The Island of Misfit Spots and Wrestlers
Pre- Random
Can we please add back Jim Ross’ “The whole world is watching” comment to the Raw intro? I get tired of having it go off in my head and not hearing an echo.
Speaking of incomplete…
To touch on some failing points from last week, it was evident this week that the writers and producers made a decision to “show” more than tell, a good thing in my book, setting the mood and the course for the evening. Now, this is not to say that the WWE didn’t do its fair share of “tell” as well. By my count, there was a total of 10 minutes (approx) of wrestling in the first hour of the show, which normally doesn’t do the show any favors, but in this instance (namely, strong “show” right off the bat) it worked…that is, until the show went off the rails in the latter half. Read on for more on this.
Face-A-Palooza
How boring, forced and predictable was the face parade in support of HHH? It was clear, last week, that they would play a major role in the next Raw and, based on this information, the WWE had a responsibility to ensure that it did not come off flat and uninspired. In the interest of clarification (and confusion, possibly) I want to make this clear: CENA, CM PUNK, SHEAMUS AND HHH DID NOT COME ACROSS FLAT AND UNINSPIRED, THE SPOT DID. The only reasons we all didn’t turn off our sets was because they are all so damn good on the mic. This scenario, a common one for the WWE, was not a total loss, for it brought forth the following epiphany: Right now, the WWE has the A-list faces, who are great on the mic (what television and marketing needs more than being great in the ring) and the B-level talent that aren’t so good on the mic, both of which are not being utilized for maximum impact. How do we solve this problem? Give them both STRONG storylines and character arcs that enable us to forgive their “weaknesses.” It’s no secret that wrestling fans have a deep history of LOYALTY, we attach ourselves to wrestlers for no particular reason other than some need inside of us (Freudians enjoy). Not to belabor the obvious but let’s have some examples:
Case study #1 JOMO has a loyal fan base or the WWE wouldn’t bother with a T-shirt (more than one to date) and his major skill lies “in-ring.” This means someone out there likes this guy and will spend money with his vote for JOMO. In stark contrast, all the Rock needs to do is post on Youtube/Twitter and Facebook and the WWE fans geek out. Why? Because the vision for his character is so pure and strong that it can’t be denied by the fans. His vision becomes our vision, whether we like it or not. How does this all tie into my original point? Here you go: JOMO has been the same stale persona for a while (never fully committing, whether that be the fault of the WWE or JOMO himself is another issue entirely) and the only time I felt he was going to “break-through” was during his tag team time with the Miz. This made me realize that the Miz carried JOMO, making him look better than he was by lending his (mic skills) voice to someone who desperately needed them. THIS is what the WWE needs to do, bump up those B-listers who can wrestle, make sure they are at the wrestling level where they can make those in the ring with them look awesome and, in turn, use the A-level talent to make the B-listers look good on the mic. It sounds tricky, conceptually, but it can be accomplished. Think about this: Do you remember when Cena pumped up Evan Bourne? I do. I remember it climaxed with a tag team match of which they ended up victorious and it served not only to put a notch in the belts of either wrestlers, but it made Cena look like a better wrestler (thanks to Bourne’s skills) and lent Cena’s voice to Evan Bourne, who is not so good on the mic. These are the types of symbiotic relationships the WWE needs to exploit regularly. These can also work antagonistically, given the right type of matches and vignettes. All in all, it’s not wrestling hasn’t experimented with throughout history, it just seems to be another level above pairing a wrestling stud (Lesnar) with a mic-manager (Heyman). What do you guys think? Who do you think would pair up well and why?
Fix for the Face Parade
I really wish that the A-listers would have talking to those outside and not HHH. It would have served to create the interaction I listed above and not to come off as obvious pandering to the fans and HHH, all of which was a cover for what was to come later in the show.
What, no Raw Bashing?
I really did like the impromptu matchup between Cena and Sheamus, with CM Punk announcing. It gave Raw an ECW/INDY “barebones” feel to a normally slick and massive machine. Prompting another epiphany: The WWE needs think this way when trying to pull off their spin-offs. Imagine NXT (its original TV incarnation) with a heavy indy/ECW feel to it? Put it on some smaller cable (yet accessible) channel and I bet you the fans will find it and eat it up. This “massive-machine” spectacular that they gave us did nothing to help us connect with the wrestlers. Make us feel for the mood and the conditions and this fanbase will connect. Heck most of this whole machine is based on us wanting to be these guys in some form or another. Remember the failure of ECW once the WWE took control? I feel it failed because the fans couldn’t find a way to get over the name of the show not being anywhere near the original vision and “feel”. Do you remember the first time you caught and ECW (og) show on some hidden cable channel at an un-godly hour? I do. For me it was on a public access channel at midnight and I couldn’t wait for it to come on. It was so different and “original” that I felt like I was discovering wrestling as a kid, all over again. Think about this: Look at what Zack Ryder was able to do for his career with just a camera and youtube (and the help of his friends). Talk about no budget, yet he found a way to creep into our vision and into the WWE’s vision as well (ok, maybe the side rear view mirror, but still in “vision.”
