RAW needs Mr. McMahon back.

[Mexican Geek]

(nothing of this in the first 5 pages, but I'm sure we had one of this. anyway...)

Right now, RAW needs Vince to step up and put up a great storyline involving himself before the show bombs, leading to a Mania low buyrate.

This idea obviously involves several aspects, the main one IMO being: does Vince needs to wrestle again? If so, against who?

Let's start with the latest facts:

What happened last time? Vince suffered an "accident" during the Million Dollar mania promotion, leaving him hospitalized and out of the picture indefinitely.

Since then, RAW has been doing more lows than highs in ratings and quality entertainment. If you take in account that the (formerly known as wrestlers) "entertainers" are the main focus of the show, it's even sad to think of Vince as the Savior.

Don't get me wrong: Jericho is a great WHC, Orton and Cena are about to return, Batista is on a roll lately and maybe, just maybe, there's hope for RAW in a foreseeable future.

But again, you have the 25th Mania anniversary. The BIG ONE. The show that should break all past audience records, PPV buy rates, etc. You need BIG storylines. And BIG storylines involves BIG characters (no silly, not the Great Khali's Kiss Cam finale).

McMahon should return one more time (no for the last time, though; Vince is like Ric Flair, he will never RETAAH.... oh, wait a minute...) to the scene and help his "child" to get back on track. He is just as big star as Stone Cold himself, so why not creating something that doesn't involve Vince tearing both of his quads, lol, but maybe a new mega screw job or a new power trip stint as the evil, maniacal boss who all love to hate.

Bring back Vince in order to help RAW. Yes? no? why?

Discuss.

 

[Checkmate]

I agree that Vince needs to come back. It has been proven that the evil boss character never goes out of style. And Vince is one hell of an evil boss.

I think he needs to come back, and the sooner the better. He can revitalize RAW with more main event calibur story. He could back a heel, or just screw over a face. One way or another, the crowds will pay to hate him.

It has been done before, and yes it does get old, but it works. Everyone wants to see when the heel gets his, and will watch to see when that happens. The problem is that when the heel is the boss, he never goes away for good.

To make it work, Vince needs to come back and pick on someone new, or immediately cause a big disruption. Then, a top face would auto be locked in a feud with Vince's lackey (top heel). This benefits both the face and the heel. Vince can obviously also work with the midcard guys, and make the midcard title worth more by making title matches worth interfering in.

However, I don't know how any cheating would happen due to the newer DQ rulings. I guess Vince could always play the "I'm the boss, and if you DQ me or my guy YOU'RE FIRED!"

Vince always knows how to play the bad guy character well, and I've always found that the more the Mcmahons are involved, the better the storyline is. Unless they are feuding with each other, of course...

 

[AnthonyMango/NoFate007]

I'd actually like to see something different. Instead of having McMahon come back, screw someone over, go on a power trip, then have a face stand up to him and face a monster until he gets his hands on Vince....same old, same old.....I think they should switch it up: Have Vince as the face in the situation and have a heel pick a fight with him....preferably a heel with a manager. Then, VINCE can get a face to help him out. Sure, its nothing too creative, but if given a choice between that and the same story again, I'd pick the one that's a little more fresh.

But I don't think that Vince alone will magically turn the Raw ratings into 7.0 and stuff. Wasn't Raw doing better during the "Martial Law" storyline? Well, maybe that's the answer. Raw is too predictable, so try throwing some unpredictability in there. We have some right now (Jericho's title win, for instance), but much of the other stuff is just the basics.

 

[Checkmate]

I think Vince is too much into being a heel than a face, but under the right circumstances, it could work.

If they played off his injury and made him come back as a thankful person for everything he has in life, I'd buy into him as a face. He could be all about the opportunities for faces to win championships, and heels would hate him for it. Bottom line, someone has to hate Vince Mcmahon in order for his character to be credible.

The question is, face or heel?

 

[Mexican Geek]

The question is, face or heel?

Vince's only short stint as a face I remember was this last Million dollar mania thing. And it bombed really bad.

I think the Mr. McMahon character was never created to be a face at any point. Vince's life has always been about betrayal, lies, screw ups, oppressing his workers, affairs, etc. I don't think people would ever take Vince as a face character again, unless he throws a million dollars every single show...wait a minute.

