Sitting through Raw is an extreme test of patience. Even a few Zen masters have been reduced to tears by the end of the show. Its not just three long hours to sit through, its three long hours of material, most of which we have seen before in some form or another. It can be maddening to watch, as the program recycles matches due to a combination of the overly long running time, not enough men and women on the roster to fill that time, and an incredible amount of laziness on WWEs part to shake things up. Right now things should be clicking on Raw. The WrestleMania countdown is on, and the Fastlane pay-per-view is only a week away. There are big moves to make to set everything into place, but the show feels so lazy. The top story may move forward a bit, but everything else, the other 90%, feels redundant. Just look at what Mondays show delivered: Becky Lynch vs. Tamina a rematch from the Jan. 18th Raw. Charlotte and Alicia Fox in a rematch from last weeks SmackDown Adam Rose vs. Titus ONeil. A rematch from Dec. 29 Main Event (for those needing a sixth hour of WWE programming). The sixth time Alberto Del Rio and Kalisto have battled in a match since January 5. Ryback and Bray Wyatt in a rematch from the January 21st SmackDown. The Dudley Boyz ninth match against New Day since their return. Kevin Owens and Dolph Ziggler in a re-match from last weeks Raw. A Miz TV segment...just like the one we had the week before. And thats it. When Titus ONeil vs. Adam Rose is your freshest match, then you need to rethink how you book your wrestling shows.
As Rust Cohle from True Detective said "Life's barely long enough to get good at one thing. So be careful what you're good at."
Sadly, I can't solve a murder like Rust...or change a tire, or even tie a tie. But I do know all the lyrics to Hulk Hogan's "Real American" theme song and can easily name every Natural Born Thriller from the dying days of WCW. I was once ranked 21st in the United States in Tetris...on the Playstation 3 version...for about a week.
Follow along @AndrewSoucek and check out my podcast at wrestlingwithfriends.com
