*MERGED* Raw Guest Host discussion

[JoeBudden=BestRapperAlive]

wonder why they couldn't do something like Stone Cold or the Rock. Who cares aboutt zztop?? honestly! Jim Piven sucked a** but his partner was ok. Maybe even Ric Flair would be good for geust host. A no brainer could of knew that Shaq would do a good jod. They could pick like another sports player like football no one likes T.O. but he likes attention and will bring that. Hell bring Jay-Z in! give it a try. haha just sayin that theres a lot more better chocies out there then the ones that were choose. cept Shaq, he was good.

 

[RageBattle]

No, it's not the end...

Slaughter was probably just a backup, he has usually been available for the WWE for whatever they needed him for. Going to Canada falls into that category.

 

[Spaceman Spif]

wonder why they couldn't do something like Stone Cold or the Rock. Who cares aboutt zztop?? honestly! Jim Piven sucked a** but his partner was ok. Maybe even Ric Flair would be good for geust host. A no brainer could of knew that Shaq would do a good jod. They could pick like another sports player like football no one likes T.O. but he likes attention and will bring that. Hell bring Jay-Z in! give it a try. haha just sayin that theres a lot more better chocies out there then the ones that were choose. cept Shaq, he was good.

Honestly they may have very well been two of the top choices, and maybe they still will show up as I doubt this is the end of the Guest Host. However a few problems I now see with the likes of Stone Cold or The Rock... they 'A' either said no thank you, or 'B' they were such obvious choices that the WWE wanted to head in a direction that would keep us truly surprised. I mean can any of us honestly say we say Seth Green, ZZ Top, Shaq and Jeremy Piven were gonna host Raw? Or even Ted DiBiase and Slaughter? So that's why I believe we have not seen Rock or Stone Cold or Flair or anybody like that except Batista.

I do now see this going until at least SummerSlam comes to pass, then maybe by then it'll stop and Vince will announce a new GM. However and this is a big variant, if the ratings keep going up or hold steady, Vince may milk this thing for all it's worth and who know's how long it could last then. So I think it's at least around for a few more weeks.

 

[DoubleM]

Some of hosts so far have been kind of corny like seth green, but it is sure better then watching a boring raw with vickie guererro as gm. What I don't understand is why sgt. Slaughter is the only person they can get to host the show in Calgary, imagine how entertaining it would be if Jim "the anvil" niedhart was the guest host he would have the hart trilogy on raw or they could find some one from the calgary flames like Jerome Iginla. I'm sure that if they tried harder they could find a "celebrity" but even with sgt. Slaughter as guest host I don't think that this is the end.

 

[LynchCats]

wonder why they couldn't do something like Stone Cold or the Rock. Who cares aboutt zztop?? honestly! Jim Piven sucked a** but his partner was ok. Maybe even Ric Flair would be good for geust host. A no brainer could of knew that Shaq would do a good jod. They could pick like another sports player like football no one likes T.O. but he likes attention and will bring that. Hell bring Jay-Z in! give it a try. haha just sayin that theres a lot more better chocies out there then the ones that were choose. cept Shaq, he was good.

Dude if you're going to rant, get the names right. It's JEREMY Piven, not Jim Piven. Spell check is also a good idea to use.

They won't get The Rock, he's pretty much turned his back against the wrestling (more than likely his agents have a lot to do with that than The Rock himself).

As far as the topic itself, no, it's not the end of the Guest Hosts. If you were a celebrity, would you want to go to... (imagine Lance Storm here) Calgary.... Alberta.... Canada... I didn't think so.

 

[Doomsday Device]

Before I begin, I have to say that signature pic from RageBattle made me smile from ear to ear. Perhaps the best one here.

My 2 cents on this issue is, something that Ive been thinking about that Im going to get to right now.

Ok so they have a "GM for the night/Host" saying "Im the boss of this show" yeah, for what, the next 2 hours?? After that they hop on a limo perhaps to be never be seen on WWE TV again.

