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New look, same problems for WWE

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Roar Guru
13th October, 2019
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The past two weeks has seen a seismic shift in mainstream pro-wrestling.

Unfortunately, the same issues that have plagued World Wrestling Entertainment for the past few years seem destined to continue – and no amount of aesthetic changes, new television deals or sporting crossovers may be able to quell them.

In fact in a time in which new opponents All Elite Wrestling are providing a true alternative for the first time in nearly two decades, these issues are only being magnified – and it is becoming downright painful to watch.

A horrific week of television kicked off a week ago with the nightmare inducing booking of the Hell In A Cell main event between Seth Rollins and ‘The Fiend’ Bray Wyatt. But the WWE’s overproduction – and overkill – of his ‘Fiend’ alter-ego has the potential to destroy any possibility of long term sustainability at the top of the card.

A prime example of this was the Hell In A Cell main event in which the match against Seth Rollins played out more like a bad slasher film than a pro-wrestling match. The arena was bathed in a blood red hue, and in the sporadic moments we were able to witness the action we were privy to nothing more than gratuitous hyper violence that made Rollins look like a bad guy and Wyatt look unbeatable to an almost comedic degree.

WWE Fury and Strowman

(Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images)

Rollins would eventually lose due to disqualification – in a no DQ match – and essentially begin what we thought would be his descent into madness, which brings me to the next issue plaguing the company. There is a complete lack of continuity.

Following the universally panned finish to Hell In A Cell – the WWE wisely left Rollins and Wyatt off Monday Night RAW, but upon Rollins’ return in the opening match of Smackdown we saw no residual effects of the match.

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Instead of being greeted as a crowd favourite coming to grips with having to compromise his morals due to ‘The Fiend’s’ impact on his psyche, we instead see the same old Rollins – yelling, clapping, pandering to the crowd and doing exactly what we’ve come to expect over the past year.

This short-term booking was evident with Kofi Kingston as well. Just one week after losing his WWE Championship and effectively seeing his 12-year dream disappear in less than ten seconds, we saw neither a defeated, despondent version of his former self or a galvanised Kofi intent on reclaiming his title.

Instead, Kofi was jovial – throwing pancakes and towing the WWE’s company line by spending the majority of his screen time promoting their relationship with the Susan B. Komen foundation for Breast Cancer.

A worthy cause to be sure, but to prioritise this just a week after losing the most important match of his career is an absurd insult to fans whose organic groundswell of support led to his championship run in the first place.

Kofi losing the WWE Championship last week continues a disturbing trend that sees WWE favouring short-term crossover relevance as opposed to sustainable wrestling success. Kingston has moved out of the championship circle, with Brock Lesnar instead focusing his energies on the newly debuted Cain Velasquez.

Yes, Lesnar and Velasquez have storied rivalry dating back to glory days of the UFC heavyweight division – and yes, Velasquez has pro-wrestling experience in Mexican promotion Lucha Libre AAA – but at 37 years of age it’s hard to envision Velasquez being a full-time contributor going forward.

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Ditto to Braun Strowman, whose first foray into the Smackdown world will not be against a fellow wrestler with championship aspirations but instead the ‘Gypsy King’ himself Tyson Fury. Admittedly, the ‘boxer versus wrestler’ storyline is nothing new.

We’ve seen ‘Butterbean’ Eric Esch, Mike Tyson, Ricky Hatton and Floyd Mayweather grace WWE rings before, but Strowman’s involvement with Fury basically means the top two rivalries on Smackdown as they begin their massive new television deal will likely be done and dusted within a month and give little to no push to current full-time performers.

These two feuds combined with the lazy reemergence of the likes of Ric Flair, Hulk Hogan and The Rock shows us what Vince McMahon thinks of the main roster. It isn’t good enough, and he can’t be bothered putting in the work.

WWE Lesnar and Velasquez

(Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images)

Not since Kevin Costner played Cleveland Browns general manager Sonny Weaver Jr have we seen such a poorly scripted and outlandish draft than the first night on the most recent episode of Smackdown.

The rules of the draft and the list of eligible draftees were never clearly explained to the viewer, cutaway camera shots to television station ‘war rooms’ were awkward at best – and cringe-worthy at worst – and at no moment was I ever convinced that this battle for brand supremacy was anything more than a niche episode to boost short term ratings.

That being said, I’ll reserve my full judgment of the draft as a whole until after the next episode of RAW. Hopefully they’ll fix any issues and make it a more easy to digest product for the viewer, but I have little faith that this draft will end up being any more than a monumental waste of time – and we’ll have brand crossover matches within the next three months.

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Impressive new sets and a big money television deal can’t disguise the fact that WWE’s reliance on old habits and old names has left many fans with little reason for optimism going forward. Many hoped the newly ignited wrestling war with All Elite Wrestling would force the company to pick up their game like they were forced to in the late 90’s, but so far it appears that only applies to NXT – which didn’t need any help in the first place.

WWE will never be in the financial peril WCW found themselves in at the turn of the millennium, but that doesn’t mean they aren’t at serious risk of alienating fans by ignoring what brought them to the dance in the first place – the wrestling itself.

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