How long was RAW's main angle compelling?

[Engels Wings]

Question is as posted in the poll.

I'm one of the few who was probably actually MORE into the angle once it stopped being the CM Punk show, simply because WWE so rarely does big, overarching angles that involve everyone.

As such, I wasn't really disappointed once the focus shifted off of Punk. I liked the involvement of Awesome Truth, and all the stuff that happened leading up to Hell in a Cell. I actually even really liked the no confidence RAW, even if the company seemed to be desperately trying to make everyone walking out the heels.

Last week's RAW, though, is where I lost my faith. There's still (hopefully) a lot of story to tell, but they could have gotten weeks and weeks out of a walkout storyline that they tied up in two hours. It's not even where they went with it that I object to, it's that they just blatantly rushed an angle that had actually been reasonably well developed and interesting for most of the summer in an effort to get back to mostly status quo for...really, no reason in particular at all.

[The Tee Why]

When Nash revealed he texted himself, I just completely lost interest in it. it was such a "meh" way to take the storyline =/

[Ryback on a Pole!]

Until last week for me.

Up until then, even though there had been some nonsense like Nash being the one who texted Nashwhere I started to lose interest (Why not Del Rio to further his feuds with Cena & Punk? :/) they've still managed to salvage it, like with the walkout for example which was great.

Last week was just like they hit the reset button and returned everything returned to the status quo.

[AndyUK]

It still is.

I mean, don't get me wrong, it hasn't been perfect. I agree that the walkout angle was way too rushed but it has still been a good angle and there's still a lot of mileage left in it.

It is a damn sight more interesting than what we've been used to getting from WWE over the years. I'm just enjoying it for what it is.

[FUNK_US/BRODUS]

Its gone up and down. Yes there were stupid moments, but there were great ones too. It still has me watching.

[Celgress]

SummerSlam, imho.

[Red Impact]

I thought they jumped the gun making everything with the title wrap up by Summerslam. I think that's when the original main angle ended and two new ones began.

[femmejomo]

I started to lose interest when they brought Punk back. I felt it was too early and like they jumped the shark for rating. I really liked the rebel stuff he was doing and wanted more. It was different and felt real to me (Dammit!)

Nash texting Nash was a low point too.

I want to see where they are taking this Morrison v Laurinitis and how that will work with Christian's group. I'm also curious about the conspiracy storyline. Is that over?

[husti]

After MITB, it's been shit

[HMARK Center]

Yeah, once Punk came back early I had a feeling it wasn't going to go in the direction I had been hoping for.

[VengeanceGOD]

Up to Money in the Bank.

[angryfan]

Oct 13, 2011 11:34:08 GMT -5 HMARK Center said:

Yeah, once Punk came back early I had a feeling it wasn't going to go in the direction I had been hoping for.

Bingo. They went into fast forward mode as soon as MitB ended. Punk leaves, we get a rush job tournament, Vince is replaced, and Punk is rushed back to have a few quick rematches, lose the title in a screwjob fashion, and then everything is shifted.

If they had drawn this whole thing out for a few months, and say just now been getting to the whole "Punk returns with the title and challenges the new champion" part, they could have given more depth to things.

[PKO]

Going into MITB it was must-see TV. What would Punk say next? What if he won the title? It didn't feel like a standard wrestling storyline, it felt new and fresh. The stars aligned at MITB and it lived up to the excitement.

From MITB to Summerslam: Punk was brought back too fast, and I wasn't thrilled to have HHH in the mix, but I was still very much excited to see where things would go, what would be said. The match and antics at Summerslam were a bit of a letdown in comparison to the month before.

I was somewhat intrigued to see Kevin Nash's involvement, but he ended up being pretty darn pointless, other than having Punk destroy him on the mic any time they faced off.

The storyline switching to Punk/HHH felt too soon, but led to that fantastic segment concluding in the mic shot from Punk to HHH.

NOC was an absolute mess, and (along with Cena/Kelly winning) was the first time I had no interest in watching RAW. In the weeks following, everything that had made Punk "must-see" for the past few months went, and things felt like a standard wrestling storyline again.

The storyline switching to "THE HHH SHOW" was disappointing. The No Confidence storyline actually could have worked really well if it had been a few months down the line and things had actually been crazy. As it is, things don't look any different from usual. Why do the superstars/divas/referees/announcers think HHH is doing such a worse job than all the other authority figures over the years? It doesn't make sense.

Neither does the appointment of Johhny Ace as interim GM. Why would that please everyone that was striking before? It just makes everyone look stupid.

They turned an original, exciting storyline with CM Punk into a bog-standard (plot-hole ridden) storyline all about HHH. It went from fresh to stale. I went from staying up til 4 in the morning to watch things play out, to recording and watching the next day.

They still have my attention, but (along with the direction of the rest of the show) this is the first time in my entire run watching wrestling that I have contemplated stopping watching because...I just don't care anymore.

[crimsonwolf]

Summerslam. Just light the Nexus angle last year.

[Madagascar Fred]

Oct 13, 2011 11:34:08 GMT -5 HMARK Center said:

Yeah, once Punk came back early I had a feeling it wasn't going to go in the direction I had been hoping for.

yup, it was still good til Summerslam though...after that, not so much

[The Ichi]

This isn't really the same angle as the Punk one anymore. They've derailed that train and hopped on a new one.

[moneyman20]

The original Punk storyline lost steam with me when it was revealed Big Sexy texted himself. It then completely lost me at Night of Champions. After that, the original walkout(as much as I hated the segment) intrigued me for the next Raw. Then, Monday's Raw killed my interest and I have no interest in much of anything in WWE anymore.

[BigJerichool222]

The first promo between Nash and Punk was when it all ended for me.

[barthelemykaras]

The moment Nash showed up at SS and attacked Punk. I thought they brought Punk back way too fast, but the storyline was still salvageable. When I realized that they were going to have Punk the (then) hottest commodity in wrestling, feud with Kevin Nash in 20-freaking-11, I knew it was downhill from there.

[carp (SPC, Itoh Respect Army)]

It was very clearly when they has CM Punk return so soon after leaving with the title. Even the night that happened, everyone was like, "Um, well he has a new theme, so that's cool?"