5 reasons why forming RETRIBUTION was a mistake

RETRIBUTION made their debut a little over a month ago. Although WWE seemingly had big plans for the group, it seems like they don't know what to do anymore. In fact, it almost feels like the company is either waiting for the group to gain traction or just find a way to write them off television.

Now, that doesn't mean RETRIBUTION can't be successful or that there aren't interesting aspects about the faction. It just reflects the fact that it is not enough to elicit fan support. Furthermore, it shows that WWE fans might want something else entirely.

With that said, WWE continues to go back and forth with RETRIBUTION. Here are five reasons the group is a mistake. As always, let us know your thoughts in the comments below and tell us if you think RETRIBUTION still has potential or not.

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#5. No need for a RETRIBUTION storyline

Why does it seem like the Retribution storyline isn't going anywhere?

In all honesty, there really doesn't seem to be a need for the RETRIBUTION storyline taking place right now. Not only is that evident by how stacked the rest of the card on WWE Monday Night RAW and WWE SmackDown, is at the moment, but also by WWE's lack of willingness to move the story forward.

Now that doesn't mean that RETRIBUTION didn't make a statement when they tore down the SmackDown set a couple of weeks ago, but it was never really followed up on. It was almost like WWE didn't know where to go from there and weren't willing to take away time from other storylines to do something.

If nothing else, that should be proof enough that WWE doesn't need RETRIBUTION like they think they do. Sure, an invasion storyline seems great on the surface and might make some fans go back to The Attitude Era, but it's lack of direction and fan interest shows that this just isn't something that's needed at the moment.

#4. WWE isn't making the RETRIBUTION faction matter

Why isn't WWE doing anything with Retribution?

Believe it or not, one of the biggest problems with RETRIBUTION is the fact that WWE hasn't made it matter. Now, that doesn't mean they didn't make it interesting at some points, especially with how they destroyed the SmackDown set, but they never followed up on it in a meaningful way.

If nothing else, WWE had everyone's attention at that moment and they could have capitalised on it in a number of different ways. Unfortunately for the company, they followed that up with a mini invasion of the Monday Night RAW production truck and then had them absent from Summerslam and Payback, two very pivotal pay-per-view events.

In the end, if RETRIBUTION was this unstoppable force, a powerful entity that needs to be addressed seriously, the company would have done so. Instead, they played it off as a passing event, kept doing subtle teases and not really building off anything that the group did.

#3. Inconsistencies in RETRIBUTION's storytelling

There seems to be a lot of inconsistencies in how WWE chooses to tell Retribution's story.

RETRIBUTION have been inconsistent at best over the last couple of months and it is really making it difficult to see them as any kind of threat. Of course, an argument could be made that they made a huge statement by tearing apart the SmackDown set, but that was never really followed up on.

Instead, WWE just had the intimidating group make an appearance on Monday Night RAW and another one on SmackDown. When it came to SummerSlam however, the group was teased throughout a few vignettes, but they never made a physical appearance. They also didn't show up at Payback either, raising more questions in the process.

In the end, WWE doesn't seem to know what to do and are trying to come up with a way to top the destruction of SmackDown. That might be a difficult feat to top due to how much of a raw moment it was, but they would have to think a lot bigger than just some random attacks.

#2. Little fan interest in RETRIBUTION

WWE fans don't seem very interested in the Retribution faction?

It's no secret that WWE fans don't seem very excited about the ongoing RETRIBUTION storyline, but the question of why does come to mind. In fact, didn't fans want a more Attitude Era feel to the overall product? Furthermore, what WWE fan wouldn't want to relive an invasion storyline like the one in the early 2000's?

If nothing else, one would think fans would love this type of programming, but are once again showing disinterest. Whether that is due to signs of it going nowhere at the moment or the lack of pay-offs throughout the sage, the point remains that WWE needs to do something to make this worth it.

With that being said, and RETRIBUTION going on for about a month now, it's kind of a do or die moment for the faction. If WWE does do the reveal and keeps the group as a long-term deal, they need to be able to justify it somehow. If they don't go through with a reveal soon however, they might as well just find a way to get rid of the faction.

#1. RETRIBUTION is just a way to relive the invasion angle

Is WWE just trying to relive The Attitude Era with Retribution?

The RETRIBUTION storyline seems to just be a way to revisit the invasion angle of the early 2000's and while that might have worked ten years ago, it just seems like a moot point now. It also seems like senseless pandering that is losing the company more fans than they are gaining it.

Keep in mind that saying this doesn't mean a faction wasn't a good idea or wouldn't have helped the company, it just probably shouldn't have been framed this way. For example, the word retribution gets talked about in almost every chat room in pro wrestling right now, but everyone keeps wondering what it's for.

In the end, maybe if WWE explained this aspect of the storyline, they would get further than they have. The company could even have teased the ring leader as a former WWE Superstar and really got fans talking. Instead however, they just keep repeating the word retribution and pray it makes fans think of The Attitude Era.