Triple H said Edge drew no dimes. Edge fired back attacking Trips' alleged sexual path to the top. His wife accosted Goldust in the back and called him a loser, but before that happened, AJ Lee maybe put the biggest dose of ether on the cheesecloth and put Jerry Lawler to sleep by claiming she was too old for him at 26. Who was writing the show tonight, WWE Creative or cynical smartasses on Twitter?
I don't know if my perception was skewed by seeing so much of the show couched in real life digs or whether my endorphins were on high alert from watching the Eagles run offense in the first half of their game tonight, but I thought the mic work was on point. WWE is squarely in the middle of an age of bullshit parity booking, so only very few people in the company can really get over on their opponents using in character achievements. John Cena is the one who benefits from this the most, but when he's the only guy who gets to point to the scoreboard, the show gets an overcoat of malaise, one that has been broken emphatically by the knee of one Daniel Bryan.
So when the narrative doesn't contain the plot points to be manipulated for heat, and you need to hit the big notes in the interim, then those chestnuts that have been dangled in front of a more hardcore crowd for the last fifteen years can sustain. Sure, I'm tired of hearing about how Triple H banged his way to the top, but I represent such a minuscule part of the audience. When the larger part of that crowd hears it, they still react. Hell, I and people like me still react too because that specific thread has not been tugged at in character.
In fact, most of what has been at the foundation of Daniel Bryan's saga is fresh territory for WWE, teased at by the Summer of Punk 2: PUNK HARDER, but fully realized with Bryan raging against the machine with the fury of a Tom Morello guitar solo but far more precision (although I will admit his beard and hairstyle represent the scratchy, sloppy edge around Morello's guitar style). Hinting at the McMahon family size fetish? Uttering the words "Best for Business?" Enacting the morality play between talent and look that I'm sure many of you guys out there fantasize happens in the WWE boardrooms?
For all the kayfabe-breaking strains that wrestling has taken on in the last 15 years, I can't remember a company hitting on those beats as well as WWE is right now at such a high level. One could argue TNA tried to blur those lines, but they were too close to Vince Russo's fountain of peyote and pop rocks to get their fingers on the pulse. The amount of touch needed to pull off storytelling this close to the line is tremendous, and to my surprise, WWE is pulling it off fine.
Obviously, jabs behind the curtain, or at least what the genpop perceives to be behind the curtain, can't be the only seasoning agent, but hey, wrestling is a dynamic, flowing stream of yarn-spinning. Tonight, the barbs worked, and thus RAW worked.
I don't know if my perception was skewed by seeing so much of the show couched in real life digs or whether my endorphins were on high alert from watching the Eagles run offense in the first half of their game tonight, but I thought the mic work was on point. WWE is squarely in the middle of an age of bullshit parity booking, so only very few people in the company can really get over on their opponents using in character achievements. John Cena is the one who benefits from this the most, but when he's the only guy who gets to point to the scoreboard, the show gets an overcoat of malaise, one that has been broken emphatically by the knee of one Daniel Bryan.
So when the narrative doesn't contain the plot points to be manipulated for heat, and you need to hit the big notes in the interim, then those chestnuts that have been dangled in front of a more hardcore crowd for the last fifteen years can sustain. Sure, I'm tired of hearing about how Triple H banged his way to the top, but I represent such a minuscule part of the audience. When the larger part of that crowd hears it, they still react. Hell, I and people like me still react too because that specific thread has not been tugged at in character.
In fact, most of what has been at the foundation of Daniel Bryan's saga is fresh territory for WWE, teased at by the Summer of Punk 2: PUNK HARDER, but fully realized with Bryan raging against the machine with the fury of a Tom Morello guitar solo but far more precision (although I will admit his beard and hairstyle represent the scratchy, sloppy edge around Morello's guitar style). Hinting at the McMahon family size fetish? Uttering the words "Best for Business?" Enacting the morality play between talent and look that I'm sure many of you guys out there fantasize happens in the WWE boardrooms?
For all the kayfabe-breaking strains that wrestling has taken on in the last 15 years, I can't remember a company hitting on those beats as well as WWE is right now at such a high level. One could argue TNA tried to blur those lines, but they were too close to Vince Russo's fountain of peyote and pop rocks to get their fingers on the pulse. The amount of touch needed to pull off storytelling this close to the line is tremendous, and to my surprise, WWE is pulling it off fine.
Obviously, jabs behind the curtain, or at least what the genpop perceives to be behind the curtain, can't be the only seasoning agent, but hey, wrestling is a dynamic, flowing stream of yarn-spinning. Tonight, the barbs worked, and thus RAW worked.