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Posts Tagged ‘RAW’

The rating for this week’s Raw was 3.4, down 0.2 from last week despite two clean finishes and a hot main event between Jeff Hardy and Shawn Michaels, that Hardy won. Mortgage lenders aren’t betting the future on Raw ratings, that’s for sure.

Despite common sense that if everything is in reruns due to the writers’ strike, which was recently resolved, that original programming like WWE broadcasts would go up; but that hasn’t proved to be the case. Instead, it seems that when viewership goes down in general, show does ratings for everything else on the air, new or rerun.

In a surprise move, The CW network has confirmed that WWE SmackDown no longer fits in with their network concept. Of course, this move has been a long time in coming, seeming inevitable ever since UPN merged with The WB.

Word on the street has it that The CW wants to gear its programming more toward a female demographic, which of course SmackDown doesn’t fit into. The WWE is said to be actively marketing the SmackDown program to other networks, including MyNetworks as well as NBC/Universal, with an eye toward forging a home for the show on USA or SciFi, both of which already play host to WWE programming.

In other WWE-related TV news, USA Network just signed an extension with WWE to keep Raw on their network until 2010; no word on whether ECW will be renewed on SciFi, moved to a new media partner, or combined with SmackDown.

Of course, none of this is cause for panic; WWE’s contracts were up and change was inevitable. It will be interesting to see if WWE continues the three-brand approach or retracts. It could easily be argued that the main reason for WWE SmackDown being removed from the CW’s schedule is not only falling ratings, but the fact that the show lacks any significant star power, while Raw is overflowing with it.

Prediction: For SmackDown to survive, WWE will have to shake things up significantly on their roster, balancing the shows far more evenly than they currently do. While MyNetworks is a good underdog destination for the show, we expect USA to stand pat with Raw, while SmackDown will go away as a brand, and ECW will be expanded to two hours while staying on SciFi. To protect their brands, expect an ECW Invades SmackDown storyline this summer, coinciding with the One Night Stand PPV, that creates the new product, which we think will be called ECW SmackDown. Yes, that’ means no WWE on broadcast network TV, though NBC may agree to increase the number of Saturday Night Main Events to as many as six broadcasts per year, coinciding with the bigger PPV events, as alternate programming to Saturday Night Live reruns. And finally, yes, by eliminating SmackDown and expanding ECW, some wrestlers will lose their spots in the company; but a leaner, two-brand approach is just what WWE needs to regain a foothold on viewership.

Despite a lot of story elements necessary to build hype for the last PPV event before Wrestlemania, namely No Way Out, if anyone had a checking account, this was not a week to bank on Raw ratings as the show offered up few matches that lasted longer than three minutes.

A lot of squashes and in-ring segments filled much of the broadcast, and while the Hornswaggle-McMahon ass-kissing/biting segment was entertaining in a juvenile way typical of the Fed, much of the night was wasted time that did nothing to promote the in-ring abilities of most of the performers.

A notable exception was the six-man tag match that served as the show’s denouement, involving Jeff Hardy, Chris Jericho and Shawn Michaels against Snitsky, JBL and Umaga. That match went 16 minutes, highlighted everyone, and was genuinely entertaining.

The rest of the show? Well, let’s just say it left a lot of its game on the bench this week.

It was an overdue comic moment.

It has become almost an annual event for WWE Chairman Vince McMahon to insert himself into the WWE storyline and, in a raw display of Raw power, insist someone he’s looking to mess over join “the club.” In this case, of course, the club in question is the Vince McMahon Kiss My Ass Club, in which Vinnie Mac drops trou on national TV and invites some WWE superstar to literally kiss his bare behind.

Past victims have included Shawn Michaels, William Regal and others. This year, the victim is Hornswaggle, the midget wrestler who was chosen to be revealed as Vince’s “bastard child” in a storyline from late last summer. It has become tradition for McMahon to find new ways every week to make Hornswaggle’s life difficult, and for Hornswaggle to somehow survive each encounter with his “father’s wrath.”

So far, Regal is the only superstar to willingly kiss McMahon’s rear, though an unconscious Shawn Michaels did the dead last year. In this week’s Raw, Hornswaggle found a new twist on the situation. McMahon offered up his rump, and Hornswaggle didn’t kiss it … he bit it, and didn’t let go for several seconds.

It was a hilarious low-brow comedic moment and a better payoff of the gag-inducing gag than has been offered up previously. The only question now is, does Vince have a Medicare advantage after being bitten by a midget, or will he spend his own fortune on the medical bills and rabies shots to follow? Heh.

Former WWE champion John Cena, sidelined last fall with a shoulder injury that promised to keep him out beyond WrestleMania, returned to the active roster on Sunday as the 30th entrant in the Royal Rumble and went on to win the match and earn an automatic title shot against the champion of his choice at WrestleMania. It is almost a guarantee that Cena, who was injured by Orton, will focus on regaining his WWE title from the Legend Killer, rather than jump brands to take on Edge on SmackDown or C.M. Punk on ECW.

