5 Things That Improved On Raw Since 1996

[Neptune]

1.) Opening the Show With A Purpose
2.) The Background Set/Ring
3.) The announcing is…better?
4.) The Elimination of the Mid Match Interview
5.) The Crowd

Read the article here.

Would you add anything or take anything away?

 

[Prince Bálor]

1.) Opening the Show With A Purpose

Best joke I've heard in a while now. 1:

 

[Neptune]

Best joke I've heard in a while now. 1:

I haven't seen them open a show good in sometime myself.

 

[edge4ever]

1.) Opening the Show With A Purpose
2.) The Background Set/Ring
3.) The announcing is…better?
4.) The Elimination of the Mid Match Interview
5.) The Crowd

Read the article here.

Would you add anything or take anything away?

1. Um no, usually it's not opened with a purpose. Or, even if there's a "purpose," it's not creative and piss poor.
2. That's better
3. No way. PG killed that. Too controlled.
4. Don't know what you mean.
5. The crowd?? The crowd is more responsive to certain things in some cases but it doesn't pop like it use to, overall. That's mainly because WWE doesn't know how to find/use talent. They're control freaks. The only time I can recall the fans really getting into something was when DB was feuding around mania 30.

 

[Roadster]

The show always started with a match to warm up the crowd. Not a promo to put them to sleep. Look at the first RAW from '96. A 4 way tag match for the Tag Titles, with Sid and Owen and many more. It was more understandable and interesting booking not 20 minute promos to eat up time.

 

[Mr. Roman Empire]

I wanna see a list of 5 things that have improved since 1999

 

[Prince Bálor]

I haven't seen them open a show good in sometime myself.

The only purpose of "opening the show with a purpose" is to annoy and bore us. lol

 

[Messiah1]

Looks like you were struggling there for some of those.. The crowd was way better back then, usually they open the show now to progress a storyline, fail miserably. Most people rather them start with a match like they did in 96.. The set/ring is the only one that seems accurate.

 

[The GOAT]

Raw definitely opens up with more of a purpose these days alright... The purpose of which is to put us to sleep so that we won't change the channel so that our viewership will count for the entire night.

The writer made some valid points, but he made a couple that were lol worthy too, particularly the one about how crowds back then would normally just accept what they were given compared to the vocal ones today that make their voice known whenever they dislike something. Really? The same crowds that greeted Rocky Maivia with chants of "Die, Rocky, Die" were the kind to just accept whatever the WWF would feed them? The same ones that started booing a traditional hero like Bret Hart, that turned a villain like Steve Austin into the biggest hero of the show, that embraced D-Generation after months of jeering them because their antics grew on them, etc.?

On another note, it's easy to pick on 1996 and even early '97 if you want to make today's product look better and more refined by comparison, since it's pretty much universally acknowledged that the show for the most part was shit back then. Things gradually began improving beginning around mid/late-1997 with the emergence of babyface Steve Austin, Rocky Maivia going heel and creating The Rock persona, the formation of D-Generation X, the slow burn towards Kane's debut that began with Paul Bearer threatening to reveal Undertaker's "secret", the USA vs Canada feud, etc.

 

[Neptune]

Looks like you were struggling there for some of those.. The crowd was way better back then, usually they open the show now to progress a storyline, fail miserably. Most people rather them start with a match like they did in 96.. The set/ring is the only one that seems accurate.

Who's you? I pulled this from a post someone did on a blog lol

 

[Neptune]

Raw definitely opens up with more of a purpose these days alright... The purpose of which is to put us to sleep so that we won't change the channel so that our viewership will count for the entire night.

The writer made some valid points, but he made a couple that were lol worthy too, particularly the one about how crowds back then would normally just accept what they were given compared to the vocal ones today that make their voice known whenever they dislike something. Really? The same crowds that greeted Rocky Maivia with chants of "Die, Rocky, Die" were the kind to just accept whatever the WWF would feed them? The same ones that started booing a traditional hero like Bret Hart, that turned a villain like Steve Austin into the biggest hero of the show, that embraced D-Generation after months of jeering them because their antics grew on them, etc.?

On another note, it's easy to pick on 1996 and even early '97 if you want to make today's product look better and more refined by comparison, since it's pretty much universally acknowledged that the show for the most part was shit back then. Things gradually began improving beginning around mid/late-1997 with the emergence of babyface Steve Austin, Rocky Maivia going heel and creating The Rock persona, the formation of D-Generation X, the slow burn towards Kane's debut that began with Paul Bearer threatening to reveal Undertaker's "secret", the USA vs Canada feud, etc.

Yeah the crowds seem to be easily smitten and tamable now a days vs back then. Back then Vince had to try harder to please the crowd if I remember correctly, and if they weren't pleased they did some nasty chants.