What the HELL is going on with Raw?????
I'm totally fed up with the Raw brand right now. I can't pinpoint any other single period in the almost 20 years that I've been alive and watching wrestling where I've been so utterly baffled about my own reactions to what's going on on a WWF/E show. Until now. After reading about Triple H reclaiming the World Title for the 9th time last night at Unforgiven, I literally felt sick. And, as one of the biggest Triple H fans in the world, this disturbed me.
It disturbed me because I never wanted Randy to win the title at Summerslam in the first place. When it comes to things like this I'm old school; to win the biggest prize in the game, you should have to bust your ass for it. For years. Like Ric Flair, Shawn Michaels, Triple H, Steve Austin, and so many others have done. No matter which way you hardcore Randy mark "I've only been watching for 3 years!!!1111!!!1!!" fans want to cut it- Orton didn't deserve it. Hell, I was an Orton fan back when most people were writing him off as "just another pretty face", so don't try to tell me I think this way because I don't like Randy. He was the layout of this site for at least two months not so long ago.
But my line of reasoning is, if they're going to give him the title, they should at least give him the opportunity to prove himself with it. Let him have a decent-sized reign and establish himself and see what kind of fan support he can build up as a face champion. People are saying that Orton is the next "Rock"- well, it took Rock awhile to find his niche. He didn't get cheered overnight. So I figured that Randy would at least be given the time to be able to at least try to build some momentum.
Nope.
Apparently the word going around is that WWE considers Randy's title reign to have been a "failure". How the hell a "reign" of not even one month can be judged to be a success or failure is beyond me. He was just starting to pick up momentum, just starting to get the crowd behind him, and now all of a sudden they decided to take the belt off of him because the ratings weren't high enough. Ooookaayyyy. Now the rumor is that, since he's no longer the champion, Randy will have time to "grow" as a face by chasing Hunter for the title. Huh? He could've "grown" as a face by being the champ and beating a bunch of heel challengers left and right in various feuds leading up to his showdown with Triple H. So that "idea" is also a load of crap.
WWE totally killed this feud by initiating it so soon. There was no build-up whatsoever. And given the history that these two men already have together because of their association in Evolution, that is pathetic. The only reason the feud was launched so early (when their first match wasn't supposed to be until friggin' Wrestlemania XXI) is because Raw started to get "low" ratings. Well no SHIT: FOOTBALL SEASON JUST STARTED AGAIN. Morons.
So I'm sitting here, receiving my Raw tapes in the mail from my wonderful mother because we don't get Spike TV up at my college, and I have absolutely no desire to even watch them because a feud between two guys who I LOVE has been already mangled so horribly that even the thought of watching it sickens me. How bad is it when I'm actually turned off by a feud between two of my favorite wrestlers?
And then the icing on the cake. Hunter gets the belt back last night. Apparently, or at least judging from a certain Triple H forum I'm a member of, I'm the only Hunter fan upset about this. Everybody else crones in typical 13-year-old mark-out fashion "YAY FOR HUNTER! 9 TIMES BABY WOOOOOOOoooOOO!!!!!!!111!!!11!!!!1!!1!" and others try to come off as being "smart" by saying things like "This will give Randy time to grow as a face, I'm sure he'll get the belt back soon." I can literally feel my IQ drop as I read some of this shit. The last thing I want is a 24 year old with multiple world title reigns he hasn't earned. The other last thing I want is the world title back on Hunter. He's been on such a roll since he dropped it at WMXX that it's not even funny. He's had his best year since 2000, WITHOUT the title, and now all of a sudden morons think it's great that he has it back? Why? What's so great about watching the same shit over and over again? If even I don't want Hunter with the title, that should say something. These marks need to be backhanded with a steel gauntlet for being so blind and mindlessly cheering something that is just going to bring even lower ratings and boring storylines.
Benoit never should have lost the belt so soon. Yes, newbie fans, a 5 month title reign is not "long". If you think it is, that just proves that the wrestling business has changed in ways it shouldn't have. His title reign was wasted. The man worked so hard for 18 years and for what? A pitiful little title reign with no compelling storylines or feuds, only to job it to an undeserving young kid, then to be relegated back to mid-card city. Explain to me why Benoit wrestled in the OPENING MATCH of Unforgiven when he just main evented fucking SUMMERSLAM last month?
For once, I'm glad I don't have Spike TV up here. I have no desire to watch Raw at this particular moment. Between the mess written about above, and the horrific "diva-hopefuls" contest that that piece of trash Carmella is sure to win, I'm completely fed up with Raw right now... I'll just stick to my old wrestling tapes and DVDs for awhile.