Raw 7/28/08 (spoilers)

[Guest The Aussie]

Mike Adamle... Mike Freaking Adamle... Excuse me while I get a little headache out of my system.

[Marshall]

On a sidenote, who thinks Jericho's growing up promo should apply to Shane McMahon? Someone please tell him to stop dancing...

[Franchise22]

jericho is on fire right now. i love the new look and attitude. he should have the title soon unless hes interested in only putting over the champ ect.

[GDE71]

What about Beth picking up D'Lo!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! She's a beast in a good way....

[Anderz]

Adamle being GM is a great decision.. the last few weeks (since Vince was written out) have been in chaos.. and theyve been brilliant.. now we get a deliberately incompetant guy in charge.. that nobody is gonna actually respect.. it creates even more chaos.. I was initially against a new GM, as it would end the anarchy dynamic that was giving us such good TV.. but this appointment just aids that.. and the likelihood of this being the long term solution to the 'GM problem' is very low.. we'll have a 'proper GM' in a month or two anyway.. (which incidentally im against, as we dont need an authority figure.. Raw's been at its best recently without an authority in place)

[infinitywpi]

[QUOTE=|Anderz|;471195]now we get a deliberately incompetant guy in charge.. that nobody is gonna actually respect.. it creates even more chaos..[/quote] Incompetancy in announcing does not mean incompetancy in managing. He made Cena vs Batista for Summerslam; he re-hired William Regal as 'the foremost technically sound free agent available'; he appears to be trying to get JR back on Raw; he got Michael Cole's head bashed in; and he straight-up lied to Lawler's face about not knowing why he was there last night. Seems like a good track record so far. And GDE71, I think at least half the guys here would let Beth pick them up... if you know what I'm sayin'...

[mistaken]

[QUOTE=infinitywpi;471231]Incompetancy in announcing does not mean incompetancy in managing. He made Cena vs Batista for Summerslam; he re-hired William Regal as 'the foremost technically sound free agent available'; he appears to be trying to get JR back on Raw; he got Michael Cole's head bashed in; and he straight-up lied to Lawler's face about not knowing why he was there last night. Seems like a good track record so far. And GDE71, I think at least half the guys here would let Beth pick them up... if you know what I'm sayin'...[/QUOTE] but that still doesn't change the fact i turn the channel the second I here his voice or see his face. In any capacity the guy turns my stomach and triggers my gag reflex. he is why we watched AG on mute, saturday afternoons.

[Blasphemywebleed]

[QUOTE=Marshall;471127]On a sidenote, who thinks Jericho's growing up promo should apply to Shane McMahon? Someone please tell him to stop dancing...[/QUOTE] I will hear no more bad words against Shane McMahon's dancing, its the best thing in post attitude WWE :cool:

[alden]

I think the dance shane did was cool at one point.....that point was before he had grey hair, before he was in a suit every time he was on tv and when he was in his 30's *although he might still be in his late 30's* It is a little much for a guy his age ;)

[Guest Ransik]

[QUOTE=infinitywpi;471231]Incompetancy in announcing does not mean incompetancy in managing. He made Cena vs Batista for Summerslam; he re-hired William Regal as 'the foremost technically sound free agent available'; he appears to be trying to get JR back on Raw; he got Michael Cole's head bashed in; and he straight-up lied to Lawler's face about not knowing why he was there last night. Seems like a good track record so far. And GDE71, I think at least half the guys here would let Beth pick them up... if you know what I'm sayin'...[/QUOTE] Problem is... none of that was Adamle and even general fans know it. Gerweck is reporting that since the brilliance of paying him 300k a year was such genius thinking... they want him on the A show to justify his pay. Seriously... why do they overpay the talentless morons and underpay the talented ones? They signed Mark Henry back in 1996 for what... a million a year... they pay an announcer over a quarter million a year... And yet I remember when Psicosis got fired from WWE he was only receiving $500 a week on downside pay. Somewhere... someone needs to learn how to use money.

[Self]

Clearly he failed as an announcer, but maybe he can do okay in the role of GM, albeit probably a comedy one who infuriates the fans by making 'bad' decisions, and being easily manipulated by the heels. It all depends on whether he can summon enough ability to handle scripted promos. Live he was terrible, and his lack of wrestling knowledge hurt the company (after the initial joke got stale) but... I'm giving him the benefit of the doubt. Come on Mike, buckle down and earn that paycheque. It's not the way I would have gone, but hey, I hated when Michelle Rodriguez turned up on Lost, but it's not like I stopped watching... I just waited for her comeuppance. Same thing here.

