Monday Night Raw – May 21, 2018

Monday Night Raw
Date: May 21, 2018
Location: Times Union Center, Albany, New York
Commentators: Michael Cole, Corey Graves, Jonathan Coachman

We’re FINALLY back to normal with no international trips or major shows in sight for at least a few weeks, meaning we can get back to a bit of a routine. Therefore, let’s pick things up with…what’s probably going to be a disaster as Sami Zayn has invited Bobby Lashley’s sisters to Raw to expose him for what he really is. Oh this is going to hurt. Let’s get to it.

Read moreMonday Night Raw – May 21, 2018

Another what if question


Hey Scott,

  I was reading a reddit post about Kurt Angle doing commentary on an episode of ECW Hardcore t.v. in 96.  Now we've all heard that he was going to sign there and the crucifiction angle made him say no thank you.  So my question is if Kurt Angle
had started his career in ECW would he still be as good as he ended up being or would he just learn garbage brawling and be a footnote that no one remembers?
​I'm pretty sure they would have taught him more than garbage brawling.  I think he would have been fine.​

Smackdown on Fox

If you're Fox, do you want to:

a) Maintain the brand split? The pro is that you have an “exclusive” roster. The con is that you only get 40% of the roster, and history has shown that Vince treasures his Monday Night baby.

b) Be live? Audiences prefer a live show, but unless the show runs at 11 pm Eastern the west coast is always going to have a pre-taped show anyway.

c) Run the show on FS1 during programming conflicts (baseball postseason, Pac-12 championship game), run the show on another night that week (Thursday Smackdown Thursday!) or just preempt the show?

​a)  I think they're gonna end it so that all the big guns can be on both shows.  Imagine if they paid a billion for UFC and then were told George St. Pierre will only be on shows on the other network?
b) For what they're paying, I think they'll finance the live show.
c)  Probably just pre-empt it.
​

Monday Night Open Mic

Howdy Blog O’Doomers!

I hope everyone had as great of a weekend as I did. Most of you that have been around the board know that I celebrated my son’s graduation from high school love the weekend and I’ve run through the gambit of emotions as a parent. Those of you that have older kids know that those 17-18 years go by fast and those of you with younger kids enjoy it because it moves fast.

The big news in rasslin’ entertainment is that Fox is willing to put a ring on Smackdown for about a billion on their broadcast channel. Which means NBC/Universal will be paying out the yang to keep RAW. And with money like that being dished out I guarantee if you didn’t think the writers gave a rats behind about your thoughts on the product before, you can be certain of it now.

Team Cenabella is whole again after their totally-legit breakup

RAW might be live…IDAF because I’m watching the Lightning-Caps and Cavs-Celtics tonight. Or just bingeing the rest of Cobra Kai

Keep it clean!

A question I’m not sure you’ll know the answer too.


Hey Scott,

  Reading about how WWE is getting huge money for their t.v. shows from NBC and Fox, and with ratings that keep slowly getting smaller and smaller, why are the networks so willing to spend so much to get a wrestling show?
​Because for as fast as the wrestling business might be moving downwards in the past few years, the TV business is plummeting even faster thanks to cord-cutting and streaming services, and traditional TV networks are getting really desperate.  The biggest buzzword is “DVR proof”, which means live sports programming, and that's the category in which WWE finds itself due to some shrewd branding on their part over the years. 
It's a really strange and wild west time for the business, because if the numbers thrown around for the new USA/FOX deals hold true, then WWE can literally abandon house shows, merchandise sales, and even the WWE Network and PPV and still be insanely profitable.  It literally won't matter how the champions are or who wins or loses, as long as they can keep pumping out content.  ​

Next great mania moment


I want to start by saying this is pure fantasy as I feel that Vince and company will never put their faith in Bryan as THE guy due to his history. That out of the way though, is there a better story right now than Bryan winning the rumble and being the first guy to ever make Brock tap and doing it at mania? Brock hasn't tapped in wrestling, right? I know there's summerslam '15 but I'm referring to tapping cleanly. I just think the image of Brock i the yes lock, blood pouring down his face, with Paul E. at ringside BEGGING him not to give up is one hell of a visual.

​I'm gonna take Brock's side here for once and say that he would be stupid to agree to that because it could absolutely hurt his image for future UFC fights.  ​