Posts tagged night of champions
THE RAW REVIEW

This 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.

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THE RAW REVIEW

For 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”.

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THE MYTH OF JOHN CENA: SHEDDING THE NEON SKIN

John Cena has been the "top guy" in the WWE for over a decade.

This is an unprecedented run that has inspired legions of fans as much as it has inspired legions of detractors. The character, and the performer, will consistently elicit a strong reaction one way or the other, but his existence also leaves room for more complex reactions.

For example, my feelings about the character have evolved from 2005 (when I first became aware of Cena) to the time of this writing.

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