Since The Authority rose to prominence in 2013, it's been hard to escape the influence of Triple H and Stephanie McMahon. After dominating WWE television for the better part of three years, The Authority finally seemed to be vanquished by the sizeable hound himself, Roman Reigns. Many of us- myself included- assumed (perhaps naively) that this would be the last we'd see of The Authority.
How wrong we were.
When the brand split was announced last year, to say I was excited would be an understatement. Finally, an end to more of the same week in, week out. The announcement that Smackdown would have Shane McMahon at the helm and Raw would be controlled by Stephanie didn't come as a surprise, but it did make me wonder just how different Raw would be following the split. The answer? Not very much.
This leads us to the title of this entry; why is Stephanie McMahon making Raw unbearable? And how can this be resolved?
To answer this, it helps to look at the competition. Smackdown is, at its heart, a wrestling show; the talent is of paramount importance, and watching Smackdown, I never feel as though Shane and Bryan are out of line in using their power.
In contrast, Raw often feels like the Stephanie McMahon Show. I think many would agree when I say the constant 20 minutes+ segments that largely consist of Stephanie figuratively lasering off the manhood of every male superstar on the roster are getting more than a little bit stale- and that's not even factoring in the occasions when she humiliates female talent, too. Just like when The Authority reigned supreme, talent on Raw is taking a backseat to Stephanie's ego. All this results in is me resenting Stephanie every time she appears on screen.
Some may say this is fine, and that she's doing her job as a heel authority figure. The thing is, this only works if the audience wants to see her get her comeuppance.
As it stands, all it's doing is making me stop watching.
It's no good having a heel everybody hates if the audience refuses to stick around to see how it all pans out.
So, what's the solution? For me, the answer is twofold- the pairing, and the booking. Once again, we should look to the way Smackdown runs their show. Shane and Bryan have chemistry together- it's not exactly electric, but it's better than the interactions between Stephanie and Foley by a country mile. Now that Foley will be off television, having lost his on-screen General Manager role, it'll be interesting to see who'll fill the gap. If Stephanie can be paired with somebody that can tap into her character, and above all else support her in the areas she's lacking, it'll make Raw a lot more bearable than it is now. My ideal pick would be Kurt Angle- as much as I hope he'll be in action in the ring, his charisma would be a superb check and balance to Stephanie's ego-maniacal tyrant mentality. Plus, the two have their history- I can picture plenty of tongue in cheek segments involving Triple H that could certainly make for entertaining viewing.
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| Kurt Angle- the ideal partner for Stephanie? |
This brings us to the booking. The key difference between Stephanie today and Stephanie during The Authority's tenure is that there were always on-screen ramifications for The Authority's actions. There were reasons behind their choices to berate talent like Daniel Bryan and Roman Reigns, there was always a storyline and tension brewing with every altercation. This by no means excuses the verbal essays they'd spout at the beginning, middle and end of every episode of Raw, but it at least justified the bullying on display by Stephanie and HHH.
Now, the bullying from Stephanie continues, but this time without a solid storyline. Stephanie constantly puts down superstar after superstar, seemingly regardless of their face/heel alignment, but without the backing of The Authority she just comes across as the spoilt child who got the keys to her daddy's business. You may argue that that's exactly who she is, but there's so much potential here; we've seen a glimmer of hope, with Sami Zayn getting in her face recently and being shot down by Stephanie and forced to work for his place in the company. If WWE are keen to stick with the (admittedly stale) Authority trope, at least go the distance with it and make it into a compelling storyline, without emasculating half the roster in the process.
To sum up what I now realise is a rather lengthy first contribution to the blog: I really can't stand to watch Raw with Stephanie as she is now. She needs a new on-screen partner to compliment her personality in ways Foley couldn't, and should be legitimately challenged by members of the roster more often than she is currently. Better yet, Raw should simply take a leaf out of Smackdown's book and focus more on the talent than on the authority figures.
Time will tell how Stephanie is received when her new General Manager settles in; we can only hope things change for the better.
Thanks for taking the time to read my first submission! I'll be posting a biography of sorts in the next few days explaining how I got into wrestling and so on, but really wanted to get this out before Raw's post-Mania show.
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