Smackdown, Michael Cole, Kurt Angle

It's been a lazy weekend. Nothing big went on around here. Now that my Sunday chores are done, here are some small things:

-This Friday was the last Smackdown before Wrestlemania. The show itself wasn't terrible, but for the last show before Wrestlemania, I thought it was a little weak. I can't quite put my finger on it, but this show should have left the viewer wanting to see Wrestlemania as soon as possible. I didn't get that feeling from this show.

I was glad to see WWE put the Intercontinental Title on Wade Barrett, who beat Kofi Kingston for the belt. He's one of the top heels in the company, and a future big star. Having a belt on him makes total sense and adds credibility to The Corre, his heel faction. On the other side of this, something must be up with Kingston. He's been used very sparingly, which is a shock since he was the IC Champ until Friday's broadcast. Having him drop the belt on TV rather than at 'Mania indicates he's either injured (which didn't look that way from the match) or he's in someone's doghouse backstage if they wouldn't even give him the courtesy of a Wrestlemania appearance/payout to drop the belt.

-Speaking of doghouses, I'm curious what will become of Michael Cole. Over the weekend, Cole took to his twitter account and, while in character, called fellow Smackdown announcer Josh Matthews a gay slur. Cole has since apologized. This story has been picked up by TMZ.com and other mainstream media outlets, and is bringing a lot of negative attention to WWE. Earlier this year, GLAAD was upset about a promo that John Cena cut that they felt was insensitive. WWE apologized for the incident and promised it would not happen again. Michael Cole, who is involved in a major storyline right now, is scheduled to wrestle Jerry "The King" Lawler at Wrestlemania. I'm curious to see if this match still happens.


-Kurt Angle was arrested on Friday in Grand Forks, North Dakota for being in control of a motor vehicle while intoxicated. He wasn't actually driving the car, so it wasn't a full-blown DWI. He was taken into custody after failing a field sobriety test. He was in town for a TNA house show.

On twitter, Angle claimed "I was not drunk. I was in ice storm and my car slid into 3 ft of snow median. I called police 4 help. They had other plans. I was stuck and wanted to go to my hotel. I was not passed out drunk."

This hasn't been a good few weeks for TNA talent and their chemical habits. First, Jeff Hardy shows up to the Victory Road Pay-Per-View messed up. Now this? Since wrestlers are independent contractors, TNA isn't going to fire him over this, but it's bad press. Something tells me if there are more incidents like this, someone will walk the plank.

'Less than a week until Wrestlemania.

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.