WrestleCrap Sums It Up

[Guest jester]

I pulled this off of WrestleCrap. I think this guy really nailed what's wrong with Raw.

 

 

 

October 18, 2002

 

 

Several years ago, during the WWF's rapid rise to popularity, Vince McMahon and company paid a huge sum of money for a commerical during the Superbowl. Not only that, but during the halftime show, they even counter programmed a WWF title match featuring the Rock vs. Mick Foley in an empty arena.

 

It wasn't so much this match that I have remembered over the years, but rather that Vince himself took the opportunity to give casual viewers a synopsis of what the WWF was really all about. It was part comedy, part athletics, part live action cartoon. He explained, in no uncertain terms, that it really was more than a pro wrestling show.

 

My reason for bringing this up is due to the fact that I no longer have any idea what WWE, specifically Raw, is supposed to be anymore.

 

I used to think it was wrestling. And while there have been, without question, some good matches in the past few weeks (mainly on Smackdown), it is obvious that the in-ring action is far from the focus of the show. Most bouts are limited to two or three minutes, with guys selling like they've been in the ring for an hour. And for the MOST PART (at least on the Raw side of things), the matches are really quite bad. Rare is the word "wrestling" even used; "sports entertainment" seems to be the buzzword for the day.

 

So I guess it's not a wrestling show.

 

I thought maybe it was supposed to be a soap opera, but the internal logic of the show is so off that if it IS supposed to be soap opera, it's the worst I've ever seen (and before my daytime junkies start writing, yes, I've seen Passions). You have characters that the company has spent years establishing currently doing things that are totally inconsistent with their backstories.

 

Kane, for example, has been portrayed since his arrival in the WWF as a scarred freak who was burned as a child by his brother, the Undertaker. He spent his youth in an insane asylum before being unleashed on the wrestling world in the late 1990's. He learned to speak only within the last year or so.

 

Fast forward to this Monday night's Raw. Now Kane was wrestling 10 years ago, and trying to pick up chicks at parties. And killing those girls because he was drunk and couldn't drive a stick shift before fornicating with their dead bodies.

 

Is completely ignoring a character's history - for the sake of a horrible storyline - that big a deal? I think it is. It is saying to those who have followed the WWF/WWE for years, "We don't care that you have followed our show; we are going to change things to fit our needs. Besides, next week, he'll probably be locked up in the insane asylum during his childhood again."

 

WWE writers appear to have no regard for those who have followed their product over the years. In fact, it appears they have no regard for those who follow from week to week! A couple of weeks ago, it was announced that all contracts were frozen and there would be no jumping from show to show. Since that time, Al Snow has jumped from Smackdown to Raw and Batista has as well. Explanation given? None.

 

Nonsensical storylines aside, let's look a bit more at the characters being presented to us. We've already seen all the problems with the "hero", so let's look at Raw's main villain, your pal and mine, Triple H. Am I, as a fan, supposed to hate Triple H? After all, the guy bangs two hot chicks in the shower while another is waiting for him in the locker room. He beats up everyone in sight, usually winning with his finishing move, which is something no one else in the entire promotion seems capable of doing. He says no one can beat him, and really, no one ever does. In the past couple of months, he has beat Bubba Ray Dudley on the first shot, RVD countless times, and made Brock Lesnar run in fear from him to Smackdown. This is your villian? A guy that laughs off any threat? A guy that the fans know will never, ever get his comeuppance?

 

Sports Entertainment is apparently a smidgen of action featuring flawed characters in laughable storylines. It's a total mess that is getting harder and harder to follow each week, because the WWE writing staff is either a) too stupid to remember from week to week what they are writing; b) don't know what the hell it is they are supposed to be promoting; or c) simply don't care that you, the viewer, have invested time and effort into following their product.

 

You know, I used to consider Hunter the smartest man in wrestling, but I no longer do. You know who are the really smart folks? Steve Austin. Goldberg. Scott Steiner. These are the guys who, for various reasons, have left WWE behind to collapse under the ever-growing egos of those in charge. Then, when things are their most bleak (and I don't think we're even close to that yet), they will command a HUGE paycheck from Vince to come in and attempt to save the day from the mess his underlings have created.

 

By that time, though, an emtpy arena match may not just be a gimmick.

[Guest Dangerous A]

Amen to that, Brother.

 

 

Amen.

[Guest Razor Roman]

"He's just being cynical. He's not a real wrestling fan. He should just shut up and enjoy the crap we shovel down his throat every week."

 

-Vince, Stephanie, HHH, Jim Ross

 

 

 

"I agree completely"

-Razor Roman

[Guest Jack Tunney]

The 3 girls in the shower thing backfired.I think they were trying to make the fans jealous of HHH ("he has 3 women and you dont" type of thing),but it got him some face heat instead.

[Guest Ram]

And whose side exactly are we supposed to take in this new angle? The murdering, raping non-stickshift driving freak or the always-winning, women-getting HHH?

 

I love wrestling, but with one show of building an angle like THAT, I'm really lost.

