Wednesday, SEPTEMBER 23 – 5:32 P.M. (CT)

-Over the past several weeks and/or months, most people familiar with WWE will tell you that Smackdown is a better show than Raw. In fact, over the past six months, I doubt many people would say the best Raw over that period of time was better than the worst episode of Smackdown. Focusing on Raw here, have we as fans just accepted the fact that a decent show is the new “good” or “very good?”

Since Raw has started the guest host gimmick, there have some been memorable and humorous moments on the show. Trish Stratus, Shaquille O’Neal, Jeremy Piven, and Bob Barker have provided some good times. However, I will not go as far as to say that any show has been good enough to be called a “good show.” Obviously, the brand split was to allow for more talent to get over, but each brand is still under the WWE umbrella. At this point, it seems like Smackdown really is a different company.

Raw is headlined by Triple H, John Cena, Shawn Michaels, and Randy Orton. All four are top guys for a reason. However, all four guys are top guys on a stale and stagnant show. Who does the blame fall on here? Does the creative team shoulder the blame for not pushing new talent? Do the current top stars need to move aside? Do the “on the cusp” talents need to step it up to warrant being pushed to main event status?

While you can make a case for any of these three culprits, maybe it is something much more simple than that. Maybe bad luck is to blame. Vince McMahon took a risk back in 1984 and that risk was Hulk Hogan. McMahon and Hogan overhauled the landscape of professional wrestling, made a lot of money for a lot of people, and paved the way for today.

However, if Hogan’s peak of popularity took place today, wouldn’t he get stale quickly too? If Hogan was on television every single week winning every single match, I’m sure he would be received similar to how Cena is today. If luck is hard work meeting opportunity, then the genius of hitching the company to Hogan was valid. McMahon was a genius for doing so, but there are many other decisions that don’t pay off.

Fast forward to the Attitude Era. Was it luck that the Montreal Screwjob involving Bret Hart took place? Was that what Vince McMahon was needing to get himself out of the bad mid-90s? Did any old WCW fan think Steve Austin would become one of the top stars of all time in McMahon’s company? Did anyone think Rocky Maivia would last a year in the WWF, much less become an iconic star in and out of the ring?

Lightning being caught in a bottle is not something that can be planned or duplicated. Lightning cannot be trapped or recreated. Hogan, Austin, and The Rock cannot be remade. Creating a star in the image of one of these three will not work either. Reward does not happen without risk. Maybe Vince and the Raw creative team is hoping one of their crazy schemes will lead to the next big thing.

What is the answer? Opportunity is what led to huge things with the biggest stars of all time. You cannot just stumble upon greatness, but you cannot diagram it either. It is time for WWE to figure out a way to put forth a relevant product that might just produce the next Austin or Rock.

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