WWE RAW 28-4-14

*long may it continue

Totally agree mate

Even Cena seems to be slipping in the whole "I won't be around forever" line in his promos recently, and whilst I'm not at all a hater of John Cena, I think his fanbase is the biggest obstacle in any potential "upgrading" of the product. His popularity is much like Hogan's used to be and there is no way the Attitude era would have existed had the Hulkster still been the biggest draw at the time its inception.

Another thing that made the Attitude era so great for me was the high standard of midcard wrestlers. It enabled superstars such as Eddie Guerro (sp), Jericho and the masterful mat technician whose name I still daren't mention to mix it with the monster heels and become credible, believable World Champions. Right now with the likes of Cesaro, Bryan and Ambrose fitting that description, not to mention people coming from NXT such as Adrian Neville, the WWE could be on the cusp of something very special again.

With Levesque around overseeing things from above, you have to think they'd be foolish not to

bring back stone cold

the masterful mat technician whose name I still daren't mention

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bigdick johnson?

The product is experiencing a high point, and I think u guys are right about Levasque. He is the future of the company and Vince's "boy", which means he will inherit some major playing power.

Cena is the sacrificial lamb I fear, and given the length of his non title stint, the ball has been in motion for a while Although instead of going down the Coresh route, they should have used him as the streak killer (but that's a whole different thread)

The new era needs a cleaning out of the roster as Champers said. An era is only as good as its roster, and the roster is weak as hell. Scrap the supurfluos titles and make a ridgid roster structure.

My personal highlight of the current product is the way they are using the "heel vs heel" angle. Although the shield are the more liked of the two factions, they still represent heels in every way, and Evo are the quintessential bad guys. Its quite the cerebral delight to be poetic.

Does anybody think CM Punk still has relevance?

The product is experiencing a high point, and I think u guys are right about Levasque. He is the future of the company and Vince's "boy", which means he will inherit some major playing power.

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and "Levasque" sure knows his shít about midget wrestling

Mike, the best compliment anyone can pay the WWE right now is they're not missing Punk one eyeota. In fact a very strong case can be made that WM30 was better off without him.

Touching on Digby's sarcastic but very relevant point, the over exaggerated PG aspects of the product have been condensed almost into their own special category for the show - almost like the 24-hour Hardcore Title stipulation - it's now a nice bit of comic relief as opposed to an engulfing tidal wave it was only a few years ago.

The biggest difference beyond question is the booking. It's the little things (e.g. Reign's nack of powering out of grapples) that speaks volumes. Still a work in progress product, but the progress is finally happening.

The best way I can sum it up. For the past ten years the booking felt like a born businessman trying to get inside the mind of a wrestling booker. Now it feels like a born wrestler trying to book his product to generate good business. The difference is so clear.

The difference is like u say massive, I am in a good place with the product and believe its foundations are finally laid on wrestling entertainment as opposed to wrestling enterprise.

Still not sure about the use of mid carders such as Cesaro though. I just cannot believe that relationship works.