Powell's Blog: Where should Monday's WWE Raw be held?

Wednesday May 20 – 12:51 P.M. (CT)

Forget Colorado Springs. Say no thanks to the Staples Center in Los Angles. Pass on the most famous arena in the world by rejecting Madison Square Garden's offer to host Monday's WWE Raw show.

MSG might be special to WWE for a lot of reasons, but it wouldn't make a difference to television viewers or the mainstream media if WWE ran Monday's show in the building.

If WWE really wants to make a splash and continue to get mainstream media attention for the Memorial Day edition of Raw, they should do exactly what Vince McMahon joked he might do during his ESPNEWS interview by holding Monday's Raw show in a parking lot in Denver.

So what if you don't have the TitanTron. Who cares if there's no backstage area for vignettes. WWE should deliver a completely stripped down version of Monday Night Raw, which would score them more media attention, put the show in a party atmosphere, and catch the eye of anyone who happens to be channel surfing on Monday night.

It's been said many times that there's nothing raw about Monday Night Raw. What better way to capture the old vibe than by holding a show in a parking lot and allowing fans to attend the event for free? Sure, they'd miss out on a night of ticket sales, but they'd make up for it by scoring tons of free publicity.

Would this be difficult to pull off with city officials on short notice, especially during a holiday weekend? Sure, but it's definitely worth taking the time to make a few phone calls to find out what strings can be pulled. If WWE could pull this off, it would go down as the most memorable Raw show since, well, the last time WWE had a truly memorable Raw show...whenever that was.

My fallback plan? Reach out to the Stadium Management Company, which operates Invesco Field at Mile High (home of the Denver Broncos), and see if they'd be willing to work out a deal on short notice. There parking lot is big enough to accommodate everything listed above, but if they're against the idea for any reason, then throw out the idea of holding a free show inside the stadium.

Sure, it would create some serious production issues, but I'd much rather see a stripped down version of Monday Night Raw with less than perfect lighting and camera shots than just another arena show with the tired announcing team being fed tired jokes about the Denver Nuggets owner.

Again, I know this is all a long shot and is probably impossible to pull off on short notice, but it sure would make Monday's Raw a truly special event.

***

Tuesday May 19 – 2:35 P.M. (CT)

Dear Stanley,

On behalf of bored WWE Raw viewers everywhere, I would like to thank you for double booking the Pepsi Center on Memorial Day. You're taking a pounding from Vince McMahon and WWE in their attempt to scrounge up as much media attention as possible, but there are some of us wrestling fans out there who are grateful for your attempt to force the company to take a much needed breather over the holiday weekend.

It's not that we don't love WWE or pro wrestling. Rather, we're tired of the campy variety show that WWE is giving us on Monday nights. Perhaps you could appease Vince by inviting him to sit in your luxury box on Monday night so that he could see legitimate sports drama unfold. With any luck, it would inspire him to incorporate simulated elements of it on his Monday night broadcasts.

Sure, you made a mistake by double booking the venue when you knew there was a chance that your squad would be playing in the Western Conference Finals. Let's be honest, though. You own the Nuggets, and the odds of the team making it this far when you let WWE put a hold on the building back in August rated right up there with my chances of matching the Power Ball numbers on Wednesday night.

It's not like you owned the Pittsburgh Penguins hockey team and booked WWE Raw on Monday and a freaking Yanni concert the same week that forced the Pens and Washington Capitals to play back-to-back games. You know, because a team that qualified for the Stanley Cup Finals last year couldn't possibly end up playing in the second-round of the playoffs again, right?

Anyway, Stan, I just wanted to let you know how much I appreciate the effort and I wish your squad the best of luck on Monday night when Kobe Bryant returns to the scene of the crime. Unfortunately, Vince is determined to deliver a Memorial Day edition of Raw, so we'll be stuck watching more great sports entertainment moments from Santina, Vickie Guerrero, Goldust and Hornswoggle.

If you really want to help us out, though, maybe you could step in and buy the TNA Impact Zone this week and come up with a reason to spare that company the horrible buy rate they're sure to get when they idiotically run a pay-per-view on the Sunday night before Memorial Day. No need to buy the venue UFC is running on Saturday night. They're so hot that they could probably draw a decent number with a pay-per-view on Christmas morning, whereas someone needs to save TNA from themselves this weekend.

Sincerely,

Jason Powell

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