Exactly, what's wrong with Raw? And how do you fix it?

[CDR]

Well, the title pretty much says it all. What's wrong with Raw, and how do you fix it? I know everybody has a ton of problems with it. In the Live Discussion everybody was blasting the hell out of the WWE, and I'm pretty sure they weren't the only ones. So what's wrong with Raw? Is it the talent? The writing of the show? Or is it something else? Tell me what's wrong with Raw but don't just leave it at that. Tell me also how to fix it. So, tell me what you think.

I'm going to tell you what I think. And I'm going to defend the WWE here, since nobody else is. I think the WWE is doing their best with what they've got. Now I understand that the Jericho/legends angle has amounted into a big pile of nothing, but you have to give them credit. Face it, what else would you do with him? The MITB match is boring enough already and everybody hated it when Jericho was champ. The crowd is never pleased. Legacy is supposed to be the next shit on Raw but look at what they've become. They're jobbers! But look at who they're jobbing to. The champion is who they job to! If they beat Triple H in a match, fans would complain that the writers don't make the champ look strong enough. It's rediculous. The IC title has lost it's prestige because nobody likes who has it. Or it changes hands too much. You know, sometimes you just have to sympathise with the WWE and take what they give. You can't complain about everything.

So, how would I fix it? Well, let's look at the first problem. Jericho's boring storyline with the legends. Everybody wanted Stone Cold to come out tonight and kick ass and make a match at WrestleMania. Well that didn't happen so the WWE is full of ******ed people? Without even fully knowing how the rest of the stroy is going to go, judgement has been passed. Like it or not, Austin isn't going to have a match at 'Mania most likely. So, put Jericho in the next best thing. A match with three legends. It's not great, but it's not terrible. Legacy's problem is easily fixable. Don't put them against the champion! Let them do their own thing with the tag champions and get those belts. If you're going to establish a badass tag-team, do not make them job to the champ. No good comes out of it apparently. The IC title has hit quite a drag. JBL has it. What the WWE needs to do is spend as much time on this belt as they do with the main championships. They should have somebody like Jericho or Christian hold the belt and have a year long feud all without the belt changing hands. Simple as that.

So, tell me what you think is really wrong with Raw, but also tell me how to fix it.

 

[Scott Free]

What's wrong with RAW is Triple H. I mean, this guy is not even supposed to be there to begin with and he hogs 90 % of the show. Boot his wrinkled- over tanned butt over to Smackdown and keep him there already! Another thing wrong is Jericho basically doing the "Legend Killer" gimmick....and this with Orton right there ! WTF ??? Why ? Because of Triple H of course, he just has to bury Orton cross brand. So, in a nutshell, you got Stephanie running RAW and that's bad, so she has to push her husband on both main shows. I'm actually surprised HHH hasn't showed up in ECW yet to bury Swagger, but give him time.

 

[Big Doe Sr.]

Raw (and the WWE for that) have a few problems. First of all their undercard titles are never featured like they used to be. Priceless easily could be dominating the tag team division on RAW against the likes of Cryme Tyme. The Miz (as much as I HATE him) & John Morrision (who could be the 2nd best ATH next to Shelton Benjamin) can tour Smackdown & ECW with the WWE Tag Team Titles, feuding wit Carlito & Primo. But they dont do that. Why??? Because they spend too much time with talking. Better yet thats all they do.. TALK. I get a better fix watching WWE 24/7...

Next, weren't they supposed to make the IC title not look like a sham of a belt? Damn they dropped the ball on that one. To make matters worse, you put a high-flyer (kinda) n Rey against JBL? Meaning Rey pretty much has to carry the entire match. Regal Should have kept the belt & feuded with CM Punk at WM25. Instead Regal wont be there & I have to watch Punk in MITB again.

As far as the WWE... Or World Heavyweight Title... Does RAW even have a champion right now? Edge & Triple H "R" still Smackdown right? "F" it iono anymore. Anyway Randy Orton can fued with either Triple H OR John Cena, so where ever he is... as long as he is a heel... the show cant be all bad.

