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| Long live the King! Lawler returns to Raw Photo from: WWE.com |
@chadsmart & @my123cents on Twitter
If
you follow @my123cents on Twitter you may have noticed I usually do live
tweeting during the first hour of RAW. Since RAW comes on during my last hour
of work, if I’m not busy I’ll watch the show and throw out my thoughts as the
show happens. Most of the time my tweets are full of snark and sarcasm. As I’ve
stated many times over the past month or two here on the blog and on From the
Rafter’s Radio, I find the current WWE product repetitive, uninspiring and
downright lazy. I am hard pressed
to think of one current WWE feud or storyline I’m interested in seeing each
week.
During
the November 12, RAW I was expressing my displeasure with the show as normal. I
mean the show opened with a singles match that Teddy Long turned into a
tag-team match after interference. Such a scenario has become a parody of WWE
booking. I continued to watch
until Jerry Lawler made his return to the broadcast table two months after
suffering an on-air heart attack.
After Jerry thanked the fans, CM Punk and Paul Heyman came to the ring.
Punk ran down Jerry and made fun of the heart attack while threatening to beat
Jerry to death. That was my breaking point for the show.
Don’t
get me wrong. I’m not complaining because I found the segment to be in bad
taste. I am probably one of the most politically incorrect people who will
meet. I think society is on a downward spiral because everybody is getting too
sensitive and easily offended over the slightest thing. Case in point, the two
instances where Native Americans complained in the past week because of the new
No Doubt video and one of the Victoria Secret’s models wearing an Indian
headdress on the catwalk. I’m not going to criticize WWE for showing footage of
the paramedics working to revive Jerry Lawler backstage after the heart attack,
or for Punk and Heyman mocking the heart attack. Instead, I’m calling WWE out
for being lazy.
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| Heymen's "heart attack" WWE Raw Photo from WWE.com |
Playing
off the heart attack was the cheapest and easiest writing WWE could have done on
the show. I’m not saying they shouldn’t have mentioned it but I am saying the
length they went to with the segment did very little to increase interest in
the show or the Survivor Series pay per view on Sunday. What does CM Punk
verbally assaulting Jerry Lawler have to do with Punk’s match against John Cena
and Ryback on Sunday? Sure, Punk mentioned how long he’s been champion and how
he’s now the ninth longest reigning champion in WWE history, but is that enough
to make fans want to see the match at Survivor Series? Later in the show, John
Cena defeated Punk (with an assist from Ryback). Did that make people call
their local cable company or satellite provider and order the show?
Add
in other parts of RAW like the AJ/John Cena affair storyline that makes very
little sense and has little, if any, chance of a positive outcome. Once again,
Layla and Kaitlyn vied to become the number one contender to the Diva’s
Championship while the other four divas on the roster were nowhere to be found.
Wait, WWE only has 7 wrestling Divas? They only have 7 divas and can only focus
on 2-3 at a time? This is sadder than I thought. Four tag teams did get some airtime, yet none are, as of
this writing, booked on the PPV. I know not every show is going to be a home
run but if this was the best show WWE could do before a pay per view, there is
a lot of work that needs to be done.
The
angle mocking Jerry Lawler’s heart attack may have been in poor taste, but it
was hardly the worst part of the show. There are several areas in the WWE
Universe that need fixing. However, I’m guessing since 50,000 tickets for
Wrestlemania were sold in the first day of sales, Vince McMahon and company
will keep their heads buried in the sand and ignore the falling sky.
Follow
my123cents on Twitter for your daily dose of snark and join the discussions on
the My 123 Cents Facebook page. If you use Tout, um, why?
Here are Kevin's thoughts:
Here are Kevin's thoughts:
I think what everyone is missing is this:
ReplyDeleteWWE probably gave Jerry complete control on how he wants to return. Jerry is clearly a very emotional guy who probably couldn't emotionally handle thanking the fans and WWE for the prayers and support. He probably didn't want to break down and cry during his return and couldn't emotionally handle it. So he probably asked to be interrupted by Punk and let Punk do everything can to help elevate his heel factor -- which is a challenge for WWE since many people like him more than Cena. So there you go. A heel was being a heel. Let's not get overly sensitive. "Heels" shoot cops on TV all the time. "Heels" kidnap kids on TV shows. "Heels" turn into vampires and assault women. Character. Show. Entertainment.