High Road/Low Road 05.28.10: Bret Hart As The RAW GM

Welcome back to the High Road/Low Road!

A brief explanation of the column: Sat takes the High Road (positive view) on angles, gimmicks, and other wrestling related “stuff” while Chad Nevett takes the Low Road (negative view).

Bret Hart As The RAW GM

High Road:

Bret Hart being the new general manager of RAW came out of left field. I was not expecting him to be the general manager at all and I was thinking that it was going to be Abraham Washington. You have to give the WWE credit for surprising us by naming Bret Hart the new general manager of RAW.

Low Road:

Bret Hart wasn’t a surprise. While rumors had Abraham Washington as the frontrunner, Hart’s name was never far from fans’ minds when it came to the GM position. He’s stayed around longer than expected already, so why not stay around to be GM? No, not surprising at all.

High Road:

Bret Hart was in all likelihood the best option to be the general manager. Vickie Guerrero has been general manager multiple times and it really would have the same old stuff that we have already seen. The other option out there was Abraham Washington and I did not see that ending well. He was not getting good reviews on ECW, so the odds of him being successful on RAW were slim.

Low Road:

There were other options beyond those. Why not bring back William Regal since his previous stint as GM was cut short by a wellness violation? He was fantastic in the role and could easily work in it again. Another suggestion I heard that was good was Triple H. It would work with his injury angle and keep him out of the main event scene a little. The point being there were other options, at least one of which I think would have been better than Bret Hart.

High Road:

The main thing a general manager has to be able to do is interact with the talent and cut some promos. These are two of the things that Bret Hart can do. Since his return, he still has not interacted with most of the roster, so that will be interesting to see. And Bret Hart has always been one of the better promo cutters and he still shown that he has the ability to do that. So, these two reasons make Bret Hart a great option to be general manager.

Low Road:

Hart’s mic skills are alright, but they don’t mesh entirely with the current tone of the WWE and its style for promos. He’s a little stilted and stiff when it comes to speaking. While he can perform the functions you mention, there are plenty of people who can do so just as well or better. I’m not sure what his interactions with other members of the roster would necessarily bring that’s worth him sticking around either.

High Road:

I think it makes sense to keep Bret Hart around in some capacity. Initially, he was only going to be around for awhile, but I think the reaction to his return has been positive and it makes sense to keep him around in some capacity. I think him being the general manager is definitely better than him being a manager for the Hart Dynasty.

Low Road:

I think Hart should have left on a high note, while staying around means the possibility of his return being tainted or viewed as a train wreck is greater. What’s wrong with leaving the people wanting more? I don’t think Hart is needed as the manager of the Hart Dynasty either. I think he could have simply left and that would have been great. He got the closure he needed, put over the Hart Dynasty, and left with dignity. Sticking around won’t make his stint any better than it was, it can only make it worse on the whole.

High Road:

The one thing I am not a fan of is the heel general manager. That has been done way too often and I prefer a general manager who just does what is best for the show. I think that makes Bret Hart a good option for being the general manager because he will do what is best for the show. The other two options that were out there (Vickie and Washington) most likely would have been heel general manager and I think most of us are sick of that.

Low Road:

With Teddy Long already fulfilling that role on Smackdown, I would have liked to see a heel GM on Raw to change things up a little. A straight down the middle GM is boring and usually only comes into conflict with the heels. That can be detrimental to feuds since faces tend to work best when they’re put in unfair situations, something that heel GMs can create well. It’s nice to see heels get their comeuppance from GMs from time to time, but the storytelling potential of faces outwitting the evil GM is greater.

High Road:

This next High Road is probably the main reason why Bret Hart is a good choice to be the general manager. It seems like the WWE wants to keep the Guest Host around for a little longer and if you are going to do that, you need to have a baby face general manager. A general manager like Bret Hart is going to allow the Guest Host to still do their thing while it would not have made sense for a heel general manager to do that.

Low Road:

I don’t see why a heel GM wouldn’t work with the Guest Hosts. It’s not hard to have the GM outright ignore the Guest Hosts as Hart did this week or, when they interact, have the GM be somewhat smarmy by sucking up to the celebrity that’s hosting that week. Or, if they want, a heel GM can create conflict with the Guest Host. That’s three possible ways of handling the two roles together, one of which you can’t pull off with a face GM.

Are you taking the High Road or the Low Road?

High Road
Low Road
Both Roads
OR

Simply write “High Road”, “Low Road”, or “Both Roads” in the comment section.

