RAW existed in that bland middle-ground of inoffensive but forgettable this week.
It wasn’t especially bad, but it wasn’t especially good.
Three hours chugged along, and only about thirty minutes of it seemed to matter while the rest of the show was…fine.
It was mostly Randy Orton’s show, and your investment in the episode hinged largely upon your willingness to get invested in Randy Orton’s psychology.
Read MoreThe February 16th, 2015 episode of Monday Night Raw is the best episode of the WWE’s flagship show that I’ve seen since The Attitude Era.
Now I haven’t seen every episode in the past fourteen years and nothing overtly historic or game-changing appeared to happen last night (depending on how you viewed the show). But I cannot remember the last time in over a decade I haven't, at some point, mentally tuned out of RAW or rolled my eyes or groaned or sighed or been eternally frustrated with the direction of the company by the end of the night. There have been great episodes, to be sure, but few and far between have emanated from a sincere, professional wrestling perspective in quite some time (a perspective that has existed exclusively on NXT).
Read MoreTwo weeks in a row I’ve been somewhat stumped as to what to write about in The Raw Review. Last week, after several false starts and actual drafts, I created what was, for me, a less than satisfactory nitpick of the WWE’s ongoing booking woes.
I very much want to write about the symbolism and themes of various WWE scenes and matches, but when the performances are subpar, when the booking and the creative and the script looms like a dark, inescapable cloud over the proceedings, it’s hard to get to the goods and even harder to write about the goods.
Read MoreWhat was the last pay-per-view you remember where the main event was set well in advance and the WWE expanded upon that main event story for several weeks?
SummerSlam. 2014.
I remember the build into that now-infamous and incredibly satisfying SummerSlam encounter between Brock Lesnar and John Cena. It was consistent, enjoyable, and straightforward. There was never any doubt that you were going to see John Cena defend his championship against Brock Lesnar. Even if you hated the idea of Lesnar vs Cena, you had seen the promotional packages for a solid four weeks.
Read MoreNine.
That’s the number of times the word “respect” was used in the final RAW interview segment featuring Paul Heyman, Brock Lesnar, and the 2015 Royal Rumble winner, Roman Reigns.
“Respect”, the word of the snow-day, slithered into your subconscious thanks to the oratory stylings and the storytelling savvy of Paul Heyman (and anyone else who may have contributed to the structure of that interview). That word was purposefully planted in the back of your brain, and there that word remained throughout this interview.
Read MoreOne. Two. Three.
Happiness.
For a brief, beautiful moment, I experienced genuine happiness at the end of Monday Night Raw.
My viewing of RAW last week was slightly similar.
Read MoreForty minutes.
That’s about how many minutes of legitimately good (or entertaining) television existed on last night’s three-hour RAW broadcast. This is an estimate based on the opening match, Daniel Bryan’s segment, and the final segment.
Read More“I feel like I’m watching something that hates me, and hates itself.”
This is what I texted to a friend in the middle of Monday Night Raw. This is what watching Raw’s laborious three hours can feel like for a fan, and especially for someone who’s been writing about the show for three years.
Read MoreThe last RAW of 2014 was a good representation of the entire year.
Some good performances, some progressive booking, some stilted performances, and some incredibly regressive booking.
2014 has been a good year for the WWE, despite the flaws, with several younger performers slowly rising to a place of prominence and, in so doing, reinvigorating some of the veteran talents. While fans have had to endure a truly disheartening stream of advertisements on an overlong flagship show and angles that seem booked and built by a blatantly out-of-touch board of directors, they’ve also been treated to an overall sense of increased hope and positivity and signs of legitimate change in the wake of significant events in the WWE fiction and in the actual WWE company.
Read MoreChristmas RAW was supposed to be fun, and it was fun.
As much as I’d like to arrive at some deeper meaning behind Dean Ambrose chucking Bray Wyatt into a Christmas tree, there isn’t any deeper meaning. And that’s perfectly fine. As fans critical of the product, it’s best to pick battles wisely, and after two
in a row where I outlined the various ways the company might improve the quality of their show, I think it’s best to not waste time bemoaning the fact that Dean didn’t win his “Miracle on 34th Street Fight” or the fact that the entire feud has yet to deliver.
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