything.

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NEVILLE vs. SHEAMUS

King Barrett is sitting in on commentary, and says that he's actually a huge fan of Neville, despite their past feud.... they're countrymen, and that counts for a lot. Last week, Neville was just in the wrong place at the wrong time, because Barrett was seriously focused on getting revenge on Stardust.

During his ring entrance, Sheamus cuts a bit of a promo, taunting Boston for claiming to be an Irish city, with a Celtic team, but not adopting a REAL Irishman as their hero. Then he makes fun of Neville for being a midget, leading to Neville jumpstarting the match.

Immediately, Barrett says that Neville behaved horribly, and took advantage of an unready Sheamus. So Barrett gets up to "have a word" with Neville. The distraction allows Sheamus to hit a flash Brogue Kick.

Your Winner: Sheamus, via pinfall, in 30 seconds. So yeah, that happened. I believe you can toss out any notion of a Barrett face turn, regardless of his actions last week....

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BIG SHOW IS REALLY INCAPACITATED, ROLLINS NEEDS A NEW PARTNER.... AND THE OBVIOUS HAPPENS.

Korporate Kane is standing in the ring, and wants to talk about Seth Rollins... specifically, Kane mentions that Seth Rollins is without a tag team partner for tonight's match against the Dudley Boyz. Kane has an idea, and it's this: maybe Seth Rollins' partner should be.... him, which is to say Korporate Kane.

Enter Rollins, who gets some cheap heat by comparing Kane to Tom Brady, and declines.... he doesn't want Korporate Kane as his partner. They go back and forth, with Kane tossing in a few innnuendos about "facing demons" and crap like that...

Stephanie finally interrupts the tortuous writery "dialogue," which is ironic to say the least. And then she says a bunch of stuff about how Tom Brady is a great leader and a great man, which is demonstrably false, to say the leaast. And then, randomly, she says that after everything that's happened lately, she thinks that it's time to name Seth's opponent for Hell in a Cell.... and it's gonna be Demon Kane.

And as for tonight, if Korporate Kane wants to be Seth Rollins' partner, so be it.

Kane seems to like both of these announcements.

But then, Steph drops a final bit of knowledge..... at Hell in a Cell, if Demon Kane doesn't beat Seth Rollins for the WWE Title, then Korporate Kane will be relieved of all duties.

Kane's not full-on upset, because he's still sort of pretending they aren't the same person, but he's definitely somewhat miffed. Meantime, Rollins goes from all-the-way-pissy to seeing a slight opening....

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Backstage: Rollins and Triple H are chatting, and HHH re-inforces Rollins notion that he (Rollins) holds all the high cards against Kane, now. He suggests that Rollins "do unto others, if you catch my drift," and Rollins starts chuckling.... I believe the subtext here is that Rollins will hang Korporate Kane out to dry tonight, before Kane can do anything to hurt Rollins.

NATALYA vs. PAIGE

Flurry by Nattie to start, but when the match spills outside, Paige turns the tide. Back into the ring, where Paige tries a couple different submissions, including a spider-monkey-like front facelock. Nattie powers out of that, but Paige just segues smoothly into an Abominable Stretch.

Nattie powers out, then dodges Paige's next running knee attempt. Discus Clothesline hits for Nattie's first near fall. It's all of 3 minute in, but Nattie's expression is totally over-done, as if we're 15 minutes into a war. That kinda takes the viewer out of it. Nattie's show of frustration gives Paige room for a quick rally, but Paige blows it by going for a cheap bitchslap.

This just pisses Nattie off, and Nattie goes on a tear, including her walk-over low dropkick combo, into a Sharpshooter attempt. Paige gets to the ropes before the SS is cinched, however. Another quick grapple, and Nattie ends up with the Sharpshooter cinched on the second try.

Your Winner: Natalya, via pinfall, in 4 minutes. Not bad, but not a well-conceived layout. They took a 4 minute match, and opted to try to trick the stupid in the audience into believing something epic happened. That was just not so, and ergo, the cognitive dissonance was mighty. Instead, they should have realized what you can do in 4 minutes, and painted a different picture, in which Paige underestimated Nattie, and Nattie just plain beat her ass quicker than you would have guessed. Create a storyline hook for WHY the match was so short... beats the hell out of trying to pretend the match wasn't so short.

