By Nicholas Jason Lopez

“Notes In Observance” features random thoughts and analysis on recent television shows. Quick results can be found at the bottom of the post.

(Aired 4/18/16)

Shane Takes Another Power Swig

– This Raw emanates from London, which automatically meant a rambunctious crowd synonymous with WrestleMania weekend. Without any matches or segments hyped, that alone was enough to make us see what craziness would occur. Things kicked off with the “Ambrose Asylum” in-ring segment with Dean Ambrose, Shane McMahon (running the show once more), Kevin Owens, Sami Zayn and Chris Jericho. Got a kick out of the fact that the “Ambrose Asylum” set’s a mockery of Jericho’s “Highlight Reel” set, potted plant included. Ambrose’s lines bordered on cutesy, but not enough to turn the crowd off and he seemed delusional by talking how he was in the “talk show business” now, but it worked with his character. As far as Shane’s agenda of ushering in a “new era” and his reference of people like Sami Zayn, AJ Styles and Sasha Banks, it made sense on the surface, but not really. These people were around when The Authority was in power and isn’t it every year that WWE brings in new stars after WrestleMania? What’s so different about it happening because Shane’s in power? And again, why’s Shane in power for yet another week, when the original WrestleMania stipulation didn’t call for it? When will we get answers for these growing questions? We’ll let it slide because the shows are better creatively speaking, but as time passes, the logic holes get bigger. Owens as the role of skeptic worked and we liked his view about being “punished for being an honest man,” accusing Shane of being “drunk with power,” a line that resonated throughout the night. He also laid down some bold lines about Zayn “riding his coattails for a decade,” which drew out everyone’s favorite underground underdog. Zayn got some decent mic time, reminding us that he was signed by WWE before Owens, which he called the driving point for their own friendship and that ate Owens up. Jericho’s lines were short and sweet, but he stood on the “Shane’s drunk with power” side of the argument. Shane’s announcements of Zayn-Owens and Jericho-Ambrose at Payback were predictable, but lacked a certain excitement to them. The end of the segment was good too, with Shane purposely clearing the ring (and Ambrose getting his potted plant out of harm’s way) before a brawl broke out, with the faces clearing the heels from the ring. We also found out that Ambrose-Owens would battle later.

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