The Authority and/or Authoritative Storyline...

[HBK-RVDFan92]

Is anyone else tired of the whole authoritative figure/corporation story line? Not just this recent one with The Authority but just overall? Like I feel the whole McMahon/Steve Austin thing was well needed during the Monday Night Wars and I'll even say yeah an authoritative figure was needed to be put in place to get Daniel Bryan over majorly, but aside from that I'm kind of tired of the whole "going against the machine" thing. It was good to use that story line to introduce Sting, get Rollins over and it did help give Dolph a huge win at Survivor Series but they never capitalized on it. They're still trying to use the story line to get Roman over but it's been a year and some change, it's just not going to happen.

RAW just needs something new and fresh especially if they keep saying this is a new era that they are ushering in. To be honest I believe WWE is the only wrestling company today that is still using that story line. TNA tried it a few years ago with Dixie and failed because she is not a natural on-screen character or personality. But other than that it's just been kinda done to death IMO. WWE didn't need that kind of story line until the war started, but now with there not being any type of real significant wrestling war it's kind of time to just hang it up and let the new talent just showcase their in-ring abilities and put more focus on building new stars and story lines.

All the backstage and opening segments with Steph/Authority takes up about 40% to 50% of the show when they could use that time to add more length to matches or other segments and make them mean more. They're especially going to need that extra time with the Cruiserweight division coming back. And I understand that there has to be some sort of face to represent the authority (no pun intended) backstage but they can still do so like how Jack Tunney/Gorilla Monsoon did it or hell even what Regal is doing now in NXT. A bit lengthy I know, but any thoughts?

 

[Azane]

They need the authority figures to stay heel or face, the authorities we've had have swapped depending on who they talk to, and they need a foil. When the Authority kept 'screwing' Roman Reigns, they were getting cheered, and people genuinely wanted him to be screwed (people being the majority of live audiences and IWC, those imaginary Roman fans that people make up, aren't people.)

The reason Austin vs McMahon worked, was because people got behind Austin in the anti-authority. Same for Dbry's rise, when he went against authority.

Right now, I'm with Cesaro, let's focus on the sport side of sport entertainment for a bit, and stop having half the show dedicated to Stephanie's ego.

 

[Rhodes2TheFuture3313]

I think Shane will only show up when needed now as DB takes over as the FACE of Smackdown. Steph and Foley will eventually erupt into a civil war on Raw where control of the show is on the line. I agree though, Roman was forced down our throats. Bryan and Austin the crowd got behind. Everything has worked out as the DUDE aka Dean Ambrose is THE GUY we wanted all along and he's getting his run with the WWE title. Smart move is to Keep Ambrose champ and the WWE title on Smackdown. He will get battle tested going against the likes of Bray, Cena, Orton and Styles. Smackdown is the FLAGSHIP Program now and the premier talent is ON THAT PROGRAM. Raw has the deeper roster and is needed w/3 hours of programming. Raw cannnot pair 5 guys as talented as Ambrose, Cena, Orton, Styles and Bray.

 

[BestSportsEntertainer]

General Managers should always be there. Give them about 5-10 minutes to open the show sometimes. Maybe a few backstage segments, but keep their screen time limited.