"WWE RAW" 6-7-10 Talkback (Spoilers)

[The Penguin]

Tonight RAW is three hours beginning at 8 p.m. ET and with SmackDown General Manager Theodore Long and the SmackDown Superstars in the house it will be Viewer's Choice! Head over to WWE.com and tune in an hour earlier for all the interactive action!


http://www.wwe.com/content/media/touts/splash/images/14664936WWE RAW #889
Monday, June 7, 2010 @ 8 p.m. ET/7 CT on USA Network

THE POWER IS YOURS!
For the first time ever, it's Raw Viewer's Choice Night and YOU, the WWE Universe, will control Monday Night Raw. Exclusively on WWE.com, you can pick the matches and stipulations for a three-hour Raw featuring Superstars from Raw and SmackDown.

RAW A-GAME
There'll be no need for a plan B when Bradley Cooper, Quinton Jackson and Sharlto Copley - stars of "The A-Team" - crash into Monday Night Raw in Miami as guest hosts. Tune in to see the infamous squad crash Raw Viewers' Choice Night.

Please remember that not everyone reads spoilers for taped programs and direct or side comments about WWE shows that have yet to air are not acceptable in this thread.

[Fifi Fanatic]

Khali and Hornswoggle in a title match??!

I hereby decree that fans should never be allowed to vote for anything ever again!

[ToonFaithful]

What happened with the Season 1 of NXT at the end?

[Matt Hazuda]

This ending rules!!!!!!!


the NXTwO is here and going to brutalize anyone in their way. I hope this angle works out well. It's the start of something awesome if they play it right.

[Spike Mcdougal]

If this wasn't a shoot they damn sure treated it like one

[ToonFaithful]

This ending rules!!!!!!!


the NXTwO is here and going to brutalize anyone in their way. I hope this angle works out well. It's the start of something awesome if they play it right.
Lol even all the faces like Danielson and Gabriel joined in! I liked that. All the bodies laying around the ring. OWNED.

[Mesousa]

Um...

I...

Raw got destroyed.

[dtemplar]

I have never seen an ending like this since Bash at the Beach in 1996.

[RedNinja84]

Wait, so if their stable, why was their a competition? Why are they all heels? Re they the new version of the Natural Born Thrillas?

[EinBebop]

The A-Team stuff made me want to see the movie less. They were close to redeeming it at the end... having Roddy Piper involved was inspired. And then Dusty Rhodes and Gene Okerlund came out to make the save and send us back into lunacy.

Now if Mr. T had come out to make the save, it would have all been worth it.

The iNXTvasion was a great idea that I think could have been executed a little better. The armbands just didn't fit and ruined the illusion of a shoot. It's hard to believe that out of all eight guys there weren't one or two who wouldn't have gone along with it, especially giving the animosity between certain participants. Especially Wade Barrett-- it seems like he has too much to risk and too little to gain in this. I think a group of five would have worked better on so many levels. Including the storytelling for season 2 of NXT.. does it matter who wins if there really are no losers?

[Matt Hazuda]

This sums up the end pretty much (http://tubedubber.com/#sJZiyW5nk4s:54OOBNC16VM:0:100:0:0:true).

[RedNinja84]

This sums up the end pretty much (http://tubedubber.com/#sJZiyW5nk4s:54OOBNC16VM:0:100:0:0:true).

4-Life

[SirLemming]

That was a very shaky Raw with a phenomenal ending. (A little long, but still phenomenal.) I think anyone who was worried about NXT's booking, putting over certain guys and not putting over other guys, has to realize now that there was a bigger plan behind all of it. This does make one wonder how they'll rationalize season 2, but... we'll find out tomorrow night. Should be interesting. Dare I say I'm actually... excited?

[RedNinja84]

Well I'll admit I am interested in how this develops. I wonder if they will shoe up on SD and act an "outsider" group to the rest of the WWE.

[Jin Kazama]

It's hard to believe that out of all eight guys there weren't one or two who wouldn't have gone along with it, especially giving the animosity between certain participants. Especially Wade Barrett-- it seems like he has too much to risk and too little to gain in this. I think a group of five would have worked better on so many levels.

I thought the idea of the whole group together kind of helped it, honestly. The fact that there were that many of them made it more believable that they could get away with what they did. A smaller group would allow them to be taken out by security or the Straight Edge Society/Cena team-up. That many people could keep people at bay while still tearing stuff up.

