5 Reasons why the audience is to blame for WWE's decline
Growing up in south Florida, I couldn’t wait until Saturday morning. My father would let me watch Championship Wrestling from Florida with him if my chores were done and my homework complete. Back then, the late 1970s and early 1980s, it was a treat to watch Dusty Rhodes, Eddie Graham, and Sir Oliver Humperdink.
Now, professional wrestling is a bit lost. Every night, programming takes over cable television. Every Sunday it seems, there is a pay-per-view and every time you look on the Internet, there is a new rumor out about heels and babyfaces, alike. The notion of Kayfabe has died and gone forever. And the fans are part of the problem, not the solution.
Just like any other business, professional wrestling and WWE is in a quick-to-get-ahead society. There is no time to put together long-standing feuds. Character development isn’t as layered like Kevin Sullivan’s epic rants about the underworld. We never see the complexity of Kane. And we as fans want resolution quick and swift.
WWE and other wrestling promotions have to take the majority of the blame for the condition of the business, but they are not solely at fault. Fans want more, more, more – which in reality turns into less, less, less. That is just the tip of the iceberg because there is plenty more. The fans have just as much a stake in this as those producing the product.
Here are five reasons why they are to blame for the decline in WWE.