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The WWE made history earlier this month, but it wasn't exactly the moment they were hoping for. Not long ago, the news broke that the company had drawn its lowest viewership in company history and many people would feel that this was bound to happen sooner or later.
The quality of WWE's shows has been declining ever since WrestleMania 34 and it should therefore not come as a surprise that the company's viewership has reached a new low. RAW has been a far cry from the action-packed show which it once was and even RAW 25 turned out to be a complete disaster.
It is very difficult to feel any sympathy for Vince McMahon at this point. The WWE has been contributing to its own demise over the past few years and the decline in viewership is merely a side effect of the decisions which the WWE have been making behind closed doors.
In this article we will look at 5 such decisions which have contributed to the WWE's decline and which need to be reconsidered if Vince McMahon wants to avoid his company going down the same route that WCW did.
#1 The continuous push of Roman Reigns
Despite the boos and the negative reactions which Roman Reigns receives on a weekly basis, the WWE has stuck with its decision of making Reigns the new face of the company. This in itself is something which has seen many fans turning away from the red brand as their voices are clearly not being heard and they are being forced to watch someone who they are not behind getting title opportunity after title opportunity.
Another problem which the decision to push Reigns brings is that other WWE superstars who are over with the fans do not get the push which they deserve and merely end up gettin into meaningless feuds and story lines. Braun Strownman is clearly a fan favorite and he should be the man to take the title from Lesnar. Yet, The Monster Among Men finds himself in a feud with Kevin Owens which doesn't really seem to be building up to anything or taking Strowman and Owens anywhere in their careers.
The WWE need to accept that their decision to push Reigns hasn't worked and that it will never work.
#2 The duration of the show
The WWE made the decision to extend the duration of RAW to a whopping three hours. At the time this might have seemed like a step in the right direction but as the months have gone by it is clear that the long duration of the show is doing more harm than good.
RAW has become somewhat menial to watch because of the marathon three hour session which needs to be invested into it. This might make more sense for a pay per view event but not for a show which occurs on a weekly basis. There simply isn't enough excitement and action which the WWE can fill those three hours with and this is a big part of why the show's viewership has decreased so dramatically.
The average RAW will be filled with random matches to fill up the time as well as matches which seem to go on forever. Take the Seth Rollins vs Dolph Ziggler match which happened earlier this month for example - it lasted for a whopping 32 minutes. Fans simply cannot be interested and responsive to a match which will last that long, unless it is a special type of match such as a Hell in a Cell match.
#3 The lack of a champion
Vince McMahon was never a huge fan of having part-time wrestlers. He does seem to have gotten over that issue in a big way by placing the Universal Championship belt around the waist of Brock Lesnar - a superstar who only defends the championship on the odd occasion.
It has been said many times before that RAW needs a full-time champion on its roster and this is yet another decision which the WWE have gotten wrong. It is very difficult for any meaningful story line to develop around the Universal Championship without there being a title defense for it on a monthly basis and this has left the WWE trying to get creative in their attempts to fill this gap. Sadly this ploy isn't working.
Lesnar's absence from RAW is not the only factor here. He is a part-time wrestler and the quality of the matches which he puts in are far below than those which would be expected from a full-time superstar. Fans deserve better than this and they know it. It's about time that the WWE realized it as well.
#4 Superstars being ruined
WWE's creatives have really been off the plot over the past few years and this trend seems to be getting worse. There are many fans who feel that the WWE is wasting its talent and not giving superstars the push which they deserve.
This is an issue which doesn't seem to be getting resolved and has made watching an episode of RAW become frustrating. Heels are no longer the fearless, grim and ruthless villains which we all loved to hate. Instead, the average villain has been turned into a weak and cowardly wimp who will cheat to win or just get beaten by their opponent and make excuses for their loss.
Faces are also met with such a mild reception that it is easy to see that a lot of these superstars are being treated with indifference by the fans. This is not surprising as faces have been booked to lose so often that it has become very predictable. This just makes it incredibly difficult to get behind a superstar and to get excited about them making their way to the ring as it is expected that he or she will get buried sometime during that night. Sadly, this is usually what ends up happening.
#5 Stephanie McMahon
Whether Vince McMahon wants to admit it or not, his little princess has been one of the biggest reasons for RAW's decline.
Stephanie McMahon was always going to portray herself as a heel authority figure and there is nothing wrong with this move. The issue does lie in the way in which her authority figure has been implemented.
Back when Vince was still more heavily involved on WWE television he too portrayed a heel authority figure. The difference between him and Stephanie, however, is the way in which the allowed the superstars who stood up against them to develop.
The feud between Vince McMahon and Stone Cold Steve Austin is probably one of the most exciting and interesting feuds which the WWE has ever seen. A huge part of this was due to the way in which Austin was allowed to get the better over Vince McMahon and challenge him on so many occasions. Yes, Vince would always look for revenge after that but that's just what made it so exciting. There was no submissiveness in Austin.
Stephanie McMahon, however, has done the exact opposite. There doesn't appear to be any depth to the feuds which she gets involved in and usually pulls rank to get her way. Seeing Ronda Rousey feud with her was a great move, but this feud was poorly built and hasn't seemed to build up to anything other than a match at WrestleMania 34. An extended and more interactive feud between Stephanie and her would go a long way.
