Dear Vince . . . . Put Some Stakes on That Grill!

[thedarkness214]

pyroandballyhoo.com

Dear Vince,

Still trying to stay positive, still trying to help. Glad to see that the ratings went up on Monday from a 2.69 to a 2.83. The average audience also rose 164,000 from the previous week. Those are both good signs, and momentum in the right direction. However, in looking at the numbers, there was one particular negative that was glaring. From the second hour of the show, to the third hour, RAW lost 340,000 viewers. At first glance you would think that there was a barn-burner going on over there between the Chiefs and the Patriots on ESPN so everyone was flipping over to catch the finish of the game. But, unfortunately, that’s wasn’t the case—the Pats lost by 27 points.

So what happened? From what I can tell, for starters from a creative standpoint you basically took both of last week’s main events on the show, and combined them into a tag team match this week. Vince, I think even you could agree, that not much thought was put there. The least knowledgable writer, or even booker, would have been able to come up with that match in less time then it took to toast a Pop-Tart. However, was it possible to turn that nothing match into something with just a bit more thought? The answer is a resounding–YES! YES! YES!

Vince, the one thing that Eric Bischoff would always ask me when we were writing the show and I would pitch a match would be—”What are the Stakes”. In other words what was ON THE LINE in the match. What was the intrigue of the match that would make the viewer stick around to watch? Eric was a stickler for this, and I always appreciated him challenging me because it would always force me to keep thinking in lieu of making the story/match better.

With that being said, even though the emphasis on Monday’s show was put on a beat-up briefcase covered with stickers that really meant absolutely nothing–being that Stephanie explained 5 minutes in that all that mattered was the contract inside that Seth Rollins still held ownership to–compared to the WWE World Heavyweight Title, one little tweak in the story and perhaps you could have held the numbers.

With all the focus on the Money in the Bank case for the better part of three hours, why not make the tag a handicap match by putting Rollins on the bad guy side, and then in an effort to make it look like an even playing field—the Authority puts the Money in the Bank case up in the match? Triple H knows that he’s going to screw Cena/Ambrose any way, so what difference does it make to him? This one, simple “tweak”, would have given you the much-needed “stakes” for the match–without changing one, single thing. The heels got DQ’d any way—didn’t they?

Sometimes it’s just that one, little extra step, Vince—that’s all. But attempting to put stakes on the Main Eventer will always make it look more attractive to the viewer.

I know that Triple H has publicly come out and stated that the WWE is looking for feedback from the internet—so this is mine. Hope it helps.

Peace,

Vince