7 Ways WWE Can Improve The Product This Year

7. Go Organic

If you zoom out the past few years, you can pick out several moments when the fanbase was rabid for something or someone, and WWE chose to go in a different direction. They were a year late on Daniel Bryan, and as a result they never got a chance to capitalize on his success prior to his injuries. They dropped the ball completely on Ziggler, they weren’t sure what to do with Bray Wyatt, and they mishandled CM Punk in both the early and late stages of his run. The fans were as vociferous as they could be, yet the WWE was recalcitrant to go all-in with any of them. What they didn’t realize at the time was how much that would hurt the product long term.

The WWE is unique in that you don’t need to poll the audience like other television shows. You don’t have to wait for critic reviews to start rolling in. All you have to do is listen to the fans. They will tell you what they like and what they don’t. For too long of a time now, the fans are being ignored for archaic reasons. The old stigma in the WWE has been one of “earning your stripes” prior to the big push. That may have been acceptable years ago when you had several people to fill the main event void, but today it’s severely lacking, and it’s standing in the way of progress.

Vince McMahon has long viewed Roman Reigns as the next big thing, but the fans have mostly rejected that idea. It doesn’t matter. Instead of allowing organic moments to dictate the direction, Vince has shoved several plots and characters down our throats. He has held back stars for reasons ranging from absurd (not the right look, too many tattoos, not big enough) to downright confusing (“he’s not ready yet”).

It’s time to start allowing organic moments to dictate the pace of the show. Go with the momentum, not against it. The worst that happens is you find out someone truly isn’t ready, or isn’t the superstar we thought he or she might be. And that’s okay. That will happen. But the fans will be more invested because they will have a sense that their voice counts.

There is a reason the ratings have steadily dropped over the last few years, and it has nothing to do with the departure of the old guard. It has everything to do with mishandling organic moments when they arise, and not allowing new stars to form. Listening to fans is paramount to success, and here’s an example of one way they’re not listening…