State of the WWE Address

Alright Fellas, it’s time for my first post. First of all, if you are reading this right now and you don’t see any other posts above this, thanks for being here from the beginning! I thought long about what I would want to talk about first and I think the best place to start is … Continue reading State of the WWE Address

Alright Fellas, it’s time for my first post. First of all, if you are reading this right now and you don’t see any other posts above this, thanks for being here from the beginning! I thought long about what I would want to talk about first and I think the best place to start is to give you all my very own State of the WWE Address. I will be doing this on the first podcast that will post on the first week of January but here is a sneak peek of sorts. The best way I can think to do this is to break it down into positives and negatives and then give you a conclusion. Well here goes nothing!

I am very excited by the fact that up and coming superstars such as Dean Ambrose, Seth Rollins, Roman Reigns and Bray Wyatt are being allowed to come up through the ranks quickly. This feels very much like the New Generation Era back in the mid 1990’s and that brought us greats such as Shawn Michaels and Bett Hart.
The Intercontinental Title seems to be getting more and more attention lately. Part of this is out of necessity with the WWE World Heavyweight Champion being off of TV most of the time (more on that below) but it is a breath of fresh air. If you don’t believe me, watch the Intercontinental Title match from TLC (and stairs) 2014 between Dolph Ziggler and Luke Harper. They let those guys go! It reminded me a lot of the IC title match’s between Shawn Michaels and Razor Ramon in 1994-95.
The WWE Network is an awesome resource for any wrestling fan! I am not here to sell it to you for $9.99 but I will give you my honest to God opinion and say that this was the thing I have been hoping for, for a long time now. I just started really watching shortly before the famous CM Punk Pipebomb promo but, with the network, I have gone back and watched a lot of what I have missed and I feel I can comment better on what is going on now. My wallet also enjoys not spending a bunch of money on Pay Per View to watch an event once and I no longer have to wonder if I’m going to order an event in any given month.

Negatives

My biggest gripe these days is the amount of energy that is being spent on booking part time wrestlers to look good. If you need an example, look no further than the current champion. He appeared on WWE television this week for the first time since Night of Champions back in September. This is far too long not defend a title let alone not being on the product at all especially when past champions have been stripped for not defending it in a 30 day period. The problem doesn’t just lie with Brock Lesnar though. I was not a fan of the Rock winning the title at all because one it made the current roster look bad since he rarely wrestles and two it made the Road to WrestleMania all that much more predictable with Cena winning the Rumble. 99.9% of wrestling fans understand that wrestling is predetermined. It’s hard for them to suspend disbelief when you pull stunts like that.
My second gripe is the way the PG product is being booked. I’m not saying we need another attitude era (in fact as a father I hope not as my daughter loves watching the product too) but the booking is too formulaic. They have shown spurts of greatness before in a PG environment (The Summer of Punk, Undertaker vs. HHH and Daniel Bryan’s rise to stardom come to mind)  but these days it’s almost too easy to figure out who is going to win. The only match in the passed year that had me stunned at the outcome was the Undertaker vs. Brock Lesnar Match at WrestleMania but find me someone who saw that coming. WWE needs a new writing staff who understands how to book a wrestling product.
My last gripe kind of ties into one of my positive notes. While younger stars are allowed to come up the ranks, once they hit the glass ceiling that is John Cena they are made to look weak. Look no further than Cena’s feuds with Bray Wyatt and Seth Rollins over the passed year. Wyatt was looking great, his promos were awesome, the Vignettes for his matches were cool and his in ring work was reminiscent of Mick Foley in his Mankind days. Did he get put over? Nope, his only win was on a Dusty Finish when one of his Little Johnnys came in and gave Cena an excuse to lose. Seth  Rollins had a great match with him at TLCS this year but they both went through the table and then Cena picked up the win. Cena either needs to start putting over younger guys or take a step back. We don’t need a Cena Heel turn. While it would be fresh, it doesn’t make business sense with all of the merchandise he sells and appearances he does. What he could do is perhaps manage somebody or have a stable of some sort. Anything to get younger guys over so when he does have to bow out, there is someone waiting in the wings to take his place.

Alright, that is all for now guys. Again I remind everybody to like Wrestling Obsessed Radio on Facebook and follow the show @OWWcast on Twitter. Also anybody who wants to email the show, the address is [email protected]. I will be reading fan emails on the show so send them my way. Spread the word everyone, Obsessed With Wrestling Radio begins airing the first week of January. Be Ready!