What is WWE Doing Right?

[OYDK]

Over the past few years WWE has really pulled up their socks and started putting on some really entertaining television, at least imo. We've seen a new crop of Superstars with an amount of talent that we haven't seen in a very long time, if ever and there is a good mix of veterans and part-timers that the young crop can really benefit from. We've seen a shift in management with Vince nearly handing over the reigns to HHH and Stephanie, the Divas's division is becoming revitalized along with the tag division, and we've been able to see some dream matches such as Cena-Rock, HHH-Brock, Cena-Brock and so on.

However I have been on this forum for a while now and I realize that some people may not have the same frame of mind that I do and actually may be of the opinion that WWE has improved very little or not at all. Some fans can't stand the new talent, the new management or the booking and I've seen some call WWE a "joke".

So my question to you is what is it about WWE specifically that you love, hate or love to hate? It can be a specific superstar, the booking of a title, a certain angle, PG, etc.
Also how does WWE today match up to your favorite time period in wrestling?

 

[Creepy Old Man]

Having an interminable series of matches between Fandango and Santino. Hornswoggle vs. El Torito looks to be a Hart/Michaels level rivalry too.

 

[chicagokmc]

2 biggest hates:

too many pay per views. i don't need 1 per month. cutting down to 6 ppv's makes each of them that much more important.

title belts sitting around. all belts should be defended at each ppv. the lower tier belts (i.e. interncontintal and us belt) should be defended more on RAW. we shouldn't need a night of champions ppv promoting all belts being on the line. they should always be defended.

 

[TWJC: The Beginning]

I love the current product. People bitch and pine for the past. Go back and watch old shows, they suck. Today's product is geared toward trying to make as many segments entertaining as possible. Want less PPVs? Well, then you're going to get a lot more squash matches.

The only thing I dislike right now is Rusev. They are so smart in all their other booking, realizing that everyone knows it's a work and playing off people's perception of how the inner workings work (like DB's brilliantly booked arc). Why should I care about Rusev? He's booked to squash, awesome.

I like the three main feuds right now. All are a little different, and all have their own spice. Plus the midcard rise of Cesaro and Barrett is going to be a blast to watch as well.

 

[JoeFromTomsRiver]

Right now I find the WWE the most entertaining it has been in the past 5 years.

In that time frame, the Summer of Punk and Lesnar's return stand out, as well as some Taker WM matches, but thats about it for me.

As for how it's been the past year and the present, the YES movement leading to Bryans wins at WM will always be remembered. We've had the Shields' rise, and the Wyatt family of course. The mid-card is solid with guys like Cesaro, Big E, Barrett, Sheamus. The Evolution reunion was a decent development. The tag division needs to get re-shaped a bit but it has been great the past year and a half or so. And we have PAUL HEYMAN.

Of course there is shit that I can't stand, Hornswoggle-Torito, Emma, useless celebrity involvement, etc. Out of 5 hours of Raw and Smackdown, it is literally impossible that I could ever like every single gimmick/angle that I see. That goes for any era of wrestling. But there seems to be more "good things" now that make the other shit more tolerable. And there is a feeling of optimism about the young guys. Young guys who look like keepers. Guys who both the fans and the Creative team are in agreement on.

When I think of the WWE 2-5 years ago, I think of John Laurainaitis being a main character on TV for a long time, year long setups for Rock vs. Cena, Punk's face title run that wasn't that great to me, Del Rio getting too many title matches/title wins, the rug being pulled out from under Nexus after a memorable debut, and the MIZ as WWE Champion.

I like how its going now. And i hate to say it, but I think the product has gotten better since Triple H was given more control.

 

[Robbo89]

I wouldn't say it was a case of WWE doing something right, I think it's just a case of the next generation are now coming into the main fold. Look at 2002-2004 the main players (Rock, Austin, Angle, Undertaker, Kane, HHH etc) were all main event talent and you had the younger generation (Cena, Orton, Batista, Lesnar etc) all breaking into the main picture with the rub off of top talent, former tag competitors (Edge, Christian, JBL, Jeff and Matt Hardy etc) were all gaining big pushes in their singles careers. And it looks as though that the direction we are heading now.

