Fixing "Raw" - The Fans Speak Out - Letter to the Editor

Wrestling Digest, April, 2003 by Lee Thompson

I agree with you and the majority of your readers that "Smackdown" offers better entertainment than "Raw." I disagree with your reasoning that Triple H and Eric Bischoff are dragging it down. Those two are the only real personalities on the show. To put it bluntly, "Raw" lacks imagination.

Here are some suggestions:

1. Write stories that logically start and end. How many times has a story line suddenly disappeared. "Raw" seems to wander aimlessly without any direction. It is a soap opera and should be written like one.

2. Give reasons why characters disappear. One week the Right To Censor is beating the crap out of someone and the next week they are gone. What happened? Where the heck are X-Pac, Big Bossman, Road Dogg, the Rock, and Stone Cold? We don't need the real story. It's entertainment--make something up.

3. Expand the stories outside of the arena. For example, the hardcore championship (which can be decided anywhere) should be decided everywhere but the arena. Watching Maven get his ass kicked at a pancake social or an ol folks home would be funny. They used to do this with hilarious results.

4. More comedy. Face it, "Smackdown" exploits the comedic talents of its wrestlers better. Eric Bischoff, William Regal, and Chris Nowinski are funny. All they need are better writers who will use their talents.

5. Don't ignore the past. It drives me crazy when a superstar has developed and cultivated a persona and then comes out the next week as someone totally different. The Undertaker, Mick Foley, Steven Richards, and Al Snow come to mind. One week Snow is a crazy, head-carrying fruit cake and the next week he's the instructor on "Tough Enough." It just doesn't wash with the fans.

6. Ensure all matches have a story line. There are way too many marginal wrestlers and matches that currently fail to capture the imagination of the wrestling audience. Matches that showcase Hurricane, Tommy Dreamer, and Justin Credible come to mind. Nothing is more aggravating than sitting through a wrestling match between two opponents who are filling space so the show can last two hours.

Lee Thompson
Memphis

Lee, your letter was thought, logical, funny, and entertaining, or in other words, everything "Raw" all too often is not.