Random
Cena’s mention of Adamle was awesome. I guess I’m the only one who remembers that period of the WWE fondly. I mean c’mon, who hasn’t had a boss like Adamle? Someone your company brought in green and gave them enormous power and influence? Someone you had to teach about the business. Done properly this could have worked. In fact, I would have scripted more errors for the guy, burying him with the fans and wrestlers, leading up to his wrath of incompetence on those who dared to speak out against him.
VKM is just for men
Did you notice the new and improved hair color Vinny Mac had on display last night? Is it possible that the only reason the “firing” storyline took place was so he could dye his hair, stay off TV for a while and hope that nobody noticed? I’d hate to think so, but wouldn’t put it past him.
Speaking of VKM…
I was GENUINELY surprised to see Vince come out, something that has rarely happened this year.
HOLD THAT THOUGHT
Because the WWE didn’t allow the HHH/COO storyline to gestate properly, Vince’s firing of HHH had no “snap” to it. (Also, how could the WWE miss the chance for Vince to say his trademark: “YOU’RE FIIIIIIIRRRREEDDD?”)
For storyline purposes it makes more sense to have Laurinatus (now a more confident Vince wanna-be) fire HHH. With a vote of confidence from the board, it makes sense to have a rejuvenated Laurinatus come and feel he can “takedown” someone of HHH’s caliber. It would serve to give him more heat and show that his villainy actually has some (much needed) depth to it.
Random
The coolest thing about JOMO is his new T-shirt. JOMOSAPIEN4LIFE.
T-Shirt Idea for Mark Henry
HALL OF PAIN
Est. 15 YEARS AGO!!!!!!!
(Standard Names On the Back: Orton, Big Show, KING)
Cody-fied
I have to say, I am loving the way Cody is moving up in the ranks. (Not too mention his changing the intercontinental title back to the one I enjoyed as a kid)
Character-wise it is brilliant to have him feud with Orton like he did. It serves to make a lesser title mean something, on top of recognizing the holder of that title as a major threat. A masterstroke. The WWE need to make the holders of those types of titles MAJOR PLAYERS, so much so that they have an affect on the A-level talent. I cannot stress enough how great it was to see that happen and I hope they continue this trend (what I hope is the start of one).
What time is it?
Unfortunately, one of the things that plagued this week’s show was bad timing. I think all of the talking in the first hour put the show out-of-sync, causing the second hour to suffer the consequences. Every time the show wanted to garner some momentum, they had to cut to commercial (heck, cutting to commercial on wrestling entrances is a tell-tale sign somebody messed up).
Random
Can we get more Rosa Mendez on TV? Please!
Adios JR
As upset as I was last week with JR leaving as he did, I have to say, I wasn’t surprised he was fired. He truly deserved some sort of reprimand for his foolish choice and yet it seemed to lack the impact the WWE wanted it to have. It also seemed like business as usual as soon as he left. This left me very confused and ,since it came off that way, it made the situation sad and more pathetic (not the way they intended it to be, this more on the delivery) than meant to be. Definitely not what the WWE wanted. It also seemed to fly over the heads of the fans and, considering the location, added to its “weirdness.”
Just add high energy.
The end of Raw needs to be the time where everything established at the beginning starts to come together, NOT a time for a high-energy, meaningless tag-team match.
High Heels…
…Not. I am sorry, but this heel “faction” is weak. Pump them up, or they will not be worthy of even this mention. Right now is a perfect time for each of them to have their own individual takes on this situation. They should all be looking to exploit the background chaos to their advantage, taking into account their own character strengths. Otunga needs to be worming his way to power. Christian needs to be a strong heel leader. Jack Swagger needs to be a machine in the ring, a technical destroyer. Ziggler a whiny heel--pretty much what he’s doing right now. The only other acceptable route is FACTIONS!!!!! And you all know where I stand on that subject.
From Flat to Flatter
Did anyone care or feel any surprise for the return of the MIZ and R-Truth? Again, it all seemed so forced and quick that I barely had time to register or believe their firing, so why invest anything in them. I’ll just accept them back because we need heels with a strong vision right now. I think we covered a great “missed-opportunity” for them last week and, really, anything short of that falls…well…flat.
The Raw I want to see:
Raw made the mistake of mentioning 2 potentially huge storylines they “flopped” in the past year or so, they are as follows:
1. Sheamus laying out HHH as he said good-bye to Shawn Michaels
2. Laptop Raw GM
I felt Sheamus laying out HHH at such an awful time needed to be resolved to a satisfying multi-PPV conclusion. NOT a quick, one-off destroying of Sheamus in order to hype another match. These sorts of spots get to engrained into fan’s memories and are easy “money makers” in terms of getting over on the fans. Heck, part of me even still wants to see the rivalry renewed. (This is second only to me waiting for one final CM PUNK/JEFF HARDY re-match. C’mon you know you want it!!!!)
And finally, we deserve to find out who the Raw Laptop gm was. So much so that we should start a petition to find out what they were planning. When I think about how much time I spent trying to play with the idea and going over scenarios in my head, it makes me angry that I never got to see the final piece of the puzzle. This is one of the things that makes me pull away from the WWE and I hope they have less and less of these spectacles wasting my time.
Until next time.
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