8 things WWE could do to ensure the "New Era" is a success

A few weeks ago, the entire McMahon family came out to the ring to "take back control of Raw and SmackDown as a united front," acknowledging the problems that had been building up in the company and vowing to make a change.

So, how have they done since then? There have been some encouraging signs, but this week's Raw was a poor showing compared to the hype, returning to some of the same old tropes. There are still growing pains if the company is even committed to growing at all.

It's important for WWE to make this "New Era" a success. This week's Raw averaged a rather average viewership, despite Hulk Hogan, Brock Lesnar, and John Cena being advertised for the event. It came nowhere close to hitting the 3 million mark even during the first hour. That's an alarming sign, especially with the company being so dependent on the new Fox deal for SmackDown, which reportedly wants 3.3 million viewers per episode.

And with the deep-pocketed Khan family backing the nascent All Elite Wrestling, the prospect of formidable competition is now on WWE's horizon.

To get ahead of these trends, WWE will need to do more than trot out the McMahon family and proclaim a "New Era." It will need to do more than go to the well of part-time legends from the past, a strategy which has clearly run its course. WWE will need to make structural changes to its content.

Here are some things it could do to ensure this "New Era" is successful, rather than hyperbolic.

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#1 No more rematches means no more rematches

Fun, but ultimately a waste of time.

One of the most encouraging signs about this "New Era" was the announcement of the end of the automatic rematch clause. It was long overdue. Automatic rematches had been a big part of the staleness of WWE programming, extending feuds past their natural expiration dates and permitting creative laziness.

Unfortunately, in the weeks since, every champion who lost in December, except for the Authors of Pain, has gotten or will get a rematch.

There has been progress in the sense that WWE has come up with stories for these rematches. Sometimes a storyline calls for a rematch, as in the case of Becky Lynch, but there was no reason for Seth Rollins' rematch with Dean Ambrose this past week. The feud had been a dud, even though the match was thankfully much better than the one at TLC.

Shinsuke Nakamura is in a similar situation. WWE has given the feud more legs, but it's also a rematch that doesn't feel necessary.

Committing to no rematches means just that. If the storyline doesn't call for it, as in the case of a champion losing cleanly, there should be no rematch. This would open the respective division back up and create much-needed variety.

WWE has done better than before, but it's still not good enough.

#2 Do backstage segments throughout the show

"I'll take it from here, nurse!"

Remember that episode when Stone Cold disguised himself as a doctor? Or how about when he was a fireman and went on to chase Booker T through a supermarket. What?!

Nothing like that ever happens anymore. The pacing of an episode of Raw, SmackDown, and even NXT is predictable. There will most often be a 20-minute opening promo, followed by matches, with each respective storyline segmented and isolated from one another.

As a result, it's easy to tune out once you've seen what you're interested in, or only tune in for the segments you want. You might just skip the show entirely and watch what you want the next day. It's too formulaic.

WWE should instead intersperse skits throughout the episode that follow the major players and angles, shortening the matches. The storyline then gets built up, and the big, long blowoff matches happen on pay per view.

This format was so successful because it worked and it should be brought back. A show that follows the likes of Seth Rollins and Becky Lynch around throughout the full two or three hours is far more compelling than one that has several throwaway tag team matches.

#3 Stop exacerbating the post-WrestleMania slump

Must miss.

WWE is a cyclical business, with peaks and troughs throughout the year, but that's no excuse to go into full-blown, major league lazy mode, which the company routinely does at certain times.

Nowhere is this more the case than in the infamous "post-WrestleMania slump." From mid-April to mid-July, when the build to SummerSlam begins, WWE is notorious for putting out subpar content, to say the least. What was the commonality between Battleground 2017 and Backlash 2018, the more or less consensus worst shows of their respective years? They came during this time.

Last year's post-WrestleMania slump was particularly awful, serving us the B-Team, Carmella's run as SmackDown Women's Champion, the Bobby Lashley vs. Sami Zayn feud, continued confusion with Roman Reigns, and a lot more.

This isn't compelling programming, to say the least, and WWE needs to try much harder to retain the viewers that showed up during WrestleMania season. Some of those viewers that go away during the post-WrestleMania slump never come back, and with the content that we usually get in those months, who can argue with them?

The post-WrestleMania downturn shouldn't be an excuse to go to the bottom of the barrel in terms of programming. Effort must be made all year.

#4 Reform Money in the Bank

Meaningless.

Some wrestling concepts are timeless. They just work. The Royal Rumble is a great example of this. Money in the Bank? Not so much.

Money in the Bank started off hot, but the concept has become increasingly tedious over the years. There's nothing novel about a surprise cash-in anymore.

Worse, the concept has often been the excuse to put titles on people that weren't worthy of them. Money in the Bank briefcase holders have often been booked horribly prior to cashing in, which makes their usually dubious title-worthiness even worse, translating into a poor reign.

The concept hit rock bottom this year, with how Braun Strowman's run with the briefcase was booked.

Something needs to change. Better, a substantive change to Money in the Bank can help to mitigate the post-WrestleMania slump we just talked about.

