The Strength of the Mid-Card

[CJ The Pirate]

I'm inspired to write this after watching the VIP Lounge on this weeks Raw. I've been thinking for a number of weeks now that there is absolutely no depth in the mid-card.

This weeks segment featured MVP, after some terrible catchphrase dropping, talking very blandly about what happened last week. Then Regal comes out, a brilliant character who has been criminally misused for so many years. Unfortunately, this fuels my problem. He has no storyline but comes out talking about his position in the pecking order. He has no position in the pecking order. Que another pointless catchprase / insult from MVP.

Now we get Matt Hardy. Hardy has done nothing for the past two weeks but compain about his injured hand. He has not faced either MVP or Regal yet he's out here. Surely this should be a platform for US title challengers? He isn't involved. He's just blogging live on air.

Then the stupidest thing happens. Now I love Kofi. I truly do. But he has no attitude and for him to run down to the ring and attack Hardy for hitting him with the cast last week is completely out of character. It would have been nice for Kofi to get some mic work practice in here but no. Que the inevitable pre PPV tag match featuring the mid card.

But wait... there is no PPV match here! So I ask what's the point?

MVP and Regal have a storyline but no match for the PPV (unless announced later tonight)
Hardy and Kofi are beginning to have a storyline. A pointless one but a storyline nonetheless.
The Brian Kendrick has just mentioned one with the Colons but we know very little about it and, lets be honest, that was a bathroom break match.

DiBiase and Rhodes are lost in bodyguard hell. They've mastered the look angry, act cocky and win by DQ route but not gaining any skill whilst doing so.

The Miz is kinda doing something with Cena but, lets face it, as soon as Cena "Hulks up" on forgets he's injured on Sunday night, the Miz is gonna get his attitude adjusted next week on Raw. And that'll be that.

Chavo is stuck being the hand up Vicki's back.

I'm hoping Kennedy can perform some miracle because there is just not enough substance to Raw to make me enjoy it at the moment. At a time when 2 of the biggest stars are out (Triple H is out and Cena is 'incapacitated' and not entertaining.) The midcard needs to be helping out a less than interesting Main Event card. Shane McMahon can only do so much and Batista's stumbling mic skills pretty much sum him up.

It'd be nice to see a big match, a cage match or even a scramble match have been seen set up for the US title in it's first PPV defence on Raw but it seems that it is just gonna get a defense against Regal in a 10 minute, first match of the card spot at the very most.

Is anyone actually going to buy Judgement Day for this?

 

[golden miz]

Ok theres so many things i disagree about in this thread. First of all you view on the fact that regal has been criminally misused, I disagree. He's great in the ring not denying that techanically, but is he exciting? Well the answer is no, I think of him as a skinnier and more technically tallented Mark Henry. As for his fued with MVP I don't see it as useless, since it was set up rightand hopefully it can use as some of regals vet experience to add to the US title but I doubt it since he did nothing for the IC title last year. Hopefully this part of Kofi sticks since lets face it he is a joke that was always high and danced like a fool. As for Hardy well he's getting the Owen treatment and sadly will recieve a push only to get pushed back down he will come out at random midcard times because I don't think they honestly want to do anything with him. As for the Miz I disagree I think this is the steping stone that will bring him a legit carrer as a heel. Do I think hes title material well not now but I think he can be used to provide help to main event fueds, next thing he will do will be to aide in the upcomming batista/HHH fued, just afeeling. His promo was exceptional this week though and I think he did a better job then batista, rhodes, diabiasse, and every other joke on the mike tonight. Only Orton and Cena were at comperable levels to him even though miz still isnt as good as them, I guess his dirt sheet time gave him tons of practice. Right now the fued hasnt gone on long enough between regal and MVP to be a ppv match so I think they aregoing to wait untill the next ppv where this fued wil get big and hopefully intresting, even though I got a feeling the WWE will mess this up like they did everything else thats been good lately, but thats a whole other topc.

 

[supersayian]

the mid card is not weak the dam creative strikes again. you have 4 great wrestlers out together and Chavito comes out and sets up a dam tag match how about a fatal 4 way for the strap at the Paper-view or keep your ass in the back and stop wasting our time. creative on Raw all needs to be FIRED where is Vince when you need him to fire people i don't want to see the ratings for this week.