[cappyboy]

[QUOTE=Self;471421] It's not the way I would have gone, but hey, I hated when Michelle Rodriguez turned up on Lost, but it's not like I stopped watching... I just waited for her comeuppance. Same thing here.[/QUOTE] Difference is this can't end with Adamle getting shot and his blood splattered all over an inexplicably placed couch in an inexplicably located bunker on some deserted island somewhere. :)

[shamelessposer]

[QUOTE=Ransik;470815]You know how everyone has that theory that McMahon sent Russo to WCW to destroy it?[/QUOTE] Even if you didn't like Russo's run with WCW it's extremely dishonest to even suggest he was destroying the company. Inside of a couple of months he'd boosted WCW ratings by a full point. When he was kicked off the booking team the ratings went back down. If anything the guy was WCW's savior.

[AfRoMaN36]

[QUOTE=Ransik;471415] Gerweck is reporting that since the brilliance of paying him 300k a year was such genius thinking... they want him on the A show to justify his pay. [/QUOTE] You listen too much to Gerweck.

[Actarus]

Back on topic for a moment, this Raw was okay. Regarding Adamle, he's been given time and for me personally, I think he's as horrible a wrestling announcer as they come. However, he may flourish in the role of GM, so I'll give him time to see if he can be competent at his new onscreen role. The 'E proved me wrong with Vickie Guerrero (though I still contend Coach sucked at everything he did, unless he was the butt of a Rock joke). ;) I'm more concerned about Punk's push as champion. I mean, it's no where near as bad as when Rey was champ (and getting buried on a regular basis), but it reminds of Benoit's run as world champ, where even though he was the world champ, the most important focus in the booking went towards Trips. Right now, it's going towards Cena / Batista. I can buy the two non-champs are more over, and better to focus on financially, but call me old school; the world champ should be the main focus above all else, and taking the time to build a credible champ is also good for business. (I didn't word that last part well, but I've got a physics exam tomorrow, so I've got physics on the brain). Still it's early, so I'll give this time as well. I found the following statement funny, from liveaudiowrestling.com. "**Stephanie McMahon gave birth to her and husband Paul Levesque's second child on Monday night, a baby girl named Murphy Claire, [B]who is scheduled to go over Mickie James at SummerSlam for the Women's Title.[/B]" Priceless :p (Incidentally, DiBiase Jr's entrance music is horrid. What was wrong with the old school Million Dollar Man music?)

[Marshall]

[QUOTE=Blasphemywebleed;471398]I will hear no more bad words against Shane McMahon's dancing, its the best thing in post attitude WWE :cool:[/QUOTE] [QUOTE=alden;471411]I think the dance shane did was cool at one point.....that point was before he had grey hair, before he was in a suit every time he was on tv and when he was in his 30's *although he might still be in his late 30's* It is a little much for a guy his age ;)[/QUOTE] alden nailed this perfectly. To be fair, it is still quite amusing, and I can deal with it provided someone promises that we never see the Mean Street Posse again... As for Adamle, he's a stand-in until everything was sorted for Freddie Prinze Jr to come in imo: [url]http://www.wrestlingattitude.com/index2.php?subaction=showfull&id=1217376318&archive=&start_from=&ucat=2&[/url]

[SuperOwens]

[QUOTE=shamelessposer;471427]Even if you didn't like Russo's run with WCW it's extremely dishonest to even suggest he was destroying the company. Inside of a couple of months he'd boosted WCW ratings by a full point. When he was kicked off the booking team the ratings went back down. If anything the guy was WCW's savior.[/QUOTE] Dont believe in Russo's own hype. Up by a point as it was the off season for football. More viewers but less advertising (2 hour show) Russo was loosing more money than WCW had ever lost in there entire history.

[djthefunkchris]

Well, Adamle as GM? Interesting way to keep it from being a controlled environment, and letting chaos keep running rampant a little longer perhaps?

[fatallylost]

I say, no one on the roster respects him, he gets fed up, and after a couple weeks, the Raw after Summerslam, he introduces the new Raw security team. Gemini, Malibu, Nitro, and Lace!

[djthefunkchris]

[QUOTE=fatallylost;471501][B][U]I say, no one on the roster respects him[/U][/B], he gets fed up, and after a couple weeks, the Raw after Summerslam, he introduces the new Raw security team. Gemini, Malibu, Nitro, and Lace![/QUOTE] That's where my thoughts are... Mainly because of the way Shane introduced him (like a big let down, even to him). And the way Cena and Batista just looked at him as if to say "Yeah, whatever, who the hell does he think he is anyways?" as well as them both bassically ignoring what he had to say for the most part. Looked just like you said there, "No one on the roster respects him". That's how they want it to look, so I'm going with that thought for now.

