Below is a list of the majority of the things you all said is wrong with Raw. Keep in mind a lot of the same things were repeated or commented on as well. This is just about everything in a nutshell.
What's wrong with RAW is Triple H.
Jericho basically doing the "Legend Killer" gimmick
undercard titles are never featured like they used to be
Legacy is supposed to be the next shit on Raw but look at what they've become.
WWE also needs to decide if they want SD to be equal to Raw or let Raw be the flagship.
It doesn't have any larger than life characters with any ring talent.
they don't have a plethora of attitude era characters.
Another problem is no more Nitro.
there is way too much decent talent in the company.
the PG rating. It's too clean.
too many PPVs.
all WWE TV seems to do is advertise its other shows or merchandise.
Triple H. I mean, this guy is not even supposed to be there to begin with and he hogs 90 % of the show.
The thing in my opinion that is wrong with Raw is creativity.
I want story lines like in the Attitude era.
Raw is also missing creative characters
They have no reason whatsoever to try anymore.
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.
Simple. Vince McMahon.
Whats wrong with wrong with RAW? well i can sum that up in 2 words. BRAND SPLIT
we get the same story lines between the same 20 wrestlers for a year.
If you think there is nothing wrong with raw, you're eating bad acid.
PG rating, no competition, Vince's control of the show, and the Benoit tragedy aftermath.
Vince is trying to make an unrespectable entertainment respectable and too professional
The creativity and inventiveness 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.
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
having the same titles on both shows.
Make the tag team division interesting again
I digress. If all this were true Raw would be TNA Impact. I have to say, most of that is garbage and I am going to go through it almost one by one and explain why. It will be a long one but you will see the light.
What's wrong with RAW is Triple H.
WROOOONG!!!! I am so tired of hearing all this heat for Triple H. Am I the only one who realizes how great this guy is? Am I the only one who heard Ric Flair himself say that Triple H is the best in the business, and no one argue differently? Did Ric Flair himself not say Triple H is the future of the business, of the company, a guy who reminded Ric Flair of himself more than anyone? Am I the only one who knows how hard he's worked to get where he is? Am I the only one who can see him for what he is, The Game?
A lot of people want to talk trash about Triple H and I can't figure out why. People said he was champion too long around 02-03 and kept the title because he was on the writing staff. That was actually bogus, he is one guy out of a whole board of people making decisions, he tries to pitch ideas here and there but works for the betterment of the company, of the business, not himself. That is part of the reason he is where he is, because like few before him, he put the business first, as a result he reaps the rewards of doing such, and that is not his fault. If they decide it is in the best interest of the company as a whole to keep him as champion than that is not him doing anything except his job so anyone with something to say about that can fuck off! Pardon my language there please. In continuance, Also people have tried to accuse Triple H of sabotaging their careers or trying to keep them out of the main event and so on. Once again, crap. He simply doesn't have the power and I know what is coming next from that. Stephanie. Yeah he married the bosses daughter so what? Any levy of power you think is there is a figment of your imagination. There has been no string pulling on Triple H's behalf by Stephanie whatsoever, that is just an excuse you use to vindicate yourself in hating this guy for no reason, other than the fact he isn't your favorite guy. I'll tell you one reason alone that I know Triple H isn't pulling any strings. You all act like Triple H runs the damn show or the company, and like all he has to do is go to Stephanie or Vince and plead his case and gets his way, that so far off, know why? Because Vince isn't going to let any one person make the decisions except Vince. If you know anything about the WWE at all, you'd know Vince runs the show and everything has to go past him first. If you want to argue favoritism towards him and so on, on Vince's behalf because he's the son-in-law I still digress and counter argue that if he does show him favoritism it's due to the money he's made him, the fact that he's been with the company for many years already, is a locker room leader, has always been dependable minus a couple quad injuries, and most importantly loves the business, knows his place in it, and has always done what was best for the business with the exception of the MSG Curtain Call which he paid for dearly anyways. Triple H is where he is for a reason, one being that to most of the fans view him as the true and rightful champion anyways, and he wouldn't be there if everyone else didn't agree unanimously that he was the best guy for the title and the company. So those of you who would like to argue differently I graciously welcome you to another forum to try. Triple H is not the problem on Raw, End of Story.
