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Guest Editorial: Raw ratings in the tank - but do we really want more Mr. McMahon?
Aug 3, 2007 - 12:26:00 PM


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Editor's Note: At PWTorch.com we strive for our content whenever possible and practical to be original and unique (i .e. not published on other sites), therefore Guest Editorials submitted to PWTorch.com should be submitted only to PWTorch.com. If you submit a Guest Editorial for consideration, please state at the top of your editorial that you submitted it only to PWTorch.com. For more details on submitting Guest Editorials, check out a detailed submissions guide following today's Guest Editorial below.

GUEST EDITORIAL
By By: Sean Johnson of Ohio, PWTorch.com reader


So WWE has announced their solution to poor WWE Ratings. New exciting storylines? New champions? New superstars? These are the things I think most wrestling fans hoped for when we learned that there was a huge slump in ratings. Instead, what do we get as the big response from WWE to help save dropping ratings? The return of Mr. McMahon.

Now hopefully most of you are aware of the problem here. I'll be the first to say that the past few weeks of WWE TV have been bad, not sorta bad, not watch-able bad, just plain bad. Granted WWE has done been pretty bad since the reign of Super Cena, but I like many other fans was at the edge of my seat when Raw was leading into WrestleMania and thought for the briefest moment that maybe, just maybe, the Heartbreak Kid could do it one more time. As my hopes were dashed. I still tried to hang in there. Hey, at least Undertaker was set for a long title reign and it seemed like HBK might turn heel to chase the title through the summer... Then what happens? The rash of injuries, I see my two favorite top stars, HBK and Undertaker, go under and next Kennedy, one of the new up and comers I learned to love watching on Smackdown.

Wait, Edge is the new World Heavyweight Champion? I was back on board. I found myself waiting for Friday Nights when Smackdown would be on and Edge would be the center of attention like he so longly deserved. Soon losing interest in Raw all together, I now only tuned into Smackdown and what a show it was. Edge vs. Kane for the title? This is a dream come true. MVP and Matt Hardy, really? I loved it. Then Edge goes out, this was a huge disappointment for me, but in turn also had me a bit excited, because a new champ would be named. Who could it be? Kane I hoped? Could WWE finally reward a superstar whose been so loyal and whose only had a one day title reign? No. What about Matt Hardy? Again, a very well deserving and hard working individual ready to step up to the plate and join the big leagues? No. Instead it's the least deserving person on the roster, the person who can't even be called a wrestler, because he doesn't even wrestle, The Great Khali. Just like that I stoppe d watching Smackdown and WWE programming all together.

So now as I start to look into the indy scene with ROH and such I see how bad the ratings are and, again, I start thinking, this has to be it, McMahon has to be so shaken up by the drop in ratings that he'll get out of his comfort zone and start putting on some good shows, listening to the fans and what they want, but what's his solution? More McMahon.

When I heard this news I was appalled. The one thing that was enjoyable about WWE TV programming was the death of Vince. No, not the storyline. That was the worst. But the fact that they simply ended his storyline for good with the Benoit Tragedy. What I really want to know is this: Who's going to tune in? What I want to do here is really to make a plea: Please do not watch Raw this week. Why you might ask? Let me tell you...

To tune in to Raw this week is telling Vincent Kennedy McMahon one thing: We the fans want him on TV. We the fans want the return of him showboating yet again and taking up the lime light from a more deserving star, say an actual wrestler. VKM taking up time that should be devoted to wrestling, compelling storylines and rivalries, taking up this time with his long, drawn out, dry, boring monologues that always last 30 minutes or more.

So in closing, when you're sitting at home Monday night with nothing to do, maybe getting ready to watch Raw because you love watching wrestling and WWE is really the only wrestling on TV that night, think twice. By tuning in you are only reinforcing McMahon's true beliefs - that he is the true star of WWE Monday Night Raw.

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