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RADICAN'S TAKE
RADICAN: Mark Henry's shining moment on Raw leaves a bad smell in the room Jun 29, 2009 - 10:51:00 PM
The main event of tonight's Raw was an illustration of everything wrong with WWE's creative direction on the flagship show. In no way, shape, or form should Mark Henry stand tall over the current WWE Champion be it Randy Orton or anyone else.
But the problems didn't start there. Oh, where to start. Evan Bourne came out as the first surprise "trade" to Raw. His segment with Orton was fine. Jack Swagger than came out and the problems started flying like baseball's out of the new Yankee stadium. What the heck is Swagger doing making his debut on Raw and getting counted out? No matter what they do with him from this point forward, it's going to take a lot to make fans forget he backed down from Orton on his debut as a roster member on Raw. Welcome to the show, Jack.
Before we talk about Henry, lets not forget that on tonight's undercard that the once promising MVP took a clean loss to Triple H in the quarterfinals of the newfangled title tournament that we got tonight for a shot at the WWE title at WWE's next PPV "Night of Champions." Then the Miz had a better match than last night on PPV against Cena, but also took the loss, so we end up with another Cena-Triple H match.
The booking of this show is really out of whack these days. It's uninspired and impotent. There's no charge to Raw. It feels like an ordinary show with the same wrestlers fighting over and over. Vince McMahon blesses us with his next gimmick, the guest host. Who cares? Wrestling fans want exciting characters, good storylines, surprises, and angles that make them want to buy PPVs and tune in to Raw each and every week and say, "Holy s---, this show is great."
Heck, I'd be excited to see Miz, MVP, Swagger, and Bourne just make a niche for themselves somehow on Raw, but instead what we got in the main event was a clear signal from Vince McMahon and his footstools in creative. We're stuck in the past and don't trust anyone to help us go forward in the presence. I'm almost hoping Swagger or Bourne bust out a rare talent in front of Stephanie. Maybe one of them can do magic tricks and impress like Cena's rapping did all those years ago.
What did Mark Henry ever do? He originally signed a big contract with the WWE and never panned out. He's stunk up PPV main events and just about everything he's done in the company has been under whelming. Henry has zero charisma and no connection to the fans, but what is his reward? Another shot at a push because he's one of their big past investments.
Seeing Henry get that kind of rub on Raw tonight by pinning Orton was frustrating on so many levels. Not just because of the rub he got that others don't, but because creative clearly fails to realize that if they booked these younger properly, they'd come through.
How long can WWE put off the next generation of talent on Raw? Who knows. Once all the "trades" are revealed, we'll see how the rosters shake up, but for now, Raw didn't get any better, it just got staler.
Listen to Torch columnist Sean Radican and co-host Derek Burgan discuss all-things wrestling and in-depth ROH audio themed shows each and every week at PWTorch.com/members. Contact Sean at PWTorchSean@gmail.com.
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