Cena, Orton, Batista and lesnar are the main event talent with the younger crop/future main talent (Bray Wyatt, Reigns, Bryan etc) all breaking through to the main picture and the tag team competitors (Cesaro, Swagger etc) getting singles strong runs.

WWE seems to be going through the regeneration cycle at the minute, not that it's a bad thing but we are getting a clear indication as to who is going to be main talent for the next 5-10 years.

Look at Orton and Batista, as the young talent, they were getting the rub from HHH and Flair due to Evolution.
Cena got the rub from beating veterans like Kurt Angle, Big Show, JBL etc

Now we have the shield getting the rub from Evolution
Wyatt in a great programme with Cena
Cesaro aligned with one of the best mouthpieces in WWE history.

Safe to say, 10-12 years from now we will be in this same process all over again.

 

[Headman]

The PG era gripe doesn't make any sense. That's basically saying they're upset there are no more dick jokes and nip slips. Or story lines that result in guns being pulled on people. The problem isn't that it's PG television, it's that the story telling isn't always that strong and hasn't been for quite some time. Hell, if the WWE had enough compelling story lines to draw the audience's attention they wouldn't have needed to work blue in the first place.

What I specifically like right now...

John Cena vs The Wyatt Family. I didn't care for the Wrestlemania build up, but that match at Mania was great. And the build up for the re-match has been pretty good.

I also enjoy the attention the tag division has been getting. The Usos seem to be pretty over and they've been booked to look credible. The story telling in their match on RAW this week was great and the fans seemed to buy every moment of it.

I also like Evolution vs the Shield. Six man tags used to be filler matches as far as WWE is concerned, but here's a six man tag match that's driving the ppv. (I'm sorry, special event. PPV is dead.)


What I don't like...

It seems like there's only three storylines going on right now. Cena/Wyatts, Evolution/Shield, Daniel Bryan/Kane. I guess you could add Coulter / Heyman but there's nothing to that feud. I just wish they'd come up with some stories for the other guys. What the hell is Kofi Kingston doing right now?

 

[TWJC: The Beginning]

The PG era gripe doesn't make any sense. That's basically saying they're upset there are no more dick jokes and nip slips. Or story lines that result in guns being pulled on people. The problem isn't that it's PG television, it's that the story telling isn't always that strong and hasn't been for quite some time. Hell, if the WWE had enough compelling story lines to draw the audience's attention they wouldn't have needed to work blue in the first place.

What I specifically like right now...

John Cena vs The Wyatt Family. I didn't care for the Wrestlemania build up, but that match at Mania was great. And the build up for the re-match has been pretty good.

I also enjoy the attention the tag division has been getting. The Usos seem to be pretty over and they've been booked to look credible. The story telling in their match on RAW this week was great and the fans seemed to buy every moment of it.

I also like Evolution vs the Shield. Six man tags used to be filler matches as far as WWE is concerned, but here's a six man tag match that's driving the ppv. (I'm sorry, special event. PPV is dead.)


What I don't like...

It seems like there's only three storylines going on right now. Cena/Wyatts, Evolution/Shield, Daniel Bryan/Kane. I guess you could add Coulter / Heyman but there's nothing to that feud. I just wish they'd come up with some stories for the other guys. What the hell is Kofi Kingston doing right now?

Exactly what I've been thinking. I challenge people to go back and watch the old stuff. Think to yourself "if Val Venis isn't making sex jokes, is he entertaining?" The answer for him and most of the storylines/midcarders is no.

One other thing I really like, a lot of the characters have deeper relevance. Zeb Coulter as a Tea Party nutjob (and the more telling story of some of the southern states treating him as a huge babyface), Daniel Bryan as an occupier, etc are all more "adult" and smarter than anything they've ever done.