 

[OhCanadaEh2009]

Ok theres so many things i disagree about in this thread. First of all you view on the fact that regal has been criminally misused, I disagree. He's great in the ring not denying that techanically, but is he exciting? Well the answer is no, I think of him as a skinnier and more technically tallented Mark Henry. As for his fued with MVP I don't see it as useless, since it was set up rightand hopefully it can use as some of regals vet experience to add to the US title but I doubt it since he did nothing for the IC title last year. Hopefully this part of Kofi sticks since lets face it he is a joke that was always high and danced like a fool. As for Hardy well he's getting the Owen treatment and sadly will recieve a push only to get pushed back down he will come out at random midcard times because I don't think they honestly want to do anything with him. As for the Miz I disagree I think this is the steping stone that will bring him a legit carrer as a heel. Do I think hes title material well not now but I think he can be used to provide help to main event fueds, next thing he will do will be to aide in the upcomming batista/HHH fued, just afeeling. His promo was exceptional this week though and I think he did a better job then batista, rhodes, diabiasse, and every other joke on the mike tonight. Only Orton and Cena were at comperable levels to him even though miz still isnt as good as them, I guess his dirt sheet time gave him tons of practice. Right now the fued hasnt gone on long enough between regal and MVP to be a ppv match so I think they aregoing to wait untill the next ppv where this fued wil get big and hopefully intresting, even though I got a feeling the WWE will mess this up like they did everything else thats been good lately, but thats a whole other topc.

Have you forgotten William Regal in a wench's outfit, thanks in part to Paul Burchill? Misused, I tell you!

 

[T-Money]

First off, there's nothing boring about William Regal. This man is one of the most talented in the square circle as far as wrestling goes, and don't forgot (I'm not just saying this because I'm from UK) but he makes up a very nice popularity chunk of the fans over here, similar to The Great Khali in India.

Now my point is, thing's are heating up pretty nicely over the US Title. At least this is a start for the division on Raw, we've got MVP, Hardy, Kofi and Regal going at it atm, and although nothing seems to have been closed/announced for judgment day, you never know they'll probabily throw a match together at the last minute but at least it';s some exposure for the US Title on PPV (Which is desperately needed) not to mention it won't be totally random as they've all been fueding for a few weeks now.

All four of those men deserve to have exposure and a good program for the US Title, I guess we'll see what happens, but I'd like an MVP/Regal program as Regal is an excellent heel and MVP is getting way over. Keep Hardy/Kofi going for a bit then bring them closer to the US title and you've got some real quality mid card wrestling, at least or now...MRRRRR KENNNEDY will hopefully turn heel and kick the shit out of MVP for the US Title, that would be classic

 

[SenorAmazing]

no offense but william regal is boring to watch. He is a fantasticly gifted wrestler and thats all fine and dandy but at the end of the day i'd rather watch MVP/Hardy than MVP/Regal which is sad cuz i like regal and respect him. BUT the midcard is getting up there, especially with Kennedy coming back soon. As long as they keep the Miz as far away from the US title as Vickie is from pretty the Midcard will be awesome.

 

[S.O.H.O.O.D]

With an IC title match on Sunday it is possible that either on ECW, Superstars or SD they will announce a US title match as well to take place at JD.

Someone commented that why did we not get a fatal fourway last night, maybe that will happen at the PPV or maybe it won't...if it does not then yes last night the match would have been better off as a 4 way dance.

 

[Sivsyboi]

Shane McMahon can only do so much

I don't know why everyone dislikes Shane McMahon. I like him, to some extent. He's not the best around, but he's a hell lot better than most of the Main Event. Also, unlike many main eventers (Triple H, Orton, Batista, Cena), he can wrestle at a decent pace (Orton can if paired with the right opponent- E.g. NOT Triple H or Batista).

Now, onto the midcard. When I saw the VIP lounge i was hoping for a fatal four way at Judgement Day for the US Title. But, I guess that's not happening. TBK and his mystery partner (If it's Snitsky, I'll cry) could be interesting, but wtf happened to Priceless? (that's what I'm calling them). They pinned The Colons before backlash...WHERE DID THAT GO? No titrle matck, nothing!

Now, one more thing. Why isn't the Mysterio/Jericho match for the IC? Make it a little more interesting. Please!

 

[RATED R CHAMPION]

Well The Mid Card Right Now Is Not As Good As In The Past, And Certainly In Wwe It Will Not Improve Too Much, But Hey, At Least We Saw Some Guys Interested In The Us Title, And In The Future We Can Have A Hotter Us Title Division On Raw, As Far As The Segment Last Night, It Wasn't Too Bad, Mvp Had Some Miss Spots Yes, But In General It Was Good, William Regal Is A Huge Heel, And Looks Like Those Traditional Heels, Those Bad Guys Of The Past With That Robe And That Foreign Accent And Should Have A Great Feud For The Us Title With Mvp, But The Problem Is That Wwe's Creative Will Not Push Him To The Us Title I Think, And If Something, It Would Be A Simple Title Match Or Series Of Some Matches For A Month Or So And Nothing More Out Of It.

