The Guest Hosts. Could It have been better done?

[Mac Attack]

I was thinking about how the Raw GM got started and then remembered that he/she took the place of the Guest Hosts/Bret Hart. It got me thinking on the success/unsuccesses of the Guests Hosts and upon reflection I came up with this.

Personnaly I think that the Guest Host concept could have been done better however I thought it was a good idea. People were excited to hear who would be the next guest host, and it kept people capitivated until they realized theat evry week it was about the same thing. I think that this problem could have been fixed with one simple solution. In the beggining Vince said "Anyone could be Raw GM, whether it be a celebrity, current wreslter, former wrestling, or even someone I find on the streets."

Now when thinking about it, I truly belive that if they had indeed used some random people it would have gone over better. Yes it does not have the celebrity star power, but it does make it unique. I think that this would add unpredictability to the shows and people would be interested in it. I think we as an audience would get a good laugh seeing a random person on T.V either being random and funny or serious. It would be the appropriate change-up after seeing celebrity after celebrity promoting themselves all the time.

 

[Klown_Karnage]

To be perfectly honest, after enduring as long as we have with Raw being run by a computer (I refuse to acknowledge any possibility of there being someone on the other side of those e-mails until someone is shown sending them or at least taking the credit/blame) I'm starting to miss the old days of guest GMs. I agree, however, that it could have been better done. Here's a few things I might have done with this idea if it had been me in charge of it.

First off, it was obvious that several of the guests knew next to nothing about wrestling and had next to nothing to do with it. I'd have changed that. In selection of guest GMs, I'd have specialized in those who either had worked with the WWE before, had a known career at least related to professional wrestling (or a like field such as boxing or MMA) and so on. When this did occur, the result was usually good. As I recall, the Shaq, Mike Tyson, Batista, and other episodes with like guest GMs went over well.

Secondly, I'd have the GMs actually have a definite effect on the stories of the various people in the WWE. The episodes wouldn't be about the guest GMs per se, but they'd have a definite effect on the current "stories". In other words, they'd leave an impact, and one that would make sense for who they are and what they did.

Third, I agree fully that they should have branched out beyond media celebs. The WWE works directly with the armed forces, so what about an actual military representative? I also liked the idea of a few of them being average joes and the like. Hell, I would have been entertained if one of the Make-A-Wish kids got the chance to GM Raw. In an interview I'd listened to (with Mick Foley) apparently this has happened once in the past and it went over very well.

 

[Bossblood]

The anonymous Raw GM has overstayed its welcome by about 8 months. It is the most annoying thing in wrestling since Cyndi Lauper jumping over Captain Lou Albano's back to wave her neon colored handkerchief's into the camera.

And yes, I do remember those days and even paid to see WM 1 in closed circuit theatre with The Breakfast Club playing on the screen next to us. Ahhh, the good ole days...

 

[Mitch Henessey]

It was painful to watch some of the Raw guest hosts, because some of them weren't too interested in the wrestling business, and it really showed at times, but you have to remember why they were there. These celebrities wanted to plug their numerous upcoming projects (movies, shows, albums, etc.) and in return, the WWE hoped they could gain some positive mainstream attention. It didn't work out too well, because the sportscasters on ESPN would ALWAYS mock WWE, when a guess host athlete made an appearance on the show. In the end, this concept never caught the positive mainstream attention WWE hoped it would.

Overall, I thought the Raw guest host concept was okay. Some of them were funny and entertaining, but some were just awful and horrible to watch. I could never forget how annoying Dr. Ken was, and Jeremy Piven's "Summerfest" botch was one of those facepalming moments, but watching Bret Hart and Ted DiBiase take control of Raw was a real treat. This concept wasn't great or that good, but certain Raw guest hosts had their moments.

 

[RattleRockerJet97]

No, im sorry but i dont want to see Jay Leno's sit down with Santino. God i just couldnt stand the Guest Host concept. I dont want to see some star/half star, come on Raw and make a complete ass of himself with a backstage segment with Hornswaggle, it always happened. So im sorry to sound completely negative but im so glad its over and done with.

Now if the guest hosts were all older superstars, Legends, possibly hall of famers maybe with the exception of some stars like other sports stars, because at least they are sort of worth it, than i would be sort of down with the idea. But i want at least some kind of history of the HOF'er or something to let me know who this guy is and i can get some wrestling history.

 

[LilJimmy77]

It could not have been done better. A stupid idea of VKM to mainstream wrestling. Sharon Osbourne? Running Raw? NO! They could have done it better.... but it was a bust no matter what. But even that seems 500x better then the shit we have on RAW now. Hopefully Mick Foleys the GM. Then we can just move on.

 

[Skairipa Matrix]

i always thought some of the guest gm's were really good like trish,seth green,batista and shaq but towards the end it got really stupid because they were just promoting themselves and their new movie or tv show or whatever they had! id love to see this concept come back BUT ONLY IF they actullay knew the business and were doing something each week like in a match (seth green did it and he did fine IMO same with trish) or they ref the main event and there not just promoting themselfs! id make a rule they have to knw the business and make them part of a storyline...also what about giving each guest gm 2 or 3 weeks as gm or even a month? just my thoughts

 

[TempestH]

imo, the guest hosts were good. But there were two things I didn't really like

1. The guest hosts should not have been booking PPV matches.
2. The guest hosts should not have been making decisions with long term ramifications (i.e. Nancy O'Dell's Diva Trade, Donald Trump's 15-Superstar Trade)