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Even WS admits Kenshin was an Adult Swim show. Too bad, GRW was a failure. Sad

I don't know about "failure." Truth be told, I was sort of expecting this back when it was nnounced, and all that I had seen of the series were a few music videos (still haven't seen any uncut eps, don't have the cash or interest to invest even in the first and second seasons). I think that the problem was the nature of the show itself--YYH is cut in several places and I still think its an enjoyable show. This is primarily due to them being able to stick with a subject--Super beings--where extreme violence was somewhat acceptable.

I agree with the Giant Robot week assessment, though. Not only were there simply not enough broadcast slots to really interest fans in any one show, but the titles they selected (*cough*evangelion*cough*) were simply designed for an older, more introspective audience more in line with adult swim or their uncut, dvd forms. Gigantor was also something meant to be enjoyed by nostalgic adults.

The problem with toonami isn't when it tries bringing in new material, but when it tries to stray too quickly from the standards it's already set (examples include Tenchi in Tokyo, Gundam 0079, and most of the Robot week shows). And lets face it, an assassin (reformed or otherwise) as a lead character is far from what many parents are willing to accept as appropriate or even interesting to young children.

Shows that Toonami can show and be sucessful with:

Angelic Layer
Magic Knights Rayearth
Record of Lodoss War
Big O 2
Escaflowne (Damn you, Fox Kids!!)
Tenchi Muyo GXP
Vandread
Azumanga Diaoh
Naruto
Irresponsible Capt. Taylor
Bubblegum Crisis 2040

I'll address the handful of those suggestions I'm qualified to address.

Magic Knights Rayearth-Was pitched to CN quite some time ago and turned down.
Record of Lodoss War
Big O 2- Better suited for, and currently airing on, Adult Swim, as the first season originally would have if AS had existed at the time.
Escaflowne- Probably

Angelic Layer - ADV.
Magic Knights Rayearth - Pitched and rejected. The plot's good but too slow-moving and very "girly". SM pulled in ratings because of boys. MKR would have trouble doing that.
Record of Lodoss War - Starting to look old (~10 years DOES make a big difference). Plus, the OVA series (the best part of Lodoss) is only 13 eps long, which means quick repetition if they aren't interested in the TV series too (which did run on ToonamiReactor.com)
Big O 2 - Probably, if they need a new demographic for it.
Escaflowne - Fox Kids has this for 5 years (it broadcast in mid-2000, so until late 2004/early 2005, provided there are no renewal clauses or other contractual obligations). At that point, if CN is still interested they might pick it up. It is also approaching 10 years old, however, and thus is starting to look aged compared to modern animation.
Tenchi Muyo GXP - Probably. I'd be very surprised if FUNimation ever released a title that DIDN'T have mainstream appeal. Gen basically said as much a while back. Fruits Basket would be a hit if it was on TV. Blue Gender (naturally) is doing fine (for an AS title). YYH didn't score high in the ratings, but DBZ did.
Vandread - Now that they have AS, it'd probably do well over there (provided Pioneer wants to do business with them again, after Tenchi Muyo)
Azumanga Diaoh - ADV
Naruto - Wait'll someone announces the license first.
Irresponsible Capt. Taylor - AS possibly. TRSI hasn't had anything on CN yet. It depends on how they're doing with TechTV, I would think.
Bubblegum Crisis 2040 - ADV

I'm not saying that ADV wouldn't air any of their titles on CN (they did it in a limited fashion with Giant Robot week), nor am I basing my thoughts off of the recently-completed Sean Akins interview... But rather on logic.

If a company owns both the TV station AND the media, they won't have to pay anyone for the ability to air it, nor will they need to contracts for airtime, editing and such. It's a win-win situation for ADV to put their licenses on their network, plain and simple.

That doesn't mean they won't put titles on other TV channels... but it would need to be a fiscally sound decision, one which I think is less appealing than running it on their own channel.