The current sad state of the WWE

The McMahons have let it loose

Four months. Four long, painstaking, rumor mill churning, guess what I heard, yet no one really knows a thing, months. That's how long it's been since CM Punk left/retired/took a sabbatical from the WWE. While I am a firm believer in "the show must go on", I am also a firm believer in paying attention to red flags and learning lessons from mistakes made. This is apparently where the powers that be at WWE and I differ.

It has been four months and what has the WWE really done to change or improve anything? They've essentially given us Daniel Bryan as champion to appease us & pacify us. Even Bryan himself said as much in a recent interview, stating that he didn't really feel a "push" per say, but a shift after Punk's departure. His Championship reign has felt anticlimactic at best, and now we're saddled with the sad truth of his needing neck surgery. So that's 2-3 months without our only shining light in the underdog favorite category, and more importantly, our WWE World Heavyweight Champion.

So now what? If you're the WWE, what do you do now? In my opinion, you wake up and smell the Folgers and begin to take stock (pun not intended however welcomed) of what exactly is going on in your company. Let's face it folks, WWE is in the Crapper 3:16 (see what I did there?). Let's start by looking at the top dogs, the cream of the crop. When you take Bryan and Punk out of the equation, you're left with John Cena, Randy Orton and... And…Well, there ya have it. Now don't get me wrong, you've got a roster full of people who could easily jump up into that main event stratosphere, but hey, who needs 'em, right? John and Randy, while more than capable of doing so, can no longer be left to carry the company on their backs.

This leads me into another sticky situation. I love John Cena. I just wish WWE didn't love him so much. While I'm of the belief that John is a team player and is more than happy to put over new wrestlers, I do feel that the stale nature of the character, thanks to WWE, not John, has made it a bitter pill to swallow. His latest run with Bray Wyatt has all the ingredients of an amazing, star making turn for Bray. His character's innate creepiness is outshined by his mind blowing mic skills & unorthodox in ring skill set. The guy's a star, and this feud with Cena could have been the catalyst to his main event future. However, the predictable nature of Cena's character kind of puts a damper on that ascend to the top. Sure, we can believe that Wyatt is playing mind games with Cena & affecting his performances, but ultimately this is John Cena we're talking about. We know there will be no lasting affects after this run is over, and there will certainly never be a heel turn.

Now Randy Orton, that's a whole other can of worms. Please keep in mind that this is being written by a diehard Orton fan. I adore Randy Orton, but whether you love the guy or hate him, he's one of those superstars whose talent you cannot deny. His in ring ability is that of one of the greatest of all time in this girl's opinion, and even the Orton haters I've come across don't attempt to deny that. He's got it all, the total package. As much I hate to agree with JBL on something, his "If you were to build a sports entertainer from the ground up he would look exactly like Randy Orton" is not far off. At least it wasn't.

After months of begging from fans and Randy himself, The Viper turned heel at Summer Slam last year after a very successful babyface run. We were all thrilled. Here was our guy. The sadistic, twisted, punt kicking, RKOing Viper that struck without a moment's notice. He was a bad guy, but you loved to watch him, loved to hate him, and at the end of the day, loved him. This time, however, WWE for some unknown and quite frankly unfathomable reason, decided to create an insecure corporate yes man out of the Viper. He traded in picture perfect dropkicks for complaints & grievances. They took what was a well deserved (no matter what the IWC says) historic title run and ran it straight into the ground. Years ago, after turning on Evolution, Randy did a spot where he said that maybe, just maybe, someday Batista & Ric Flair would detach their lips from Triple H's ass. Apparently, this was to make room for Randy's entire head years down the line. I still believe in The Apex Predator, and I feel he will make his way back to a rightfully deserved spot at the top. For now, I can only see a baby face turn working to get him back in the good graces of the WWE Universe.

Are they doing it right?

The WWE is chocked full of superstars that are just spinning their wheels, with their only arrival being at the realization that they are eternal "mid-carders". This doesn't mean they lack talent, ambition, looks, or charisma. It just serves as further proof that the WWE doesn't know what they're doing. So what do we do? Drag JTG out of the broom closet where WWE apparently keeps him & dust him off? Continue to place the entire future of the WWE squarely on the shoulders of The Shield guys? Keep bringing up lackluster NXT talent to fill the gaping hole in the 3 hours worth of Raw? I say we start with the Divas Division. Yes, you read that right.

The Divas Division was essentially resurrected last year by the ramp skipping, mad as a hatter yet you can't help but love her, AJ Lee. The diminutive Diva carried the entire Division on her back for the better part of 2013. All the while WWE was trying to turn everyone's collective heads toward the new E! Network darlings, the stars of "Total Divas". Don't get me wrong, I love MOST of the stars of "Total Divas". Nattie, The Bellas & The Funkadactyls all poses unique in ring skills as well as a lot of charm & likeability. I can do without Summer Rae & Eva Marie, but that's just me. You first must realize that AJ Lee essentially IS the Divas Division & it's going to stay that way for a while. There's a lot of good talent coming up in Paige & Emma. Both ladies need to hone their craft and keep working but there's an enormous amount of potential there. So you overhaul the Divas Division, and allow it to serve as a sort of example of how things are going to go in the future. It might sound harsh until you stop and think, gee when's the last time I saw a good quality match between Rosa Mendes & Aksana? Now that we have a minute.

From there we go to the "mid-carders". You boost up your Kofi Kingston, your Cody Rhodes, your R-Truth, and your Dolph Ziggler. Keep in mind; all of these are guys who were once the cream of the crop. All of them are more than capable of being, forgive me, A+ player. We just have to get them back into the WWE Universe's stream of consciousness. It's not going to be pretty, there's a lot of tearing down and rebuilding to do. We have to bring importance and relevance back to the IC and US titles. We have to bring deserving guys back up to the main event slots. But it can be done. The question simply is, WILL it?