The Undertaker Says The Current WWE Product “Is A Little Soft”

[Buffy]

As a guest on The Joe Rogan Experience exclusively on Spotify, The Undertaker talked about his career with the WWE and the current product. Taker mentioned the issues he has with the current product when Rogan asked him if he still follows wrestling nowadays. The Undertaker said it’s not something he enjoys to watch because of the way the product has changed over the years.

“I try, it’s tough right now for me,” Taker said. “The product has changed so much and it’s kind of off. I’ll probably piss a lot of people off but they need to hear it. It is what it is. To the young guys [who think] he’s a bitter old guy, I’m not bitter. I did my time, I walked away when I wanted to walk away. I just think the product is a little soft. There’s guys here and there that have an edge to them but there’s too much pretty and not enough substance I think right now.”

The Undertaker spent over 30 years with the company, and recently worked his last match at WrestleMania 36 facing off against AJ Styles in a Boneyard Match. The Phenom mentioned that WWE is doing its best to present a product that appeals to everyone, but the younger talent wasn’t given the same training and process that the people he worked alongside did.

“One of the big things that happened was that the generation before, we all got old at the same time so there weren’t enough guys to work with the young guys,” The Undertaker said. “You can listen to [the fans on the internet] or you can listen to someone who’s been there and done it. There was just not enough of the merging of the young and new talent.

“When we had Stone Cold, Rock, Triple H, Shawn Michaels, we were all working together and then we all aged out. We aged out and it left all these young guys to learn with more young guys and the product changed.”

Taker gave props to Triple H for running the Performance Centre and NXT for trying to build the new future of wrestling. He said Triple H is trying his best to turn back the clock and build guys with more of an edge.

“The Performance Centre is helping,” Taker said. “We got Triple H who’s trying to get some of the toothpaste back in the tube, take a step back to move forward to try and get the product more edge. I think that’s what it’s missing.”

Source: https://www.wrestlinginc.com/news/2...ays-the-current-wwe-product-is-a-little-soft/

 

[Deezy]

Nothing he said was wrong.....you don't really learn anything when there isn't a vet there. You can't just learn your trade by practice and working with people the same age as you.

 

[Kiffy Lube]

That interview was incredible and yeah, he was right about WWE and wrestlin' currently. Then again AEW has Arn Anderson and Dean Malenko backstage and the young kids there ignore there advice so I don't know if anythin' is gonna change.

 

[Deezy]

Arn and Dean should be cuffing anyone who doesn't listen to them.

 

[Sabretooth]

A lot of guys on the roster now are vets though lol. I can’t think of too many people who are in their twenties and even those who are are amazing.

 

[Deezy]

If you're in your 40s and never been over....you may as well be still green......it's a mind set, not an age thing.

 

[Sabretooth]

If you're in your 40s and never been over....you may as well be still green......it's a mind set, not an age thing.

Well if you still need advice in your 40s on how to work then maybe wrestling wasn’t the career for you.

 

[Deezy]

And now you understand what Mark Calloway was saying.

 

[Sabretooth]

And now you understand what Mark Calloway was saying.

I mean one could say it’s not lack of talent. It’s how WWE books them.

 

[RLStern]

Management let’s the roster step all over them.

Where I wrestled someone literally cried because he was written to lose to someone. It’s fake.

No one should be playing video games at work, they should be worried about practicing promos, character work and storylines.

Save the games for the road.

As far as Xavier Woods goes, if he spent less time devising cuck fantasies and playing video games, and instead focused on character, story work, and improving the business, perhaps he could contribute to WWE’s betterment. Instead he further sends WWE in a culture that is bad for business.

That interview was incredible and yeah, he was right about WWE and wrestlin' currently. Then again AEW has Arn Anderson and Dean Malenko backstage and the young kids there ignore there advice so I don't know if anythin' is gonna change.

Dean Malenko has no business being an agent or director of any sorts, he didn’t draw a dime.

Neither was Arn a big draw, he should be a main director.

 

[Buffy]

It's' funny when people on social media mistake what Taker really meant. He feels like wrestlers would rather play video games instead of going out there putting the work in. I remember when wrestlers in the back would push each other in better ways and become stars. No in days you don't see that much. The only person I can think of that stays in character and not breaking kayfabe when she was active as a wrestler before she got pregnant was Becky Lynch. When Rousey was there in her last few months into the company. They both had a heated rivalry on social media in character. They knew what to do and how achieve something like Taker wanted. Hard work, less video games, less kissing asses and being too too friendly. Time for competition. Becky and Ronda did it.