The Rumble event featured classic wrestlers Rowdy Roddy Piper, Jimmy “Superfly” Snuka and Mick Foley, all sporting their retirement luxury watches; Cena’s spot had been teased to be the return of The Big Show, Paul Wight, who did not appear at the Rumble. Instead, Cena returned at least four months ahead of his announced recovery schedule, a turn of events that, while likely planned, has to have Vince McMahon and WWE stockholders sighing in relief.

Unlike previous Rumbles, no one Superstar was given a dominating run; Undertaker, Triple H and Kane all eliminate three or four guys, but only the eventual winner, Cena, had a real dominant stretch leading to the win. Even then, Cena eliminated only four, including Triple H for the win. In previous years, some WWE superstars have been allowed “ring-clearing runs,” eliminating up for six or more superstars to establish their dominance despite not being given a Rumble victory. That didn’t happen this year.

The when and where of Paul “The Big Show” Wight’s return remains a mystery but is still expected to take place, despite being used as a red herring to cover the return of Cena.

Despite an effective storyline that had WWE fans believing in the possibility of a title change so close to WrestleMania, Jeff Hardy failed in his bid to unseat Randy Orton as the WWE champion at the 2008 Royal Rumble on Sunday. They threw everything but Kohler sinks into the title match, but while Hardy and Orton took turns dominating the match, Hardy seemed on the verge of victory, about to deliver a Twist of Fate for the win.

That’s when Orton hit the reversal and an RKO helped him retain the title off a clean victory. The real question now is where the WWE will take the storyline from here. Will they continue to develop the Hardy-Orton storyline that worked so well, or will they switch storylines as the company focuses in on WrestleMania hype?

Given the winner of the Royal Rumble… well, let’s just say it’s looking like back-burner time for Jeff Hardy, through no fault of his own, and unless his character takes a hard heel turn soon, he’ll soon be out of the WWE title picture once again.

Ric Flair earned a victory over MVP as part of the opening match to the 2008 edition of the WWE Royal Rumble PPV. In the ongoing storyline for Flair, the Nature Boy will continue to have a job with WWE until the next time he loses a match. The storyline has led to Flair winning five consecutive matches, including the win Sunday night over MVP.

While Flair wasn’t vamping it up by wearing a bustiers or another other such showman nonsense, his matches since this storyline began did have the feeling of being a retirement / final tour storyline. The PPV event was held at Madison Square Garden. Flair wrestled at the facility for the first time in 1976, do to still be in the ring, winning matches, 32 years later and in his 50s is an achievement worthy of the Verne Gagne era of pro wrestling.

This week’s WWE Raw broadcast drew a 3.6 rating, down from 4.1 for the same week last year. However, that’s about what the broadcast has been averaging in recent weeks, so at least it’s staying level.

While many in the industry expected WWE’s ratings to skyrocket as a result of the writer’s strike, due to WWE featuring new episodes every week while other shows go into reruns or are replaced by reality shows, just the opposite seems to be true.

Instead of Raw, SmackDown and ECW benefiting from the wasteland of reruns, it seems are viewers turn out other programs, fewer are also tuning out in general from WWE broadcasts as well. The Republican Party is fond of the saying, “A rising tide lifts all boats,” meaning that good economic times benefit everyone. In this case, it would seem the opposite is true as well; a sinking tide lowers all boats.

It’s the loss of those who don’t tune in, though; if ratings were based on well-executed storylines, the feud between WWE champ Randy Orton and challenger Jeff Hardy would be drawing in record ratings the way buyers swarm real estate offices when they hear that there is South Carolina land for sale.

Professional wrestler Paul Wight, better known to WWE fans as The Big Show, has signed an all-new WWE contract and is set to return to television any time now; in fact, he could conceivably end up as a Royal Rumble surprise guest, either in the Rumble or inserted into one of the other championship matches scheduled for that PPV event.

Wight may be hard to recognize when he returns to the WWE ring. During his year-long hiatus, Wight spent 2007 training as a professional boxer. In that time, he dropped 60 pounds to 440, and at a solid seven feet high, may be a bit shorter but is now cutting a figure a bit closer to the physique The Great Khali has achieved. In some online interviews, he has also confessed to giving up a smoking habit, which may help him breathe better and therefore perform better in the ring.

While out of the WWE, Wight wrestled an indy match against Hulk Hogan and adopted the new moniker of Paul “The Great” Wight; however, it is expected that, at least initially, WWE will reintroduce him to their audience as The Big Show. Whether the company will eventually incorporate Wight’s new in-ring persona into his wrestling career remains to be seen; it’s just too early to know.

There are several ways for Wight to make an impact in his return. The most obvious would be to have him be a surprise entrant into the Royal Rumble. With his new, trimmer physique, he could be sold more credibly as an unstoppable threat.

