10 Ways WWE Are Misreading What Their Fans Want From The Product
Those "Vince is out of touch" arguments have never been stronger.
WWE are completely untouchable within the professional wrestling industry. Things have been this way since Vince McMahon put WCW out of business in 2001, and while WWE do have competitors, they're too small to dent the juggernaut's armour.
The consensus second-largest promotion in the world, NJPW, pulled in just 4% of WWE's total revenue in 2016, showing that for all the great wrestling on show in these smaller organisations, McMahon is aeons ahead in business terms. This means the company can effectively do whatever they want without real consequences, and that's exactly what they do.
Vince does what Vince wants, regardless of crowd reactions. His company's actions often feel like the polar opposite of their fans' desires, leading to the eternal allegation that they're out of touch and disconnected.
These complaints often come from a place of entitlement, but that doesn't make them any less true. The company's constant talk of "super-serving" their audience isn't at all accurate, and while WWE have plenty of positives going for them at the moment, judging what their audience want from the product (and producing shows that meet those demands) remains a glaring weakness...
10. Talking Smack's Cancellation
If Talking Smack's recent cancellation as a regular show proves anything, it's that WWE's decision makers are as disconnected with their audience as they've ever been. A weekly Network chart-topper, the post-SmackDown show became a 'must watch' affair from the very first episode, with the studio environment allowing performers to engage with the audience on a completely different level.
Talking Smack birthed the epic Miz/Daniel Bryan rivalry that carried the current WWE Intercontinental Champion through his awesome SD run. It gave us the revelation that AJ Styles might be a flat Earth truther, and allowed guys like Baron Corbin, who struggle projecting to live audiences, to show levels of charisma that fans never knew existed before. It was a major success, and when it died, SD's wrestlers were robbed of valuable platform to help get them over.
Cost-cutting was cited as the reason, but WWE scrapped one of their most enjoyable weekly shows when Talking Smack was done away with. The affable Daniel Bryan/Renee Young hosting combo were always fun to watch, regardless of their guests, and their camaraderie is greatly missed by the show's old weekly viewers.