|
First things first, the WWE was never drawing 7 and 8s consistantly. They were doing 6's consistantly for a while there, but not 7s and 8s. You have to remember that was when WCW was around, and people were switching back and forth between RAW and NItro. After WCW was bought by WWE, the old WCW fans (generally an older crowd, 30+) left with WCW. In theory those fans would probably like a guy like Benoit on top because he's created in the mold of ex-NWA champs more than ex-WWE champs.
Jerihco will not bring in any new fans, he's been with the WWE for a long time, and he's never brought in droves of fans. Granted he's never been given a chance to be a serious main eventer (ie the top guy) but at this point fans are accustomed to seeing him as a goofball and as a result I dont see them ever taking him seriously as the top guy in the company. Not to rag on Heyman, but a lot of times you seem blinded by pops. Yeah Jericho gets great pops, but thats meaningless (well almost meaningless), money is what really counts. I cant see Jericho bringing in new fans anymore than I can see Benoit or Eddie doing it.
In terms of Christian, I think he's in a fine position. Orton is a main event guy now (although this program with Benjamin will likely hault that), and should be mixing with the top guys now. Christian isn't at that level yet, and in a sense he should take Orton's spot from last year. I said in another thread that they should have put Christian in a feud with Shelton (they could have some great matches and put each other over), and then give Christian some matches with guys like HBK and Benoit. He doesn't have to win those (maybe squeeze out a cheesy win over HBK at some point), but just going toe to toe with those guys would continue his elevation. This relates to Jerihco as well, because Christian now has multiple victories over Jericho, and the reaction to him by the crowd as a World Title contender was less than enthusiastic. Why? Because nobody takes Jericho seriously as a top guy. On the other hand, Orton beats Foley and you can see the fans see Orton in a new light. So Christian still needs a good year of working upper level mid card spots before he can get any kind of serious run to the top.
Back to Benoit: I agree that Orton shouldn't win the title yet, so he probably shouldn't feud with Benoit, and the only other guy is HHH. A couple of posts back you mentioned Edge being lame as a babyface so far, and I kinda agree. I think he's trying, but I just dont see him connecting with the fans like say Benoit or HBK does. To be fair, he's just come back, but you'd think after being gone so long he would be over like rover. Also being paired with Kane was another shot in the pants, but still, I dont think things are looking good. I like the idea of Edge as a heel, because then he could do something with him and Benoit. Couple of problems though; first I think they should do the RVD-Eddie friendship deal leading to a RVD heel turn on SD, so I dont think they should run the exact same program on RAW with Edge and Benoit. The other problem is that Edge has a book due out in November I believe, and thats not going to sell well if he's a heel. Whats more likely is that they save him as a babyface to fued with HHH in the Fall. So its tough there aren't a lot of guys for Benoit to program with outside HBK and HHH, which is why I'm sure HHH will get the title back, maybe even in June.
As for Cena and Orton being on the same show, I dont think its the best idea. First, we dont yet know that either one of them can carry the company, we have suspicions but no real proof as of yet. Furthermore, if you take the two hottest up and comers and put them on the same show, it makes that show seem superior (although that already has happened), the WWE claims they want the two shows ot be equal. Finally, I think Cena-Orton could be a huge money match say for Wrestlemania 23, 24 or 25 (now thats long term booking!!). I'd like to see both guys dominate their brand for some time and then come together at some point to create the ultimate RAW vs Smackdown dream match. In theory thats one of the big benefits of the brand extesnion, creating aritifically dream matches. Will it work? Maybe maybe not, but its wirth keeping them apart to find out.
|