PWP Nation’s Editor-in-Chief Eron Ramadanov explains why the current WWE product has an ‘Authority’ problem, where the “bad guys” reign supreme… always.
Week in and week out, I sit in front of my television set on Monday nights and tune into the longest running weekly episodic television show in history, WWE Monday Night Raw. Sitting in my lazy boy, I strap in for a total of 3 hours and 15 minutes of WWE programming every single, where I’m usually joined by a tall glass of Jack Daniels Tennessee whiskey and Coca Cola.. because… you know, Raw is more fun that way.
Now, I can sit here and list all the things wrong with WWE’s current product and booking, but there is no larger and more pressing problem with WWE, especially on Raw, than the constant and never-ending reign of the Authority, consisting of Triple H, Stephanie McMahon and most recently, Vince McMahon.
Approaching on 3 full years, the Authority have reigned supreme on the WWE main roster, especially over the company’s top and developing babyfaces like John Cena, Daniel Bryan and most recently, Roman Reigns. Not only that, but they made it an issue to demoralize and “dress-down,” verbally and physically mid-card stars like Dolph Ziggler, Chris Jericho, Dean Ambrose, etc.
In my opinion, this has resulted in WWE, especially Raw and SmackDown, becoming a “no-fun” zone. Before you jump all over my case, let me explain the line I’m drawing in the sand here. I completely and whole hardheartedly understand the idea of the boss vs. anti-hero storyline, or the evil authority figures reigning over the show, but in 2016 and for the last several years, WWE has mishandled this perceived story and have either forgotten or don’t care to do this story justice. And oddly enough, Vince McMahon and WWE creative seem to only like this storyline to be the main focal point of their programming, as it has been recycled for almost two decades.
How many times have we seen the boss vs. hero conflict? Now, those who want to play devil’s advocate might say, “but Eron, it always works! Why not reuse it?”
Again, I have no problem with the root and general concepts of the story, however I do have a problem with how it is being executed.
For example, on the January 18th edition of Monday Night Raw, we saw an opening segment where we saw Rusev vs. Roman Reigns with Chris Jericho as the special guest referee. It was an “impromptu” match, which resulted in a ton of fan interaction, and was one of the very few moments that the fans were actually happy and having a good time. Well, with the Authority roaming backstage, that can’t happen… remember, WWE is a no-fun zone.
Right after this match, where we saw Chris Jericho and Roman Reigns having fun with the fans in attendance. But after the break, Stephanie McMahon greets a smiling Y2J, where she, as usual, verbally dressed him down (like she does with every top babyface) and emasculated him right after the best and most interactive moment on the entire show. Keep in mind, Chris Jericho is being positioned as a focal point and one of the key attractions to the Royal Rumble pay-per-view and was brought back to, as he put it, give the WWE a shot of adrenaline. During this segment, Jericho said something that pointed to be so true, “Stephanie, you’re no fun anymore.” You might be screaming at your computer, “Eron, she’s a heel! That’s what she’s suppose to do!”
You’re absolutely right, but that leads me to my next point.
For the whole “Authority vs. Heroes” angle to work, the bad guys (or girls in this case) have to get their comeuppances. That almost NEVER happens on this program. We rarely, if ever see Stephanie McMahon, Triple H or Vince McMahon “get what’s coming to them.” Of course, we’ve seem Vince and Hunter do it more often than queen Stephanie, which is fine if Vince and Hunter are being the a-holes. But if Stephanie is running around demoralizing talent, with them never getting their revenge, what’s the point? And if they do get what’s coming to them, but the next night or a week later are right back to doing what they do best, what’s the point in that too?
The example from January 18th is not the first time Stephanie McMahon has done something like this on television. We’ve seen her beat up interviewer Tom Phillips backstage for no reason whatsoever just because she could, we’ve seen the billion dollar princess slap superstars repeatedly with no retaliation and we’ve seen the principle owner of WWE implement herself into segments, storylines and moments where she is not needed.