 

[SquareSix]

I agree with you 100%. Something will always be "wrong" with Raw and wrestling period. It just isn't possible to please every viewer. Sure, there are ways to improve, but even those improvements would be met with disapproval from some people. Chris Jericho's story has been a huge disapointment thus far especially when you consider what he is capable of. Dibiase & Rhodes are supposed to job to HHH, it's just part of that story's form. We've seen it tons of times - just look at how Batista & Orton jobbed to people while in Evolution. I'm still on the fence with just how Dibiase & Rhodes' careers will pan out because they have been built up by guys in the back to sound like they are going to be huge stars, yet they haven't been given a chance to prove that. And having them job to HHH isn't doing them any favors in trying to change that. They could come out of it like Orton & Batista from Evolution, it just depends on how Vince decides to use them I suppose. People shouldn't worry about them jobing to Trips though because alot of top guys still have to job to him. As far as the IC title goes, I'm not sure that there is much hope for it at this point. It was once seen as a launching pad for superstars. Guys like Randy Savage and Shawn Michaels had that title, then went on to become huge stars. Now with the United States title on SD it has lost that special feel it once had. Add to that the head-spinning way it changes hands, and it's a real problem. Your idea of having a year long fued with a couple of established guys could really help it - it's one of the best fixes I've heard, but if not done correctly, it could also really hurt that superstars standing.

Some other quick ideas are to stop putting guys in the MITB and EC matches that have no place being there (Finlay,Punk,Kane? - I mean come on). Finlay is a permanent mid-carder. Punk has had his chance, but the guys in the back decided it wasn't working. And Kane has also become more or less a guy who will remain at mid-card. His stories have begun to repeat and his work in the ring isn't anything amazing either. These two matches, the elimination chamber in particular is supposed to be a big deal and putting guys in it like the did at this years No Way Out does not support that thinking. WWE also needs to decide if they want SD to be equal to Raw or let Raw be the flagship. People always disagree, but I think that WWE should use the original idea for SD - just a second show, same storylines and champions as Raw, just on two nights a week. They could then use ECW as a jumping off point for young talent like Bourne, Miz & Morrison. ECW has become a complete lack luster program. How many times do we have to see Finlay and Mark Henry go at it? The show is essentially the same every week because of how small the roster is. Putting the main guys on Raw & SD in the way I mentioned would mean more talent & storylines for all three shows. The people on ECW then could really have a chance to shine because right now lower level talent on both SD & Raw are limited in storys and on screen time because of the higher up guys needing to get what they need to done. It would give them time to establish their characters, mic skills, in ring work, and really get over with the crowd. It would also help the WWE/World title situation. Right now, neither title feels like "THE" title to have, the title that the main superstar should have. It would also leave huge potential for new feuds between the main guys. Having all the top talent on one show, with some fresh ideas, and fewer titles could also equal better ratings.

 

[lenguy]

i dont like to complain.but as it stands for me.i dont really see much wrong with raw.it entertains me.and thats the goal.thought the whole jericho legend thing has gotten pretty stale.and hhh the problem?no the only reason hes on raw is to build the storyline between him and orton...you cant do that if you kept him on smackdown.most people would probailly complain if orton was on SD every week to build the story with hhh instead of vise versa.and of course he hogs most of the show.he is married to the bosses daughter after all..wooo first post!

 

[shafe_41]

I'll preach this til I die, but one problem with Raw is that it doesn't have any larger than life characters with any ring talent. You have HBK who is on his way out though he can still perfrom and that's about all. Cena...great charisma but if you have eyes, you see what's wrong with his ring work. Look back to Raw in its prime. You had The Rock, Austin, Vince, D-X all being huge with the crowd and big on talent. I could go on forever about this but it's pretty simple to just say they don't have a plethora of attitude era characters.

Another problem is no more Nitro. When you're only competing against yourself, creative isn't really putting their greatest ideas out there. Yes you get one here and there, but you'll never recapture Vince/Austin, Rock/Austin, or anything like that ever again. IMO, the best storyline in the last 5 years on Raw was Jericho/HBK. It had great length, they made it seem like it got personal, got family involved, but then what'd they do? They pissed it away in a half assed LMS match on Raw. That storyline in the Attitude Era would be average at best.

One problem (though it will be beneficial down the road) is there is way too much decent talent in the company. Who would have thought too much talent is a bad thing? But there is. I don't think I need to explain how much talent is in the company because everyone knows it. When you have guys in the mid-card that are great like Kennedy, MVP, Punk, Kofi, Shelton, Christian, etc... you can't push them all at the same time. Cases could be made for every one of those guys (and more) to have a major title run in the next 2-3 years. Maybe not Kofi, but you get my drift. Many of these guys will be stuck in mid-card hell for a long long time to come when you have a lot of guys that are pretty old still on the card and getting airtime. HBK, Kane, Undertaker (even though it could be argued we're seeing him better now than he ever was), JBL, Mark Henry, Big Show will probably all be gone in 2-3 years which will clear up some card space for some younger stars. All of them featured every single week. Imagine if Austin and Rock were still with the company how crowded the roster would be. It's obvious they both left for their respective reasons before their time was up physically. I'd cum in my pants for an Austin/Orton match. But I digress... too much talent.