But At Least The Us Title Is Getting More Exposure (apparently) And That's Good, Aleluyahhhhh

 

[TomSmithUK]

I love this thread, how did you not twig that this was going to happen as soon as we had the draft?

Everyone with anything about them in the mid-card has been moved to Smackdown. Morrison won't be pulling triple duty any more. Ziggler is being given a shot (loved the way he put Khali down with the chair rather than take a beating), Benjamin is still entertaining but needs to step up, Rey Mysterio is entertaining if unbelievable, R-Truth is spotty but fun for the 5 minutes he gets, Knox will get to be the big man he should have been on Raw.

What does Raw have? Regal who is one dimensional, MVP who sucks as a face (wrong moveset), the Miz who will probably run out of momentum fairly quickly, especially since he couldn't even boss a run down Cena.

 

[Rich]

Has MVP actually defended the US title yet on RAW? Nope, he hasn't.. Then again, Rey Mysterio hasn't defended the Intercontinental belt since winning it off John Layfield either.

And William Regal should be in the main event scene, but he'll never go above mid card other than winning last year's KOTR, because he's English, and unless you're screwing the Boss's Daughter (HHH), are one of HHH's best mates (Randy Orton) or a Samoan or Indian hoss (Umaga or the "Great" Khali) then your hopes of being pushed to the sky are gone in WWE.

 

[Blade]

I'm inspired to write this after watching the VIP Lounge on this weeks Raw. I've been thinking for a number of weeks now that there is absolutely no depth in the mid-card.

You're wrong. And I plan to tell you why.

This weeks segment featured MVP, after some terrible catchphrase dropping, talking very blandly about what happened last week. Then Regal comes out, a brilliant character who has been criminally misused for so many years. Unfortunately, this fuels my problem. He has no storyline but comes out talking about his position in the pecking order. He has no position in the pecking order. Que another pointless catchprase / insult from MVP.

MVP is pretty damn good on the mic. His promo was a bit strange, but it certainly did catch attention and get reaction from the crowd.
Regal has NOT been misused. He had his chance and he blew it. He was King of the Ring, GM, and in line for the number 1 contenders spot for whatever title was on Raw this time last year. But he was busted for failing the wellness policy. WWE didn't force the illegal substances on him, so don't blame them, blame Regal.
And are did you just complain about Regal not getting pushed and getting pushed in the same paragraph? Strike 1.

Now we get Matt Hardy. Hardy has done nothing for the past two weeks but compain about his injured hand. He has not faced either MVP or Regal yet he's out here. Surely this should be a platform for US title challengers? He isn't involved. He's just blogging live on air.

Yeah, it's called being a heel. Which he is doing surprisingly well right now. Coming out and asking for title shots against faces even though they don't deserve it is what heels have been doing for years. And Hardy vs MVP had a great feud last year, which never really ended, so maybe they're just reigniting the feud but this time with the rolls reversed.
And in this paragraph you're complaining that he came out to challenge MVP even though he had nothing to do with the US title conterdership and also complaining about how he wasn't involved in what was happening with the US title? Strike 2.

Then the stupidest thing happens. Now I love Kofi. I truly do. But he has no attitude and for him to run down to the ring and attack Hardy for hitting him with the cast last week is completely out of character. It would have been nice for Kofi to get some mic work practice in here but no. Que the inevitable pre PPV tag match featuring the mid card.

Perhaps it's out of character for Kofi to get back at Matt like that, but every face has a point where he'll just be so pissed off about something that he'll attack the heel. Every face will do it some time or another in their career!

But wait... there is no PPV match here! So I ask what's the point?

MVP and Regal have a storyline but no match for the PPV (unless announced later tonight)
Hardy and Kofi are beginning to have a storyline. A pointless one but a storyline nonetheless.
The Brian Kendrick has just mentioned one with the Colons but we know very little about it and, lets be honest, that was a bathroom break match.

Because if they had waited till after Judgement day, people would've forgot about both feuds in the 'excitement' of the PPV. And without those 2 feuds being progressed what else would there have been to fill time? More Orton/Batista stuff?

