9 Ups And 6 Downs From Last Night's WWE Raw (Feb 8)
1. Losing Streak Push
WWE has this ill-conceived belief that giving someone a losing streak is a viable way to get a wrestler over with fans. The crowd will either rally behind the hard-luck hero (or turn a villain face), or the heel will come unhinged. The history of the WWE is littered with wrestlers saddled with this gimmick who had their careers damaged or derailed as a result, and yet the writers keep going back to this well. Apparently, the new man theyve deemed worthy of a losing streak is Kevin Owens, who lost his third straight televised match Monday, and his second to Dolph Ziggler. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ec2ehZ1RW8U Thats not to put Ziggler down or suggest that losing three matches is the end of a mans career, but WWE is clearly doing this very deliberately, as if it is supposed to substitute for a push or worse be the actual push. Owens freaked out once again after the match, dismantling the announce table. So are we supposed to boo Owens because hes an ineffective villain who takes out his aggression on the announcers? Or should we cheer because he tries really hard and just comes up short?
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.