Finally, the PG rating. It's too clean. The edge of Raw was what brought it to the cable powerhouse that it was when it was pulling 6.+ in the ratings. Nobody's driving zambonies to the ring, beer trucks, filling corvettes with cement, wrecking vehicles, etc... There's no sexual inuendo or half naked women anymore which is sad. Raw always pushed the envelope with it's humor, sexual connotation, violence, language, but they've now taken that envelope, sealed it up, and burned it. Until the 14 rating comes back, expect more stale storylines and everything else that comes with those.

 

[SquareSix]

I left it out during my lengthy rant, but you reminded me of it - the PG Rating. That is really what is hurting Raw. I mean look at the name of the show and nowadays the show get's about a "raw" as Sesame Street. There is no excitment anymore. It's all become very predictable and stale because the show doesn't have that edge to it now.

 

[dtroppe]

I don't care for the PG rating anymore- but lets be honest... So many ideas have been done to push the envelope. when DX re-united they used almost identicle bits and segments from 1997. Wrestling needs a cooling off period to develop talent, build a new audience and let some ideas rest before being recycled. I mean where else is there to go as far as edge is concerned- any further and it would be over the edge and not suitable for TV.

I believe the problem comes from a lack of strong talent and too many PPVs. Seriously all WWE tv seems to do is adverrtise its other shows or merchandise. When did RAW become a WWE infomercial? how am i expected to tune in if what i am going to see is bad acting and then 5 replays of the same bad acting from last week? boring!

 

[D-Man]

Oh my god, people... NOTHING IS WRONG WITH RAW. The only thing that I would say is wrong with Raw is everyone complaining about it. Can we all just sit back and try and enjoy pro wrestling instead of bitching and moaning about it?? This same posted thread over and over and over again makes me want to punch babies!!!

 

[DEFINITEONE]

"What's wrong with RAW is Triple H. I mean, this guy is not even supposed to be there to begin with and he hogs 90 % of the show. Boot his wrinkled- over tanned butt over to Smackdown and keep him there already! Another thing wrong is Jericho basically doing the "Legend Killer" gimmick....and this with Orton right there ! WTF ??? Why ? Because of Triple H of course, he just has to bury Orton cross brand. So, in a nutshell, you got Stephanie running RAW and that's bad, so she has to push her husband on both main shows. I'm actually surprised HHH hasn't showed up in ECW yet to bury Swagger, but give him time."
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Well this one is way off base. The reason HHH is on Raw more now is because the ratings were down. Raw needs to be the top rated WWE show if for no other reason than the fact is that it is live. Cena is boring and who ever really liked Jericho as a champion? The PG rating is killing the show. I wish that WWE would realize that most of the PG audience they are trying to attract are in bed by the time the show airs (9 eastern and 8 central) I have two kids that love wrestling but they also have school the next day so they can not stay up and watch it anyway! I understand that they have tivo or dvr but my kids come home and instead of wasting 2 hours watching a recorded show they come to wrestlezone.com or just go to wwe.com to find out what happened!

 

[EZ123]

I do believe the PG rating is like a cage keeping certain ideas away from the creative team. The PG rating means no blood, no sex, and no fowl language. That's the start of it. The thing in my opinion that is wrong with Raw is creativity. I am tired of seeing feuds based on people running out and attacking someone. I want story lines like in the Attitude era. When you have suspense, intrigue and twists in a show it keeps your viewer watching. Last night on Raw I thought the most creative and exciting parts were the parts that I had never seen on WWE tv before, that made me raise an eyebrow. Shawn coming back out and superkicking Undertaker, Triple H calling in the steel cage, and my favorite...seeing stephanie in the car when Triple H drove away. It came out of nowhere and made me look twice. That is what Raw is missing. The excitement of waiting for the next week to come. Example when kane was demasked. Instead of just being demasked he took not only the mask off but his trademark long hair. Very cool!
Raw is also missing creative characters Mankind, Goldust, Stone Cold Steve Austin, The Rock were all characters that were never seen before and exciting to watch, they were unpredictable and it made Raw enjoyable to watch.
My idea to save Raw is create better characters, and make Raw more exciting and unpredictable. If they gave the same effort year round that they do when Wrestlemania time comes around it would be a world of difference. Make feuds longer. Wrestlemania should be the culmination of feuds that have been going on for months. Give me the Attitude Era Raw again with a touch of the 80's! I hate watching Raw and having it finish and me saying eh. I used to be excited to watch every week now I don't care.