In regards to face NXT guys teaming with heels? That threw me off too. But, regardless of how much they hated each other on the show, aside from Barrett, they all lost, and all lost any shot at having their dream come true. I can kinda see them putting that to the side to accomplish a common goal if it means getting a contract somehow.

The only thing that threw me off was Barrett, since he already has one. But if you want to go straight storyline, the guy won a contract. If they take that back, he could threaten to sue. It's a paper-thin reasoning for this, but whatever. This is the first thing on Raw in months that I actually found myself really getting into. I'll take whatever lame excuse they want to give as long as they keep it up.

[RedNinja84]

Barrett will probably be revealed as the leader of the group.

[EinBebop]

You know what would have been the perfect ending to tonight's raw?

http://img32.imageshack.us/img32/7522/4428327318a5015693358ml.jpg

[langden alger]

Yet again Mcmahon proves to be a marketing genius. after that kind of ending, i'm betting the ratings are a bit higher for tommorow's new NXT season....they really have crafted this whole NXT rookie storyline beautifully. starting with the Cole/Bryan fued.

[Azrayel]

This show felt forever for 3 hours. Its a good thing I didn't tune out the main event which was worth watching. I hope something happens tomorrow on NXT that will further on season 1's attitude.

Also there is something that I just don't get, right before Lawler gets attacked Michael Cole and him were talking and as the rookies were heading their way we see King trying to attack but no sign of Michael Cole in the aftermath because he would have been caught by the rookies if he had try to run. So my point is I think Michael Cole is the main leader of this team to further the heel attitude we've seen of him on NXT. If my theory is true tht would be cool.

[Wonderwall]

I too thought that RAW was pretty awful..then the NXT thing happened and it totally saved the show from being a total wash. Very good ending, like someone else said a little long but it was cool, confusing, and intriguing. Now that NXT will be on the Score in Canada I can see how this might play out there as well.

[TnAdct1]

While everyone is saying that the ending was the best one in years, anyone else have problems with this impending storyline involving the NXT Season 1 Rookies? The two main issues here:

1. There's a good chance that either WWE will screw this up a la the WCW invasion angle of 2001 or it would feel like a retread of the nWo angle to those who have been wrestling fans for many years (heck, the whole idea of the NXT Season 1 Rookies tearing down the ringside area has shades of the infamous nWo Nitro episode that aired the Monday before Starcade 2007, one that resulted in WCW dropping the idea of even having Nitro be an all-nWo show).

2. To me, it feels like this move may add more damage to the already "injured" NXT program. Face it, the first season was rather bad, and with the WWE booking all the rookies of season 1 as "heels" in an invasion angle, it may end up turning off the few viewers still watching the show instead of boosting interest. In other words, since it's likely that NXT will be done after the upcoming second season, it feels like WWF is trying to salvage this failed experiment in wrestling via an invasion angle (they should have just made NXT a renaming of ECW and have the "rookies" of season 1 take over the roles of the "experienced" wrestlers that would be going to Raw or Smackdown to allow fresh new talent in this brand).

Other than the ending, the other thing worth commenting on was that I liked the twist of Rowdy Roddy Piper being the one behind the bad guys in the "A-Team" storyline, as it stayed true to his feud with Mr. T during the first two Wrestlemanias (no midget torturing though).

[email2003]

Holy crap! We finally got something going here WWE!!!! I haven't seen anything like this since the NWO in WCW back in the late 90's. Or when the WCW / ECW invasion in 2001. I LOVE IT!!!

Damn, I wish they would've got to Michael Cole too. Poor Justin Roberts the ring annoucer got his lights knocked out too! The crowd even threw thier watter bottles and sodas at the NXT group.

Cena had to ruin it though. He had to put up a thumbs up to let the kiddies know he was alright. Arghhhh!!!

Daniel Bryan to Cena: "You are not better than me. I am better than you!" So true!!!

BEST ENDING TO RAW EVER!!!!! FINALLY!!!!

[EinBebop]

Cena had to ruin it though. He had to put up a thumbs up to let the kiddies know he was alright. Arghhhh!!![/B]I think that maybe he didn't know they were still on the air... it did go on and on. And generally no matter how bad things look at the end of a tv taping, they generally want the live audience to go hom happy.

