PWP Nation’s Bruce Hart takes a look at the current state of the WWE with Shane McMahon in charge and Roman Reigns as World Champion.
Greetings.
It’s been nearly a month since Shane McMahon’s heavily hyped return as the new boss of Monday Night RAW and after all the vehement criticism about how the so-called “Authority” had ruined the business and his vows to clean up the WWE, he needs to start delivering on his promises or, at the very least, give us some specific guidelines as to how he plans to affect reform. If not, it begs the question: what the hell was the point of this whole endeavor, then?
When a new head of state – such as, perish the thought – Hillary or the Donald takes office, it’s obligatory for them to deliver a wide ranging state of the union address, in which they outline their ostensible agenda and discuss how they plan to live up to whatever campaign promises that they committed themselves to at the outset.
The same needs to be happening with Shane.
Even though the whole storyline with Shane coming back and his subsequent scathing criticism of his sister and brother-in-law’s mismanagement of the business was, no doubt, a “work”, the fact that much of what he was alluding to, including: the declining television ratings, WWE stock plummeting and the bastardization of the business, are issues that, unfortunately, are all too real and accentuate the need for some legitimate change in the WWE – correct me, if I’m wrong.
Having said that, as I pointed out last week, it’s incumbent upon Shane to now articulate to the so-called WWE universe, what his plan to reform the WWE actually entails. This should include categorically addressing the specific things in the WWE that need to be fixed or modified and to give some specifics as to how he plans improve things.
Rome wasn’t conquered in a day, I suppose, nor will Shane O’Mac be able to right all the wrongs that have been perpetrated over the past decade or more by his predecessors in the WWE, but it’s important for him to at least appear to be heading in the right direction in that regard.
I’m, frankly, not endeavoring to tell the enlightened despots in Stamford, Connecticut how to run their business, because they tend to do whatever the hell they want to do, regardless of what the fans, the wrestlers and disillusioned former members of the wrestling fraternity, such as myself, have to say. There are, nonetheless, some pretty basic things that proved to be successful building blocks, up here in Calgary and in other places I’ve worked, that might be worth considering.
One of the first things, in my estimation, that the WWE needs to do, is to define and restore some consistency to the rules and regulations – such as what’s legal and what’s not and proceed from there. At this stage, it seems that damn near everything, from using foreign objects, to outside interference, to fighting outside the ring and assorted other illicit crap is apparently legal. If damn near everything is legal, it begs the rhetorical question: how the hell does anyone get any heat then?
By that token, Shane and/or whomever else in the WWE office should review and re-establish the supposed rules. It shouldn’t be forgotten that having to operate within the rules and, for heels, to find sneaky ways to break those rules what getting heat is all about.
Back in the day, the great heels, such as guys like Johnny Valentine, Buddy Rogers, Harley Race and Ric Flair used to have rule breaking and, subsequently, getting heat, down to an art form – which is what enabled them to get over and is something that’s conspicuously lacking in the WWE these days. In any case, I’ll see what Shane comes up with, the rules and regulations, in the next little while and offer my perspectives in upcoming columns.
Another key area that needs to be cleaned up and improved upon in the WWE is the titles. I shouldn’t be having to point this out to Shane, Vinnie Mac and company, but, regardless of whether wrestling’s a work or not, the WWE world title is our sport’s equivalent to the Super Bowl, the Stanley Cup, the World Cup or Olympic gold – the ultimate pinnacle and the thing that hopes, dreams and memories are based upon. As such, it’s obligatory to preserve and protect the ostensible propriety and mystique of it and some of the other titles, as well – otherwise everything else tends to be compromised as well.
I hate to be casting aspersions, but in my opinion, the present state of the titles in the WWE is at the lowest ebb since the infamous Montreal screw job fiasco between Bret and Shawn Michaels, which tarnished the hell out of the world title and gave the whole sport a black eye. WrestleMania should have been an opportunity for the WWE to showcase and reinforce the power and the glory of the title, but in my candid opinion, it tended to do the opposite.
