High Road/Low Road 06.15.07: Vince McMahon's Death
Posted by Sat & Chad Nevett on 06.15.2007
On RAW, Vince McMahon's limo exploded and he was presumed dead at the scene. Was this a good idea or a bad idea? You decide in this week's High Road/Low Road!
Welcome back to the High Road/Low Road! A brief explanation of the column: Uncle Trunx takes the Low Road (negative view) on angles, gimmicks, and other wrestling related "stuff" while Sat takes the High Road (positive view).
The Results for One Night Stand as an Extreme Rules PPVs:
High Road: 42%
Low Road: 41%
Both Roads: 17%
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This week's High Road/Low Road featuring...
Mr. McMahon's Death
High Road:
The WWE deserves some serious props for the way the death was done. If you look at the actual footage, it seems like it really happened. There have been numerous backstage vignettes that have not come out that well. One of the main ones that I remember was Hulk Hogan running over the Rock in the ambulance. That was really bad. This was executed perfectly. You see Vince McMahon entering the limo the door is about to close and the limo blows up. This gives the impression that it was real and this is one of the first few things that seems real even though it isn't. Kudos to the WWE for getting an outside production team to do the explosion of the limo.
Low Road:
I can't fault the production values in the execution of this angle. What I question was the need for it to be done on this night; indeed, the need for it to be done at all. Starting with the first point, the need for it to be done on this night:
As far as I could tell, this edition of RAW was supposed to be all about the Draft, all about the wrestlers changing brand. As it is, it will be remembered for Vince being blown up. Once again, the focus is away from the wrestlers, away from the in ring product and onto Vince McMahon. Surely, if this angle needed doing at all, it didn't need to be used on this night, when all of the attention should've been on the wrestlers?
High Road:
I love this angle because most likely this gets Vince McMahon off of my television. Vince McMahon has been on TV for awhile and he was starting to get to the point where he was getting boring. His new character had the potential to be interesting, but I think that with him being dead is a better option. Plus, this storyline has the potential to keep him off of television for a long time. I seem to remember him losing a match where he could not be seen on WWE TV and then coming back. This practically guarantees that we no longer have to see him on TV, unless he turns into a ghost or something.
Low Road:
They'll find a way to bring him back in a while; I'm not sure how exactly but I'm absolutely certain they will. As for keeping him off TV; sure. However, what is the whole of WWE going to be about this summer? Yup, it'll all be about who killed Vince. The focus will still be on him even if the man himself isn't physically on TV.
High Road:
I cannot recall there ever being the death of a WWE character, so it is something that we have not seen. We have all been complaining for a long time that we are seeing the same old thing over and over. Well, this is something that has never been done and I am happy about it. The death of Mr. McMahon is something new and I am happy because this tells me that the WWE has noticed that they have been getting stale. I am really interested to see where this angle goes, so I think it is fair to assume that the WWE has done a good job with this angle.
Low Road:
I seem to remember Vince saying they'd do anything but rape and murder. Well, a few yeas ago they did a rape angle with Kurt Angle, and now they've done the murder angle. All this shows to me is that there truly is absolutely nothing WWE won't do. I don't see that as a good thing.
High Road:
One of the things that has really helped make the death of Mr. McMahon believable is the fact that there are a ton of possible suspects. If Mr. McMahon had just been blown up with no suspects then it would have really hurt the angle, but because there are a few viable suspects then this angle looks that much better.
Low Road:
1. There were a ton of suspects in the "Who ran over Stone Cold" angle; I hated that one too.
2. Can you honestly see past someone with the surname McMahon (Or perhaps Levesque) being either the culprit or the brains behind the plot?
3. Once again, attention is away from the in ring product and onto Vince and family. That, to me, is not what I want to see.
High Road:
The death of Mr. Mahon has been interesting because nobody saw it coming. When something comes out of the blue, it is always that much more interesting. When Kurt Angle went to TNA that was really interesting because it was a shock. That is why this angle is so interesting; it came out of nowhere. Plus, there were so many things going on that this was not expected. First, there was the draft and everybody was expecting a major draft pick or something. This angle has succeeded so far because this came as a shock to everybody.
Low Road:
I have to ask; what is there left for them to do? How do they top this? What we have here is shock TV in an attempt to spike the ratings. It might gain a short term boost for WWE but long term, it will solve nothing. People need to see good booking in order to care about the WWE, decent feuds built around wrestlers, allowed to progress over time. This is the opposite; a shock event designed to grab attention. I believe that past attempts to do this sort of thing have not resulted in long term gains. I'd be willing to bet this won't either.
High Road:
One of the surprising things about this angle is that it has gotten some actual coverage from the press. This is important because it has the potential to draw in some of the older fans that the WWE has lost over the years. Everybody knows who Mr. McMahon is from the successful angle that he had with Stone Cold Steve Austin. If you can gain some of those fans back, then this angle has accomplished something that was probably not expected and that is that it has garnered some actual coverage. We all expected the wrestling websites to cover the story, but we did not expect some real coverage for it.
Low Road:
Yes, there's been some mainstream coverage. However, quite a bit of it was where people were fooled into thinking Vince was actually dead. While I have to give WWE credit for this (indeed, it made me laugh seeing it reported as news) I get the feeling that this will just serve to annoy the folks who got "worked." Wrestling, a sport much maligned in mainstream circles anyway, can expect a backlash from this; I fear it won't gain the WWE any friends long term and will only serve to damage what positive press WWE had (although I'm delighted to see certain news sources made to look foolish!)
Are you taking the High Road or the Low Road?
High Road/Low Road Plugs
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