Since I’ll soon be making my way off to tonight’s Monday Night RAW, this week’s column is a little bit shorter than usual.   Hopefully you’ll buy the quality over quantity argument as you read the Reader’s Digest Condensed Version of Rickard’s Ramblings this week.

MR. MCMAHON STRIKES BACK: After last week’s disastrous 2.5 rating for Monday Night RAW, the WWE is bringing in the big guns tonight with Mr. McMahon scheduled to return to RAW and a lot of buzz about a surprise appearance from a big name (I’ll throw you a hint as to who I think will show up- his initials are HHH).    As I talked about in my audio update last weekend, it’s good to see that Vince McMahon finally appears to realize just how bad things have become for his company.   The question is though, will he try his usual quick fix or will he take the more prudent course and devise a long-term strategy for bringing the WWE back from the gutter it’s in.   RAW’s ratings didn’t fall overnight and barring a miracle, they’re not going to go up overnight either (at least on a regular basis).  

GOBBLE, GOBBLE, GOBBLE: You’ve probably heard that Total Nonstop Action (TNA) Wrestling has signed Tennessee Titans cornerback Adam “Pacman” Jones to their roster.   At a time when wrestling is coming under federal scrutiny, it doesn’t seem like the brightest idea to be bringing in a problem child like Jones in to the company.  When you also factor in that Jones is barred from wrestling (due to his NFL contract), you just wonder what TNA is thinking given the lack of major success they’ve had with putting pro athletes on their show before.     I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, TNA’s motto should be “one step forward and two steps back”.

SPECTACULAR PROGRESS:   Speaking of our friends at TNA, I am so sick of hearing about TNA Impact’s 1.3 ratings and what a great achievement it is.   While it’s very good news to see Impact getting consistent ratings, it’s a far cry from them exploding on to the scene.   Impact has had a prime-time timeslot for roughly nine months and it’s not like their ratings have jumped sharply.   Again, it’s good to see a non-WWE product showing some signs of life but TNA really has nothing to say until the company starts making money.   When you consider that wrestling had a combined share of   7.0-9.0 on Monday nights less than ten years ago, you realize just how few wrestling fans are intrigued by the TNA product.   My personal opinion is that TNA puts on good to very good PPV’s and TV on a consistent basis but they still have a long road ahead of them.   If it wasn’t for Panda Energy, TNA’s plug would have been pulled a long time ago.    Do I wish TNA all the success in the world?   Of course.   Do I want to see them celebrating a tenth of a point rating increase?   No.

RATED E.R. SUPERSTAR:   Just when you wondered if things could get injury-wise in the WWE, Bobby Lashley joined Edge as the latest WWE Superstar to fall prey to the injury bug.   It makes you wonder just what is going on in the WWE’s Sports Medicine Department.

Not that long ago, the WWF was plagued by a devastating string of neck injuries for several of their Superstars, many of them resulting in wrestlers missing over a year of action due to the long recovery process typically associated with such injuries.   At that point, the WWE said enough is enough and began scaling back the insane number of sick bumps that their workers were taking fart too often.   This helped the situation somewhat and it’s safe to say that it probably added some years to a lot of wrestlers’ careers.  

Now, with the new rash of injuries, it’s time for the WWE to take another look at why so many guys are going down hurt, and hurt bad.   Could it be that wrestlers are carrying too much muscle?   Have they been working too much?   Is the WWE style still too focused on sick bumps and high spots?   Whatever the cause, the WWE needs to identify it and figure a solution or their roster is going to be depleted even worse than it already is.

BAD BOOKING EXHIBIT A: While this point is a little old news-wise, I can’t help but bring up my disgust with the way the WWE booked the Khali/Batista/Kane match at their Great American Bash PPV.   Talk about a prime example of everything that’s wrong with the WWE.   After dropping two high profile matches to WWE champion John Cena on PPV, the Great Khali was shipped back to SmackDown! after plodding his way through all three WWE brands.   Back on original stomping grounds of SmackDown!, the Great Khali somehow was deemed the best choice to fill in for injured World Champion Edge and Khali found himself with the world championship.   While I can understand the WWE lacking a lot of major stars on SmackDown! due to injury (thus their decision to put the strap on Khali), the way they booked him against Kane and Batista was criminal.   During their Triple Threat title match, the Great Khali toyed with them as though he was working a squash match.   While you could argue that this was just the WWE’s way of building the Great Khali back up as a monster heel, you have to wonder how wise it was to do so at the expense of the brand’s top two babyfaces (Kane and Batista).   If Batista and Kane couldn’t beat the Great Khali together, you have to wonder how likely the casual fan thinks it is that either wrestler could beat him in one-on-one matches.   It’s pretty clear that TNA isn’t the only company that knows how to shoot itself in the foot.