WWE currently has been hitting record-low numbers in regards to ratings of viewership week-to-week. The amount of depth in talent they possess doesn’t match the amount they’ve developed over the months. 3-hour Raws proving to be too much for the average fan, with viewership being decimated during the 2nd hour of programming and until it’s reverted back to 2 hours (Yes, I believe it’s going to happen. It’s inevitable) they’ll continue to get their arses brogue kicked repeatedly. Because I’m a fan that’s been quite unhappy as of late with the programming (always loyal, but that doesn’t mean I need to be complacent with the product) I’ve conjured up a few ideas’ that can be in benefit of WWE and their programming.
1. Treat the divas divisions with the same respect as the men’s:
First off; STOP. CALLING. THEM. DIVAS. They are women that are putting their bodies through the same amount of risk as the men’s. Comparing the term “Woman” to “Diva”, one is never passed off as an insult. “You’re being such a diva” is the farthest comment from being a compliment. Divas term just rubs me the wrong way on many levels. The term lacks respect and these women command respect with what they do in the ring. Sasha Banks is not a diva. Bayley is not a diva. Paige is not a diva. Becky Lynch is not a diva. As much as Charlotte bugs me, she is not a diva. The fact we’ve gone so long with using the term “Divas” that when NXT brought out the NXT Women’s Championship, I was thrown off in the greatest way. It felt like the women’s division was respected again and that we’d get quality programming from the female competitors. We’ve been blessed with some magical matches, most notably Bayley/Banks in Brooklyn and their first-ever (which is incredible) 30-min Iron-man match.
The women on WWE’s roster have the capability at stealing the show (Sorry Ziggler, you’ve had it stolen from you ions ago) and it’s time to give them the time they deserve on the main stage of Raw.
2. Convert Raw back to 2 hours:
It’s tiring enough after a long day of work to come home and try to watch 3-hours of Raw. That’s tough enough on creative to come up with quality programming 3-hours each week for Raw (oh I’ll get to creative in a second). Not to mention, while all of us in North America are bitching and moaning about Raw ending “late” remember that people in the U.K and other areas are STAYING UP TILL 3, SOMETIMES 4 AM FOR RAW. Imagine working all day, staying up all night only to watch Raw “LIVE FROM CORPUS CHRISTI”.
*Shudders*
Not to mention the amount of times the 2nd hour has absolute slaughtered any momentum that the 1st hour brought. Knocking the show back to 2 hours would make creative decision to be more precise in the sense that they’d have to make the most for the 2 hours they have. If NXT can knock it out of the park almost weekly with hour-long episodes and 2-hour long specials, the “main stage” *SHOULD* be able to replicate that. The thing is they have to have compelling storylines that have the viewer’s interest invested in what’s being shown.
That brings me to my next point.
3. More compelling stories for the fans:
Please creative, on behalf of all the loyal fans that want WWE to soar and prosper, give us storylines and matches that invest us, tease us a little and leaves us wanting more. The current problem is that there’s only 2 people (at the time writing this) that are focused on the WWE World Heavyweight Championship; Sheamus and the newly crowned champion Roman “Did you know the Rock is his cousin!” Reigns! All joking aside, the last week as admittedly been amazing for Reigns in that he’s really come into his own. Him snapping and annihilating Triple-H post-match at TLC, to winning the championship in front of the very same crowd that booed him the absolute HELL out of the building almost a year ago, things have seemingly turned in Reigns favour and he FINALLY has the crowds support after months of backlash. Here’s hoping he runs with this Reigns for the time being.
That being said (and back to my original point) why aren’t their more stars gunning for the newly crowned champion? Shouldn’t the most prestigious title in WWE be the immediate goal for any superstar on the roster? Should I stop questioning myself? Where is Damien Sandow? I don’t know how to think, honestly…
Instead of just 2 men fighting for 1 championship, there should be numerous amounts of stars willing to decimate each other to get a chance at the gold. The champ should have eyes in the back of his head because of the amount of talent that want a piece of him.
4. The Wyatt Family needs to grow:
The way Bray Wyatt speaks is eloquently delivering and his words need to start brainwashing other superstars. If there’s enough talent that you have some simply not doing anything, why not have them be brainwashed by Bray and have them become a part of the family? They don’t need to win championship or even have a significant role in the family. We all know Strowman, Harper and Rowan occupy those spots so any additional members could be members that have a sole purpose in serving their leader. Allow the family to grow to 10-12 members. When Bray has his segments in the ring, they don’t need to be with him. Just if booked properly, any superstar willing to test the waters with Bray know that all his family members lurk closely around and if you test a little too much, you can expected to be mauled by each member, at the same time. It adds the feeling of unpredictability if every week the number grows when said wrestler continues to place themselves into Bray’s world.