DiBiase and Rhodes are lost in bodyguard hell. They've mastered the look angry, act cocky and win by DQ route

AKA being a heel....

but not gaining any skill whilst doing so.

You just said they've mastered something that requires skill and then you said they haven't gained any skill? Strike 3... You've lost all credibility. I'll just answer the rest of your post in one big pile!

The Miz is kinda doing something with Cena but, lets face it, as soon as Cena "Hulks up" on forgets he's injured on Sunday night, the Miz is gonna get his attitude adjusted next week on Raw. And that'll be that.

Chavo is stuck being the hand up Vicki's back.

I'm hoping Kennedy can perform some miracle because there is just not enough substance to Raw to make me enjoy it at the moment. At a time when 2 of the biggest stars are out (Triple H is out and Cena is 'incapacitated' and not entertaining.) The midcard needs to be helping out a less than interesting Main Event card. Shane McMahon can only do so much and Batista's stumbling mic skills pretty much sum him up.

It'd be nice to see a big match, a cage match or even a scramble match have been seen set up for the US title in it's first PPV defence on Raw but it seems that it is just gonna get a defense against Regal in a 10 minute, first match of the card spot at the very most.

Is anyone actually going to buy Judgement Day for this?

Despite SD being the better show right now, It appears Raw has the better midcard talent. Hardy, Kofi, MVP, Regal, TBK etc...
All great athletes and they're all being used. Quite well I might add. Sure Raw's main event scene might be a tad screwed up at the moment, but the midcard is very solid. The US title has challengers, they're using older talent to build new talent.... Don't complain.

 

[Mjolnir]

Smackdown's "mid-card" is so much better than Raw it is not even funny... which is evident in the build-up of superstars going after the belts... hypothetically place the contenders in a Fatal 4-way, and tell me which is the better match-up...

Raw- MVP (champ), Regal, Hardy, Kofi...

Smackdown- Rey (champ), Jericho, Shelton, Morrison

If you ask me, Rey and Kofi cancel each other out as worthless... Jericho is the best of them all (all-around), Shelton and Morrison are arguably second-best (though some might like them best), Regal is low mid-card at best, and as far as I am concerned Matt Hardy is as boring to watch as his brother... Smackdown has a WAY better mid-card.

Even if you add in a couple of more names from their respective rosters... I am not counting tag teams, or those involved in main event level storylines...
Raw- Chavo? Miz? RAW is freaking dying for a Kennedy return...
Smackdown- Knox (like him), Kane, R-Truth (slightly less annoying than Miz)

I rest my case, Smackdown has the better, and more varied mid-card... and that doesn't even count Punk and Umaga (who I am counting as a "main event" storyline as Edge seems to be somehow involved).

Mjolnir rests his case...

 

[RVDgurl]

Smackdown's "mid-card" is so much better than Raw it is not even funny... which is evident in the build-up of superstars going after the belts... hypothetically place the contenders in a Fatal 4-way, and tell me which is the better match-up...

Raw- MVP (champ), Regal, Hardy, Kofi...

Smackdown- Rey (champ), Jericho, Shelton, Morrison

Since you asked which match is the better line up, I'll go with RAW. MVP is still climbing the ladder while Misterio is on his way down. I find Rey to be played out and rather stale. As far as the remaining portions of the line ups, Jericho is the only name from the SD! match that sparks any real interest in me. Shelton Benjamin, while very athletically talent, just can't seem to get over. He's had several small pushes that never amount to anything because he can't connect with the crowd. John Morrison is also a phenomenal athlete, but his moveset doesn't fit his role. He keeps getting lost in between a face and a heel.

Regal, Hardy and Kofi are all solid workers who have clear and defined roles. Kingston has just as much athletic ability as Morrison or Benjamin. Hardy and Regal are much more comfortable in their role as heels which allows them to generate the heat that they need to work a successful match.

Even if you add in a couple of more names from their respective rosters... I am not counting tag teams, or those involved in main event level storylines...
Raw- Chavo? Miz? RAW is freaking dying for a Kennedy return...
Smackdown- Knox (like him), Kane, R-Truth (slightly less annoying than Miz)

Agreed that RAW could benefit from Kennedy's return. His addition to the line up of mid card superstars is needed, however, RAW is not exactly hurting without him. The Miz has been holding things down very nicely and has been down right impressive since being drafted to RAW. It also looks as through you can throw Brian Kendrick's name into the pot, as well. He is sorely under utilized and has tremendous skills in the ring and on the mic. Truthfully, I would rather watch Kendrick or the Miz before having to sit through a Mike Knox or R-Truth match.