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August 3, 2007

It's the greatest thing to ever happen to wrestling columns, me, Luke Parks, returning for another edition of my Smackdown-ECW column, Excess.

According to reports, there was a glitch in the ratings this week, which is why RAW got it's lowest rating in a decade with a 2.5. Now, as of this writing, the new rating hasn't come out yet. Still, even if it's higher than a 2.5, RAW has been struggling the past few weeks. They've averaged a 3.4 the past 3 weeks and usually a 4.1 or 4.0 before that. So, with all things considered, the WWE is in a state of chaos. I remember during the height of the Monday Night Wars, RAW or Nitro would never come close to a 5.0. So, for the first part of my column, I'm here to discuss possible reasons why this is all happening.

Reason #1: The Benoit Tragedy

There's no doubt that the Benoit Tragedy has put a black eye, if not 2, on the world of professional wrestling. If you're a wrestler, you've been branded as being jacked up on steroids, pain killers, drugs, horse tranquilizers, Nyquil, and even Flintstone Vitamins. People have taken shot after shot at the wrestling world & Vince McMahon and rightfully so. These guys & girls that entertain us don't get any medical benefits or life insurance or anything. To be honest, if you save your money, you'll be good to go later on in life. You can get benefits some way. There's plenty of commercials running on TV for this company and that company offering insurance. People don't want to associate with anything bad. That's human nature. You have that buddy that's always in trouble. People see you associating with him, then you're branded. So, in today's world, if you're a wrestling fan, you might as well be the spawn of Satan. I go through it almost daily. The Benoit stuff has opened up a huge can of worms for professional wrestling and there's no denying that. However, most leagues, teams, businesses, etc. go through a rough patch and it's the WWE's turn. You can't stay on top forever. They will have this rough patch where the ratings will decline for a few weeks and then they'll go back up. But, wasting 3 hours on a Draft that only has 10 picks in it doesn't help. Blowing yourself up on TV, then having a "federal investigator" come on, then almost having another 3 hours wasted on a fake funeral, and then having one of your top stars kill his family and then himself, doesn't help matters at all.

Reason #2: Dreadful Storylines

Most people that read my columns know I don't sugar coat anything and I don't intend to start. So, on that note, most of the current storylines & feuds on WWE TV suck. The WWE Championship scene has been dominated by John Cena for over 2 years. The only glimmer of hope was the mini-feud between Edge & Rob Van Dam. Right now, in my opinion, the only good storylines are for the United States Championship and the ECW Championship. Other than that, a majority of them suck. The creative team has gotten themselves into a bad spot. They've got to deliver these next couple of months. Notice I said months instead of weeks. Right now, they're struggling. If they want to keep their core fans and gain back the casual fan, they need to deliver and deliver big. That means having guys feuding with the right guys. Carlito & the Sandman never need to feud again. Why? Carlito can wrestle and Sandman waves a stick around. That doesn't benefit either guy.

Reason #3: The Injury Bug

We've had Triple H, Rey Mysterio, The Undertaker, Shawn Michaels, Edge, and now Bobby Lashley get hurt. It's an unfortunate thing. You can't predict when these guys will get hurt. It's a freak thing. I've said it before, but one wrong turn here or there and you can have a torn ACL or quadriceps. It happens. A majority of these guys do everything they can to prevent injuries and prevent things from happening. But, when six of your top guys go down, that's going to hurt the business. There's no question that Triple H, The Undertaker, and HBK are probably some of the biggest draws in the company's history. Rey Mysterio was a big draw when he was World Champion. Edge & Bobby Lashley haven't really had the time to prove if they're big draws or not. People come to the shows to see the big names and right now, most of them are on the shelf.