10 Burning Questions For WWE Raw (Oct 3)

2. Can Raw Be Any Worse?

Triple H Stephanie McMahon
WWE.com

Ratings-wise, last week’s Raw was historically bad. Creatively speaking, Raw wasn’t in the gutter, but it certainly has fallen off in recent times. Regardless of other factors drawing viewers’ attention (namely, Monday Night Football and the U.S. presidential debate) away from Raw, the show has been hemorrhaging viewers during the past month in part because it hasn’t been very good.

WWE is the only major game in town. There is a wealth of talent on the Raw roster right now – it very clearly is the “A” show for the company. They have an army of writers who allegedly are skilled at their jobs. And yet, consistency wavers from week to week. Logical progression of storylines disappears without warning. Dialogue is clunky and unconvincing. Company executives who aren’t regular in-ring performers are the most well-defined and ever-present characters, rather than the fulltime wrestlers who ultimately need to hook viewers.

There is no quick fix to all of this, and some weeks, even with these persistent problems, Raw can be very good and enjoyable. But when it’s bad, it’s bad. Was last week a bottoming out, or will we see WWE continuing to dig while in a hole?

Contributor
Contributor

Scott is a former journalist and longtime wrestling fan who was smart enough to abandon WCW during the Monday Night Wars the same time as the Radicalz. He fondly remembers watching WrestleMania III, IV, V and VI and Saturday Night's Main Event, came back to wrestling during the Attitude Era, and has been a consumer of sports entertainment since then. He's written for WhatCulture for more than a decade, establishing the Ups and Downs articles for WWE Raw and WWE PPVs/PLEs and composing pieces on a variety of topics.