ThinkSoJoE’s Thoughts – just stop already.

I’m almost at a complete loss of words over last night’s WWE RAW.  The beginning was great.  WWE proved that they could do a show with just four guys, and it would be a great show.  Then Vince McMahon came out, and from that point forward, WWE proved that they could do a terrible show with 60 guys.

I don’t know why, but I absolutely loathe John Laurinaitis.  I feel that it’s more than just the character, I think I actually despise John Laurinaitis the person.  Over the past couple of months I didn’t mind him so much, but as soon as he was appointed “Interim RAW GM,” I started to hate his very being.  And the strange thing is, I don’t think it’s his fault that I hate him at all.  What I really hate, is heel authority figures in wrestling.

The first couple of times, ok cool.  Now, it’s just stale.  It’s old.  I can’t stand it.  This is wrestling.  I’m supposed to be rooting for the good guy and booing the bad guy, not rooting for the good guy and booing the good guy’s boss.  If I wanted to boo a good guy’s boss, I’d march into my boss’s office with my thumb down.

Look, I get the idea that we’re all supposed to hate our boss, and that when the good guy’s boss finally gets his comeuppance, we’re all supposed to cheer because we’re living vicariously through our favorite Superstar.  I actually like my boss.  Sure, sometimes I think I’d like to hit him with a Stone Cold Stunner, but most of the time I think I’d rather share a couple of Steveweisers with him (WHAT?).

The fact is, we’ve been doing this same angle for 15 years now.  For everything the WWE is doing right – pushing the tag team division, bringing back managers and stables – this is one of the wrongs.  There was a time when I’d tune in to WWE programming because I liked the wrestling.  A promo here or there and a very rare post-match beatdown went a long way back in those days.  Now, we have an hour of promos on a two hour program and a beatdown after every match – almost literally in the case of last night’s RAW – and they’ve lost their effectiveness.

I think what we need in mainstream wrestling – WWE, specifically – is a face authority figure (Teddy Long doesn’t count) who will restore order.  Post-match beatdown?  $250,000 fine.  The effectiveness will eventually be rebuilt because the only time we’d see a post-match beatdown is when somebody dislikes a guy so much that they’ll gladly pay a quarter of a million bucks to get in a few extra shots at them.  Is it a perfect suggestion?  Maybe not, but at least I’m trying to come up with something different.

For now, I think I’ll vote with my remote control – I’m considering not watching wrestling until they replace Laurinaitis as RAW GM.  That’s how strongly I feel about this crap.