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GUEST EDITORIAL
By Rick Gardner of Manchester, England
PWTorch.com Reader

Vince McMahon promised a big announcement on Monday night; a revelation of such enormity that the presence of the entire WWE roster was required at ringside to hear it. He promised that the announcement pertained to an act so revolutionary, so ground-breaking that it had never been done on television before. Evidently Vince McMahon has never seen Who Wants to be a Millionaire; because the announcement was that the WWE will be giving away one million dollars every week on Raw.

Why this declaration required the attendance of all the WWE wrestlers was not revealed, unless pay-per-view payoffs have got so bad that McMahon anticipates some members of the roster will enter the contest. Whatever the reasoning, giving away a million dollars every week is not a sound financial or creative decision.

The ratings for Raw have sunk to alarming levels in recent months, so much so that you have to go back to 1997 to find comparable viewing figures, and even then it must be taken into consideration that Raw was going head-to-head with another wrestling show at the time. It is understandable that Vince McMahon is looking for new ways to entice fans to watch what has long been the WWE's most important broadcast, particularly after putting together a stellar card of big matches for the May 21st show that only drew a rating of 3.2. However, giving away a million dollars does nothing except provide ammunition for critics who feel WWE is completely out of touch with its fan base.

The appalling ratings that have been synonymous with Raw in recent weeks cannot be fixed by one hot-shot angle; they are a symptom of long-term neglect that the WWE has shown towards its own show. Once a wrestling programme that was way ahead of it's time, Raw has become safe and predictable; a product of a system that stifles creativity. Whilst losing viewers due to sheer apathy, WWE has also managed to alienate many of its loyal fans through a series of tasteless angles, such as "Katie Vick" and "The Death of Vince McMahon." Once the benefactor of a captive primetime wrestling audience, WWE has isolated many of its former viewers to the point where there is not a solitary angle or match that can bring them back.

Added to which, there is also the question of how the prize giving will affect current viewers, as surely giving away a cash sum of that magnitude will command at least a segment's-worth of TV time. There are countless quiz shows available on television today, the majority of which are based on concepts far more inventive than any half-baked idea the WWE creative team has come up with. It could be that giving away the million dollars backfires in more ways than one, as a segment that bears no relevance to the rest of the show is likely to be an incentive for viewers to change channels.

The 3.2 rating that Raw drew on May 21st had nothing to do with the booking of that particular show; it was the culmination of years of predictable storylines and bad feeling that has devalued Raw as a brand. The WWE product has endemic problems that can only be solved by gradually building new stars and adding depth to the characters of those that already exist. McMahon basically acknowledged this when he said earlier in his announcement, in reference to the next WWE Draft:

"I think you deserve new. I think you deserve new superstars, hot new Divas, new rivalries."

It's a pity Vince McMahon doesn't practice what he preaches.

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