Reinventing WWE Raw: How It Needs To Happen

I might be getting ahead of myself here, but the WWE Raw brand has become very stale and so formulaic that it is getting difficult to watch.

Another HHH comeback?  Oh, please, we’ve been down this road so many times before. The dominating “heel” faction? Sorry, but been there, done that too many times. 

Unfortunately, the solution is not easy. The current WWE process is becoming strongly reminiscent of the end of WCW. Of course, there is no other legitimate competition for WWE, and that is part of the problem, but the rest seems to be what happens backstage.

Nearing its end, WCW was dominated by veteran entertainers that had far too much power in the creative process. Rather than signing and promoting fresh talent, WCW opted to continue pushing Nash, Jarrett, and company, and the never-ending revivals of the NWO were ridiculous.

This is ultimately how WWE won the Monday Night Wars. They had younger talent that was not afraid to push limits. There were real title matches (and gasp, most of them had a clear winner). WCW, instead used run-ins, Dusty finishes, and other garbage to sell the PPV products.

WWE is at that place. It’s time for the young talent to move to the front, and for the veterans to help put them over. Unfortunately, as long as he is able, HHH will demand top billing. The problem now is that his move set is limited, and you know exactly what will happen.

There will be a series of punches, and the opponent will get an early advantage. HHH will counter, hit some clotheslines, a spine buster, go back on the defensive, and then finish with the Pedigree.

The same scripted process happens with Cena, Big Show, Michaels, Taker, Edge, Hardy, almost everyone. There need to be some swerves and changes. 

The other major problem relates to mic skills. One of the reasons that Ric Flair was regarded as the best of all time has to do with his ability on a microphone. He knew how to work the crowd into a frenzy.

Today in WWE there are only a few stars that can interact with the audience on this level. Jericho, Michaels, and Edge immediately come to mind. Batista and Orton often fumble on the mic, and it looks like WWE will not even give DiBiase and Rhodes speaking parts.

There are, however, some fresher faces that have good mic skills, and if given the chance, they could become legitimate headliners. The first among these, for me, might be surprising to some, but it is Santino Marella.

His comic offerings are well written and delivered with perfect timing. When he first entered WWE as the IC champ, he demonstrated an agile, strong move set. He has, however, been penciled in as comic relief and is being short-changed, in my opinion. 

Another guy that deserves more push is MVP. Though he is on a good run right now, I would like to see his character reworked to be edgier. His background and ability to interact with the audience could make him a “face” anti-hero in the mold of DX or Austin. The character has to change, though.

I could spend hours on rebuilding both the Tag Team division, which was once a place for the young guys to cut their teeth and hone their skills, and the Divas division, which seems like a dangerous place to work because so many of the young women lack basic wrestling skills.

Most likely, this will never happen and WWE will continue to be dominated by Orton, HHH, Cena, etc., but at some point, in the near future, WWE will have to look in other directions. Without that, the ratings will continue to sag.