Kane out of action

[Guest oldschoolwrestling]

I just read that Kane had surgery today to repair a torn bicep.  Raw was already hurting talentwise, so what now?  Do you forsee a trade happening?  Benoit is going to Smackdown and could be coming as soon as tonight's taping, but what about Raw???

[Guest razazteca]

are you sure that Kane is not having "cosmetic" surgery?

 

Mr Perfect for Lance Storm

[Guest]

Mr Perfect for Lance Storm

 

Yes, that would help RAW's ratings.....

[Guest Zack Malibu]

Big Show and Boss Man for Christian and Storm.  RAW has far too many brawlers, and Smackdown has more technical wrestlers.  Plus, with Big Show on the same roster, it hurts the mystique of pushed monsters like Brock, Kane and Bradshaw, since he's larger than all of them.

 

BTW, I think Kane's abscence is just going to be used to push him even harder as a babyface upon his return.

[Guest razazteca]

So will Kane losing the mask angle will ignoried again, there goes what heat he had from the comedy.

 

Goldust & Meat for Hurricane & Jericho

[Guest Nevermortal]

I think they'll use this excuse to say that Kane had"reconstructive/cosmetic surgery" on his face so he can come back sans mask.

[Guest The Fett]

Juding by the crap ratings that Smackdown has gotten I'd say they need the talent just as much as Raw does. Especially since Rock will be gone for several months and Benoit is still not available yet. If anything Smackdown needs a trade more then Raw. They're really lacking big name faces. Hogan is the only over face they have right now.

[Guest]

Turn Booker T face and give him a huge push!

[Guest Hogan Made Wrestling]

"Turn Booker T face and give him a huge push! "

 

Yeah, because that just did wonders for WCW...

[Guest Zero_Cool]

Actually, it would've worked out if Booker didn't become a pussy during his WCW reign, kissing babies, and even spewing out questionable catchphrases.  If they had the Booker T from Harlem Heat as the top babyface, things could've been much better.

[Guest]

Booker T was really over as a face near the end of WCW. Just go back and watch the match vs Steiner on the last Nitro and hear the crowd reactions. He can be a huge face now in WWF, especially since expanding on his persona as a heel since being in WWF. He got a great reception last night in his promo.

[Guest]

How come when people say Gooldbeg was over in WCW, they say "Then why weren't the ratings higher", but when you mention Booker, he was really over and was a big draw.

[Guest El Satanico]

Juding by the crap ratings that Smackdown has gotten I'd say they need the talent just as much as Raw does...If anything Smackdown needs a trade more then Raw.

What the hell? How the hell you going to blame Smackdown getting shit ratings on lack of talent? Smackdown has the majority of the talent and they still get shit ratings. How will taking guys away from Raw help anything? All it would do is make Raw weaker and clog up an already crowded Smackdown roster.

 

Smackdown is just fine talent wise if not overstocked, so get the insane idea that lack of talent is Smackdown's problem out of your mind.

[Guest Hogan Made Wrestling]

The fact that UPN spent a bunch of cash to get the rights to Buffy, hyped it up for months, and Smackdown is already back to kicking its ass on a much tougher TV night shows that Smackdowns ratings are far from "crap". Also, Smackdown works on a different scale than RAW, so a 4.0 for SD is about the same as a 5.0 for RAW.

[Guest The Fett]

I guess I should rephrase. Wrestling-wise obviously Smackdown has the better wrestlers. When I say lack of talent I'm talking about in terms of what the normal fans think. The original post stated how Kane was going to leave due to an injury and Raw was going to need some trades to make up for his loss. What I'm saying is, even with Kane out, Raw is still going to be fine. They still have Austin. They still have RVD, Lesner, Taker, NWO, and Flair. Their ratings are still doing well.

 

Whereas Smackdown's rating sucked. The only over face they have right now is Hogan. Rock is going to be gone for several months. Which loss do you think hurt their roster more Rock, or Kane?

 

What sense would it make to send Jericho or Angle to Raw when they're the only over wrestlers (besides Hogan) that Smackdown has. That is why I say Smackdown is in need of the talent right now.

[Guest El Satanico]

Well Smackdown doesn't need both Jericho and Angle. Smackdown would be fine if they traded a name wrestler. However i did see your point. Raw doesnt really need Smackdown's big names...Austin and Undertaker are enough big names for Raw.

 

I don't agree with the people that are saying that since Kane is out Raw needs to trade for a big name from Smackdown. However i think it would be smart for Smackdown to trade guys like Storm and Christian who would benifit from Raw's lack of mid card talent. Raw should be used to try and get younger talented guys that haven't had alot of direction in WWF up to now over...guys like Storm and Christian.

