10 Biggest WWE Creative Mistakes Of The Decade

Then. Now. Forever?

by Michael Sidgwick
Batista Roman Reigns Jinder Mahal
WWE.com

Honestly, and this isn't flippant: for a list striving for such definitive importance, taking in the gravity of implications that can ruin entire careers, a list that spans 10 years, 120 months, 521 weeks, 3,650 days, 87,600 hours, and 5,258,880 minutes - writing it in November 2019 might be a gamble. That's the WWE of right now for you.

The latest quarterly financial report paints a bizarre picture of WWE in 2019.

This time next year, if the product continues to alienate fans, will be more bizarre still: WWE is a company that is fading badly in popularity, but it doesn't matter, because it is propped up by an in-flux TV industry that considers taunting dog mascots and cuckold storylines DVR-proof sports programming.

This is the Living Dead era of WWE.

The dumbest wrestling company has somehow become idiot-proof. House show attendance is down. Ratings are down. Network subscriptions are down. Merchandise is down. Fans are in revolt. Tarp hangs over everything; it's a fitting visual metaphor for the extent to which corporate revenue obscures the growing lack of fan interest. WWE has endured and enjoyed its latest popular and most profitable era ever.

It's death by a thousand cuts, and what follows are the ten most infected gashes...

10. The Part-Timer Era

Batista Roman Reigns Jinder Mahal
WWE

Triple H said, in 2011, that the full-time roster was leagues below the Undertaker and himself. This was the actual pretext behind their WrestleMania XXVII clash:

"You have no challenges left. Well, you beat me a decade ago, but what are you gonna do: work Ezekiel Jackson?!"

WWE could not create new stars, and decided that they simply didn't need to. The Rock came back, set a pay-per-view attendance record, and went over CM Punk. Brock Lesnar returned, and went over CM Punk. The Undertaker stuck around, and went over CM Punk. Goldberg returned, and went over Kevin Owens.

Some of this was good. None of it was remotely productive: WWE sent a message to its core fanbase: the guys you used to like are better than the guys you like now, but the guys you used to like are only here for a while. Welp, enjoy them while you can, I guess. CM Punk, notoriously, was the lamb to the slaughter, and he was your guy. What did that say about the rank-and-file?

WWE created a lost generation throughout the 2010s, and asked you to care about them selectively. WWE fans selected not to.

But it's OK!

Because, in the meantime, Triple 'Papa' H recognised the fault in the development system, and created NXT...

Contributor
Contributor

Michael Sidgwick is an editor, writer and podcaster for WhatCulture Wrestling. With over seven years of experience in wrestling analysis, Michael was published in the influential institution that was Power Slam magazine, and specialises in providing insights into All Elite Wrestling - so much so that he wrote a book about the subject. You can order Becoming All Elite: The Rise Of AEW on Amazon. Possessing a deep knowledge also of WWE, WCW, ECW and New Japan Pro Wrestling, Michael’s work has been publicly praised by former AEW World Champions Kenny Omega and MJF, and current Undisputed WWE Champion Cody Rhodes. When he isn’t putting your finger on why things are the way they are in the endlessly fascinating world of professional wrestling, Michael wraps his own around a hand grinder to explore the world of specialty coffee. Follow Michael on X (formerly known as Twitter) @MSidgwick for more!