I will take a measure of artistic liberty and steal a signature phrase from Michael Cole: "Oh, my"! I don't think that there is any other way to begin this week's Raw Ramblings than to comprehend and dissect the blockbuster sale of Monday Night Raw by WWE Chairman Vince McMahon to Donald Trump, which sent shock waves through World Wrestling Entertainment, and through yours truly as well.
You know, Cyndi Lauper sang that "Money Changes Everything", and did it ever last night! Never in my wildest dreams did I ever think that Mr. McMahon would sell one of his prized entities, let alone his flagship brand in WWE. Now we all come to a time in our professional lives where we need to start looking ahead to where we can start enjoying the fruits of our labor, and perhaps that is the vision that Mr. McMahon had when he consummated the sale. Granted, he undoubtedly made a boatful of money from this transaction. But it happened so suddenly, and it caught all of us off guard. Normally, you hear rumors and bits of information in advance of big news happening, but not on this one. This was air tight, and I would surmise that just a small circle of friends and family knew what was going on.
Now that I've had a little time to digest things a bit, I want to give my take on the state of the state. First of all, we all know that Mr. Trump is a very astute businessman. He sets the bar high, and knows what he wants, and when he wants it. And he already has made an impact by announcing that next week's Raw will be commercial free, and that we are going to have a Last Man Standing Match for the WWE Championship between Randy Orton and Triple H. Two shots fired, two bulls eyes scored from a standpoint of giving the WWE Universe value; I applaud that! And I also think that just scratches the surface for Mr. Trump's modus operandi. I'm sure that there are going to be more good ideas and changes coming from him going forward.
However, in my opinion, one of the first things that Mr. Trump has to do in the upcoming week is address the situation of having a General Manager in place for his new brand. He needs someone with a wrestling mentality manning that fort. Yes, Raw is entertainment, yes Raw is athleticism, but the word wrestling will always be a part of that mix as well. Now that Mr. Trump has ownership of Raw, it becomes one of his many entities that he oversees. And when he comes to Green Bay, Wisconsin next Monday, he will be meeting a very passionate group of Raw superstars that will truly want to aim to please. Call me old-fashioned, call me traditional, but with Donald Trump having other business irons in his fire, I feel that the new owner of Raw needs to select a strong, veteran, well respected individual within our industry to oversee the every day activities that occur in the Raw brand. I sincerely hope that happens. And I also wonder that, with a new owner at the helm, will there be any changes to the Raw telecast itself, other than the commercial-free aspect of it.
It's a new day that dawned this morning for Raw, and hopefully everyone involved will embrace it and continue to make it even better than it has been for nearly seventeen years of existence!
Well, congratulations to Randy Orton on once again becoming WWE Champion. Not withstanding his individual efforts in last night's Fatal Four Way Match to "de-vacate" the WWE Championship, Randy got help from both Triple H and John Cena, who both were able to indirectly soften up the Big Show for Orton, who was then sly, cunning, and deliberate in striking at the right time to score the pin.
However, I must say something about Cody Rhodes and Ted Di Biase. Not once, but twice last night they interfered in matches that had a bearing on the end result, thanks to said interference. This has been happening way too often, and something has to be done to keep them in check. It is happening way too often!
That being said, Legacy did indeed leave a calling card with the Colons last night, as they were competing in yet another non-title match against the Hart Dynasty, who represented ECW. That scenario was a darn shame, because this was the highly touted Hart Dynasty's initial appearance on Raw, and I for one was looking forward to seeing a keenly competitive contest. I will give props to one thing about Legacy" They had new music last night, and it was pretty darn good!
On the other hand, Rosa Mendes' music made me think that it was time for an episode of Super Astros!! And did you folks think that Rosa had a chance to defeat Mickie James last night? This was Rosa's first singles match, and although she tried, Mickie was just too much for her from an overall standpoint. For the love of Pete, let's see Mickie get that Diva's Championship opportunity against Maryse, sooner than later!
Man, the Miz is becoming more and more annoying with every passing week? I give him credit for improving his game since becoming a singles competitor, thanks to the WWE draft. But for what he last night did to Goldust and especially Hornswoggle, combined with the way he positioned himself in the Battle Royal, I think that the Miz definitely is one individual that gets under your skin faster than any current Raw superstar can.
Finally, I ask you folks in WWE Universe: Donald Trump as owner of Raw. Pros? Cons? Positives? Negatives? Please leave a comment at the end of this blog, and let the world know what you're thinking about.
That's it for me. Thanks for reading, and as an FYI, I have succumbed to the phenom known as Twitter , at www.twitter.com/howardfinkel.
Onward and upward.....


I think it's great to have Donald Trump as the new owner or Raw. Already he is making a hudge impact in the world of wrestling, No Commercials and a Last man standing match between to very talented superstars. it's going to be really interesting to see what he has to bring to the table.
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