The WWE landscape
I’ve tried to write this article probably a dozen times until I said to myself, “I just don’t have the passion for it anymore”, and then it hit me. That’s exactly what’s happening in WWE right now, they just don’t have the passion anymore.
What’s most troubling to me is, they don’t allow the wrestlers (yes I said wrestlers, not superstars) to have the passion anymore. They’re brought out there like robotic sheep to read from a poorly written script.
Even the physical reactions are phoned in. There’s no suspended reality for us watching, there’s no belief that this situation is real, and far too often we’re left with a “I saw that one coming” feeling.
The “Attitude Era” is much heralded among wrestling, and particularly WWE fans, and there’s good reason for that. There was such an unpredictable quality to the product back then that it drew you in. Like your favorite TV show, you wanted to know what was going to happen next week.
They could take a simple little story,( for example, the teddy bear left for Mr. McMahon by The Undertaker when he was pursuing Stephanie) and torture you for weeks on end wondering what it all meant! And we loved it.
There was passion and fire behind the promos delivered by guys like Stone Cold Steve Austin, Mick Foley, and The Rock. The talent was given creative freedom, something they’re desperately lacking now.
It’s to the point where the product is almost entirely unwatchable, and as a wrestling fan that breaks my heart. Those of us who complain about the WWE product want to see them succeed!
We want to see WWE pick themselves up and do better, if for no other reason than we know that they can.
In 1997, Vince McMahon called a meeting with the talent on the roster at the time. Ratings were the lowest they had ever been and the creative team was having one hell of a time trying to come up with fresh ideas. So, Mr. McMahon took it on the chin and told the wrestlers to step in and help.
He handed over ‘some’ of the reigns to them, allowing them the freedom to create, express & engage us viewers with not only their promos, but their in-ring work as well. The result was one of, if not the most profitable and popular times in wrestling and WWE history.
Suddenly WWE was getting mainstream media coverage, the ratings were headed to some of the highest of all time, and products with the likes of Stone Cold Steve Austin and The Rock were flying off store shelves at an unbelievably fast rate. So why wouldn’t you even try to emulate those results?