Where Are WWE Going Wrong?

This past week’s episode of Monday Night Raw had the entire wrestling world talking, which you initially would think is indeed a good thing but in the words of Dean Ambrose, NOPE, no positivity was involved. There was outrage on social media about how awful the show was, from the absolutely terrible growing up Bella segments to the evident hurriedly put together 6-man tag main event with a lack of creative direction, to well, then the AMOUNT of tag matches on the show and all in all, the lack of pure wrestling and entertainment (baring in mind these two words account for 2/3 letters in WWE).

Now I’m not going to sit here and write down everything that is wrong with the WWE and complain about the direction in which they’re going, because I am not here to do that. I love WWE and have been watching it my entire life, I love wrestling in general and it is due to the WWE that I have found so many other wrestling companies that I have now come to love and enjoy – which if you don’t already do, check out some other companies as well! It’s always good to branch out. TNA has been doing well lately, putting on some great Impact shows, PWG have put on some incredible shows this year such as “Eleven”, as well as ROH and NJPW. I’ve only recently gotten into a few of these companies but I clearly have been missing out on a lot. Wrestling fans should always keep their minds open to other products.

WWE is the biggest professional wrestling company in the world, nothing imo will change that. If you go to anyone in the street who is not a fan of wrestling and ask him or her what they know about it, I can guarantee you they will mention “WWE” or “WWF”. They are a global, well known company who make millions and have recently launched the innovative WWE Network, one of the first of its kind (no 9.99 jokes here people). Yet, despite this, their actual product, content and multiple shows are simply lacking. We are not being entertained in the ways that we once used to be and we are not being provided with incredible wrestling that once used to present itself on our screens.

So where exactly are they going wrong?

I’m not going to point the finger at anyone, I don’t know much about business, I look at what I am presented with and make my decision based on that and the way in which they are handling talent/story-telling and the creative direction is the main problem that I see and where I believe that they are going wrong.

It’s a long-term issue that can’t be solved instantly but first and foremost, major stars need to be built. When you see a performer gaining momentum, getting over with fans and then suddenly being brought down again and again, fans become confused, frustrated and well, bored, all that momentum disappears, just look at Bray Wyatt as an example. It is possible to have multiple stars, I mean I don’t want to hold on to the past as I hate when people simply go on about the Attitude Era and how great it was, indeed it was, that’s what I grew up on and why I fell in love with the WWE but that time is over and NEWSFLASH it wont ever be coming back. Yet, during that time, there were MULTIPLE stars, the roster was insanely strong, with a lot of direction and depth to each character, e.g. Taker, SCSA, The Rock, Mankind, Kane etc. On Chris Jericho’s podcast this week where HHH was a guest, they spoke about how incredible the roster was back then, with them all having a slight competition between each other to be the best and in turn having all of the amazing matches/segments they were able to achieve. So yes, it is possible to have various big stars up and down the card. WWE just have not spent time doing that, Cena became the big star and has been for over a decade now, so it is viable to argue that they became too comfortable with Cena as the no.1 guy and failed to develop other stars. The Talent is there, 100%, no doubt about that, just look at all the young guys coming up and some that have been on the roster for years, Ambrose, Rollins, Reigns, Cesaro, Wyatt, Harper, Bryan, Barrett, Ziggler and many more alongside guys down in NXT (the roster in NXT is nothing short than amazing and if you don’t watch that show…you are seriously missing out). If time is spent building these guys up, developing them and handling them properly, fans will be invested, but they are not being used correctly and there is no consistency. For example, Cesaro was at the top of his game post-WM30, but what happened? He was over with fans, yet turning him heel and constantly losing has caused him to become stale and for a lot of fans to stop caring. I’m not saying turning him heel was wrong, it just was not done well, imo he should be aligned with The Authority, possibly replacing Kane. Some would say that it is difficult to have a strong roster filled with many stars, but it HAS been done in the past so that is not an excuse to me.  The lack of building of stars is very, very clear, the roster used to be thin, but with all these younger guys coming up, it has the potential to be at the best it has ever been in over 10 years. WWE just need to spend time on these guys AND girls.

There is also a clear lack of creativity in story telling; at one point, WWE used to be ahead of their time in that area, just look back at the 90’s with the Mr. McMahon/SCSA angle. Yet, now, they have been left behind. Storylines such as the Bella problems are insulting to fans intelligence; compelling storylines need to be made involving characters that fans are invested in. It’s a simple issue but also now, a hard one to resolve but with time, it can be done. Right now, if you think about all of the storylines within WWE and try to name a few legitimate compelling ones off the top of your head, it is difficult. The Ambrose/Rollins revenge angle was handled near to perfect imo, and it was not even a main-event feud so this shows that it can be done, Rollins as the dirty traitor and Ambrose as the unstable anti-hero has been played perfectly, fans are invested in both characters; plus it has not ended yet so fans do have certain things to look forward to nonetheless. In no way am I attempting to bash the product, but it is difficult to be invested in certain storylines, take the Jericho/Wyatt feud – to begin with, I was super excited for it, but the hype died down; I’ve mentioned this in a previous post before about what JR tweeted, that there was not one guy that fans legitimately wanted to lose or hate and so no connection was there, WWE needed to build one as a strong compelling heel for it to work.  

There is also a lack of wrestling on the actual show, which is nothing new, it doesn’t have to be an issue if we are entertained throughout but I am a wrestling fan and in a 3 hour show, it is a crime that we get 30/40 minutes of on-TV wrestling.

Casual fans may not see any of this, they watch the product and may enjoy it… passionate fans of which there are A LOT, do. What if someone who is not a fan of the WWE, decides to tune in to Raw on a Monday Night and sees a bunny beating up Heath Slater or see’s those awful growing up Bella segments, instead of e.g. a great Ambrose/Rollins match. Now I know that the product can’t always be perfect, you can’t have 3 hours of a perfect show all year round (some would argue it shouldn’t even be 3 hours) but they need to develop their characters and build realistic story-lines. I’m personally sick of all of the comedic angles that are just not funny, end of. WWE need to change with the times and understand that this stuff is outdated.

At the end of the day, WWE do not have competition, as much as you want to say TNA are… they are not. We will most likely never get a Monday Night War ever again. So have they become too complacent? Possibly. Despite what kind of show they put on, they are not being heavily impacted by the negativity, they are not losing a crazy amount of viewers. But change DOES need to occur, the product HAS to improve, stars NEED to be made.  

I support WWE but do I complain sometimes? Of course I do and I wont deny that, but that’s because I am passionate about this company, just like a lot of fans. We simply want them to do well and grow, we have been invested for years and so we in turn want them to put on an incredible show filled with larger than life stars, great story-telling and incredible athletic wrestling. The way I see it is, if it’s been done before, it can be done now and done better.

You can tweet me at - @WrestlingMenu and let me know what you guys think.

- Zara