2. Shock TV & Continuing To Push The Envelop Past The Point Of Reason
Raw was an ugly place in late 2002. In order to fill the void left by Steve Austin (along with Lesnar, Undertaker and other defectors to Smackdown) WWE took a different approach to their creative, preferring shocking, car crash TV over old school storytelling and wrestling. They were so desperate to improve the ratings that they presented stuff like Hot Lesbian Action and Katie Vick, along with other T&A and tasteless segments and matches. The nadir was obviously the whole Katie Vick thing, where it was alleged that Kane had accidentally killed a young woman while driving a vehicle in college. This led to the notorious skit where Triple H, dressed in a Kane mask, f***ed Katie Vick's brains out, for lack of a better term. It was risible, to say the least (although I'm sure Vince McMahon and Kevin Dunn found it hilarious). While they may poke fun at it these days with shows like Jerry Springer's Too Hot For TV, at the time the audience and wrestling's critics weren't laughing. They were despairing. Smackdown was not immune to crappy, soap opera sorylines, either. Remember that interminable Dawn Marie/Torrie Wilson feud, which featured Dawn marrying Torrie's Dad Al and then him dying on their honeymoon, because Dawn was such an incredible lover? Yes, although the overall product was about fifty times more exciting than it is these days the creative back then left a lot to be desired at times.
