Tag: shane

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Vince Russo’s The Brand Recap – RAW Flashback Analysis, Undertaker Kidnaps Stephanie, Convincing Austin to Make the Save, More!

On today’s show, Vince and his co-host Jeff Lane will discuss the episode of Monday Night RAW from April 26th, 1999.

The night before this show was the Backlash PPV where The Undertaker kidnapped Stephanie McMahon. The end of that PPV ended with a cliffhanger, where Undertaker was shown kidnapping McMahon and that led right into Monday’s episode of RAW. Russo mentions how effective this cliffhanger was, and he wishes WWE would use cliffhangers more often in today’s product.

To kick off RAW, The Rock came out and cut a promo. As Rock was making his way to the ring Jim Ross was updating fans on Stephanie’s situation, mentioning that she still hasn’t been heard from. The Rock was then interrupted by Shane McMahon and The Corporation, signalling the beginning of The Rock’s babyface turn.

The Rock issued a challenge to Shane McMahon for a match later in the night and McMahon accepted which Russo really liked. McMahon wasn’t a chicken heel and he shouldn’t have been because he had two or three guys standing behind him.

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Mojo Rawley Being Groomed As The Next Big Babyface?

On this past episode of Smackdown Live, we saw Mojo Rawley take on Jinder Mahal yet again on WWE programming. It was under different circumstances with Mahal being WWE champion and Mojo fighting for a chance to be in the Money in the Bank ladder match. This match was match after Mojo told Shane McMahon he wanted more opportunities on Smackdown Live. Mojo put up one great fight but failed to come away with the victory.

We fast forward to Talking Smack and Mojo is one of the guests. Instead of sitting there whining and complaining, he owned up to the lost and gave repeated thanks to Shane for the opportunity. This whole stint may not mean anything to most of you, but it spoke something to me. I could be wrong here but I do believe this was the start of the big babyface push for Mojo Rawley.

Mojo Rawley is a superstar that is easy to love. He runs around all the time on his unlimited supply of energy, he hits hard, and he loves to have fun. He’s always been an exceptional talent that had his run stalled due to Zack Ryder getting injured. After that, we started seeing Mojo back in singles competition again. He would lose more than he would win, but you left the match feeling entertained by him. Then Wrestlemania comes along and the unthinkable happened when Mojo won the Andre the Giant Battle Royal. Sure he had help for Rob Gronkowski, but Mojo worked his tail off in that match and earned the victory.

 

Things were looking up for Mojo, until we recently stopped looking at him on our television sets. It’s like he vanished from the program. He recently showed on this past Tuesday, and there has to be a reason. We thought things were looking up for Mojo before, but this may only be the beginning. Heck with Mahal winning the WWE Championship, anyone is capable of winning some gold.

His actions on Talking Smack seemed like phase one in this plan. Although he failed to capture a spot in the Money in the Bank ladder match, big things are on the horizon for Mojo.

Sooner or later Mojo will get an opportunity at the United States Championship. Owens looks to feud with Nakamura for the time being, but he will need a new challenger after that is over with. A battle royal could be held to determine a number one contender, with Rawley coming out victorious. This would set up Rawley vs Owens for the title.

Owens won’t hold on to that title forever. Eventually he’s going to challenge for the WWE Championship. We saw with his run as Universal Champion that he can be a great heel champion. So he’s going to get a run as the top heel on Smackdown Live sometime soon. This works well for Mojo because he can be the one that swoops in and takes the United States Championship.  It’d be the first championship for Mojo, and what a celebration it will be.

The babyface push for Mojo seems to be beginning on a high note. If the crowd can stay behind him and help uplift him, then Mojo will receive all the opportunities he wants on Smackdown Live. When your moniker is “the land of opportunity”, you have to push new talent. The good thing is Mojo can be a special kind of talent and shoot up the ranks quick like Mahal did. Expect big things from Rawley, cause the hype train isn’t stopping anytime soon.

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The Taz Show Recap – Smackdown Analysis, In-Ring Psychology, Nia Jax Lashes Out, More!

Block 1:

Taz says that he enjoyed the different open to Smackdown Live last night. All five women who are competing in the Money in the Bank Ladder match next month cut promos in an old school ‘cold open’. He believes that from time to time, it’s a good idea for WWE to open their shows in different ways like this in order to keep fans guessing.

The only thing Taz didn’t like about these promos is that they all felt very scripted to him. He understands that each of these promos were very short, and it would have been tough for these women to ad lib promos that short.

He also says that by opening the show like this, WWE made their Smackdown Live Women’s Championship feel very important. Later in the show these five women went all out in a crazy brawl before Shane McMahon came to the ring and announced the first ever Women’s Money in the Bank ladder match. Taz thinks this is a great idea, and he’s looking forward to watching this match.

Featured NEWS Other ROH TNA WWE

The Taz Show Recap – Smackdown Analysis, Mahal’s Celebration, Ed Nordholm Goes Rogue, More!

Block 1:

Taz opens today’s show speaking about last night’s episode of Smackdown Live.

He says that he liked last night’s show, but he has a few criticisms as well. He says that Nakamura should have came out to the ring first in the opening segment of the night. Having Nakamura do his full entrance while all the other performers were standing in the ring felt incredibly long and awkward to Taz.

He understands that WWE wanted Nakamura to come out last because they’re building him as the biggest star. However, having him come out last put heels like Kevin Owens and Dolph Ziggler in a bad situation, because Taz expected those guys to just attack Nakamura while he was finishing his entrance in the middle of the ring.

Taz also points out that it was strange for Shane McMahon (a babyface authority figure) to give Kevin Owens (a heel) his way, after Owens complained about not being an entrant in the Money in the Bank ladder match. If Shane was a heel authority figure that would have made sense, but heels are supposed to complain, and it’s strange when babyfaces succumb to heel demands.

Taz says A.J. Styles should win the Money in the Bank ladder match in his opinion, because Styles is a top babyface who can surprise the Champion at any moment and have a terrific match. Styles is also good on the mic and can back up his briefcase win with believable promos.