Going into this week and being this was the last edition of RAW for 2016, I was actually hoping that WWE would deliver a good show and wrap up the year on a bang. Then again, who are we kidding and how silly of me to even think that certain things could change?
If I were to make a quick review of 2016, certain adjectives like “boring”, “stale”, cringe worthy” would be of often use because that’s exactly what Monday Night RAW has been for what feels like ages. It may not all be necessarily bad but the main problem is that these few good things are constantly overshadowed by the overall ugliness and the way I see it, it’s called obsession on behalf of WWE. I honestly cannot find any other way to put it.
Who can argue that WWE are obsessed with Roman Reigns, thinking that he (of all people) is the next John Cena, the next Austin, the next Rock or the next Hulk Hogan? Who can argue that this obsession has made WWE so stubborn they constantly refuse to see the light? You can tweak the volume all you want, you can push a guy (or gal, for that matter) all you want and you can repeatedly try to shove anyone down our throats all you want but the fact of the matter is, if us the fans don’t like it, we ain’t going to embrace and we ain’t going to approve. You see, pushing someone is one thing, forcing it however a totally different thing and it seems like them officials and/or Vince himself fail to see the difference.
To make matters worse, this aforementioned obsession has “side effects” because in putting all their efforts on pushing Roman, they have neglected pretty much everything else, including the Universal Title which is supposedly the main prize, the top belt. I mean, look at how Roman is portrayed and booked every single week and look at your main champion, Kevin Owens. Simple facts: how many times has KO, your current MAIN GUY and the individual holding your MAIN BELT been pinned CLEANLY in the middle of the ring, on freaking RAW no less? And how many times has Roman been pinned…at all? How many times has Roman been part of the main event of a show and how many times has he been the one to be standing tall by the end of it? And how about KO? All hail the Peter North and Johnny Sins of WWE; should I add Ron Jeremy while I’m at it?
What about the United States Championship belt? What’s its value nowadays? If you’re going to have Roman constantly in the main event picture and after the big one, why does he have to carry the US belt? Why couldn’t at least that US title be something for the Sami Zayns and Rusevs of the world to be chasing and/or all of them other mid carders that are currently fighting for nothing?
Sadly enough, all of this for a guy that can’t even fucking talk, let alone cut a decent fucking promo, yet we have come to be comparing him or hoping he’s the next John Cena. For fuck sake, even Ellsworth got over. How about Heath Slater? In all seriousness, the closest we every got to a next John Cena was Daniel Bryan but unfortunately his career was cut short. Roman Reigns? Not even close…
Back to the “obsessions” point, it’s not only about Roman Reigns and it would be unfair for this to be another one of those Roman hating rants. How about them damn records that WWE love? Take the tag team division for example. WWE were so obsessed in New Day breaking Demolition’s record that after a certain point and as days were going by, they completely destroyed every other team. I mean, look at the Club and the effect all of this had on Anderson and Gallows. How about your most over tag team, Enzo & Cass? How is it that they aren’t even in the title picture AT ALL but only reduced to a comedy act and/or pointless outplayed bold and beautiful storylines?
And what does WWE do? Well, as soon as New Day broke that record, they simply did the title change less than a week later. Really, could they have made it any more obvious? Don’t get me wrong, I am very happy for both Sheamus and Cesaro but why couldn’t they at least have the decency of waiting a few more weeks before doing the change, making it a bit more intriguing in the process? Having gone this far, a few more weeks wouldn’t have hurt, plus a switch at, say, the Rumble would have felt bigger and more special, as it should be.
How about Charlotte’s undefeated PPV streak? Like I’ve noted time and again, WWE love them records and though I too believe that Charlotte is the top female nowadays on both rosters, what exactly has this done for Sasha Banks? Sure, they made history with the gimmick matches and her being a part of that certainly counts for something but I ask again: how did Sasha look coming out of this feud? Is “weak” a good word?
Bottom line, this isn’t simply about bad or poor booking and it isn’t about Rollins or Bailey or whomever else simply being boring. The way I see it, these are just a few more side effects as a result of the certain obsessions WWE has as explained above, which funnily enough are only a RAW thing. I mean, why is it that we don’t have similar problems with Smackdown? You do know that Vince runs Smackdown just as much as he runs RAW, right? So, why is it that things on Smackdown are so much better? I’ll tell you why: no Roman Reigns type situation, no Charlotte type situation, no New Day type situation.
As for this week's show, gave it a 4/10. Not for nothing, aside from all the crap, there were at least a few good moments I enjoyed, favorite of all being Strowman's "multitasking" line; absolutely lolled for that...
::smug: