Back when Vince McMahon bought his father’s wrestling business, there were three major wrestling promotions, a fistful of territories and enough performers to keep everyone happy.
Some 30 years later, there are a few wrestling promotions and too many wrestlers fighting over too few titles. This is what Vince McMahon wanted when he bought WCW, essentially ending any kind of battle amongst promoters and declaring the McMahon Family as the reigning champion in a business eroding from the philosophy of Kayfabe.
Rumors persist that once the WWE Draft and brand split takes place, the prevailing thought will be to cut down on storylines, which in effect will concentrate more on backstory, create more match importance and could take a step toward what this business could be.
For the older generation, it is a fallback to a time when Dusty Rhodes was the lead babyface and Ric Flair was the lead villain.
For the current generation, it is a slap in the face for everything the business has become – a quick to get ahead program, with matches that last less than 10 minutes while the buildup through promotion is greater than the product in the ring.
There is a double-edged sword here the McMahon Family cannot escape from; and as the Devil’s Advocate, here are a few things to ponder.
Before this company can worry about centralizing storylines, it has to have a definitive hierarchy of its roster. This is slowly becoming a reality – with the establishment of a true mid card. The five or six solid performers in the main event roster, though, have to have more depth.
AJ Styles and The Club bring their international story to the table and in the current feud with John Cena, Styles plays the antagonist who is tired of being the outsider. Once the feud ends, what happens?
Who becomes the next victim of the sad story?
The continuation of the feud with the former members of The Shield gives fans what they want with Seth Rollins chasing current WWE World Champion Dean Ambrose. Somehow, the company must incorporate Roman Reigns in this three-way dance.
After Battleground and most likely SummerSlam, what happens as they all go their separate ways?
As a friend explained to me last week, Reigns stays in the title hunt because a feud like this is evaporated once the brand split becomes a reality.
This situation harkens back to the Golden Era of wrestling in the 1980s, where no matter how much McMahon worked to make Hulk Hogan the centerpiece of his dynasty, fans still loved the complimentary pieces.
Randy Savage and Ricky Steamboat. Ultimate Warrior and Jake Roberts. Roddy Piper and Bret Hart. There is a place for additional chess pieces. One storyline cannot bear the company on its shoulders alone.
The quick to get ahead society of wrestling is like a traveling carnival where stories disappear too quickly. Cutting down on them only makes things worse for the fans – who have gotten tired of the same old situation.
Seth Rollins versus AJ Styles is a great concept. John Cena fighting Randy Orton or Brock Lesnar for the millionth time is not.
The only way this works is if there is more drama committed to the angle. Less fluff and possibly cutting an hour from Raw on Monday night. It’s too long to begin with.
It can be assumed that in the end, the brand split will be a great thing for business. New feuds, more concentration on wrestler-specific brands and maybe new titles to fight over. But if WWE cannot commit to make each story it presents as important as the next, then this does not work.
Giving fans fewer storylines only crowds an already chaotic situation.
The McMahons may pump more money and effort into making this into something positive. The problem is that it will probably yield negative results.
In the end, no one wins.
