7 Ups And 5 Downs From Last Night's WWE Raw (Sept 9)

4. Need To Make Stars

stone cold steve austin
WWE.com

One of the popular gripes we hear is that WWE doesn’t make stars anymore. The brand is the real draw, and the individual wrestlers are just components of the product, not the actual attraction.

As much as some might argue that point, it’s somewhat evident when you listen to the crowd reaction to everything that “Stone Cold” Steve Austin said and did Monday night versus their reactions to Braun Strowman, Seth Rollins (the guy who beat their current biggest star, Brock Lesnar, twice­) and several others during the first hour. It was deafening for Austin, while Rollins’ pop was muted by comparison.

You can claim that Austin is legendary – and that’s very true – but it’s also true that Austin retired 16 years ago, so many fans in attendance never saw a Stone Cold match live or experienced him during his heyday. He’s still over on the strength of those past performances and fans’ memories of them.

It just reinforces the need to build up the next generation of superstars, because in another 16 years, who’s going to walk down the ramp and get that Austin reaction? Are they gonna wheel Undertaker down?

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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 fortunately became a fan in time for WrestleMania III and came back as a fan after a long high school hiatus before WM XIV. Monday nights in the Carlson household are reserved for viewing Raw -- for better or worse.