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WWE is the biggest wrestling promotion in the world for a reason, they have had a formula they have used for the last 30 plus years that has worked. There remains very little in the way of necessary improvement, but that is not to say they do not get things wrong from time to time. Sometimes when you are at the top for so long without competition, it can lead to complacency and often experiment with ideas without the risk of harming the product.
Unlike in the days on the Monday Night Wars, change tends to occur slower in the WWE these days, but there are some details the company should change in their product in order for it to be an overall more compelling show.
Since WWE has no competition, they have more room for error, no one can stand up to WWE in the way WCW did in the late 90's and no one is threatening to do so any time soon.
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Overall the product is still good in terms of the bottom line, but if it was to fix a number of bad decision and bad habits it could enjoy a surge in popularity that it once enjoyed during the Attitude Era.
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Here are 5 things WWE need to stop doing.
#1 Putting big title matches lower down on the card
For the past three pay-per-views, the WWE championship match between AJ Styles and Shinsuke Nakamura has gone on third from last on the card. It is probably understandable that it didn't go on last at the Greatest Royal Rumble, but at WrestleMania and at Backlash it is a strange decision not to put the Styles vs Nakamura encounter on to close the show.
Styles and Nakamura are two of the most over talents in the WWE right now, their feud is much anticipated but it has not lived up to expectations so far. One of the main reasons for this is none of their matches so far have had that special feel.
The WWE championship is meant to be the holy grail of the company, the title that everyone aspires to hold, but by not putting the match on last, or even the penultimate match of the card, it loses significance.
It is much worse when you consider AJ Styles and Shinsuke Nakamura could have had one of the best combinations of storyline and matches in recent memory. Both are capable of headlining any card on WWE's calendar and yet their bouts have been secondary to the Universal championship and at Backlash a non-title singles match.
#2 Confusing booking decisions
Almost a month after Charlotte Flair defeated the undefeated Asuka at WrestleMania, she lost in her SmackDown women's championship rematch against Carmella at Backlash. On the surface, having Carmella defeating Charlotte is not all that bad, but the fact that she beat Charlotte clean and without any help or interference seems like strange and illogical booking.
Carmella had previously been portrayed as the opportunistic heel, but here she beat Charlotte by outsmarting her. A month on from beating the undefeated Asuka, Charlotte lost all of her momentum by being beaten clean by Carmella.
The AJ Styles vs Shinsuke Nakamura feud has also been the victim of illogical booking. Having two consecutive pay-per-view matches that have ended in a no contest has done nothing to further their feud.
What's more, the double count out, in what was supposed to be a no disqualification match, left many fans scratching their heads. Having both men counted out after a double low blow seems laughable and has ruined what could have been a memorable storyline.
#3 Scripted promos
A big problem in terms of character development has been scripted promos. In the past, promos were not scripted and this allowed Superstars to have more creative freedom. Stone Cold Steve Austin and The Rock both rose to prominence through unscripted and raw promos.
Austin 3:16 was born through a moment of improvisation from the Texas Rattlesnake after winning the 1996 King of the Ring, while The Rock's popularity was generated mainly through his exhilarating promo skills.
Some Superstars are probably more suited to scripted promos and others can pull them off well. Having material written for wrestlers minimizes mistakes, but the safe nature of some of these hold some stars back from realizing their true potential.
If WWE gave the opportunity to their wrestlers to be themselves on camera and develop them more organically, WWE's shows might be a bit more chaotic but it will create a more competitive environment and give them the opportunity to better themselves.
#4 Too much emphasis on part-time talent
WWE's insistence on featuring part-time talent in a handful of matches each year at the expense of up and coming talent has damaged the product. Having big name stars come back for one big match can sometimes be a good thing, but often when they hold titles and take spots from current stars it can be a problem.
Take Undertaker returning and defeating Rusev in under 10 minutes as an example of this. Taker beating Rusev and then going on hiatus again does nothing for either man and it is short-term booking from WWE.
A better idea would be for them to have a two or three match programme, whereby Rusev could go over in one of their encounters. Taker just showing up, beating Rusev and then leaving again hurts the Bulgarian and gives the Deadman an unnecessary victory.
Another example of this booking is Brock Lesnar holding the WWE Universal championship despite not being in a full-time role. This is a problem because the top belt on Raw is part-time just as the champion is, and so it loses its prominence. When a part-time champion comes up against Roman Reigns at WrestleMania, it is not a massive shock that a lot of the fans don't care about the outcome of the match.
Also, the fact that the only Superstar Lesnar has been pinned by in recent memory is Goldberg (another part-time star). This says a lot about how WWE values its current stars. It would have helped Reigns if he went over Lesnar at WrestleMania, but for some reason, WWE held fire on that one.
#5 Putting Roman Reigns in the main event
For the past couple of occasions, Roman Reigns has been in the main event of a WWE pay-per-view, the audience has not bought into it at all. At both WrestleMania and Backlash, Reigns' clashes with Brock Lesnar and Samoa Joe respectively have been very poorly received by the crowd.
This is not necessarily Reigns' fault, but the decision to put Reigns on last at the moment appears to be counter-productive for The Big Dog. At Backlash during the main event the audience could be heard chanting "Rusev day", "delete" and "this is boring" clearly showing disaffection with Reigns. Reigns probably needs to be taken off the main event spot for his own good more than anything else.
If Reigns is given time to revitalize or even repackage his character, then he could return to this main event spot and be lauded by the WWE Universe, but at the moment it doesn't appear that just sitting around and hoping the crowd will buy into him is going to work.
The fact that Reigns main events pay-per-views even when his match is a non-title one, has been interpreted by some that he has become more important than the WWE title. Reigns spending months complaining that there is a conspiracy against him and that he is being held back, is completely inconsistent with him being booked in the main event of a non-title match.
