The Rock's First Field Goal Of 2012 Fails

3.1. Wow! That is what this week's Raw, featuring the return of The Rock, got in the ratings. That is far less than my 3.7 prediction. To be honest, I originally felt like predicting a 3.5. But after looking at the ratings so far this year, I saw that there already was a Raw that did that well. I figured that The Rock's return would have to do better than that. I knew what Raw was up against this week, but I wasn't exactly expecting a 3.9 like last year. I was expecting at least better than a 3.2. The Rock's return didn't even get up to my lowest expectations, in terms of ratings.

The Rock is arguably the biggest success the WWE has had to make it in Hollywood. After him, who is left to really make a big return? Lesner? Goldberg? You can list names yourself, but I don't think any would have the mainstream attention and hype that The Rock can bring. What should the WWE be thinking? Blame it on competition on that night. Leads me to wonder, how much worse would it have been without The Rock?

Is this another indicator that the company is heading down? Several indicators, including ratings and stocks, are showing bad trends. If the WWE keeps heading in this direction, that really might lead to a horrible end.

There is another way of looking at this that might still lead to a horrible end. The WWE might not actually be on too horrible of a path. Sure, their product sucks to many people, so they may lose viewers and chances to make money, but they will still balance out somewhere. What it really comes down to his how they react to what they see. If they don't flinch easily, that would be good for them. Keep focus and follow through on what you believe will work. However, if they see bad numbers and start doing crazy crap, that can lead to even more problems. Crazy crap? I don't think that is a term I used a lot in college when I wrote essays. What do I mean? Random depushes, inconsistency, wasting time bringing in guest stars or legends that fail to create the hype to draw, shooting for huge publicity stunts that fail, and so on. By doing these things, the WWE might make the situation worse and might even create a fatal mistake that wipes itself out.

Whether they are on a slow path down or shoot themselves in the foot, possibly even a mix of both, the WWE definitely has issues. This is Wrestlemania season. This is the time of the year for the biggest ratings boosts. It's not coming. Not yet, anyway. The Rock could not deliver on his first Raw in 2012. Judging by how they used him in that promo, they either need to handle this feud better or they will never see at least a 3.7 from The Rock's appearances in the coming weeks. I see that there is this whole debate about whether The Rock should be back, taking time from the guys who work their asses off every single week. I wasn't really going to chime in on this, but it relates to what I am saying now. The argument is that these legends draw, so you have to let it happen. Are they still drawing? As much as the WWE would like? Besides that, what happens when The Rock goes back to Hollywood? And Shawn Michaels goes back to hunting? And The Undertaker goes back to that ghastly skeletal being he has waitng for him at home? Who on the actual roster can draw for you? Cena and Punk have not gotten excellent ratings last year. In the end, it is still good to have these legends back, especially when there's always merchandise sales to look at, if not ratings, and these other guys on the roster still get fair time to perform, but the real problem is how the WWE uses what they have. It just isn't as entertaining as it should be. I spoke to my cousin the other day, who used to watch wrestling a lot younger, not much now, and he said he watched The Rock's segment on Raw, but he thought it was boring. I can see what he means. Don't get e wrong, great to see The Rock back, his promo had some good moments, and he proved he can still control the audience, but I can see how some people would be bored by this. If the WWE wants their workers and legends to deliver, they have to put them in a better position to do it.