Opinion: WWE in the ESPYs is not the right fit
Disclaimer: The views expressed in this article are those of the author and they do not necessarily represent the views of Sportskeeda.
ESPN announced that they added a WWE category at this year's upcoming ESPY Awards next month. The category is Best WWE Moment of the Year.
The four nominees are:
- Roman Reigns announcing his leukemia being in remission.
- Becky Lynch winning the Raw and SmackDown Women's Championships at WrestleMania 35.
- Kofi Kingston defeating Daniel Bryan to win the WWE Championship.
- Ronda Rousey easily dominating Alexa Bliss to win the Raw's Women Championship last summer.
After watching WWE for over 20 years and still currently watching it, WWE's growth and global reach has been incredible. As great as these four moments are, scripted results are not the best fit for the ESPYs. ESPY is simply not the right platform for WWE.
It's understandable that WWE is trying to get over with the mainstream audience and they should be trying to get new fans interested in WWE. However, WWE is a scripted athletic production, meaning the winners and losers of matches are pre-determined before the match. Despite WWE being scripted, they cannot always make the crowd react to their liking. WWE fans booed Roman Reigns even though Reigns was a face.
Sports fans tend to put their teams over whether the team is winning or losing, or if their team is seen as a villain by the masses. Crowd reactions don't matter in sports. Sports in general, are not scripted. The athletes who win ESPYs earned their ESPY by beating the competition in front of them. Wrestling is a sport, but in terms of how WWE is run, WWE is more of a production than an actual sport.
Many think Roman Reigns will convincingly win WWE's Best Moment of the Year award. Kudos to Roman Reigns for overcoming his leukemia, but he is not the best fit for an ESPY award. If there is an award Roman Reigns should receive, it's the Arthur Ashe Courage Award. For those not familiar with the Arthur Ashe Courage award, it's an award given out for overcoming adversity.
The scripted production WWE is, it's not the best fit for a non-scripted awards show that is the ESPYs. WWE is a production, not a sport. WWE has been growing in the actor/celebrity space for the past decade. That is where WWE fits best.
The crowd reaction at the ESPYs for the winner of WWE's Best Moment of the Year will determine if this award will be presented annually at the ESPYs.