 

[RVDgurl]

For once, I don't think that there is anything wrong with RAW. Right now the WWE is looking better than it has in years. They are putting alot of effort into developing the younger guys, such as Rhodes and Dibiase. They are bringing some old faces, like Edge and Triple H, back to RAW to freshened things up. The storylines are interesting and the show is not dominated by any particular wrestler. It has been years since I have watched RAW faithfully and been happy with the product. I have to say that over the past couple of months, I have been very happy with wrestling on Monday nights.

 

[[email protected]]

Now, I am new here but I have been a fan of wrestling since the early 80s. So I know a bit of my history here.

In addressing whats wrong with WWE Raw, you have to address what's wrong with WWE as a whole. The talent, writers, and anyone else even remotely associated with the television product all have the same problem, and sadly, it's really nothing that the WWE can fix.

They have no reason whatsoever to try anymore.

I recently watched "The Monday Night Wars" for about the 37th time, and while I really did find that I wasn't missing anything in the program, I did miss a message conveyed that I shouldn't have earlier, and it didn't really dawn on me until now.

There is a part in the show where Mick Foley is talking about the "Billionaire Ted" skits that the WWE put on TV during those wars. Without going into specifics, he said it kind of lit a fire under Ted Turners a$$ and gave him the incentive to be competitive with WWE. We all know what happened next. WCW owned Monday nights for like 18 solid months.

And that is the ingredient that is missing. Competition.

When there were two shows on Monday nights, each show did anything and everything it could to be the best. The talent, writers, producers, directors, EVERYONE worked their butts off to put the best damn show they could on TV. They were constantly, and consistently, trying to outdo each other. They TRIED!

History has proven, time and time again, that ANY market is better when its competitive. The biggest mistake Vince McMahon EVER made was buying out his competition and basically scrapping it. Now, he tried in vain to make Raw and Smackdown compete with each other, but when you take all of your A list talent and stick it on one show, well, where is the competetion? I can never actually remember watching an episode of Smackdown because I never felt they were worth watching.

When there was competition, the WWE banded together as a team and focused 100% of it's efforts on being the best. Now, everyone has their own agenda, and its obvious when you watch. There is no team, there is no pride, and there just plain ain't no reason to try.

For a while, I thought that perhaps TNA might actually provide competetion to the WWE, but lets face it. A six-sided ring, outrageously unbelievable and unrealistic characters and wardrobe and makeup, as well as a complete lack of direction doomed that company from the start. Don't even try to tell me that TNA is anywhere near the same par as WWE, and as long as they have the same people in charge, they never will be.

I watched an impact with Christian Cage on it last year. He came out, and I swear, he looked like a cartoon. That silly looking jacket of his made me look at him and actually wonder if he thought real life people dressed like that. He looked like an idiot. Kurt Angle does the same thing.

TNA, if you look at it, is starting with the same formula that WCW did. They are taking old WWE talent for fresh runs. They are shooting their show from a soundstage, just like WCW saturday night. Maybe, someday, they will get a Monday night timeslot. I doubt it, but maybe. If they can the hokey looking wardrobes and start to make things a little more realistic, well then maybe they can try to compete a little more.

Oh, and what fan actually believes that a 50 year old man in facepaint can legitimately beat, in the center of any ring, someone half his age, twice his size, and basically all around better than he is? Sting should have retired YEARS ago. I don't even think they should call him Sting. Maybe stink or something, because he is just a rotten shell of who he used to be.

You CAN'T fix what's wrong with the WWE, because someone else is going to have to come along and do it for them, just like WCW did.

 

[Thugz417]

WHAT IS WRONG WITH RAW!?

Simple. Vince McMahon.

Now I know what you are saying but hear me out... Vince has in a sense total control of everything that happens in WWE (i know...shocked right? lol)

He thinks major talents AND future talents like a Christian Shelton and Charlie Hass are garbage. Now I know what some might say. Charlie Hass is a joke...While some might be right. Think about the duo! Shelton and Charlie! They could bring back the tag division! Have one on each brand and make it so they can travel back and forth between shows. You know sort of how other talent has so far. That would invigorate/rejuvenate the tag team division. I mean think about it! A high flying tag match, Jeff Hardy & Rey Mysterio (or hell even an Evan Bourne) vs The Worlds Greatest Tag Team in a tag team LADDER match! Or hell a TLC match!

