WWE Monday Night Raw Reaction: WWE Drops the Ball Heading into Next Week

The WWE was riding on a wave of momentum stemming from the results of SummerSlam. The feud involving CM Punk, Kevin Nash, and Triple H was a hot topic and WWE was starting to become relevant again.

The promos cut by CM Punk were nothing short of being legendary. His demeanor, mannerisms, and wit made everyone want to listen and further more tune in.

CM Punk had made the WWE acceptable to talk, tweet, and write about. Friends of mine started talking about it and then I knew that something great was happening.

However, it all started rolling down hill. The feud between Triple H and CM Punk was inevitable. We wanted to happen, we thought it would happen, and it is upon us. It is occurring sooner than planned and anticipated because Kevin Nash was not medically cleared to compete at Night of Champions.

Fast forward to the contract signing between the two forces on the live edition of Super SmackDown. Triple H and CM Punk cut a long, drawn-out promo that sort of put the crowd to sleep, and then in predicted fashion, Nash showed up and got physically involved with both parties.

This long introduction brings us to tonight's edition of Raw. The show opens up with CM Punk. He calls out Nash, insults him, throws out some references to get the crowd laughing and just before Nash could enter the ring, Motorhead hits the speakers and the COO Triple H joins the party.

He reveals that the Staples Center sent him some footage from SummerSlam and Kevin Nash indeed sent the text message to himself. This was Creative's first cop out. They totally ruined the climax of possibilities by selling out the obvious explanation.

The next cop out was the "firing" of Kevin Nash. Does Creative not realize that the fans know that when someone is fired that they are never truly fired. The next cop out was the happenstance meeting of Johnny Ace and Big Sexy backstage. We all know that Johnny signed Nash to a contract.

We all know that Johnny Ace hates Triple H and his newfound authority and power. For this reason it is blatantly obvious that Ace and Nash are on the same page and will come back next week with a vengeance.

Here is where WWE dropped the ball. For most of the world, next Monday is almost considered to be a national holiday. Next Monday, the NFL and Monday Night Football is back in full swing. To makes things even worse for WWE, there will be a doubleheader. This means ratings will go down and fans will have something else to click to if they don't like how the show is going.

WWE sure did a great job promoting their new network set to debut in 2012, they did a great job promoting Survivor Series, but they didn't give any one outside of the WWE Universe a reason to potentially tune in.

Had WWE promoted a major match for next weekend, maybe fans and casual onlookers would have a compelling reason to tune in and set their DVR's. The WWE will be competing head to head with the NFL for the next 18 weeks. That will take us from now until a few months before WrestleMania.

This period of time is going to be crucial for the WWE. They are going to have to get off to a fast start next week by doing something big. The fans all want to know what is going on between Ace and Nash. Are they going to bring back an incarnation of the NWO?

Will Ace and Nash somehow try and screw Triple H at Night of Champions so he is out of power? That is where I see it heading. I am predicting that Nash and Ace will screw Triple H at N.O.C. and he will be out of power and in turn helpless. This in turn could lead to a Team Nash vs Team Triple H at Survivor Series.

Am I right? Possibly. However, this isn't entirely about what I think.

Wrestling is for the fans and we have a voice. We want wrestling and I feel this is a great way to air out some ideas.

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Tom Urtz is an NHL Featured Columnist, a New York Rangers Featured Columnist, a WWE Featured Columnist and a lifelong wrestling fanatic.

Tom can be found on Twitter by clicking the button below.