Smoke And Mirrors : An Analysis of WWE's Much Needed Production Overhaul

What can make heads turn and tune into WWE programming? Better yet how, in 2018, can writers capture the hearts of viewers worldwide?

They could create engaging and larger than life characters, tell fresh and/or simple stories, showcase unmatched athleticism in the squared circle. All important ingredients for any captivating wrestling show let alone any television product.

These sentiments have spew from our mouths to an endless degree so my personal inquiry has shifted to where can we find creative and interesting solutions to the show besides the writing team's content?

Latterly I have had a copious amount of time to waste so I have spiraled into the depths of our beloved WWE Network. Considering the service price along with the quantity and quality of content it supplies, I have no major issues involving edits. Well, until the ECW bug needs an itch.

Extreme Championship Wrestling, known for a variety of contrasting wrestling styles, is commonly recognized and revered for the blood and guts outlaw hardcore promotion of the 1990s.

They offered countless performers the opportunity to grow their characters and catapult them into stardom. Cactus Jack, Raven, Steve Austin, The Dudley Boyz, Taz, RVD, Sandman, Tommy Dreamer and the list can roll on.

These names and their different feuds are the thing of wrestling lore but in binge viewings courtesy of the Network, something is missing. The abundance of edits reveal an unfortunate truth for me.

Without the use of music and the many promo and video packages that are butchered or removed completely, the shows just don't have the same impact. Or maybe they weren't that hot on a consistent basis but that production created a smoke and mirrors effect that captured an era of fans because they had never witnessed a show like that before.

The problem the WWE faces isn't that their show formula sucks but that it's tired and losing steam. Watch any episode of Raw post Attitude Era and compare the production set up to the latest edition.

When you strip the show down to it's bare bones it has nearly remained the same for the last 20 years. At that time it worked. A wrestling show like that had not been seen on such a platform and it was a big reason to why people just had to tune in. Two decades later and it is just stale.

And it's not the problem of it looking too "slick" with LED screens or even the music that's used. That is just an evolution of technology and graphic changes and the like are the equivalent of a decent paint job on a decades old car.

Whether they are good or bad, little shake ups like that fall flat in this discussion because nothing changes.

I don't have the answers and there isn't a definitive catch all solution but the format of the show is begging for an opportunity to reform and it's something that is not mentioned as often as it should be.

Do something crazy and go for a sportscast style show. Go back and watch different eras and promotions and find things that haven't been tried enough or that didn't stick initially. Combine many different elements to create a new blueprint.

Thank you for reading. As always this is my opinion but I would love to hear yours. Drop in the comments any ideas that you think could be a valuable change for the WWE television production.