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KEVIN OWENS vs. SIN CARA (w/ Kalisto) (Non-Title Match)

This match is apparently the result of some random act of dickery by Owens on the RAW preshow.... but until WWE makes PPV preshows worth anyone's while, why would a sentient being actually watch the RAW Preshow?

Owens dominates, but punctuates his dominance by making fun of Kaliso. "Why is there a 12 year old at ringside?" and so forth.

That preoccupation allows Sin Cara one brief rally. But the inevitability sets in.

Your Winner: Kevin Owens, via pinfall, in 2 minutes flat. I can state, with authority, that this is a thing that happened.

After the Match, Kalisto was checking on Sin Cara, and Owens decided to double his fun. He attacked Kalisto, and was setting up for the Zaynbuster Powerbomb.... that's when Ryback ran out for the save, and when Owens retreated instantly.

Backstage: Stephanie is playing on her phone, when the New Day show up. They are chanting "STEPH. ANEE. STEPH. ANEE." But Steph is all incongruously bitchy, saying that she's BUSY DAMMIT -- well, I guess if Big Show is SERIOUSLY INJURED when he WALKS AWAY from an F-5, then Steph can be BUSY DAMMIT when she's dicking around on facebook or playing Candy Crush -- and she doesn't want to hear one note out of that trombone.

Furthermore, she declares that she saw the MSG Show on Saturday, and as a result, she thinks the Dudley Boyz are due another tag title match, and they will get it, at Hell in a Cell. How's that, New Day, still Positive?

Honestly, is anyone even TRYING to keep an eye on continuity and character development? Steph hating on New Day is a completely left field development.... there are literally infinity more ways to introduce the Duds/New Day match than to have Stephanie randomly bitch it up. Oy.

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Boobs are Good: as previously mentioned, it's Komen For Kancer Month, and John Cena gives a little address from center ring. He's joined by a dozen cancer survivors, who insulate him from any boos. Even more impressive, Roman Reigns is also in the ring and says a few anti-cancer words, and the women are enough to keep HIM from getting booed, too! [The rest of the roster is assembled on the stage for the kick off to Cancer Awareness Month, but don't join in.]

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THE DUDLEY BOYZ vs. SETH ROLLINS & KORPORATE KANE

Kane is limping, but no crutches. Also, he is opting to wrestle in full shirt and tie. Kane volunteers to start the match, but Seth decides he'll start. I believe that's actually a full-on "SETH'S. THEMAN." chant from Boston (building off of SmackDown, where Rollins teamed with New Day).

Bubba responds by slapping Rollins when he tries to soak it in and yelling "YEAH, YER THE MAN, BUT WE'RE THE BEST DAMNED TAG TEAM OF ALL TIME!" Perfect play, by Bubba. Respect to the champ, but nudging the fans back towards the babyfaces.

The Duds sort of toy with Rollins for a bit, and Seth finally tags Kane in. The Dudleys -- as they should -- go for Kane's left ankle, and Kane breaks down. Rollins tags back in, and is disgusted by his weak-ass partner.

When the Dudleys regain the advantage on Rollins, Kane blind tags himself into the match, and proceeds to impress Rollins by dominating the Dudleys. Just like that, Devon is the Face in Peril, and Kane and Rollins start trading frequent tags to keep him that way....

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Back, and Devon's still playing Ricky Morton.... but about 30 seconds after we rejoin the fight, Kane stumbles, and tags out. A trainer tends to Kane, and suggests Kane get medical attention in the back... Rollins sees this, and is all "Nuh uh!" He's had enough of Korporate Kane leaving, only to have Demon Kane return, so he handcuffs Kane to the top rope.

But then Rollins dodges a charge, and Devon crashes into Kane, and the handcuffs break. Kane tumbles to the floor, and the trainer helps him to the back.

Hot tag to Bubba follows, and it's basically a one-on-two handicap match for Rolllins. The Dudleys go through their greatest hits, but when they get to the table part, they deviate... Bubba tells Devon to Get the Table.... but then Bubba goes out and helps Devon get the table, even though HE HAS NEVER DONE THIS BEFORE EVER....

So Rollins is able to hit a baseball slide into the table as they BOTH try to slide it into the ring, and the ref calls for the bell, because Seth used the table to his advantage?

Your Winners: the Dudleys, via disqualification, in 8 minutes. Yes, that was the finish. The Dudleys did something they've NEVER done, Rollins hit a dropkick, and the Dudleys win via DQ. Stupid. Offensively stupid. Who the hell thought of that, and then who the hell signed off on it as a valid pro wrestling finish? This is one of those things that it just hurts my brain to have WWE try something so dumb that I can't even fathom how it came to pass. It's such a bad idea that nobody should ever have had it, much less allowed it to pass quality control to make it to TV. Ugh.