When Wight last appeared in a WWE-owned ring, he was part of the ECW on SciFi franchise and his return could help that broadcast, which is struggling in the ratings as more and more people are tuning out of TV as the writer’s strike has a bigger and bigger impact on audiences with new episodes drying up. Even though WWE broadcasts are unaffected by the strike, and feature new episodes every week of the year, it seems a receding tide lowers all boats and as viewers abandon TV in general, WWE’s broadcast numbers are sinking at a time one might expect them to be gaining.

If handled well, Wight’s return could help reverse this trend. Inserting Wight into the ECW title match at the Royal Rumble would be another way to go; he could be used to cost CM Punk the title and become an immediate title shot threat. Or Wight could be shipped to SmackDown to help that show’s ratings.

About the only place ProWrestlingViews.com doesn’t want to see Wight is the already overstocked with main event talent Raw broadcast. If Wight is placed on the Raw roster, he’ll almost certainly sink to second-tier status, as happened to Chris Jericho, who also recently returned after an extended hiatus from the Fed.

One thing’s for sure: if Wight is as fit as billed, an eventual clash with the Great Khali, if built up correctly, could be a match that would be WrestleMania-worthy. Just be sure to keep the medical supplies on hand at that one!

You don’t need Delta machinery to determine that the main attraction for the upcoming Royal Rumble PPV will be the Royal Rumble match itself. Here’s what we know about the event so far.

We do know, thanks to a Ric Flair “win or retire” match, that Triple H will not be in the Rumble. Thank the L-rd!

We also know that the match will feature both Mick Foley and Hornswoggle, which means there will be at least some retro superstar appeal as well as some comic relief in the match, which is good. Umaga will be there, but will likely be the target of an early “gang up on the big guy” ejection, which is a Royal Rumble tradition.

The next few weeks leading up to the PPV will have a lot of Royal Rumble qualifying matches. Let’s hope WWE makes it a great one!

With all the top-name wrestlers on the Raw roster these days, it’s no wonder ECW and SmackDown seem like second-rate broadcasts for WWE. While having big names on one roster can make some fans so joyful they’ll toss wedding flowers even at Stephanie McMahon, the power-shift could be hurting the evenness of WWE’s brands.

Consider for a moment all the main-event caliber talent on the Raw roster, including wrestlers who are scheduled to return from injury eventually. We have:

• Randy Orton
• Triple H
• John Cena (injured)
• Bobby Lashley (injured)
• Jeff Hardy
• Umaga
• Shawn Michaels
• Mr. Kennedy
• Chris Jericho

That’s nine headliners on one show. Compare that to ECW:

• CM Punk
• John Morrison

ECW is so talent-dry right now (even Rob Van Dam isn’t listed on WWE.com) that The Miz is probably in the ECW main event mix. That’s sad. And SmackDown isn’t much better off.

• Edge
• MVP
• Batista
• Undertaker
• The Great Khali
• Rey Mysterio

Now, SmackDown has former main eventer Kane, who wore out his welcome long ago, and Matt Hardy, who’s never really taken off like his brother Jeff, primarily because WWE got skittish about truly capitalizing on the real-life heat between Edge and Matt over real-life girlfriend issues. And they’ve tried and failed to transform Chavo Guerrero and Mark Henry into main eventers. And of those names listed above, Batista, Undertaker and Rey Mysterio, for various and different reasons, should all be one rung down below main event status.

Obviously, some roster shuffling needs to happen to rebalance the three brands; and it needs to happen well before next summer, when the annual draft usually mixed things up. Sending Ric Flair to SmackDown, as seems to have happened recently, isn’t enough of a fix.

Chris Jericho’s return to the WWE was supposed to be huge, but after a very brief run against champ Randy Orton, he has now been inserted into a feud with JBL. Now, I enjoy JBL; both in his normal life outside of wrestling as a Fox Business/Fox News contributor, and his in-ring character over on SmackDown.

However, while it’s a huge move to use a feud with Jericho to bring JBL back as an active wrestler and onto the Raw roster, it’s definitely a step way down for Jericho, whose mission was supposed to be as the Raw savior, delivering us from the Randy Orton era. While the move is a necessary sidestep, perhaps, to avoid overplaying the Jericho-Orton feud too soon, what may be brewing here is the unexpected, and that’s the dramatic popularity of the Jeff Hardy-Randy Orton feud. Hardy, a former TNA champ as well as a multiple-time tag champ in WWE, had been a terrific performer in his feud with Orton and is earning a lot of respect and momentum in his drive toward his Royal Rumble title match.

Whether it’s in the ring or doing charitable work for victims of cerebral palsy, Hardy’s a sentimental favorite to get a surprise win and ride that wave into the WrestleMania main event for a rematch against Orton. That could leave Jericho hanging in mid-card limbo again, as has often been the case in his pro wrestling career.