 

[Jericho91]

Almost everything is wrong with the WWE today. The type of Family-Friendly programming they are currently exposing to the General WWE Fan base is what causes boring audiences to show up in Arenas. A lot of them consisting of whole families or a father with his 6 year old son. That's why you can't get loud pops anymore like the good old days. The Creative Team are hypocrites for even calling themselves "Creative". There is not much "Creativity" being exposed as of late unless someone here has recently become a New WWE Fan that enjoys the current product. You've missed out years worth of great entertainment.

Now ...

With the direction WWE is going, it's painful to even speculate on the possibility of WWE ever go back to TV-14 Programming. I mean, they just did a Scooby-Doo WrestleMania Mystery Cartoon for crying out loud. That tells you everything about what's in store for the future. Last month they also announced WWE Slam City. It wouldn't surprise me if Cartoon Network contacts Vince McMahon very soon.

The agenda here clearly implicates the purposeful intent to revolutionize the demographical status of the WWE. As this keeps increasing on a yearly basis, the more "Real Entertainment" gradually fades away. The future Programming of the WWE only seems to be promising and secured for families.

The Divas Division is a complete joke. It's like the WWE is hiring girls based on their looks rather than having qualified legitimate wrestlers join the company. Utterly disgraceful and a slap across the face to every Pro Wrestler that has ever worked hard their entire lives to make it to the WWE.

The Build Up leading towards WrestleMania 30 between Brock Lesnar & The Undertaker was the Ultimate Screw Up in WWE History. Considering the fact that the streak ended ... All I can say is wow because I'm speechless of how horrible the creative team handled it. That's all I have to say for now.

Regarding stupid gimmicks, wasted talent, segments, value of WWE titles etc.

I'll discuss this in my next post.

 

[WrestlingFan97]

I defenitely wouldn't say that this is the best WWE has ever been, but they seem to be on the right track to being the best since John Cena's been their headliner, albeit with some road bumps along the way. Although they are pushing new talent who actually possess said talent in prominent positions such as The Shield, Cesaro, and even to a certain extent "Bad News" Barrett, they are still making the same mistakes that have been plaguing the company for years now. They are still not featuring the lowercard wrestlers on RAW or even SmackDown. They are still relying on just throwing a generic strongman out there to squash jobbers in pointless and meaningless matches with no actual storyline or feud to speak of while the audience collectively give no fucks (sorry to be so blunt, but it's honestly the truth). They are still using wrestlers whose names and legacies were built-up and made in a bygone era that show up once in a blue moon to sell their big events instead of just trusting their current and (seemingly) reliable talent so there can continue to be a place where guys can hopefully create their own legacies instead of having to quit their chosen profession and work out of a freaking meat truck on the side of the road because there are no viable promotions to ply their trade becuase some old guy stuck in the past wanted to stick to what worked once in 19-whatever and in turn had to close up shop because the audience just collectively threw up their hands and said, "I'm done." Until this company gets their shit together and stops making the same mistakes that are easily fixable, they will never be anywhere near 'good' or 'great' in my eyes.

 

[TWJC: The Beginning]

Almost everything is wrong with the WWE today. The type of Family-Friendly programming they are currently exposing to the General WWE Fan base is what causes boring audiences to show up in Arenas. A lot of them consisting of whole families or a father with his 6 year old son. That's why you can't get loud pops anymore like the good old days. The Creative Team are hypocrites for even calling themselves "Creative". There is not much "Creativity" being exposed as of late unless someone here has recently become a New WWE Fan that enjoys the current product. You've missed out years worth of great entertainment.

Now ...

With the direction WWE is going, it's painful to even speculate on the possibility of WWE ever go back to TV-14 Programming. I mean, they just did a Scooby-Doo WrestleMania Mystery Cartoon for crying out loud. That tells you everything about what's in store for the future. Last month they also announced WWE Slam City. It wouldn't surprise me if Cartoon Network contacts Vince McMahon very soon.

The agenda here clearly implicates the purposeful intent to revolutionize the demographical status of the WWE. As this keeps increasing on a yearly basis, the more "Real Entertainment" gradually fades away. The future Programming of the WWE only seems to be promising and secured for families.

