"It's hard to get people invested" - Referee Jimmy Korderas on WWE's current creative direction
Former WWE referee Jimmy Korderas has given his opinion on the current state of WWE's creative process. Specifically, Korderas was asked to compare the creative direction of the company from his time there to the creative direction he sees today.
During a conversation with Michael Morales of Lucha Libre Online, the veteran official explained that he feels the way fans watch the WWE product has changed over time and that a certain "suspension of disbelief" is no longer present among the fanbase.
"It’s tough to put into words because, when I watch today’s product, one of the things that has changed - and this ties into creative - is the fans and how they watch it now. Back then, it was a little more ‘suspension of disbelief’, we’re just going to watch and be entertained. Whereas now, more and more fans are more critical of the product and more critical of the storytelling, storylines, and the actual performers themselves. So the difficult thing is for guys to get fans invested in them, get them invested in their character as opposed to “Hey, I wanna see this guy do a 450 twisting-burning-hammer-phoenix splash,” or something."
Korderas noted that modern fans are more critical of the product, whereas viewers used to be more willing to suspend their disbelief. He stated that this progression has made it harder for WWE to get viewers to truly care about storylines.
Jimmy Korderas says these is too much of a "gray area" with wrestling characters
During his conversation with Michael Morales, Jimmy Korderas also described one major factor of the creative difficulties WWE is experiencing. He pointed to the lack of clearly-defined character roles, specifically in regards to the babyface/heel divide.
"I find in today’s presentation, we’re getting more and more shades of gray. There’s not defined babyfaces and defined heels, as much as there were back in the day. If you don’t have a defined good guy you want to get behind and a defined bad guy you want to see get his butt kicked, it’s hard to get people invested, you know what I mean? And I think that’s part of the problem and I think trying to find that balance without a live audience there to feed off of is also part of the problem as well."
Korderas was released from his WWE contract in 2009. He remains one of the most recognizable officials in the history of professional wrestling.
What's your opinion on the current roles of babyfaces and heels in WWE? Sound off in the comments below.