When I watch WWE programming, especially Monday Night Raw, I look on with amazement at the shambles the company has become. When you become the best at something, I believe you always continue improving and developing, however WWE got to the top of the mountain and stopped. Post Wrestlemania 18, WWE has been in decline, whether it be the lack of star names, character development or the PG era, WWE is failing.
Last week I spoke about WWE’s lack of competition, I feel that is evident following the fall of both ECW & WCW in 2001. Instead of forging ahead and developing the business WWE sat back and watched he world go by. We had legends returning, deaths and retirements and still WWE rested on their laurels. The rookies started to become veterans, all of a sudden there wasn’t the depth in the roster of yesteryear. The lack of superstar development and WWE’s stop/start booking system has been detrimental to the company as a whole, stars such as Wade Barrett, Jack Swagger, Rusev and countless others have been wasted.
To try and cover their costly mistakes WWE decided to strap a rocket to John Cena in 2005 and let him fly, and fly he did, even now on the eve of 2016 John is still WWE’s top star. Over the last decade WWE actually sacrificed every other member of the roster to make John Cena ‘THE MAN’, with multiple title reigns, endorsements and film roles Mr. Cena became untouchable. He was the franchise. John Cena evidently wasn’t the best wrestler, but like Hulk Hogan before him, the money mattered more to Vince than the quality of the wrestling.. The more he pushed Cena, the more kids purchased his wristbands, t-shirt and every other type of gimmick you can imagine. John went over everyone, Randy Orton, Shawn Michaels, Triple H, Edge, Batista, CM Punk and many more encountered his ‘FU’.
But over the course of Cena’s reign, WWE started to fail. With the deaths of Eddie Guerrero, Chris Benoit, and the retirements of Edge and HBK the roster started to look bare. Triple H & the Undertaker then cut back their schedules and semi-retired, the stars who WWE had created like Cody Rhodes, Ted DiBiase, MVP and Mr Anderson either failed or left. One true original WWE star with potential was Jeff Hardy but he soon left for TNA and a quieter schedule, the well was drying up for WWE. In the spring of 2011 WWE was a very boring place, when until a certain Raw happened and CM Punk changed the wrestling industry…..well I like to believe he did, even a little.
His passionate speech about the lack of competent stars, brass rings and a moronic son in law struck a chord with fans and industry insiders, something did need to change in WWE and in wrestling. I have fond memories of the ‘Summer of Punk’ but I look back now and think, did Punk earn it or did WWE/Vince allow him to have his place in time? Did they just appease the Punk ego to avoid losing a very talented and deserving wrestler. CM Punk’s 434 day WWE World title reign now feels like a distant memory, however I do like to believe Punk’s antics in the summer of 2011 helped to inspire the version of NXT we now love. But it took a long time to get to where we are now with NXT, even after Punk’s glorified title reign the company returned to the norm. It would be another few years before Prince DeVitt would be NXT Champion.
The title to this article is ‘Wrestling Matters’ and I still believe it does but I think it’s what WWE has forgotten. WWE more than any other company I know has embraced social media, from Facebook, Instagram, YouTube and Twitter, WWE took full advantage of what they offered. However in taking advantage WWE further watered down their product. All of sudden the superstars appeared more approachable than ever, the façade of professional wrestling started to slip. WWE superstars were no longer these mysterious, larger than life characters, now you could tweet them and laugh along with them on YouTube. You could actually witness heels and faces joking with each other in a backstage skit or in an arcade competition. Superstars actually started to publicly discuss their characters and how they struggle to engage with an audience and find the right character to suit their needs.
Somewhere along the way WWE forgot that wrestling made them into the company they are today, yet at every opportunity they attempt to make us forget that. Have you noticed that the word ‘Wrestling’ isn’t uttered on WWE TV, that talent are called superstars and not ‘Wrestlers’. With shows like Total Divas and Breaking Ground it seems WWE wants to be more a reality series than a wrestling show, when you have Kofi Kingston stating on Raw that as well as his character he also dislikes country music you know something is wrong. All mentioned are just some of the reasons why WWE are failing with its talent, booking and audience. WWE however continue in the direction they feel is best, unfortunately for them the direction is not ‘Best for Business’.
WWE recently added vintage NWA, AWA, SMW, WCW footage to the WWE Network, I have been gradually watching each episode to watch the glory days of professional wrestling. While watching I noticed the similarities to today’s NXT, with short competitive matches, direct promos and slow burning feuds the concept works now as it did in the 70’s & 80’s. It is those simple reasons alone why NXT is finding success ahead of Raw, yet the management team either don’t see it or just ignore it because it makes the so called better product look mediocre. I personally think there is a dislike for NXT within WWE, unless a talent is super over i.e. Kevin Owens, Bray Wyatt, The Shield then most NXT graduates fail. It took WWE 3 years to get Big E over, Bo Dallas is non-existent and Adrian Neville’s only highlight was his US title match against John Cena. WWE continue to squander every opportunity handed to them.
Bray Wyatt is easily one of the most charismatic, utterly engaging characters of the last decade, a true star in the making. In NXT he was feared and loved, it was obvious then he was destined for greatness, then he got the promotion to the main roster. In 2015 Bray and his family are jobbers to the real stars of the show, in the last two years Bray has not been granted a win over a major star or ever succeeded in a feud. The Ascension, the most dominant tag team in NXT history have been reduced to nothing more than a poor rip off of the Road Warriors. They worked harder than any team in WWE to prove their worth and get the promotion, however their drive to succeed was fruitless.
WWE have at their disposal some of the most talented wrestlers in the world, Dean Ambrose is a sure fire superstar with so many skills at his disposal. He can work, sell, cut a promo, and show emotion, skills that a lot of wrestlers only dream about. Yet with all these skills WWE just don’t see the potential in Dean, the ill-prepared Roman Reigns is their next Franchise, the fans don’t want it but WWE choose to ignore their reaction! You know, the not so important reaction from paying fans. It would really be quite laughable, if this wasn’t WWE.
Every week I listen to PW Torch’s post Raw discussion, one of the topics this week how it seems WWE have their superstars acting as how a pro wrestler should act. The personal touch of the attitude era has gone. Wrestlers are no longer pumped up versions of themselves but caricatures of pro wrestlers. It’s when you’re listening that you think, “My god, they’re right”, WWE has gone beyond the fourth wall, and it’s not even sports entertainment anymore. WWE Superstars are actors on a show called Raw.
Last Saturday I attended Pro Evolution Wrestling’s show in Gloucester, at the end of the main event TNA’s Bram popped up on screen and challenged the newly crowned Pro Evo Champion Justin Sysum. It didn’t matter that they presented it as live or that it was pre-recorded, what mattered was that it was fun, exciting and more importantly its intention was to sell seats for their biggest show in March 2016. I can truthfully tell you that the finale to the Pro Evo show was superior to the finale of Raw this week. And that’s the point right there, simplicity, that simple idea meant more than a 20 minute soulless promo from Roman Reigns or Sheamus about climbing ladders.
I am really starting to worry now about WWE’s Road to Wrestlemania, with top talent missing, mediocre storylines and just a poor product how exactly are WWE going to sell 100,000 tickets for April. Even with the rumoured return of Brock Lesnar, who else do WWE have in reserve for Wrestlemania and beyond? WWE is failing its audience and more important it’s failing itself as a company, WWE need to understand that World Wrestling Entertainment Matters.
@ciaran_1986 #wrestlingmatters
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