You know...

[Kane Knight]

Because of a couple of the threads (How did we get here and the cyclical threads), I've got to thinking about Raw. Where we are right now, and this is what I see with it (Yep, bit of a rant coming through):

John Cena: Yeah, nobody's booing him anymore, and all it took was a full point of ratings loss, give or take, to do it. This is not particularly a new argument from me, but it's worth pointing out. John Cena became champion during a relatively stable ratings period, and ratings started to suddenly go into a "bust period" with him in charge for a long period of time. Ratings weren't doing hot, but they were stable. Well, we finally got rid of the boos, and only had to drive off over half a million viewers to do so.

Triple H/DX: Now, I know that internet fans are called "fickle" for cheering someone when they're good, and booing someone when they're not. If being able to tell good from bad is a bad thing, I don't want to be good. But that's not the main point here: People are all over Triple H again, and I don't blame them. Right up until his latest injury, he was the best thing on Raw.

Let me tell you why this is a bad thing:

Hunter has gotten exactly what he wants. He is top dog in the business. The problem is, while he may be the best thing Raw has going, it's not so much because he's the best, but because everyone else sucks. Of the upcoming wrestlers, half seem to be misused and half seem to just blow it all by themselves (Shelton seems to start screwing up any time he's near the main event). So while DX is on top, it wasn't so much "King of the Mountain" as it was "Nicest smelling guy on the shit heap."

I can't blame WWE fans for cheering Hunter/DX, even if they are incredibly tired and lackluster. There isn't much on the roster to cheer, period. 'Cept Flair, who we must cheer because ZOMG HEZ UH LEGEND and Cena, practically the only Main Eventer to actually come out of this Era (Before we get any Rated RKO fans, saying something incredibly gay, this is about face reactions right now). There's a bunch of low and midcarders, but WWE keeps telling us not to care (Except about Jeff Hardy, who will likely be fired).

Further, DX didn't really struggle this time around, which made it horrible. When the good guys were winning steadily, it became boring. Fast.

Rated RKO: While I don't think it's a bad thing that the biggest reaction seems to go to a heel team, it is problematic when the only viable competition seems to be injury-prone veterans who tend to destroy their competition. With Triple H out, where do they go? I suppose they could pair up Cena and Michaels, but that leaves most of their high profilers feuding in one evet (On the plus side, it gets rid of Federline as an actual wrestler). Who else? We can bring in someone else (Waltman), turn Dykstra (Pun intended), or bring someone else up, but you still have the same problem, since Michaels wants time off anyway, and is injury prone. Meanwhile, if Michaels leaves, they're in deep shit period, but that has little to do with RKO. They'll find themselves with literally nowhere to go except down, feuding with a lesser tag team (Or maybe just a rehashed one--I'm sure WWE would love the chance to bring back the HArdyz vs Edge and Orton), and that would be bad for them in all likelihood.

Vince: Isn't it ironic that, during a period where they were pushing "Controversy Creates Cash," They were busy hiding any controversy that existed?

So who else really can go places? And I don't want Alienoid schemes, I want realistic answers. Who do the fans have to cheer beyond Hunter and Shawn? What exactly is there to make people want to watch?

[Innovator]

What I don't get is why Vince is running from the biggest adage in the business. You make your money with the babyface chasing the heel, because the money is in the payoff. Austin chased the title from Unforgiven 98 to Wrestlemania 15, 8 month chase. Cena has been on top basically since Wrestlemania 21 sans the 2 1/2 week Sabu/ECW feud.

I don't blame fans for cheering frantically for DX, they are the only two viable names left over from the Attitude Era. It isn't like Edge where most people remember him from a tag team, these guys are the only remains left. So instead of building up new guys off of their popularity...we get the burial of 5 "up and comers" (putting the Spirit Squad gimmick aside) and Vince's head up Big Show's ass.

[OverTaker]

So who else really can go places? And I don't want Alienoid schemes, I want realistic answers. Who do the fans have to cheer beyond Hunter and Shawn? What exactly is there to make people want to watch?

Every realistic idea you could think of has already been done and done again but you know that already. Whats your take on the Cena/Khali/Umaga feud? May I ask why you think Jeff will be fired?

[ron the dial]

Most fans seem to want to cheer Carlito, but they can't find a decent program to stick him in. Also, his moveset feels forced, thus making it hard for me to watch. My idea would be to get the Intercontinental belt back on Nitro, and let Carlito try to take the belt from him (using the 'chase' method described by Inno).

Hardy gets quite a few cheers, but can you really count on him to be a main event player in the future? I think not.

