As we prepare for another week of WWE television, lets look back on RAW from last Monday Night:
Monday Night RAW: the new definition of a 'Mixed Bag'
This week's show was the definition of a mixed bag: some great, some horrible.
It seems as we delve further into the "3hr era", it is becoming abundantly clear that WWE production is becoming a regular polarising phenomena. On one hand, WWE hit the ball out the park with innovative/impactful segments that add to current and future broadcasts (Jerry Lawler and Punk brawling in the back or Heyman revealing himself as Punk's driver as a few examples). Then immediately on the other hand, WWE backs up their good work with content that screams "this is pro-wrestling in 2012: make sure you don't take anything too seriously" (Layla and Miz further burying the Divas division via distracting commentary or long, drawn out segments involving Vickie having an argument with a chair as a few examples).
There is no current evidence that says this formula will change anytime soon. WWE has always presented themselves in the 21st Century as a brand that facilitates multiple avenues of entertainment. Furthermore, what Vince McMahon finds entertainment will always be put head and shoulders above anyone else, INCLUDING his own audiences. Will this change once Triple H takes the reigns? Maybe. If we look at the current state of NXT (a promotion he has moulded since its move to Full Sail University), things can't help but look promising. However, this is Monday Night RAW: a show that is broadcasted to over 4 million viewers all over North America. With an increase in viewership comes an increase need to please more people. All i can say about the future of WWE programing in this regard is the old cliche: "Watch This Space".
But enough on providing "dirt sheet"-like analysis on the WWE product. Without being too harsh, there were a number of things, good and bad, that stuck out from Monday's show in Chicago this week that give us reason to love and to worry about the product going forward.
So, without further ado, lets see what was the major thing that made this week's RAW tick.....
C.M Punk - The Chiacgo " man of the hour"
As always, lets get the positives out of the way first.
The direction of CM Punk following his destruction of Jerry Lawler last week on RAW was again, very solid and entertaining. I also loved how RAW started as it followed up on what happened last week, while putting over both guys in their roles (Lawler as a "never say die" Babyface and Punk as a heel "defending himself").
Going into his home town of Chicago, i was worried that Punk would begin the program by doing the old "bait and switch" promo where he begins speaking of his love for Chicago...only to suddenly turn around and bury it by saying something like "you people don't know the meaning of the word respect. Your health systems are A while you economy is B etc". Thankfully, WWE writers knew that it is not in Punk's character, be it good or bad, to berate his home town. Knowing this, WWE creative produced a natural duologue that saw CM Punk embrace the cheers of his home town, while providing a heel-like reason, albeit laced in logic, for not competing on RAW (ie That it was Labour Day and he was going to take a page out of what most Chicagoans do on that day: "take the day off").
While it was an ingenious way of attempting to garner a negative reaction from his home town, Chicago continued to embrace Punk as he walked out of his match with Sheamus, regardless of the mixed reaction. Why? Well, if i were to nitpick Punk's promo on not competing, i would say that his words were TOO cemented in logic. I was personally cheering Punk for deciding not to compete as the idea of a "Champion vs Champion" match, especially between two guys who rarely compete against each other, should be saved for a Wrestlemania. Furthermore, Sheamus is nowhere near as popular with the fans as he should be. In my eyes, putting him with Punk in a verbal jousting session, in CHICAGO no less, was always going to be semi-career suicide for the World Champion (for one night only of course!).
Regardless of this, WWE showed that they were thinking ahead via the final segment of the night. For weeks now, CM Punk has been floating between beloved Babyface and prick Heel. While he came across as a babyface tonight, i have no doubt that this positive reaction wont last. Why? Because, it seems as though CM Punk, the WWE Champion, has aligned himself with....Paul. E Heyman! Yes, the Chicago faithful popped big time when the driver side window rolled down to show Paul E. giving John Cena a disgusting look. Chicago is primarily a hardcore fan base who have been dreaming for the day when Heyman and Punk join forces to show everyone why Punk told the world he is a "Paul Heyman Guy". However, to the rest of the world who watch WWE casually, Paul Heyman is the slime ball loud mouth who took pot shots on Triple H's children. Paul Heyman is the guy who arrogantly announced that Brock Lesnar is the new "King of Kings". In short, if you take into consideration the happenings of the past few months AND the past 10 or so years, Punk has aligned himself with one of the most unlikeable characters in WWE history.
From here on out, you will be hard pressed to find a casual fan who will not boo Punk, regardless of his reasons for siding with Lesnar's agent. On the flipside, this union has the added bonus of attracting the "hard cores" back to wrestling for the time being so to see what WWE has install for the coming months. Will Lesnar/Punk/Heyman make the ultimate Heel faction? Will Daniel Bryan join to make the union stronger? All these questions create an unpredictable aura for next weeks show and other events going forward that please all facets of the WWE fandom. A very smart ending to a show that smartly portrayed the Chicago-loved CM Punk.
Thanks for reading folks!
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