RECOGNIZING WWE'S PROBLEMS IS THE FIRST STEP TOWARD FIXING THEM
By Doug Brown on 9/25/2008 11:04 AM
WWE Raw hit one of its worst ratings in a long time last week when it checked in with a 2.6. While up against what turned out to be an awesome football game between the Dallas Cowboys and the Philadelphia Eagles, that 2.6 rating is still a disaster for WWE. It lead me to thinking back during the Monday Night Wars, when NFL and ABC executives used to be worried about the large chunk of the audience that the WWF and WCW battle was taking away from them. The rating is a clear cut example of how hard WWE has fallen. Even if it does come back up this week, WWE has its share of problems, now they need to do two things. Step One is to admit that they have problems. Step Two is to start coming up with ways of fixing those problems. In this column, we will take a look at ten issues currently facing WWE.
1.) LACK OF LOGIC - This is by far WWE's biggest problem. They have so many things that just do not make any sense. John Cena, Kofi Kingston, and Mickie James lost their matches at SummerSlam. Yet, do they show up mad as hell the next night on Raw and seeking retribution? No, they are all smiling, and seemingly blowing off the losses as if they are no big deal. That sends a bad message. If your superstars don't care about their matches, then why should we? Randy Orton slaps both Cody Rhodes and Ted DiBiase, and instead of them popping him right back, they stand there and take it. Edge gets caught cheating on Vickie, and yet at the Great American Bash, she still attempts to help him win his match. We don't even have to go that far back. This past week's Raw saw Shawn Michaels and Batista team up in spite of their feud from just three months ago. The other thing in that match that bothered me was that the one guy that does not have a match at the pay-per-view, Lance Cade, is the guy that got the pin. If anything, Jericho should have got the pin in order to get back some momentum he lost after Michaels beat the heck out of him at Unforgiven. What's with Beth Phoenix losing to Kelly Kelly for the second time? After three straight pinfall losses (two to Kelly, one to Candice Michelle), the Glamazon is looking very weak going into the pay-per-view. On ECW, where was Matt Hardy this week? He is the brand's champion and involved in their only match at No Mercy, and he does not even appear on the show. The other guy involved, Mark Henry, just appeared in a brief promo. ECW also has one of the hottest acts in the company right now, John Morrison and the Miz. Instead of finding quality opposition, they have them face each other...again. I know the company wants to split them up and make singles stars out of them, but I think they have so much more to offer as a duo. It's stuff like this that drive fans crazy, and make them seek other forms of entertainment. I still have yet to figure out why Brian Kendrick is in the title picture on Smackdown. While he is a great talent, he didn't beat anyone of note. I love the gimmick, but he's been pushed too fast, and with the losses to Jeff Hardy and Triple H, they may have already blown it with him.
2.) BURYING NEW ACTS JUST AS SOON AS THEY START TO GET OVER - I have never understood their philosophy on this. When a new talent debuts, they usually let them rack up a bunch of wins to build them up with the audience. Then with little to no explanation, they just start losing over and over again. It is ridiculous to me that Jesse and Festus still have yet to have their first tag team title reign. To the fans credit, they still pop when the bell sounds, and Festus runs wild. Kofi Kingston was showing so much potential on ECW in his feud with Shelton Benjamin. He got drafted to Raw, and beat Chris Jericho for his first Intercontinental Championship. They then inexplicably have him lose, because someone decided to start pushing Santino Morella again. Word of warning, the longer Santino has the belt the lower its value becomes. Paul and Katie Lea Burchill came in with a controversial storyline. After brief challenges for the Intercontinental and Women's Championships, both have just about vanished off the map.
3.) NOT EVERYONE IS EQUAL - I think it sends a bad message regarding the Wellness Policy that some superstars are treated differently than others. To me, a drug suspension represents a violation of trust. When a wrestler violates that policy, after their suspension, they should go through a process of regaining the company's trust. Some wrestlers like Jeff Hardy and William Regal, take a vacation, and go right back to where they are in the pecking order upon their return. Others like D.H. Smith and Jimmy Wang Yang, either do a countless amount of jobs, or do not even get on TV at all. Then you have the story of Maria whining about being moved from Raw to Smackdown. Instead of her getting some sort of punishment, she gets rewarded with a victory over the much more talented Victoria. Looks like Maria contracted the Sable/Chyna Playboy Syndrome.