Cryme Tyme could have a lot of potential as face champs, if WWE would just take those fucking tag belts off of Rated RKO and put them back into competition. They are trying (or at least it seems that way) to build a decent tag division with teams like CT, WGTT, Cade and Murdoch, and the Highlanders (okay, they're not so decent), but what do they have to compete for right now? Not a thing.

I honestly have a hard time finding people that I want to cheer for, or even potentially cheer for. The current roster is bland, and has been built up terribly. It's not beyond repair, but a major overhaul is needed to save some of these guys from losing all potential.

[AdrianM]

People who can go places?

Carlito: People wanted him to turn since wrestlemania. he turned and had a good little feud with Chris Masters, until Masters screwed it up. People wanna cheer this guy, but whats the point if nine months away from the previous wrestlemania, he still hasn't gone anywhere. He should bechasing titles (like he was when he was a heel), not just getting all SNAG with the girls. Carlito has completely lost his steam now.

CM Punk: I'll b honest. Before WWECW, Id barely even heard of him. Now he's probably my favourite wrestler on the roster. This guy can make money. He has the X-factor. He certainly can be a big star, prolly won't be tho :(

RVD: Heck, when was the last time he won a match? Too late for him now because of him beng mis-used. However, if he gets one more chance, he can still be a huge star.

Edge: I reallly hope that when he turns face, that he can actually get over. He's done it b4, so I reckon he can. Andit seems we've allforgotten about edge and lita now.

Matt Hardy: This guy CAN go places! He's a slid wrestler, a good size and has some good charisma. Consistenly buried for some reason. Seriously, the WWE is so fucked up right now. When he was resigned, he was the biggest name in wrestling, but they did nothing with it. He has what it takes IMO, but its probably too late 4 him now.

Charlie Haas:I personally really like Haas, reminds me of Chris Benoit. It just pisses me off that they can't think of anything at all to do with him (except reuniting WGTT after doing nothing with him for 6 months). He probably could've made it, but maybe not now.

Shelton Benjamin:The guy, like so many others, I feel, could be a superstar. Heck, any1 who watches the MITB ladder matches know that. But the WWE just keeps dropping the ball with him after he builds up heaps of momentum.


Basically, of the latest gerneration, I think only John Cena will be able to main event as a face (I don't count Edge as this generation). Randy Orton could possibly, but probably not as a face.Shelton Band Carltio are the other standouts, other than them, none of the others I feel have much of a chance at really "going places"

[Shadow]

Every realistic idea you could think of has already been done and done again but you know that already. Whats your take on the Cena/Khali/Umaga feud? May I ask why you think Jeff will be fired?

To piss me off.

[Kane Knight]

Every realistic idea you could think of has already been done and done again but you know that already. Whats your take on the Cena/Khali/Umaga feud? May I ask why you think Jeff will be fired?

Cena/Khali/Umaga?

I haven't watched Raw since that contest thing started (and well before it), so this is news to me.

Shelton Benjamin:The guy, like so many others, I feel, could be a superstar. Heck, any1 who watches the MITB ladder matches know that. But the WWE just keeps dropping the ball with him after he builds up heaps of momentum.

Shoots himself in the foot every now and again.


Charlie Haas:I personally really like Haas, reminds me of Chris Benoit. It just pisses me off that they can't think of anything at all to do with him (except reuniting WGTT after doing nothing with him for 6 months). He probably could've made it, but maybe not now.

Not completely sure Haas can ever be made big. He doesn't have the "look," and he seems to get more of a Scotty reaction.

Matt Hardy: This guy CAN go places! He's a slid wrestler, a good size and has some good charisma. Consistenly buried for some reason. Seriously, the WWE is so fucked up right now. When he was resigned, he was the biggest name in wrestling, but they did nothing with it. He has what it takes IMO, but its probably too late 4 him now.

Matt will never go anywhere with WWE. If you want proof, keep in mind that they ended perhaps the best babyface angle ever with him getting whooped at every opportunity, and he had to move to the E-Show. Otherwise, héd be a good choice.

Edge: I reallly hope that when he turns face, that he can actually get over. He's done it b4, so I reckon he can. Andit seems we've allforgotten about edge and lita now.

The only problem with Edge is it means you lose a top heel, and they're not much better off. Same with Orton.

RVD: Heck, when was the last time he won a match? Too late for him now because of him beng mis-used. However, if he gets one more chance, he can still be a huge star.

Van Dam will never be on top again. Given the WWE/ECW title, he then got baked and got caught. They can't trust him and they can't deal with the publicity. And while I love RVD, even watered down WWE RVD, I would never ever put the title on him, either. He's a major liability who fucked away a huge push and a championship reign.