[Guest CoreyLazarus416]

They could have very easily said that Katie (F/V)ick was a chick (heh heh, IT RHYMES) that was nice to Kane and then was found dead one day...see? It fits the character (Paul Bearer didn't know Katie would come in and be nice to Kane, and Kane ended up loving her because she'd BE NICE to him), and adds some detail to Kane's relatively unknown past.

 

Dammit, why can't the fucking comic book guy understand this?!

[Guest Zero_Cool]

..maybe that same fucking comic book guy didn't even watch WWE TV back in 1997.

 

Say, I just had a revelation on why they brought Hurricane over to RAW. It was so Gerwitz and 'Cane could talk comic books!

 

Makes a little sense, no?

[JasonX 0]

And whose side exactly are we supposed to take in this new angle?  The murdering, raping non-stickshift driving freak or the always-winning, women-getting HHH?

 

I love wrestling, but with one show of building an angle like THAT, I'm really lost.

Kane, because HHH is an evil, manipulative monster who shouldn't be trusted to tell the truth and who desperately needs to get the shit kicked out of him for his 3 and a half year reign of terror in the WWF, seeing how he never seems to get his come-uppence when he does something evil....

[Guest Ravenbomb]

I root for Katie, because she's the only one not taking up time on my TV, she doesn't bore me by having crappy matches or giving boring 40 hour promo's, and she probably doesn't even want the fact that she was killed and fucked to be used as a wrestling storyline.

 

GO, KATIE!

[Zetterberg is God 0]

He's exactly right about what he says about Triple H. He's beaten every top face (except Booker T). There's no excitement for a face to chase HHH's title. Until they realize that half the excitement of wrestling is hoping that the heel will finally lose, then the business will continue to slide.

[Guest jester]

He's exactly right about what he says about Triple H. He's beaten every top face (except Booker T). There's no excitement for a face to chase HHH's title. Until they realize that half the excitement of wrestling is hoping that the heel will finally lose, then the business will continue to slide.

He isn't realy a heel though. He's a tweener.

 

Regardless of what he's said in interviews, I think HHH wants to be a beloved face like Hogan or Austin. If they were serious about making him a heel, they'd take away that swell Motorhead theme and have him stop doing the water spit. because these things pop the crowd.

[Guest HartFan86]

You know, I used to consider Hunter the smartest man in wrestling, but I no longer do. You know who are the really smart folks? Steve Austin. Goldberg. Scott Steiner. These are the guys who, for various reasons, have left WWE behind to collapse under the ever-growing egos of those in charge. Then, when things are their most bleak (and I don't think we're even close to that yet), they will command a HUGE paycheck from Vince to come in and attempt to save the day from the mess his underlings have created.

 

By that time, though, an emtpy arena match may not just be a gimmick.

That pretty much sums it right there.

[JasonX 0]

He isn't realy a heel though.  He's a tweener.

 

Regardless of what he's said in interviews, I think HHH wants to be a beloved face like Hogan or Austin.  If they were serious about making him a heel, they'd take away that swell Motorhead theme and have him stop doing the water spit. because these things pop the crowd.

Back in 2000, HHH basically pissed away his only chance at becoming a top-level face in the WWE. If he had gone ahead with the Double Turn with Kurt Angle where he is dumped by Steph and replaced by Kurt as Steph's lover, HHH would have become the next big babyface in the WWE and would probably lead the company as their top face what with Rock going into movies and Austin turning heel.

 

But HHH, who had started dating Steph in real life, vetoed the plan because it would put Kurt right in the middle of Steph and HHH's real life rommance and complicate HHH's plans to use Steph to cement himself as the most powerful man in the locker room.

 

And he's not a tweener. The girls in the shower was typical Horsemen decadence that HHH is trying to get going for himself and the Shawn Michaels debacle was HHH playing the part of the abusive boyfriend to Shawns' abused boyfriend....

[Guest jester]

And he's not a tweener. The girls in the shower was typical Horsemen decadence that HHH is trying to get going for himself and the Shawn Michaels debacle was HHH playing the part of the abusive boyfriend to Shawns' abused boyfriend....

Look, no wrestling audience is going to boo some guy in the shower with two women.

 

If HHH were to kick them out, saying they weren't worthy to be with him, that would have been heelish.

 

It would also make HHH look bad, and he will not look bad. So he when he tries to be a heel, he'll only ever be a tweener, because he won't commit to full heel attititude and tactics.

[Guest Dangerous A]

He's exactly right about what he says about Triple H. He's beaten every top face (except Booker T). There's no excitement for a face to chase HHH's title. Until they realize that half the excitement of wrestling is hoping that the heel will finally lose, then the business will continue to slide.

He isn't realy a heel though. He's a tweener.

 

Regardless of what he's said in interviews, I think HHH wants to be a beloved face like Hogan or Austin. If they were serious about making him a heel, they'd take away that swell Motorhead theme and have him stop doing the water spit. because these things pop the crowd.

I partially agree with this statement. I think that once Rock and Austin took off, HHH felt it was his right to be the number 1 man. Unfortunately that doesn't mean he was right and that it was right for business. The motorhead theme and water spitting don't help as far as being a heel, but what can you do. His entrace gets popped, but the crowd sits on their hands when he wrestles because his character is stale. Same with Taker.