10 MAJOR Improvements WWE Have Already Made In 2018
A year of steady progress.
For many fans, learning how to take the good with the bad is key to enjoying the modern WWE product. The promotion's variety show approach means they'll never appease every individual section of their fanbase, but while their propensity to baffle and anger the audience is unparalleled among global entertainment companies, they still churn out plenty of quality television.
This is particularly true in 2018. The good-to-bad ratio has been on a gradual upswing throughout the past four months, and while inconsistencies remain, genuine lows (the kind that make you want to change the channel) are dwindling in number.
WWE should always be held accountable for their shortcomings, but there's plenty to enjoy at the moment. The major pay-per-views have been fantastic, and the minors have over-delivered. All three core rosters (Raw, SmackDown, NXT) are more stacked than ever. Even SmackDown, comfortably WWE's weakest brand throughout 2017, is looking up after the Superstar Shake-Up. The list goes on.
2017 was good, but 2018 has been fantastic so far, and the company deserve great credit for following their record-breaking business year with one that, up to this point, has been as creatively satisfying as any in recent history...
10. 205 Live
WWE's Cruiserweight show was effectively Little Guy Raw for its first year of operation. A group of workers who excelled between the ropes but struggled elsewhere were shoehorned into a world of corny gimmicks and sports entertainment-style storytelling, resulting in a brand that offered nothing different to the company's mainline product. Things got worse when Enzo Amore arrived in late 2017, but now, 205 couldn't be more different.
The cast is largely the same, but the way they're being used is key. 205 now blends NXT's smart, simple booking with exciting in-ring action harking back to the Cruiserweight Classic. The shackles are off. The show now guarantees at least one good-to-great bout a week, and if you're not watching it, you're missing out.
This is all down to Triple H, who took 205 Live over from Vince McMahon in January. He has turned the show around by using booking methods perfected throughout his run as NXT head honcho, and if this is what awaits us when Vince finally hands the pen to 'The Game' and Stephanie, fans are right to be excited by the company's future.