WWE: Flops of June 24th RAW

This week followed what was said to be one of the better RAWs of this year, and hence, going into the show, there were a lot of expectations from it. Traditionally, the South Carolina crowd is considered to be a ‘dead’ crowd, which put off quite a few fans before RAW even aired. Going into the show, the big buzz surrounded Lesnar’s attack on CM Punk, which paved way to the rumored and much anticipated show down between the two ‘Paul Heyman Guys’ at Summerslam. Also, last week, Henry cut possibly the greatest promo of his career, fooling everyone (including me for some seconds) before delivering the World’s Strongest Slam to Cena. So the question remained; what would Cena do? Did he get his retribution? What were the weak links on the show? Let us now see what were the flops coming out of this week’s RAW.

5. Lack of direction for Chris Jericho

Chris Jericho is arguably the greatest performer in the WWE, at least for the past few years. Even though he can out-perform almost the entire locker room, for the past few years, he has been involved in building new stars as he understands that his role in the company is currently limited to that. In a business where even 60-year-olds want to hold back the talent, Jericho is the one guy who steps up willingly to lose to newcomers and put them over. But ever since his feud with Fandango ended, the WWE management hasn’t come up with a clear direction for Jericho.

He was first used as a ploy to bring back Punk, but from then, he has been dilly-dallying in the WWE, and in one and a half weeks, he feuded with Punk, ADR, Ziggler, and now will face Ryback at Money in the Bank PPV. Of course, Jericho will end up putting over Ryback, but as one of the greatest names in the business, Jericho deserves a clear storyline and a good build. Let’s not forget the magic Jericho and Shawn Michaels created when they feuded couple of years ago. That’s what Jericho can do, provided he has a say in how a story plays out.

4. Sheamus makes Cody and Sandow look like fools, again!

This is almost a rehash from every episode. Why would the crowd care about Sheamus when he clearly bullies his opponents? And why are Cody and Sandow being booked like absolute jobbers? I don’t get how we’re supposed to be excited about Sheamus facing Sandow in a Dublin street fight! Sheamus has absolutely dominated both Cody and Sandow in the past couple of months, and we’re supposed to cheer Sheamus on? This week, Christian and Sheamus teamed up to take on Team Rhodes Scholars, but Sheamus single-handedly destroyed both his opponents to pick up the easy victory. I’ve felt bad for Cody and Sandow for a while, and if anything, Sheamus makes me want to change the channel.

3. Cover of WWE 2K14 video game revealed

This isn’t exactly a flop, but when WWE hyped the unveiling of their new video game ‘2K14’, I wanted to see whom they were planning to promote. I honestly thought it would be Daniel Bryan, but to my surprise, it was The Rock. I understand that WWE is business, and Dwayne does more business for WWE than almost anyone else, whether it be a couple of appearances a year or hyping a PPV, but it would be nice to give an active superstar the chance to be the face of the new WWE merchandise, and that is where the fan side of me got peeved.

Daniel Bryan has been the hottest star in the WWE for quite a while, and how do WWE promote him? I’m not knocking The Rock, but let’s look at things this way. If WWE put a Hogan or a Piper on the cover during their game launch in late 99-early 2000s, when Rock was the face of the company, would that be justified? The answer, not so shockingly, is no.

2. Cena’s mic skills

Okay, so Cena isn’t the best on the mic now. Not that he once was, but he had pretty good mic skills which entertained the fans for a while. But ever since his ‘Superman’ gimmick started, he has been the most monotonous superstar in the WWE, and that includes the likes of Swagger and Del Rio. This week, he did his usual shtick about how his opponent blindsided him, and rounded it off with the all too familiar ‘The champ is here!’ and ‘Our time is now!’.

Sadly, Cena has been saying that for the past 8 years, and we’re left with the feeling of time warp where the time stands still. Cena needs to improve his mic work, and do something with his promos. There is a reason why 80% of the crowd, where ever he goes, boos him out of the building. I, for one, try my hardest to sit through his segments, and I feel sorry for the fans in attendance who have to do that.

1. Vince/Triple H/Vickie Guerrero segments

Okay, whose brilliant mind came up with ‘Let’s waste time by putting the McMahon–Helmsley drama for a millionth time’ on TV? To make matters worse, they do it by involving Vickie Guerrero and Brad Maddox. Now, no offense to Brad, but he probably has the poorest acting skills on the main roster at the moment. With Vince saying Bryan is an ‘embarrassment’ because of his size, he just knocked down the hottest star in the company!

Triple H did one better by contradicting himself when he said Bryan deserves to be on the show, as he doesn’t care about ‘size’, but asked Maddox if his shirt was available in men’s size. I’m not nit-picking, but this is what we have to sit through every week. I would be glad if WWE decides to go back to 2 hours soon, as these segments can be left from the show, hopefully.