Besides, who would believe the "Good boss take care of his employees and everything is fine and cool" attitude? That would be a waste of TV time. RAW doesn't need a new version of Teddy Long, lol, but it needs a new version of Eric Bischoff.

 

[Harthan]

Vince is one of the most excellent heel non wrestlers (although occasionally he does wrestle, and he's not half bad) in history. People really hate him, and WWE should always be capitalizing on that. I get that there's the idea that we should get away from heel GMs and having them control the show with an iron fist, being part of every story, but what other point to a GM is there? That's the real point of a GM - to harass the wrestlers and build storylines. I get that it does get old, which is why the concept should be toned down occassionally (which on Raw and ECW it has, and even SmackDown is kind of pulling Vickie down a bit).

Vince has the perfect angle to return in. I mean, amazingly good. It's well documented that Vince loves storylines that bridge story and reality. So after coming up with some convuluted reason why he's alive and well, he can storm in on a rage and yell and scream about how the show is tanking in ratings without him. Which is partially true.

Look, who are the main event heels on Raw? Jericho, Orton, and...what, JBL? Kane? Jericho and Orton are great, but JBL is filler. He's only there because they need an established heel. Kane is stradding the upper midcard more than anything nowadays. Mysterio is bigger than Kane (figuratively). You've got main event faces in HBK, Batista, Cena, Mysterio, and perhaps CM Punk. So you've got two real heels to feud with 4 (maybe 5) big faces. The show needs McMahon, and the perfect man for him to feud with? Cena. It's gold waiting to happen. We know what McMahon can do to put over rebel faces. Stone Cold was made into a legend with it. Triple H was turned back into a huge babyface. Cena could go over into a mainstay for years if he feuded extensively with McMahon. Have McMahon enlist Jericho or Orton as his enforcer/main man and run it for a year. Both the heel and Cena get over huge. Vince can do that. He's that good. Better yet, have McMahon team up with a midcard heel or face turned heel, and put that guy over feuding with Cena. You get one star created and one star solidified.

I say his return can't come soon enough. He can bring the ratings back up and make new stars.

Please come back Vinnie Mac!

 

[golden miz]

I know for a fact that hes done in the ring for a serious match that will garner any importance. Raw has everything inplace to be great but mostly the problems in the wwe are not related to storylines there related to socioecomonical viewing habits. Just because you say the show stinks online dosnt mean it does. Come on the "internet ruined wrestling" because many people think what they see online is fact and when many people see an opinion as popular they take it as fact. WWE has less viewers due to the fact that brodcast news ratings have gone up so therefore discresionary entertaiment programing suffers, WWE is just lucky enough that it has good enough programing to weather the storm. WWE does have some problems like the fact that they never really replaced the rock or stone cold, but basically they are playing it right. As for the bloggers didn't all of you critize WWF durring the attitude era, later to praise it as the greatest era ever.

 

[klunderbunker]

Very interesting idea. I'd certainly say yes. Raw has in essence a face GM. No one likes face GMs because there's no drama about it. The man in power is liked. Where's the threat there? Sure Jericho is a heel champion, but he and Adamle aren't really interacting at all. With a heel boss, like VInce, backing Jericho, then it makes Batista or anyone else going after the title look much stronger whenever they take the title. Right now, Batista looks like the favorite going into the title match, which rarely works best. Vince has a deeper love for what he does than almost anyone. Like him or not, he's been on top for a lot longer than anyone else, and he knows what he's doing. He needs to come back because he makes the show better.

 

[JackAttack]

When Vince comes back, he needs to remain a heel. Even when Orton returns, by then we will have Cena so it will still be somewhat unbalanced.

As others have said before, Vince is one of the best heels in the buisiness. He can feud better than anyone else. Not only that, but we need to have a heel who holds alot of power in the company, that way the faces will actually seem more like underdogs than they do now. The whole reason why Vince's feud with Austin went well was because It seemed like Austin couldn't win. He was facing off against a seemingly unbeatable opponent, thus when Austin prevailed he was seen as a true icon.

What will Punk or Batista get out of defeating Jericho? Not much really, because Jericho is just another heel. Vince is the personification of villany, and a face who stands up to him and wins will get more out of it than beating All the other heels combined.