For whatever reason, the world title win by Roman Reigns didn’t serve to get him or the belt over, nor has his ambiguous status as a face in heel’s clothing done anything to enhance things since, as well. I assume the people orchestrating things in the WWE recognize these things and are, hopefully, planning to come up with some resolutions that work.
As for the Intercontinental title, it used to be a prestigious and respected honor back in the day, when it was proudly worn by icons such as Randy Savage, Curt Hennig, Davey Boy Smith, Bret, Owen, Shawn Michaels, Triple H, Randy Orton and Daniel Bryan, and in many cases, proved to be an important stepping stone to the world title. That, unfortunately, no longer appears to be the case.
The pointless ladder match for the Inter Continental strap at WrestleMania – which was won by nondescript jabroney Zack Ryder, who subsequently dropped it a day later to the Miz was, in my humble estimation, more of a desecration of the once proud IC strap than a celebration of it.
Sadly enough, I thought that Kevin Owens had been doing a hell of a job as the champion and had just been starting to restore some badly needed respectability and credibility back into that belt. It’s now back to square one, as far as the IC strap is concerned – which is too bad, and reflective of the take one step forward and two steps back mindset that’s become increasingly prevalent in the WWE these days.
Speaking of counter productive,the very fact that the WWE United States title wasn’t even deemed worthy of being contested on the main card speaks volumes about how incidental and meaningless that belt has become. I’m not sure if it’s somebody in the WWE office’s idea of humor or what, but most of the recent holders of the United States title, including Rusev, Alberto Del Rio, Kalisto, Sheamus and Cesaro have been Europeans and Mexicans – which only further confuses the fans and diminishes the supposed legitimacy of that belt. No knock on any of them, but I’d probably just scrap the U. S. title at this stage, because it doesn’t mean anything and has become more of a joke than a serious entity – correct me, if I’m wrong.
The tag straps have also, sad to say, become more of a farce than an force in the WWE these days as well. Last year, the tag belts – which used to be a big deal in the WWF, when teams like the British Bulldogs, Michaels and Marty Janetty, the Road Warriors, Demolition, Chris Jericho and Chris Benoit, the Hardy Brothers, Triple H and HBK, Edge and Christian and, more recently Big Show & Kane and the Shield proudly wore those straps, have now become damn near as insignificant as the aforementioned US Title. I’m not sure what the rationale is now, for having a tag team tournament, between a motley assortment of nondescript tag teams, with the winners to be fighting the incumbent champions – New Day.
The fact that the tag straps weren’t even deemed worthy of being contested at WrestleMania this year and were on the pre-show last year speaks volumes about how diminished in value the tag team belts have become, which is too damn bad.
The women’s belt – now worn by Charlotte Flair might be the most “over” of the WWE titles these days – which probably puts the dubious state of the other WWE’s titles into perspective, if only, because the women’s belt, for years, was more of a novelty than something that most fans took seriously. Even the Divas or women’s, or whatever the hell they want to call it, strap has been diminished lately though, with the women’s champ – Charlotte having to do jobs right in the middle in preliminary tag team matches – which doesn’t make a whole hell of a lot of sense to me.
Aside from addressing the rules and improving the image of the titles, the WWE also needs to address the supposed division of RAW and Smack Down. From what I can gather, Shane is supposedly now in charge of RAW, but at this stage, I’m not really sure who’s supposedly running SmackDown.
It would seem like a logical step to perhaps install Stephanie and Hunter as the overseers of Smack Down and re-establish some semblance of competition between the two brands – something the WWE initially endeavored to do when they bought out the WCW over a decade ago, but kind of dropped the ball on. I could see some interesting potential if they were to reprise some kind of RAW vs. SmackDown rivalry, like they could and should have back in the day, but there are a lot of variables that they need to consider and do properly if the potential is to be maximized.
I’ll see what transpires in the next little while, but hopefully Shane and company will take some steps in the right direction. In spite of all that’s transpired lately, I’m hopeful that there’s a light at the end of the dark tunnel that is the WWE.
In the meantime and in between time, keep the faith!
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