And then think of this!

Christian vs. Jeff vs. Shelton vs. Matt vs. Bourne vs. Rey Mysterio in a 6 way MITB style ladder match. That just CRIES out RATINGS! Imagine that as the RAW main event or hell even the co-main event! Would keep the viewers interests while allowing for it to progress even tag team rivalries. There are so many options out there that Vince is afraid to let be explored. The faster that a$$#ole croaks the better IMO

Vince clearly doesn't know how to use the outstand talent he has!

This whole PG rating bull is killer. I remember when Austin got ran over, When Austin broke into the Pillman home, both CLASSIC moments. Turning WWE PG is going to make ppl turn to TNA because lets face it. Samoa Joe holding a knife to Big Poppa Pump is much more entertaining than a Mark Henry match.

The Biggest Problem With WWE IMO is VINCE MCMAHON. End of story. Argue that point all you want!

 

[D-Man]

WHAT IS WRONG WITH RAW!?

Simple. Vince McMahon.

He thinks major talents AND future talents like a Christian Shelton and Charlie Hass are garbage. Now I know what some might say. Charlie Hass is a joke...While some might be right. Think about the duo! Shelton and Charlie! They could bring back the tag division!

Have you been watching the product for the past few years?!? He recognizes Haas and Benjamin's in-ring talent. So much that Vince tried bringing back the WGTT again!! And it failed... MISERABLY. So, still not willing to give up on them, he split them, changed their gimmicks, and they STILL both tanked. Let's face it, they just aren't connecting with the audience and they have no one to blame but themselves.

Try watching the program before formulating your opinions, next time.

 

[[email protected]]

Please show your intelligence when you post in here, not your complete lack of it.

Sorry for taking a shot like that, but it irritates me when stupidity runs rampant in a forum where smart people obviously congregate.

I wanted to address the PG rating as well, and forgot.

The PG rating is being done for a reason, though people may not know why.

Go back to the 1980s. The WWE's first profitable and glorious run. Look who the stars were.

Clean cut PG rated stars. Real all-out good guys were the big "Heroes," while the bad guys were cheaters and liars and the like.

Vince is a businessman, and as such, he is in his particular business to make a profit. Vince realizes that the Rated R version of WWE is no longer working, so he chooses to revisit something that he knows HAS worked for him in the past. The problem with that is, Vince is a 60 year old man and doesn't quite realize exactly what works in today's society.

Vince doesn't realize that in this day and age, regardless of how PG he makes his program, parents today don't want their children watching anything remotely violent. Take a look at television in the last few years in aspects other than wrestling.

GI Joe, He-Man, the Looney Toons. They ruled the 1980s, along with anyone else who could carry a gun, sword, or drop an anvil on someone.

Today, we have Dora the Explorer, Spongebob, and God knows what else. Where is the violence? Where are the guns, swords, and anvils? Well, they're where parents want them. In the past. Nowadays parents want their kids to learn something from their TV watching.

Yeah okay a few years ago, Dragonball Z made a bit of an impact and it had a bit of violence. Where is it now? Oh yeah, in some late night timeslot on some random channel AFTER kids go to bed. Kinda like.....SMACKDOWN!

Vince needs to realize that unless he is going to have his wrestlers stop WRESTLING and start teaching some sort of class, he is never going to appeal to a majority of parents to let their kids watch. Chris Benoit and his family's tragedy pretty much took care of that. I know I stopped letting my kids watch after that. What parent wants a steroid addict to be their hero?

No, Vince needs to find a way to recapture that 18-34 male demographic that he once owned on Monday nights. Now, well, he can look forward to getting squashed every week by whatever comes along until Monday Night Football comes along.

 

[ve9jmc]

Whats wrong with wrong with RAW? well i can sum that up in 2 words. BRAND SPLIT

Ever since they had the brand split and a yearly draft, it has gone down hill. come on we get the same story lines between the same 20 wrestlers for a year. now recently they have started invloving wrestlers from the smackdown brand on raw. the brand split has done the WWE nothing exept drop their tv ratings. i would suggest they get rid of the brand split and start writing some real story lines like they had back in the late 90's.


i'll be honest since the 2nd year of the brand split i don't bother watching raw or smackdown anymore. i just watch their monthly Pay Per View and i get all i need to know from there.

 

[The Catacomb]

If you think there is nothing wrong with raw, you're eating bad acid.