 

[MomentOfClarity]

Defintally he needs to come back, and heres the storyline i believe he should come back with.

He comes back senial, or if you want to, majorly screwed up in the head from his accident. Either which way, he comes back out of control, snapping at everyone, Saying that hes been booking Raw into the hole, trying to make it get low ratings, he wants to destroy the company. He starts threating superstars to terminate their contracts, and plays a psuedo general manager of raw, next to adamle, putting people against each other, making crazy matches, trying to injure wrestlers, as they fight to keep their jobs. He reveals the reason raw has been doing so bad, is cause he wants it to, he wants it to fail. Later down the line of course, you have shane mcmahon come back, and fight his father for posession of the company, cause shane is the one who believes in the company, the one who believes in the wrestlers.. and clearly vince is just out of his mind, hell bent on destroying the entire company...

i believe not only would this bring in big ratings, but it would make it look like the slump everythings been in as of late, and the horrible raws people have been watching, have all been apart of vinces plan....

 

[Mexican Geek]

Defintally he needs to come back, and heres the storyline i believe he should come back with.

He comes back senial, or if you want to, majorly screwed up in the head from his accident. Either which way, he comes back out of control, snapping at everyone, Saying that hes been booking Raw into the hole, trying to make it get low ratings, he wants to destroy the company. He starts threating superstars to terminate their contracts, and plays a psuedo general manager of raw, next to adamle, putting people against each other, making crazy matches, trying to injure wrestlers, as they fight to keep their jobs. He reveals the reason raw has been doing so bad, is cause he wants it to, he wants it to fail. Later down the line of course, you have shane mcmahon come back, and fight his father for posession of the company, cause shane is the one who believes in the company, the one who believes in the wrestlers.. and clearly vince is just out of his mind, hell bent on destroying the entire company...

i believe not only would this bring in big ratings, but it would make it look like the slump everythings been in as of late, and the horrible raws people have been watching, have all been apart of vinces plan....

Very good stuff. I liked it, until Shane's appearance...

Someone said before: One McMahon in the storyline is good; two, not so much. The company certainly doesn't need another "invasion" kind of angle. It won't make any sense for Shane to try to take over the company. What's the motivation? Trying to steal Vince's spot as the Chairman of the board? Too weak IMO. Defending the wrestlers as you said? I don't remember the last time I saw Shane moving a finger to help one performer. No credibility on this one.
For a familiar storyline to succeed, it would need something deeper, maybe involving the other big brand(again, a invasion angle), which I don't think it will happen.(If there is a God, then it won't happen)

Vince doesn't need neither Shane or Stephanie in order to deliver a great storyline, even less a celebrity! (though we all know about Vince fetish for hiring celebs). Vince needs Mr. McMahon, the ruthless, inquisitive, manipulative and tyrannical boss. It would be great for Vince to create a mega star in the process, using one of the midcarders, but he doesn't need to do that either.(not to mention that putting a midcarder in the main storyline is more a liability than a benefit).

 

[MomentOfClarity]

Very good stuff. I liked it, until Shane's appearance...

Someone said before: One McMahon in the storyline is good; two, not so much. The company certainly doesn't need another "invasion" kind of angle. It won't make any sense for Shane to try to take over the company. What's the motivation? Trying to steal Vince's spot as the Chairman of the board? Too weak IMO. Defending the wrestlers as you said? I don't remember the last time I saw Shane moving a finger to help one performer. No credibility on this one.
For a familiar storyline to succeed, it would need something deeper, maybe involving the other big brand(again, a invasion angle), which I don't think it will happen.(If there is a God, then it won't happen)

Vince doesn't need neither Shane or Stephanie in order to deliver a great storyline, even less a celebrity! (though we all know about Vince fetish for hiring celebs). Vince needs Mr. McMahon, the ruthless, inquisitive, manipulative and tyrannical boss. It would be great for Vince to create a mega star in the process, using one of the midcarders, but he doesn't need to do that either.(not to mention that putting a midcarder in the main storyline is more a liability than a benefit).