Results for Randy Orton Face Turn:

High Road: 68%
Low Road: 21%
Both Roads: 11%

Chad Nevett: An easy High Road as far as I’m concerned. Orton hasn’t changed a thing and people are cheering him. The turn was caused by the fans and that’s always a good thing.

Sat: I agree. This was a definite high road. I was surprised by some of the comments though.

E-Mails:

These are all of the e-mails that we received this week. We do not respond to the actual e-mail, but the reply to your e-mail will be below.

Sat: The only emails we received this week were for voting purposes. Let’s go on to the comments.

Comments:

Below are the comments for last week’s columns and our responses. Every comment will not be included because it makes our lives a lot easier. The comments section was last looked at on May 25th Evening Time.

Lord of the French Fries Writes:

High Road all the way.

The brilliant thing is WWE didn’t turn him. He’s still the same psychotic, head punting, snake as he was last year. The only difference is that he brought back the Pose and stopped trying to murder people. The fans have just started cheering him.

Sat: I agree with this completely.

Chad Nevett: Pretty much. I wasn’t on board as much when John Cena chose him as his tag partner a month or so ago, but, otherwise, it’s worked very well.

Big Lou From the Bronx Writes:

LOW ROAD…Randy Orton is just wasting his time over at the old folks home in the WWE Universe.

It’s time for Randy Orton to pack his bags and join the the big time…TNA WRESTLING.

TNA will treat Orton like the star he is!

Sat: Wow, just wow.

Chad Nevett: Have you watched Impact lately?

Guest#4533 Writes:

Low road.

He is not the crazy over babyface star that a lot of people have been making him out to be. His finishing move is over, but the crowd barely get into the rest of his matches. Even a staler than stale babyface HHH was out popping him before he left, and he’s supposed to be the next Austin like megastar?

His slow, methodical and at times downright boring ring style simply does not work as a babyface.

He is not a likeable character. When he’s getting beat down by a heel it’s hard to sympathise and rally behind him.

Raw’s ratings have tanked in the 2 months since he became lead babyface. Cena might be champion, but Orton closes the show every week and the show is clearly being built around him right now. You could argue that ratings are down simply because it’s post Wrestlemania season, but I’d be willing to bet they’ll go back up when HHH returns or when they focus on Cena again. Simply put, Orton is a terrible draw.

Like Edge, Orton’s babyface run will not last.

Sat: Is anybody really a draw for the WWE right now? I think Orton’s baby face run is already more successful than Edge’s and I don’t see change being made just because they need fresh matchups.

Chad Nevett: The crowd pops for him big time, not just his finisher. And, as I pointed out last week, he’s sped up his in-ring performance quite a bit to accommodate the face turn, which has made him more interesting to watch.

Dr. Doctor Writes:

High Road.

Unlike the failed 2004 attempt, Orton’s current face turn is organic and dictated solely by the crowd’s reaction. Management is doing the right thing by running with it.

Sat: The only argument that can be made is that it happened way too late.

Chad Nevett: I think they waited a bit too long to split up Legacy, but I’m not sure they waited too long on the Orton face turn. If they’d split up the faction sooner, they may have kept him heel for the aftermath, which wouldn’t have been as effective.

Guest#7840 Writes:

High Road.
You can argue about the timing of Orton’s turn, his offense, and how this plays with the casual viewer. At the moment it is working and you can’t argue with success.

Sat: The casual viewer is definitely going to determine whether this works. I think slowly the casual viewers are starting to cheer for Orton.

Chad Nevett: Exactly. It’s working, which, to me, ends the argument.

ROH Commish Writes:

High Road.

It’s amazing how much better all three guys of Legacy are without each other. Legacy really had potential but it was a disaster. The Brett Dibiase interference led to nothing and Legacy never added members they could have. Legacy should have had legs.

Randy is getting cheers but it is not overwhelming. Randy has been protected and I think the crowd buys Orton as winner and that is a major reason people like him. Ted and Cody didn’t get enough wins to have fans cheer them. They were booked as second rate and I think that is why Orton had to go over them and be the one with the face turn.

Sat: Legacy definitely seems to be better by themselves.

Chad Nevett: I can’t believe how much of a failure Legacy was. Neither man was left off better than when it began, which was the goal. DiBiase and Rhodes were probably worse off. They never really pushed the faction to succeed as a whole with Rhodes and DiBiase acting as lackeys to Orton most of the time. Such a shame since for at least a year or two leading up to it, a buddy and I kept hoping they form a multi-generation stable around Orton and to see it happen and not work was pretty shitty.

Comment Board Poster Writes:

As I said last week and for some reason, you questioned, Orton has no reason being. Outside the ring, the is the biggest dickweed in the world.

