Falls Count Anywhere

10-11-07

Lawsy, did he.

The RAW World Title
I got back from Silicon on Sunday evening and I trolled the web for wrestling news. I always do this and it usually takes me to various good reviews and sometimes even video. I had the video of the No Mercy show on disk before noon Monday morning. After reading everything I turned to the Main Event of No Mercy, completely ignoring the rest of the show.

The first thing that hit me was there was no Jericho. They didn’t bring him out. Why not, you wonder. Well, I think it’s because they were pretty sure they’d be able to hold off on him until the next PPV and pop another buyrate since they’re hoping that the interest in who the new World Champ was would bring more people in. I think they probably should have put Jericho in the Main Event and gone with that, but I understand the thinking they went with here.

HHH and Randy Orton have worked together a lot and have had some pretty darn good matches. The two of them are in a lot of ways like Barry Windham and Ric Flair from the mid-1980s. HHH is the older champion and already a legend while Orton is the young guy who is supposed to be the next big thing. It didn’t quite work out for Barry, but Randy’s got a shot. This match was great with both guys going all the way. They did chairs and stairs and brawled and worked in the ring and HHH was obviously calling this one because it felt like that classics he had with The Rock and Jericho and Angle all over again.

Say what you will about HHH, but he can make a match seem like a big deal and get people emotionally involved with the way they’re working it. Orton has a great young punk feeling about him and I’m betting he gets a decently long reign, perhaps even long enough to face off with Cena when he returns from his injury.

This whole situation brings a lot into light. They have to be able to draw without Cena, which has been difficult over the last few months. They’ve got Edge in a position where he can be a part of things again, but he’s gonna be on SmackDown! With Orton, they’ve got a real heel who can cut a promo and who has calmed down a bit of late and is no longer the bastard he was for so long. He’s got a natural feud with Jericho once he gets back and he can go with HHH for a while. Having a heel champ right about now is probably a good thing too because they can build a natural chase.

Many Happy Returns
The RAW after No Mercy was apparently very good, but I didn’t watch it. I got the tape Tuesday morning and since I had heard what happened I fast forwarded right to the important point: the end.

Vince McMahon has been putting himself all over his shows again, and that’s not a good thing for long-term, but he does provide a certain something that makes announcements like the one at the end of the episode more interesting. Vince was out and brought out Randy. I have to say that Orton did a pretty good promo putting himself over, but it was one of those fully selfish promos that didn’t really give anything to the opponent. Vince demanded that HHH come out and shake Orton’s hand, and this was after H had been beaten on by Umaga and Orton.

Now, something that should have been learned ages ago. If you’re the heel and you start making your way up the aisle, you’re either going to be beaten when you walk backstage or you’re going to be met by someone unexpected.

This time, Shawn Michaels was the unexpected meeting and he gave Orton Sweet Chin Music.

It was a great way to end a show that a lot of people seemed to enjoy. I’m sure that Shawn was enjoying his time off and spending time working on his ministry and with his family, but the WWE needed him back and something fierce. This was good news, though it will likely only lead to one show a week and a PPV appearance once a month, but that’s still better than not having him.

Michaels, no matter what you think about him, is a fabulous worker and knows exactly how to get the most effect from the least effort. He’ll have to slow down a bit as his back and knees are shot, but if he’s not used as a wrestler as much and more as a personality who wrestles once in a while, that would make him a very important piece of the puzzle. Replacing John Cena looked very difficult; bringing back Michaels and Jericho will help in that direction.

The sad part is, the show on Monday scored a 2.8 rating. That’s really low. The Monday Night Football game wasn’t hugely rated, but it’s had to have had some effect on the number. If that’s not the case, then it’s just the fact that they’ve made mistakes and Cena really is a TV ratings draw whether they like that fact or not.

There are still questions about direction and steroids and how things will shake out. There hasn’t been that big hit for ratings yet. True, they’re still not great and the slight dip has hurt, but there’s been no real collapse because numbers like this week’s have been rare. House show attendance will probably slow over the coming months since John Cena was the biggest draw there.

The real test, as anyone who follows rates and so forth is WrestleMania. The buyrate for Mania will be a big deal, especially if John Cena’s not around. If he’s around, and I have to think that they’ll rush him back if at all possible, and the numbers are good, he’ll take all the credit. If the numbers are bad and he’s around, they’ll blame it on his being gone so long and them losing that audience. If he’s not there and the number is good, it’ll be a sign to them that he was never a draw and that HHH is the real draw. If he’s not there and the number is bad, they’ll blame him for being out as the reason. Basically, the company rests on his shoulders.

As for steroid matters, it’s gonna get worse. This looks more and more like the kind of injury a roider gets after a while. He’s also been running so hard without a break that this sort of injury is bound to happen, which is the angle that the WWE is building up. I don’t see that holding water for too long. They’re probably going to have to rebuild the company around guys who are off the sauce, even if they test clean. There’s an increasing call for regulation and though the initial investigation into roids and wrestling seems to have calmed, it seems that another is just around the way.

This could be huge. The last major drop in popularity came in the early 1990s and that was due to steroids too. I think we could see that again. The Benoit stuff has cooled down for the moment, but we’ll likely hear more as the trial and discussions of what happens to the money takes place. There’s no question that’ll get ugly and because of that it’ll get a lot of attention.

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That’s all for this week. More on Thursday next since I’m away for the weekend!

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Chris Garcia