Images via WWE.com
The State Of Monday Night RAW.
To all of the viewers who were curious as to why I haven't reviewed Monday Night RAW this past week (by viewers, I mean the only two viewers I get each post) it is because the show is really f**king insufferable to get through.
It is so bad in fact that I dedicated this section of the news week talking about the state of Monday Night Raw and why the 3-hour program just simply doesn't work (by the way, some of these tropes have been used on WWE TV in general but unlike the red brand, Smackdown and NXT are actually enjoyable to watch as a whole).
#1. Dumb babyface cliche.
(this clip of Damian Priest facing off The Miz and John Morrison should explain the "dumb babyface" trope).
It's really funny that whenever a heel proposed an exhibition match for a championship to a babyface and after a babyface refused, the heel is like, "well you're a coward" to which the babyface is like, "I'M NOT NO COWARD. I ACCEPT YOUR CHALLENGE!"
#2. One-Dimensional Good Guys.
Speaking of babyfaces. When the Rated R superstar showed some edge (pun intended) during the build for the universal championship bout, I was actually glad that gave a babyface like Edge some layers to his character.
Until WWE said, "f**k it" and turned the man heel. To my "core" viewers, this may seem like a contradiction as I've ranted before on WWE over-complicating their stories.
The difference is that WWE is over-complicating their storytelling that doesn't need to be especially within the context of a particular arc (if that makes any sense?).
The grey areas or the "unusual" aspects of a character is what makes a persona intriguing so the black and white perspective of what a good or a bad guy "should be" in the world of professional wrestling is getting a little eensy teensy tiresome, to say the least.
#3. Insulting The Viewer's Intelligence.
(I'm looking at you Commander Azzez or Dabba Kato).
Sean Ross Sapp of Fightful said it best in his post-show reviews in that WWE is punishing the audience for actually paying attention.
What he meant by that is, WWE is insulting the viewer's intelligence by pretending that what happened before simply didn't happen.
A great recent example of that is after T-Bar and Mace were unmasked by Drew McIntyre and Braun Strowman, the commentators were silent which is weird considering that one, Dio Madden was literally a commentator on Monday Night RAW almost 2 years ago.
Two, the last time I checked, NXT is part of the WWE canon so pretending that this isn't Dominic Djakovic is so damn odd.
There are so many more variables that I could bring up (like the overall pacing of the program due to the 3-hour length) but I want to keep this article short and to the point.
I'll end this section with this, I'll rather watch a crossover movie that involves Joe Dirt, Battlefield Earth and Jupiter Ascending than watching Monday Night RAW.
WWE Hired New Executives.
Moving on. World wrestling entertainment has picked up some new executives in the business side of the company which of course, isn't a shocker.
Alex Varga will head as the Vice President of Revenue Strategy and Development and Scott Zanghellini will serve as the Head of Revenue Strategy and Development.
They discussed with The Hollywood Reporter about their new roles.
Scott: "Helping with revenue growth on the global platform WWE has built to date, we expect to see continued opportunity in emerging areas including audio content, NFTs, memorabilia and social gaming.
The prominence of WWE’s digital and social channels will continue to further fuel new revenue streams, as well as allow for category expansion in all areas."
Alex: "The content business is shifting on a weekly, if not daily, basis so it’s incumbent upon all of us here at WWE to be ahead of the curve in terms of what’s next - and to be there before it begins, And that is what we hope to help with."
In other words, a multi-billion dollar entity hired some people with the end goal to make money. A revelation that is more shocking than any Alfred Hitchcock film.
What Did Vince Told The Flight Attendant On "The Plane Ride From Hell"?
We all know the infamous tale of "the plane ride from hell". A tale so detailed that any people horny for engagement can dedicate months worth of content based on that story alone.
Kurt Angle spoke about the incident and what Vinnie Mac told the flight
attendant on a recent episode of his podcast, "The Kurt Angle show" (of course, another wrestling personality that has a podcast) (from WrestlingInc):
"It was the longest night of my life, “Vince had a few glasses of wine and he was feeling frisky and he thought. ‘hey why not, if I’m going to wrestle someone why not if it’s the best, might as well wrestle an Olympic gold medalist, I’m going to try him out.’ You have to understand, Vince is the type of guy that would say to Mike Tyson ‘Hey, knock me out.
Hit me in the face, I want to feel what it’s like.’ He wants to feel what it’s like to be with the best person at what they do, I totally get it but Vince is crazy."
"The crazy thing is, we were on the plane and there was wine stains all over the floor,“The floor was white carpet and there was just wine stains everywhere. Vince and I were wrestling near the door, the latch, you open the latch and push it open, the doors open and you fly out the plane.
We kept hitting the latch while we were wrestling, so the flight attendant came and said ‘Hey, the pilot said if you don’t sit down and stop he’s going to land this plane right now.’
And Vince says ‘Go tell the pilot to f*** himself, I’ll buy the f***ing plane.’ I was like, ‘oh my God."
Vince shouted at somebody saying that he'll buy the f**king plane is basically what if you're flexing while angry.
Former WWE Referee Mike Chioda On Calling An Audible For The Undertaker vs Goldberg Match At Super Showdown 2019.
Mike Chioda spoke with Metro UK about being the referee of the Undertaker vs Goldberg match at Super Showdown 2019 (sorry to hear that, Mike) and how he had to call an audible during the bout:
“I almost had to call an audible during the Undertaker/Goldberg match at Saudi Arabia,” “It went downhill after Goldberg got gashed open in the turnbuckle, got concussed.
He was badly concussed and he got through the match, but barely. That’s when I was kinda worried because I thought, ‘oh my God!'”
"Oh my God" should be the reaction after witnessing a match like this because it's really that bad.
Pat McAfee On His Full-Time Smackdown Commentary Debut.
The new Smackdown colour commentator and my favourite sh*t talker, Pat McAfee, talked about his role on the commentary table and how he's allowed to be himself in an interview with Busted Open Radio (From Post Wrestling):
"It’s one of those things with me where I think people have this misperception of me that I don’t do well with coaching or whatever. I actually love coaching.
I wanna be great, I wanna be as good as I possibly can, I wanna make the product as good as possible.
But just, it depends on who it is and I had to have that thought because I’ve heard the horror stories obviously, and I was like, Vince McMahon, self-made billionaire, a guy that revolutionized the world.
If he wants to talk to me and tell me how to be better, I’m okay with listening to that but I do believe he gets and understands me too so I think that’s a big part of this whole thing."
On this site, you're getting nothing but positivity when it comes to Pat McAfee. #bestheelinthebusiness #IWCsucks #StanPatMcAfee
What do you think about the news I just reported and follow me on the tweets @omartheplayaguy? Anyways, stay safe smarks.