After the Match: Seth lost the match, but he just baseball slided the table into the Dudleyz, so he had designs on continuing the assualt. That's when Demon Kane made his "surprise" appearance... the catch is that Rollins begged off and rolled out of the ring, so Demon Kane was left in the ring with the Dudleyz... and the Dudleyz put him through the afforementioned table. Yay, I guess?

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Earlier Today: the Bellas arrived at the Boston Gardens in a limo, and started walking towards the building.... but then, they were cut off by a big SUV, which is Sasha Banks' conveyance of choice. ANd sure enough, Team BAD hops out, and has a confrontation with the Bellas.

TEAM BAD vs. TEAM BELLA (Six Woman Tag)

Sasha, Naomi, and Tamina hit the ring first, and get a huge pop.... Sasha grabs a mic, and plays to her hometown crowd by saying she puts the "Boss" in "Boston" and.... then the Bellas music hits, and Nikki is randomly wearing a Yankees' hat, and cheap heat cheap heat cheap heat.

When we finally get to the match, Naomi and Nikki start. Naomi dominates, and then tags in Sasha for a huge pop. Sasha keeps on keeping on, and after hitting her big driving double knee corner strike on Brie, Brie bails out, and we have a break in the action.

Ergo, we break for....

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Back, and the heels are in control, and Naomi has taken over as Face in Peril.

What follows is about 4 minutes of chinlocks and awkwardness. With a few "We Want Sasha" chants peppered in. But mostly, chinlocks and awkward exchanges. Because why time compress the women's match that includes 4 women most fans don't take seriously (fairly or not, Tamina is viewed as low-talent muscle and the Bellas are toxic any time they pretend that their reality star resume matters), when you can time compress 2 women who might generate interest?

Then a hot tag to Sasha, and before you know it, she's got Alicia in the Banks Statement.

Your Winners: Team BAD, via submission, in about 10 minutes. Ten out of ten for giving the women some time, minus several million for which women. Look, I'm not a Bella Hater, because they've improved leaps and bounds since their comeback a few years ago.... but I'm also a pragmatist, and I recognize the reality of the situation. The Bellas, as characters, as predicated on things that fans don't respect. They talk about leaving "Total Divas" because they should have their own reality show.... but wrestling fans think "Total Divas" is a ludicrous waste of time, already, and "Total Bellas" would be even stupider. If the Bellas aren't gonna use their toxicity to be pure heels (and WWE refuses to let them do THAT, either, insisting on using them as tweeners), then WWE should at least keep their matches/segments short and sweet to nudge us towards a brave new Diva World.

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RUSEV WANTS GOLD BEFORE HE GIVES GOLD

Summer Rae is standing in the ring, and has a mic. She says that she's heard people saying "Summer is over," but she thinks it's just getting started. Ha, a pun?

When said pun flops, she changes subject, and says this isn't about her. It's about her man, the man who makes her feel so lucky, the man she goes home with every night.... RUSEV~!

Rusev hits the ring, and plays along with things long enough for Summer to dedicate a video package to him. She shoots it up to the TitanTron, for a 90 second highlight reel of Summer and Roo-Roo and puppies and so forth...

Rusev is left speechless, but finally spits out a half-assed admission that "I never really liked you at first, but last few weeks, is pretty good, Summer." Summer takes this the wrong way, and says that's great, because she's been thinking of asking Rusev something, and now, she knows the time is right....

Summer gets down on one knee, busts out a ring, and asks, "Roo-Roo, will you marry me?" Rusev is clearly surprised and taken aback... he's not sure how to respond. He says as much. Summer implores him, "I know this is sudden, but just think about it. I'll do things for you that that nasty little Lana never did, and we'll walk out of WrestleMania with you as WWE Champion."

Rusev finally makes up his mind and says "Yes." But after a moment of shock wears off, he issues a condition. He's saying "Yes," but not yet. First, Summer must bring him gold to wear around his waist. Until that happens, she will have no gold on his finger. The condition is clear: until Summer gets Rusev a title belt, he will not marry her.

And Summer seems pretty miffed by this condition, but after a pause, she takes Rusev's hand and leaves the ring.... and just like that, I think we got the foundation for that double-turn everybody's been talking about.

