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TUCKER'S INSTANT REACTION - 12/1 Raw: Has anything really changed since Survivor Series?, let's look at the evidence...

Dec 1, 2014 - 11:18:52 PM
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Instant Reaction - WWE Raw 12/1
By Ben Tucker, PWTorch TV specialist


Overall Score - 3.5

I thought Monday Night Raw was absolutely atrocious in so many ways that I would have to dedicate this entire article to just explaining everything that went wrong. So I will. Chronologically.

- The first segment of Raw reminded me of the saying that "The more things change, the more they stay the same." The entire purpose of removing The Authority from power at Survivor Series was to get rid of the heel authority figure. Two weeks later, we have the Anonymous Raw General Manager, who more or less does the exact same things. What was the point, then? This would not be as much of an issue if each new authority figure, heel or face, reacted to situations differently. Instead, 95 percent of all decisions regarding disqualifications, number one contenders matches, matchmaking, etc. end up playing out exactly the same, making it a moot point if it's Triple H running the show or Barney the Dinosaur. Who's stopping interference from Seth Rollins's goons? Is anyone regulating anything differently from The Authority? In the end, opening the show with the GM Laptop? Don't care.

- I'm so glad that Dolph Ziggler's mega-push post-Survivor Series is resuming his feud with Luke Harper for the Intercontinental Albatross. The belt has meant nothing since Rey Mysterio held the championship in 2009. Re-inserting Ziggler into the mid-card title hunt does not increase the prestige of the championship, it marginalizes the wrestler.

- Speaking of mega-pushes, see Ryback. The man is presented as a monster, yet is treated like a wrestler. Would Goldberg have gotten over acting as a secondary team member? No. Ryback is slowly developing when he should be steamrolling up the card. Then again, having more than one credible heel on the roster to work with could also be creating a problem...

- The best way to get a new gimmick over is to have them lose in their first match on Raw as a tandem. An even better idea is the mere concept of trying to get over a trio of young, athletic Superstars by giving them a gimmick that consists of (a) being African American, and (b) dancing. Nothing else. It's a genius combination; just look at the success of the last several one-dimensional singing/dancing/occupational gimmicks, such as Brodus Clay, Sweet T, Fandango (Version A), Fandango (Version B), Xavier Woods (Version A), Summer Rae, R-Truth, Adam Rose, Los Matadores, etc...

- When in doubt, give another Tag Title shot to The Usos. Because seeing them wrestle The Miz and Damien Mizdow off and on for a month already apparently wasn't enough as it is.

- Erick Rowan vs. Big Show... was vaguely enjoyable. For once, there was character development. Admittedly, somewhat shoddy character development (apparently Erick Rowan had a winery in the bayous of Louisiana), but it's still something.

- Rusev is back to feuding with Jack Swagger. Why? Is the roster that thin? How has Swagger evolved to make me want to see him chase the Russian again? They're even recycling the Zeb Colter injury angle.

- If you have a hot tag team that just one championship gold, the best thing you can have them do is participate in a five-minute singles squash match...

- And if you want a really hot show, have a Bray Wyatt squash match immediately follow.

- Here comes another problem with repetition. Over the past year-plus, Bray Wyatt has feuded with Kane, Daniel Bryan, John Cena, Chris Jericho, and Dean Ambrose. And in all five of these cases, Bray Wyatt has cut similar promos about wanting his opponent to "join" him. At what point is he going to stop and resort to posting a Craigslist ad to see if anyone needs help instead? The Bray Wyatt character feels stale because the fantastic worker behind the gimmick is being hampered by receiving the same exact script every week. The final 20 seconds of his brawl with Dean Ambrose, where Wyatt actually showed severe emotional distress for one of the first times since debuting, was fantastic. It's just too bad the other ten minutes of his time on Raw couldn't have felt the same way, instead of feeling like "just another retread" with two of the hottest stars in the company.

- The Divas Division is a travesty, with stories relegated to catty "backstage" drama and three-minute matches that have no purpose. Outside of the Bella Twins and A.J. the Divas do not sell merchandise. Why do they exist? Just to remind everyone of a reality show on E!? Is that what the division has become - a lead-in for the E! show?

- It's sad that a main event match that is supposed to highlight two new feuds feels as stale as year-old bread, presenting them in a similar multi-man tag match format from Survivor Series that ended up feeling like an advertisement from last week's pay-per-view. Another week with John Cena facing Kane and Seth Rollins with his partners rotating in and out. The Authority may be gone, but nothing has changed.

The WWE product is stagnant in the worst way. Every glimmer of hope is quickly dashed away and replaced with more start-and-stop booking, re-matches, and stale on top of stale on top of stale. WWE needs to be consistently entertaining, and right now it's only doing half of that.

Any questions or comments? Message me on Twitter @BTuckertorch!


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