As the family grows, Bray’s momentum follows but you have him win CLEANLY when he wins his eventual WWE WHC championship. That would solidify that Bray is a true force to be reckoned with. He can command an army at a moments notice but he himself can take care of situations, alone.
Last but certainly not least.
5. Develop talent:
Cannot stress the fact that even with NXT flourishing with the talent they have, it’s almost as if the main roster is where developmental goes to die. I get that Kevin Owens is a seasoned veteran in the ring, with 13+ years of experience, but acts like Tyler Breeze and The Ascension for example have fallen into the neatherealm of “nothing for this talent”. WWE’s talent pool is arguably their best it’s been in what, over a decade? If creative took a step back away from their posters of Roman Reigns, they could see all the talent that makes Roman look strong (I really couldn’t help it with that joke. I saw my opportunity and I went for it, ok?).
In all seriousness though, their talent pool is STRONG and they need to maximize with what they have. My focus is on the main roster and not NXT because NXT is essentially what we all want the main show to look like. There needs to be some sort of proper introduction where it’s not just a case where talent gets fed to the wolves (us, the WWE universe). The idea that “oh it worked on a “smaller” market like NXT, it’ll work here!” needs to go. Rumor has it that Smackdown is going to be the bridge show from NXT to Raw for the talent coming up from NXT. There are exceptions (Sami Zayn, Finn Balor, Samoa Joe) that if they were to come up tomorrow, they’d show up on Raw first thing because they’re big enough already. Hell, if it wasn’t for Sami getting absolutely jacked up performing in front of his hometown, then I think we’d be seeing a different looking Raw with Zayn in the title pictures (both IC, US, and hell, lets toss in WWE WHC too) much how Owens has been in all 3.
There just simply needs to be more focus on developing more stars on the main show, so that when WWE plummets talent-wise due to injury or others filming TV shows, they have 4-6 other options that can carry the workload. With Rollins going out long-term, Cesaro gone, Randy Orton gone, Cena gone, there’s a serious void in main-event talent. I know Cesaro hasn’t competed in a main event (yet) but there’s no denying his stock was rising prior to his injury that has not halted any potential push. There’s numerous amount of stars that WWE have and can (when properly booked) be able to make main-eventers with. The question isn’t if the talent is there, it’s why it’s not being put on display for their viewers to witness and help create a star. We are just as big of a roll in helping with developing stars. It’s evident with what we’ve done with Daniel Bryan. Hell, it’s evident with what we did for Zack Ryder years ago (Woo Woo do you remember that?) Problem is it’s so very apparent that our requests are falling on deaf ears. What we want is not what we’re being given and it’s not even that we’re demanding the world, it’s that we want to be engaged in the current product. We want to be able to be proud of what we’re watching and for the love of god, not let Roman Reigns reference male genitalia with food. That’s not cute, funny, or clever. It’s degrading to us, the fans to think humour like that is accepted to go through creative and that we will enjoy it. Degrading to Reigns’ stock and for us to take him seriously when he’s on the mic.
*Deep breath in. Exhales*
Stars to consider carrying the company for years to come: Neville, Kevin Owens, Sami Zayn, Cesaro, Rusev, The Wyatt Family, Roman Reigns, Dean Ambrose, Seth Rollins, Bayley, Sasha, Asuka, Becky Lynch, Charlotte, Paige, Big E, Kofi Kingston, Randy Orton (he’s helped put talent over before), Kalisto, Finn Balor, Jason Jordan & Chad Gable (Worlds Greatest Tag Team v2), Apollo Crews, Baron Corbin, Stardust (preferred as Cody Rhodes imo), Damien Sandow, Enzo Amore, Hideo Itami, Colin Cassady, Tyler Breeze, just to name a few…
It’s WWE’s best interest to start looking at their talent pool and start investing in the men and women that can all help continue keeping WWE at the top. Build for your future with the tools you have in the present time. Allow past stars to help present stars develop into future legends, not feed the present to the past. Build for tomorrow.
Like I said at the top, I’m a fan that will forever be loyal but being loyal doesn’t mean I’ll enjoy what I’m watching. In the end, I’m just a fan that has some ideas on what I’d like to see change.
What are yours?