Knowing Your Role

Whatever happened to professional wrestling? Seriously. Let's go back to just over a decade ago where the 'Attitude Era' was in full swing in the then called World Wrestling Federation and the Monday Night Wars were the highlight of the week. Back then, Raw used to be shown in the UK on Sky Sports on a Friday night, and I would wait for it all week. Now, the anticipation is gone. Yes, I am another 10 years older, but I still appreciate a good wrestling show when I see one. I have always loved the writing behind wrestling, and when I was younger I used to love trying to predict what would happen, and seeing how the WWF writers would deceive me this week. Nowadays, they just don't seem to care.

Over the last couple of months, I have been a frequent viewer of WWE programming, in the sheer hope that they could rekindle the essence of the Attitude Era. Unfortunately, they are very much stuck in the 'PG Era'. There are so many things wrong with WWE today, it's unbelievable.

Let's take a look at an example: The WWE Title. The WWE Championship dates back to 1963 where it was first won by Buddy Rogers. Rogers soon lost his title to Bruno Sammartino who went on to hold the title for a record eight years. The WWE title is/was a prestigious title, only awarded to a select few who could carry the company. Nowadays, they seem to constantly throw the title around like there's no tomorrow. In the last year, the WWE title has changed hands 10 times. So, on average, it's being held for just over a month at a time, before being moved on, which is ridiculous. It clearly shows that they are uncertain as to who can carry the company. Considering John Cena and Sheamus are two of the constant contenders for the title, you can see why they are having troubles.

But, to WWE's credit, they are starting to address this issue. They randomly gave Sheamus a massive push to the top of the card last year, and he is a midcard jobber at best. However, now they are pushing the right performers. People like Evan Bourne, The Miz and John Morrison all have strong gimmicks and are fantastic to watch in the ring, and they are all being pushed up to the top of the card. Evan Bourne particularly has been pushed with his recent (victorious) match againgst Chris Jericho at Fatal 4 Way (best match of the night by far) and recently teaming up Randy Orton. So, things are promising.

Promising, yes, but do they have the guts to go further. John Cena has been the face of the company for many years now, and all the 13 year olds love him, for some strange reason. He is very much the Hulk Hogan of this generation; VERY limited wrestling ability but good on the mic. He has been a face now for many years, and it's getting boring. Let's face it, it's the same few moves every match: Shoulder block, Five Knuckle Shuffle, Attitude Adjustment and STF. Yes, there are many wrestlers who do/have done this (The Rock for example), but some of these are actually competant wrestlers and actually develop more moves to add in to their repertoire. Tell you what, let's make Cena a heel. Think about it. As many fans for some reason follow him, surely a heel turn would have a MASSIVE impact, and would surely bring in the ratings to see what Cena may do next, or if the heel turn was a joke, etc.

There are so many pathways the WWE could take, but don't seem to want to take the risk. They are comfortable with the billions they have and know that they have no real competition. TNA could challenge WWE, but the lack the money, and with Vince Russo writing, they don't stand a chance. Give Bischoff the writing job and make McMahon sweat at WWE. Maybe then he'll do something interesting. At least they are giving Miz a damn good push I suppose.

The present is rather bleak in the WWE, however, current events could point to a brighter future. I certainly hope so. I have been an avid wrestling fan for many years and I want the WWE, TNA, ROH and all other businesses to succeed and for them all to be mainstream. Competition from the other businesses would inspire much more creative writing and companies would have to develop much stronger rosters.

There are many more gripes, but I shall save them for another time. Let's all just hope that Sports Entertainment industry is going through a temporary lull and is due to thrive. I hope so. I really do.