The Taz Show Recap – Joe Gets A Spotlight, WWE Needs to get Creative with “Woken” Matt, Jax/Amore Storyline A Rib? More!

Taz thought last night’s episode of Monday Night RAW was pretty good overall. He’d recommend that people watch it if you haven’t already because there were a number of good matches on this show, but unfortunately a lot of the finishes were very predictable.

He points out that although starting RAW off with a match is usually a nice change, he actually liked that a promo segment opened the show last night because seeing Samoa Joe in that opening spot is rare. He thought Joe cut a very good, passionate promo and everything that came out of his mouth was very believable in Taz’s opinion.

When Roman Reigns finally responded to Joe’s demands and made his way to the ring, Taz thought this would have been a good chance for WWE to refrain from playing Reigns’ entrance music. He points out that entrance music isn’t alway necessary, and this particular segment would have been better off without Reigns’ music in Taz’s opinion.

Taz loved the physicality between Reigns and Joe when they finally interacted in the ring, and he enjoyed that Joe was highlighted here. Overall, he thought this was a very enjoyable segment that made for a great opening to RAW.

Taz was surprised to see Paige in action again on RAW this week as part of 6-women tag team match. He thinks that Paige’s matches need to be limited and kept more special, and she could have easily did commentary last night while the other two members of Absolution competed in a tag match.

At one point in this match Booker T was referring to Mandy Rose, saying that she’s “…starting to pick this up”, referring to her in-ring work. Taz was surprised to hear Booker T say this, and he doesn’t think this was a good call at all on Booker’s part. He points out that perception is reality and when casual fans see Rose dressed in gold, looking beautiful, they automatically assume that she’s great at things. WWE commentators shouldn’t say anything to make fans doubt her skills.

Taz thinks that it’s very typical of WWE to repeat something two or three weeks in a row, especially if it worked the first time. The Matt Hardy/Bray Wyatt segment had a great reaction last week so WWE predictably shot a very similar back and forth segment this week, but Taz would have preferred that they did something different.

He points out that Hardy and Wyatt are giving great performances in these segments, but WWE needs to get more creative here as to keep this ‘Woken’ character fresh. One of his biggest issues with these segments is the fact that Hardy is shot in a well-lit room. Taz thinks that Hardy needs to be shot with dim lighting, perhaps in an outside location. He points out that this character is a draw, and WWE’s huge budget should allow the character to flourish like never before, they just need to be creative.

Taz thought that Seth Rollins and Sheamus tore it up during their match. He gives credit to Rollins’ in-ring work and mentions that he might be a modern day Ricky Steamboat in regards to how well he sells. Rollins sold his knee during most of the match last night and Taz was very impressed by his effort.

Finn Balor squared off against Curtis Axel last night, and Taz just doesn’t understand why WWE can’t come up with something better for Balor, their first Universal Champion. He points out that Balor winning here was very predictable, much like Rollins defeating Sheamus and Reigns defeating Cesaro.

Taz isn’t sure what WWE is doing with the Enzo Amore/Nia Jax storyline, but he’s pretty sure that it’s a rib on somebody. He points out that nobody knows just how immature WWE can get with some of these storylines, and he’s certain that this will culminate in a kiss or a corny restaurant dinner scene.

Taz is pretty sure that WWE is planning a triple threat match next week between Dean Ambrose, Samoa Joe and Jason Jordan. He’s still not a fan of the way WWE is presenting Jordan to the audience, and he thinks that they need to stop teasing a heel turn and just pull the trigger and turn him because it’s already long overdue.

That sums up today’s episode of The Taz Show. You can listen to the show yourself anytime here, and I’ll catch ya tomorrow for another recap!