10 Reasons WWE Feels UNDERWHELMING in 2026
"There are times when I look at the WWE and I see nothing worth liking".
When pitching this article to the WhatCulture overlords, one of the entries was initially going to discuss the lack of likeable champions spearheading WWE (Cody Rhodes is basically a heel already, CM Punk is so far removed from his iconoclast roots he may as well be on the cover of WWE's PR manual, and Liv Morgan's gimmick of never defending her championship - while not her fault - made her look lazy rather than nefarious). So, when two of the three aforementioned champions were dethroned this past weekend, it sent this writer into a tizzy.
A tizzy that lasted all of five seconds, as that's how long it took to zero in on another of the many, many problems that have plagued WWE in 2026.
This year has seen WWE offer more sticks to bash it with than a masochistic piñata, as corporate greed and shoddy creative have combined to create a product that offers less and less value for your time. And of course, it's not only your time that WWE is demanding you thrust into its grubby, outstretched hands...
10. Tickets Cost How Much Now?
It's true that everything is more expensive now (have you seen how much a Mars Bar costs? And how small the damn things are?) but the fact is that WWE and TKO's blatant greed has been indefensible for anyone who isn't a shareholder in the company. Hell, even the company's talent has put the bean counters on blast, as seen when Randy Orton tactfully pointed out that $5,000 for a lower bowl seat at WrestleMania is "So much f***ing money".
Randy said those words in 2025, but that didn't stop WWE try to gouge its audience for more, more, more as WrestleMania 42 charged $14,149.20 for ringside seats - an almost $4000 increase from last year (via Athlon Sports). Brilliantly, WWE noted that purchasing these tickets also allowed you to keep the ringside chair - presumably so you had something to shield yourself with when your enraged partner found out how much you'd spent.
Sadly, this isn't even the most blatant example of WWE's desperation to turn a buck in recent times...