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This week Raw happened in front of a crowd of wrestling fans considered to be hardcore. This was Brooklyn, New York and inevitably they did not shy away from speaking their mind.
From the unanimous ‘Ambrose’ chants to the marking out moment when the Rock returned to ‘Sandow’s better’- the Brooklyn crowd made the best out of whatever they could from this three hour Raw which also consisted of many redundant segments and matches.
The crescendo of the night belongs to the Rock returning for what seems like just a one-off thing and it’s better that way. Afterall, his last few runs haven’t exactly set the stage on fire. His absence only hampered things.
His promos weren’t at the level of greatness that they’re known to be. The Rock now, it seems, is at his best when he is doing these one off appearances. Remember Wrestlemania? It isn’t exactly easy to forget. These one off, unpredictable appearances are the ones that actually accentuate what this man is capable off. He was going on jutting out these one liners that don’t really make any sense but they immediately become cool the way Rock utters those words. The man’s got style.
A Tale of Two Segments
Ambrose has been allowed to showcase the unpredictable nature and range his gimmick can fathom. As trite as it sounds, he has turned out to be one of the most interesting characters on the roster. On Monday, he not only left his tag team partner in shock by leaving on a whim to go somewhere on the subway, he returned later that night, armed like a hero straight from a western movie and he wasn’t just armed with anything but mustard and ketchup. That made the crowd erupt.
Ambrose is, right now, not at par with The Rock and nobody expects so much of him so soon. But one has to believe that if Cena had tried this shtick, he’ll be booed out of the arena by the same hardcore fans who cheered rapturously for Ambrose. The reason can be that Ambrose wears a leather-jacket and isn’t really a clean chit, colorful hero like Cena is.
These two moments are important, precisely because there were two relatively new superstars involved. Rusev went one on one with the Great One. And Ambrose is now set to face Cena at Hell In The Cell.
The Rock and Rusev
While many think that the Rock’s involvement was a win-all situation and it got more attention to Rusev and Lana, it seems his return did for the Rock than it did for Rusev. Rock is probably not going to return and feud with Rusev. That seems a little outstretched. So, basically, if that segment is deconstructed, Rock came back and brought Rusev and Lana back on earth.
He basically went on with his plethora of catchphrases which came at the opportune moment and made his millions and millions of fans jump out of their seats. Even though it’s a big deal that of all the superstars, Rusev got to share the stage with Rock but what happened in that segment did nothing build Rusev as any threat. It just made a few points that the hatred towards him is not political and nothing to with Russia. Basically what WWE is trying to do is something very apolitical.
That’s the one point that came out of that segment and it does not seem that is likely to positively impact Rusev. Rusev, ultimately, might end up becoming a running joke. Next week or on Smackdown, the announcers will replay the footage and the Rock won’t come back to be on the receiving end of Rusev’s ire. So, basically, Rusev just couldn’t hold his own against the Great One.
On the other hand, Ambrose went one up on the resident babyface John Cena. Hell In A Cell can be pivotal if Ambrose actually wins. But since it’s Cena against Ambrose, it seems if he wins he’ll be deprived of a clean win. They might just go for Cena-Rollins, to carry the Ambrose-Rollins feud towards Survivor Series or Royal Rumble. But one thing is for sure- Ambrose is still the most interesting character on the roster and the Rollins-Ambrose feud id still the best.
