It has been touched on several times. It has been reiterated enough that everyone knows it. The “it” I’m talking about is the fact that the WWE in general, but “Raw” in particular has turned it around. I care again, and I’m not the only one. I find myself wanting to watch “Raw” because now I really do want to see what happens next.The changes are only one to three weeks old, but they matter already. The “Raw” ratings have been above average over the last three weeks, and only a month ago they were at a ten year low. The turnaround didn't immediately elicit confidence but it did get the attention of several, by now though, it has garnered a great deal of confidence.
Andrew Gray touched on it nicely in his Shades of Gray #14 article, and it has been touched on in other places, but “Raw” is getting younger. CM Punk the World Heavyweight Champion is 29, Kofi Kingston the Intercontinental Champion is 26, and the World Tag Team Champions Cody Rhodes and Ted Dibiase are 23 and 25 respectively.
Just weeks ago Triple H, the WWE Champion was the “Raw” brand champion and he is 38. Chris Jericho was the Intercontinental Champion, he is 37. While Cody Rhodes was still one half of the tag team champions his former partner Bob Holly is 45. That’s a 40 year difference in just a few days.
One major change already is that the World Tag Team Champions are actually on “Raw.” It’s only been a week, but Rhodes and DiBiase have already cut a promo, something Holly and Rhodes did very few times in their six months as champions. Kofi Kingston has also already defended the WWE Intercontinental Championship on “Raw,” something Chris Jericho did only twice.
Night of Champions may have been the true turning point for WWE programming, and what didn’t happen there happened 24 hours later on “Raw.” At Night of Champions the WWE made the very popular decision to keep a championship off of John Cena, and then CM Punk brought the World Heavyweight Championship to "Raw" on "Raw."
Time will tell just where the changes made so far will go, but for the time being we have been given something to believe in. Gone is the “face” of “Raw” in Triple H, as has departed the voice of “Raw” Jim Ross. Some could argue that Triple H and Jim Ross are the face and voice of the WWE as a whole.
This would lead to the argument that “SmackDown” is now the A show, and with its new roster and play-by-play analyst many believe so, but “Raw” will never, not be the flagship show of World Wrestling Entertainment. CM Punk, Kofi Kingston and Rhodes & DiBiase have a nice supporting cast, and the tiers of the card should soon be made clear.
Here’s where the suggestions begin. I’ve praised for long enough, but I’m going to stay positive because I have no reason to be negative, no matter that the voice in the back of my head tells me they’ll put the World title on Cena and allow him to make that one spin too.
Cryme Tyme, The Highlanders, Bob Holly and his eventual partner should all make up contenders to the Tag Team Championships. You don’t need that many tag teams. Use what you have. You’ll have ECW coming on the road with you soon, make more tag teams and keep those titles relevant.You have valuable guys on the roster that are available, put them to use. Jamie Noble, Matt Striker, even Snitsky, but most notably and importantly you have Val Venis. Here’s a guy who still gets a pop. Repackage him, it won’t take much to make someone that talented relevant again.
Lance Cade, Paul Burchill, Santino Marella, Paul London, Rey Mysterio, and Charlie Haas are all presumably future contenders to the WWE Intercontinental Championship. Every name that I mentioned earlier could be a legitimate and believable contender to the IC Championship, and if not the IC, package them together and put those in the tag title hunt.
Now to the World Heavyweight Championship where CM Punk will never be short of competition with JBL, Randy Orton, Batista, John Cena, Kane, Shawn Michaels and Chris Jericho on the roster. My major suggestion here is that you identify where these guys belong on the card. The clarity of who is a top guy and who isn’t hasn’t been that precise in the last few years, now’s the time to change that.
CM Punk may have shattered the glass ceiling last Monday night. His crowd reactions are constantly top three of the show and his merchandise does sell. CM Punk signs are clearly visible every week on WWE programming and if you keep him at the forefront of your show people will watch.
Continuing a feud with JBL would be the smart thing to do. CM Punk is white-hot babyface right now. JBL is the most hated man on the “Raw” roster bar none. What better way to increase crowd interest? It certainly isn’t CM Punk and John Cena. Allow Cena time to cool off. Absence makes the heart grow fonder, so creative team remember that when it comes to the title scene and Cena.
Everything else is changing so it’s time for Vince to change his tune on the shades of grey idea he’s had for quite some time. You market towards the marks and the smarks, but don’t treat us all like idiots. One guy should be bad, one should be good. Face vs. Face and heel vs. heel matches should only happen when absolutely necessary, and Cena vs. Punk is absolutely not necessary right now.I can’t suggest that WWE drop the Vince McMahon is dying angle because that’s too far outside the realm of possibility, all I ask is that it not become the focal point of the show. It can have its place on the show, but it shouldn’t dominate the broadcast.
The “Raw” preview for this week is entitled Punk vs. the World and it touches on Punk’s win and his contenders, Vince’s angle, Jericho/Kingston and Jericho/Michaels, as well as Santino Marella and Rey Mysterio. Only the Vince McMahon angle makes me cringe, everything else matters, and who knows maybe even the Vince angle will surprise us all. You can read that preview here.
While many still suspect The Undertaker to be the “force” behind Vince’s downfall that hasn’t been confirmed yet and while it could possibly be entertaining, it really isn’t needed. I’m not saying The Undertaker isn’t a draw or is irrelevant, all I’m saying is, that if he is the newest addition to “Raw” he’ll simply be icing on the cake.
We aren't talking about the Attitude Era anymore folks. This could be a new era, with the resurgence of real entertainment. Hopefully one that comes close to the success of the Attitude era, and right now with the turn around and the direction things seem to be going in, this could very well be the beginning of that new era. The Resurrection Era. Damn, I'm optimistic.
2 comments: on "Give Me Something To Believe In"
I'm optimistic as well. I've tried to be optimistic during the last couple of years about wrestling but its been a struggle. I don't feel that struggle now and agree with you that things are finally turning around.
One more point I agree with is the clear distinguishment of face vs heel fueds. The face vs face situations create confusion in the crowd which results in quiet applause and typically a dull match. Also agree that there's a time and place, but it should be rare.
One thing I disagree about is how you said that there should be a clear hierarchy of the ranks on the show. I think this creates the stale programming that we've seen in the past year with the same 4 or 5 headliners week after week and everyone else getting pushed to the side or thrown in the main to get burried. I think bluring the line between the ranks adds to the intrigue that draws in the big ratings. Keep the jerichos and punks in the main picture even if its not week by week, blur the line betwen main event and midcard, and you create a more diverse following, which results in better ratings and better live crowds and more pops from the crowds.
This is just my opponion and I apologize for any typos as I'm typing this from my iPod touch.
I almost agree with your stance on blurring the lines between the main event and midcard. I do agree that it can add intrigue, but I think that there should be a clear cut off for the blurring to begin.
Not necessarily everyone in the midcard, just the upper mid-card. The undercard and lower mid-card can be blurred as well, I just don't think that a guy in the undercard should shoot up for three weeks and then disappear again. I have no problem with former World Champs being the Intercontinental Champ, but I do think that there should still be that element of having IC Champs and former IC champs using the gold as a stepping stone to the upper level.
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