Vince McMahon vs. the Denver Nuggets

Go figure, the biggest mainstream wrestling story since Chris Benoit went nuts and killed his family broke last week, and I was on dipsilucious vacation. There probably isn't a whole lot to say that hasn't been said on the RAW in Denver Los Angeles debacle. The fact that it got Vince McMahon and his company mainstream sports coverage has to have Papa Bear tickled pink. (and the fact that they led off the montage of mainstream coverage on RAW with former employee Jonathan Coachman reporting on it on ESPNEWS was fucking awesome if you ask me)

However, unlike the aforementioned Benoit murders and most mainstream coverage the WWF/E has gotten since the early 90s, this story has been exceedingly positive for the company. Usually, if the WWE is going to get a shoutout on ESPN, it's because of premature deaths, drug/steroid abuse or the abject failure of non-wrestling entities (WBF, Ico-Pro, the XFL). Vince seems to be a guy that loves being in the spotlight, and I get this feeling that even if the attention is negative, somewhere deep inside of him, he's smiling. So, when the public opinion is seemingly on his side, he's gotta be happier than a pig in shit.

But I didn't really want to comment on Vince's ego. Lord knows there has been much to say about that in the past and there'll be enough to say about it in the future. Honestly, this was a perfect opportunity for the WWE to bring in more casual fans and start a mini-boom. RAW could have been the launching point for that. Instead, we got a lot of lame comedy skits. I guess they still think it's 1998.

Then again, I could be in the minority on that. Plus, the wrestling action was okay, if sparse. I haven't really heard much reaction from people who weren't watching the show already. However, I'm more inclined to believe that people who might have tuned in to watch the show out of curiosity were turned away by the stupid comedy.

People still want to see action. They want to see competition. Again, MMA's rising popularity is a testament to that. The WWE had the perfect opportunity to do that, and they squandered it. But hey, at least Vince was able to look good against another sporting organization that is having its own problems and has a chance, slim as it is, to cease operations in 2011.