Welcome back to another round of Quick Takes—a post that indulges in the topics that aren’t worth dedicating a full article to, but are still on my mind.
Each week, I try to cram in as many smaller talking points as I can via a speedier process, and I invite you to chime in with your own thoughts about these topics and anything else by keeping the discussion going in the comments below! Drop some more talking points in there for everyone to chat it up about, too!
This time around, I’m going to try to split things up a bit. This edition is a three-count of topics dedicated entirely to Monday Night Raw. Hopefully, there will be enough topics to talk about for NXT and/or SmackDown to have their own posts.
Mansoor’s Winning Streak Ends
WWE signs a bunch of people from Saudi Arabia for the first show. None of them pan out except one guy, Mansoor.
For the next few years, he pops up randomly here and there. He wins every single match that he’s in, whether it’s against an established name like Cesaro or a battle royal with lots of bigger stars.
And then, on his first night as a Monday Night Raw Superstar, he loses. By disqualification. Because of Humberto Carrillo.
What the hell? Why was it better to have Carrillo attack Sheamus and give him the victory, than to have something like Carrillo distract Sheamus, so Mansoor could get a roll-up win? Or maybe, Sheamus gets counted out? How about Mansoor wins by disqualification after Sheamus does something to him like hit him with a foreign object?
WWE really doesn’t bother to think about anything anymore. A brief moment of consideration can go a long way in making something better. I don’t see any argument for Sheamus winning, because if WWE thinks “It doesn’t matter. Mansoor is a nobody.” then why are you calling him up to Raw? Why is he signed? If he DOES matter, why’d you kill his undefeated gimmick? How does that help him?
Insanity. It’s so much more frustrating being a WWE fan than it is to follow something like the MCU, where things are just logical 95% of the time.
Eva Marie is Back
Many fans are upset that Eva Marie has come back to WWE after two massive rounds of signings. The argument is basically “Why would you sign someone who accomplished nothing, clearly used WWE as a pedestal to try to launch herself into a different career, and then failed, and is now coming back, despite how she’s never been good in the ring, while firing people who were passionate about this particular job and were overall better performers?”
I don’t disagree. In fact, I’d echo the same sentiments. However, we know the answer to this. It’s because WWE thinks she’s going to create more buzz than some of the other people.
She’s undeniably attractive. Even if she’s not YOUR type specifically, you can recognize that she’s what most people would find sexy. If you polled 100 people, the vast majority would think she’s hot. On top of that, she’s developed some extra recognition outside of WWE from other types of media, including the celebrity version of Big Brother.
WWE probably thinks “Look. She’s attractive, so people will like that. She could bring in some other viewers, maybe. Let’s try that out.”
Just like I said before, WWE as a business is interested in making money and growing the company, above everything else. Even the more “feel-good” things like the charities are largely done because it helps the brand’s image, rather than just being a humanitarian thing. Of course, that is an element to it, but WWE isn’t a nonprofit organization and the bottom line is always “will it sell?”
WWE clearly thinks Eva Marie can. Then again, they also at one point thought Manu, Bam Neely, Ricky Ortiz, Eric Escobar, and plenty of others could be worth their contract and more.
Sometimes, WWE is right. Other times, WWE is wrong. We’ll just have to wait to see if this pans out better than the last time, or if Eva Marie is just picking up where she left off and still on an uphill climb.
Why Bother Watching WWE TV?
What incentive does WWE give its fans to watch its product anymore? I started watching this late—at nearly 10 o’clock, mind you—and I was able to skip through enough of it to catch up by 10:30 or so.
That’s nearly 2 and a half hours crunched down to 30 minutes.
You know why? Because it was all nonsense. You don’t need to watch a 3 hour show each week where a solid hour is commercials, another 30 minutes could be recaps and video packages that do nothing but repeat what we’ve already seen, and then, WWE’s habit lately of milking every segment for at least 2, if not 3 or 4 stretches of time.
I like setup. Everyone should. But I don’t need a 10 minute promo from every person about how they’re going to have a match later, when what they’re saying is basically just “I’m having a match and I’m going to win.”
Say something worth listening to. Do something with your character. Alter the storyline a bit, or progress it beyond just “they had another match, so now, we can say it’s a deep and bitter feud because they’ve fought lots of times.”
Why did Jinder Mahal return on Main Event to fight Jeff Hardy, who we haven’t seen in a long while, and also show that he’s paired with Indus Sher? That will air on Thursday’s show that nobody ever watches and WWE doesn’t even list on the website as an actual show that exists. But ask yourself what you really took away from Raw in comparison.
Lily is pointless. Everything just drags until it’s over. Charlotte and Sonya basically repeat their segment from last week with slightly different dialogue (IE, same purpose, just different text).
WWE unintentionally rewards its fans for not watching, rather than for watching everything, because the less you watch, the less it all becomes routine repeat drivel.
For a company that always stresses “for the first time ever” in every possible way, you’d think they’d understand the benefit of “don’t drive something into the ground.”
What are your takes on these topics? Keep the discussion going in the comments below!
