10 Awful Things Wrestling Needs To LEAVE In 2023

10. Dissension Within Every Stable

What tends to happen in wrestling - and this will become a recurring theme - is that, when something catches fire, everybody wants to do it, all of the time, to diminishing returns.

WWE was ablaze to a white-hot level in 2023, entering its most popular period in years. Decades.

The Bloodline saga drove this resurgence - in particular, the incredible chemistry between Roman Reigns and Sami Zayn. It was a gripping storyline, at once warming and ominous. Sami's joy at being accepted informed some lovely light material undermined, with masterful episodic tension, by Roman's manipulative behaviour.

Now, because that worked, dissension within stables became WWE's primary narrative driver. The Judgment Day became Bloodline Raw. While repetitive, this was done well enough. There was in contrast zero point to the tension within Imperium. Giovanni Vinci wasn't rendered sympathetic by being cast as the weak link. He wasn't the bullied good guy destined to break out; he was just a loser, a victim of a trend that made no sense in that context.

This trend was so default that Bobby Lashley and the Street Profits barely got on the second they formed. Most factions exist with a split in mind in the future - it's an easy, organic-feeling means of building a grudge - but the illusion of a heel group intent on taking over was barely established.

The original Four Horsemen simply kicked ass, felt like tight brothers who loved making the towns together, and sold fights with incredible promos for two years.

There are significantly worse models to follow than that.