4.) NEW GENERAL MANAGERS ARE NEED FOR THE BIG TWO - I think two of the biggest reasons Raw and Smackdown are sagging in the ratings is that their respective general managers have zero credibility with the fans. Mike Adamle slit his own throat the first night with the company. It was clear from day one, that he did not know who any of the wrestlers were, what the name of any of the moves are, or any history of the company. Yet, somehow they first decided to have him replace the vastly underappreciated Joey Styles on ECW, and when that turned out to be a bomb of epic proportions, they moved him into the general manager's chair on the company's flagship show, Raw. Vickie Guerrero's only claim to fame in the wrestling business was that she was married to a wrestler. Given how popular a wrestler Eddie Guerrero was, they could have made her a sympathetic figure, and one that fans really could get behind. Instead they turned her heel not once, but twice! Vickie is pretty much a Stephanie McMahon clone with the same mannerisms such as abuse of power, bad acting, nails-on-a-chalkboard screeching, and putting herself in nearly every segment on the show. Teddy Long is the only General Manager that the fans respect, because he has been an active participant in the business for a long time as both a referee and a manager. One of the road agents that I am surprised has not wound up in the General Manager's chair is Arn Anderson. Can you imagine how much more effective a threat would be coming from a founding member of the Four Horsemen than either Adamle or Vickie?
5.) REPEATED STORYLINES - Another problem WWE faces is repeating the same storylines over, and over again. Continuing on the subject of general managers, one of the things that has been done to death is the heel general manager screwing over the babyfaces storyline. I think that may be one of the reasons why I can't stand Vickie Guerrero's character is because everything she does has been done ad naseum, and by much more talent performers. In addition to Vickie, WWE has had heel authority figures consisting of all four McMahons, Sgt. Slaughter, Eric Bischoff, Paul Heyman, Kurt Angle, William Regal, Armando Estrada, Chief Sean Morley (aka Val Venis), and even Ric Flair. Chris Jericho has taken to stealing Edge's "Ultimate Opportunist" gimmick. In the tag team ranks, they have frequently done the feuding partners winning gold (Cena and Batista), or having partners that do get along being unwillingly forced to face each other (Morrison and Miz). They even had Jim Ross make a wisecrack about the size of Natalya's hips on a recent Smackdown. The first thing I thought about was the "Molly Holly has a big butt," storyline from a few years back. You know your show is in trouble when you start copying things that have been inducted at
www.wrestlecrap.com. Another pet peeve of mine is the overuse of the handicap match. I don't understand Stephanie's fascination with handicap matches, but ever since she took over the creative team, we have at least one a week. When you do a gimmick like that so often, it loses its effectiveness. This past week on Raw, you had four former World Champions in the Main Event, two are competing for the title at the next pay-per-view, while the other two are fighting for the #1 contender position. After weeks of having him stand in Chris Jericho's corner, they decide to finally put Lance Cade in a match, even though his presence was not really needed. As mentioned above, his pinning of Shawn Michaels made even less sense.
6.) PROMOTING STYLE OVER SUBSTANCE - Well at least, we did not have another Divas Search again this year. The thing that still gets me is their insistence on pushing people based more on what they have done outside the ring rather than in it. The most glaring example of this are the female divisions. On Raw, Mickie James has taken over as the best female worker on the roster. The fans seem to not only pop for her entrance, but are actually into her matches as well. I believe in also giving credit where it is due, and Kelly Kelly has really impressed me with her improving wrestling skills, and athleticism each week. She also has two wins over current Women's Champion Beth Phoenix. Yet, somehow the title shot at No Mercy does not go to either of these two women. It instead goes to Candice Michelle. This is in spite of the fact that Candice is a terrible promo, and an even worse in-ring performer. But in WWE's view, being the Go Daddy Girl, and being willing to get naked for Playboy counts more than ring skills. You could also say the same thing about Smackdown. Maryse, another Playboy alumni with limited in-ring ability, gets the Divas title matches against Michelle McCool, while the much more talented Natalya and Victoria get the shaft. You could also make this point about the three television shows. Raw has a Smackdown Rebound, Smackdown has a Raw Rebound, ECW has both a Raw Rebound and a Smackdown Rebound, but yet there is no ECW Rebound on Raw or Smackdown. While ECW, which has been focusing more on wrestling, has seen a slight increase in ratings, Raw and Smackdown, which are heavy on "sports entertainment" have been on the decline.