Four things wrong with Raw... PG rating, no competition, vince's control of the show, and the Benoit tradegy aftermath.

PG rating: It's fine for smackdown to be PG, but you should keep Raw at rated R (no edge pun intended). The show is on late on Monday night on cable. I hate to say it, but Vince is trying to make an unrespectable entertainment respectable and too professional . And I don't mean unrespectable as in the work that every employee does for wrestling, but, unrespectable in the eyes of how families view it. Wrestling is fake fighting. Why have fake fighting without the extreme sensational, over the top violence and themes?

No competition: Once WCW went, the ratings went. Why? No drive to make the product the best product out there to bury the competition with. The creativity and inventivness that went to each show just isn't there anymore, so many weak storylines and plots and gimmicks are ok'd because there isn't the threat of someone watching the "other" show at the same time. I think TNA has to get a monday time slot and go head to head with WWE. Their ratings would shoot up automatically at first from viewers who want to see what they can bring to the table. I'd think WWE would change their gameplan right away and things would get very interesting.

Vince's control of the show: Hey, I thank Vince for what he's brought to wrestling, both mentally and physically. But, it's time to loosen the stranglehold and create some competition amongst your writers and creative to see who can out-write and out-create the others instead of them worrying if only Vince will like the storylines. I think that alot of ideas aren't even brought up because they're afraid that they will upset Vince and then get canned.

The Benoit tragedy: the WWE is still reeling from this. This is probably the reason Raw and WWE in general are PG right now. All the momentum and pay-offs from the attitude era to bring wrestling to a new level no one thought wrestling could reach died when he died in the way he died. The respect and hype the WWE won with the attitude era turned into disrespect and the wrong kind of hype. Usually tragedies like Benoit's help ratings of a program, but, not the case here. It's kind of like Sept. 11. America had reached a certain level until the planes hit, but everything was different after that and will never be the same. Same with WWE after Benoit on a different level. It changed the way Vince does business and I don't think he'll do business as he did in the past.

Anyway, that's my two cents. Stone Cold for president.

 

[rightphitt]

There are pros and cons to raw righ now and I wanna take a second to address them

Pros

-The most talent they have had in a very long time
-Great up and comin superstars
-Presentation for the most part is well done

So overall its not a bad product and I will say that this year is the best so far compared to wwe after the attitude era.

Cons
Too much time taken up by the old timers
The younger generations growth can't happen cause u got these old guys stiff fightin for the whc. although its these old timers that give the show its credibility there needs to be a balance between the 2

There is tons of talent on raw for them to set up storylines and have matches but right now they are so focused on whc,taker/micheals etc that they are totally taken the balance outta raw

Also I agree with the pg rating cause they are building a fan base right now for years to come. Being a dad there is no way I would let my kids watch someof the stuff they did back in the attitude era and I think that its a smart move cause ten years from now little kids growin up with the brand will still be fans and will be introducing their kids (possibly) to the wwe product.

Good job vince!!!

Agree???

 

[mrstlouis]

I left it out during my lengthy rant, but you reminded me of it - the PG Rating. That is really what is hurting Raw. I mean look at the name of the show and nowadays the show get's about a "raw" as Sesame Street. There is no excitment anymore. It's all become very predictable and stale because the show doesn't have that edge to it now.

anybody says the P.g rating is hurting raw then they are wrong . for one WWf started out P.g. WWF original success was when it was p.g . the wrestling was lot better when it was p.g then it was in Attitude
era . the Attitude era is overated & most of you grew up on that crap called Attitude . the 80's were better all together then Attitude era,. p.g rating has made WWe step there wrestling up. all WWe has done has gone back to roots that was p.g in the first place not Attitude . Attitude era is the reason wrestling is so crappy today . the wrestling in Attitude era sucked in WWF. if you think the p.g rating is wrong then you need to get off the Attitude era because it was not wrestling but the reason titles don't mean crap today . i rather have the old 80's p.g WWf then that crap era called Attitude era. anybody says the brand spilt is wrong with WWe then they are also wrong . the brand split has done nothing but good things for the wrestlers in WWE . people who would have never got shot if it was not for the brands . wrestlers like mvp,evan bourne,morrison,london,kendrick,cm punk & many more would have never got their shot at all . see if you kill the brands this is who you are going to have main events all the time undertaker,HHH,HBK,jericho,EDGe,john cena,randy orton,JBL, & batista. so you would have these 9 wrestlers all in the main events all the time & no one else would get a chance just like tna's main event.people need to stop complaining because you have no idea what your talking about unless your in the wrestling business & that is the truth.also the storylines in late 90's were sending a bad message anyways & wrestling does not need that at all anymore.the storylines in 80's were better then the Attitude era & the late 90's. please stop complaining & just be thankful you can still watch wrestling at all. we could have lost wrestling to both steriod trials & never see it on tv again.

