Raw exclusive shown on Smackdown- did WWE miss an opportunity the way they ended Raw?

[Twanfusco]

For anyone who didn't see smackdown this week let me explain. They showed a 'raw exclusive' by showing what happened on raw AFTER it went of the air. Cena makes the save for Bret and chases Batista away, who then comes back and beats up cena and powerbombs him on the steps.

Most of the iwc probably knew this happened after raw but what I want to know is, was this incident a case of missed opportunity in building a feud between cena and Batista, later rectified on smackdown by replaying it or was it a great and fresh way to kick off this fued. I don't mean the attack, that part is pretty generic, I mean the fact that it happened after raw.

Personally i think this was a great idea in showing the exclusive on smackdown (though no doubt we'll see it on raw too) as it shows that anything can happen with live t.v and wrestlers don't just kick back and relax with a beer once the tv time ends. It also gives anyone who watches raw only, a little incentive to tune into smackdown too. Plus I feel it separates the Vince/Bret fued from cena/Batista which in my opinion will be a seperate match at wmania.

So raw exclusive - missed opportunity in the process of building a potential wrestlemania feud or great idea in adding a little realism to the broadcast?

Oh and if they've done this raw exclusive with what happened off air in recent times, I must have missed it but probably not have been as important as this particular occasion.

 

[FromTheSouth]

No. By ending Raw in the way they did, they kept the focus on Vince vs. Bret. By showing the footage in SD!, they furthered the feud. I think it was brilliant.

On Raw, the focus is on Vince vs. Bret. You show Bret getting beat down and disrespected, and then, go off the air. That way, until Friday, everyone thinks about that conflict. Then, on Friday, you show Cena vs. Batista. You keep the two separate in people's minds so that you can control when those two combustible elements collide.

 

[BourneToFly]

I think they wanted to keep the options open for a tag match between Batista/Vince and Bret/Cena in case Bret can't work a full singles match. Not sure how it's going to end up, but I know that by showing it on Friday night instead of showing an extended Raw the drew me in a good bit. I was stuck in a state of awe until then, but we also have to keep in mind that it could have just been the right time for them to cut off. USA gives them a set runtime that they're not allowed to go over so they could have ended early for that reason.

 

[AMH]

I agree, I felt they ended Raw how they should have ended Raw. With Bret getting disrespected once again and left on the mat. This furthers the feud between Bret and Vince, which was the whole point of the segment. If they would've had Cena come out and attacked by Batista to that extent, it would have taken the focus off of Bret and Vince and instead put it on Batista and Cena. I hope Bret is able to wrestle one on one with Vince at Wrestlemania. It wouldn't need to be a five star match, because the personal rivalry these two is alone worth the watch. I liked how they ended Raw. It NEEDED to end that way.

 

[Megadeth]

I was a little dissapointed in the way they did it solely because I was at raw this past week and decided to leave during the main event dark match of Cena vs Sheamus. I pretty much knew the match would end with Cena winning by DQ so I decided to try leave and beat traffic, as I live about an hour away from Nashville, and there was some talk the weather was going to get bad. The stuff with Batista coming back actually happened after the dark match and it figures the first time I decide to leave a show early something significant would happen. I kinda wonder if they didnt show that just because of all the Cena chants that were going on when Raw went of the air while Batista was still holding Hart, and thus that way it didnt look like Cena was to afraid to come out and defend The Hitman.

 

[The Aussie Invasion]

sorry bout the stuffed up post before.

But anyway, I was suprised when i heard Striker say they had Some EXCLUSIVE RAW footage, considering it was on SD!. I wouldve waited until next weeks RAW and shown it at the start of the show.

But the actual footage made Cena look like a jobber IMO. You may not agree but thats my opinion. Batista absolutely man handled him. and the powerbomb onto the steps just solidified the beating. I thought that Cena May have fought back, or maybe Bret wouldve helped him. but it just made Cena look weak

 

[Twanfusco]

I'm not sure that it made cena look like a jobber, he had just had a match with sheamus, although they didn't mention that on smackdown. Also Batista didn't just do wrestling moves to cena, he threw him into the post and the steps and I guess sometimes the bigger guy really has to show his dominance and prove he can be unstoppable when he wants to be. I also think they didn't wait till raw because Batista is a smackdown star so I wouldn't be surprised now to see this fued transcend both shows.

 

[The Aussie Invasion]

Yeah, Well i agree with Twanfusco, i think they will make a fued over both shows, and ,maybe have cena vs batista at Mania, make it like a battle of the brands thing. I hope they dont, because IMO it will be a boring as hell match and we wont hear anymore of it after the RAW the night after mania and maybe the smackdown after mania, it'll almost be like it never happened

 

[SuicideDive]

I think they may have missed something there and tried to fix it by airing it on Smackdown because it is an important series of events. I mean It wasn't just some generic attack. It was vicious and showed an intent to injure. Batista could have just come out attacked, Batista Bomb and then off the air we go, but the steel stairs were involved. And I think they decided to show it on Smackdown so they had an 'out' incase Hart/McMahon one-on-one doesn't work out for WM. I mean why was Batista on Raw anyway?

 

[boozinjedi]

I might have missed something here,I think I know why they did this...

hasn't it been reported here that Cena has been having neck/disc problems???

Maybe they could've used this as an excuse for him to leave/get treated and feud with Batista when he came back??

 

[Tastycles]

It's pretty obvious why they did it, but you can pick two reasons. The first is that there was a chance Cena would get a negative result in his recent scan, and by showing this his absence could be explained. The second is that they managed to further a feud between two wrestlers using original content and without having one of them on the show. That means not having to pay for Cena to fly there, and possibly it meant he could appear at a house show somewhere else. That's pretty well planned, if you ask me.

 

[The Deadly Viper]

I think they are building up for mania by doing this. They are introducing Cena and Batista into the Vince and Bret fued. This was a great way to build up for it, as it is very original, however since Cena is injured (I think?) this is a good way to get him some time off TV otherwise the kids would be like "wth?". But I think it will either be a tag team or a singles match w/ managers

 

[Dagger Dias]

I don't think they missed any opportunities here because Batista is a member of Smackdown so it honestly makes sense for his random appearance on Raw to be recapped on Smackdown as an exclusive. Raw went off the air while keeping the focus on Bret and Vince. Batista attacking Cena off-air makes better sense as an exclusive seen on Smackdown. Plus there's the fact that Wrestlemania is still 50 days away. They have more than enough time to give us impressive builds for those angles. The time for arguing that there was a missed opportunity shouldn't really come until after Elimination Chamber.

 

[TLC]

I think FTS summed it up perfectly. By leaving Raw the way it was its more about Bret vs Vince rather than Cena vs Batista. Doing that they can create a feud between the two without taking focus from anything else and also gives you an incentive to tune into Smackdown to see what actually happened after air. It also lets us know at home that the show doesn't finish when it goes off air things still can happen after the show has gone off. It also makes it seem like going to a show live will give you something more than what the viewers at home are getting.

Plus they didn't need to do that. They have a long time till Wrestlemania so there was no need to add it in.