7.) JIM ROSS AND MICHAEL COLE NEED TO SWITCH BACK - A lot of this year's post WWE Draft discussion centered around the decision to move Jim Ross to Smackdown, and Michael Cole to Raw. It is no secret that the higher-ups in WWE have wanted to get rid of Jim Ross for a long time, but every time they have tried, they have faced a huge backlash from the fans. The company wants Michael Cole, because he represents more of what they want from their announcers. They want "sports entertainment storytellers, not professional wrestling play-by-play men." While, I have nothing personal against Cole, who has paid his dues and gone above and beyond the call of duty for WWE, the fact remains that Ross should not have been removed from Raw. While reading the on-line reviews of the Shawn Michaels-Chris Jericho unsanctioned match, instead of people talking about the greatness of the match, the comment I saw the most of was how much better it would have been with Jim Ross behind the mike instead of Michael Cole. Although Cole and Lawler, and Ross and Tazz are good pairings, they just don't have that same chemistry as Ross and Lawler, and Cole and Tazz. Raw is WWE's flagship show, and it is missing it's lead voice. I also think the move to Smackdown would be beneficial to Cole. Tazz brought out the best in Cole as an announcer. Many felt at one time that they had surpassed Ross and Lawler as WWE's best duo. There have been multiple stories floating around as to why they were split up, but the fact remains that when they were both on the same page, they were very good.
8.) VIGNETTES FOR NEW STARS - Let me start by saying that I like the idea behind the new "Superstar Initiative." WWE is in need of newer and fresher faces, because a significant portion of their upper tier guys are starting to reach their late 30's and early 40's. The problem is that they are throwing all these guys out there with little to no build-up. Using vignettes has been a good way to introduce characters to fans, and give them a reason to care about them. It is a big reason why guys like R-Truth, Kofi Kingston, as well as Jesse and Festus have gotten over, while guys like Ryan Braddock, Ricky Ortiz, Gavin Spears, Scotty Goldman, and Jack Swagger have not. If nobody has heard of these guys, and you don't let the wrestlers attempt to get themselves over to the audience, then they are going to continue to hear the sound of crickets chirping.
9.) UNDERCARD WRESTLERS NEED TO BE BETTER UTILIZED - Ever since the draft, WWE has had so many guys right now that are M.I.A. Whatever happened to Paul London, Val Venis, Hardcore Holly, Chuck Palumbo, the Boogeyman, Elijah Burke, Kevin Thorn, D.H. Smith, and Armando Estrada? After having such a big comeback, D-Lo Brown has disappeared from TV again. WWE has a lot of guys on their undercard that they could be doing so much more with. For instance, Deuce made an uneventful turn to Raw this past week, losing to Santino Morella in about one minute. Wouldn't it have made more sense to go by his other ring alias of Jimmy Snuka Jr., and have him join the budding second/third generation group with Ted DiBiase, Cody Rhodes, and Manu? Why is he still doing that Deuce and Domino gimmick, especially since Domino and Cherry are no longer with the company? Smith would also be perfect for that group, but he got drafted to Smackdown. Down in FCW, Smith has formed the Canadian Bulldogs tag team with T.J. Wilson. Maybe this might be their chance to make the main roster. Tag team wrestling is definitely missed. Hardcore Holly still has yet to go after Rhodes and DiBiase for screwing him out of the tag team titles. In ECW, Tommy Dreamer still remains popular in spite of his won-loss record. With his verbal and physical talents, they could be doing so much more with him. Since Elijah Burke wasn't going anywhere as a heel, how about a babyface turn? ECW could use some babyfaces. The heels outnumber them 10-6.
10.) USE THE LEGENDS TO HELP THE ROSTER - The perfect example of this is Tony Atlas with Mark Henry. While Atlas is not a great wordsmith, he gets his point across, and makes you believe in the greatness of Mark Henry. He was also instrumental in helping Henry stay ECW Champion until that Championship Scramble debacle. But I digress. WWE has access to so many legends out there, and yet does not use them. John Cena has been their top guy for a few years now, and why does he still have yet to join "Stone Cole" Steve Austin for an in-ring beer bash? Cena against the Rock would make for the perfect Wrestlemania Main Event. It would also help promote both of their films, which are coming out around that same time. There are so many guys out their that would love (and could probably use) the extra paycheck.
These are just ten of the problems troubling WWE. Vince, Stephanie, and the others have tried to pass it off as just the "downward cycle of business." They have been saying that for about six years now, and just when they start to actually believe it, a 2.6 reality check drops on the doorstep of Titan Towers. With the surging popularity of the NFL, and teams from the three biggest markets in the U.S. about to make the MLB playoffs, that 2.6 could be in jeopardy of going lower. Like Paul Heyman stated in his column last week, WWE needs to stop writing the shows for Vince McMahon and start writing them for the general public. There are problems in WWE, and to fix them, someone in creative needs to grow a spine before its too late.
