10 Mistakes WWE Must Not Repeat In 2017

9. Glorification Of The Past

Kevin Owens Critics Wwe Universal Champion
WWE.com

The ghost of the past looms large over WWE. It is inescapable.

The new brigade of stars, like Kevin Owens and AJ Styles, are lighting up the ring without moving the needle. Neither are anywhere near popular enough to grace the cover of a video game - so instead of building them up, carefully, over a span of two years, so that they might approach household name status, WWE is instead content to draft in one who peaked twelve years ago.

The obsession extends beyond the main event scene. It's as if the entire company is in a constant kneeling position. Erick Rowan has been stigmatised as the bearded fellow The Rock squashed like a bug. The New Day dressed up as Papa Shango, the Godfather and Farooq on Halloween. That can be excused - but should a WWE Heavyweight Title contender dress up as The Mountie, a midcarder from the early nineties, purely for the japes?

WWE, historically, has ushered in new eras by abandoning and even demonising its history. That history is now worshipped, en masse, with cult-like reverence. The correlation between this new philosophy and WWE's desperate begging for Network subscribers cannot be coincidental.

"In writing, you must kill your darlings," wrote William Faulkner. Steve Austin would agree with him.

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Michael Sidgwick is an editor, writer and podcaster for WhatCulture Wrestling. With over seven years of experience in wrestling analysis, Michael was published in the influential institution that was Power Slam magazine, and specialises in providing insights into All Elite Wrestling - so much so that he wrote a book about the subject. You can order Becoming All Elite: The Rise Of AEW on Amazon. Possessing a deep knowledge also of WWE, WCW, ECW and New Japan Pro Wrestling, Michael’s work has been publicly praised by former AEW World Champions Kenny Omega and MJF, and surefire Undisputed WWE Universal Champion Cody Rhodes. When he isn’t putting your finger on why things are the way they are in the endlessly fascinating world of professional wrestling, Michael wraps his own around a hand grinder to explore the world of specialty coffee. Follow Michael on X (formerly known as Twitter) @MSidgwick for more!