Vince McMahon is to return to Raw this coming Monday to ‘shake things up’. In the ever crazy world of WWE, this could mean absolutely anything. Having given the matter some thought, here are ten things that need to change in order to ‘shake things up’
1. The Universal Championship either needs to be retired completely and stricken from the records or Brock Lesnar’s contract needs amending so he is actually there, fighting, being present on a regular basis. That title means absolutely nothing so it’s time to make a decision about its future. In an ideal world Seth Rollins will drop the Intercontinental Championship to Dean Ambrose and swiftly set his sights on the Universal Championship. This is the only way to salvage this situation….THE ONLY WAY!!
2. The United States Championship needs further TV time. Nakamura is one of the best wrestlers on the Smackdown Live roster and has the potential to bring this belt the same prestige as the Intercontinental Championship. The mid card need this title so they have something to fight for and right now, they don’t.
3. Michael Cole needs removing from Raw commentary. Renee Young and Corey Graves have such tremendous chemistry and all Cole does is undermine them.
4. Slogans, catch phrases and constant self promotions are dis-engaging to the point they’ve lost all meaning. They are overused and rammed down our throats and achieve nothing other than to irritate us. They have more power when used sporadically and effectively.
5. Tag teams. Tag teams. Tag teams. The booking of Raw’s tag team division is totally baffling at times. The Revival are so wasted right now, it’s almost cringe-worthy.
6. The General Manager (GM) role. Does it even serve a purpose anymore? Paige’s injury and retirement was heartbreaking and most fans are pleased to see her because they genuinely like her. Baron Corbin’s character is just awful, not effective heel awful, just awful. You can’t help but think his role as GM was a last ditch effort for him to generate some response from fans. However, I still nothing him. That’s not say that ‘Deep 6’ isn’t a great move and he does have some potential but I think time has run out. The GM character could be completely removed from both shows and not missed. So I ask again, what value does the role actually have anymore?
7. The women’s division, what to do with the women’s division? Nia Jax is so green and so awful, I just can’t talk about it any more. Everyone sees through this weird protection she has because of who she’s related to. The fact she can’t wrestle and can’t cut a promo seems to be totally overlooked and needs to stop. Ronda Rousey needs to decide if she actually is the baddest woman on the planet or not. WWE fans do not want to see their women’s champion complaining about the tour schedule and crying over what she’s missing out on at home. If she is going to stay, she needs to fully commit and suck it up.
8. ‘This is your life’ and other pointless segments of this nature need to be firmly placed in the rear-view mirror.
9. Who needs to move brands? This is an ongoing debate in my house and my thoughts on this change daily. Today I think AJ Styles or Jeff Hardy need to move to Raw. Raw need a a really strong face right now and these are the only two guys, other than Seth Rollins I think can fill the void. Finn Balor to Smackdown Live where he’ll hopefully be used better. Baron Corbin steps away from GM role and also moves over. Nia Jax to Smackdown Live, Becky Lynch to Raw.
10. Fire 80% of the current writing team and bring in new, fresh blood with new ideas and new outlook. Couple this with some of the fresher eyes who are producing matches, ie Tyson Kidd and I’m sure they can turn things around very quickly.
The one thing we don’t need right now is NXT call ups. NXT is practically perfect in its current state and the thought of any those guys being moved to one of the main shows in the current state they’re in (particularly Raw) makes my stomach turn.
What do you guys think needs to change? Let us know your thoughts. Tweet us @KayfabeToady @RoxBlackburn