 

[lenguy]

i have to disagree with anyone who says that nobody liked it when jericho was champ.it was a great and refreshing to see jericho the champ again.he hasent held the belt in so long.its better than cena or hhh holding the belt right?i dont see how you can complain then. He did a great job as champ.and if he does get drafted to SD i could see him being the champ again.id rather much see jericho as the champion than cena or hhh anyday.tho right now,orton is the fucking man.

 

[RH23]

i stopped watching Raw after the last draft because Raw IMO got screwed in the draft. I never watch Smackdown since its on at the most inconvientiant time. Heres what i would do:
Make the tag team division interesting again cuz right now its so horrible. Give Legacy the tag belts. Have Triple H and Edge come back to Raw. Turn HHH heel after the Legacy fued. Make the storylines waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay more interesting. Have JBL keep the IC title for while to bring back its prestige.

 

[zags]

I've read people said teh brand splt is the problem. That so much isn't the problem as having the same titles on both shows. Hopefully we are starting to see the end of that with the tag title match at Mania with both sets on the line. Hopefully that'll merge into one and we could see that on both shows. Also get rid of both womens championships. Merge that into 1. Have the WWE title ECW title and the Heavyweight title be specific to the brands and let the tag titles, IC title, US title and Womes title be defended on both shows and that would help a lot. Competition with the WWE would be nice too.

 

[A-Lusion]

Simple. John Cena. This guy quite frequently makes 5 different appearances in one night, it's bad enough we have to watch him in the main event every week, but all the segments between the opening promo and the main event is just taking the piss. Oh how I long for the days of The Rock, you always knew you were in for some great entertainment with The Rock, that's why I didn't seeing The Rock 5 times in one night as opposed to Cena But Cena. Cena is as exciting as watching paint dry and is as funny as a fire in an orphanage.

Another problem with Raw is Triple H making as many appearances as he does when he's suposed to be a Smackdown superstar. I mean you would think the guy could wait until after the draft before he starts burying everyone on Raw.

One more problem is (this goes for all WWE programming) these days nothing ever leaves you dying to know what happens next. There's nothing going on to keep you hooked with anticipation.

And oh yeah the whole PG rating thing is a load of crap. Raw is suposed to be live, uncut, unscensored and RAW!

 

[Slyfox696]

The biggest problem I have with Raw right now is the build to Wrestlemania. I'm less interested by these matches now than I was even 2 weeks ago, and that's quite sad.

Jericho vs. Legends: The Jericho vs. Legends storyline appears to have been changed about 15 times behind the scenes. It seems obvious to me that the WWE couldn't get Rourke involved, nor find any BIG TIME legend (like Andre, Hogan or Austin) to work a match against Jericho, so now they're going with a lame 3 on 1 with three guys that nobody is all that excited to see.

HHH vs. Orton: How many times can the WWE remind us that Triple H vs. Orton is personal? How many family members have to get involved? How many times do they have to tell us that the WWE Championship is on the line? Wait, scratch that last one. I'm not sure it's been brought up once. The biggest show in company history, and your most prestigious title has ZERO to do with your main-event? I've never been one to believe that I know booking better than those who do it, but I still can't figure this one out.

Cena vs. Show vs. Edge: You have the biggest draw in the company playing third wheel in a Triple Threat feud for the second straight year. Oh, and let's not forget that of the five men in the main-events of WM (Cena, Orton, Edge, Show, and HHH), only TWO of them are actually Raw superstars...and Cena seems to be the only one that creative hasn't given a damn about in the feud. It seems silly to me to have one of your only two Raw superstars being stuck as a third wheel in a Raw feud...especially when that guy is your biggest draw.

Shawn Michaels vs. Undertaker: This is the only one that I have a small interest in seeing where it is going. I missed Raw last week, so I didn't see the promo between the two, but at least there was some small build this week to make me care a little.

MITB: Call me crazy, but a random 6 man tag with nothing on the line, and with annoying commentary from a midget that quit being humorous a year ago, just isn't good build.

I think I enjoyed Raw more before the Road to Wrestlemania. At least there was a little sense to some of the things they did.