Ehh maybe i didnt deliever the image i quite wanted as far as how the storyline would fall out... Only reason i picked shane, is cause he stands for what face vince used to stand for back in the day, And your right vince doesnt need shane to pull off a great storyline, But every storyline needs the good guy, And if you wanna play off inner storys without touching the main bad guy, you gotta keep the wrestlers out of this, the whole point would be it being out of their control. As far as bringing shane back in the picture, the main reason he would be coming back, is to defend his grand fathers honor, the one who built the wwf... and vince is trying to not only ruin that, ruin the family name, but ruin professional wrestling..so in defense of his familys name, for the company and the industry as a whole, as well as the people who have given the company so much... shane takes on his dad, And attempts to strip power from him and put him out of his misery. This wouldnt happen for quite some time though...Of course they'll be heels sucking vinces ass to keep their contracts, faces trying to "do whats right", It just sparks a new way for storys to be put together, with one main story driving things... Its basicaly the old Stone cold vs vince, just think of the entired company as stone cold, and vince hell bent on destroying everything hes built.... after all vince is old and senial now... we all love watching old crazy people on a power trip lol...

 

[OIL]

Don't have Vince come back as a heel. It's been done all the time and it's in need of a change. It gets old after a while and very boring. Obviously it worked extremly well in the past, but enough is enough.

Have Vince return as a face, but up against a huge heel superstar. Have that superstar screw Vince over something, prehaps a storyline saying Vince needs to leave the WWE cause he's too old. Maybe the heel brings in some personal attacks on Vince, get the fans into it. Heck, have Shane turn heel on his dad & side with the heel superstar. That would be more interesting, have that superstar try to get Shane in Vince's position.

It would work better because it's a change from what has been done over & over. Bringing in personal attacks on Vince helps the fans get really into it (see Y2J & HBK's fued). Maybe JBL for that heel?

 

[DiGi13]

Yes, I think he needs to come back.

I personally think he could come back as a heel or a face. Here are my ideas:

Face:

If Vince were to come back as a face he could be challenged by a top heel on raw for ownership of the brand. The heel could play the ratings are low card, or simply say somthing like "No one respects you or raw anymore." Now to play the position of super heel they could use Orton, Jericho, or dare I say it JBL... (I really don't like the thought of seeing JBL as a main eventer for a long period of time, but they have to use an "established" name for this.) Now, Vince could either take a big name on his side (Cena, or Batista) or turn someone into a superstar, but lets face it, all top faces have had problems with Vince in the past so maybe bring someone back. Vince finds help, and the heel forms a stable to outdo Vince. Vince and his little helper will also form a stable. Now Vince could either lose, and be exiled from raw, or he could win and have it be a fairly short story. If Vince were to lose he could continue the story on SD or even ECW. The stables would grow taking "entertainers" from all three brands. When everything is said and done Vince will have to win, unless he really trusts that super heel or gives them the "power" and comes back after a while. This way its not too predictable because of the different outcomes that can take place.

Heel:

They could do the same thing, but have Shane as the face, lets face it shane will probaly run things one day anyway.

A second option is to have Vince hate everyone for not caring about his condition after the accident. He can go on a rampage telling people to get off his show and banning "entertainers" from raw. Eventually only Vince and a small number of heels will be left on raw. This is where a three hour raw comes into play. The first thirty minutes of the show will have Vince and the heels left in the ring telling the crowd that they better get used to the new raw. After about two commercial breaks they can show some security guards on the ground and the barricaded doors broken down. The rest of the show will have faces from raw beating down the heels one by one. Near the end of the show the face's will make their way to the ring which now only has Vince in it. An event will happen that embarreses Vince so everyone gets a good laugh, and Vince will disappear into the back. The face's will celebrate in the ring as the raw theme plays ending the show, and onto the next major story.

 

[Rusty]

See this is what I don't understand. Before Vince had his little "accident" during the 2008 Lottery Show, many people were complaining that Vince was hogging up too much TV time and wasn't very entertaining. I agreed with this as I think Vince has taking up too much time on Raw especially with his Million Dollar Mania promos which appeared throughout the night. I watch Raw to watch entertainment, and Vince wasn't providing it. The ratings were down so Vince decides to have another 'injury' angle and really shook things up with the Draft.

