The Elimination Chamber go-home edition of Monday Night Raw featured a number of entertaining segments that would have fit well on a stand-alone show.
The Rock told a crazy story about buying a car from a "crackhead" in Nashville. CM Punk and Paul Heyman continued their run as the best act in wrestling, and got some heat by hugging it out in the middle of the ring. Jack Swagger and "Zeb Coulter" (Dutch Mantell, in one of the more unlikely WWE returns in recent years) cut a race-baiting promo that seemed to be from another era.
The Rock told a crazy story about buying a car from a "crackhead" in Nashville. CM Punk and Paul Heyman continued their run as the best act in wrestling, and got some heat by hugging it out in the middle of the ring. Jack Swagger and "Zeb Coulter" (Dutch Mantell, in one of the more unlikely WWE returns in recent years) cut a race-baiting promo that seemed to be from another era.
But as the last, best chance to sell fans on shelling out $54.95 on a pay-per-view this Sunday, the show left a lot to be desired.
I think the mindset of those that put the show together was that the Rock vs. Punk rematch is going to draw no matter what, and that the 3-plus hours of television time on Monday could be used for other things, like setting Swagger up as a potential challenger for World Heavyweight Champion Alberto Del Rio down the road, and letting Rock entertain the live audience in the arena with his story.
They may be right. And the show wasn't totally useless in promoting Sunday's show, as the Shield vs. John Cena, Ryback and Sheamus match was pushed pretty heavily.
But you have to think that at some point, the novelty of having Rock back may wear off.
The rating from the show may be the first sign of that, as Raw did a 3.0 rating, and averaged 4.26 million viewers, which are the worst numbers that the show has done this year.
Elimination Chamber will, in all likelihood, do very well, and may end up as the fourth most purchased WWE pay-per-view of the year.
But as WrestleMania season kicks into gear in earnest, beginning with Raw next week, I hope that the company will sharpen its focus and put together some solid television.
Wrestling sells best when it creatively pits a good guy and a bad guy, who don't like each other, against one another, with something of value at stake.
Hugs and story time in wrestling are nice, but they don't make people want to spend their hard-earned on a wrestling show.
Some videos from Raw:
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