We can sit here and examine every problem with the current WWE main roster product, but I don’t have that time to waste. But I will say, that one of WWE’s most glaring problems is the one I’ve illustrated above.
The WWE fan base has grown accustom to seeing their heroes or favorite superstars/divas portrayed as geeks and total losers that never win, just like fans have grown accustom to seeing indecisive finishes during TV matches. That’s why no gets over… well that and the 50/50 booking, lack of character development, etc. When you start to train the audience to think and feel a certain way and come to expect something is going to happen, it’s so hard to break that habit.
Listen, we all have egos, including me; I get that. Stephanie McMahon and the writers for some reason want to keep her strong. Being a female, she can never really get what’s coming to her in a physical manner, but WWE creative can… well… you, know… be CREATIVE!
Come up with ways where the babyfaces can put her in a rough or embarrassing spot. Vandalize her vehicle or office, pour some slim on her from the old 90’s Nickelodeon days or something like that; this way, the fans get to see the boss in distress instead of constantly seeing their favorites being put down and humiliated. I’m not saying that Stephanie McMahon or any authority figurehead can never talk down to a superstar/diva, but there needs to be a better balance.
Sometimes, less is more, especially in this case.
Of course, an easy fix to this problem is to finally have this angle end or have Triple H, Vince McMahon or even Stephanie McMahon become babyfaces. Vince is 70 years old, so gaining pity for him would be easy and fans, whenever he appears on TV, people eat him up; don’t really understand it, myself. Triple H being the man running NXT has already gained the love and respect from hardcore fans, and the casual viewer still wants to cheer for him because he’s a product from the most popular time in wrestling history; making him into a super popular babyface would be easy too. As for Stephanie McMahon, and this is not to be meant as a knock on her, but she is so good at playing a bitch, that it would be hard for her to convert, but we’ve seen it before. We know see can do it. We know they all come adapt and play different characters, but it’s just a matter of them wanting too.
But the problem WWE sees with that is they believe they don’t have any established and strong heels to fill their roles, at least at the moment. In my opinion, guys like Kevin Owens, Samoa Joe, etc. can easily fill those roles with time and care, but I don’t see that happening. WWE has this weird trust issue when it comes to top heels. WWE’s mind-frame is that Triple H and Stephanie McMahon, who are 1B and 1C behind Vince, will always be around, so there is no danger in losing them like they did with CM Punk or them getting hurt like Seth Rollins; it’s clear that WWE don’t trust their talent, so we’re stuck with the Authority for now.
I’m still convinced that a good product is at its best when you have a babyface general manager/authority figure who does the following: gives fans what they want and doesn’t become the focal point of the show. We’re currently seeing that with William Regal in NXT, where he is rarely, if ever, personally involved in a storyline and always gives the fans what’s best for the show, the talent and them. That’s what a manager of a show is suppose to do: keep their audience happy.
Imagine if we at PWP Nation were to instead of give you entertaining articles, audio and news stories, posted videos about cats or something. Granted, cat videos are pretty awesome, that’s not what you’re here for. You’re here for wrestling content and that’s what we deliver. Same applies to WWE’s main roster product and NXT; give the fans what they want, put on an entertaining and fun show and keep them happy. It’s that simple.
It remains to be seen if we’ll ever get an end to WWE’s “Authority” problem. Chances are we’ll continue to see Stephanie McMahon and company dress down talent, along with long, boring, drawn out 20-minute show opening promos and a product where the Authority always wins. Heck, that’s even their god damn catchphrase… and it never rings more true than right now.
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I don’t necessarily mind a heel authority figure (pun intended) but it honestly depends on the show and how much it has been used. In Raw’s case: Beaten to death we have gone past about 4 different times that WWE could have capped off the Authority angle and it has reached a point where they have feuded with so many babyfaces that it just makes the babyfaces seem universal as opposed to unique.
We are currently in a time where with social media and interactivity we can have an authority figure that fulfills their role without needing to take away screen time. Jack Tunney remains a great archetype of the authority figure despite being around long before the heel authority figure became a thing