So when did RAW jump the shark?

[Batsu]

Originally Posted by jeritron5000 Yes, those would have been completely logical explanations. But with all the talent they had, they could have pulled off a better shocker than that. Benoit, Jericho and Tazz weren't doing much, and they were all ready for the ME. Benoit was in WCW at the time so it would have been a bit of a stretch, but would have worked better. Jericho would have worked great if they were willing to turn him heel that early with the reactions he was getting as a face. But in my mind the best choice would have been Tazz. What more of a thug thing to do than run the top guy down in a car the week before your debut vignettes started running. Or what about Kurt Angle? He had just won the title, he was a huge heel, and he had debuted on the night Austin was hit. Well we got Rikishi, and it was the first of many blown storylines and talent pushing oppurtunities that began to plauge them throughout the next few years.

Yeah. Anyone but Rikishi.

He kind of had a cooler "look" as a heel, but no one bought it, not even Rikishi. The fans didn't want to boo Rikishi -- and the cheap "I did it for my people" rationale really turned a lot of people off.

If it had been The Rock, even... that would have been awesome -- they could even have gotten the Wrestlemania X-7 heat started early.

Rock is one of those few that you could easily turn heel...and he had a history with Stone Cold as a heel, anyway.