I was a massive WWE fan. I’m not an over the hill curb-muncher who’s out of touch, either. I’m a guy who values good entertainment and a good story. So why is WWE not doing it for me and so many other fans around the world? Here are some of the dumbest things they do, and have done recently to ensure that they fail.
10. Believing that putting belts on people makes them credible, especially when they aren’t ready
This one is obvious. Sheamus, Swagger, Ziggler,and it goes on and on. They were and are so desperate for new stars that they will slap a belt on not ready for prime time players like Roman Reigns who was originally booked to win at Wrestlemania. Instead the right guy won in Seth Rollins. Seth isn’t an oiled up weight lifting gorilla who McMahon has hard-ons for and this was a breath of fresh air. Seth understands what it is to be a bad guy just as much as Lesnar understands what it is to be an ass kicker.
STOP FORCE FEEDING GUYS YOU HAVE HARD ONS FOR DOWN OUR THROATS. WE WILL TURN ON YOU AND CALL YOU OUT ON YOUR BULL****.
Here it is in a nut shell:
9. Non-title matches, quick changes are killing the prestige of the titles
How in the freaking world does an idiot booker think that making your champions lose in non-title matches is smart. Huh? How in the world do you see that as logical. #10 relates to this a bit. They hope that by crushing a credible champion’s meaning and credibility by losing to a lesser wrestler that the lesser wrestler will get a rub and the champ will still be champ. The people booking these matches are awful and if they want to fix their crappy product – hire a mega fan as a writer and not a failed Hollywood writer!
8. They shove social media down our throats and then make fun of the fans who use it
They constantly cram trending words on Twitter down our throats. They hammer idiotic angles from Total Divas, break-ups on Twitter and Facebook like they are important. I said it before and I will say it again. Here’s how it sounds to the fans:
“Earlier today Summer Rae tweeted she was mad at Dolph Ziggler for something he posted on his Facebook last week. On the pre-show it was mentioned that Ziggler tweeted back that she should be quiet. Fandango went to Tout and posted a threat to Ziggler and last Thursday on Smackdown’s post show kissed Layla. Layla posted a photo to Instagram that….”
You get the point. This is not pro wrestling that any men like. This is stupid, Hollywood reality show crap that they think matters. It shouldn’t take a dissertation to know what the back story is.
This is the internet age and everyone is a “smark” or know it all wrestling fan now. Stop berating, belittling, and making fun of them and listening instead. Watch how your product improves.
7. Confiscating signs from die hard fans who only want to support their product
It is no secret that WWE does not believe in free speech from their wrestlers, fans, and commentators. Lately they have really cracked down on removing signs they feel do not support their corporate agenda and they believe it is okay. Their fans have expressed themselves loudly on who they want to see as the people’s champion and it is usually not Sheamus, Randy Orton, Roman Reigns, or anyone from Total Divas. They are completely out of touch with fans when it comes to anything relating to who we want to see in the main events. So when fans show up with anti-Sheamus, Roman Reigns, or anyone else they want as a marketing tools signs they take away your right to express yourself. #FACT #FAIL Let that trend worldwide for you WWE execs.
6. They outright misuse talented wrestlers who fans want to see succeed
Dolph Ziggler, Kofi Kingston, Daniel Bryan (Pre WM 30) Bray Wyatt, and so many more sit idly by working their butts off only to be rewarded by burials. Dolph Ziggler is the best talent in WWE right now who will never become champion, or be champion long enough to prove it. Bray Wyatt could have been legendary in WWE and a certified star, but they had to let the Undertaker get a win in a very HHH fashion. What that means is that when stars are hot, or popular he comes out of his suit and buries CM Punk, Brock Lesnar, and most recently a guy who deserved more respect than he got at Wrestlemania – Sting. They have no idea what to do, not one clue. This brings me to my next point….
5. Jim Ross talents are still carrying them despite aging and getting stale
Batista, Randy Orton, John Cena, Brock lesnar, and the list goes on. WWE refuses to build new stars because when the chips are down they need someone that can make them money. Well, they won’t admit it, but the star power of said individuals is not creating new fans. They are coasting and banking on Cena and the OVW boys brought in by Jim Ross back in the Ruthless Aggression era. They have built no one that has not built themselves.
Their Florida farm league is a failure and that was obvious as soon as they left Ohio Valley Wrestling. They have pumped some of the dumbest gimmicks of all time in the past five years and proved that because while Jim Ross was head of talent relations it wasn’t crappy.