[Guest pinnacleofallthingsmanly]

How come when people say Gooldbeg was over in WCW, they say "Then why weren't the ratings higher", but when you mention Booker, he was really over and was a big draw.

 

I'm guesing because people forget that there was a guy named Stone Cold Steve Austin keeping people tuned into the WWF during Goldberg's big push. Goldberg was big but Austin was bigger.

[Guest]

How come when people say Gooldbeg was over in WCW, they say "Then why weren't the ratings higher", but when you mention Booker, he was really over and was a big draw.

Because Goldberg was a bad man who didn't sell for his opponents, had a long run of Lightning Squashes Ultimate Warrior Style, and inflicted a career ending injury on Bret Hart.

 

Booker T is a good man because he was stuck in the midcard for about a decade and has workrate.

 

Simply put, Goldberg isn't net-endorsed, Booker T is.  T is one of our guys and Goldberg isn't.

[Guest]

I MET GOLDBERG! He is so cool. Me and him hung out backstage and drank some beers! He's COOOOOOLLLLLL!!

[Guest]

I met Maven, he was great. We hung out backstage and drank yoohoos.

[Guest]

I just called up Goldberg and he said he was going to spear Maven when he gets into the WWF and then start up his streak again and he was going 300-0 this time at least.

[Guest]

How come when people say Gooldbeg was over in WCW, they say "Then why weren't the ratings higher", but when you mention Booker, he was really over and was a big draw.

 

I'm guesing because people forget that there was a guy named Stone Cold Steve Austin keeping people tuned into the WWF during Goldberg's big push. Goldberg was big but Austin was bigger.

NO! According to the Toyota Race thing...yes the one where Goldberg broke his arm(AHAHAHAHAHAHAHA, WHAT A LOSER), before the race, they said it was a perfectly arguable point that he is more popular than Austin, Rock, and the Undertaker. I guess it's also arguable that he's a better wrestler than Benoit and Angle.

[Guest thevertex]

I was gonna say Booker T before I even read the rest of this thread. I definately saw Babyface potential with that promo on Raw. What they need to do is for him to stop doing heelish stop, start playing to the crowd, and keep putting him in weird situations like last night. Hell, a Goldust/Booker T feud looks good on paper at least, maybe a love/hate tag team like the Rock and Sock connection chemistry. Of course WWF's writers have no patience at all, but that's how they should do it.

 

I say trade Justin Credible to smackdown (since Storm's there already + the tag belts) for another unused guy like Funaki + future considerations (Randy Orton?) Move Booker T up to a top babyface, and put D'Lo in the midcard heel spot that Booker's in now.

[Guest evenflowDDT]

What they need to do is for him to stop doing heelish stop, start playing to the crowd, and keep putting him in weird situations like last night. Hell, a Goldust/Booker T feud looks good on paper at least, maybe a love/hate tag team like the Rock and Sock connection chemistry. Of course WWF's writers have no patience at all, but that's how they should do it.

 

Move Booker T up to a top babyface, and put D'Lo in the midcard heel spot that Booker's in now.

Isn't that kind of contradictory, suggesting someone be pushed to top babyface but feuding/tagging with someone in the midcard? I do agree with you though that the Godlust/Booker T promo was pretty funny.  I did hope they would do something to him with the split, since I've always felt sorry for how he's been put over as a chump and really weak on WWF TV, ever since they prepped him for feeding him to The Rock, he never recovered.  Damn you Rock...

 

As for D'Lo, have they even re-debuted him yet? I keep thinking I'm missing something, since I missed most of HeAT this week, I already missed Stasiak's mind-bogglingly brilliant new gimmick.

[Guest justcoz]

I agree that Booker T would definitely be a stronger face right now on RAW.  People just seem to be wanting to cheer for this guy.  He has ready made catchphrases and a cheap pop signature move to get him over.  Don't even point to WCW as a reason he wouldn't work as a face.  He was over in WCW and would be even more over right now because he's really developed his persona in the WWF.  The guy deserves this run.  The company embarrassed him with the Weakest Link/Howard Stern stuff and he was buried after being their top guy with the Invasion kick off.

