A Tale of Two Wrestling Shows

Right now, I'm going to describe two wrestling shows. Both are WWE shows, but have different talent rosters. Each show is about two hours long.

The first show is an exciting one, and a fantastic wrestling show. It has the best young talent in the company featured each week in well-booked, entertaining matches. It has the best veterans who can still work the crowd and put on great matches. The storylines are interesting, drawing the fans into the show.

The second show has more of second-tier, B-show feel. Each week, wrestlers who might be a big deal someday are featured in matches that are supposed to get their feet wet when it comes to being in front of a TV audience. The veterans can still work decent matches, but are clearly washed up, and are only there to put over the young talent. The show is a little predictable, and has a ton of filler.

Most people would probably think the first show I described is Monday Night Raw. Aired live every week, it's in a killer time slot, and has traditionally been the flag-bearing broadcast of the WWE. It's natural to think this would be the more exciting show.

On the flip side, most people would probably think the other show I described is Smackdown. This show is taped, then aired later in the week. Additionally, it is in a horrible time slot, Friday night. If the younger talent is still trying to get used to the bright lights of TV, put them on when not as many people are watching, right?

Surprise! the first show is the blue brand, Smackdown. With arguably the best talent in the company, this show is very fulfilling, leaving you entertained and wanting to know what next week's show will offer.

Believe it or not, Monday Night Raw, at least these days, has become a glorified B-show.

Here's what I'm talking about. Recently, WWE aired an episode of Raw in which there wasn't one single match for the first hour of the show. The matches that did take place were squash material. The storylines were both boring and predictable. If that wasn't bad enough, they had a guest host (Rob Zombie), probably a last-ditch effort to boost ratings. It had to be the worst wrestling show I had ever seen, and that's taking into account that I once saw David Arquette win the WCW Heavyweight Championship.

This begs the question, 'what the hell has happened to Monday Night Raw?' Years ago, this was the best wrestling show on TV. It had some of the most memorable storylines (see 'Austin v. McMahon), there were crazy matches that left the audience agape, and when the show was over, the audience wanted more. That's all a memory.


If WWE wants to have the same kind of success it had back in the 90's, the ship needs to be righted, and Raw needs to return to form.