We’ve seen a change in the direction of Raw over the past few months, specifically since Triple H took over the company, with a renewed focus on the women’s division, as well as the return of several stars that were given their walking papers during the pandemic era of the organization due to “budget cuts.” As I’ve said on a regular basis recently, the artificial debut pop or a crowd reaction for a return is easy, the measure of success of this new approach will be how talent is utilized on a long-term basis. Still, I’ve seen some criticism about this week’s broadcast. I think that has much more to do with the mixed bag of the progress or lack thereof with certain projects than the overall direction of the show.
I was surprised to see JBL, the former WWE champion and Hall of Famer, on screen to endorse a new spin on Baron Corbin’s character. While Corbin is a good athlete and his skills from his different ventures in sports have transitioned well to the squared circle, from a character perspective, I don’t think even the verbal ability of JBL will get this new persona over to the audience. For too long, Corbin was cast as a mid-card comedy act and it was too recent that he was presented this way for him to randomly show up, with the expectation that the audience will take him more seriously. His feud with Pat McAfee was entertaining for what it was and probably better than it had the right to be, given the former kicker’s limited in-ring experience, but the entire angle was based on Corbin as a jabroni in the grand scheme of things. He was a comedy figure for the audience to laugh at, not a competitor that was portrayed as dangerous. This presentation isn’t new either, as he was “blamed” for Raw being a lackluster show when he was an authority figure on the brand.
If this reboot is going to work, Corbin should’ve disappeared for an extended period of time to allow as much distance as possible between the comedy stint and the fresh presentation. It’s the same reason Bray Wyatt’s successful return shouldn’t be tainted by any reference to the ridiculous burnt marshmallow gimmick he had before he was released last year. I understand it might seem unfair to pan this new chapter of his WWE tenure before it really gets started, but the quick turn around is what won’t allow this to truly get off the ground. Sometimes, you have to let a talent go away for several months before the fans are willing to give them a fresh start on the show. If Corbin had resurfaced around The Royal Rumble or sometime during Wrestlemania season, this new angle might’ve had a chance to be successful. That being said, if it gets JBL on television with a mic more often then I’m all for it.
Austin Theory beat Mustafa Ali, and he still has the Money in the Bank contract, which technically puts him around the main event scene, but aside from the fact that he was a Vince project before McMahon, “retired,” I don’t necessarily see the overwhelming potential that he supposedly brings to the table. That’s not to say that Theory is a bust as a prospect either, but in a rather crowded landscape in recent months before the slew of returns and the new angles to get those stars involved on the show, Theory hasn’t been much of a standout on the roster. When you talk about young stars with the potential to be the top guys of the future, I would mention someone like Bron Breakker long before I’d get to Theory’s name. The fact that he seems to blend into the show and get lost in the shuffle of a three-hour broadcast doesn’t help his chances as far as a main event push.
One of the major positives of the Triple H regime is that the women’s division, arguably the aspect of the brand with the most depth, has often been booked as the main event segment. Granted, the hurdles of trying to retain an audience for three hours is a different discussion for a different time, but when it comes to star power, the women’s division undoubtedly has the athletes that have the ability to be main stream athletes, if given the opportunity. Bianca Belair and Bayley, who had a match on Raw, are two of the females on the roster that could be main stream stars. They are both that talented and it will be interesting to see how much the WWE machine will get behind the feud.
As we saw, Nikki Cross made her return to Raw with a new persona, using a presentation similar to the unbalanced character that she used upon her arrival in NXT. Cross’ character was changed to the super hero gimmick of A.S.H when Karrion Cross was brought to the main roster before his release and recent return. While I can understand the company attempting to use different names to avoid confusion and for marketing purposes, specifically with its trademarks, the notion that two different wrestlers can’t share the same last name seems more like a Vince McMahon trope than anything.
Based on the small sample, it appears that Cross will have a more dangerous edge with a calculated presentation rather than wildly bouncing off the ropes as she did in NXT, which makes sense since there’s no reason to recycle a character when evolving the gimmick allows for more progress for her. It goes without saying that the super hero gimmick had a limited run, and it appeared that the name change was only because of Karrion Kross’ move to the main roster without any plan for what Ash would do with a new character. At the time, Karrion Kross was pinned in two minutes for his debut on Raw and eventually wore a gladiator helmet before he was released. So, he was booked into the ground, and Nikki was given a character that she made the best of, but was ultimately going to limit her progress.
I’m not sure how far Nikki will take this fresh start, but it definitely gives her the best chance for success, which is a lot more than can be said about a gimmick she was given because someone else was scheduled for the brand. Nikki, especially during his initial stint in NXT, seemed to maximize her minutes on television, getting over as much as possible regardless of the role she had on a show. Giving her the spotlight, particularly with this involvement in the main event, could add another layer within the women’s division since there would be another contender in the title scene.
This speaks to the overall direction of the brand. Granted, this is based merely on the segments of the shows since nobody outside of the office knows the scripting process, but during the bulk of the last portion of the McMahon era, it appeared that the general direction of the product was put into autopilot in some ways. Brock was the top guy and ran through everyone to the point that it got repetitive. Thankfully, his recent stint included an updated look to freshen up his presentation. Roman Reigns as a baby face was the plan for several years and it continued to flop until a change in direction led to Reigns doing the best work of his career. Furthermore, certain talent were typecast and then didn’t get an opportunity to move up the ladder. On one hand, you can’t blame Vince for going with a formula that was previously successful, and in some respects, any criticism of the WWE product was moot because the organization is more profitable now than any other time in its history. The other side of the coin, which is something I mentioned often in the past few years, there was the possibility that management was trading the chance to build for the future in exchange for the short-end money.
More than anything, it appears that the Triple H philosophy will at least attempt to use a talent to their full potential. While not everyone can work the main event of Wrestlemania and there’s nothing wrong with that, the ability to truly build a product with depth is to have workers that are tailor-made for the mid-card as well since it adds to the overall quality of the card. Somehow, in the modern era, the concept of a mid-card wrestler is seen as a negative, but there are great performers that made a career of working in that spot. D’Lo Brown wasn’t going to main event Wrestlemania, but he was going to give the audience consistent quality matches. The same can be said for someone like Al Snow, he wasn’t going to be on the same level as Steve Austin, (very few are) but he was over with the audience and could provide an entertaining match on the show. The chance for talent to make the most of their television exposure might be the biggest change that the Triple H regime will bring to the product.
What do you think? Share your thoughts, opinions, feedback, and anything else that was raised on Twitter @PWMania and Facebook.com/PWMania.
Until next week
-Jim LaMotta
E mail [email protected] | You can follow me on Twitter @jimlamotta