Inside the ring, he is a one-trick pony with no talent or charisma. Maybe you can blame the writing for his lame-ass Anger Management story-line. But you can’t say he played it well because he was simply being himself.

If he’s getting a face turn, it means he’s still employed. So I have no choice but to say low road. I have yet to see why anyone finds any pleasure in watching him. When he’s on, it bathroom break time or time to check Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives.

Sat: Orton seems to have improved outside of the ring; I think marriage has helped him. As for him not being good in the ring, I think that is a fair complaint, but I don’t mind him.

Chad Nevett: I don’t care about Orton outside of the ring. I don’t care about any wrestler outside of the ring so long as they’re not committing crimes. Not my business. I care about they do on screen and in the ring. Not much else.

John Writes:

High Road. The fact that it has people interested in potential feuds alone makes it a high road. It’s pretty simple, the WWE NEEDED someone, anyone to get face pops. Blame their booking if you want, but the only person who consistently got mega face heat was Cena. Edge failed, they had cold feet with Kofi, MVP failed… Orton is probably out popping Cena right now. Orton as a face will open up at least a few months of fresh matchups. If he takes the belt at Fatal Fourway (like I think he will) he can feud with all the main heels who have faced Cena multiple times for multiple years now: Edge, Jericho, Miz, Sheamus, and even heel HHH. Eventually, this will set up your WM27/28 Main Event of Face Orton vs Cena… which is consequently the perfect time to turn Cena heel a la Austin at WM17.

Regardless of any of that, Orton as a super over face opens possibilities. That is a very good thing.

Sat: Fresh matchups is definitely a positive for the Orton turn.

Chad Nevett: We only got a taste of Orton/Jericho when Jericho returned in 2007, so I’d love to see a longer program with those two. If Orton can’t wrestle at Fatal 4-Way, the idea of Jericho ‘injuring’ him prior to the match to take his spot could be the beginning of that feud.

Guest#0451 Writes:

Both Roads
Like Batista Orton gets such a reaction nowadays he can’t not be pushed as a face. Also like Batista Orton’s reaction means he’s over push will continue despite the fact that he is barely qualified to be a mid-carder and thus he will take up valuable space in the main event scene.

Sat: What is up with his Orton hate? How is Orton a midcarder?

Chad Nevett: I don’t get it either. Obviously there are better wrestlers that aren’t in the main event, but that’s been the case since… wait, when was the last time that the main event scene was actually made up of the best in-ring performers a company has? Orton is a main eventer and has been for years, get over it.

Jon Writes:

High Road
He SHOULD have turned last year; he was getting major pops after attacking the McMahons but that doesn’t affect how his recent turn should be viewed, it seems natural and organic. Unlike Edge with the lame “spear” chant, Randy just does his thing and people respond well to him. His character is like a watered down attitude era ‘shades of grey’ persona and with whats old in wrestling being new again it seems quite a change from other babyfaces

Sat: People definitely responds to Orton, but he should have definitely turned last year.

Chad Nevett: I don’t think the turn came too late. I think, though, that the WWE doesn’t quite know what to do with a face Orton since they haven’t changed his character. They’re too used to the obvious face/heel personas that something in between is tougher to book. Thankfully, they’ve mostly had Orton just do what Orton did before since the crowd loves it.

Guest#3630 Writes:

High Road.

Positives:
– Crowds have been calling for this for a while now.
– Fresher matchups
– He, so far, is not pandering to the crowd despite the cheers. He’s not smiling, giving high fives, etc.

Negatives:
– Another (brief) run with Rated RKO could have been cool
– While Orton doesn’t acknowledge the cheers as a traditional face would, he does need moves that pop the crowd every now and then.

Ideally, Orton should be a tweener.

Sat: I think Orton not giving high fives is a definite plus.

Chad Nevett: I can’t imagine Orton slapping hands with the fans. That anti-hero persona is a good one.

Roginbe Writes:

High road I think it makes for an interesting contrast between him and Cena. Cena is the hulk hogan super hero while Orton is like Austin, taking out everyone in his way.

Sat: I think that an interesting analogy.

Chad Nevett: Works for me.

SpankyHamm Writes:

Middle road – there needs to be more of a balance between Randy the Face and Randy the Fan Favorite. Right now – they are pushing Randy the Face too much.

Steve Austin perfected the tweener role in the WWE because he had the perfect enemy in Mr. McMahon (a person that everyone hated). Right now, Randy is in a program against Edge, who still gets fan support. So now you have two fan favorites (one a new face, one a new heel), and that dynamic just doesn’t generate the same buzz.