The Divas Division is a complete joke. It's like the WWE is hiring girls based on their looks rather than having qualified legitimate wrestlers join the company. Utterly disgraceful and a slap across the face to every Pro Wrestler that has ever worked hard their entire lives to make it to the WWE.

The Build Up leading towards WrestleMania 30 between Brock Lesnar & The Undertaker was the Ultimate Screw Up in WWE History. Considering the fact that the streak ended ... All I can say is wow because I'm speechless of how horrible the creative team handled it. That's all I have to say for now.

Regarding stupid gimmicks, wasted talent, segments, value of WWE titles etc.

I'll discuss this in my next post.

What fucking year was this trash pulled from?

It's not a "kid friendly" program. Critique the Evolution vs Shield, Cena/Wyatt, and DB/Kane feud and explain how it's childish. Tell me how Zeb Coulter is childish. Tell me how DB's entire arc was childish. Then defend the attitude era as anything but trash TV (not adult). I'm all for opinions, but this post sounds like it's straight out of 2009.

Who cares if WWE has some cartoons. That's not what's actually on the programming. Second, why does it need to be TV-14? Do you need cussing, boobs, and blood to be entertained? If so, maybe you're not actually a wrestling fan.

They aren't changing the demographic. Go back and actually watch old shows. They are much more adult now than they have ever been. In the 80s and early 90s they were a lot more child-driven than now. In the late 90s they basically appealed to teens who thought it was cool to cuss. Their programming is a lot more broad now and some characters mimic real life (occupy, zeb, etc).

"Divas Division is trash, they hire girls for their looks" (Paraphrase) HAVE YOU SEEN THE DIVAS CHAMP? Have you seen half the girls in NXT? Have you watched the matches? Almost all of them are at least decent.

Like I said, I'm all for constructive criticism, but what you're saying doesn't make sense unless you're just trolling. Seriously? "Divas just hired for looks". No no, you're confusing that with the Attitude Era (Sable, Kat, etc).

 

[NthDegree23]

Most Wrestlemania storylines worked very well. They truly subverted expectations and did smart things like booking Bryan strong on the Mania beforehand to add doubt over his chances for people who follow "opposite momentum" predictions, they didn't advertise Cesaro in the battle royal, their booking of the Shield has been top notch, etc. There was a lot of quality there.

However, Raw being three hours long has just been brutal. The fans are blamed for chanting over the eighth straight match between Sheamus and Christian, when there's NO STORYLINE. The new midcard/lower midcard answer to rivalries is to just book two wrestlers against each other week after week with no given reason for their rivalry, have them trade wins and settle nothing, and then have them drift apart again. Watching Raws from the early 2000s and even in the Bischoff era, you'll see that, good or bad, everyone had a storyline. Matches happened for reasons. Now, there are two to three filler matches per Raw with zero reason to get invested. This is the number one issue the company has right now - they're overexposing and watering down almost all their young talent with aimless 50/50 booking.

Also, the writers simply cannot write good comedy and everyone who follows the script speaks exactly the same, but that will probably never change.

 

[Jericho91]

What fucking year was this trash pulled from?)

Check your calendar, it's 2014.

It's not a "kid friendly" program. Critique the Evolution vs Shield, Cena/Wyatt, and DB/Kane feud and explain how it's childish. Tell me how Zeb Coulter is childish. Tell me how DB's entire arc was childish. Then defend the attitude era as anything but trash TV (not adult). I'm all for opinions, but this post sounds like it's straight out of 2009.

I was speaking in general terms.

Your really not doing yourself any favors by pointing at DB/Kane Feud to justify your points. Explain to me the whereabouts of this ferocious so called "Monster" Kane. Where has he been all this time ??

Oh yeah, he's been a corporate sellout. And before that, he was tag team champions in a team called HELL NO with Daniel Bryan. Seeing him on a weekly basis in that short-lived faction was the most childish thing I've ever seen in my life. The way they'd both argue at each other childishly made me shake my head in disbelief. The anger management storyline was the most childish storyline that has ever happened considering someone like Kane for his character being involved. I cannot stress how INCONSISTENT the creative team can be to go that route. Worst of all, they let it happen. Oh and not lets forget the stupid "Let's Hug It Out" segments. I cannot believe how fucked up in the head Vince McMahon or whoever was in charge of those storylines, let that happen.

