King of the Ring Looks Like Total Panic Booking
Quite a few years ago I had the pleasure of interviewing Jerry "The King" Lawler at a Cleveland Indians game while he was a visitor in the press box. At that time he was in between stints with the WWE, and we had a chance to talk "off the cuff" about things in the WWE and how the shows were booked. That is what leads me to today, where I recall Jerry bringing up a term that I think fits what the company is going to try and pull off tomorrow night on RAW - a one night King of the Ring. The term that fits this show from the word go - "panic booking."
Yes, the WWE is coming off a long overseas tour, and it seems like they want to throw something big together for their three-hour show they have set for Greenville. With that, instead of the draft, which is what we all were expecting for this three-hour epic, they are going to go with an idea that they have put on the shelf more than once. The King of the Ring was an annual event that kicked off in 1985, and then hit PPV in 1993. It had its moments of good and bad, with the highlight probably being the birth of "Austin 3:16" after Steve Austin beat Jake Roberts in 1996 and blurted out the phrase to mock Roberts new found religion.
From there, the event was a staple till it died after 2002, and then they brought it back in 2006, to put the title of "King" on Booker T., as he became King Booker for the end of his WWE run. The event died after 06, and now it looks as if trying to draw some sort of rating for one night, they are going to try and revive the event. There are quite a few problems with that, one of which includes the simple fact that they tried to throw this thing together in one week. Yes, an event that they took months to build on the past, they are now doing in one week. Bad idea.
They also have not thrown out there who we are even going to see in this 8-man tourney. Names that have been rumored to be in the show include Triple H, John Cena, Shawn Michaels, Batista, Finaly, C.M. Punk and others. They have said that all three brands will be represented, but at the same time, with no idea on who in the three brands will be in the event, it makes it very hard to even get a grasp on who to pick as a possible favorite.
If I was booking this (and if I was I would have never have thrown this thing together this fast anyway), I would let someone mid-card win this thing to give them a boost. How about a King Kennedy? King Carlito? King (Matt or Jeff for that matter) Hardy? There are plenty of guys that could use the boost, guys other than Cena, Triple H or Batista. Bottom line though, this thing is such a cluster, who knows what to expect.
This night will also do very little to push forward the Backlash PPV that the the company should be focusing in on for this Sunday. Three hours is a lot of time to kill, and yes, they will push the show to some extent, but the night is going to be far out of focus, and right now, this PPV is in a lot of trouble, and this years King of the Ring is going to be one of the lowest rated Monday night shows of the year for the company.
Yes, the WWE is coming off a long overseas tour, and it seems like they want to throw something big together for their three-hour show they have set for Greenville. With that, instead of the draft, which is what we all were expecting for this three-hour epic, they are going to go with an idea that they have put on the shelf more than once. The King of the Ring was an annual event that kicked off in 1985, and then hit PPV in 1993. It had its moments of good and bad, with the highlight probably being the birth of "Austin 3:16" after Steve Austin beat Jake Roberts in 1996 and blurted out the phrase to mock Roberts new found religion.
From there, the event was a staple till it died after 2002, and then they brought it back in 2006, to put the title of "King" on Booker T., as he became King Booker for the end of his WWE run. The event died after 06, and now it looks as if trying to draw some sort of rating for one night, they are going to try and revive the event. There are quite a few problems with that, one of which includes the simple fact that they tried to throw this thing together in one week. Yes, an event that they took months to build on the past, they are now doing in one week. Bad idea.
They also have not thrown out there who we are even going to see in this 8-man tourney. Names that have been rumored to be in the show include Triple H, John Cena, Shawn Michaels, Batista, Finaly, C.M. Punk and others. They have said that all three brands will be represented, but at the same time, with no idea on who in the three brands will be in the event, it makes it very hard to even get a grasp on who to pick as a possible favorite.
If I was booking this (and if I was I would have never have thrown this thing together this fast anyway), I would let someone mid-card win this thing to give them a boost. How about a King Kennedy? King Carlito? King (Matt or Jeff for that matter) Hardy? There are plenty of guys that could use the boost, guys other than Cena, Triple H or Batista. Bottom line though, this thing is such a cluster, who knows what to expect.
This night will also do very little to push forward the Backlash PPV that the the company should be focusing in on for this Sunday. Three hours is a lot of time to kill, and yes, they will push the show to some extent, but the night is going to be far out of focus, and right now, this PPV is in a lot of trouble, and this years King of the Ring is going to be one of the lowest rated Monday night shows of the year for the company.
Labels: carlito, jerry lawler, john cena, king of the ring
