Raw's 20th Anniversary

I was so busy talking about the divas this week, I did not get much of a chance to talk about this week's Raw. This week's Raw was hyped as their 20th Anniversary show. They had a milestone show just less than a year ago, so it was understandable if this show wasn't as packed as that one.

That being said, I still found this week's episode to be disappointing. I wasn't expecting much in terms of returns of big legends. It was great seeing Flair again. Mick Foley was there. The Rock was there to further his feud with CM Punk. I was expecting more in terms of big segments. Miz and Flair had a segment. Rock was in the main-event segment. The Shield did their usual thing, which is starting to get stale, but that is a topic for another day. Kaitlyn won the title, but I cannot consider that a big deal for someone who is not yet an established star. She did have her hometown on her side. There was a cage match between Cena and Ziggler, but I wasn't feeling hyped up for that. It was between being an average Raw and the kind of Raw you would expect for a milestone show.

This milestone Raw brought a 3.19. Last year's milestone Raw, which was the highest-rated Raw that year, got a 3.86. If it was not for that episode of Raw, last year's average rating would have been a lot worse than it was. What could the WWE possibly put together to avoid further slipping this year? The year has started solidly, staying above a 3.0 so far, but what happens when The Rock leaves and Wrestlemania season ends? Those 3-hour Raws will hurt again. And if the product becomes even more stale, you can expect even worse numbers than last year. What will end up bringing the best ratings for Raw this year? What will bring those results near a 3.86? It doesn't look like it will be their 20th Anniversary show.

Changing directions. A while ago, I remember hearing that Rikishi said on Twitter that he was glad to see Tamina getting time on Smackdown and getting the win. Yeah? And where's Tamina now? I mean no disrespect to either Rikishi or Tamina. Now that Eve is gone and the title is on a face, Tamina will most likely get pushed to put over Kaitlyn eventually, whether the WWE decides to develop Kaitlyn as centerpiece or treats her as interim centerpiece. It just goes to show that you cannot say what kind of career a diva is getting just off one match, one month, or even one push. Yes, Tamina got a televised win recently. But it was not connected to anything at all. Why should I make too big of a deal out of it? If Rikishi can get excited for Tamina getting treatment like that, that's fine. I don't think that's a fair opportunity at all and it will not lead to improvement in the diva division.