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JOHN CENA US OPEN CHALLENGE

Cena has ditched the anti-cancer t-shirt, and is back to his usual colors; his own hometown has given up on playing nice.... HUGE "John Cena SUUUUUUUUCCCCKKKKKSSSS" chants as he makes his entrance.

But who will come get some tonight? That last segment makes me think Ziggler fits, but let's wait and see....

No, it's Ziggler.... or at least, that's Ziggler's music playing. And playing. And playing.... but there's no Ziggler.

And then, the New Day show up, dragging Ziggler's limp carcass out onto the stage. They say they heard some Big News, and Dolph Ziggler was gearing up to challenge Cena.

But then, they made a Big Decision, and took out Ziggler. Because last week, Cena was a Big Man, and issued a Big Challenge, and the New Day came up short.... but now, Cena is still issuing that Big Challenge. And wow, wouldn't it be neat if there was a Big Challenger to accept that Big Match?

Big reveal, coming in three, two, one....

It's Big E.

JOHN CENA vs. BIG E (w/ Eggsavier Woods and Kofi Kingston) (US Title Match)

Full boxing style ring intros by Lilian, and then we ring the bell... Cena insta-dominates, so Big E bails out to regroup, and we insta-break for....

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Back, and BIg E has gained control, and is dominating Cena with a combiation of power moves and clapping.

A slo-mo replay of something that happened during the break is cringe-worthy, as Big E suplexed Cena onto his head.... ouch. The world knows Cena is taking time off soon, and if WWE wants to ret-con things so that THAT is the genesis of Cena's problems, I would believe it.

The heel beatdown continues for a bit, periodically punctuated by trombone. As fun and convincing as New Day are in their current role, I get the distinct impression that the live audience is not buying Big E as a legit threat to the title.... WWE built up this US Open challenge as a big deal, and this just wasn't it. The crowd is waiting for another shoe to drop.

So am I, come to think of it.

Big E's domination continues until about 11:03pm (eastern), at which point Big E drops the straps and suggests he's about to end the match. Instead, Cena fires up and goes into the Five Moves of Doom.

Eggsavier and Kofi hop onto the apron, and pull Big E out of the ring to safety.... the ref ejects them.

Big E grabs the trombone, and is fixing to use it.... but the ref yanks it away from him, and Big E eats an F-U. Just like that, it's over.....

Your Winner: John Cena, via pinfall, in about 10 minutes. WWE built it up like something was actually gonna happen in the US Open Challenge. Given that the fanbase knows Cena is taking time off soon, it was a great opportunity to toy with us.... but then they delivered precisely nothing. Oy.

After the Match: since Woods and Kofi were still at ringside, they just jumped back in and attacked Cena. Dolph Ziggler ran out to help even the odds, and in the chaos he DID manage to superkick Cena, which is the only potential story hook here. But it was not explored, as the New Day instantly took advantage of the 3-on-2.

The Dudleys ran out, and had a modicum of success. But with Cena and Ziggler out, it was just another 3-on-2, instead of a 4-on-3.... the New Day dominate the Dudleys, and stand tall as we fade to black.

And so ends the show... and so ends another apparently half-assed edition of the show. I mean, in fairness, WWE dumped Taker vs. Lesnar on us, and neither is a full-time performer, so they have to build weekly TV without the upcoming PPV main eventers.... that's not always easy.

But it's also not as hard as they've made it the past two Mondays. Last Monday was just a chore to sit through, even as a fan. Tonight, it was lots better, but still an overall miscalculation in terms of building a satisfying viewing experience.

The show was bookeneded by short-sighted and easily-correctable booking mistakes that turned the show into a bit of a eyeball-roll-inducer. Big Show takes a bump and is "written out" of a big tag match, despite LITERALLY BEING ON HIS FEET AT THE END OF THE SEGMENT WHERE HE WAS WRITTEN OUT? It's hard to take that seriously, especially given how obvious the rest of that story turned out to be.... and the New Day challenging Cena is a PERFECTLY VALID move, following up on last week, but only if you DON'T SPEND 3 HOURS OF TV MAKING IT SOUND LIKE SOMETHING REALLY HUGE AND AWESOME IS GONNA HAPPEN.... because then (and only then) the New Day are actually capable of disappointing fans. The New Day are performing like champs, and WWE figured out the only way to book them to fail...

