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4, damn near a 5.
Honestly, programming was better than normal this year but was still kinda "eh." Then Nexus came around and gave us fresh perspective; oh shit, John Cena is LOSING and he's not in the title picture!
It seems as if with Trips healing, Taker on his way out, Batista gone, Shawn retired, Edge rounding out his career, and Jericho taking time off that they realized they needed to put some fresh faces out there. While they tried with some and succeeded (Sheamus, Barrett) they also tried with others and didnt quite get what they were looking for (Swagger).
Maybe it has to do with the writing team being purged. Maybe it has to do with Triple H's new position on the creative team while Stephanie is still away on maternity leave, but creatively, the subplots have been better and actually progressing (Dibiase, Cole/Lawler) and the main points have been given a fresh new look (Nexus revolt, John Cena losing and cutting what seems to be some of his OWN promos now and not being told what to say). It's even been a little more edgy; Old School Raw was the first Raw after the election I believe, and was PG-13. Since the skit with Freddie Prinze and Vince, every week, it's gotten less and less PG with some of the things they do/say. It doesn't have to be X-rated for me to like it, it just has to be well written, which right now, it is.
And its not even the Road To Wrestlemania yet. They're giving a push to JoMo, Kofi is getting a LOT more attention with his PPV special (which was going to be a DVD) as well as his new line of merchandise, Yoshi Tatsu, if you noticed, has been on TV more (starting with Old School Raw) and hasn't been buried by the even heel announcers as a "nobody". Del Rio is being built like a champ, Cody has an amazing gimmick that he plays to a T, and Dibiases character is being given new life.
The writing is so solid right now, it makes me WANT to tune in next week and see whats gonna happen, and it hasn't been like that in a long time.
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