A week later and the unthinkable happens when CM Punk won the World Heavyweight Championship. It was great and nobody expected it, and for the first few weeks Punk was getting in the viewers, but a month later and the ratings dropped again. Since Punk was no longer drawing, Chris Jericho won the World Title in shocking fashion and this was once again another suprise from the WWE. Then last week at Cyber Sunday, he loses the title to Batista as he wasn't drawing either. This weeks Raw rating was a 2.9. That proves that no matter who is the champion or no matter what good storylines are going on at the moment, the viewers aren't tuning in.

My point is that Vince won't gain ratings and will just waste more TV time which needs to be spent on building up new main eventers. The sad fact is, Raw in particular has been very enjoyable since the draft almost every single week, but I think I know why Raw isn't getting good ratings at the present moment. You see, every year for about the past 5 years, the ratings drop in America's Summer right up until January. The exact same thing happened last year. This time last year Raw's ratings weren't good at all and Vince was reportedly furious about it. Come Royal Rumble time, and the ratings were in the 3.5 area. After Backlash, the ratings dropped. It's a never ending circle. Sure people can say Raw was gaining in viewers in January due to Cena's return and the magnificant Hardy vs Orton feud, but it happens every year.

The fans know the WWE always puts on their best shows on the Road to Wrestlemania. They know that during the Summer, the WWE gives us filler feuds and boring storylines. This year, the WWE have realized this and gave us many suprises throughout the Summer, but it hasn't changed a damn thing. My point is that having Vince McMahon on WWE television wont change a damn thing. Raw's viewers aren't loyal, and if they aren't going to tune in during the Summer/Autumn, then the WWE should stop trying to gain in new viewers, and focus on the loyal viewers that tune in every week. It may sound stupid, but the WWE won't gain new viewers. The have turned to the young generation which is a smart idea, and hopefully it will be in full effect within the next few years. Patience is all Vince needs.

Vince doesn't earn ratings and just makes the product more blander. If he does return, he might be interesting for the first few weeks, then after that you will all be regretting it wishing McMahon was off your screen. Bringing Vince a face would be refreshing, but I would much rather prefer he stay off TV, and focus more on writing the product itself. The guy is over 60 and shouldn't need to appear on TV to interest people in the company. He won't be around forever either. Having Vince has a heel GM has been done many times before, and it's very repetitive. So in my opinion, Raw does not need Vince McMahon back.

 

[mvk112]

I like the Vince is a little screwed up idea... maybe he comes back and thinks its the mid-to-late 80's again...

Thinks Ted DiBiase Jr is the Million Dollar Man, Deuce is repackaged as Jimmy Snuka Jr, brings The Big Show over to Raw and starts referring to him as Andre... maybe a stable of DiBiase, Snuka, Big Show, and Orton (Vince sees him as Cowboy Bob Orton), led by McMahon can take on guys like Cena, Batista, Jericho, and HBK.

It would probably make for a good couple months of television, before Vince snaps out of it after the Royal Rumble.

 

[Miko]

I think RAW needs Mr. McMahon back, but not Vince McMahon, Shane is the way to go seeing how he is every bit as good as his dad at being hated and much better at being loved than Vince. Vince hasnt done anything of value since Austin retired, he's tried to put people over but they've all ended up as failures who were pushed too hard.

I really think its Shane's time to step up and play the McMahon role, sure it might not be anything new but it'll be better than anything Vince has left to offer. Not to mention that dance of his seems to piss people off.

 

[Shocky]

No, plain and simple. I love me some Mr. McMahon. In my humble opinion, he is the number 2 name in the history of the WWE behind Hogan. I think the Mr. McMahon character is a bigger and better character then Steve Austin. I think that without McMahon, Austin never would have been half the wrestler/character he was. McMahon has survived with and without Austin, Austin has grown stale without a McMahon to bother.

All that being said, no no no no no. McMahon is in his 60's, sooner or later, the old man is going to go onto the next world, morbid yes, but true. The WWE has to prepare for life beyond Vince McMahon, and the best way to do this is to keep him off of TV. The WWE can't continually bring back McMahon as a crutch to get threw bad times, they need to establish a new name, or bring back Shane, to carry on that McMahon name. Vince is simply too old, and the WWE has to start thinking about the future without him.

