10 Common Misconceptions About Modern Day WWE
Ending the PG Era wouldn't solve everything.
As successful as they've become, WWE remain one of the most criticised and misunderstood organisations on the planet.
Professional wrestling is routinely mocked for its perceived lack of legitimacy, and mainstream media rarely give the sport the credit it deserves. No matter how much time passes, it seems that WWE will always face an uphill battle to silence their many critics, even as wrestling moves further and further into the public eye.
"It's fake! The fans think it's real! It's only for nerds and children!" We've heard it all before, but no matter how many times they're debunked, these fallacies never seem to go away. The business remains rife with unfortunate stereotypes and stigmas, and WWE will likely remained haunted by these perception problems for decades to come.
And as soon as one disappears, another one emerges. Shifting to PG programming has washed away much of the inherent crassness from where a huge chunk of the company's criticism came, but it has created misconceptions of its own, and that's just one example.
There are plenty of legitimate gripes to throw at WWE's current product, but some of the company's biggest complaints just don't stand up to scrutiny. WWE's own fans are often the company's harshest critics, as is their right, but today's WWE is nowhere near as calamitous as the cynics would have you believe...
10. Michael Cole Sucks
WWE’s announcers are a constant source of criticism these days, and for good reason. Maruo Ranallo is well-liked as SmackDown’s play-by-play guy, but the blue brand’s commentary is blighted by JBL’s boorishness, David Otunga’s mundaneness, and a bloated four-man booth. Raw’s commentary, meanwhile, regularly devolves to no more than a series of shills and soundbites, and adding Percy Watson to the fold has done nothing to aid NXT TV.
These announcers often do more to detract from the product than sell it, and that’s an issue. As the company’s most tenured commentator and the voice of their flagship show, Michael Cole often takes the bulk of this criticism, but almost none of it is his fault.
Cole’s Raw performances have become emblematic of the announcers’ problems as a whole, but performances on recent Network specials like the UK Title Tournament and Beast In The East prove that he’s still a first-class announcer. Sharp, engaged, and well-informed, Cole was in top form, and Raw would be a far more enjoyable show if he was allowed to work this style every week.
The difference is in the production. Cole has an incredibly difficult job, and has Kevin Dunn and Vince McMahon directing his commentator through his earpiece on Raw and pay-per-views. When free of these shackles, Cole is a fantastic commentator, and one nowhere near deserving of the criticism he gets. Fans’ complaints on WWE’s announcers are often justified, but they’re aimed at the wrong people.