Evolution is back. BOO HOO. Watch Batista take a break to promote his movie "Guardians Of The Galaxy" after Extreme Rules. We don't even know if Ric Flair will stick around. Most importantly, Evolution wont be used the same way they were 10 years ago. This is a much toned down version of Evolution regardless of them putting The Shield over or not. Another example is The Rock. When The Rock was around to feud with John Cena & CM Punk none of his promos were ENTERTAININGLY COMPARABLE to the one's he did in the good old days. When I say good old days I'm not automatically referring to the Attitude Era on its own. It's a combination of the Attitude Era, Ruthless Aggression & Post-Ruthless Aggression by a few years all put together. That's a good 10 year span between 1997-2007.

Who cares if WWE has some cartoons. That's not what's actually on the programming. Second, why does it need to be TV-14? Do you need cussing, boobs, and blood to be entertained? If so, maybe you're not actually a wrestling fan.

They aren't changing the demographic. Go back and actually watch old shows. They are much more adult now than they have ever been. In the 80s and early 90s they were a lot more child-driven than now. In the late 90s they basically appealed to teens who thought it was cool to cuss. Their programming is a lot more broad now and some characters mimic real life (occupy, zeb, etc).

Here's another "Wrestling Fan" that doesn't understand the major significance behind WWE putting out these cartoons. It's clearly a bridge way for more kids to be influenced and ultimately become fans of the WWE. I don't know how smart you are but it doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure that one out. You forgot about Saturday Morning Slam which they ran for 9 months in TV-G ?? The WWE doesn't NEED to be TV-14 to bring back it's glory days. Your probably unaware that when Brian Pillman pulled a gun out on Austin back in 1996 WWF was TV-PG those days. When you say there are MORE ADULTS NOW your probably referring to more moms and dads accompanying their children. Not single Adults that hype up the Arenas to help make the atmosphere more energetic and worth watching. Because those types of energetic audiences are long gone. Even the so called "Most Hyped Up Raw Of The Year" after WrestleMania is a joke. Since when did we ever have to wait a whole year for that 1 special night on Monday Night Raw after WrestleMania to really experience a great crowd ?? Are you kidding me ?? And your out here trying to defend today's overall product. Wow, didn't see that one coming .... Or did I ?

Just so you know, if it wasn't for the Attitude Era they would've run out of business by losing to WCW via Ratings. So I would expect a "Wrestling Fan" such as yourself to show that Era the utmost respect that it deserves instead of bashing it making it to be this totally insignificant era that hasn't made an impact ENTERTAINMENT & RATINGS WISE.

"Divas Division is trash, they hire girls for their looks" (Paraphrase) HAVE YOU SEEN THE DIVAS CHAMP? Have you seen half the girls in NXT? Have you watched the matches? Almost all of them are at least decent.

First of all you cannot even guarantee every NXT Superstar will end up on the Main Roaster anyways. With these sudden WWE Releases that keep happening ?? No way. So please don't waste your breath on NXT Talent. I'm here to talk about the Main Roaster. So please let's discuss something that's relevant.

Do you agree today's Divas Division is stable ?

Explain to me why.

 

[mlp420]

Here's what WWE does right: WWE is good at masking their flaws by putting certain guys in the top spots to shield themselves from scrutiny. People tend to overlook the lousy storylines because they're pleased to see the Daniel Bryans' and the Cesaros' in the spotlight. But that's really all WWE has going for them.

There's NOTHING good to say about the WWE creatively. Filler matches, lazy lackluster storylines that don't go anywhere for weeks/months/years. Forget about the raunchy stuff from the Attitude Era, the anger over WWE's PG rating is misplaced. If you mix a TV-14 rating with the creative style they have now it would be just as awful. They can keep it clean and still have an exciting unpredictable must see product but they just don't have it in them anymore.