Many over the years have speculated as to how and when the WWE will fall. Will another rival promotion finally declare all out war? Will the rivals on the indies finally band together to create one promotion big enough to take down WWE?
The truth is that WWE has fallen. It fell years ago. But it was not a rival company that cause it. This is simply a case of WWE having gotten too big and started eating itself.
Now before I continue do not get me wrong. WWE will never close its doors. Mega lucrative TV endorsements have insured the continuation of Vinnie Macs flying circus for many a decade to come. When we talk about the product known as WWE falling, It is purely on a quality level.
The WWE since the death of Chris Benoit has never been the same. The tame offerings we have been served up since 2007 have slowly but surely been marching Vince McMahons house of big meaty men to its doom without any sign of stopping.
The problem however does not lie with the talent. In fact anybody with a brain cell and a working eye could tell you that the WWE's talent roster has gotten infinitely better over the years. The problem that has brought the wrestling Juggernaut to its knees is a two pronged problem.
Number 2# The writing.
One cannot help but look at wrestlers such as:
AJ Styles
Shinsuke Nakamura
Samoa Joe
Bobby Roode
Alistair Black
Velveteen Dream
Seth Rollins
Adam Cole
Ricochet
Asuka
Charlotte
Becky Lynch
Matt Hardy
Daniel Bryan
And think to yourself what a waste of talent. All of these stars are in 1 way or another being squandered on RAW, SMACKDOWN or languishing in NXT when they should be headlining Wrestlemania.
Now granted if we look back at the Attitude era its safe to say that Shinsuke Nakamura would be playing a renegade sushi chef if it was still going on but nobody who has watched his WrestleKingdom 10 classic against AJ Styles can have the nerve to say that this is the same man with the same fire, intensity and creative freedom as he had on the indies. It is simply not the same Nakamura.
Matt Hardy reinvented the wheel and single handedly revived Kayfabe. The Broken Universe was nothing short of creative genius which got people excited about wrestling again. You have to admit that Broken Matt got you to want to suspend your disbelief again. However since being back in the WWE he may as well have been christened Token Matt Hardy because the only reason Vince McMahon seems to have brought him and Brother Nero back into the fold is so that IMPACT couldn't have them and wouldn't be making flipping great wodges of cash off them.
The truth is I could go on forever naming examples and how creative have failed them but the fact is WWE Creative has the keys to a Ferrari and they are driving it like a Fiat Uno. Plain and simple. No mystery. The WWE roster is currently groaning with superstars who are sitting on the benches. And these guys sitting on the benches could easily hold an entire promotion together.
WWE is falling because of its greed. WWE is falling because its writing team has absolutely no clue what to do with this immense talent once its got them. Its almost like a dog having broken into a butchery. Once he's eaten his first 3 kilos of steak where does he go to from there.
And of course reason number 1# The fans
Wrestling fans are our own worst enemies. We constantly whinge and nag and noodge until we get what we want and then we realize we dont want it anymore.
For how many years have we been nagging for Roman Reigns to be taken down a peg or two and now that WWE has slowed him down and in fact fed him unnecessarily to the beast in order to do so. Now we whine about Romans character shift and how Reigns has just become a whining shmuck. Its bogus. WWE gave you what you were asking for.
Daniel Bryan made his long awaited return after the Yes movement hijacking PPVs and matches for years and now the fans are moaning about his opponents since his comeback. What were WWE meant to do. Throw Nakamura, Samoa Joe, Rusev, and others all under the bus to accommodate him? The world of wrestling does not begin and end at Daniel Bryan and the problem is especially with the Yes movement now back in full force is that we are going to end up with really incredible talents such as Luke Harper for example being fed into the wood chipper to make way for Bryan once WWE slap the tag team belts on him and Kane at Extreme rules. Its not right. Sami Zayn and Kevin Owens had had a resurgence in their characters and were starting to find their feet again as a real threatening duo again until the rolling tank that is D-Bry steamrolled every last bit of momentum out of them. Big Cass had potential until he got anywhere near Bryan and not to say that it was anything other than Cass's own stupidity that got him Axed but working with Bryan did not do his career any favors by losing both matches on PPV.
Be careful what you wish for because you just might get it.
WWE has a lot of work to do. They need to get back to basics, kill this 50/50 booking nonsense and watch to see who has the most talent not who shifts the most merchandise. Until this destructive behavior comes to an end fans of quality wrestling will continue to turn off WWE, Unsubscribe from the Network and jump across to ROH, NJPW, PWG, MLW, IMPACT and others.
