The REAL Reason WWE Raw Has Been So Terrible Lately
A myriad of problems have led to Raw hitting several all-time lows recently.
Monday Night Raw is in the skids at the moment.
With WWE's flagship show hitting another all-time low rating this week and the company's creative direction continually slaughtered by fans and critics, calling it a brand in crisis wouldn't be an exaggeration, but where did this mess come from?
Per Dave Meltzer on a recent Wrestling Observer Radio episode, Vince McMahon has taken to personally rewriting entire episodes at the last minute. This has coincided with the downturn, and while Meltzer (rightly) notes in this week's Observer that the most recent episode was a slight improvement, Raw is still in the doldrums.
McMahon is 'terribly overworked and doesn't sleep.' He has, according to the Observer, instructed his announcers to be more argumentative, worsening the issues. Then there are his long-held star-making problems, with the Chairman's methods 'making everyone feel like a midcarder,' creating a void of larger-than-life stars.
Roman Reigns and Braun Strowman being absent from television doesn't help either, though the former obviously can't be helped.
Though nothing that hasn't already been theorised, Meltzer's points are salient, particularly when he talks about Raw's 'WCW vibe.' Their lack of competition means WWE aren't in any danger of going the way of Ted Turner's company, but the flagship's slump is worrying nonetheless.