[Fifi Fanatic]

Figures that something cool would happen when I give up on the show and go to bed early. XD

[zoombie]

WWE don't they realise no one cares about NXT, so they kept trying push it down our throats. Raw closes trying to promote this crap.

[Mesousa]

WWE don't they realise no one cares about NXT, so they kept trying push it down our throats. Raw closes trying to promote this crap.

There was a small "NXT!" chant.

[Ioz]

Although the show overall wasn't good, the ending was pretty awesome. I'd rather see a smaller stable with just Barrett, Bryan, Otunga, and Gabriel than using them all.

[Matt Hazuda]

Figures that something cool would happen when I give up on the show and go to bed early. XDWWE.com posted video of the beatdown (http://www.wwe.com/content/media/video/vms/raw/2010/june8-14/14690316), albeit in edited form.

I'd love a picture of Josh Mathews being choked out with his own tie. That was hilarious :sweat:

[Kindness King]

Ugh, so many nitwits elseware on the internet crying out garbage like this is "the end of the PG era" and such. :shrug: Do they just not remember that the Federation era was also PG and plenty successful? No, clearly the only good generation is the Attitude era and nothing else. Nevermind how much utter waste it had.


Anyway, this ending was....different. I somehow doubt this will be a year-long angle like the WCW/ECW Alliance thing, but the people here comparing it to NWO are right on the money. If they're going to do this, I hope they're able to go all out with it, "PG era" or not. :cool:

[hobbyfan]

WWE.com posted video of the beatdown (http://www.wwe.com/content/media/video/vms/raw/2010/june8-14/14690316), albeit in edited form.

I'd love a picture of Josh Mathews being choked out with his own tie. That was hilarious :sweat:

That was Justin Roberts being choked with his own tie. Josh was backstage.

Reviewing the show:

The matches were thrown together virtually the day of the show because, as Meltzer's site reported all weekend, nothing had been booked prior. What does this tell us? That they had no clue about how to fill 3 hours, just 6 weeks after the last 3 hour show (draft).

Khali/'Swoggle vs. Hart Dynasty gets maybe a couple of minutes. Ditto for Matt Hardy vs. Drew McIntyre. They're stupid if they don't pick up on the plot thread D-Mac laid out, that maybe, just maybe, he faked those letters from Vince McMahon, letting the chairman's endorsement go to his head.

Mizizzle goes over John Morrison----again---on Morrison's 1st night back on Raw (missed the last two weeks with an ankle injury), only because Mr. Reality TV is still on NXT. I thought for sure it'd go the other way, since Zack Ryder can't buy a win on his own.:ack:

Sheamus-Kane----meh. Could've been booked better, but they had to protect Shea going into Fatal 4-Way.

Women's battle royal gets a meh as well. It's time someone else challenged Eve for the Diva belt, other than Maryse. But what does it say when Eve can eliminate the Gossip Girl wannabes from Smackdown (Team LayMe-O) by herself?

Now, on to the finale. I think Uncreative got caught off-guard with the fans picking CM Punk. He gets, well, punked, by the NXT Generation, if ya will, along with Luke Gallows, John Cena, Jerry Lawler, Mark Yeaton, Matt Striker, & Justin Roberts. People have said Michael Cole ran for the hills. Probably took Serena with him, as she was also MIA at the end. And no one comes out to try to stop this.

The fact that so many people here are talking about it means they accomplished their mission. It's stirred interest in tonight's "season 2" opener, and whether or not "season 1" will show up there and/or on Smackdown. What if they also were "responsible" for Undertaker's "vegetative state"? It means you have to watch and find out.

As for the "A-Team" 2.0, I guess Bradley Cooper didn't get the memo. He makes a brief cameo, not realizing Rampage & Sharito were in character, and it played out like a Face/Murdock misadventure from the latter years of the series. Gene Okerlund made 1 appearance on the series (the 1st of Huckster Hogan's 2 guest gigs), but the movie, I think, will not be anything like this. Roddy Piper turning heel for the night. That felt random. Was Dana White consulted about this? ;) :p :D

And, finally, Dusty's in tha house, eef yew weel, aboard the WWE's muthaship. ;) :p :D

[mumbo]

The show really was nothing but the ending. It was a long, excruciating three hours, with no good matches and painful segments. The Viewer's Choice thing really cut into match time by the look of it.