What they need to do is to have someone destroy Orton, and I hoping that Edge does this in the next PPV. Faces get beat down and come back, beat down and come back, and finally overcome the heel.

Sat: I think Edge can be the perfect foil, but Orton’s injury might cause a wrinkle.

Chad Nevett: I don’t think it’s been a problem so far beyond Orton tagging with Cena without any past issues coming up. Otherwise, he hasn’t been pushed as the standard face. He’s acted pretty much the same as always, just happening to fight heels instead of faces. I don’t see a lot of faces taking out guest hosts.

JR Writes:

I’m going Low Road here. See, the issue is what’s going to happen after his feud with Edge is over? No matter what, he is going to be viewed as the #2 babyface behind Cena. Anti-hero or not, in order to get to the World Title you have to go through Cena. How is that going to work? The only way this could truly work is if HHH does indeed turn back to his old ways.

Sat: You’ve also got Jericho waiting in the wings. I think though that it might be hard for both Cena and Orton to become two level faces on the same show.

Chad Nevett: I definitely see Jericho being next, especially if Orton isn’t recovered enough to wrestle at Fatal 4-Way and they need someone to take his spot, almost certainly by nefarious means.

Guest#4500 Writes:

High road, and I expect everyone in the comments section will go this way. Like you said, he adds a breath of dimensionm to an otherwise stale PG scene. I’ve thought of him as the next Stone Cold in that he could lead to a new direction for WWE that would take them in a more mature and layered atmosphere. He’s captivating, he has an odd charisma to him, and the RKO finisher can be hit out of anywhere, which is a big factor in a wrestler getting over. The only low road I can think of is that at times he moves slow and some of his matches and moves can seem the same (but then again, this is not only a general criticism I’ve had of Orton but modern WWE in general). Plus, the fans turned him, which shows that not only do they want him as a face but that they will be more invested in his character as opposed to having someone shoved down our throats (ala Sheamus).

Sat: You were definitely wrong about everyone thinking this was a high road. There’s a few people out there who think he should be in TNA and the fact that he is a mid carder.

Chad Nevett: Yeah, let’s just ignore those people…

Sev Writes:

High Road.

Eh, I’ve never been a particularly big Orton mark, but I’ve certainly been able to appreciate a lot of his work. And I think his turn gives the fans something new to cheer for than the perpetually polarizing John Cena. Personally I think the babyface viper is a pretty cool character. He’s really super over. Plus It also is pretty refreshing to his character now that he’s one of the “good guys”. It gives him new feud opportunities. And the thing is, if they hadn’t already run Orton-Cena into the ground, I’d be very interested to see a new face vs face dynamic to their matches.

Sat: A face/face dynamic would be interesting to see.

Chad Nevett: I hope that they wait on Orton/Cena for a long time. Especially since Orton hasn’t changed much since their last feud. He’s getting cheered and moves a bit quicker, but, otherwise, it’s the same character. A program between the two of them would be the same old, same old.

The Great Captain Smooth Writes:

High Road. It gives him something new to do. What I find funny is that it was Sheamus who helped it come along. People didn’t buy into Sheamus being champ, so there was no real reason to cheer for him during his angle with Orton. Orton got a bunch of cheers by default. My worry is that some of the people cheering for him will start booing him just because he is a face.

Sat: Yeah, having him face of against Sheamus really laid the groundwork for his face turn.

Chad Nevett: Sheamus has worked out better than I (and a lot of other people) thought he would. Still not convinced he’s right for his current spot entirely, but he’s definitely proven useful.

JLAJRC Writes:

Both Roads.

Orton’s character definitely needed freshened up and needed new opponents. But his sudden face popularity confuses me. I know people want to compare him to Austin, but the WWE actually gave us reasons to cheer Austin and an actual face turn in Austin/Bret. This just reeks of the WWE royally screwing up the Legacy storyline. There were several points last year where fans were cheering both Legacy members to turn on Orton, but for some reason the WWE kept putting it off until we just got bored with it and started cheering Orton just to end the story.

Sat: The Austin thing is there a bit, but it is not there 100%.

Chad Nevett: The analogy isn’t 100%, no, but this is also a case where the turn is because of the fans with the writing having to follow, so it doesn’t make perfect sense. Creative doesn’t seem entirely sure how to book Orton right now.

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Your reasons for taking the High Road, Low Road, or Both Roads and suggestions for future High Road/Low Road are welcome at [email protected] or in the comment section. Your reply will be included in next week’s column.