10 Reasons Why WWE’s Future Is Brighter Than You Might Think
"In order to gain anything..."
As outlined in this article's companion piece, WWE has abandoned many of the storytelling principles with which it became a household name. The company now strategises towards its shrunken core audience, bleeding the few as opposed to the many. This correlation, sadly, seems lost on WWE - for now.
Sometimes, perspective is needed. Things looked bleak in 2010. Shawn Michaels and Batista departed; in their place were indistinguishable Florida Championship Wrestling graduates taught in the same class by the same trainers wrestling the same basic style. WWE didn't so much refuse to recruit seasoned bright lights of the independent scene as laugh at the very concept of it. "Daniel Bryan wrestles in high school gyms!" they used to decry on NXT - as all the while, the "real" future stars of WWE worked for an obscure satellite regional that barely promoted house shows. At least now, match quality is consistently higher.
There is still much to hate about WWE in 2017. Lame promos; repetitive matches; unbreakable performer moulds...but still, the company possesses limitless potential and resources with which to surpass itself.
It has felt at times that the walls are crumbling in 2017 - how the f*ck do you f*ck up Shinsuke Nakamura's debut storyline? - but that, paradoxically, may not be a bad thing.
10. Talking Smack Backlash
WWE created an online furore this week with the bizarre cancellation of Talking Smack - a convenient and inexpensive show to produce beloved by fans and those who appeared on it - in its weekly format
In true trademark trolling form, WWE announced that Jerry Lawler is to replace the affable Renee Young for the Battleground edition - which is either a surefire way to kill it altogether or a total failure to grasp its appeal. The company is not beyond either suspicion. This might, however, not be disastrous for those fans crying out for more organic promos on WWE television. We know from recent history that WWE rarely gets anything right first time. They had to be dragged kicking and screaming into giving Daniel Bryan the big push, into Zack Ryder's U.S. Title win, into delivering a Cruiserweight division. Many if not all of these acts of reluctant benevolence were nonstarters - but it's hard to imagine the overall WWE landscape looking as it does today, where AJ Styles is a former WWE Champion, if demand was completely ignored.
That demand is now there following the fallout. The seed for improvised promos has been planted. You cannot stop the rain from falling, and black clouds have formed over the company in the wake of the controversy.