Following last week’s edition of Monday Night RAW, WWE has a lot to work with. The Monday show has been very bad as of late, other than the Angle/Cena storyline, which for the most part has been done very well. As far as why that is, it’s really the same old with WWE – they are pushing the wrong people, at the wrong time, and are simply not booking for the long term, rather trying to get away with their duties on a weekly basis. Such a formula will eventually lead to nothing but the demise of the company. With a special three-hour show on 10/3 marking the return to USA, as well as the return of Triple H, and with appearances of Steve Austin, Mick Foley, and Hulk Hogan, the company needs to worry about the very foundations of storylines for months to come, in order to set up feuds beginning with the 10/3 show. I have a good feeling that WWE is not doing that, seeing as they’re busier trying to punk some kid over his Vader fan site. But alas, it will eventually catch up to them and they will be sorry.
This week’s WWE.com RAW preview hands the attention over to the continous Austin/McMahon storyline that we have in Cena/Bischoff, as they tease that Eric continues to stack the deck against the Champ. The handicap match, with Tomko involved alongside Angle, as well as this whole short-term feud, is a real embarassment for many reasons. Forget the fact that Tomko is very green and can’t wrestle, or the fact that Cena isn’t protected wrestling-wise here. It’s just sad for them to do the EXACT same storyline they did last month, but simply change the people involved. We saw this storyline last month with Jericho in Angle’s spot and Carlito in Tomko’s. Very sad. I would expect either a huge Cena beatdown which will all but guarantee a Cena win at the PPV, or the champ coming on top again to continue the streak of “upsets.”
If I were running things, I would actually put the strap on Angle come Unforgiven. The fact of the matter is that John Cena is currently a decent draw, but is not looked at seriously enough to be the lead man on the program. The Michaels/Hogan feud did not help at all. I can’t stress enough how important the 10/3 edition of RAW is, as this is perhaps the very last opportunity the company will have to make the casual and older fans tune in. If they see a show booked the way the company was booking only a few years ago (such as 2000), then they will keep tuning in weekly. Kurt Angle as champion is a good start. The only downfall is that they don’t know how to book Cena, and there’s a huge money-making storyline in building him up again once he loses the strap. This company just can’t get it through their heads (perhaps due to some Tripe H influence?) that you do not need to be World Champion in order to draw, or be pushed well.
They also mention the Master Lock Challenge from last week and tease what will happen between Michaels and Masters this week. This feud is a horrible idea, but I like that at least they’re going all-out with it. If they’re going to push Masters, no matter how bad and green he is, they should still do it at 100%, which is what they’ve tried. Michaels can get at least a decent match out of him at Unforgiven.
I did not like the debut of Cade and Murdoch at all. I was very excited to see what they’ll be like in the ring, but was only disappointed once the moment came. They seem to have little chemistry with each other, which they should capitalize on, but they are either taking their gimmicks through the roof, or are confused once inside the ring. Wrestlers do not swing their limbs randomly, or take awkward bumps without being touched (Ric Flair excluded). Something Murdoch should think about it.
I am very unaware of why they are holding the return of Trish Stratus back. I was almost sure we’d see her last week during the Ashley beatdown. It makes sense for her to interfere in that Candice, Torrie, Victoria vs. Ashley situation, which means Stratus would be face. I can’t blame Trish for not wanting back right now. If I were her, I’d play injured.
Another sign that WWE is simply not committed and runs things on weekly basis is the horrible job they’ve done with Rob Conway’s push. Another horrible gimmick that is yet to work for someone in this business (just ask Buff Bagwell, or his mother). Even if we were to ignore that (which is hard, but I’m stretching here), they end up pushing him through the sky for three weeks, and then… nothing. That is really sad. Hopefully they’ll do more with Conway, because no matter what, he’s a tremendous worker.
Expect them to start advertising the switch to USA with commercials for their big “Night of Champions” 3-hour edition of RAW on 10/3.
That will do it for this week.