Opinion: Analyzing the WWE product of today
Over the course of time, in WWE especially in the last twelve months, the product has soured in many fans eyes. Apparently, it's down to bad storytelling and very questionable booking decisions.
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They are very good arguments to make but we can't expect everything we want to happen all the time. I will give a few key points below why we shouldn't give up on the product.
It isn't the Attitude or Ruthless Aggression Era anymore with the hardcore storylines.
The Attitude Era was a hot time in wrestling with the blend of perfect storytelling and hot wrestling action. The demographic audience was for 18 to 34-year-old males.
WWE were getting thrashed in the ratings every week so they had to produce edgier content. It lead to the company's (WWE and WCW) battling it out for supremacy on Monday Nights.
We definitely saw some of the most decent content any promotion has ever delivered in terms of entertainment from both companies.
WWE ended up proving that they were the superior company as we all know. In the end, however, we have seen the very slow demise of WCW. The fact of mismanagement, egotistical people backstage and WCW being brought out by Time Warner.
Another reason for it was probably the aging roster that they had for most of their good years. WCW was not known to build new talents and they suffered for it.
The Ruthless Aggression era was issued in after the demise of WCW bringing in more family-friendly storylines. There was still a lot of Attitude Era type storylines early on but it becomes more family oriented as time went on
The wrestling quality increased while the entertainment side of it was trimmed down a bit to make it a fine blend.
What we have to remember as wrestling fans are that this isn't either of those eras. The WWE has strict guidelines they have to abide by with T.V. companies.
It means that they have to appeal to mainly the younger demographic and make it as family-friendly as possible.
That may be a problem for some of us. It makes the storytelling less compelling, but they are trying to make the best of a bad situation. It has to made friendly for young kids now which limits storyline options.
If you wish to see similar storytelling of the Attitude Era and decent action or shenanigans then go to the WWE Network.
You can watch all of it on there from the Attitude Era and Ruthless Aggression Era. I'd suggest to even watch NXT. Some of the best storytelling and wrestling you will see.
You just definitely won't find it in today's main roster product with the limitations they have. We need to be more sympathetic about it and more understanding of the reason behind it all.
Lack of effort made by the creative team
When we look back at it you realise why WWE are in shambles right now. The creative team have booked some rather bizarre and questionable things throughout the last year.
From the controversial finishes for AJ Styles rivalries to the whole Crown Jewel event, 2018 was a year to forget for the team.
One does have to wonder who exactly is the person that thinks up these absurd ideas. Surely even creative know that the crowd aren't going to like a controversial finish to a match every week. They have managed to do so many of them in 2018 that some championships look like a joke.
Then, of course, you have the whole situation with the Universal title which appears to be cursed. It could be argued whether the Universal Championship is really important or not as Brock Lesnar has held it hostage.
His two title runs have tarnished the title rather than add prestige to it. Roman Reign's run with the title was short lived due to his unfortunate leukemia announcement.
I think it's safe to say now that many have given up on Braun Strowman ever winning it. He just does not come across as a viable threat towards Brock Lesnar now due to all the times he has failed.
He may capture the Universal title in the future when somebody else is holding it, but he won't get it off, Lesnar.
Creative have managed to bury a few Superstars who looked really promising such as Braun Strowman and Finn Balor.
These two guys should be on top of Monday Night RAW not having to scratch and claw for everything when they work their butts off.
WWE needs to get the creative team together and tell them to write decent storylines that the fans can get behind. We know they are capable of doing it as proven with certain shows. It definitely needs to happen for Monday Night RAW.
Failing to establish new Superstars
We know that WWE has had a big problem for the last few years establishing new talent. They have got the best level of talent in the world and they still haven't created the next megastar.
It's hard to fathom how a company with so much talent, just seem to waste all that potential that they have.
I would not be surprised if some of the NXT talents were skeptical of going to the main roster. The WWE management has been notorious for misusing NXT superstars with only a handful of them succeeding.
Vince revealed on a podcast done by Stone Cold Steve Austin that a lot of superstars today don't have the ' It' Factor. More than likely they don't meet the standards of Vince McMahon and he just buries them instead.
It's definitely unusual to see the talent that thrived in NXT get buried straight away.
It makes you wonder why he even calls them up in the first place if they aren't what he looks for due to them apparently not reaching for his imaginary brass ring. Take it as you will, but we all know Vince and his brass ring are just a fantasy of his imagination.
Nostalgia is also the thing that WWE is holding onto which is set back younger Superstars. Do we really need to keep seeing the Undertaker wrestle and continue tarnishing his legacy?
Triple H, Shawn Michaels, The Undertaker and Kane need to retire and allow the younger generation to put their best foot forward.
It's the only way talent are going to ever establish themselves and become breakout superstars. The WWE does not need to keep using nostalgia acts when they have talent who can be mega stars and having an overloaded roster.
After going back and looking at how things are in the company as a whole, there is still a lot to like.
Triple H seems to be gaining more power within the company and the women's evolution is in full swing.
The company needs to continue to build up some of their male superstars though such as Balor and Strowman etc. They need to be able to carry the company with Roman Reigns out and Brock Lesnar leaving (hopefully for good).
Now is the time for the male roster to step up and prove who really is the man. They have a vast depth of talent in that locker room with Seth Rollins being the face to lead the charge. It will be interesting to see how the company build up the male superstars for WrestleMania
We must remember though that all the other shows are a lot shorter than RAW. If RAW was cut back to two hours it would make the world of difference for the red brand and would give them the viewership numbers back.
Sure the roster is stacked, but they need to do the right thing to boost ratings and make people care again. If they put their best foot forward they can deliver a stellar performance if creative put their mind to it. We have all seen creative put on fabulous shows for the other products such as NXT, SmackDown Live and 205 live.
Ultimately we as WWE fans need to be patient and realise that change does not happen overnight. I believe that in time the company can gain back ratings and viewers as it is still early days. It's easy to sit behind a computer or a phone and criticize the company.
At the end of the day, we don't realise how hard it is to write so much television. We also don't realize how limited they are storyline wise. Please just give the company a chance to see what happens and don't give up hope on them.
Disclaimer: The opinions expressed in the article belong to the writer and does not essentially represent Sportskeeda's stand