WrestleZone Radio RAW Reactions
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Below are some some transcribed quotes and the full audio from their respective appearances:
RAW Reaction 12.15.15 w/ Forbes & Bleacher Report’s Alfred Konuwa
On Roman Reigns winning the WWE World Heavyweight Championship last night:
AK: I love it. It’s the ultimate, “‘Ef You,” from WWE to the fans. In a way that was convincing the fans that this is what they wanted. It’s like we began the year in Philadelphia with these drunk loud men booing Roman Reigns because they didn’t want him to be champion. They thought he was being forced week after week. Then, at the end of the year, IN PHILADELPHIA, with these drunk loud men cheering Roman Reigns as he became WWE Champion. One thing that I have heard all year through this Roman Reigns push that I think is one of the most over rated concepts in wrestling is, “You gotta listen to the fans! You gotta listen to the fans!” NO YOU DON’T! Fan is short for fanatic. A lot of times WWE knows what’s best because they have been doing this longer. It’s like, if I have a three year old daughter who throws a tantrum because I didn’t give her ice cream, do I just need to listen to her? No because meanwhile I’m putting money in her savings. I’m teaching her math. I’m doing all the stuff that doesn’t look very exciting at the moment but I know that in a job interview this is going to work. WWE knew this whole time that Roman Reigns was going to work. A lot of people were saying, “They need to push Cesaro.” If that would have happened what a disaster that would have became because he’s hurt now. Same with Daniel Bryan when they did listen to the fanatics. Now WWE has had a plan with Roman Reigns for awhile and all I can think about is Vince Russo the night of WrestleMania. I was with Justin LaBar and he had this question and answer. Really very interesting segment with Vince Russo. It was like a podcast and Vince Russo said, “I know it doesn’t look good for Roman Reigns right now but I know Vince McMahon and what Vince wants Vince gets.” Listen, I can’t tell you how they are going to fix this but trust me WWE and Vince McMahon is going to get Roman Reigns over. Not only that, they are going to get him over and fans are going to believe it. He was absolutely right. This is a guy who has worked closely with Vince McMahon for years. He was absolutely right. WWE did all the right moves. They had the TLC main event in Boston where Roman Reigns was able to get himself over and I think they saw that and said, “He’s ready.”
WrestleZone Daily 12.15.15 w/ Joe Dombrowski
On the ECW Originals getting The Wyatt Family to the next level in their Extreme Rules match last night in Philly:
JD: I’ll agree with that completely. Again, not to be redundant, one of those things that usually I’m critical of but just worked here is that trope of the hometown guy getting beaten and battered in his hometown. Not that Philly is the defacto hometown for any of these four but certainly for the characters and the legacy. The Wyatt Family desperately needed these dominant wins. Desperately needed to look like killers in this environment. I will be one of many to preach and one of the loudest to preach that there is still so much untapped potential in The Wyatt characters. There’s so much more that can be done with them. They can have a top run as well with how the fans gravitate to them. I don’t know that that run would be as a heel. I would absolutely keep, for example, The Wyatt Family away from Roman Reigns. There’s a lot more to be got out of this. Team ECW, like you said, they did what they needed to do. It was a hell of a match. The Wyatts looked as strong as they needed to. I think the crowd appreciated seeing a match that, as much as I hated the announcers saying, “No it’s not 1997! Don’t adjust your set!” It had that wild and organic feel to it like it was that era again. I think we need more of that. Hopefully that’s an example of maybe what will come in the future.
Grace Lin Talks Her Petition To Have Trump Removed From The WWE HOF
Yesterday’s WrestleZone Daily featured a special appearance by Grace Lin. Grace is the pro wrestling fan that started the petition last week to have Donald Trump removed from the WWE HOF that has received nearly 10,000 signatures.
Related: Fan Starts Petition To Remove Donald Trump From The WWE Hall of Fame
You can listen to Grace’s appearance on the show, along with some lively discussion with co-host Bin Hamin (aka Ben Duerr), at the 57:44 minute mark in the embedded audio player below. Some of Grace’s comments have been transcribed below the player:
On why she thought she should create a petition to have Donald Trump removed from the WWE Hall of Fame:
GL: I feel like WWE is fostering this democratic environment where what the fans think really makes a difference. They employee a bunch of Mexican wrestlers. They’re spreading globally. Starting wrestling circuits in the Middle East even. After they removed Hulk Hogan that was the main turning point where I was kind of like, “Well, if that’s something they are concerned about then maybe this is something else they should be concerned about.”
On the reaction she has been getting from fans regarding her petition:
GL: I think a lot of people are in to the idea. A lot of people kind of wondered why it didn’t start sooner. There are definitely a lot of people who don’t agree as well.
On what fans who want to keep Donald Trump in the WWE Hall of Fame are saying to her right now:
GL: A lot of the arguments revolve around not wanting to alter the history. I think that it’s not really altering the history so much as creating new history. There are WWE fans that are Trump supporters that of course would not be on board with that.
You can view Grace’s petition by clicking HERE
