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WWE is going through one of those transitional phases which happens when either someone is injured or if a major name leaves the company, thereby leaving a spot open, a void which has to be filled by someone, and that leads to elevating the mid-card talent in hopes of one of them filling the shoes of the major name. We have seen such things happening, with the Hogans, then the Bret Harts, the Austins and now, CM Punk.
Ever since rumours of Punk’s injury surfaced, everyone wondered what the WWE would do to fill his shoes if he decides to take some time off to heal, and the same thing happened. Even before Punk left, the WWE never truly tried to take advantage of the talent they have, which always led to some of the most boring periods in the WWE.
I still remember the ’08-’09 period when people like Cena, Batista and the likes got injured, and WWE struggled to fill their places. Even with Cena and Batista, the product got boring and once they took time off, WWE went through a dry spell, when they tried to elevate a superstar, but that didn’t work out.
The fact of the matter is, WWE has a bag full of options, but the creative and the powers that be are so clueless, that they cannot see what’s right in front of them. It is a travesty that someone like Christian, who has been in this business for nearly two decades now, and is one of the best talents to walk through the curtains has to sit back for over three months, just because the creative doesn’t have anything solid for him after his return!
Many people say that WWE doesn’t have the resources to fill in the shoes of the Austins and the Undertakers, while it is completely false. A guy like Daniel Bryan, who is a former World Heavyweight champion, is held in the mid-card fighting for the tag titles. At first, it was a fresh change, and everyone thought Bryan would be brought back into the main event scene, but holding a former world champion down is nothing short of ludicrous!
Bryan is one of the rare individuals that made a name for himself, not because of the corporate machine, but by his own will. Daniel Bryan can connect better with the audience as a babyface or a heel than someone like Ryback, who is grossly monotonous and one dimensional. Watching Ryback come out every week and try to cut a promo shows just how raw he is on the mic, and when such an individual is pushed as a main eventer without a manager, it is bound to be unsuccessful.
There are many other performers like Daniel Bryan. Cody Rhodes had a wonderful run as the WWE Intercontinental champion, and when he lost the title to Big Show last year at WrestleMania, everyone thought it was time for his run in the main event scene, but that never happened. Cody is still stuck in the mid-card with no good storylines coming his way. He had a brief ‘crush on Kaitlyn’ storyline which was quickly dropped. Rhodes Scholars disbanded, but since neither of them had any good storylines from the creative, they decided to team them up together once again, which only shows how clueless the current crop of writers are!
This once again brings back the question of whether the WWE has any options left. This time, I won’t be talking about the performers, but about the creative heads and the powers that be in the organisation. Vince McMahon in recent years has been criticised for changing the scripts multiple times just before the start of the show, and if that continues, then the awful storylines won’t change. And instead of hiring writers who have had experience in the industry, WWE has been hiring former movie writers, and those from Hollywood. This has been the major source of concern in the past few years, as storylines have become nonsensical and the ideas unrealistic.
When WWF was starting the Attitude Era, I remember a segment with Vince when he said WCW was making fun of people’s intelligence, and that the WWF would provide the fans with good, realistic angles which wouldn’t test their intellect. Vince is doing the complete opposite now and it comes as no surprise that the ratings have dropped to an all time low this year.
In a way, WWE is running out of options. They can either go back to creating good storylines and believable angles, or they can watch the ratings plummet. No matter what, the WWE will not run out of business, but being the biggest global promotion would imply dragging good numbers and once that doesn’t happen, running the WWE wouldn’t make much sense.
WWE has the star power with some of the best talents in the NXT. All WWE has to do is come up with interesting stories and I for one, hope that happens sometime soon.