CM Punk being chosen was pretty awesome, I was absolutely convinced it would be Mysterio in a landslide. Not that it really mattered who would have been picked, since NXT would have shown up at the end anyway.

Great ending by NXT, very intense, and for the first time in a long while I uttered a good "WTF?" in response to the show. It would be awesome to see this factor into Season 2 as well, breaking down trust between the mentors and rookies, and the new batch trying to prove that they're not going the same way as the original eight.

[Zen Man]

Fantastic ending to RAW for a change.

It'd be cool if the NXT guys acted out of their own will, but I can't help but think someone is influencing these guys. There might be a 'mastermind' whose calling the shots.

[TnAdct1]

Roddy Piper turning heel for the night. That felt random.No it wasn't. As I mentioned earlier, Piper's heel turn for the night is a throwback to the early days of Wrestlemania, where he fought Mr. T, the original B. A. Baracus, first in a tag team match at the original Wrestlemania, then in a boxing match at Wrestlemania 2.

[Lord Pumpkin]

Fantastic ending to RAW for a change.

It'd be cool if the NXT guys acted out of their own will, but I can't help but think someone is influencing these guys. There might be a 'mastermind' whose calling the shots.


It can't be Vince, if it was he would have been there. If the NXT guys did veg Taker, then his mojo magic could have done something.

Some fans wanted the Rock to show up, but no dice.

As for the new A-Team flick, I'm going to watch the Karate Kid instead.

[ToonFaithful]

There was a small "NXT!" chant.
Just like how they did "ECW! ECW!" and I lol'd at Cena getting attacked because he takes so much crap. Remember when ECW invaded RAW and Cena got smashed by Sabu's dive?

[Azrayel]

hobbyfan, you made a pretty good connection on these guys could be the attacker of Undertaker. I'm sure one person could not have put Undertaker in a vegetative state. A group perhaps not one person.


Fantastic ending to RAW for a change.

It'd be cool if the NXT guys acted out of their own will, but I can't help but think someone is influencing these guys. There might be a 'mastermind' whose calling the shots.

Yeah thats what I'm saying. I can see Wade Barett as the leader but someone else as the even bigger leader.

Which leads me to believe its Michael Cole. No way could he have not been attacked when he ran away, Daniel Bryan would have gone after him. I'm not sure if he was out at the time Skip Shiffield, Justin Gabriel, and Heath Slater were but he would be seen out at ringside couple seconds later. Plus this could further on the heel Cole we've only seen on NXT.

So if season 1 rookies come out and attack again, and Michael Cole is unharmed I will be further convinced he is the one 'pulling the strings' in this operation.

[Zen Man]

hobbyfan, you made a pretty good connection on these guys could be the attacker of Undertaker. I'm sure one person could not have put Undertaker in a vegetative state. A group perhaps not one person.



Yeah thats what I'm saying. I can see Wade Barett as the leader but someone else as the even bigger leader.

Which leads me to believe its Michael Cole. No way could he have not been attacked when he ran away, Daniel Bryan would have gone after him. I'm not sure if he was out at the time Skip Shiffield, Justin Gabriel, and Heath Slater were but he would be seen out at ringside couple seconds later. Plus this could further on the heel Cole we've only seen on NXT.

So if season 1 rookies come out and attack again, and Michael Cole is unharmed I will be further convinced he is the one 'pulling the strings' in this operation.

I'm with you, I think it's Cole too.

[RedNinja84]

After rewatching the footage, Cole had to escape through the crowd since they didn't show him running away. They could be pulling the old "higher power" angle from the Attitude days.

[EinBebop]

So there's a lot of positive buzz today regarding this angle. And isn't it always the ones that we're most positive about that end up being the biggest disappointments?

I'm predicting that politics sets in, and that they feel the need to remind us that individually these guys are not superstars. Handicap matches that reinforce that one WWE superstar is worth more than two NXT rookies. I'm not saying that they should be out there winning all of their one-on-one matches... but I think that to counter-balance how strong they are as a group, they're going to be made to look weak on a smaller basis... too weak.

It does need to happen to some degree, but not to the degree that people stop caring because this is just a bunch of losers who banded together. I think the right move is to establish two or three of these guys... Barrett and Bryan are the obvious choices. You know they want to push Otunga. And the cold look on Gabriel's face right before he did his flippy-move sparked a little interest for me. Let there be an elite portion of this group, and let the rest be fodder. That's how this will work.

