So Alexa Bliss got burned alive I guess? (Update: Nope!)

[Tom Turkey]

Now that I think about it, this isn’t the first time Raw had an ambiguous finish, as they had an angle in 1998 where Kane was going to chokeslam Chyna, but the show cut to black before we could see if he did it.

[Sephiroth]

Dec 28, 2020 23:04:06 GMT -5 cjb01: Limited Edition Item! said:

WWE are so desperate for ratings they're trying the soap opera TUNE IN NEXT WEEK approach to try and get fans interested

Problem is, I almost guarantee you RAW opens up completely normal next week and doesn't immediately follow up on this, and even if they do, you know it isn't gonna be interesting.

Because WWE telenovelas are hell

[Deleted]

Dec 29, 2020 8:20:26 GMT -5 Zone Was Wrong said:

As someone who doesn't watch the product anymore, like at all, honestly I say lean all the way into crap like this. Sure, I don't think I'd kill someone on a week of a beloved wrestler passed away, but hell with it. Want to be your own product and stand out? Go full Luxha Underground at this point.

It really is the best if not only way to make such things like this work because like I said WWE is not structred in a way that allows outright murder to make any sense in the confines of their "universe".

Orton sets a man on fire outside of the confines of a match and nothing happens to him but yet a guy will get hauled off for by comparison a total slap on the wrist.

in LU Cage kills a high ranking political official and is caught on camera leaving the crime scene bloody evidence on his arm and all , police has the evidence to bring him in and nothing happend to him but it makes sense here because it was established that the overarching evil has corrupted pretty much every level of authority and goverment and because the agenda was bigger than arresting one man.

[Deleted]

What I'm interested in is how they'll show what happened after Raw ended next week. We're probably going to get Alexa's clothes burnt or hell even a super CG scene of her burning or something. Who knows but it's gonna be wacky.

[MrElijah]

Dec 29, 2020 12:10:03 GMT -5 @kn said:

What I'm interested in is how they'll show what happened after Raw ended next week. We're probably going to get Alexa's clothes burnt or hell even a super CG scene of her burning or something. Who knows but it's gonna be wacky.

Can we appreciate that Orton being 1999 Big Boss Man: Most Evil Man in Wrestling is a treat?

[Deleted]

If Alexa Bliss needs to be nursed back to health, I will gladly volunteer.

[Deleted]

Dec 29, 2020 6:06:54 GMT -5 thehottag said:

Dec 29, 2020 0:55:39 GMT -5 GuyOfOwnage said:

You can't really ask real-world questions like "where the f*** were the cops?" when you're dealing with pro wrestling, especially the more fantastical side of it. If we were to apply that logic, how many wrestlers would be kayfabe on death row right now? And do you really think any wrestlers are going to run out there while two people are playing with lighter fluid and matches? Nobody doing anything might actually make the most sense out of this whole thing.

I agree with this, to a point. Things like murder or arrest shouldn't really exist in pro wrestling. Firstly, if murder exists, it begs the question as to why those sledgehammer shots & the like don't kill people each time? Plus, if you're in a blood fued with someone, trying to make them tap out to the figure four leglock seems rather tame when you know that you can kill them.

It's the same with the police. Once you've established that people can be arrested for felonies, then suddenly every heinous act every heel has ever done should be held against them (especially when you consider it's televised). So yes, I agree that you need to put things like that to one side when watching pro wrestling.

The problem is, WWE have already brought those things into the narrative themselves. Didn't Stone Cold get arrested for trying to run over Rikishi during a match? Didn't the referees once go on strike for unsafe working conditions? Didn't the Undertaker once set a fire which burned his parents to death? How many times have wrestlers 'made the save' during a beatdown?

Once these things are in storyline, suddenly the question gets asked "if it happened then, why not now?" Of course, the answer you'll get is some handwave gesture, because basically you're not supposed to remember. WWE activity punishes you for being invested in storylines, so the more you remember, the more you're taken out of it. This leads to less people caring, & ultimately, fan apathy.

Unless it ends in a match where if Tommy Dreamer wins he takes you downtown. 

[Lupin the Third]

Next week, they open up the show and the ring is still on fire.

"Did no one think to put this out?"

[Deleted]

Dec 29, 2020 14:36:23 GMT -5 Lupin the Third said:

Next week, they open up the show and the ring is still on fire.

"Did no one think to put this out?"

The ring's on fire all throughout SmackDown and no one even comments on it.

[Gawk Rivers]

You've got the juice now, Randy

[Feargus McReddit]

Dec 29, 2020 13:57:39 GMT -5 @therealoblivion said:

If Alexa Bliss needs to be nursed back to health, I will gladly volunteer.

I mean, do you have a jar handy?

[MrElijah]

Too bad WWF Magazine doesn't run anymore. I can imagine January's cover.

"RANDY ORTON: THREAT OR MENACE?!"

[Schizo]

Iam really enjoying this Orton/Fiend/Alexa storyline and Iam not ashamed to admit I want to see how far they will cross the line with this. The ending to TLC was probably the best ppv ending this year IMO

[Deleted]

Dec 29, 2020 14:45:44 GMT -5 Gawk Rivers said:

You've got the juice now, Randy

This was the thing in my mind. I'd freak out of Alexa/Orton pairing!

