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It's no secret that WWE has done a lot of amazing things since the beginning of the new era late last year, but not all that glitters is gold and not everything the company comes up with pans out. While these problems are nothing compared to the hole that the company dug a few months ago, they are still important to identify and fix.
Again, this doesn't mean WWE hasn't hit a lot of home runs lately, especially with Bobby Lashley becoming Intercontinental champion, Finn Balor getting another shot at The Universal title and Daniel Bryan's heel turn, but that doesn't mean all of WWE's problems are solved. Furthermore, it doesn't mean the company can't fall back into the hole it was in either.
With that being said and WWE seemingly still in a transition mode with their new era, here are five of the biggest problems with the company right now. As always, let us know your thoughts in the comments below and be sure to tell us what you think the biggest problems with WWE is right now.
#6 United States title picture
Is the United States title becoming irrelevant? It certainly seems that way, especially after Shinsuke Nakamura's plagued run with the title, but other superstars before him didn't fair that well either.
Beyond that, feuds involving the title haven't gotten very personal lately and the company continues to drop the ball on it every time they get an ounce of momentum.
If nothing else, WWE has a chance to change all of that with Rusev as champion, but it's going to require them to get better with their storytelling. They also need to make storylines involving the title a little more personal in the same way they did with the feud between Dean Ambrose and Seth Rollins for the Intercontinental title.
#5 Use of commercial breaks
This probably isn't something WWE can help right now, especially with attendance, ratings and some merchandise sales down, but the constant barrage of commercials is really annoying at times. The commercial breaks also happen at the worst possible time during a match and really takes away from the flow of things.
WWE tried to remedy this by doing a split screen of commercials and the action, but the ad audio was the only thing that could be heard. In the end, its nothing the company is going to be able to stop anytime soon. It would be nice however if WWE picked their commercial breaks a little more carefully though.
For example, three commercial breaks during a 30-minute match really takes away from the flow and the story being told. It also just makes things drag on for longer than needed which also makes it harder to follow. Maybe WWE can correct this by doing more side by side breaks, but without the audio, it's still hard to figure out what's going on at times.
#4 Formulaic openings
WWE is supposed to excite. Furthermore, it is supposed to be unpredictable in a way that keeps the fans on the edge of their seats and still wanting more. Unfortunately for the WWE Universe, WWE hasn't really succeeded in doing this for quite some time now and a lot of it has to do with their formulaic openings.
WWE does switch up the formula every once in a while to at least appear like they are making changes, but a majority of Raw and Smackdown Live openings consist of some kind of promo that leads to a match. Not only is that extremely predictable, especially week after week, it also shows that WWE is seemingly afraid from deviating from the norm.
In the end, the biggest problem with all of this is the fact that when WWE does deviate from the formula, it usually goes pretty well. Beyond that, it takes fans out of their comfort zone, helps suspend their disbelief and sometimes even helps create some of the most memorable moments in WWE history.
#3 Roman Reigns' absence
Believe it or not, WWE is suffering greatly from Roman Reigns' absence.
In all honesty, WWE lacks a lot of star power on Monday Night Raw without Roman Reigns and it is becoming more and more obvious as time goes on. Beyond that, it is becoming extremely obvious that WWE did not have a backup plan for a prolonged Reigns absence, which is only making things worse.
In the end, it feels like everything WWE is doing right now is still a reaction to Roman Reigns going on hiatus. In fact, it doesn't even feel like WWE is anywhere close to being on solid footing in the Universal title picture and won't be until the big red belt finally switches hands.
Whether they actually do that or not remains to be seen, but they aren't making much progress with Lesnar holding onto the title.
#2 Constant use of the McMahon family
While bringing the McMahon family on television can be a powerful tool to both boost ratings and create some pretty memorable moments, it also loses its effectiveness if done too many times. With that being said, and WWE only ushering in the new era a short time ago, they have already used the McMahon family way too many times.
Beyond that, some of the storylines that the WWE has The McMahon family involved in makes no sense. For example, the company started having AJ Styles butt heads with Vince McMahon, but never really followed up on it. What was most bizarre about it was that it had all the makings of something big, but was tossed aside and forgotten about!
In all honesty, a McMahon showing up on Raw and Smackdown Live is supposed to mean something. It's supposed to be that OMG moment that brings fans to their feet and makes them pay attention. Unfortunately for WWE, it's not going to have that effect anymore, if WWE trots them out every week.
#1 Three hour Raw
Monday Night Raw might have sounded like a good idea at the time, but without great storytelling to fill up the 180-minute timeslot, it's becoming more and more difficult to watch. Of course, that doesn't mean Monday Night Raw doesn't have great storylines going on and aren't capable of creating more, they just don't have enough to justify a three-hour show.
With that being said and many of Monday Night Raw's segments falling flat time after time, it's becoming obvious that WWE needs to cut it back to two hours. If they don't however, they seriously risk overexposing their product, creating more unappealing segments and making fans tune out in the process.
In the end, WWE has been churning out some pretty great storylines since the new era began, but all that progress is being minimized by the lacklustre segments. If nothing else, cutting back Raw to two hours would give the company a chance to focus on the storylines that are working and stop worrying about filler so much.
