The WWE landscape

Give the fans what they want for a change!

I’ve tried to write this article probably a dozen times until I said to myself, “I just don’t have the passion for it anymore”, and then it hit me. That’s exactly what’s happening in WWE right now, they just don’t have the passion anymore.

What’s most troubling to me is, they don’t allow the wrestlers (yes I said wrestlers, not superstars) to have the passion anymore. They’re brought out there like robotic sheep to read from a poorly written script.

Even the physical reactions are phoned in. There’s no suspended reality for us watching, there’s no belief that this situation is real, and far too often we’re left with a “I saw that one coming” feeling.

The “Attitude Era” is much heralded among wrestling, and particularly WWE fans, and there’s good reason for that. There was such an unpredictable quality to the product back then that it drew you in. Like your favorite TV show, you wanted to know what was going to happen next week.

They could take a simple little story,( for example, the teddy bear left for Mr. McMahon by The Undertaker when he was pursuing Stephanie) and torture you for weeks on end wondering what it all meant! And we loved it.

There was passion and fire behind the promos delivered by guys like Stone Cold Steve Austin, Mick Foley, and The Rock. The talent was given creative freedom, something they’re desperately lacking now.

It’s to the point where the product is almost entirely unwatchable, and as a wrestling fan that breaks my heart. Those of us who complain about the WWE product want to see them succeed!

We want to see WWE pick themselves up and do better, if for no other reason than we know that they can.

In 1997, Vince McMahon called a meeting with the talent on the roster at the time. Ratings were the lowest they had ever been and the creative team was having one hell of a time trying to come up with fresh ideas. So, Mr. McMahon took it on the chin and told the wrestlers to step in and help.

He handed over ‘some’ of the reigns to them, allowing them the freedom to create, express & engage us viewers with not only their promos, but their in-ring work as well. The result was one of, if not the most profitable and popular times in wrestling and WWE history.

Suddenly WWE was getting mainstream media coverage, the ratings were headed to some of the highest of all time, and products with the likes of Stone Cold Steve Austin and The Rock were flying off store shelves at an unbelievably fast rate. So why wouldn’t you even try to emulate those results?

They have a roster packed with all kinds of varying personalities and abilities, why not utilize them? Hand over some of the creative reigns to these guys and gals, and let’s at least see what they come up with. It can’t possibly hurt.

Alongside the young and capable talent you now have the returns of some of the greats. The Dudleyz have returned, Undertaker is wrestling more frequently in recent times, we’ve seen Sting in a WWE ring, and even witnessed the return of ECW’s Innovator of Violence himself, Tommy Dreamer.

This is a wonderful idea, and there are a few more I would love to see come back (Hardy Boyz, I’m looking at you!), but there ‘MUST’ be a reason for their return other than the initial twinge of nostalgia that it brings for longtime wrestling fans.

They essentially turned The Icon Sting into a jobber to guys who didn’t even need to be put over, like Triple H and even Seth Rollins, who was doing quite well for himself without having both Rob Van Dam and Sting return to “put him over”.

They have squandered many opportunities with The Dudley Boyz, by having them repeatedly come up on the losing end against The New Day (2 out of 3 of whom were already established guys) and now sliding them inexplicably into a feud with The Wyatt Family.

I hope that they won’t waste the return of Dreamer, but if recent history tells us anything, he’ll be jobbing out to guys in no time flat. To me, that is terribly poor writing. If a talent agrees to return even with the express purpose of putting over younger talent, that does not require them to lose 95% of their matches.

It requires some crushing blows being dealt to the up-and-comers, and most importantly some impressive promo work and quality story telling. Something guys like Bubba Ray, D-Von, RVD, and Dreamer know very well.

While we’re speaking of missed boats, the so-called “Divas Revolution” has flopped harder than Ric Flair after a big hit from an opponent! We spent the better part of a year having the Bella Twins crammed down our throats, then thought we’d hit the jackpot with the main roster debuts of Sasha Banks, Becky Lynch, and Charlotte.

However, once again sloppy storytelling has ruined such potential greatness. Sasha and Becky are rarely on television and when they are it’s mainly for some stereotypical backstage catfight segment.

They’ve taken Paige, the “Anti-Diva”, sexed her up and given her a random bitchy character who just goes around stirring the pot between the other ladies and showing off her apparently only recently discovered cleavage.

Sure, there were backstage catfights between the likes of Lita and Trish, but the vast majority of their story was told in that ring like it should’ve been, and still should be.

If the powers that be would simply listen to the organic crowd reactions, they would know that the fans will tell them who they love, and who they love to hate. At the end of the day, however, with ratings the lowest they’ve been in nearly 20 years, the answers lie in the hands of the wrestlers themselves.

They ‘MUST’ be given that freedom to try. We as fans must be listened to. If the wrestlers themselves were allowed to, if not steer, then guide the ship for a while, I believe a lot of these problems would solve themselves, and WWE could return to the mountain top.