Wednesday, JUNE 24 – 5:45 PM (CT)

-During WWE's "ECW on SciFi" broadcast, a "Did you know?" graphic greeted the viewers with the information that Monday's Raw rating of 4.5 was the highest in seven years. Personally, I did not think the "commercial free" aspect of Raw would result in anything positive, and I have not been to intrigued by Donald Trump's various appearances for World Wrestling Entertainment. Shame on me.

Is this what things have come to? How long will it be before the middle "W," the one that stands for "Wrestling," is removed from the company name? Okay, so that will probably never happen, but if the name change would be easy in terms of domestic and international business (including the stock market), we would probably never hear or see the word "wrestling" again in Vince McMahon's universe.

Two weeks ago, Raw was a three hour show. On that show, the stars from Smackdown were the in ring stars. However, Vince's announcement that Trump had purchased the show from him was the most noteworthy happening on the show. Trump's subsequent appearance on this past Monday's show, along with the commercial free gimmick, were the two reasons for the rating; make no mistake about it.

Ladies and gentlemen, the show is not catered to the loyal fans. Vince McMahon loves mainstream publicity, positive or negative (not tragic, but negative). He jumps at the chance to get WWE into the mainstream media whenever he is afforded the opportunity. The more WWE is out there, the more the fringe fans (or non fans for that matter) will tune in. I cannot think of a lot of people who enjoyed Trump on the show, but Trump was not brought onto the show to appease those people.

WWE Smackdown is the best wrestling show on television right now. If opinion could ever be fact, this would be one of those times. Unfortunately, it airs on a horrible television night on a horrible television network. A lot of people wonder what type of rating Smackdown would get if it aired exactly as is, but in Raw's timeslot. Well, I could tell you this: it would not reach a 4.5.

The real sad thing about all of this is that Raw will be lucky to do a 4.0 this coming Monday, since Trump will no longer be on the show. Of course, if Trump would have continued to appear, the novelty would wear off and the ratings would subside anyway. Normally, I would say this is an opportunity for WWE to take advantage of the situation by producing a great show this next week in order to keep the added audience.

However, the audience that would appreciate a quality (and Trumpless) episode of Raw will already be tuning in! A great Raw show this week will not necessarily increase the viewing audience for weeks to come. Have we actually reached the point where WWE needs someone like Trump to spike a rating? What happened to compelling storylines? What happened to compelling characters?

Trump was a temporary crutch the WWE was able to lean on to spike this huge rating. I wish I could say he was a catalyst to bigger and better things for what has been an average at best Raw show, but I cannot say that. Even coming out of a pay-per-view this next week, I feel the rating will drop immensely. If they can find the right combination of a ratings juggernaut (character, angle, etc.) and quality, long-term writing, they will then, and only then, be onto something.

Monday, JUNE 22 – 7:05 PM (CT)

-WWE Raw has arguably been the worst of the four shows the company produces every week. So, as a reward, we were given a third hour last Monday. If that was not enough, this week's show will be commercial free! Luckily, Jim Ross mentioned in his blog that he and Todd Grisham will be in Green Bay tonight, so it looks like all three shows will be represented.

Brand extension be damned! I know I have advocated for WWE to adhere to the brand extension and keep people on their own shows, or do away with the whole thing (I am in favor of the brand extension, but I want to see them enforce it). However, if they did that tonight, this show would be like a Raw brand pay-per-view. Raise your hand if you would like to see that? Anyone? Exactly.

Donald Trump will be on the show tonight, making his first live appearance since buying the show. Yes, I know I did not put quotations around "buying," but we all know it is a wrestling storyline, so don't panic and sell all of your WWE stock. By the way, why are the fans in attendance getting refunded their ticket price? Donnie, you only do that when the show has to be cancelled or ends early. By the way, I hope I get refunded my money this Sunday at The Bash pay-per-view.

Will Trump announce a new general manager tonight? If so, will that general manager be Ric Flair? Will it be Randy Savage? Will it be Brett Favre? By the way, we should all be glad they are not doing some silly skit with a Favre impersonator tonight. Of course, the show starts in just about an hour, so I guess there is still time to write that in.

For the sake of having an on-air authority figure, I am guessing Trump has to name a GM. Trump was involved in a huge WrestleMania angle and only appeared on Raw twice. I doubt he is going to gas up the jet and go on the road with the boys. Flair would be a logical pick because he would flourish in the role. He could also cement the fact he is retired by saying he could book himself in a match if he wanted to, but he wants to respect his retirement and Shawn Michaels.

Finally, new WWE Champion Randy Orton, who is also the old WWE Champion, will defend the belt against Triple H in a Last Man Standing match. Heck, the fans are getting to watch the show for free, so maybe they'll have an eating contest instead. By the way, eating contests are no joke.

I have the biggest appetite of anyone I know and this past weekend, I tried to eat "The Colossus," which is a cheeseburger on ciabatta bread the size of a dinner plate. This thing is no joke. The lettuce on it alone is enough for a salad. Anyway, if you succeed, you get the burger for free, two hours in the VIP Lounge, and most importantly you get to rename the burger. I came close but the pizza and beer I had beforehand prevented the victory. No worries though; "The Rich Twilling" will grace the pages of that menu soon enough.

My apologies; I got distracted there. Enjoy the show tonight. If you don't like it, you can just wait for a commercial and turn away. Oh wait... Hmmm, I guess there is a strategy behind tonight's show!

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