Oh how the mighty have fallen. The once great, untouchable WWF/E has falleninto decay and despair.
Storylines wander all over the place and go nowhere, or worse terminate inexplicablyafter a week. The overall quality of the show is sharply declining every week.I fear shades of the WCW are casting their gloomy shadows over the now depletedWWF/E.
It’s not just the fans that are suffering, of course. The situation has takenits toll on the wrestlers having to perform in an atmosphere of mediocrity everyweek. In fact, Stone Cold Steve Austin walked out on RAW this week, dissatisfiedwith the storylines.
While this may seem like a crybaby, diva-esque move on his part, it’s actuallyquite justified. He’s been doing the same thing for nearly five years, and asamusing as it is, it does get old. Stone Cold is a versatile performer and canbe used to a much better extent than the writers are using him in at the presenttime.
Putting him into a rehashed owner-wrestler feud, again, is pure laziness onthe part of the writers. It may be better for him to take off for a while, ratherthan mug through the trash that is going on TV every week. This is just oneshining example of what have been going wrong lately.
Here’s another problem: Undertaker as champ. He’s a bit past his prime. I’veindicated in past columns that it’s time for him to retire, and it seems tobe evident now more than ever. His tough-guy, biker gimmick has been stretchedtoo thin. He is just a boring champ.
This is not to say that those who are luming on the horizon are much better.The Undertaker will be taking on HHH at King of the Ring, and we’ve all seenthat before as well. It’s better than Hogan, I suppose.
How about some new talent taking over as champion? I would love to see RVDget the belt, or even better, Kurt Angle. Now, those would be champions thatwould really make me want to watch again.
Speaking of someone who no one wants to watch: It appears as though Vince Mcmahonwill be on TV twice as much now that he has won back control of RAW from RickFlair. As of late, a little Vince goes a long way! His character has gone wayover the top and then some. As I’ve also said before, he needs to put his egoaside for the good and quality of the show.
Instead of being a constant presence, he should make an occasional appearanceas the evil president of the WWE (cringe) to make an unpopular decision justin the spirit of pushing the show along. Mcmahon every once in a while wouldmake a greater impact and indicate something big happening.
Lastly: recaps. As of now, there are six WWE (gag) programs on the air eachweek. When something happens on one of the two big ones, RAW or Smackdown!,we then get to see it happen all over again on every other show aired duringthe week.
To say this is overkill is an understatement. To make matters worse, therearen’t even short recaps, but rather they go on and on and on. If one is a loyalviewer and watched most of these programs, he or she gets treated to seeingbig events that happened not twice, not thrice, but a whopping five additionaltimes.
The recaps need to be reeled in and their running times severely cut back.This would, of course, leave more time for wrestling which, at times, wouldseem not to have a place in World Wrestling Entertainment (retch).
Let me conclude by staing that I take no pleasure in pointing out the seriousflaws of the WWE (vomit). I’ve been a loyal viewer and fan for over ten years,and I just want to see it restored to greatness. I can only hope things willget better.
Email Mike with your choice for the wrestler who should most retire and anyother thoughts at [email protected].