But could it be just this one time she is just tricking him, so the bastard burns in eternal hell whenever The Fiend makes his attempt at second life and they together both rule WrestleMania month! Nope, let's have Randy.

[Kalmia]

Wrestling doesn't need to have real world logic but it does need to have internal consistency. That's where WWE falls down.

[Deleted]

What a way to end 2020 Man attempts to set fire to a gasoline covered sexy toddler.I didn’t have that in the prediction thread.

[Kyle Butler]

Randy Orton setting people on fire has only made me long for the days of Kane setting “JR” ablaze

[Deleted]

I'm very willing to bet the answer to this is "the lights went out and she disappeared."

[GuyOfOwnage]

Dec 29, 2020 6:06:54 GMT -5 thehottag said:

Dec 29, 2020 0:55:39 GMT -5 GuyOfOwnage said:

You can't really ask real-world questions like "where the f*** were the cops?" when you're dealing with pro wrestling, especially the more fantastical side of it. If we were to apply that logic, how many wrestlers would be kayfabe on death row right now? And do you really think any wrestlers are going to run out there while two people are playing with lighter fluid and matches? Nobody doing anything might actually make the most sense out of this whole thing.

I agree with this, to a point. Things like murder or arrest shouldn't really exist in pro wrestling. Firstly, if murder exists, it begs the question as to why those sledgehammer shots & the like don't kill people each time? Plus, if you're in a blood fued with someone, trying to make them tap out to the figure four leglock seems rather tame when you know that you can kill them.

It's the same with the police. Once you've established that people can be arrested for felonies, then suddenly every heinous act every heel has ever done should be held against them (especially when you consider it's televised). So yes, I agree that you need to put things like that to one side when watching pro wrestling.

The problem is, WWE have already brought those things into the narrative themselves. Didn't Stone Cold get arrested for trying to run over Rikishi during a match? Didn't the referees once go on strike for unsafe working conditions? Didn't the Undertaker once set a fire which burned his parents to death? How many times have wrestlers 'made the save' during a beatdown?

Once these things are in storyline, suddenly the question gets asked "if it happened then, why not now?" Of course, the answer you'll get is some handwave gesture, because basically you're not supposed to remember. WWE activity punishes you for being invested in storylines, so the more you remember, the more you're taken out of it. This leads to less people caring, & ultimately, fan apathy.

I will definitely concede that real-world law should never have been brought into pro wrestling in the first place. It muddies the waters too much and creates too many questions, like you said. But I'll also say that I don't recall them ever bringing the law into any angles of supernatural origin like this one most definitely is. Even the Kane/Taker stuff you mentioned never actually had cops brought in to investigate anything. So, there's at least some degree of consistency there. I'm not expecting Orton to be arrested for the murder of a reality-bending psycho murder clown any time soon, though I'd probably laugh my ass off if that was the next step in this.

Dec 29, 2020 6:34:44 GMT -5 cjb01: Limited Edition Item! said:

Dec 29, 2020 0:55:39 GMT -5 GuyOfOwnage said:

3) You can't really ask real-world questions like "where the f*** were the cops?" when you're dealing with pro wrestling, especially the more fantastical side of it. If we were to apply that logic, how many wrestlers would be kayfabe on death row right now? And do you really think any wrestlers are going to run out there while two people are playing with lighter fluid and matches? Nobody doing anything might actually make the most sense out of this whole thing.

I definitely wasn't asking for cops, like Orton;s been trying to kill people all year at this point if ya didn't know, tha shit is out the window

I would have at least liked some wrestlers out there to show the severity of the situation, even official screaming not to do it, like a bit of franticness around the ring, maybe even someone who was close to Alexa like Nikki Cross

The entire situation playing out in silence with seemingly no panic when a women is literally dousing herself in gasoline and handing a dude the match feels like it should warrant just a bit more panic on WWE's part. I get it's a tense moment and I didn't even hate the segment, just thought it would be a real good time to heighten the stakes and emotional tension by showing how serious the moment is. These Randy/Fiend segments are better when they're outside of a confied bubble like Bray doing the "Hide and Seek" bits with wrestlers around the arena. 

I just wanna believe wrestlers and staff were concerned about what was happening, this is a stemming issue I have with WWE though and their "Nobody is anyones friend" booking strategy when it comes to beatdowns and dire situations.  

I can see the need for officials or security or someone of that ilk running out there trying to put a stop to it, but in a kayfabe world, if I was a wrestler or an agent or what have you in the back watching these two people with well-established mental instabilities playing with matches and kerosene, not a chance in hell I'm going anywhere near that ring, regardless if they were my friend, colleague, or whatever. And with that, we kinda circle back to "why didn't they just call the cops and/or fire department?", and the answer ends up being "because goofy pro wrestling angle".

[Deleted]

The cops have gotten involved and arrested him during his ministry run.

So there is presedence of cops being brought into supernatural angles in WWE.