10 reasons why it's the Reality Era in WWE

The WWE fans are always fond with certain Eras when it comes to the style of wrestling they see. Over the years the company went through a various number of Eras and apparently we have reached the period which the Internet Wrestling Community would like to call the Reality Era.Though it might not be as popular as the Attitude Era which the fans still see as the epitome of wrestling entertainment, the reality era somehow has managed to find its feet to some extent.Many fans still think that we are stuck in the PG Era for the time being, but there are many indicators out there which suggest that it is indeed the Reality Era in WWE and here is a look at the most important ones from the lot.

#10 Hard hitting in ring style

The attitude Era might’ve been filled with some gruesome matches that ended in the concussion of wrestlers. It was some sort of a similar modification of the Hardcore style wrestling which ECW played up during its time.

Though, there are sparse use of weapons here and there, WWE has managed to lean towards an in ring style which is nearer to the MMA style of fighting.

There are kicks, blows, submissions and suplexes which almost replicate the type we see in UFC. Though there were wrestlers like Chris Benoit back in the days, the company gave more importance to brawling.

However now there is Bryan, Cesaro, Rollins and many others who implement the hard hitting style to improve reality.

#9 The Network

The WWE Network was a big innovation that swept across the wrestling business. Breaking the walls of conventional television shows, WWE decided to go up to the internet and risk everything.

The company started to give out Pay-per-views in the Network at a slashed rate and also made available deep archives of wrestling history. It was a big risk from the side of WWE but they were willing to take this.

What the Network now does is it give the fans an inside things into certain aspects of the company. Especially in the programs which show the personal life of wrestler. So the fans have a better understanding of the wrestlers they are seeing which enables them to connect easily.

#8 Extending the storylines to real life

The social media is one thing which helped WWE a lot in achieving this as the WWE Superstars found a bigger platform to showcase their frustrations and extend the storylines.

Last time Roman Reigns went out on Twitter and said about Triple that warriors fight the war not the king. At the same time we also saw Fandango break up with Summer Rae on Twitter. What they were doing was expanding the storyline arc beyond the shows.

Seeing the wrestler tweet out like ordinary humans is certainly something which ups the reality quotient. It also helps the writers to make up a plot just like that without having to wait for next week to show some progress.

#7 John Cena in the midcard and losing

Now who expected John Cena to wrestle in the midcard at WrestleMania? a man who is considered as the most popular superstar in WWE, a superstars who is one of the faces of the company, a man who main evented the pay-per-view for almost a decade.

Despite all these, this year Cena was seen in the midcard of WrestleMania putting over a young and upcoming talent.

While facing Bray Wyatt he was no longer the superman who everyone hated. Cena had fear, Cena had emotions, and he lost to Bray Wyatt at Extreme Rules. These were things we weren’t given in the PG era and the by making Cena lose, the company made it clear that there are no supermen in the company, they are just humans.

#6 The company listens to the fans

Some might not agree with this fact as they are still yet to fulfill certain wishes from the fans. But looking at the bigger picture, it’s the fans that control the outcome of what we get.

The biggest example out there is the Batista situation. Originally the plans were to get him headline WrestleMania facing Randy Orton since WWE thought that the fans would love to see Batista back as a babyface.

But apparently what the fans wanted was Bryan up there, so the company swiftly changed their plans and gave the fans what they wanted. Though names like Ziggler, Zack Ryder and some are yet to reap the benefits of this, WWE is serving the fans in main storyline which itself it a better thing than shoving something down the throat.

#5 Putting performance over popularity

There are a handful of established names in the company and the moment and then there is an array of upcoming talent.

WWE certainly are showing their willingness to put young talent over due to the only fact that they deliver inside the ring. The names like Seth Rollins, Roman Reigns, Dean Ambrose, Bray Wyatt and other are getting a nod ahead of some veteran because they simply give more.

This year, we didn’t see the lights of a part-timer come in and seize the opportunity from a regular guy which clearly suggested that the ranking system is now based on performance. Else we would’ve been seeing the light of Big Show or Mark Henry being in the main event rather than who are there now.

#4 Daniel Bryan being the face of the company

Let the fact sink in for a moment here. Bryan doesn’t have the looks of John Cena, he does not have the muscles like Batista, he does not have the smart mouth of Steve Austin and he certainly hasn’t married the chairman’s daughter.

He is just a shabby looking small wrestler who knows how to impress the fans with his in ring skills. And yet he managed to become the face of the biggest wrestling promotion in the world.

It would’ve made sense if Bryan was the top dog of Ring of Honor because it is a promotion which gives importance to wrestling. WWE going their way is a big sign of the Reality era and their willingness to accept that its Wrestling after all the gloss and glitter.

#3 The lack of face- heel divides

The fans were cheering for Shield while they were supposed to be heel, the Wyatt Family get cheers every time they do something creepy, John Cena is getting boos everywhere he goes.

These are signs dropped by the WWE fans that the old system of good guy- bad guy is long behind them. Just like the hard hitting style from MMA, WWE adopted the real life essence from there as well. There is no heel-face divides in MMA as the fans cheered for what they liked.

The same is happening at the moment in the company as the fans cheer for the deserving ones even if there is a line drawn between the bad guys and the good guys unknowingly.

#2 The Streak ended

Back in the PG Era, everything was directly or indirectly suited for the children. And for them, Taker was a phenomenon who couldn’t just lose when he wrestles at WrestleMania. WWE managed to build such an image for so long until they decided that it sounded too fake.

A battered old man who was well away from his best days getting a win over a beast like Brock Lesnar didn’t have a realistic edge to it.

And that maybe why WWE decided to end the streak and let the fans realize that anything can happen. They were not willing to carry Taker further and make it look unbelievable. They did the right decision and let Lesnar get the win which clearly said that he winds of change have already started to hit the company.

#1 Blurring lines between Kayfabe and Reality

Arguably the most striking part about the Reality era would be the way in which it blurs the line between Kayfabe and Reality.

We have Triple H who is the COO of the company who plays himself in kayfabe. The angle involving him and Bryan about Bryan being held back might or might’ve not been real. We still aren’t aware whether it was real which the brilliance of the era is.

At the same time there is a doubt looming around the situation of CM Punk as we don’t know whether he really walked out or is it kayfabe all over again. The usage of real life characters and resonating storylines has made wrestling look more real as the Storylines are a bit more connectable nowadays.