My point is, if you have some Hotshot Host saying "Im the boss, I making all the decisions, and Im putting all the matches together" So wait a second, you have to take responsibilities for these decisions and see how they play out. I dont think Im the only one that maybe, just maybe, would like to see the same GM for 2 consecutive weeks. Week One make decisions and Week Two you see the results of that, and everyone will see how good, or bad, you did.

I know this is a longshot and most likely WWE wont consider doing this. They want to keep it "fresh" with a different GM every week. What, just to keep that rating with the extra point it gained, thats bullshit.

Im not downplaying this idea of a new GM every week, I think its a good idea and I see what they're trying to do.

Its just like I mentioned in the beggining, some Host makes a bunch of decisions and whatever and we never see him or her again. So if shit didnt work out where is the person who made these decisions? Back in Hollywood or NBA or whatever.

 

[Mr. TM]

Why would going to Calgary be a hassle? Nicer weather there right now than anywhere on the east coast. Tons of movies are filmed in the area as it is, so that isn't a problem. Im sure that Tom Cruise is there right now making Super Kat the movie.

But I can see it being easier for WWE to use former wrestlers. I bet they are paying the actors tons of money for their appearances. So if they were to do that, why not take the easy route and bring in the greatest wrestler.

[youtube]Z4eUMH-Qu0k[/youtube]

Yes, Hollywood Hogan could have one of the best one off performances for the WWE. They could use him right before Summerslam, give it a bit of hype. When people here about it, I am sure theyll tune into Summerslam just to see if he comes back for one more match.

 

[Michelle_McCool_is_#1]

Oh, man, when Maryse kept talking about Kelly Kelly like that, I almost had a JIMP moment.

I am really looking forward to the possibilities of the Million Dollar Man next week. I think he will end up screwing over his son.

YA WHAT EVER

 

[Kenny Powers]

I know there is a celebrity guest host discussion already so I'm just taking these three names up for discussion. Businessweek.com has an interview up with Stephanie McMahon where she comments on future guest hosts of Raw. She says that the idea of celebrity guest hosts is definitely going to continue, and names like Freddie Prinze Jr, Bob Barker and Al Sharpton have been confirmed as future guest hosts of the show. The article notes, "Down the road, Stephanie McMahon says the show plans to have as hosts Freddie Prinze Jr., who will promote his new role on the Fox TV show 24, former game show host Bob Barker, and the Reverend Al Sharpton (who hasn't yet said exactly what he'll be promoting)." I'm not going to get into a huge debate about celebrity guest hosts being good or bad because clearly the ratings last week were good with Shaq, even though this week's ratings were down. Maybe these celebrities are fans of the show and WWE may not be able to get A listers but isn't this ridiculous? I mean do they think that fans will have any positive reaction to Freddie Prinze or Bob Barker or god forbid Al Sharpton? Bob Barker hasn't been relevant for 30 years. I know Freddie was a former writer with Smackdown but what he's doing now? Al Sharpton is only relevant now because of the President and Michael Jackson. How is he relevant to the wrestling world? I understand why they are mixing up Raw to get attention and media exposure but can't they get someone remotely entertaining? Am I wrong here.. what do you think?

 

[Kanye South]

