Up High, Down Low

Raw managed a 3.25 rating this week. Compared to how it has been doing in the past few months, that is great. But there is more to the story. The first hour received over a 3.4 in the ratings. The second, on the other hand, dropped to the same area you would expect from the recent numbers, a 3.02. That is a clear sign of something.

Raw did start with the controversy that started at the end of last week. The wrestlers and other workers walked out. How did Triple H handle the situation? Not surprisingly, John Cena was the first guy out to support him. Sheamus and CM Punk followed. While Sheamus and Cena were going at it, Vince McMahon made his return. He announced that Triple H was going to be relieved of his COO duties. Up to this point, things were progressing fine. I believe the big mistake the WWE made was revealing John Laurinaitis has the new guy in charge so fast. Obviously, a lot of people were expecting this guy. I was hoping for a swerve myself, but choosing him makes sense in the storyline. But the problem was not drawing the moment out. Have Vince announce that there will be a new COO, Raw GM, or whatever they want to do, announced later in the night. Make it seem like the Board of Directors is finalizing the decision. Leave Triple H in charge until the decision is announced. Have the workers who are on strike return, since Triple H will no longer be COO anyway. He would simply be serving out his remaining hour or so. The mystery of who will be in charge will lead to fans tuning in. It may not have been as much as the first hour got, but it would be better than a 3.02. Would the new GM be Mick Foley? Announced as The Rock, who would then appear live via satellite? Austin? Stephanie? Vickie Guerrero? All the surprises were really killed in the first hour. Yes, Miz and R-Truth "returned" in the main event, but that was not teased throughout the night, so how could that draw anyone very well? They could have had Laurinaitis be announced as the new boss between the start of the second hour and the main event. Let him then set up CM Punk vs. Alberto Del Rio, and then change it to a tag match later on to include Miz and R-Truth. Triple H could have booked all the other matches on the card. Having Laurinaitis be in charge may not help ratings too much in the long run, but doing things this way might have helped salvage the ratings for at least this Raw. Nevertheless, ratings were still up overall.

John Cena was not in the main event. Did that impact anything? CM Punk was. Triple H came out to make the save for him. CM Punk is pretty much becoming Triple H's sidekick. But let me go back. CM Punk took on Alberto Del Rio in a non-title match. After it was changed to a tag match, Del Rio walked out on Punk. That is not surprising from a heel. No sign of Cena. I see a problem there. John Cena is the one getting his rematch at a PPV, but with the way things went down in this match, you would think Del Rio and Punk had a feud going on. Obviously, this whole picture could have broken down two ways. Triple H was not going to feud with Del Rio right now, so he is going after Miz and R-Truth. Who joins him? Both CM Punk and John Cena were attacked by Miz and R-Truth. Punk and Cena are both self-righteous guys, which would make it easy for them to side with Triple H and go after Miz and Truth. Cena has a rematch coming from Alberto Del Rio. CM Punk is the one who Del Rio walked out on this week. Both guys have an issue with Del Rio there. I would have rushed Cena's rematch on Raw prior to the next PPV, and possibly have Truth and Miz get involved. That would leave Cena to team with Triple H against those two. Punk could then be given or earn a singles shot at Del Rio at Vengeance. This would not be a depush for Cena. The storyline involving Triple H is currently the major storyline, not the WWE title feud. As I said before, Cena wasn't even seen during the main event this week, even though his opponent for Vengeance was there. The way things are going down, Cena may actually be losing some momentum. Is that a good thing or bad thing?

Raw started out well, went stale, and ended a little messy. They did not do a proper job of keeping suspense going into the second hour. They did not do a proper job of promoting the feud between Cena and Del Rio as best as they could. That 3.25 will not help them save this year from being the worst in terms of average yearly rating in over a decade. People do not like Laurinaitis, but that does not mean people will tune in to see what evil things he will do or see him eventually get a Pedigree. The WWE has to step things up more than that.