Voice of the 'Fan

In high school, one of my teachers often complained that "stupidity runs rampant" when the class wasn't exactly swift on the uptake on a particular day. Sad to say, that same malaise of stupidity has a permanent home in the WWE.

The company's much-maligned creative team underwent an overhaul recently, with long-time Raw head writer Brian Gewirtz apparently having been deep-sixed (don't know all the details), among other things, but Vince McMahon's refusal to train his writers in all the nuances of the business is hurting the product, and has for years.

Case in point: Raw had its lowest ratings since the dawn of the Attitude Era on 10/22, drawing a 2.4. Consider the factors involved:

1. NLCS Game 7. Ok, it was a blowout, but people in St. Louis & San Francisco were glued to the game. 'Nuff said.

2. Monday Night Football had an exciting NFC North matchup between long-time division rivals Detroit & Chicago. Ok, that wipes out three media markets in the midwest. Raw is dead in the water.

3. Presidential debate #3 between President Obama & Mitt Romney. For those people who aren't sports junkies.

4. Creative shot itself in the foot again with another change in administrative figureheads.

The last point is actually the most telling. Three months ago, 20-something AJ Lee was plucked from the Divas roster and appointed GM as a panic emergency move because the likely candidate Vince wanted all along (presumably Ric Flair for his 3rd tour of duty in the last 20 years) was unavailable (legal reasons). Lee, in this writer's opinion, was scapegoated because of the low ratings, but it's not her fault. So what does the uncreative team do? They turn the baton over to a proven loser in Vickie Guerrero. Pass the Pepto!

This is where McMahon just doesn't get it. Just 20 months ago, Guerrero was ousted from Smackdown for leading a palace coup against Teddy Long, an angle that was transparent from the go. The fans are sick of the widow's stale, tired act. It's getting embarassing just to casually say, "excuse me", in public without thinking of that shrieking shrew. So why does she get chance after chance?

Sympathy. A competent writer can say through the talent that Vickie has been putting on the protracted act of the bereaved widow, though it's going on 7 years since her husband, former champ Eddie Guerrero, passed away. As fans we can fill the holes and let our imaginations run wild. The solutions are simple:

1. Get rid of Vickie once and for all. Two words: Ratings Poison. She's a stale act in need of a makeover. All played out. Do I really need to say any further?

2. Let the agents-producers (i.e. Dean Malenko, Arn Anderson) write the show instead of a group of shadowy Hollywood failures. It can't be any worse, but rather better.

Triple H is already putting his stamp on the product with recent personnel moves, including long-time friend William Regal now a talent evaluator. I'd take it a step further and give Regal a spot on the creative team. As for Vickie, her whole act runs contrary to the Be A Star campaign, and that has "angle" written all over it. What better way to take her off TV than to send her off to sensitivity training or something, and keep her off TV for 6-10 months?

Those of us who are fans are perfectly capable of writing better than the clowns currently doing so. Unfortunately, our knowledge of the product disqualifies us average folks.

As they used to say in editorials on WPIX in NYC back in the day, what's your opinion? We'd like to know.