CALDWELL'S TAKE CORNER CUBE WEDNESDAY 6/4 - The kinder, gentler, more huggable WWE doesn't work on Monday nights Jun 4, 2008 - 2:52:18 PM

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Updated daily from the corner cubicle, Torch columnist James Caldwell's weekday blog focuses on hot topic current events and other items of interest from around wrestling.

Updated Wednesday, June 4, 2008

WWE's goal for 2008 is apparently to put smiles not only the faces of the viewing audience, but of every single person who comes in contact with the company. Welcome to the more media-friendly, kid-friendly, huggable, and lovable WWE. Makes you just want to reach out and hug Mike Adamle. OK, maybe not.

If one thing was obvious from WWE's press conference yest---zzzzzz---sorry, press conference in Los Angeles yesterday, it was WWE trying to put a happy face on the world of wrestling. This seems to be the refined mission for WWE's marketing department, which the company has beefed up over the last two years to help increase company value to shareholders.

The changes have been as insignificant as bringing in Teddy Long to replace that meanie Armando Estrada as GM of ECW, and as significant as Vince McMahon claiming to give away $1.0 million each week on Raw until, well, they haven't figured that one out yet.

Let's go to the scoreboard. Raw ratings for the huge announcement this past Monday on Raw - 3.1. Ouch. It's not a huge deal if DVR viewership comes in strong, as has been the case the past month. However, a 3.1 rating for the live broadcast featuring McMahon's big announcement and Jeff Hardy vs. John Cena isn't heart-warming. Smiles aren't on faces.

WWE has a new Kids Magazine, they're giving away a million bucks on Raw, they have news-worthy celebrity involvement from the likes of Shawn Merriman, the fun-loving Cousin Sal is booked for Smackdown, and McMahon is trying to rally the troops behind the product. What gives here?

Here's the problem. WWE's product doesn't have an edge to it. And it starts at the top with Vince McMahon. When the Attitude era kicked into full swing, McMahon and Steve Austin weren't playing patty-cake in the ring. There was an edge to McMahon's character. There was an edge to Steve Austin's character, with conflict always brewing.

In the post-Attitude era, a friendly WWE TV product isn't going to fly with the audience. They don't want to hear the suddenly-fan-friendly McMahon tell them how great the WWE experience is. They want to see and feel the experience with edgy content.

In the ten minutes it took McMahon to repeat what we already knew about McMoney, and in the ten minutes McMahon told us how great the WWE experience is, there could have been ten minutes worth of solid content related to the actual wrestling product McMahon talked about.

With the absence of William Regal from Raw, there isn't a lead antagonist to rile up the fans. McMahon is playing nice, which worked well when he had a headset on at the broadcast position, but doesn't work well based on the last 12 years of how his character has been portrayed.

Randy Orton is injured, Regal is suspended, JBL is begging off for the first time ever, and Paul Burchill is the only male heel on Raw who stood on this past week. We're talking Paul Burchill here.

WWE lost its edge and they need to find it quick. They need antagonists. The kid-friendly, warm-and-fuzzy WWE product might work in a press release to generate a more positive reaction from the media, but when it comes to Monday nights between 9:00 and 11:05 p.m. EST, there need to be more William Regal characters who fans will tune in to watch antagonize their favorite wrestler.

The new Grandpa McMahon might work with the media, but if the tease of $1.0 million bucks didn't draw viewers to the product, then WWE has a lot more work ahead of them to buy ratings.

***

Updated Tuesday, June 3, 2008

Five months ago at the Royal Rumble, John Cena was picked over Jeff Hardy as the headline babyface on the Raw brand. Hardy lost the WWE Title match against Randy Orton. Cena returned from injury and won the Royal Rumble match over Triple H.

Fast-forward to last night's show where WWE took it full circle with Cena defeating Hardy in the main event of Raw to become #1 contender to Triple H's WWE Title. Fans wanted Hardy to win last night, as he represents a fresh face to the main event picture. But, WWE made the right call going with Cena.

Most people will point to Hardy's recent suspension as one reason to only push him only so far. WWE doesn't want another RVD situation from two years ago when he was busted for drug possession while WWE champion. WWE will certainly continue to utilize Hardy because he's a fresh, new star that connects with the audience, but they won't push him all the way with two strikes to his name.

Looking down the road to Summerslam prior to last night's show, it seemed like the best option was booking Triple H vs. John Cena as the marquee match. It just doesn't seem like there's another match-up on paper that can be plugged into the headliner. However, with the Draft looming, I suspect WWE has a Summerslam main event in mind to where they feel confident pulling the trigger on Hunter vs. Cena on the Night of Champions PPV. At least, I hope they have that a more attractive Summerslam match in mind.