I wanted to address the PG rating as well, and forgot.

The PG rating is being done for a reason, though people may not know why.

Go back to the 1980s. The WWE's first profitable and glorious run. Look who the stars were.

Clean cut PG rated stars. Real all-out good guys were the big "Heroes," while the bad guys were cheaters and liars and the like.

Vince is a businessman, and as such, he is in his particular business to make a profit. Vince realizes that the Rated R version of WWE is no longer working, so he chooses to revisit something that he knows HAS worked for him in the past. The problem with that is, Vince is a 60 year old man and doesn't quite realize exactly what works in today's society.

Vince doesn't realize that in this day and age, regardless of how PG he makes his program, parents today don't want their children watching anything remotely violent. Take a look at television in the last few years in aspects other than wrestling.

GI Joe, He-Man, the Looney Toons. They ruled the 1980s, along with anyone else who could carry a gun, sword, or drop an anvil on someone.

Today, we have Dora the Explorer, Spongebob, and God knows what else. Where is the violence? Where are the guns, swords, and anvils? Well, they're where parents want them. In the past. Nowadays parents want their kids to learn something from their TV watching.

Yeah okay a few years ago, Dragonball Z made a bit of an impact and it had a bit of violence. Where is it now? Oh yeah, in some late night timeslot on some random channel AFTER kids go to bed. Kinda like.....SMACKDOWN!

Vince needs to realize that unless he is going to have his wrestlers stop WRESTLING and start teaching some sort of class, he is never going to appeal to a majority of parents to let their kids watch. Chris Benoit and his family's tragedy pretty much took care of that. I know I stopped letting my kids watch after that. What parent wants a steroid addict to be their hero?

No, Vince needs to find a way to recapture that 18-34 male demographic that he once owned on Monday nights. Now, well, he can look forward to getting squashed every week by whatever comes along until Monday Night Football comes along.

When I first skimmed your post, I thought you were ridiculous. When I read it closer, I'll say you at least make some good points. However...

First of all, the demographic that watches Dora the Explorer is not the same that watches something like Family Guy. And Family Guy (and Simpsons) are hugely popular series, not just for older, but for younger to. As a teacher, I can't begin to tell you how many of my students, 7th grade and lower, have seen Family Guy and know by heart many of the episodes. So, to make a blanket statement that says the trend is away from more mature viewing for children would be incorrect. Furthermore, the amount of younger humans who watch wrestling now is larger than it was just a few years ago. Heck, I don't even need to give numbers, you can just look out into an audience and see that.

The problem with capturing the 18-34 market is that you lose SOOO many fans in between those ages, and you retain very few after. The wrestling business is like the cigarette business. The younger you hook them, the more money you bleed from them. However, unlike the cigarette business, wrestling fans tend to quit wrestling once they reach a certain age. So targeting your programming to an audience that may only be around for a couple of years is bad business...and we saw that with the Attitude Era. Once those older teen and young adult fans left, what happened? Ratings completely tanked. Over the course of about 3 years, ratings went from averaging high 6s and low 7s to averaging high 3s and low 4s. That's THREE WHOLE RATINGS point of a drop, in just about 3 years (2000-2003). The problem was that the fans they created with the Attitude Era left, and there was no one left to replace them.

Finally, and this is addressed to everyone...anyone who complains about a program because of it's TV rating has seriously need to examine what kind of a person they are. Because I find it to be utterly ridiculous to criticize a show because of its TV rating. The Andy Griffith show would be rated G, and it's one of the greatest shows of all time. The same goes with the Brady Bunch, Gilligans Island, and more. That's not to say that shows can't be edgy and entertaining, but simply a lighter rating has ZERO to do with quality of a product, and anyone who says it does is simply fooling themselves by trying to appear "cooler" than they really are.

Simple. John Cena. This guy quite frequently makes 5 different appearances in one night, it's bad enough we have to watch him in the main event every week, but all the segments between the opening promo and the main event is just taking the piss. Oh how I long for the days of The Rock, you always knew you were in for some great entertainment with The Rock, that's why I didn't seeing The Rock 5 times in one night as opposed to Cena But Cena. Cena is as exciting as watching paint dry and is as funny as a fire in an orphanage.

AAAAAAAAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

First of all, Cena rarely make 5 appearances in one night, including only having one last night. Second of all, Triple H and Orton are on FAR more times than Cena. Finally you mention the Rock...are you fucking kidding me? He and Austin were in more segments on Raw in one night than Cena is in a month.

Awful post and I refuse to read the rest of it.