THE WEEKLY SCOOP SLAM! by Philip McKane
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Monday Night RAW. A show which features the best wrestling talent in the world. A show with cutting edge storylines and most importantly , a show which always leaves you wanting more. WRONG! Lets try, a show that presents itself as a poor man’s Saturday Night Live. A show which provides uninteresting, repetitive storylines and a show that no one really cares about anymore. That sounds more like it!
The fall of Monday Night RAW cannot be attributed to one thing in my opinion. There are a number of factors that contribute to making RAW one of the worst on prime time television today:
1. The “Guest Host” Gimmick
When I first heard that this gimmick was being introduced, I was very sceptical. On one hand I thought that it was quite unrealistic. With RAW being “bought” the week before, WWE are trying to pass off each brand as if it was almost it’s own company. Therefore, would any company ever introduce a new CEO every week? The concept just sounded really stupid to me. However, on the other hand I thought that it would be cool to see some legends have their go at being a general manager figure for the week. I always expected the gimmick to be short lived and though that it would relevant to the wrestling business.
Well, how wrong was I? With the exception of a few like The Million Dollar Man, the guest host gimmick actually turned out to be nothing more than an opportunity for irrelevant, D-list celebrities to over-promote their product. Whether it was Jeremy Piven and his awful movie “The Goods”, or Rev. Al Sharpton with his education tour, the result was always the same. A terrible wrestling show! Often, the guest host will basically take over the entire show and completely change the format. Why? I didn’t tune in to see a game show? I want to see wrestling. Is that so much to ask? Well the answer is yes because as things stand right now, the gimmick is expected to last right up to Wrestlemania. So, if you thought the concept was stale now, you’re going to be pulling your hair out come March.
Another problem with this gimmick is that when you make this the focus of the show, there tends to be less of a focus on the actual storylines. Storylines are completely faded into the background and you end up with feuds like Orton vs. Cena. Gimmick matches thrown together, with a story that contains no real substance. Even when the guest host gets involved with the storyline (ie. Dusty Rhodes), it’s completely pointless as they wont be there the next week to continue it.
2. Repeated Storylines.
I think this subtitle pretty much speaks for itself. I can’t count how many times we’ve seen Triple H vs. Randy Orton and Randy Orton vs. John Cena, or even all three thrown into a triple threat match, this year. Havn’t we seen this before? Why yes we have. We saw these exact fueds in 2008, 2007 and 2006 so why are being forced to sit through this crap year on year? It’s almost as if they are so determined to actually have a good match together, that they’re going to keep trying until they do. It’s not going to happen, so give up!
I think that the draft in April didn’t help either. Vince wanted to have the best star power on RAW, so he shifted the majority of the top stars to the brand. Problem is, the ‘top guys’ in WWE have been the top guys in the company for years now because they haven’t actually bothered to push anyone else to the top in a long time. So what does this mean? Repeated feuds! In a way I actually feel sorry for the RAW writers because they don’t really have much fresh talent to work with, do they? WRONG! They have lots of fresh talent they could work with. However, because they aren’t buddies with Triple H they probably wont be pushed for a very long time, so expect the same crap we’ve seeing for years to continue.
3. No Under-Card Feuds.
Do you notice how much credibility the Intercontinental Championship has gained since being moved to SmackDown? It’s basically defended on nearly every Pay Per View. As for the U.S title, I think the championship match we had at Night Of Champions back in July (6 Pack Challenge) pretty much sums up the division. No storylines, and no direction. Now I do realise there has been a slightly improved effort for the division as of late. However, a storyline based around someone stealing the title? As The Miz would say, “REALLY?” This is simply not good enough to make anyone give a damn about the belt. And whilst I am very supportive of The Miz, he’s holding a championship that’s going to do nothing for his career. It’s really sad too, because this should be a belt that tests the ability of the holder to be a World Champion one day. But it doesn’t. Plain and Simple!
So, is there anything WWE can do right now to save RAW? Of course there is. Turn it back to the show we once fell in love with. Turn it back into a wrestling show. Feature cutting edge storylines, exciting matches and actually have a direction with the segments you put on the show. Make it raw again!
Well that’s it for another edition of The Weekly Scoop Slam (which may be featuring more than weekly soon). I would be really interested in reading your feedback whether it’s good or bad. So don’t hesitate to email me and let me know your thoughts. Is RAW becoming a sinking ship, or is it better than it’s ever been? Let me know!
(I will possibly be back sometime this week with a review of RAW or ECW, so watch this space.)