Please don't screw it up, please don't screw it up...

[PTurkey]

The NXT invasion was so awesome. I was excited about NXT for the Kaval thing, but this has excited about the whole WWE now. You know Tarver's gotta be very excited too, since he can make the NXT-shirts for all his new stablemates.

I doubt Cole is in on it. The only reason he was spared was that King was in between him and the NXT guys. He sounded panicked up until King got attacked; that was Cole's cue to drop everything and just haul ass and GTFO, since I'm sure he didn't want to get beat up again. And also he didn't get beat up since that would only cause people to cheer the NXT guys.

[The Penguin]

Well, think "Viewer's Choice" is a fun idea that can get better in future years. It was a bit like Cyber Sunday/Taboo Tuesday in that many of the choices it was rather obvious what most people would vote for, but that's okay on at least some level.

We did kind of start that way when Teddy talked with Bret and offered the debate, sit-up contest or one-armed match for Edge and Randy Orton.

I liked the Big Show thinking of the fans who voted for an over-the-top challenge or a submission match after he won the body-slam challenge. He gave 100% of the WWE Universe what they wanted. :p

I don't think anyone should be surprised Khali & Hornswoggle got more than half the tag team votes. I gave my love/vote to the DudeBusters, but sadly that barely made a dent. The Usos (either John & Jey or Jimmy & Jey depending on whether you ask the graphic or Cole) were finally turned away this time.

He seems like a good sport, but maybe Bradley Cooper didn't want to be part of the crazy antics of Sharlto Copley/Murdock and "Rampage" Jackson/B.A. Baracus.

I kind of liked the Bellas bumping into Murdock and B.A. after they were hired by the King and the twins confusion as to who they were actually talking to. It really set the tone for what was to come.

You knew Santino-Kozlov was going to be the dance-off. My vote was part of the whooping 84% and it was pretty entertaining and probably better than the match or arm-wrestling contest would have been. Kozlov was actually pretty good.

For those across the Internets that have been saying the attack at the end means the end of PG, all you need to do is point to the Divas match in that it was three match choices and not the "fulfill your fantasy" battle royal that was featured at most if not all Taboo Tuesday/Cyber Sunday events. It might have been a bit interesting to see if Layla & Michelle both tried to face Eve, but the battle royal was what I wanted to see. Almost surprised Maryse won, but that's fine with me.

Kane confronting Sheamus probably helped his vote total. I voted for Bourne because I wanted to do my part to show that the "WWE Universe" was ready for him, but sadly, it didn't turn out that way. Sheamus probably would have walked on anyone.

Little did we know what Wade Barrett meant when he told Savannah to ask him next week about what impact he was looking for make.

I loved Ted DiBiase calling I.R.S. "Uncle Irwin" with the reveal that he had repossessed Lawler's crown. The gas was a bit much but funny at the same time.

I fully expected Morrison to win as Truth's partner, but it was a nice surprise to see Zack Ryder win the vote as Miz's partner. I personally voted for Ziggler, but hopefully it can mean something good that in a battle of heels, Ryder got 45%.

Good to see Kane remember SummerSlam '97: Hart & Soul in his confrontation with the RAW GM. I don't think Kane is going to find the perpetrator this way.

I feel like it's not looking good for Randy Orton to actually make it to Fatal 4-Way. If he does enter the match, I wonder if he'll be able to finish it. Edge lost here, but he sure looked like a winner.

It was good to see Evan get some love for John Cena after he didn't get much in the fan vote to face Sheamus.

Gene randomly interviewing Murdock after he woke up and his insults of Josh was fun.
"Gene, can we talk about this?"
"Hey, save it, loser!"

Teddy introducing the "mystery opponent" for Drew McIntyre was a great way to go to the break. Matt Hardy's beating and then full in destruction of McIntyre was a site to behold. That was a great to get around his suspension. :cool:

Just thinking again about B.A. waking up cuffed to a chair with DiBiase, Virgil and I.R.S. around him is making me laugh. :lol:

And then it got even better when we find out that Rowdy Roddy Piper hired the three to capture the new Mr. T so he could do it all over again. Murdock getting Dusty Rhodes to help him was a bit of a non sequitur, but I can roll with it.