I know there is a celebrity guest host discussion already so I'm just taking these three names up for discussion. Businessweek.com has an interview up with Stephanie McMahon where she comments on future guest hosts of Raw. She says that the idea of celebrity guest hosts is definitely going to continue, and names like Freddie Prinze Jr, Bob Barker and Al Sharpton have been confirmed as future guest hosts of the show. The article notes, "Down the road, Stephanie McMahon says the show plans to have as hosts Freddie Prinze Jr., who will promote his new role on the Fox TV show 24, former game show host Bob Barker, and the Reverend Al Sharpton (who hasn't yet said exactly what he'll be promoting)." I'm not going to get into a huge debate about celebrity guest hosts being good or bad because clearly the ratings last week were good with Shaq, even though this week's ratings were down. Maybe these celebrities are fans of the show and WWE may not be able to get A listers but isn't this ridiculous? I mean do they think that fans will have any positive reaction to Freddie Prinze or Bob Barker or god forbid Al Sharpton? Bob Barker hasn't been relevant for 30 years. I know Freddie was a former writer with Smackdown but what he's doing now? Al Sharpton is only relevant now because of the President and Michael Jackson. How is he relevant to the wrestling world? I understand why they are mixing up Raw to get attention and media exposure but can't they get someone remotely entertaining? Am I wrong here.. what do you think?

You have to realize that after all the steroid scandals, early deaths, and Benoit, society looks down on pro wrestling. It would be nice if we went back to the 90's and wrestling was once again the shit, but today, wrestling is just looked at as childish fake fighting. It's sad, but you aren't going to see any A-List celebrities.

 

[Baller]

I am actually surprised they got Bob Barker to come in do this considering he is retired. I dont get why dont they get former GM's for a night and make it exciting. Bring back Heyman, Bischoff, Adamle, and yes even Vickie Guerrerro(if they say yes). Think of the possibilities there, If not have these celebrities do something like Raw Roulette, make it fun not the same repetitive stuff week after week

 

[The Legendary 23]

I quote from Samuel Coleridge when I say "Willingly suspend your disbelief." I know the whole guest host doesn't make sense from a kayfabe standpoint, but in the back of my mind I just accepted what it was, and have been enjoying the new guest hosting. It's been very entertaining and was something the show needed. Well, I guess it's not for everybody. Tough shit then.

 

[Ambiguous Turd]

I can't believe they actually had the nerve to ask Adamle to Guest Host the show, after they got rid of him. WWE never ceases to amaze me.

I had a completely different vision of Mike Adamle in charge as GM from what they did and actually suggested the idea on another forum before they actually picked him. To my amazement, he was picked after all. However, the vision I had was of him doing the "bumbling idiot in charge" gimmick as a character, and unfortunately, they tried to make him a serious GM. That was a bad move and led to a very unmemorable GM reign.

I pictured him doing such things as sitting in on headset and criticizing Michael Cole on commentary, while teaching him how to do Play by Play "properly" .... asking top stars like John Cena or Triple H to get him a cup of coffee (just because of how naive he was with etiquette behind the scenes), being disorganized backstage, etc. Definitely had more of a comedic vision for him, which I think would have been far more entertaining than what they gave us.

 

[RageBattle]

You have to realize that after all the steroid scandals, early deaths, and Benoit, society looks down on pro wrestling. It would be nice if we went back to the 90's and wrestling was once again the shit, but today, wrestling is just looked at as childish fake fighting. It's sad, but you aren't going to see any A-List celebrities.

I think the best we can hope for is to have the current celebs who have hosted, to maybe spread the word about "Hey the WWE isn't the crap you thought it was."

It might gain mainstream attention now, but that doesn't change the majority opinion of it. Look at the ESPN comments, or whoever did, about Shaq hosting. They hardly have any respect. If Shaq would tell them something like "These guys are good people, who work their asses off more then you do", now THAT would be nice, among all the controversy it would cause.

 

[btalru07]

I know this brings anger for this forum, but what if David Arquette was one of the Raw hosts, and made a match against Randy Orton for the title and won? How upset would you really be? or happy? or would this be the final straw where you would never watch WWE again?

 

[INDYjon22]

Personally.....I was never really bothered by the WCW win. I know it was to promote Ready to Rumble (which I like) and was a bad booking decision, but at least they did it in a somewhat manner. I mean its not like he went out to the ring and pinned whoever was champion at the time in a squash (who was the champ then?). He won it by chance, in a completely unexpected manner that any joe shmoe could win. Now if he won the belt today I would be a little pissed. We have already seen it happen once and it would be like they were beating a dead horse. I would probably keep watching but I would hope to god that someone like Kane or Undertaker Tombstoned his ass.........I wouldnt be opposed to seeing him guest host and get punted in the head though.

