“That was the worst WWE show I have ever seen and I will never watch another one, until tomorrow night.” This type of statement can be heard from many WWE fans over the years. Since competition dried up in the United States WWE has been the only game in town. Being at the top for so long, with no competition, WWE has become lazy. They know that people will continue to watch their product regardless of the quality. This arrogance has caused WWE to put a stale product on television.
Now that AEW and Impact are presenting better products WWE is going to be forced to make some changes. The stale product that we have been subject to for the years could be on the verge of an overhaul.
One of the biggest things that WWE needs to fix is the over-saturation of the product. Outside of the 7 hours of regular programming each week WWE also runs monthly PPVs. This is in addition to the WWE network that is running original programming around the clock. This forces WWE to run the same angles over multiple weeks. Angles that fans grow tired of very quickly but the time needs to be filled with something. If there were to be some space in WWE programming these angles may not grow stale nearly as quickly as they have been.
Even when the angles are engaging they are involving only the top stars of the company. The focus of WWE has been at the top of the company and not on the undercard. What made the Attitude Era such an engaging time for WWE was that from top to bottom the card was exciting and involved some great characters and stories. Nowadays, the top of the card receives all the attention leaving the undercard to flounder. While we all tune in to see the top stars go to work there needs to be some excitement for the undercard or else what’s the point in watching the first 2 hours and 45 minutes.
Now, even when the top of the card is paid more attention to that is not saying its booking is much better. The company has run into a 50/50 booking wall over the past few years and the product is suffering. It is incredibly hard to get behind any wrestler on the roster when they are made to look weak over and over again. This makes it hard to invest in any wrestler and keeps the WWE fan jaded to any wrestler’s push.
Another huge problem that is plaguing the product right now is not in their control. The world has been dealing with a pandemic for over a year now and this is keeping fans out of arenas. The fans at a wrestling show are just as much a part of the show as the wrestlers and their absence is noticeable. A hot crowd can change the landscape of a program and the reaction to each wrestler can help to direct creative on who to push.
It is said that Vince and creative have acknowledged that the current product is stale and in need of some overhaul. Let’s hope that this is taken seriously and WWE rights the ship in time for fans to come back to arenas.