[shamelessposer]

[QUOTE=SuperOwens;471476]Dont believe in Russo's own hype. Up by a point as it was the off season for football. More viewers but less advertising (2 hour show) Russo was loosing more money than WCW had ever lost in there entire history.[/QUOTE] I'm not buying into any hype. The off-season wouldn't explain a bump of a full point when at the time that point meant almost a 50% increase in ratings. I'm not a fan of Russo, but there is a definite pattern when you look at the period of time in which he's worked for WCW or WWF and compare it to the ratings when he was on the creative team. Love him or hate him, it's unfair to say that he didn't pull in ratings.

[Remianen]

[QUOTE=foolinc;470828]Because the 10 minutes of each show where a trained announcer (whose lack of wrestling background isn't really going to be a problem anymore) is going to actually effect anything.[/QUOTE] Yes, but Adamle is a trained announcer who is downright awful (in my opinion) because he doesn't know the product he's being paid to announce for and he's bereft of charisma in a company where charisma is GOD, just about. Would you want a Valley girl mallrat announcing World Cup matches? How 'bout the Super Bowl? [QUOTE=infinitywpi;470829]Jesus, people... you all complain that Cole and JR traded places. So we make Adamle GM of Raw, and he trades JR for Cole (and possibly someone to be named later); someone replaces him on ECW, and everyone's happy with their announcers again. Instead, you're all bitching about Adamle as GM? It probably means he's not announcing anymore, and you were all bitching about his announcing before![/QUOTE] First off, just because something is bad doesn't mean you don't complain when it's replaced by something even worse. "You bitched about Michael Cole announcing and then you bitched about Adamle announcing and now you're bitching about him being GM?!?" Uhh, yes. Because they're all bad (in my view). Having him on TV at all is bad because he's like a dripping wet slice of bread - only useful if that's the only morsel of food available to you (and it's not, in this case). Look, WWE is an entertainment company where CHARISMA is a very important trait to have in on-screen personalities. Adamle has NONE, zip, zero, zilch, nada. You'd think for 300k or whatever they're paying him, he'd find the time to sit down and watch some tape to educate himself on the "sport". Hell, there are rookies in the NFL who make less than that and they spend hours every day doing that...and they've played the damn sport their entire lives! [QUOTE=|Anderz|;471195]Adamle being GM is a great decision.. the last few weeks (since Vince was written out) have been in chaos.. and theyve been brilliant.. now we get a deliberately incompetant guy in charge.. that nobody is gonna actually respect.. it creates even more chaos.. I was initially against a new GM, as it would end the anarchy dynamic that was giving us such good TV.. but this appointment just aids that.. and the likelihood of this being the long term solution to the 'GM problem' is very low.. we'll have a 'proper GM' in a month or two anyway.. (which incidentally im against, as we dont need an authority figure.. Raw's been at its best recently without an authority in place)[/QUOTE] You make a good point and we'll just have to wait and see. But my first reaction was, they wasted an opportunity to make a big splash. Bringing a KNOWN quantity into the equation could've been huge. I knew it wasn't going to be Flair (my initial guess) when the tag team match was changed. But Adamle...man, that's scraping the bottom of the barrel....HARD. I dunno why people panned Vickie Guerrero being chosen as Smackdown GM. At least she has a history in the business via her husband. She's obviously got charisma and ability, considering how well she played a heel. I don't see Adamle coming close to that, personally. [QUOTE=infinitywpi;471231]Incompetancy in announcing does not mean incompetancy in managing. He made Cena vs Batista for Summerslam; he re-hired William Regal as 'the foremost technically sound free agent available'; he appears to be trying to get JR back on Raw; he got Michael Cole's head bashed in; and he straight-up lied to Lawler's face about not knowing why he was there last night. Seems like a good track record so far.[/QUOTE] infinity, no one believes HE made Cena-Batista. No one believes he did any of that stuff. Wait, lemme qualify that. No one who isn't in the market for oceanfront property in Las Vegas believes any of that. Cena-Batista is a 'duh' match to make. It's money, it'll draw. It also allows them to possibly make Punk-Jericho, with a possible HBK run-in that further sets the stage for HBK-Jericho at 'Mania. The decision to make Adamle GM is a head-scratcher, for sure. Even the diehard fanbois are like 'the hell?'. Problem is, if they have a swerve planned, it had better be good because Adamle's appointment just raised the expectation level to almost unrealistic levels. Of course, if Adamle is as incompetent as I think he will be, a puppet for the heels, then Vince can come back and fire him and replace him with someone the fans will mark out for (Richard Fliehr. Paging Richard Fliehr.) [QUOTE=Ransik;471415]Seriously... why do they overpay the talentless morons and underpay the talented ones? They signed Mark Henry back in 1996 for what... a million a year... they pay an announcer over a quarter million a year... And yet I remember when Psicosis got fired from WWE he was only receiving $500 a week on downside pay. Somewhere... someone needs to learn how to use money.[/QUOTE] Ransik, while I agree with you in general, this isn't anything new. The same thing happens in sports every single year. Free agents are signed and don't live up to the hype while at the same time, the people on the roster who bust their asses and perform over and above expectations, have to hold out to get their due. I submit Devin Hester as an example of the latter (how many of the 56 people taken before him have proven to be as vital to their team's success? 10?). [QUOTE=Self;471421]Clearly he failed as an announcer, but maybe he can do okay in the role of GM, albeit probably a comedy one who infuriates the fans by making 'bad' decisions, and being easily manipulated by the heels. It all depends on whether he can summon enough ability to handle scripted promos. Live he was terrible, and his lack of wrestling knowledge hurt the company (after the initial joke got stale) but... I'm giving him the benefit of the doubt. Come on Mike, buckle down and earn that paycheque.[/QUOTE] God bless ya! I'm not one to think (poop) turns into platinum if you give it enough time. It's an entertainment vehicle where, like I said, charisma is highly valued. It's like the difference between a SportsCenter anchor and the guy doing sports on the evening news telecast. One is entertaining (because they have to be), the other is just bland, "this team beat this team". Again, my main beef with Adamle is that he's going from one position he failed miserably at (for various reasons) to a position he's ill suited for because of his lack of charisma. JR has an engaging personality that draws viewers in. Michael Cole doesn't, and needs a strong personality on color (which he's had with Taz, JBL, and Mick Foley). Mike Adamle is bad enough to annoy viewers AND cancel out a strong personality on color. Now they think he'll be good enough to carry a position where charisma is almost a prerequisite? I don't get it. :confused: [QUOTE=Actarus;471438](Incidentally, DiBiase Jr's entrance music is horrid. What was wrong with the old school Million Dollar Man music?)[/QUOTE] Because it was 'the old school Million Dollar Man music'? They didn't give Randy Orton his father's old music so why would they saddle Teddy with his father's old (80's-esque) music? You can't polish a turd and likewise, you can't remix something that doesn't fit the time either. Maybe they could've sampled the old song while making the new one (ala 'Big Poppa' with 'Between the Sheets' as a base) but straight up using the old music? For a tag team that the music only applies to half of? Can't use D-Lo as an example either because that was HIS music AND they remixed it for his current stint. I agree that the Simply Priceless theme sucks. But using an old song just because one member of the team is related to the person that song was made for, isn't the answer either. Jim Johnston just needs to come up with something better.

