WWE Raw Brand Thoughts

It's been a while since I just wrote out some thoughts - well, except for live Raw and PPV blogs, but those are more stream-of-consciousness than anything.

I wanted to write a few blogs about things I'd like to see in WWE over the next year.  Going to start off with Raw, since it's the show I watch the most.

Right now, we've got Randy Orton as WWE Champion, MVP as US Champion, Maryse as Diva's Champion, and The Colons as Tag Champions.

Overall, I think it's a decent group to kick the summer off.  Regardless of your opinion of Orton as a performer, I'm sure we all as fans want him to succeed and if he weren't the champion after the last 6 months of him essentially being the heel John Cena (shoved down our throats that is), I think he'd be done. 

But yeah, let's start off with the WWE Championship.  I can't tell you how uninterested I have been in the title picture on Raw since Chris Jericho and Shawn Michaels were feuding.  It's been excruciating.  We've basically been seeing Orton and the McMahons/HHH feuding all year long.  And now Batista is basically a proxy for HHH at the moment.  Talk about a waste of a huge return.  Batista works best as a monster of a man - and Orton needs to be kept strong right now.  So why choose now to be the time to have them feud?  Not only is the feud too similar to what was going on with HHH and Orton (actually, it's less than that - at least Orton/HHH did have some pretty bright, shining moments with Stephanie), but it's killing Batista.  Here's a guy who's not going to be around much longer - he's already too far up there in years (unfortunately). 

And wow..  I was trying to figure out who I'd have preferred Orton to feud with going into the summer, and it's surprising how lacking the Raw roster seems now.  I thought it was getting stacked at the draft, and yet - a lot of the guys I'd have preferred to see Orton feud with (Punk, Jericho, Edge, Undertaker - fairly fresh combinations, with Taker/Orton being the least fresh) aren't on Raw.  He's feuded with HHH too much over the years already, he's feuded with HBK if he weren't taking time off, he's feuded with Cena pretty recently, I gave my reasons for why Batista shouldn't be feuding with him, and I just don't see much in a BIg Show/Orton feud.

Honestly, I thought after HHH, it would have made great sense to do a quick Cena/Orton feud, and have Orton go over cleanly.  Orton needs something to solidify himself in the eyes of the fans - and that would have done it.  DQ finishes with Batista and so much McMahon and now Flair involvement just clouds it up and diminishes anything Orton can get out of winning the feud. 

But anyway, it really does boil down to the creative.  I'm sure Batista and Orton could have worked (and potentially still could) if the writing were better.  Perhaps they'll have Orton go over Batista in the end (this is a given as far as I'm concerned), then roll through HHH (rumored to be a Hell in the Cell match at SummerSlam), and then absolutely cement his reign as legitimate by capping it off with a win over Cena. 

While they'd do that, they could groom a superstar on either Smackdown or ECW to be the one to finally jump to Raw to take Orton on.  After that, not only do you have non-title feuds where Batista, HHH, and Cena want to get revenge on Orton, but now you've got a new main eventer on Raw who by virtue of beating Orton would be able to claim he's the best of the best on the brand.

I've just got this sick feeling we're going to only get Orton/Batista, then a HHH/Orton feud that leads to HBK returning to give us a DX vs Legacy feud that ends with HHH victorious.  Though, if that leads to a great HHH vs HBK match down the line - I think I could deal with it.

Not feeling too great about the world title picture on Raw.  But I'm going to hold onto some hope!

So then the US title, currently held by MVP.  I'm happy with the way this is going so far.  I think MVP should hold onto the title until WWE is ready to give him a push to the top.  And right now, I think things are going well - Matt Hardy, William Regal, Kofi Kingston, and MVP are 4 guys on Raw I think I'd be happy to see just about any combination of matches with.  One thing that strikes me as a little odd, though, is why doesn't Legacy set their sights on the US title?  (and for that matter, the tag titles too)  Rhodes and DiBiase feel like they're being wasted to me, and I'd like to see them get more singles matches so they can improve even more. 

The Miz and The Brian Kendrick are two other guys I would like to see in the US title mix, but it sounds like Miz is possibly getting a high-profile feud with Cena, and at the moment, TBK is doing the comedy thing aiming for the tag titles.  (which isn't exactly great for the tag titles!)

As far as the diva title goes, I really hope Mickie James gets the shot soon and wins it.  She deserves another run with the title.  I like Maryse and think she could end up getting a lot better in the ring, but right now, I think Mickie should get the gold.

Tag titles - yeah, WWE doesn't give me much reason to care about them.  It seems like we're not going to see them defended until TBK finds himself a partner.  Not sure how he hasn't found Jamie Noble yet.