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VINCE KNOWS WHAT YOU WANT BETTER THAN YOU DO, WWE IN SAUDI ARABIA, THE RAW OVERRUN AND MORE

By Dave Scherer on 2019-05-08 10:00:00

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Ratings have been slipping and Vince McMahon decided that the answer was to give us way too much of him on Raw, followed by pretty much making the brand split useless.  Please, please explain to me how this makes sense.

I’ve got nothing.  Seriously, I have nothing.  If he sees the issue as being in matchups and not character development and better storylines?  Well, I’ve got nothing.

So... the solution to falling ratings is to double down on the storyline who’s gaping logical hole (SuperStar Shakeup... with no explanation as to who’s making said moves, or why) and dilute the entire brand split to the point it’s basically not a thing anymore? So what happens if a 5th “wild card” shows up in a week? Are there consequences? Is it 2 separate shows or not? Even “marketing to kids”, once they pass 3 years old, need a reason to care about the story being told. If there’s no consequences to wins, losses, or anything anybody does, what’s the point to the show at this point? Tack on 2 of the most talented teams in pro wrestling, not actually fighting but reenacting scenes from Revenge of the Nerds (gee... I wonder who thought that was just hilarious...? I mean, I did too when I was 12 and saw the movie for the first time... 35 years ago...), and at this point I just have to ask: what the hell are we watching here? Anyway, my real question: so Cole says “the first real defense of the WWE title on Raw in over 3 years”, so the night after ‘Mania, the “champion vs champion” match, wasn’t a real title defense? I get we’re not supposed to remember things, however that was under a month ago... so what that not a real match, or just a screw up nobody bothered to correct? Because I’m guessing that line wasn’t just pulled out of thin air.

You hit the nail on the head.  THIS is why fewer people are watching WWE, and that is all the fault of Vince McMahon, no one else.  I really believe the answer is in fixing the bad storytelling and pushing people that the audience cares about and in many cases finds cool.  That is lacking right now.  He thinks he knows what you want better than you do.  I think he’s wrong.

Simple question about Candice Lerae.  She's been on NXT for awhile, but doesn't seem to wrestle on TV all that much and isn't really at the top of the women's division.  Is there a reason why?  Her work seems solid from what I've seen.

She’s really good, no doubt.  Her role has been in the top storyline between her husband, Johnny Gargano, and Tommaso Ciampa.  It’s never a bad thing to be in the top storyline.  Now that it has ended, I would love to see her get more of a push for her own work.

To follow up yesterday’s question, do you have a problem with WWE running in Saudi Arabia?

When it happened last year, I gave them a pass.  They had a deal and there wasn’t a lot of time to make changes.  When they ran again, it started to feel dirty.  Now?  Shortly after the Saudi government killed 37 men under extremely dubious circumstances, proving nothing has changed from when they murdered journalist Jamal Khashoggi last year, yes I have a problem with it.  They have every right to do business there but is comes across as in really poor taste to me.  With all of the new TV money that they have coming next year, I would have liked to have seen them make a stand and walk away from the Kingdom, like many other companies did.

For the past several months or so, RAW hasn't had a significant overrun past the 11:00 hour.  Is this a result of the recent trend of declining ratings during the last hour or so of the show?

As we reported months ago on the site, the overrun was done away with by USA.  Given how bad the drop from hour one to hour three has become, it’s a good call on their part.

*As a note from a recent column, Brock Lesnar has been tested twice by the authority overseeing UFC fighters.  Thanks to my buddy Dan Israel, I stand corrected!

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