I only question the decision on rushing out Cena vs. Hunter because of Vince McMahon's recent behavior on-camera and behind-the-scenes. McMahon is never one to come on TV and say he doesn't have something worked out ahead of time, as he did last week when providing preliminary details on the McMoney sweepstakes.

With the weekly start-stop-start pushes of many wrestlers on the mid-card, it also reflects McMahon not having a clear vision on who he sees as money acts, who should be pushed on TV, and who can be plugged into important PPV matches besides the usual top tier we see each month. From week-to-week, it's a crap shoot on whether someone like Lance Cade is going to be a strong heel or completely ignored on the show.

So, working under the assumption that WWE resolves an unclear picture with the Draft Lottery, and has an even-stronger main event in mind for Summerslam, then Hunter vs. Cena is the right call for Night of Champions.

Cena with a guaranteed three-week program in the spotlight should bring back Cena fans who slowly left Raw when he was injured and then under-utilized when he came back. The Raw brand cannot exist functionally with Hunter on top and Cena a backdrop player. Unless one moves to another brand in the Draft, Cena and Hunter have to find a way to co-exist in the main event picture.

Cena brings in the women and kids. Hunter presumably brings in the young adult male demographic with the "men respect him" vibe like Kevin Nash. It's the right time to book this match, as they need Cena and Hunter to be equally protected as the top two babyfaces on Raw.

***

Updated Monday, June 2, 2008

This is more important than storylines, match outcomes, and stipulations. WWE created an environment at last night's PPV where everyone was expected to take bumps and put their bodies on the line. It started at the top where WWE's most-respected veteran, The Undertaker, put his body on the line taking multiple chair shots and taking a high-risk dive through four tables in the main event of the PPV.

Try to imagine a scenario prior to the PPV where a few guys like Hawkins and Ryder declined to take bumps through tables because they didn't want to risk their health. Imagine the probable result of them becoming the least-respected men in the locker room despite taking a stand for what no one was going to take a stand for on this PPV.

The pressure to put the body on the line was very high on last night's show. Saying "no" to a dangerous bump was not the order of the day and certainly would have been frowned upon when everyone was expected to participate in the bump-fest.

Some wrestlers probably didn't feel any more pain than they usually feel after a night of wrestling, but others will be hurting later this week. Maybe it won't be realized until after this week's TV taping when a wrestler struggles to grab the remote on Wednesday afternoon or forgets a doctor's appointment on Thursday morning.

Maybe it won't be as obvious as Randy Orton's apparent injury, with the irony that Orton's injury was the result of a relatively tame spot compared to the rest of the high-risk moves on the PPV.

But, an injury was destined to happen on this PPV. WWE decided to cast aside medical consideration, just like John Cena symbolically tossed aside the physician in the trainer's room. It was a PPV that started off with the message that there is a time for rules, moderation, and restraint, but "tonight is not that night."

The PPV was a night for clean chair shots to the head, dives off 18-wheelers, a chain being wrapped around a man's throat, dives onto ladders, falls through tables, Singapore Cane shots to the head, and severe lacerations to Big Show and Undertaker.

All of this was in the name of booking an "ECW-style" PPV based on WWE's narrow-view idea of what ECW represents. Two weeks after their last PPV, WWE tried to separate this as a unique event based on the all-gimmicks format that tried to make up for the company's lack of ability to rotate new wrestlers into new main event situations.

The irony is that it wasn't until WWE had people's money on Sunday night that WWE created the feeling that this PPV had a unique theme. WWE had that opportunity on Raw this past Monday, but Vince McMahon's $1.0 million giveaway announcement to drum up interest in the TV product distracted from giving this PPV a unique feel that was worth $40 and three hours.

In the end, though, WWE wrestlers put their bodies on the line in more high-risk situations than on your run-of-the-mill PPV. It was expected from management, it was enhanced by the top-line wrestlers adding to that expectation, and the environment was created due to WWE's lack of discipline in creating new stars to rotate into the top slots.

If there were fresh match-ups WWE had been cultivating for this very PPV, then a dangerous, high-risk, all-gimmicks PPV would not have been necessary to entice viewers to order a PPV two weeks after spending $40 on the previous event. And, preferably, there wouldn't have been an obvious and expected compromise of wrestler health from the top to the bottom of the card.

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