But hey, in that giant hot mess, Ziggler superkicked Cena, so WWE apparently thinks that's enough to get you to wet yourself in glee, and tide you over for 3 more weeks. Me, not so much; I wanted something good NOW, because my stance is that there's never any really good reason to deliver something bad.... sometimes, you have to parcel out the good iin small doses, but you don't ever have to just antagonize the audience.

Which is mostly what WWE did tonight, by not having some very basic quality control measures in place... those same basic stories (Kane replacing Show to advance the issue with Rollins; New Day continuing their pursuit of Cena, but not as a huge swerve-promising main event) could have been told, but just packaged smarter.... this isn't the Angry Internet Smark screaming about how Daniel Bryan wasn't the one who cashed in on Cena (that person exists in statistically significant numbers, sadly), this is just a guy saying you don't have to book an off-week show in a way that can only annoy your core fan base.

I'm sick of talking about it. It's better for my mindset if I focus on things that make me smile, so I'm gonna go head off and find more youtubes of the Foo Fighters on tour, and just declare that this RAW gets a final grade of D-plus.

At the very latest, I'll see you all again in 7 days.... might be sooner, depending on whether or not NXT Takeover on Wednesday drives me to write anything. Even if I don't dust off the keyboard for a main page column, the OO Forums will be lousy with Takeover Talk (predictions, real time results, etc) effective immediately, so feel free to join in!

SMACKDOWN RECAP: Bonding Exercises

RAW RECAP: The New Guy Blows It

PPV RECAP: WWE Night of Champions 2012

SMACKDOWN RECAP: 18 Seconds? NO! NO! NO!

RAW RECAP: The Show Must Go On

SMACKDOWN RECAP: The Boot Gets the Boot

RAW RECAP: Heyman Lands an Expansion Franchise

SMACKDOWN RECAP: Losing is the new Winning

RAW RECAP: Say My Name

SMACKDOWN RECAP: Deja Vu All Over Again

RAW RECAP: Dignity Before Gold?

PPV RECAP: SummerSlam 2012

SMACKDOWN RECAP: Backfired!

RAW RECAP: Bigger IS Better

SMACKDOWN RECAP: Hitting with Two Strikes

RAW RECAP: Heel, or Tweener?

SMACKDOWN RECAP: Destiny Do-Over

RAW RECAP: CM Punk is Not a Fan of Dwayne

SMACKDOWN RECAP: The Returnening

RAW RECAP: Countdown to 1000

PPV RECAP: WWE Money in the Bank 2012

SMACKDOWN RECAP: Friday Night ZackDown

RAW RECAP: Closure's a Bitch

SMACKDOWN RECAP: In-BRO-pendence Day

RAW RECAP: Crazy Gets What Crazy Wants

SMACKDOWN RECAP: Five Surprising MitB Deposits

RAW RECAP: Weeeellll, It's a Big MitB

SMACKDOWN RECAP: #striketwo

RAW RECAP: Johnny B. Gone

PPV RECAP: WWE No Way Out 2012

RAW RECAP: Crazy Go Nuts

SMACKDOWN RECAP: You're Welcome

RAW RECAP: Be a Star, My Ass

SMACKDOWN RECAP: Needs More Kane?

RAW RECAP: You Can't See Him

SMACKDOWN RECAP: Lady Power

RAW RECAP: Big Johnny Still in Charge

PPV RECAP: WWE Over the Limit 2012

SMACKDOWN RECAP: One Gullible Fella

RAW RECAP: Anvil, or Red Herring?

SMACKDOWN RECAP: Everybody Hates Berto

RAW RECAP: Look Who's Back

SMACKDOWN RECAP: Care to go Best of Five?

RAW RECAP: An Ace Up His Sleeve

PPV RECAP: WWE Extreme Rules 2012

SMACKDOWN RECAP: Sh-Sh-Sheamus and the nOObs

RAW RECAP: Edge, the Motivational Speaker?

SMACKDOWN RECAP: AJ is Angry, Jilted

RAW RECAP: Maybe Cena DOES Suck?

SMACKDOWN RECAP: No! No! No!

RAW RECAP: Brock's a Jerk

SMACKDOWN RECAP: Back with a Bang

RAW RECAP: Yes! Yes! Yes!

PPV RECAP: WWE WrestleMania 28

E-MAIL RICK SCAIA
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Rick Scaia is a wrestling fan from Dayton, OH. He's been doing this since 1995, but enjoyed it best when the suckers from SportsLine were actually PAYING him to be a fan.