Saturday Morning Sham- My thoughts, Raw 20th Anniversary

Happy 20th Anniversary to Monday Night Raw, everybody! I am saddened by the fact that I have only been tuned into about 15 of these 20 years, but it’s better than no years at all.

I want to start off, however, talking about WWE’s newest program, “Saturday Morning Slam.” You can catch this new program on The CW’s Saturday morning lineup known as “The Vortex.” However, I don’t recommend tuning in if you’ve been a wrestling fan for any decent length of time at all. I happened to tune in this past Saturday morning because, well, with basic cable, my options were limited. I understand this program is intended for WWE’s youngest viewers, hence why they put it in this lineup, but I was downright appalled watching the Randy Orton vs Damien Sandow match.

WWE has decided to edit all moves to the neck/neck area due to the young viewers watching. Orton was set up to do his DDT where his opponent’s feet are hung up on the middle rope. They showed the start of the move, then flashed to the commentating table just before the point of impact. I shrugged it off.

Then this same thing happened when Orton was going for the RKO. They flashed to the announcer table once again in mid-move.

I realize that if I don’t like it, I just shouldn’t watch. And I won’t anymore. But the fact that WWE has dropped to this level just makes me upset as a long time fan. My GUESS is that a large majority of the children watching this are also watching Raw. They plug the “Don’t Try This At Home” angle enough throughout the half hour program that they shouldn’t have to go as far as editing the best parts of the match. These kids know what is going on. End rant…for this entry, anyway.

Another development this week that I must mention is Alberto Del Rio capturing the World Heavyweight Title on Smackdown against The Big Show in a Last Man Standing Match. The finish had Del Rio knocking Show out with the steel stairs then pinning Big Show under the announce table. Word around the wrestling rumor wire is this was originally going to happen on the January 7th episode of Raw but they decided to push it to the Smackdown taping for a variety of reasons. WWE is wanting to use Del Rio as the top Mexican star since Mysterio’s days are both likely numbered and also few and far between with his injuries. Also, Sin Cara is just not going the way WWE would have hoped. At least, not yet. It is hard telling if WWE will keep the title on Del Rio until Wrestlemania. If this was the case, it would likely set up a feud with a heel Randy Orton down the line.

On a final note, tonight is Monday Night Raw’s 20th Anniversary show. Appearances by Stone Cold Steve Austin, The Undertaker, and Ric Flair, The Rock (in the return of The Rock Concert) among others, are rumored. On a less star studded note, we are also expected to see the return of Kane and Daniel Bryan’s “psychiatrist” Dr. Shelby.

Mick Foley is to be officially announced as the first inductee into the 2013 class in the WWE Hall of Fame. *Spoiler Alert* And finally, it was recently reported that WWE Divas Champion Eve Torres is on her way out of the company and will likely drop the title to Kaitlyn on tonight’s show.

I am personally looking forward to the developments that may happen tonight as we get closer to both the Royal Rumble and Wrestlemania. These special shows always bring back some familiar faces for the long time fans to enjoy…I’m praying for a Doink appearance, personally.

The timing for the Anniversary Show couldn’t have worked out better for WWE, ratings wise. They face no serious competition from the sports world as there is no Monday Night Football tonight and college football ended in glorious fashion last week with Notre Dame getting a mud hole stomped in them by the Crimson Tide. I hope everyone enjoys tonight’s edition of Monday Night Raw. Hope for surprises, expect let downs. That’s my approach to Raw these days. Until next time, thanks for reading.