I was certainly surprised to see CM Punk pulled down 45% on his way to the ring. Maybe people are starting to get tired of Rey Mysterio (I know it happens to me sometimes). Of course, who Cena faced was not really important...

Wade Barrett coming out was not something I expected, but not a huge shock as one could expect him to want a big impact. The other seven though, I didn't expect to see! The way they just destroyed everything and I mean everything was just a huge shock. The ripped everything apart, including ring announcer Justin Roberts. :eek:

I haven't even heard the promo Wade Barrett will lead either yet this week or in the near future and I already know what they are going to say. They are going to talk about being branded and disrespected, being forced to play on inflatables, talk about flowers, sell programs, run around the arena and guzzle soda as if that would somehow allow them to prove themselves. To me those yellow 'N' armbands are to represent how they were "branded" as Rookies, with everything about the title implying they were not as good as guys like Great Khali, Vladimir Kozlov and Santino Marella.

I can totally buy Barrett as the leader because by the end, he had pretty much all of their respect. I can just see him talking to the seven of them either individually or as a group, telling them how they need to band together in order take back their dreams and their goals. Six days ago, Wade Barrett seemed destined to need to have a logical reason as to why he was facing the United States or Intercontinental Champion. Now, you put him in the ring with the WWE Champion at Money in the Bank or Night of Champions and he will look like he belongs in there with him. The arrival of the NXT 8 brings up this most of all...

How far will someone be willing to go; what will they be willing to do, when they have nothing to lose?

[Spike Mcdougal]

I noticed this last night but then forgot about it after the beatdown. Not only are we suppose to not remember that Virgil wrestled and talked for a while but we're also suppose to for get that Roddy Piper was the one responsible for all of it too

[TnAdct1]

The NXT Attack a la Platoon (http://spoonyexperiment.com/2010/06/08/the-nxt-rookies-do-the-whole-village/)

[Fifi Fanatic]

Well, I saw Cena's thumbs up on the replay and didn't have any problem with it. I could see it from a kayfabe standpoint. "I've had better days but I'm still in one piece, folks."

(And I'm a Cena hater. The universe must be about to implode if I'm cutting him some slack). :anime:


Oh yeah, and if WWE Shop comes out with one of those "N" armbands, I'm getting one! :D

[cnfan91]

Like most have already said, RAW was so-so and not that good until the ending. Michael Cole is a coward, he should have stayed and took a beating like a man like the rest of them did.....lol

RAW was so boring for most of the show and it seemed to just drag on all night because of all the lame choices that the fans voted for. The ending with the the NXT rookies beating up everyone and tearing up stuff was awesome. Hopefully the WWE will keep the storyline going and won't drop the ball with it.

[Aces 21]

I had to go into work on Monday, and I kind of felt that this RAW would be lame to average. I did come in at the final hour and there wasn't much to go on about, except for the NXT run-in.

I admit that I loved it, and it produced a "WHA?" moment for me. It was totally unexpected. Wade Barrett did say something about change, didn't he? I'm guessing that if the NXT Season 1 rookies come back, he'll probably come back with that theme he earned in the competition.


Off topic:

This has been bugging me for a while now, and I'm not sure about anyone else feels about this. I kind of feel that these three hour RAWs are starting to lose their luster. As far as I can recall, we've had about three of these shows in Bret's return, the Draft, and 6/7/10. I have a feeling that they're going to do them around either Thanksgiving or Christmas. Probably both.

These three hour events won't feel special to me at all if they kind of do them in quick succession. The WWE can back off on these events, or do a "One Night Only" special sometime.

[bigddan11]

I honestly don't see why people are complaining about the Cena thumb deal. Is it really any different than the professional football players that do the same thing when they are being carted off if they are conscious?

[hobbyfan]

I honestly don't see why people are complaining about the Cena thumb deal. Is it really any different than the professional football players that do the same thing when they are being carted off if they are conscious?

Dan, you make a great point. It's nothing special, so why should anyone make an issue about it?

Now, rather than make a separate post, I'm going to offer a theory as to who could be behind all this.

On Meltzer's site, Ben Miller suggested that it may be a means to bring back Batista to get revenge on Cena. I disagree, and the fact that they continued this angle at an FCW event last night goes toward the theory I have.