4. Vince McMahon is still allowed to make decisions in booking with yes men surrounding him
McMahon was only a major success when he had guys like Jim Ross, Vince Russo, and opinionated creative people around him to keep him in check. He promoted his daughter and son-in-law in the company, and gave them only a little bit of power where they needed it. They are not allowed to build anyone like they need to be and we get corporate shlock like Fandango, Total Divas drama, and Sheamus crammed down our throats. NO ONE cares about any of that at least not the ones who fill your seats at raw.
AJ Lee is gone and that leaves Paige as a legitimate female champion. Nikki Bella has big boobs and is pretty – that’s it. The Divas division is relevant when you have a Lita, Trish Stratus, or AJ Lee and not when you have Summer Rae, Eva Marie, and Kelly Kelly. It’s…it’s just sad. McMahon still books the older stars even when the crowd is begging for #9 to be fixed. Hang them up Vince, please for wrestling’s sake.
3. They stifle any criticisms by signing older wrestlers to legends contracts
Any time a wrestler speaks out against WWE it’s usually WHAM! they sign a legends contract and they are no longer outspoken. It’s a convenient way to stroke a “legend” and encourage them to STFU by forcing them to be pro WWE and supporting their current product. When I see Piper, Hart, Hogan I just cringe. I know what they have given up by signing. They have forfeited the right to be critics for some dollar signs. Well played WWE snakes.
2. They cannot let WCW have any respect and re-write history to Vince’s liking
It’s sad. It’s very, very sad. Vince McMahon got embarrassed by WCW and even though he bought them they still won. They produced the NWO. The NWO was the most successful wrestling phenomenon of all time. While DX was entertaining and despite HHH’s spin on his importance in wrestling history they were never in the NWO’s league, ever. Let me be clear – DX was semi-important, but did nothing for wrestling long term except appear as a cheap knock off of the most significant group of guys ever. According to JBL DX was the most iconic. JBL is a dumb ass and a corporate sell-out mouthpiece who is potentially THE WORST commentator besides Jerry Lawler right now. “HEERE WE GOOO BOYYS” and “THISS IS GON’ BE GOOD” should be a drinking game. JBL sucks, period.
Sting showed up and look what happened. HHH’s ego and JBL’s shameful commentary buried him.One of the most important fan favorite wrestlers besides Hulk Hogan in modern wrestling history. He was the Hulk Hogan of WCW before Hulk Hogan showed up and guess what WWE did. You saw it.
Because of Vince McMahon’s ego and HHH’s ego he got ZERO respect and they got blasted on social media for it. They are despicable, transparently hateful, and lack the respect needed for WCW wrestlers. Should Sting wrestle again it will be against a low mid-card wrestler who means nothing to them like Dolph Ziggler to not only bury him to HHH, but say “hey look, we gave Sting a win. He just couldn’t beat a top guy”.
HHH,
You are not the top guy of the Attitude era. You were not even close. Stone Cold, The Rock, and Shawn Michaels were. HHH, you were an also ran. A footnote who was champ when they were injured, doing movies, or something else that kept them away from the ring. You are not a legend, man. Your ego and burial of talents are shameful and have forever damaged your rep with the fans.
1. The commentators are not allowed to say what they want much like Scientology PR reps. It’s worse than the view.
Listen to the commentators. REALLy listen and you can hear the words of Vince McMahon ringing in their earpieces. Look at JBL’s commentary and picture Vince McMahon’s little pee pee on the other end of the earpiece giggling as they bury one of the most important wrestlers of all time in Sting. Listen to the corporate drivel we are forced to endure.
It is becoming so bad we have been discussing doing our own live play by play so people can mute their TV’s and hear some people actually respectful of the product. Not people who are trying to break in to Hollywood power circles and the red carpet who are half-ashamed to say they are rich from pro wrestling. They make fun of “redneck” core fans and people who love the art of wrestling. It’s shameless and the reason there is no interest on wrestling unless they happen to run out of corporate plugs long enough to call the match with some original dialogue.
HONORABLE MENTIONS
They cannot figure out any story lines besides villain authority figures
The bad guys are not cowardly heels. They don’t win because they cheat. Oh, no they win cleanly and remove any power or momentum a wrestler has.
Forcing fans to change because they might take the focus off of the product.