 

People are talking about trades.  Personally, I'd like to see one of two things.  Either move guys like Lance Storm, Christian or Chris Benoit to Raw or work an angle which sees the Cruiserweight division move to Flair's show.  The Smackdown spoilers that I read had something along the lines of Billy Kidman talking to Hurricane about nobody caring about his title match at Backlash and how he was going to give people something to talk about at the show.  How about winning his match against Tajiri and then announcing that he's taking the cruiserweight title to Raw where it will get the respect it deserves.  This of course angers Smackdown's curisers who demand they be traded to Raw and Vince finally gives in and works a trade with Flair for Justin Credible, Big Show, Bossman and The Godfather.  

 

Raw needs mid carders period.  There is no reason for guys like Storm and Christian to be reduced to working Jakked when there are slots needing to be filled on Raw.  If moving them isn't in the cards then the crusierweight division should be.  The cruisers would have more time to work on Raw than Smackdown.  The division could be built around Hurricane, Kidman, Tajiri, Chavo with Rey Mysterio Jr, Juventud, AJ Styles, Jamie Knoble, Shannon Moore, etc. debuting.  Maybe even have a cruiser tag team division for The Hardys.

 

Guys the caliber of Storm, Christian or the cruisers will be needed to work with RVD who will more than likely be Raw's top attraction (at least behind Stone Cold) going into 2003.

 

Let's also not forget though that there are still guys like Mike Awesome, Rhyno, and Kanyon who could end up on Raw.  Not to mention where Randy Orton or Leviathan may debut.

 

Overall, I really like the brand extension.  It's fun to talk about things like this.  They should have "trade deadlines" once or twice a year.

[Guest justcoz]

I'd like to see D Lo get involved with the RVD vs. Eddie Guerrerro feud, maybe have him be Eddie's bodyguard or feud with both of them over the Lo Down/Frog splash.

[Guest Mystery Eskimo]

D'lo and Booker would work as a tag team, I think.

[Guest The Fett]

I agree that Booker T would definitely be a stronger face right now on RAW.  People just seem to be wanting to cheer for this guy.  He has ready made catchphrases and a cheap pop signature move to get him over.  Don't even point to WCW as a reason he wouldn't work as a face.  He was over in WCW and would be even more over right now because he's really developed his persona in the WWF.  The guy deserves this run.  The company embarrassed him with the Weakest Link/Howard Stern stuff and he was buried after being their top guy with the Invasion kick off.

 

People are talking about trades.  Personally, I'd like to see one of two things.  Either move guys like Lance Storm, Christian or Chris Benoit to Raw or work an angle which sees the Cruiserweight division move to Flair's show.  The Smackdown spoilers that I read had something along the lines of Billy Kidman talking to Hurricane about nobody caring about his title match at Backlash and how he was going to give people something to talk about at the show.  How about winning his match against Tajiri and then announcing that he's taking the cruiserweight title to Raw where it will get the respect it deserves.  This of course angers Smackdown's curisers who demand they be traded to Raw and Vince finally gives in and works a trade with Flair for Justin Credible, Big Show, Bossman and The Godfather.  

 

Raw needs mid carders period.  There is no reason for guys like Storm and Christian to be reduced to working Jakked when there are slots needing to be filled on Raw.  If moving them isn't in the cards then the crusierweight division should be.  The cruisers would have more time to work on Raw than Smackdown.  The division could be built around Hurricane, Kidman, Tajiri, Chavo with Rey Mysterio Jr, Juventud, AJ Styles, Jamie Knoble, Shannon Moore, etc. debuting.  Maybe even have a cruiser tag team division for The Hardys.

 

Guys the caliber of Storm, Christian or the cruisers will be needed to work with RVD who will more than likely be Raw's top attraction (at least behind Stone Cold) going into 2003.

 

Let's also not forget though that there are still guys like Mike Awesome, Rhyno, and Kanyon who could end up on Raw.  Not to mention where Randy Orton or Leviathan may debut.

 

Overall, I really like the brand extension.  It's fun to talk about things like this.  They should have "trade deadlines" once or twice a year.

The Cruiserweights would probably be worse off on Raw then on Smackdown. On Smackdown the Cruiserweight feud is the third highest feud, behind only Triple H/Hogan and Angle/Edge. On Raw they would be behind Austin/Taker, RVD/Guerrero, Lesner/Hardy, Regal/Spike, Bradshaw/Hall, Kane/X-Pac, Booker T./Goldust, and the Hardcore title feud. They would surely be lost in the shuffle if they were on the Raw roster.

[Guest notJames]

D'lo and Booker would work as a tag team, I think.

Why do you say that? And no, I'm not baiting you. I just want to know what it is about the two of them that you think would make them mesh. Do you see similarities between the way they wrestle and/or act ala the Canadian Chrises, or do you think they would work as an "opposites attract" kind of thing, like Head Cheese?