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RAW ratings have been largely in the sub-3Mn mark for the past couple of years. Although it rose to over 4 Mn viewers for the RAW 25th Anniversary show earlier this year, it has again gone down to 2.7-2.8 Mn viewers per week.
The main reason for this could be that there are no meaningful stories being told on RAW. For the past year or so, RAW has been focused around 2 superstars – Roman Reigns and Braun Strowman. This kind of obsession with just a couple of people, along with a step-motherly treatment of the Women’s division and the Tag Team division is what has brought RAW to this stage.
The obsession with Roman and Strowman has done its damage - Worst of it coming from Roman as even after the Shield reunion, he is getting booed by the crowd. Strowman, on the other hand, was still over before he turned heel. RAW fans have not had a champion that they could get behind since Brock Lesnar took the title from Goldberg and went home. That needs to change.
The way Strowman and a 10-year-old kid squashed the Tag team champions at Wrestlemania 34 was symptomatic of the way RAW was treating its tag team division. Pure tag teams like the Revival and Authors of pain are ignored completely while the Intercontinental champion gets a tag team title shot.
The less said about the RAW Womens division the better. They were a bit hasty in making Ronda Rousey the champion and now they are not able to find a legitimate contender for the title. Alexa Bliss has been all talk and no walk in the ring. Sasha and Bayley should get awarded for the most misused storyline ever, A superbly talented wrestler like Ember Moon is ignored week after week and the Riott Squad have been just acting as filler material.
There need to be some drastic changes if RAW intends to pull up its rating from the Abyss. The following are 5 of the changes that might work. But whether these will be implemented is anybody’s guess.
#5 Strowman wins the Universal Championship
The main reason RAW is in the current situation now is that of Vince's unhealthy obsession with Roman. When you try to push a tasteless morsel down someone's throat, they are bound to reject it.
That's what the crowd did. The RAW creative team has been pulling out all stops to ensure that Roman gets cheered. Part of it was turning Strowman heel. Apart from Rollins, Strowman was the most over Superstar on the RAW Roster. Even with his monster gimmick and ridiculous push, the crowd still cheered for him.
This might be set to continue when he takes on Roman inside the cell this Sunday. Vince needs to come to terms with the fact that Roman is never going to be over with the crowd. Strowman needs to defeat Roman for the title so that the RAW viewers, after almost a year, can finally have a champion that they can cheer for. This will go a long way to bring more eyes on to the television while RAW is on.
#4 Dolph & Drew retain their Tag Team titles
Rollins & Ambrose have been pitted against the current Tag Team champions - Dolph Ziggler and Drew McIntyre at Hell in a Cell. A win for the Shield brothers would mean that all the men's titles on RAW would be in the hands of Shield members.
That would not be a wise booking decision. Drew & Dolph needs to retain the Tag titles and more tag teams need to be introduced into the Tag title picture apart from the current ones fighting it out at the Hell in a Cell PPV. Teams like Revival & AOP, who are currently filler material are legitimate contenders for the belts and a multi-pronged feud would do more to hold the viewers' interest.
#3 Kevin Owens as the new Intercontinental Champion
Vince does not seem to be in a hurry to break up the newly reformed Shield. In this situation, it is imperative that Seth Rollins drops the Intercontinental title. Who better to win it than the Prize Fighter, Kevin Owens.
With his new motto of " Anarchy, Agony, Destruction" and his target set on Bobby Lashley, the Intercontinental title could give that feud some meaning. It could be as simple as Owens answering the Shield Workhorse Open challenge for the Intercontinental title and winning it via brutal & nefarious means as he is no longer held accountable for his actions according to his agreement with Acting General Manager Corbin.
This would give sidelined talents like Balor, Lashley, Bobby Roode, Apollo Crews etc, something to fight for.
#2 Turn Natalya heel
Natalya, who is one of the more capable women wrestlers on RAW has been relegated to being Ronda Rousey's sidekick. While Ronda is still battling Alexa Bliss at the Hell in a Cell PPV, it is clear that Ronda vs Alexa feud is past its sell-by date.
Like with Roman, excessive focus on Ronda & Alexa is making the Women's division go stale while capable superstars like Ember Moon, Sasha, Bayley, Dana Brooke, Ruby Riott, Sarah Logan etc are languishing in near irrelevance. This needs to change. One thing that can be done right now is to turn Natalya heel.
Having her feud with Ronda will bring a change to the title picture with two submission specialists battling it out. Also, the introduction of the rumoured Womens Tag titles will give teams like Sasha/Bayley, Alexa/Mickie and the Riott Squad something to focus on. Even all this is like applying a band-aid to a bullet wound as the Women's division on RAW is in a really pitiful state.
#1 No more NXT call-ups for a while
At the beginning, people used to be so piqued about who would be the next talent from NXT to make the crossover to the main roster. But seeing how the call-ups to the main roster have gone for Ascension, Revival, Apollo Crews, Bobby Roode, Authors of Pain and more, I believe it's time to get the Main Roster in order before bringing in more talent.
Talents like Johny Gargano, Ricochet, the Undisputed Era etc are doing their best work in NXT. Bringing them up to the main roster and relegating them to the sidelines is the worst thing that RAW can do when they are fighting to revive the ratings.
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