[TheTuckerman]

On the subject of Adamle; people should just give the guy a chance. Yes, he was an awful play-by-play man but the role he has now is totally different. I was astounded upon hearing he was the new GM but I'm thinking he could be decent as a heel GM. Lets see how it goes.

[Destiny]

[QUOTE=TheTuckerman;471722]On the subject of Adamle; people should just give the guy a chance. Yes, he was an awful play-by-play man but the role he has now is totally different. I was astounded upon hearing he was the new GM but I'm thinking he could be decent as a heel GM. Lets see how it goes.[/QUOTE] Same. If people think he's crap, then the WWE are clearly doing a decent job because that's all part of the act.

[FINisher]

Yeah but there still is that fine line when in wrestling something is way over the normal "I don't like this guy and his actions" -feeling which fans take on heels and heelish actions. I don't hate Adamle because of his character or the on-screen persona which he "acts". I hate the guy because he truly is imcompetent in doing his job, botching everything in commentary and just being a big annoying piece of turd who gets too high salary considering his merits. I hate him because of the things he does and says are real (not acted) and they haven't been scripted for him (when in commentary). Now that he is the GM though, he probably won't suck SO bad, because he only needs to read the lines that have been written for him, unlike in commentary position. But he will still suck in my eyes. He even botched the live RAW ending, from rajah.com: "-- I forgot to point out, but when Shane McMahon's music hit on Raw last night, Mike Adamle pretty much gave away who the new General Manager of Raw was going to be to the live audience. When the music hit, he strangely left the commentary position and grabbed a ring mic, only to be told to go back to the booth."