http://www.cracked.com/blog/5-reasons-wwe-dying-and-how-to-fix-it/
I suggest you read more than the snippets I provided but I feel this article brings up enough talking points worth considering. How do you feel about the downward direction of the WWE?
#5. The "Creative Department" Basically Doesn't Exist
When fans talk about how the Attitude Era was so much better (and they talk about it constantly), they often attribute its high ratings to the adult-oriented content. While I'm sure that cursing and titties did play a role in its popularity, what they forget to factor in (aside from the fact that the Monday Night War itself was a huge selling point) was that in that era, every major character had a storyline.
#4. There Is No Longer Any Suspense Or Surprise
It's Pavlovian; you feel good when the hero wins, so you keep coming back for that payoff. It's emotional heroin. It's a way to coax people into buying tickets, and it totally works. If you're going to see a title change hands, you're going to see it there, so you might as well buy a ticket and see it firsthand, right? Actually, it's not quite that simple.
#3. There's Something Modern Wrestlers Don't Understand About Their Roles
One of the most valuable assets in all of wrestling, regardless of the company, is a good heel. Someone the fans genuinely hate. It's a lot harder than it sounds, because a lot of guys who try end up sounding like an actor who's playing the role of a villain, instead of a man with genuine disdain for the audience. The person who can do that is vital because when he finally gets the shit kicked out of him by the hero, the audience feels retribution. His defeat is their reward for tuning in week after week. He is an emotional catalyst.
But there's a second part to that role. Given enough time, most heels will inevitably develop a following. Or another wrestler will need to take over that spot in order to prevent the show from becoming a bucket of dead squid. At that point, the villain needs to flip and turn into the hero. Very few people are able to do that.
#2. The Divas' Division Is An Afterthought
Even when you look past their acting ability, the actual wrestling isn't much better. There are a couple of decent performers, but for the most part, it's like watching them handle broken glass. The punches and kicks are badly mistimed. Most of the holds are as basic as it gets. I have a very hard time watching the matches because all of their moves telegraph the idea of "We are models first and foremost -- and sometimes we have to wrestle." It's just painfully awkward.
Here's a match from 2014:
And here's one from 2001:
Notice the difference in how the moves are executed? Notice how the punches look and sound real in the second one, but not the first? A whole lot of us do. So how do you fix it?
#1. The Man Running The Company No Longer Understands His Audience
I've listened to hundreds of hours of "shoot" interviews (where someone from the industry drops their character and just speaks honestly), and every single one of the stars from that era have one thing in common: They finally hit a breaking point where they threw up their hands and said, "Fuck this. I'm doing whatever I want. I don't care if I get fired."
But even further than that, several performers, including HHH, have said in multiple interviews that Vince himself hit a breaking point and just gave the green light for wrestlers to be themselves and do what they wanted.
I suggest you read more than the snippets I provided but I feel this article brings up enough talking points worth considering. How do you feel about the downward direction of the WWE?