 

[Super Crazy]

I have to admit I would be unimpressed. I would hate to see this, not just because it would be a rip off of WCW and that stupid storyline, but where would it fit into the current storylines on RAW? How would a celebrity winning the championship really fit with Randy Orton v John Cena and/or Triple H. It just wouldn't. I for one would not be impressed with this. While it might have been humorous and entertaining back in the day, I find it wouldn't entertain very much these days.

 

[hArdyPUNKmArk]

It would be fucking stupid. To have a celebrity win the championship would be the ultimate fail on the WWE's behalf. The reputation WCW received after Arquette won is something the WWE doesn't want. It would be completely stupid, I wouldn't stop watching because I love it but it would certainly piss me off.

 

[tripolie atche]

ok i saw haskins name on the poll at the homepage

imagine dennis haskins aka mr. belding as the raw guest host

what is he gonna do??? bring in screech so he can have chavo job to him, send orton to his office for punting someone, or better yet put zach & cena in the main event where the winner gets kelly

seriously vince just end this guest host shit & name someone the GM, hell u can even appoint yourself as the GM i dont care

 

[Ambiguous Turd]

I saw this question asked on one of WrestleZone's polls on the homepage:

What Are Your Raw Plans Knowing That Sgt. Slaughter is the Guest Host?

This question leads me to believe people might only tune in to RAW, primarily because of the guest host.

With the exception of Shaq, the show doesn't always revolve around the guest host, but rather the wrestlers... right?. Now if this keeps up week after week, the expectations grow higher and higher, to the point where people will only watch RAW if a high profile celebrity guest hosts the show.

If you agree with me, how do you think the WWE should combat this? Cancel the whole thing? Not announce whom is going to be the guest host next week on RAW towards the end of the show?

If you do not agree with me, debate is welcomed.

I think clearly it has been shown that the wrestling alone simply is not enough. So if it isn't the Guest Hosts, it has to be some other factor to lure people in. Whether it be interesting characters or intriguing storylines, or whatever. But I think as has been shown, the straight up wrestling simply is not enough. The Ring of Honor-type fans who enjoy WWE for the wrestling alone, simply will never accept this, because it does not fit into their vision of how wrestling should be derived from the fanbase. They are unhappy because the Casual Fanbase simply does not embrace their vision for the product.

All this has to go with either listening to the fans, or rather, trying to tell them what to think. Fans are demanding more than simply scripted wrestling bouts. Vince tried the other way around, in trying to Japanese his fans, and it simply didn't work. So he had to come up with a new concept to keep fans entertained. And where as I do not feel that the Guest GM concept is a very good long-term solution, the goal should be to get as much out of this concept as he can, until it's time to move onto the next concept to bring fans in.

 

[Baller]

In 2 weeks Mike Adamle returns to the WWE to be the guest host. For one I am actually excited to hear some Adamle originals once again, even though he wasnt the best GM, now I think as a guest host he can be decent as he has experience of being GM of Monday Night Raw. Hopefully he will get rid of the clipboard though. What are your thoughts?

 

[flaboy]

man wouldnt that be sweet...... one of the hottest divas that was in wwe, shes now mainstream doin dancing with the stars and some roles in sitcoms and other stuff. this could also bring more of the high celeb thing that usa wants plus she has in ring experience i think this would be great, i dont know if she would go for it seeing that she left wrestling stay in her past kinda like the rock or if vince would bring her in for a one time thing idk how she left wwe wether it was in good terms or not. or hell bring the rock in it would sorta be the same. so whats what do yall think bout that idea if you have any others that would be good to host raw lay it down.

