5 reasons why WWE being exposed as scripted performance has worked against them
‘The Best in the World’It’s no secret that the WWE is scripted. The WWE superstars and women know who is going to win at the end of the night and big moments in the match are often planned before the spot occurs.Most promos are now rehearsed and scripted line-by-line. Despite a bulk of the society calling it “fake,” the WWE is more real than many imagine. Ric Flair told Kevin Nash that two things are very real in this business.When a WWE star wins his or her first championship and then when they enter the WWE Hall of Fame are those things. Flair and Nash experienced both things, so they know exactly what they are talking about.As the years went by, the reality has increased. In 2011, CM Punk began the “Reality Era,” which nearly got rid of all forms of kayfabe the WWE had. Kayfabe consists of all the events that are taking place on television, quite like a TV show’s storylines.Punk broke the fourth wall and kickstarted the era of reality. While it allows the WWE to shock the fans with behind-the-scenes storylines, allowing reality into the WWE hasn’t helped 100% of the time. Here are five reasons why the Reality Era has hindered the WWE:
#1 Too many spoilers
Spoilers ruin everything, almost. Aside from Tony Schiavone spoiling Mick Foley’s WWE championship win, spoilers haven’t helped the WWE advance in ratings.
In fact, spoilers are the primary reason why WWE Smackdown barely gets an audience. They read the spoilers from the tapings, so that’s one incentive to watch on Thursday nights. WWE NXT is one exception because it’s a great product. Perhaps if WWE Smackdown gets better, then spoilers won’t matter as much.
The surprise factor is sorely missed in WWE programming. For example, Chris Jericho’s initial return in the late-2000’s was as impactful as one may imagine. The vignettes gave a great clue as to who was returning, but spoilers weren’t as big of a factor.
The night Shawn Michaels came back to confront Randy Orton is still one of the best moments in the last decade. His return wasn’t spoiled by a tweet or backstage update.
When spoilers come into play, a group of WWE fans will not watch. Especially when casual viewers are the primary target for the WWE, having knowledge of the product’s results isn’t good.