What Wrestling Legends Really Think Of Modern WWE

God Steve Austin and several more of my heroes, you're so negative! Just stop watching!

Steve Austin
WWE

On this week's RAW, WWE deviated somewhat from its tedious formula to present a show stunning in its multifarious idiocy.

It was a genuinely impressive achievement, in that WWE created several talking points, all were a joke, all were considered a joke under a joke umbrella, and very little was done to advance the second-biggest pay-per-view of the year beyond - in 2020! - a rematch between new United States Champion Apollo Crews and MVP.

There were barely even "People won't give anything a chance" takes online, either.

The consensus was that this show sucked shiggidy sh*t. The general consensus among fans is that WWE is experiencing its worst period ever. It is an ancient-feeling product in terms of personnel and structure. The match finishes are nonsensical, heavily ironic exercises in protecting talent. The rigid in-ring style guide prohibits the likes of Ricochet connecting with crowds and getting GIF'd to absolute f*ck with his jaw-dropping brilliance. There is no booking. At all.

If you were to trace backwards how Andrade and Angel Garza arrived as #1 contenders to the RAW Tag Team Titles, you would almost certainly suffer an aneurysm, but you'd be totally fine, because the sheer amount of camera cuts means you exist now in a state of constant head trauma turmoil.

But what of the legends of the industry?

10. Ric Flair

Steve Austin
WWE

Ayyy!

Everything is fine!

Speaking to Scott Fishman of TV Insider, Flair addressed WWE's ratings woes head on, but through sand, much like an ostrich.

Flair loves the life, even if the life now consists of knocking about in a glorified gym, wherein, much like a real gym, most everybody who signed up is attempting in vain to get out of their memberships. This might explain Flair's quite delusional insistence that "Vince McMahon, WWE, will bounce back bigger and better a year from now," blaming entirely the ongoing global situation as if WWE wasn't squashing spiders in boxes and repackaging Shayna Baszler as a vampire in front of live crowds earlier this year.

Flair doesn't go too cuckoo's nest in his appraisal of WWE, limiting much of it to the "hard, ass-busting work" of the talent.

It's fine to hold this opinion if, say, you were born after 1995 and have little clue as to how this pro wrestling thing is meant to work - but Flair was sort of the greatest of all-time, and didn't have Dana f*cking Warrior scripting his promos. He should know better.

He does however play his hand in the same interview. "I'm trying to get me to manage Randy against McIntyre at SummerSlam," he let slip.

 
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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 surefire Undisputed WWE Universal 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!