Much has been made of the fact that Michael Cole escaped the carnage (as did Serena). Cole has played the heel vs. Daniel Bryan during season 1. But what if it isn't Coleslaw covertly at the helm after all? What if it is...............

Josh Mathews?

Don't laugh. Josh was a runner-up in season 1 of Tough Enough, finishing 3rd, I think, behind Maven & Chris Nowinski. Those two had short careers in WWE. Nowinski, as we all know, was forced to retire due to post-concussion syndrome and is now the founder of the Sports Legacy Institute, probing the root causes of concussions. Maven was cut back in '05 after 4 years (counting his TE run) with the company. Josh wrestled one high profile main event, but was booked to look like a deer in the headlights teaming with Booker T on Smackdown several years back. He wrestled briefly for Hulk Hogan's XWF before being called back to WWE as an announcer, a job he's had since.

Take note that Savannah (Angela Fong) shared backstage duties with Josh on Monday and was herself taken off NXT on Tuesday, replaced by Jamie Keyes. Consider how Josh was treated by Gene Okerlund during Raw. He defended Bryan all the way through season 1 of NXT. Don't you think frustration would play a role in him possibly being the secret leader of the NXT Rebellion?

Josh got rave notices doing play-by-play on Velocity, and has been favorably compared with Joey Styles. Remember, too, that Joey was forced to retire from broadcasting 2 years ago and shunted off to being managing editor of WWE.com, and the fact that Josh emulates Joey's style doesn't win him points with the top brass. He understands what the "rookies" are going through. He "feels their pain", if you will. While on the surface, NXT winner Wade Barrett would be the natural leader, he'd have to have someone "on the inside" that would help him. Josh fits because he knows all of these guys, having called some of their matches in FCW.

What it boils down to IMPO is that it becomes the establishment (WWE) vs. the internet community, embodied by the NXT group. Vince McMahon knows that there are people who are not fond of the way he used Bryan Danielson (Daniel Bryan), and don't like the fact that Kaval, another veteran of the indies, has been saddled with 2 "Gossip Girl" rejects in Michelle McCool & Layla El for the same reason, to get a rise out of the IWC. What better way to fan the flames, then, than to use the emotions of the IWC (i.e. the apathy toward Cena) to build a storyline. It's genius.

Of course, it would raise even more ire if Styles were to be the shadow leader, but he's been off the air since a cameo appearance at the '08 Slammys. Mathews is much more visible, and would be the last guy you'd expect to be the leader of this cabal.

NXT Spoilers
Some of the comments of the NXT II "rookies" suggest the fact that they would unite with their brethren given half a chance, something the "pros" tried to stifle at the end of Tuesday's NXT broadcast. It's only going to further the issue. I see not only Jerry Lawler, but also Matt Striker suiting up for battle. Striker has only been "retired from competition" for about a year or so, and hasn't won a match in about, oh, 3-4 years, but after Monday, you'd think he'd want to take a stand. You know Lawler will, especially if they return to Memphis.

Discuss.

[Kindness King]

I find it amusing when some people speculate about something, even when there's no evidence for it. What proof is there that the Rookies were working with someone "on the inside"? Who says there has to be a "secret mastermind" behind it? :confused:


Obviously, Wade Barrett is the one in charge. Using his charisma to unite the Rookies to send out a message to the WWE Management that they're not going to be treated like jokes or be pushed around anymore. All that happened Monday was they came out and destroyed anyone and everything in their path, that was it. What does having a mastermind explain, then? What would someone working with them get out of it?



If there even somehow was a mastermind, it's not Michael Cole. I like Cole, and I extremely like him as a heel, but why would he work with Daniel Bryan or any of the other rookies when he's made his disdain for Bryan known from the start? It doesn't make any sense, plain and simple. I'm sorry, but him getting out of the way of the riot scene isn't nearly enough to go on.

[Aces 21]

Dan, you make a great point. It's nothing special, so why should anyone make an issue about it?

Now, rather than make a separate post, I'm going to offer a theory as to who could be behind all this.

On Meltzer's site, Ben Miller suggested that it may be a means to bring back Batista to get revenge on Cena. I disagree, and the fact that they continued this angle at an FCW event last night goes toward the theory I have.

Much has been made of the fact that Michael Cole escaped the carnage (as did Serena). Cole has played the heel vs. Daniel Bryan during season 1. But what if it isn't Coleslaw covertly at the helm after all? What if it is...............