Jericho basically doing the "Legend Killer" gimmick
WROOONG!!!! SO far off the mark. Jericho has nothing to do with any problem on Raw. As a matter of fact his gimmick right now is one of the best things on Raw. His transformation from Y2J to the new angry Chris Jericho has been nothing short of masterful and genius. His new character is a perfect reinvention of Chris Jericho, and his whole storyline against the Legends is not a Randy Orton "Legend Killer" gimmick either. Jericho has never mentioned being a legend killer, no one has called him a legend killer, and the fact that his victims have been mostly legends is purely coincidental and more than likely been done simply to work them in to Wrestlemania. If anything you should be thanking Chris Jericho for working that program with them, so you can see them one more time in action at Wrestlemania. His current storyline is one of the best on Raw, and Raw is a better show for having him there and that story going. If you don't like Chris Jericho or the storyline, that's too bad. And if it doesn't meet your standards that's too bad as well because I bet few of you could do better, but keep in mind I know which of you could so much respect to those of you who really do have a clue. So, Jericho, not the problem.
undercard titles are never featured like they used to be
This is one of the only complaints with merit but very little. WWE has made a showing effort to push the tag titles and at least the I.C. within the last 6 months to a year. Someone said having JBL as the current champ devalues the belt...I've got news for you. Having JBL as the champ raises the value of that belt ya know why??? Because whether you like this or not JBL is a top tier competitor. Having him with that title shows it's rise in value. Any title is only as good as the talent that holds it, and having upper card guys hold the I.C. raises it's stock dramatically. Take a look at it. William Regal who is very well known, a top guy in his own right was a good move, I know he's not main event but we all know Regal and we all know he is a great wrestler whether you like him or not. C.M. Punk had it and he is a former world champion now, I know Rey Mysterio has had it in the past and he's a top tier guy, Jeff Hardy not all that long ago, Chris Jericho had it not long ago, all of that is an effort to raise the belts value and I believe it has, I look forward to seeing JBL as Champion, he's a great heel and I think proven his worth in the last few years since he came back. Not take a look at the names I mentioned, all world champions at some point either before or after holding the I.C., that's exactly what that belt is meant for. Back in the day it was the measuring stick to see if a guy could handle being a champion and if he could some times he was moved up to a world champion, sometimes after being a world champion it shows that the person has still got it and can capture gold still and re-launches the athlete. They have made a move back in that direction. I find it rather bold for anyone to try and say that the title is worthless now, or that it hasn't got better. Yes it has switched hands a bit
that also means a lot of people have been fighting for it, that's good. No body is really gunning for the U.S. title and WWE doesn't seem to have too many plans for it, the I.C. however is on the rise again. As for the tag titles we all seem to know what is going on with them and it is the complete opposite of what some of you are claiming. You say that the titles are worthless or that they aren't doing anything to make them better but we all know a unification is in store and that raises the value quite a bit wouldn't you say? They have been having great tag matches regularly and seem to have united around champions in Miz & Morrison, maybe your just jealous. And Miz & Morrison have been great, they have been putting on quality matches day in day out on all three shows sometimes, they have had the spotlight put on them very clearly and earned their spots too. Where I agree is that we need more tag teams, that would be nice but WWE and Raw particularly have been doing an amazing job with what they have to work with, and it is not shortage of actual talent, just the teams themselves. If you think WWE is so bad why not take a look at the competition if you can even call it that with TNA. They've got Beer Money Inc. that's it, I don't deny that they are pretty alright but that's all they've got. I know, I know... Motor City Machine Guns, well doesn't look like they are actually too much of a team right now and Evan Bourne can do anything they can do and then some, him and Kofi might take the clip out of the Motor City Machine Guns with their ability combined. Don't forget about Legacy either. Legacy will make their way and we've seen a bit from them already. I see potential in those two together or separate, but as the tag team they are Legacy is another tag team from Raw that I think many of you may be taking for granted. The tag division and the U.S./I.C. titles may not be where they were in the early to mid 90's but we are working our way back, I believe the right steps have been taken and it is only a matter of time that will turn into money. Dig It!!
Legacy is supposed to be the next shit on Raw but look at what they've become.
I already mentioned Legacy and said that the best is yet to come, but addressing the actual quote due to the fact that the best is yet to come, they are simply playing a part in this storyline between Triple H and Randy Orton right now. After Wrestlemania we should see them getting back on the tag team trail but dismiss the current state of things. It's not the worst thing they could be doing with Legacy and it will raise their stock. Someone complained about them getting beat up by Triple H and said it made them look bad. Well, I can understand how it looks on the surface but realize that what is really important is that they are in the ring with Triple H at all. If they weren't trying to do something with them they wouldn't be in the ring with the top guy in the business. Besides, the segment on Raw where Triple H lowered the cage on Cody Rhodes was great. Cody sold well, Triple H beat him up well, the whole thing was unexpected and exciting, and went over huge, what's wrong with being apart of that? No matter what your role, it is always an honor and a privileged to be apart of a spot that big and to share the ring with someone of Triple H's status and Randy Orton.
WWE also needs to decide if they want SD to be equal to Raw or let Raw be the flagship.
