WWE Is Wasting Its Time with Low-Level Celebrities

WWE trotted out Hoda Kotb and Kathie Lee Gifford as special guests on Monday's Raw for a segment that was exciting as soggy bread.

Don't blame Hoda and Kathie Lee from Today. Blame WWE. The company's attempts to generate press and buzz via celebrities aren't effective when they involve folks the audience just doesn't care about.

Asking Muhammad Ali, Mr. T (in the '80s when he was red-hot) and Mike Tyson to step between the ropes is one thing, but bringing aboard people who are only borderline famous is a waste of time.

Thankfully, the company has moved away from having weekly guest hosts on Raw. That led to people like Mark Feuerstein and Nancy O'Dell appearing on the show to a collective "Who is that?" While there isn't a constant stream of sub-celebrities any longer, WWE has taken to inviting these kinds of stars to its marquee show.

It's a move that does nothing for the company or the program.

The fans clearly aren't into these cameos. The fans inside the Barclays Center booed the talk show hosts, prompting Kathie Lee to ask, "What'd we do?" In an interview backstage, Hoda said that she "loved being booed."

Those boos shouldn't have been a surprise. Wrestling fans are generally going to react to seeing someone they don't recognize with either apathy or displeasure. They paid to see wrestling, not for a woman to promote her brand of wine.

It was a misreading of Raw's audience to bring in Hoda and Kathie Lee, just as it was to invite Florida Georgia Line to perform on the show or to have Aaron Paul accompany Dolph Ziggler. It often feels like WWE is just grabbing onto anything that is remotely popular and trying to cram it into its own product.

It's like a parent trying to win points with their teenager. 

Unless it's a big name, guest stars feel pointless. In Hoda and Kathie Lee's case, there was a charity-based reason to invite them. Kudos to WWE for its relationship with Susan B. Komen and for promoting Breast Cancer Awareness Month, but Joan Lunden's speech was plenty effective on its own.

That was a touching moment that used WWE as a way to spread the word about breast cancer. Hoda smacking Kathie Lee's butt with a wine bottle was miles away from that.

WWE was proud of those women's names trending:

The thing is, trending on Twitter isn't always a good thing. A large number of those tweets on the subject were calling it one of the worst segments in Raw history:

That's the wrong kind of buzz. 

Too often, these celebrity appearances feel like someone shilling their product, just another commercial packed into Raw's three hours. Kevin Hart got to promote Think Like a Man Too on the show. Joe Manganiello was part of the show back in March, allowing for a few plugs for Sabotage.

Maybe those folks provide a spark of publicity here or there, but it's not worth having the audience drift away.

If there ever is a reason to flip over and see how Monday Night Football is playing out, it's a cringe-inducing segment with a pseudo-celebrity. A great tag team match, a stirring promo or a surprise return keeps an audience locked in. If WWE were to ask rapper Riff Raff to address the crowd, one can count on it having the opposite effect.

More "celebrities" are coming, though. A week after Hoda and Kathie Lee popped in on Raw, NeNe Leakes is set to follow suit.

If Monday's Raw was any indication, the star of The Real Housewives of Atlanta isn't in line for a warm welcome.