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Raw Ratings Reax #5: " Once fans see this industry has cleaned itself up, they'll be back." Oct 11, 2007 - 1:00:37 PM
A.A Norman of Tulsa, Okla. I loved Monday's Raw show because it gave us a great finishing match (Jeff Hardy vs. Mr. Kennedy), a great surprise ending (HBK's return), and some wonderful promos involving the likes of Triple H vs. McMahon and Santino vs. Jillian (aka Lillian) et al. However, based off of the PPV results and the past few months of shows, how was I supposed to know that this would all be on the show on Monday? There was no established rivalry between Hardy and Kennedy, but it worked well and I hope it continues. There was no hint of HBK or even Y2J returning Monday, so if you hated the Superman antics of Triple H against Umaga and Orton, you had no reason to keep watching. You had every reason to stop watching after that pathetic attempt to put over Triple H once again (thank you, Mrs. Triple H). For some strange reason, perhaps because of Santino or the Triple H vs. McMahon backstage promo, I kept watching and I wasn't disappointed. The viewers that gave Raw a 2.8 rating will return, as will quite a few that heard about the show afterward. I think continuing to have surprises every show will bring more viewers back. I would like to see promising rivalries continue. I would like to see more factions like Evolution, Nation of Domination, or even McMahon-Helmsley. But I have to admit, it is not a good time to be a Raw fan, or even a wrestling fan. I don't have an RVD bobblehead on my desk at work, I don't even talk about it with friends. It's an embarrassment to be a wrestling fan right now, because the shows overall are not appealing to wide audiences and they are buried in scandals known nationwide.
Sarah Daigen of Kitchener, Ont.: I think a big part of the problem with WWE right now is fans are starting to lose faith in them. Vince McMahon and Co. have had a lot of opportunities in the last while to shake things up and create a fresh and positive new point of view on WWE: beginning with the Benoit Family Tragedy (as sick as it may be, I think that was a real opportunity to make P.R. lemonade out of lemons, if they'd listened to the public and made some real changes), through the numerous injuries and suspensions this summer and fall, and culminating in the injury of John Cena last week. However, they keep disappointing in their responses to these problems. And once fans have been disappointed enough, they stop thinking ''Oh, they can make hay with this." It's always a let-down, even when they have a good idea (as I'm afraid this Save_Us thing will ultimately be). They're also afraid of change. Look at the title scene - in the last eight months, only one world title has changed for storyline-dictated reasons; Great Khali's. John Morrison lost his due to being suspended, Undertaker, Edge, and Cena lost theirs due to injury, etc. When top talent like Cena gets injured, instead of creating an opportunity for one of the younger guys, they simply plug in Triple H or Shawn Michaels (not that I don't love both of them - but...). It's just time for some fresh ideas from someone listening to the fans in WWE HQ.
Carole Freeman of Los Angeles, Calif.: I have the feeling that the Benoit Tragedy, which was in my view was the tip of the iceberg and the deaths of other wrestlers which followed has made fans and others alike wonder what happens to the wrestlers, what is expected of them, what they did to retain their status in the company, and how it all came crashing down for some of them in the end. It is true that every one is responsible for their own actions, no doubt about it, but pressures that were imposed upon them as to their apprearances, pressure to perform while sustaining injuries which over time only got worse, how they coped with these injuries and the lack of down time for some of them has truly given the entire prowrestling industry a reputation that it does not deserve. It's obvious that some of the wrestlers have never recovered from years of wear and tear on themselves and if some of the articles that are written about them are true, some of the wrestlers (ones that are still alive )are still struggling with these same problems now. Vince McMahon has been hotly criticized (whether justly or unjustly) for the pressure he allegedly put on his wrestlers over the years and now that unspeakable tragedies have happened to some of them some fans are beginning to look at the wrestling industry especially the WWE as cruel, uncaring, cold and downright evil as I have heard some call it. I have even heard prowrestling in general labeled as "Slave Labor" and wrestlers labeled as "Disposable Circus Animals" by some television commentators who have been covering these fatalities on their programs. The fact that Congress has launched an investigation of the industry now when it Never had any interest in it in the past is no help. Some fans are looking at the industry differently and are asking questions they have never asked before. The industry needs to clean up its act and I sure hope that the tragedies that have occurred recently will never happen again. Once fans see this clean up, they'll be back.
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