Raw is clearly the flagship brand and always has been. I know it has been confusing with the back and forth recently but many of you also complain about it being two shows. Well now they've been letting everyone go back and forth to create the feeling of there being one show instead of two different worlds. Smackdown being one territory and Raw another, now it's more like one playground and one company. Raw is always going to have the most going on and recently on Wrestlezone there was an article about WWE trying to put more focus back on Raw so that is being done already and apparently it's worked since apparently Smackdown is the promise land and Raw is so fucked up according to some of you.
It doesn't have any larger than life characters with any ring talent
Well what exactly do you mean by larger than life with talent because last time I checked that was the entire roster. All those guys are larger than life in their own ways. You've got legends, future legends, and top talent in the industry, what's not larger than life about it? They do what they do better than anyone else in the world, that's why they are there, because they are larger than life and can perform at another level. In-ring talent? I guess Chris Jericho is horrible in ring, Triple H contrary to any argument is superb in the ring but you'll say he sucks, Shawn Michaels must not be a very good wrestler, Undertaker wrestles like he just got in a ring, Randy Orton doesn't know his way around the ring very well either, Edge has no technical skill, William Regal couldn't wrestle circles around people, Cody Rhodes isn't the son of a legend and skilled himself, Kofi Kingston is garbage, Ted Jr might as well pack it in, Shelton Benjamin isn't a skilled competitor, Carlito is a waste of space, Chavo Guerrero isn't one of the better luchadors around accompanied by Rey Mysterio as well, Jeff Hardy is just a stunt double and has no in-ring credit, Gregory Helms has no technical skills either he just sucks, R-Truth isn't one of the most talented men of his size in the business, and Umaga can't work good matches with just about anybody, they all lack talent and need to move over for some guy you heard of on the Indy circuit that actually isn't as good as a lot of these guys or is missing pieces of the pie being either the look, the ability, or the charisma it takes to make it as a WWE Superstar. I think that most of you just don't get it because you have never stepped foot in a ring, and never taken the bumps, and executed the holds, put it all together, and put your body on the line. It takes more than you know to actually make it in the business and to be as good as most of these guys are. There is nothing wrong with the talent, sometimes it they just don't do what you want them to do with the talent so you retaliate with your one sided criticism.
there is way too much decent talent in the company.
Here we have someone completely contradictory to the previous complaint and I wasn't shocked to find contradiction. How can there being a surplus of talent be a detriment to the company or Raw? Oh, I know I know, "Because it doesn't allow so and so to move up and let newer talent grow" Well that's the thing, the talent does grow, people are getting shots, new talent has and is being developed at the appropriate pace, remember, they have been running this business for years, what have you done? I think they might know more about it than you or I, everything takes time and has to be done appropriately. You can't just decide overnight that someone is a star, the fans have to choose them in a way. If the fans don't choose you that's not Vince McMahon's fault, it's not Triple H's fault, or anyone else's, It's not entirely your own but that's how it is. They provide the platform and environment to achieve it, if you can't you can't. The cream of the crop rises to the top, is that right? Well since it is, that explains it. No excuses. And this is certainly not what is wrong with Raw.
the PG rating. It's too clean.
Not really, besides what the hell do you want then??? As someone said earlier if you went much further with it, it wouldn't be allowed on t.v. Seriously how much further can you go. If some of the things they did on Raw in the last 5 years hasn't had enough for you than you probably need to reevaluate your standards and expectations. They have pushed the envelope non stop. For God sake they just had Triple H at Randy Orton's house like Jason Vorhees chasing him through his house, and Triple H getting arrested. How about the chase through the arena a week or so ago? Wasn't that good enough? That seemed pretty crazy to me for keeping it somewhat PG rated. What about the McMahonism skits? Were they not controversial and new? Some of the storylines with Edge have been pretty insane. I could go on and on. The Recent Jeff Hardy storyline was awesome, having him getting attacked, hit and run, etc.. That was pretty hardcore realistic shit for a PG rating. It didn't end the way I expected but turning it into what they did with the Hardy Boyz was actually pretty damn cool. It was time for a heel turn for Matt and now Jeff gets more support from the fans. It was smart to do that, that's why it was done, they knew it would work for both guys and the company. Moving on, I thought they went pretty far with the whole McMahon getting blown up in the limo thing and all that, wasn't that edgy, wasn't that pushing the envelope? I think they've done plenty and the PG rating works, they are within limits but not much, and I am going to get deeper into this issue later. For now I will end this part by also reminding you that this is not what is wrong with Raw.
The thing in my opinion that is wrong with Raw is creativity.
all WWE TV seems to do is advertise its other shows or merchandise.
The creativity and inventiveness 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.
They have no reason whatsoever to try anymore.
Another problem is no more Nitro.
Raw is also missing creative characters
we get the same story lines between the same 20 wrestlers for a year.
