Apart from last week’s RAW REVIEW, the past seven episodes of WWE’s flagship series have all inspired the following question in me, “How am I going to write about this?”
The thought doesn’t come about due to tiredness or hesitation from the work required. I look forward to writing this column immensely. Along with The Work of Wrestling podcast, it gets me through the week, serving as a pleasant beacon in the nine-to-five fog.
Read MoreThis week’s RAW, right from the start, demonstrated the value of deviation.
One of the most consistent and entirely accurate constructive criticisms leveled at WWE’s three-hour broadcast is that the show adheres to its formula at the expense of offering unpredictable, exciting content for its regular viewers. This is a good constructive criticism that comes from respectable minds and respectful fans - not just from an angry internet contingent who behaves like an unruly, spoiled child. The people who offer this criticism are sympathetic to the difficulties of creating a massive “Sports Entertainment” spectacle like Monday Night Raw; they simply want the show to be as watchable as possible.
Read MoreThe only thing anyone will remember about this episode of Monday Night Raw is that Triple H danced with New Day. And while a small smile might have cracked on my face when Triple H started dad-dancing, the fact that this is the only moment to really entertain people and get people excited is something we should all be ashamed of - WWE and fan alike.
Ten seconds of dancing, on a three hour "Sports Entertainment" show is shameful.
Read MoreThe best critique I can offer this week is that Sting should have been the guy to physically push the button on the trash compacter that destroyed Seth Rollins’ chocolate statue.
That's how horribly innocuous this RAW was (save the quality match between Sasha Banks & Paige).
The fact that Sting wasn’t the guy to push the button to destroy Seth’s statue snatches the power of that moment away from Sting. He had a nameless trash-henchman put the final exclamation point on the sentence he’d been writing all night. Any satisfaction the audience might experience at this climax is inevitably less than if Sting had jumped down and punched the button himself.
Read MoreFor the first time in quite some time, I watched RAW in the way the WWE wants me to watch it.
After a weekend dedicated to recording and editing two podcasts, a prototypical 9-5 American Office Monday, and an accumulation of sleep debt that’s in default, a cartoonish, insane, comical, absurd, and completely illogical athletic extravaganza was exactly what I needed.
One follower Tweeted me in agreement that they’d “had about enough reality for today”.
Read MoreAt the end of this week's RAW, I found myself delightfully intrigued.
But, at the time of this writing, I’m really not sure if that feeling is because I like The Undertaker’s story or because I like The Undertaker’s lighting.
Read MoreOn a show overflowing with experienced pro-wrestling talent, in a company designed to create “WWE Superstars” (which are, unavoidably, a particular brand of pro-wrestler) Stephen Amell, star of the hit comic book-inspired TV-series Arrow, was the most captivating part of the show.
That should never happen. An actor should not be able to come on RAW and show the roster how to perform.
I write that with the utmost respect (and genuine thanks) for what Amell gave me last night.
You entertained me.
Read MoreAfter Paul Heyman’s promo ended, I gently pushed the power button on my remote and walked away from the television. The more distance I put between myself and the television, the happier I became. The divorce from RAW felt merciful and proper.
Paige and Naomi were rolling around on the mat surrounded by their mean-girl-team-accompaniments while Michael Cole tried to convince me I was witnessing a “revolution”, and I decided I’d had enough.
Read MoreWhen Stephanie McMahon shouted “Noooooooo”, denying the fans their desired WWE World Heavyweight Championship match after having rallied them into an excited frenzy, my heart sunk and my enthusiasm for this episode of RAW could not recover. It became background noise. That is the affect the schizophrenia of RAW's characters and the back and forth nature of RAW's quality has on me. Heat is not earned by heels. Absolute disinterest is earned.
Read MoreThere is a parade in The City.
All make and manner of colorful float with costumed accompaniment nearby. Massive, bloated balloon animals coasting above the crowd, occasionally careening to the left and to the right, threatening to knock over a lamp or shatter a window before safely gliding back into place. Batons twirl and the air is covered with confetti, as if happiness itself has exploded in the center of The City. The marshall of the parade is a woman with dark hair and a self-satisfied smile. She raises her scepter in time with the punchy band-beat, and leads this mass of carnival joy from river to river.
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