Roman Reign is currently doing it. I used to be pissed off at Bliss for breaking kayfabe and shit but now she is taking her new character to the next level. He is not insulting their life styles just giving hard advice to the current talent on the WWE roster. Sasha Banks stays in character too and Bayley found her new footing since turning heel, thus having a great heel character. The rest are not really doing it. I get what Taker means. I respect him for that.

 

[Hoss]

I follow what he's saying here and I'm right there on the frontlines with people begging for a more raw and edgy product. Where he lost me mostly was when he started talking about the talents, and kind of placing the blame on them. That, I'm not going for. The talent aren't booking the shows and making the production choices that make the shows feel corporate and mass produced. And you can take almost any star they have that had runs outside of the WWE and see that they're all for doing the more intense shit. Look at Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn. Their feud in ROH was way grittier than anything I've seen from WWE since the mid-2000s. I love The Hurt Business but MVP and Lashley in Impact with the Beat Down Clan had a decent bit more edge to it. Same with McIntyre during his time outside the WWE. I enjoy him still, but during that time he was more ass kicker, less super hero. The Undisputed Era and Finn Balor. Hell, the heel Antichrist Jeff Hardy in TNA would be the most adult-friendly character in all of WWE right now probably.

It's not an issue of the talent themselves being soft, it's an issue of WWE trying to be a Disney property that's supposed to have some mass appeal to people of all ages and walks of life, when I think ultimately a) a lot of people are either gonna be fans, or they're not gonna be, stop thinking you can poach Marvel fans by trying to present every top face as a super hero or some shit and b) you need to restore the mystique of wrestling and make it feel unique from other shit on TV, so when people check it out, they feel like they're a part of something different, instead of making it look like a football game on NBC.

 

[Chris]

I follow what he's saying here and I'm right there on the frontlines with people begging for a more raw and edgy product. Where he lost me mostly was when he started talking about the talents, and kind of placing the blame on them. That, I'm not going for. The talent aren't booking the shows and making the production choices that make the shows feel corporate and mass produced. And you can take almost any star they have that had runs outside of the WWE and see that they're all for doing the more intense shit. Look at Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn. Their feud in ROH was way grittier than anything I've seen from WWE since the mid-2000s. I love The Hurt Business but MVP and Lashley in Impact with the Beat Down Clan had a decent bit more edge to it. Same with McIntyre during his time outside the WWE. I enjoy him still, but during that time he was more ass kicker, less super hero. The Undisputed Era and Finn Balor. Hell, the heel Antichrist Jeff Hardy in TNA would be the most adult-friendly character in all of WWE right now probably.

It's not an issue of the talent themselves being soft, it's an issue of WWE trying to be a Disney property that's supposed to have some mass appeal to people of all ages and walks of life, when I think ultimately a) a lot of people are either gonna be fans, or they're not gonna be, stop thinking you can poach Marvel fans by trying to present every top face as a super hero or some shit and b) you need to restore the mystique of wrestling and make it feel unique from other shit on TV, so when people check it out, they feel like they're a part of something different, instead of making it look like a football game on NBC.

I think the talent's biggest problem is getting complacent and just doing whatever is asked with no questioning. They might not be listened to if they speak up yeah but shit at least try If that story a few weeks ago about Roman and KO veto-ing that angle bc it didn't make sense is true then I love that bc I think most of the roster woulda just said "Yeah sure whatever, check still clearing right?"

 

[Hoss]

I think the talent's biggest problem is getting complacent and just doing whatever is asked with no questioning. The might not be listened to if they speak up yeah but shit at least try If that story a few weeks ago about Roman and KO veto-ing that angle bc it didn't make sense is true then I love that bc I think most of the roster woulda just said "Yeah sure whatever, check still clearing right?"

That's for damn sure. I can't really speak on that because who the fuck knows, but if talent are just playing along with whatever nonsense is pitched to them, then they should shoulder some of the blame as well.

Of course it's also necessary to acknowledge that WWE has a lot of people to answer to, between shareholders, sponsors and networks... but I think they proved during the Attitude Era that you get a lot longer leash as long as the money keeps rolling in, so they don't have much to lose by trying to embrace a more adult-oriented product I think. But at the same time it seems like the office's concept of adult-oriented is limited to cucking angles, shitty fire based stunts and every now and then having someone call their enemy a bitch during their promo.

 

[Deezy]

Roman has vetoed a lot of stuff and took the bull by its horns and look what we got?

Can't just blame stockholders, creative and Vince McMahon....sometimes people ON TV have to sccept some measure of failure on their part.