Now I grouped these together because they all have to do with effort, creativity, and competition. While there is no legit competition and competition is good this does present a problem. What do you do if there is no real competition? Good question, and if any of you can answer it within reason not fantasy I will be impressed. That's what the WWE has to do, they have to figure out how to keep you interested and create new ways to shock and amaze you, they do this through their theatrics and performers. How many wrestlers do you think a company should have? Someone mentioned the same storylines between the same 20 or so guys all year. Well than how many different storylines with how many wrestlers do you think is appropriate? I remember, keyword "remember" a company that had tons of different storylines and twice as many wrestlers. It was called WCW and they always had a bunch of different storylines with well over 20 guys possibly 60 or so, and things were so confusing half the time most nobody knew what was actually going on. That turned out great remember??? Do you ? I know some of you don't, but those of you who should, do yo??? I think it went like this: A better run company bought WCW and absorbed some of it's top talent, capitalizing on their win in the Monday Night Wars, therein making it the biggest wrestling organization in the world period. The grandest stage of them all, once and for all. They figured out how to do that, and as I explained during the PG rating part of this post, they have done a great job. Some of the things they did I didn't like, but after all was said and done it turned out for the better, and I had seen that they knew exactly what they were doing and had thing under control. You question all their decisions yet you are not equipped to make an accurate judgment on them. They are creative enough to keep you guessing all the time, no matter how much you think you know is going to happen, when it does it is merely chance that you guessed, the truth is no matter what you think is going to happen you never actually know. If they are good enough to do that year after year than once again I don't see where they are lacking. As for effort though; think of all the preparation it takes to put on even a house show, and how much it takes to show you all their merchandise, and make the merchandise, and put it on tv, or dvd, it takes a lot of effort to do what they do. It takes a lot of effort to be on the road for 300 days a year, night in night out putting your body through hell. It takes a lot of effort to put everything together, you just take most of it for granted. This has nothing to do with what is wrong with Raw or Wrestling in general.
Vince is trying to make an unrespectable entertainment respectable and too professional
Right and Wrong. The first quote is pretty good, I like it. I understand that idea and what you're saying there. trying to make an unrespectable entertainment respectable, and too professional. That could have a lot to do with it. The thing that many of you need to remember though is that it's not Vince's fault. He has even had to answer to Congress for God Sake, he is getting restrictions put on him as he has to answer for every product they put out. Ever read the transcript from his congressional hearing, it's pretty heated. Vince lives, and breathes this company, he is Raw, he is the WWE, how can you say he is what's wrong with the company and Raw in general. He makes decisions that we don't always like but they are always good for business. If they weren't, it wouldn't be Vince McMahon.
I want story lines like in the Attitude era.
Too much time taken up by the old timers
they don't have a plethora of attitude era characters.
Another problem is no more Nitro.
OK, now we've gotta have a serious talk about this one kids. Get this through your heads. The Attitude Era sucked. It sucked so bad that WCW kicked their ass through most of it. You say that they take up too much time with the old timers, well I say that you wouldn't have any of it without those old timers. This is just a reflection of this generation and the disrespectful mentality of society though, it's ok. The attitude era ruined so much. It devalued ppv's, titles, characters, everything. If you don't like the way things are now you can thank the attitude era because it was so outrageous the WWE got bitch slapped by society for having no class, being raunchy, foul, and utterly disgraceful. The WWE has rebuilt since then to become bigger than ever and as someone said before McMahon just went back to what worked for him in the past, and it is working, that's what's wrong with Raw to you. You want that attitude era, that nostalgia, you want the monday night wars again, and wcw nitro. There's a little problem with that, and that is that it's over, it's past it's gone, and done with. They couldn't do it the same as they did if they wanted to, and they go far enough now. The attitude era ruined everything. You want the answer, the attitude era. It is what is wrong with Raw. It's stain, it's aftermath, has tainted the company forever. They can never do those things again. Society has spoken against what they were pushing then and do still now. You can thank the attitude era for that. As I said it devalued everything by being everything you complain about now. That's both part of the reason they made it and why they almost didn't make it. The did almost everything then, you accuse them of doing now. They are doing things much differently now, and it works better. Someone mentioned in another thread the production quality alone now is unlike anything before it, and that wrestling has never been seen the way we have seen it, they noted Wrestlemania 24 as the prime example, and the production quality of it was better than anything ever before. So, so much has improved, everything runs smoother now, it's not repetitive, it's not the same storylines, and same guys all the time, weak titles, weak ppv's, all that nonsense. That was the past, now the business has changed, evolved, and it's bigger than ever. You can't argue that. No matter what you say the have done right or wrong the business now is bigger than ever and only growing further. Obviously they did something right. Because other than the attitude era, and how it damaged the business, there is still now and forever nothing wrong with Monday Night Raw.
