Just a few short weeks ago, Monday Night Raw opened with the McMahon family seemingly humbled.
They acknowledged that they’ve not been doing the greatest job and the ratings have reflected this. Another untold factor is that untelevised house shows barely made a profit last year, which is a first for this company. They were committed to shaking things up. Their first step in doing so was their announcement of the call ups of six competitors from NXT. Now, I’ve never been a fan of mass call ups, as they feel less special and the performers tend to get lost in the shuffle. The feeling that all of the call ups are typical “Vince call ups” notwithstanding, there was one underlying issue. The problem isn’t the talent roster; it’s how they’re utilized. What’s the point of calling up people that are made to look like rock stars in NXT when once they get to the main roster, they’re made to look like just another wrestler. If we want to discuss the real points of contention, let’s discuss ten of WWE’s biggest problems that need to be addressed.
1.) Commentary on the main roster needs a complete overhaul.
There was a time where Corey Graves was the only reason to keep the volume turned up during these shows. And Renee Young was the only backstage reporter that had energy, credibility and presence. Now, both of them have been reciting the same corporate jargon, buzz words, they’re obsessive need to BRAND EVERYTHING and ham fisted commentary that has plagued these shows for years. Maybe we are too hard on Tom Phillips and Byron Saxton. Michael Cole may be capable of great commentary. But we’ll never know until VINCE STOPS FEEDING LINES INTO THEIR HEADSETS. Let the announce team do their damn jobs. And if they can’t do a good job without Vince feeding them lines, then find someone else who can.
2.) Stop having the backstage interviewers ask the wrestlers stupid questions.
It makes the wrestlers look bad by not calling out the idiocy of these reporters. It kills the credibility of anyone with a microphone and in general it makes the product feel like a crappy variety show instead of the top wrestling program on the planet.
3.) Put an end to the overly scripted promos.
It’s understandable that not everyone can shoot from the hip and cut an amazing promo. For the people who need scripts, let them keep using them. However, chill on the verbiage that sounds ridiculously verbose and inauthentic. I’m willing to put money on the fact that there are way more people capable of cutting great promos on their own without help from the absurdly large staff of writers. If you want to try change, the promos need it the most.
4.) Let people embrace their more unique ring styles.
Just by watching a few episodes of NXT, you can see quite a variety of fighting styles. Whether it be the high flying insanity of Ricochet, the MMA inspired beat downs of Shayna Baszler, the joint manipulation done by Mustache Mountain or the martial arts fury of Kyle O’Reilly, everyone seems to have a different style. On the main roster, with very few exceptions, nearly everyone has the same style, same tempo and same flavor of match. If Nakamura had the style of matches he had in New Japan Pro Wrestling or Samoa Joe had the classics that he had in TNA, the show would be better for it.
5.) 50/50 booking creates a roster full of wrestlers, not mega stars.
The win a match-lose a match back and forth between people in feuds pretty much has everyone on an even keel. Want to know one of the main reasons Hulk Hogan was a mega star? He hardly ever lost. Same with Stone Cold Steve Austin. Same with John Cena. If you want to make stars big enough to impact ratings, ticket sales and network subscriptions? Make sure that stars like Becky Lynch, Ronda Rousey, AJ Styles, Daniel Bryan, Seth Rollins, the Usos, WHOEVER you want to run with, hardly ever lose. So when they finally do take an L, it greatly benefits the person who beats them.
6.) Fix the Raw Tag Team division.
One look at both shows and it’s obvious which show has the stronger tag division. SmackDown Live features the Bar, the Bludgeon Brothers, the Good Brothers, the New Day, SAniTY and the Usos. Not many of them have been made to look like scrubs or clowns. Then we have Raw. AOP have had so many starts and stops to their push, who knows what Vince thinks of them. The Ascension were buried nearly immediately. The B-Team has been nothing but comedy relief. Lucha House Party are babyfaces that use ridiculously overt heel tactics. Roode & Gable are a makeshift team at best. Then, we have the Revival. If they weren’t being plagued by injuries then they were by bad booking. The decks definitely must be shuffled come the next superstar shakeup.
7.) Both Women’s divisions need more high quality competitors.
Raw and SmackDown each have maybe nine women on their rosters. This is thin when you only factor in them fighting for the Women’s championship. The fact that tag team titles are being talked about, this means that there needs to be more women on the main roster. That doesn’t mean calling up a bunch of talent before they’re ready. There was a Mae Young Classic that had plenty of women who are main roster caliber performers that can help your product immediately.
8.) Stop leaning on the Universal Champion in absentia.
I think everyone is over the company line of “the champion being around less makes it more important”. The audience cannot love or hate a champion that’s never around. WWE leans on Brock Lesnar way too much. If they made guys like Dean Ambrose, Dolph Ziggler and Braun Strowman less cartoony and more dangerous, the audience would take them seriously. If they took the top heels seriously, THERE WOULD BE NO NEED TO KEEP RE-UPPING LESNAR’S CONTRACT!
9.) Production needs a complete overhaul.
The company tried in 2016-17 to tweak the look of the entrance ramp, the Titantron and even moving the Raw announcer’s table near the entrance ramp. But these were only small measures. There are major things that need to change. The entire look of the show, from the entrance, to the announcer’s tables, to the ring aprons and turnbuckles need to change. The thousands of unnecessary camera cuts, the incessant zooming in and out during a match as well as the panning to the crowd at the worst times (right when a finisher occurs) all must come to an end. Ultimately though, all of these changes will be for naught unless the most needed changes occur.
10.) Vince McMahon and Executive Producer Kevin Dunn must retire.
These two men, while they’ve given countless hours to their brainchild, most of the problems I listed are directly linked to these two. They may be hard working and strive for success, but it’s abundantly clear that they’re both out of touch with what the audience of 2018 wants. If the WWE is truly committed to change, Stephanie, Shane and Triple H need to take over creative sooner rather than later.
Wrestling fans worldwide will be paying close attention to Raw and SmackDown in the coming weeks. With the holiday season now behind us, this week will be the test of if the people running World Wrestling Entertainment truly acknowledge that their product needs fixing, or if it was all a bunch of lip service.