There's no doubt that the ladder match is one of the most anticipated of the year, so that concept can be kept. However, the nature of the briefcase should be that the contract inside guarantees a title shot against the holder's respective brand champion at SummerSlam.

That way, there's no more screwy shenanigans, the holder of the briefcase will likely be someone worthy of holding the title, and the SummerSlam event can be made into an even bigger deal, with a build to a definite title match getting long, devoted attention.

#5 Bring back King of the Ring

Comeback?

Recently, there's been talk that WWE might do a "Queen of the Ring" tournament. That's a good idea. They should bring back King of the Ring for the men as well and put the pay per view adjacent to Money in the Bank, in July.

After the Money in the Bank winners are declared, a respective King and Queen of the ring tournament could be announced on the brand that doesn't feature Mr. or Ms. Money in the Bank, with the winners getting a title shot at SummerSlam against that brand's champion, similar to how the Elimination Chamber works in conjunction with the Royal Rumble.

The tournaments could get underway on TV, with the semifinals and finals taking place on the pay per view. This way, there will be a compelling, ongoing story on TV every week, with the pay per view being the climax.

The content wouldn't feel meaningless as a result, the post-WrestleMania slump would be further mitigated, and SummerSlam would feel like an even bigger deal.

#6 Do trades throughout the year - with a trade deadline

Once a year isn't enough.

The WWE roster certainly needs a brand split at the moment, but one of the biggest problems is that there's only one refresh of the roster a year, in the post-WrestleMania Superstar Shakeup. This often leads to an imbalance favoring one brand over the other. Raw won out in 2017 and SmackDown won in 2018. Furthermore, with weekly content, the rosters get stale.

WWE should instead tweak the system as it goes along, with trades made every now and then to balance the shows and make both as good as possible. For example, SmackDown could use some elite male babyfaces right now, and Raw has a shortage of respectable tag teams. Unfortunately, since there's only one shakeup a year, these problems can't be addressed.

Fortunately, with Raw and SmackDown soon to be on different networks, there's no better time to simulate competition. Trades can be made to address shortages throughout the year, but with a trade deadline as in other sports - to take place in December.

The December trade deadline serves a number of purposes. It makes a usually lacklustre month far more exciting, and with it coming off Survivor Series and prior to the Royal Rumble, it could serve to make the former event more meaningful, with certain trading advantages being given to the winner of the Thanksgiving classic, while the new trades could throw a monkey wrench into the respective brands' WrestleMania plans.

#7 Move on from Brock Lesnar

It's time for the "Beast" to go.

Since his return in 2012, Brock Lesnar has defeated the following talent...

1. Triple H
2. John Cena
3. Randy Orton
4. The Undertaker
5. Goldberg
6. Dean Ambrose
7. AJ Styles
8. Daniel Bryan
9. Roman Reigns
10. Braun Strowman
11. Samoa Joe

The only prominent star that he hasn't defeated in a singles match is Seth Rollins, and even then, Rollins took the pin in that Royal Rumble triple threat match in 2015.

It's little wonder, then, why nobody feels like a larger than life star in WWE's men's division anymore. Everyone has been sacrificed to Brock Lesnar and there's been little to show for it. Lesnar has smothered the roster for seven years, usually in the same monotonous matches, with a spark of brilliance only showing up occasionally. He's killed the potential for anyone else to become a star and to make matters worse, he hasn't been a demonstrable draw in a while, either.

WWE's women's division is the hottest thing in the company right now. There's far more excitement for the women's title matches at the Royal Rumble than their male counterparts.

Ronda Rousey may be undefeated, but she hasn't been placed a tier above the division as Lesnar has, with feasible rivals in Charlotte Flair, Becky Lynch, and now, once again, Asuka. Sasha Banks might be getting in on the act too, beginning her own overdue rehabilitation. We'll see.

WWE needs to treat its men's division in the same way, like a free for all that anyone can make their mark in. To do this, the company needs to move on from Lesnar as its "conqueror."

There's finally a chance to course correct on the horizon, with an organically popular babyface in Seth Rollins. For the sake of the future, Rollins must defeat Lesnar cleanly and decisively at WrestleMania 35, so competition can once again return to WWE's men's division after seven years.

#8 Stop scripting everything to death

Ridiculous.

WWE has a major problem in retaining interest in another way. When you watch the shows, it's obvious that most of the people you hear, from the wrestlers to the announcers, don't talk like real people. Every word they say has been scripted and often in the worst way. Only a very few people, like The Miz, can overcome this and sound natural.

This creates a disconnect between the audience and the content. It just feels inauthentic. It's a pain to get through, giving you reasons to leave rather than stay. In today's age of hyper-short attention spans, this is an important problem to address.

We will likely never see a return to the free-wheeling style of the Attitude Era. Corporate sponsors guarantee that. However, there's no reason for the company to not give its performers guidelines on the points they should get across, the things they're prohibited from saying, and then let them go from there.

Changing to this style should make the WWE programming 40% better at least and more viewers should be retained.