Raw & Exhaustion

So I must confess to having slept through Raw too, dear readers. Yes, it was a busy weekend full of late nights, and I'm disappointed in myself as a fan these last two days. But after two late nights, especially having watched (sort of) the late version of Backlash till 2 am Sunday, and then having had a long day at school, I made it to about 10pm last night. However, I did pick up on some stuff from recaps of the show that I wanted to comment on.

• The 'Fade to Black' ending: it was controversial for the Sopranos and I suspect it will be controversial for the WWE as well. To recap, apparently William Regal, in a fit of petulance towards the fans for not respecting him during his coronation as King of the Ring, and cheering Mr. Kennedy when he came out and gave the good ole Brit what-for, decided the fans weren't going to get what THEY wanted either - he went out to the production truck and pulled the plug on the feed for the main event 28 minutes in, before the finish. Much like with the Sopranos, this was a very controversial booking decision clearly; my opinion? I didn't see exactly how it came off so I don't know for sure. But using the information I DO know - that it was the first WWE Title match on Raw in a long time, that it had gone nearly a half hour, and that it was a solid back and forth match, I don't necessarily think it was a great idea. I don't mind this in theory - if sparsely used and on a throwaway match; I don't know if it would bother me so much if it had been done 5 minutes in. But once fans have invested a half hour of their time into a match to have it pulled off the screen (and called off in the arena after the show went off-air by the aforementioned GM), I think it's cheap. Especially if the goal is to attain casual fans: if I didn't normally watch wrestling and had just surfed by it one night, I would not tune in again, as I would not trust WWE to deliver what it promised. Not good if you're looking to rebuild the fanbase you once had.
• Nostalgia show: the mentioning of Fuji Vice (which is dated even for me and I can't explain it - I just know it was some skit/angle/parody of some sort from the 80s), and an unadvertised surprise cameo for Roddy Piper might have been a neat little nod to longtime wrestling fans - would fans of today have appreciated or understood either, however?
• Murdoch (or was it Cade?) singing 'Friends in Low Places' after his tag partner went off on him - huh? Raw is Karaoke???

Overall - sounds like it was a WEIRD show - fans will either love it for WWE trying something different, or hate it because it sounds like it might not have all come off quite right. Would I myself have loved it or hated it? Don't know - I'm going to try to catch a replay tonight, and if I do I'll let you know my thoughts. Otherwise, anyone wanting to provide feedback FOR this very tired wrestling blogger would be appreciated - just email me at the link in the sidebar.

See you at the matches! (so long as I stay awake thru 'em!) ;)