Simply Raw-ful
Simply Raw-ful
What does it say about your supposed favorite show when it’s a relief that it’s ‘not bad’?
Matt Barnes
Here’s the thing, this piece is ostensibly my ‘return’ to Australia – or, at least, the Aussie wrestling writing scene – and I’d love to have something positive to contribute; perhaps something about the brilliance of one of the never-ending stream of recent pay-per-views, or about excellent weekly shows, or great, slow-build storylines, or, just… bloody anything. But that’s not where we’re at at the tail-end of 2018. Not at all.
Instead, we have a slew of shows that have been big on pomp and poor in execution, weekly shows so dire that even reading results online is draining, injuries, missed opportunities and countless other gripes. And yet, I still watch WWE as diligently as I ever have. If you haven’t heard of Pavlov’s dog, now might be a good time to look it up.
The Raw shows on 26/11 and 3/12 were, quite simply, the worst in Raw history – and, given Katie Vick, that really is saying something. And yet, I still watched the next week, and the week after. The 26/11 show, in particular, just bombed. From start to finish it was painfully, unbearably abysmal, and garnered amongst the worst ratings in Raw history. But then, given the content, why would people watch it, beyond those who automatically tune in when Raw rings the bell (have you looked up Pavlov’s dog yet?). No storyline progression whatsoever, matches nobody wanted to see, horrible, painfully awkward scripted promos that sucked the life out of the building and seemed to reach through the TV and pull your very soul from your chest.
Okay, perhaps the hyperbole went a little far there, but you get the picture.
The following week was almost, but not quite, as bad. AOP look dominant, Gable and Roode have potential; how does the match end? Somebody pissing on a robe. The in-ring segments with Alexa, Bayley and Sasha so bad as to be beyond description. And Corbin as GM is an aberration. Quite why WWE continues to equate anger and apathy to heat is beyond me. Somebody give me some physical evidence – gate receipts, buy-rates, ratings, web stats – that Corbin is driving traffic or generating revenue for the company and I’ll eat my words, but nobody can or will.
I get the whole “paying to see the heel GM get his ass kicked” gimmick. I’ve lived through McMahon, Bischoff, Johnny Ace and countless others, but this isn’t that. Corbin’s biggest, most consistent feud is with Finn Balor, who’s been positioned so far down the card for so long as to be completely irrelevant, despite his indisputable in-ring acumen. Matches between the sluggish Corbin and the dwindling Balor are mid-card affairs at best, doing nothing to bring anything out of either man – but somehow the powers that be still have faith in their GM elect, or whichever title he’s been given this week.
Yes, there’s the Strowman injury angle that there should eventually pay off to some extent, but the reality is that Corbin has been utterly unbearable in every role he’s held within WWE, and the sooner this ends, the better.
All of which makes Kurt Angle’s current position in the wilderness truly baffling. He wasn’t a great GM, and neither, regrettably, was Mick Foley before him, but both were over and manged to keep the show ticking over without incident. Honestly, it’s not even that the heel GM thing is passe – done well, it absolutely needn’t be. Rewatching 1997/1998 episodes of Nitro, and Raw from 1998 onwards, shows that it’s a position that can energise a show and give it drive and direction. It’s just that WWE seemingly doesn’t know what to do with an authority figure and, as a result, it’s lacking and perhaps it’s time for the role to go entirely, at least for a while.
Over on Smackdown, Paige is GM but Shane is holding court, as McMahons are wont to do, though the show is undeniably the ‘wrestling’ brand. The talents of Daniel Bryan, Samoa Joe, Becky Lynch, Charlotte and many others elevate the brand far beyond the booking, and even the current ‘B-players’ list includes the likes of Rusev and Nakamura, meaning that the in-ring action is solid. Even R-Truth has been relevant in recent months, and in 2018 that’s a laudable achievement. Becky Lynch has become the hottest asset on either brand, leaving Charlotte, Asuka and just about everyone else, male or female, on either brand in her wake. And yet, Smackdown still isn’t great. Paige is bland in the GM role, Shane’s role currently lacks definition, Daniel Bryan’s heel turn has yet to bear fruit… there’s so, so much potential there, but nothing doing in terms of adequate character progression or understanding what the audience wants.
Meanwhile, NXT remains consistently entertaining, as does 205 Live, but neither really creates more than a ripple in the lake that is WWE. That every Takeover event, without fail, outshines the subsequent WWE ‘big show’ should tell WWE everything it needs to know about why its booking is failing, but still the issues persist. It’s not about appeasing purists, but perhaps about understanding that bad humour, bad characters and inconsistent and/or parity booking aren’t helping anyone. With Raw three hours long each week and PPVs running as long as 5-7 hours, including preshows, more is definitely less.
I’ve been writing professionally about this sport for nearly 15 years and I’ve never felt so submerged by such a deluge of content. Too many nutshots, too many PPVs, too many wrestlers, too many injuries, too many big name part-timers, too many shows on the WWE Network to contend with. When less really is more, would it be fair to christen this The Overkill Era?
On behalf of APW, I’ve been MattBarnes. Before I sign off, however, I must mention Roman Reigns. I’m not going to preface this with some ‘not my favourite wrestler, but…’ jibe. Take care, Roman. You’re already missed. Get well and get back soon.