 

[shafe_41]

No, Raw does not need Mr. McMahon back. What Raw needs is to go back to their TV-14 rating and have a little more of an edge. That would be a start. It would open doors to many more ideas and things that can be done on the show. Raw will never reach the ratings of the Attitude era ever again. I'd bet the farm on that. They had it too good in those years with the developement of Mr. McMahon's character and Stone Cold's character. That situation was the aligning of planets and having a perfect timing for what happened in those years.

Raw has a roster to draw ratings. But they don't book it right. I'm not saying I could book it any better, but I have some good ideas that WWE won't hear until they hire me as part of creative. haha Anyway, there needs to be a stand-out developing star with great ring skills and who is liked by the fans. Cena needs revamped and he could be this savior. Until then, he's going to get booed by the older fans all day long. Batista just doesn't have what it takes to be a huge draw even though he is a big name. And with the rumors about him wanting to retire in 2 years, you can't back on him long term for anything. But they need a top tier storyline where somebody is just making everything hell for one or more other superstars. Maybe they can do something about that with the opening of the GM position on Raw. However that looks like it could develop into Stephanie getting that spot and being some giant control freak just like McMahon did in the Attitude Era.

If that were to happen, I know it would be like a carbon copy of the Austin/McMahon feud, but I could see something similar happening again and I know the perfect people to be involved in this situation. Somehow, you book this to Jericho, Cena, Stephanie, JBL, and one MR KENNEDY. He's got great skills all around and enough charisma to surpass that of the entire ECW roster. I know he's on SD, and I know he's quite injury prone as we've seen, but I can see something special with a line-up like that. Creative...make it happen.

 

[LMaruko]

I'm torn between having McMahon come back. Yes, Vince had a habit of knowing how to make an impact when he wanted to and also knowing how to shake things up. But I agree with the fact that McMahon is getting too old, and it's time to pass the business down to Shane, and have Shane start becoming a major heel and pressing the proverbial red button that says "Do Not Touch!" for a lot of superstars.

 

[Lee]

Two weeks and he's back and I couldn't be more pleased. What I found was odd with the way they said he was coming back was this;

Y2J; A heel goes to confront Stephanie (another heel) and says that her father is returning in two weeks (who incidentally got a good pop). The way Jericho said it was almost as if he was coming back as a face, but time will tell on that one. That I hope they do as raw is crying out for another mega face....desperately.

I am looking forward to Vince returning, he's been off TV for something like 6 months, and that's a refreshing amount of time to have off, there's so much changed in that time, what with Legacy and various champions to mention two. Vince would be a good return as, like AE said, it would snowball some sort of feud to Wrestle Mania 25.

 

[theBusiness]

I'm really excited to see him return. Judging by the look on Stephanies face when Jericho told her, I get the feeling its going to be revealed (eventually) that her and/or Shane were behind his accident.

I don't like Vince as a face though, so I hope that doesn't happen. Like kung Flu mentioned, this is probably going to have something to do with a match at Mania, perhaps with Jericho being involved since it looks like Orton-Cena will main event. I still got my fingers crossed for a Stone Cold return, but thats looking very unlikely as time progresses.

 

[The Todd]

I'm really excited to see him return. Judging by the look on Stephanies face when Jericho told her, I get the feeling its going to be revealed (eventually) that her and/or Shane were behind his accident.

I don't like Vince as a face though, so I hope that doesn't happen. Like kung Flu mentioned, this is probably going to have something to do with a match at Mania, perhaps with Jericho being involved since it looks like Orton-Cena will main event. I still got my fingers crossed for a Stone Cold return, but thats looking very unlikely as time progresses.

Both are spot on there. WWE needs Vince on camera. Vince is the greatest heel in the history of the business. Without Vince, there would be no Stone Cold. Their feud was the best feud of the attitude era. In fact it WAS the attitude era. What better way than for them to go at it one more time at the biggest Mania in history. Everyone would love to see it, and preferably a street fight or something along these lines so Austin's limited wrestling ability doesn't come into question. Just a straight fight to end Austin's career.

Leading off this Vince could be very defensive of his ass kicking and take it out on anyone who crosses his path after so it doesn't have to be a limited role. I understand he is getting on, but we need him on screen. He can mould Shane afterwards, possibly directly against a face Stephanie. McMahon feuds are always fun.

I'm getting off the point now, so I'll wrap up. You can't have a road to Wrestlemania without Vince. I cannot wait for his return.