WWE: Great Giveaway, One Great Storyline; Rest is Forgettable

Trench's Pro Wrestling Report



I was going to do this post after TNA Impact and Smackdown, but let's face it: RAW is the only show worth watching these days. Which shows you the sad state of pro wrestling on TV today.

But speaking of Smackdown, you would think that Vince Mcmahon would want to do his Million Dollar whatever-he's-calling-it on Smackdown after it moves from CW to MyTV in the fall. He's going to need a lot more eyes on Smackdown once it makes the move. Hell, maybe he will come on in the fall. Vince isn't that stupid.

If he was, he'd have gone broke a long time ago.

As far as TNA goes, I really think they should focus more on the in-ring product than the soap opera antics of the Angle family. And I love TNA because I always root for the underdog. But they need to really differentiate themselves from the WWE, rather than trying to emulate them.
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The one great thing TNA has going for it is its women's division--or as they call them 'The Knockouts'. TNA's women are actually some great and entertaining wrestlers--unlike the WWE's former stripper division.

As far as ECW goes, I refuse to even watch it until they change the name. Yes, I'm an old ECW fanboy and I will not piss on the grave of that once-greatest wrestling promotion.

Getting back to RAW ratings. Last week's Million Dollar giveaway's ratings were actually down from the previous week. Maybe the buzz will have raised the ratings this week, but that remains to be seen.



I did register again for the giveaway, but I was not one of the two North Carolina winners last night. And what was up with Vince making the callers bark like a
dog or sing the National Anthem? I'm beginning to think that after every show, Vince has two fans fight to death for his own amusement in his own private arena. The winner gets to kiss Vince's bare ass. Anyway, I digress.

The only storyline really worth watching was the Chris Jericho vs. Shawn Michaels bit. It started off a little better than it ended last week, with Michaels being blinded by the broken glass of the TV. Ric Flair coming out to defend Michaels, I thought was brilliant.

However, it all went downhill from there.

When Flair challenged Jericho to meet him in the parking lot, I expected an old fashioned beatdown of Ric Flair. That would have put so much heat on Jericho that people would watch in droves to see Jericho get his ass beat by Michaels--eventually.

But no; instead, we were treated to HHH sticking his ubiquitous proboscis into the
situation, and Lance Cade (who?) of all people, coming to Jericho's aid. I can kind of see him as the Cowboy Bob Orton to Jericho's Roddy Piper, but other than that, Cade bores me. If done right, the Y2J/HBK feud could reach epic status like Dreamer vs. Raven or the Freebirds vs. the Von Erichs.

But so far: it's not even Jeff Jarrett vs. Chyna.

by Trench Reynolds

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