The Katz Files
The AprilRAW Report Card!
The Kingfish Arnie Katz presents his April promotion report card for the good folks at WWE’s RAW.
Coming out of WrestleMania, RAW is introducing new plots and pushes – and coming up with some fairly hot shows. It’s time to see how things are going with the flagship of WWE’s TV programming.:
Talent Pool
Things are pretty static in terms of the names on the roster, except that Ric Flair no longer wrestles. They are using him so strongly as a plot device that it’s a fair bet that we will see Ric Flair in a new role before too long.
John Bradshaw Layfield has advanced to a much more prominent role. He went from being the guy who did the big blow-off for the Hornswoggle angle and then transitioned right into the main event for Backlash.
WWE’s decision to use Smackdown talent like Matt Hardy on RAW blurs the brand identity, but it can be good for the matches. Matt Hardy did a great job against Randy Orton on the RAW after WrestleMania
Grade: B
In-Ring Action
JBL is not a great technical wrestler, but he works a match very well and he can really put things across with the mic. His style in the ring is often makes his opponents look especially good, which makes him a very valuable performer – and a good one to watch
Ric Flair may not have been what he was at one time, but he was still better in the ring than a lot of the guys who are still working.
Grade: B-
Dramatics
Just not having Floyd Mayweather taking up air-time is enough to give RAW an extra half-grade over last month. He talks well for a boxer, which is not nearly good enough for a wrestler who got that much face time on television.
Ric Flair did some volcanic promos during his final month as a wrestler. He sure had some choice material to work with, too.
Grade>: C
Announcing
The old reliables, Ross and Lawler, keep on rolling. I am a little concerned about Jerry Lawler. He doesn’t seem as loose and happy as he usually does. I hope there is nothig wrong, because he is a remarkable quipster when he gets involved.
Grade: B+
Star Power
Ric Flair is gone, but he had gone from being an authentic main event superstar to being something of a living legend. His plotlines were minor until his retirement run. His is a big loss, theoretically, but in actuality WWE had marginalized him pretty thoroughly.
Bradshaw is definitely a plus and I have a weakness for Big Show. Yeah, I’m one of those guys who thinks he could be a much bigger star than he is now.
Grade: B-
Overall
Things are looking up for RAW despite a few stumbling blocks like the Jeff Hardy suspension. The episodes right before WrestleMania weren’t very good, but the two weeks since then have been very exciting and involving.
Grade: B+
That’s it for today. I’ll be back tomorrow with another installment of the Internet’s fastest-rising daily wrestling column.
– Arnie Katz
Crossfire4@cox.net
(4/9/08)
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