WWE cannot screw this up.
If there was ever a time when the company that took over the wrestling business needed to be on point, it’s right now.
With the WWE Draft less than a month away and the Battleground pay-per-view on the heels of the huge night on Smackdown, this has to be a defining moment in this new era of Vince McMahon’s kingdom.
Let me save you all some trouble by letting the cat out of the bag. It will be an epic failure.
Not from a lack of effort, rather because the fans won’t accept anything this company does to try and change what is broken. We have become too accustomed to change for the bad. We have become set in our ways.
While wrestlers may move from point A to point B, creating a tidal wave of exciting feuds and new storylines, we won’t accept – to steal a phrase from Diamond Dallas Page – that this is a good thing.
No matter how many pops Dean Ambrose or Seth Rollins gets from the arenas, this change will fall apart like everything else that has been attempted, and it’s our own damn faults.
We are a spoiled bunch, mired in the notion that everything must be just like the Attitude Era that set the stage for “Rated PG-13” antics and salaciousness the likes this business has done away with.
The “reality” generation would rather see a 10-minute air show rather than a 30-minute iron match between Chris Jericho and Sami Zayn. Yes, professional wrestling got itself in too much of a hurry and it cannot slow down now because it will lose even more fans and ratings will continue to fall into a vat of quicksand.
Did I mention it’s our own faults for this happening?
We can argue the McMahons lost their way when they took over the wrestling business. We can make the claim there is no true competition in this business and that niche operations like TNA, ROH and Global Force are redheaded stepchildren.
We can even argue the brand split that first took place was a great idea that soon evaporated into an abyss of disappointment. And the creative team cannot see a great feud if it stood right in front of them.
Those times are changing, but the constant anger of the fan base won’t let this new brand split find success. And yes, it’s our fault.
If WWE had announced the brand split, created a show on the WWE Network specifically for the event and then withheld information about new titles and matches until Tuesday, July 19, it would have served the company well. The buzz would have been greater. We all would have been captivated and more excited.
Now, this is more of a “so what” moment. The McMahons have to do better.
The brand split is the reason Roman Reigns is still in the main event at Battleground. It’s the reason Seth Rollins is not company champion and is the reason Xavier Woods may be on the way out of the The New Day.
Sometimes, over-analysis is a good thing. If the company that believes in monopolization wants to “wow” us, make this the biggest thing to come along since CM Punk’s pipe bomb. If it cannot deliver on that note, then leave things the way they are and really watch us all get mad.
WWE is trying to make things better. It’s evident in every new match and promo. The problem is we still aren’t buying what they are selling. We are the ones hurting the brand – not the other way around.