Josh Mathews?

Don't laugh. Josh was a runner-up in season 1 of Tough Enough, finishing 3rd, I think, behind Maven & Chris Nowinski. Those two had short careers in WWE. Nowinski, as we all know, was forced to retire due to post-concussion syndrome and is now the founder of the Sports Legacy Institute, probing the root causes of concussions. Maven was cut back in '05 after 4 years (counting his TE run) with the company. Josh wrestled one high profile main event, but was booked to look like a deer in the headlights teaming with Booker T on Smackdown several years back. He wrestled briefly for Hulk Hogan's XWF before being called back to WWE as an announcer, a job he's had since.

Take note that Savannah (Angela Fong) shared backstage duties with Josh on Monday and was herself taken off NXT on Tuesday, replaced by Jamie Keyes. Consider how Josh was treated by Gene Okerlund during Raw. He defended Bryan all the way through season 1 of NXT. Don't you think frustration would play a role in him possibly being the secret leader of the NXT Rebellion?

Josh got rave notices doing play-by-play on Velocity, and has been favorably compared with Joey Styles. Remember, too, that Joey was forced to retire from broadcasting 2 years ago and shunted off to being managing editor of WWE.com, and the fact that Josh emulates Joey's style doesn't win him points with the top brass. He understands what the "rookies" are going through. He "feels their pain", if you will. While on the surface, NXT winner Wade Barrett would be the natural leader, he'd have to have someone "on the inside" that would help him. Josh fits because he knows all of these guys, having called some of their matches in FCW.

What it boils down to IMPO is that it becomes the establishment (WWE) vs. the internet community, embodied by the NXT group. Vince McMahon knows that there are people who are not fond of the way he used Bryan Danielson (Daniel Bryan), and don't like the fact that Kaval, another veteran of the indies, has been saddled with 2 "Gossip Girl" rejects in Michelle McCool & Layla El for the same reason, to get a rise out of the IWC. What better way to fan the flames, then, than to use the emotions of the IWC (i.e. the apathy toward Cena) to build a storyline. It's genius.

Of course, it would raise even more ire if Styles were to be the shadow leader, but he's been off the air since a cameo appearance at the '08 Slammys. Mathews is much more visible, and would be the last guy you'd expect to be the leader of this cabal.

NXT Spoilers
Some of the comments of the NXT II "rookies" suggest the fact that they would unite with their brethren given half a chance, something the "pros" tried to stifle at the end of Tuesday's NXT broadcast. It's only going to further the issue. I see not only Jerry Lawler, but also Matt Striker suiting up for battle. Striker has only been "retired from competition" for about a year or so, and hasn't won a match in about, oh, 3-4 years, but after Monday, you'd think he'd want to take a stand. You know Lawler will, especially if they return to Memphis.

Discuss.

That's very interesting seeing as how he'd be the one you'd never expect it.

I'm taking into account that Josh has been doing commentary for not too long (by WWE standards, however long that may be), and is seen as rather young along with the likes of Todd and Striker. I'm going with Cole's been in the business long, and doing both commentary and interviews off and on. I believe it to be new vs. old, and it's time for the vets to be put on notice.

The whole NXT demolition derby was a warning shot, and on NXT the Pros decided to retaliate. Striker strikes me as a sleeper cell in that as far as I know, there has been some tension between him and King in some of the matches that they've called together. Striker was willing to take the hit in the carnage and make us believe that because he was no longer an active wrestler, we would believe he'd side with the announce team, feeling a sense of camaraderie. Under the surface, he's just as tired with the old guard as well, and he wants to make an impact in some way soon.

[dtemplar]

Do you guys think we'll see another NXT attack tomorrow on Smackdown?

[The Penguin]

I would like to remind everyone that as this is the talkback for RAW, any comments that are spoilers for NXT, Superstars or SmackDown do not belong here. Thanks. A poster who has not seen NXT yet should still feel "safe" reading the RAW thread.


Do you guys think we'll see another NXT attack tomorrow on Smackdown?The more I think about it, the more I think there will not be and for those that have already read the SmackDown spoilers, please remember our not new, but fully defined policy...

Please remember that not everyone reads spoilers for taped programs and direct or side comments about WWE shows that have yet to air are not acceptable in this thread.