To put it in short, WWE is right. God, that hurt.

CM Punk: I'll b honest. Before WWECW, Id barely even heard of him. Now he's probably my favourite wrestler on the roster. This guy can make money. He has the X-factor. He certainly can be a big star, prolly won't be tho :(

Time will tell on Punk, but I think he's going to be jobbed out now, and more or les ruined. He could make it, but that also means taking a potential face from ECW. And they're not doing so hot (Especially since they seem to be phasing out ECWers, and RVD will certainly be gone or wasted).

Carlito: People wanted him to turn since wrestlemania. he turned and had a good little feud with Chris Masters, until Masters screwed it up. People wanna cheer this guy, but whats the point if nine months away from the previous wrestlemania, he still hasn't gone anywhere. He should bechasing titles (like he was when he was a heel), not just getting all SNAG with the girls. Carlito has completely lost his steam now.

To be honest, I don't even know what to do with Carlito. The only thing that bothers me with him is that his moveset is weak. I don't mean weak as in limited, but very few things he does feel like they have any impact or momentum. The backcracker is awesome, but what else?

As such, it seems really hard to move Carlito without him either being the kind of heel who doesn't wrestle (Which I'd like to avoid) or changing his moveset (and I don't know if he can). I do, however, wish they'd make him dirtier and push him.

[Stickman]

I'm very bored watching. Nobody captures my interest. HHH and HBK do when they have something to say.

[Mr. Nerfect]

Time for me to whip out some realistic Alienoid booking, rather than my pipe-dream wishes.

Carlito is probably the best guy to push. Many dislike the guy nowadays, because of his ring work, but as we have been reminded with many the undeserved "forced down our throat" push, unperfected wrestling skills doesn't limit a guy too much.

Part of me wants to see The World's Greatest Tag Team split up. Perhaps it's just because the WWE actually humoured us and put them together, again. A Shelton Benjamin vs. Charlie Haas feud (no, I do not consider that abortion they ran when Haas returned last year a feud) could be great, especially for the mid-card.

What the WWE seems to forget is that a show can be great (or at least sustain itself) if the mid-card has something going on, even if there is little happening in the main event. If the WWE used Jeff Hardy, Johnny Nitro, Kenny Dykstra, Shelton Benjamin, Charlie Haas, Carlito, Chris Masters, Val Venis and Super Crazy to their full potential, you'd have an underdog show we want to get behind, rather than a shit show we want to fail.

The WWE's mid-card has shown moments of greatness, but it ultimately fizzes out before it outshines the main event acts. RAW is pretty much eating itself thin.

So yeah, besides Carlito, the only other guy I can see being elevated to main event status smoothly is Kenny Dykstra. The guy may be young, and he may not have perfected the art of promos yet, but he's got the aura around him to be a star. There's Ken Doane, CM Punk and Mr. Kennedy. Have Dykstra try to join Rated-RKO, and have him refuted, so he turns face and aligns himself with Shawn Michaels.

I can't see the WWE letting SmackDown! headline a WrestleMania (despite it clearly being the best brand the WWE has to offer), so RAW's WWE Championship needs a major contender, and fast. This may seem like pipe-dream booking (which I did say I'd avoid), but I'm sensing it coming, don't ask why: Chris Benoit could get another main event push soon. The way they had him bask in the admiration of the fans on SmackDown! just reeked of the 2003 Royal Rumble, which began his ascension as the top face in the WWE, circa 2004.

I said it last year, and I'll say it this year: Chris Benoit should win the Royal Rumble. I think it's actually more likely this year than last. If Benoit drops the United States Championship to Chavo Guerrero next week, I think a main event push will be forthcoming. It may be one of the WWE's better moves if Benoit won the Rumble, jumped over to RAW, and chased the WWE Title. I know Cena is a babyface, and the WWE won't likely change that, but Cena vs. Benoit as a "style vs. substance, hero vs. hero" feud could really work. Cena can in fact wrestle, so the match will be good, and when Cena inevitably defeats Benoit at WrestleMania, it will solidify him as the credible WWE Champion he can be.

It's a little sad that it's taken three reigns, three WrestleMania main events and a superman push to make a Champion credible. Next Hogan/Austin/Rock or not, if a guy needs that much help, he isn't ready.

[M-A-G]

Vince, forget about your ass for a few seconds, swallow the bitter pill, grow a REAL set of grapefruits, and call Chris Jericho and offer him half of the company and a night with Stephanie.

Ok, that was the mark in me. I honestly don't have a clue.