The truth is that WWE has fallen. It fell years ago. But it was not a rival company that cause it. This is simply a case of WWE having gotten too big and started eating itself.
Now before I continue do not get me wrong. WWE will never close its doors. Mega lucrative TV endorsements have insured the continuation of Vinnie Macs flying circus for many a decade to come. When we talk about the product known as WWE falling, It is purely on a quality level.
The WWE since the death of Chris Benoit has never been the same. The tame offerings we have been served up since 2007 have slowly but surely been marching Vince McMahons house of big meaty men to its doom without any sign of stopping.
The problem however does not lie with the talent. In fact anybody with a brain cell and a working eye could tell you that the WWE's talent roster has gotten infinitely better over the years. The problem that has brought the wrestling Juggernaut to its knees is a two pronged problem.
Number 2# The writing.
One cannot help but look at wrestlers such as:
AJ Styles
Shinsuke Nakamura
Samoa Joe
Bobby Roode
Alistair Black
Velveteen Dream
Seth Rollins
Adam Cole
Ricochet
Asuka
Charlotte
Becky Lynch
Matt Hardy
Daniel Bryan
And think to yourself what a waste of talent. All of these stars are in 1 way or another being squandered on RAW, SMACKDOWN or languishing in NXT when they should be headlining Wrestlemania.
Now granted if we look back at the Attitude era its safe to say that Shinsuke Nakamura would be playing a renegade sushi chef if it was still going on but nobody who has watched his WrestleKingdom 10 classic against AJ Styles can have the nerve to say that this is the same man with the same fire, intensity and creative freedom as he had on the indies. It is simply not the same Nakamura.
Matt Hardy reinvented the wheel and single handedly revived Kayfabe. The Broken Universe was nothing short of creative genius which got people excited about wrestling again. You have to admit that Broken Matt got you to want to suspend your disbelief again. However since being back in the WWE he may as well have been christened Token Matt Hardy because the only reason Vince McMahon seems to have brought him and Brother Nero back into the fold is so that IMPACT couldn't have them and wouldn't be making flipping great wodges of cash off them.
The truth is I could go on forever naming examples and how creative have failed them but the fact is WWE Creative has the keys to a Ferrari and they are driving it like a Fiat Uno. Plain and simple. No mystery. The WWE roster is currently groaning with superstars who are sitting on the benches. And these guys sitting on the benches could easily hold an entire promotion together.
WWE is falling because of its greed. WWE is falling because its writing team has absolutely no clue what to do with this immense talent once its got them. Its almost like a dog having broken into a butchery. Once he's eaten his first 3 kilos of steak where does he go to from there.
And of course reason number 1# The fans
Wrestling fans are our own worst enemies. We constantly whinge and nag and noodge until we get what we want and then we realize we dont want it anymore.
For how many years have we been nagging for Roman Reigns to be taken down a peg or two and now that WWE has slowed him down and in fact fed him unnecessarily to the beast in order to do so. Now we whine about Romans character shift and how Reigns has just become a whining shmuck. Its bogus. WWE gave you what you were asking for.
Daniel Bryan made his long awaited return after the Yes movement hijacking PPVs and matches for years and now the fans are moaning about his opponents since his comeback. What were WWE meant to do. Throw Nakamura, Samoa Joe, Rusev, and others all under the bus to accommodate him? The world of wrestling does not begin and end at Daniel Bryan and the problem is especially with the Yes movement now back in full force is that we are going to end up with really incredible talents such as Luke Harper for example being fed into the wood chipper to make way for Bryan once WWE slap the tag team belts on him and Kane at Extreme rules. Its not right. Sami Zayn and Kevin Owens had had a resurgence in their characters and were starting to find their feet again as a real threatening duo again until the rolling tank that is D-Bry steamrolled every last bit of momentum out of them. Big Cass had potential until he got anywhere near Bryan and not to say that it was anything other than Cass's own stupidity that got him Axed but working with Bryan did not do his career any favors by losing both matches on PPV.
Be careful what you wish for because you just might get it.
WWE has a lot of work to do. They need to get back to basics, kill this 50/50 booking nonsense and watch to see who has the most talent not who shifts the most merchandise. Until this destructive behavior comes to an end fans of quality wrestling will continue to turn off WWE, Unsubscribe from the Network and jump across to ROH, NJPW, PWG, MLW, IMPACT and others.