 

[Klown_Karnage]

Okay folks, I'm gonna put in my two cents here and this is gonna get weird, so just bear with me and please read the whole post before forming your opinion about it.

My suggestion for another guest host is The Chairman from Iron Chef America. I'm not quite certain just how far the Wrestling Fan and Food Network Fan demographics cross over, but I'm a fan of both and, if one would watch Iron Chef, one would discover that the attitude and competitiveness of such a contest is very like professional wrestling, even though the methods are not. Besides, have you seen the Chairman in action? The guy's got major stage presence, could work the mic with his own personal flare and I doubt even Orton's attempts at intimidation would crack his confidence.

I could also see him bringing over the Iron Chefs and them doing little vignette spots. Santino would probably warm to Mario Batalli, saying he's been at his restaurant etc. Cat Cora would probably get hit on and maybe have to kick some butt. It would be a lot of fun. Maybe a hardcore kitchen match. Just a thought.

 

[mcflyboy]

One thing I don't really understand is that we're supposed to believe that these guest hosts have absolute power. Ok...it's a stretch to imagine that vince would realistically allow someone to stay permanently fired just because a guest host says so, absent a next week "surprise" turnaround like we saw with the miz.

But even if we are to accept that, and if we suspend disbelief for a while, we can get away with it. But still, if we are to believe that these guest hosts are here and actually are making matches themselves because they are wrestling fans, then they should know the wrestlers names. And come on piven, summerfest? That's a week long concert out of milwaukee.

Furthermore, even all that aside...if we are to believe that guest hosts make matches and have absolute power and the matches are not already preplanned and scripted, does it really make sense for sgt. slaughter to be able to book a main event match for the following week of raw, when he's not even going to be hosting? Come on. If they want us to believe that the guest hosts really do have power, then it doesn't make sense they can start booking matches for other shows.

 

[shafe_41]

Personally, I'm loving this guest host thing because viewership is up. Granted some of them aren't that amazing, but some of them have turned into really entertaining shows. Piven was good and I marked the shit out for his heel turn saying he liked Cena, but liked Orton more. I enjoy little things like that. Shaq was just... Shaq-tastic. Shaq-tacular, Shaq-azing. He owned, the fans loved him, the viewers loved him, and he is set to make a return to possibly do it again in the future or get involved somehow. Shaq is just awesome to being with though so that doesn't really surprise anybody. The man is born to entertain and he always delivers.

Now tonight with Freddie... I don't really care, but it's still going to be interesting seeing as he used to be on the creative team.

Next week... Adamle returns!! I for one am looking forward to it because while he was god awful behind the desk, I liked him as a GM. His "Adamle Original" idea was sort of neat and could have caught on had the fans not despised everything he did whether it was good or not. He was non-partial, he was fair, not power hungry, and not out to make anybody's day shitty that didn't deserve it. After all, isn't that what a real GM is anyway? So next week will be great to see Adamle back and I'm not afraid to admit it.

As for the future hosts and somebody saying we won't be seeing any A-List stars... LeBron James is going to draw mega viewership and then Skip Bayless is going to rip him a new one the next morning on ESPN First Take. But that's fine because that's just more press for the WWE. And any press for the WWE on ESPN is USUALLY going to help them out. LeBron is pretty A-List in my book. As is the next man... Bob Barker is just going to be mad pimpin and we all know it. To say he hasn't been relavent for 30 years is insane. Everybody in the country knows Bob Barker. Everybody watched the Price is Right. Bob Barker is going to be straight pimpin when he hosts Raw. Who the shit is Nancy O'Dell? Al Sharpton... who the eff cares? I could go on but I won't.

This guest host thing is entertaining. It adds a little something to the show that would normally be dominated by repeated promos and video packages. I hope this keeps going for a good long time. And I know people preach against it because wrestling needs to move on.... for the love of all things holy Vince... please...PLEASE let Hogan guest host for a night. A 3-hr. show if possible.