10 Mistakes WWE Never Recovered From

6. Getting Addicted To Nostalgia

Steve Austin, Vince McMahon, WrestleMania 17
WWE

WWE has made bigger individual mistakes, but this might be the one that puts the final nail in the coffin. By all accounts, WWE was on its last arse in 1997, as one star after another left for greener pastures (more money, basically) in WCW. Faced with no alternative, WWE had to move forward with a new generation of stars, and the rest is history. Given space to shine, performers like Steve Austin, The Rock, Mick Foley and Triple H ushered in a new golden period for Vince McMahon and company.

Somewhere along the way, WWE forgot how to make new stars. Instead of grooming a new generation of heroes, the creative team repeatedly decided to fall back on names from yesteryear, bringing back legends in the hope of popping numbers and keeping eyes on the product. As a result, WWE’s current roster is filled with incredible performers that are portrayed as being a step below the megastars of yesteryear.

What will happen in 20 years time? Will WrestleMania 50 be headlined by Goldberg, Triple H, Brock Lesnar or Edge? Who will steer the ship? Nobody, that’s who. WWE’s inability to allow new stars to develop has created an addiction to nostalgia that has painted the promotion as one stuck in the past. Without bringing AEW into this, that promotion has made stars out of MJF, Darby Allin, Jungle Boy, Britt Baker and others in its short life. Making new stars isn’t impossible, but it is if you are addicted to the past.

Contributor
Contributor

Born in the middle of Wales in the middle of the 1980's, John can't quite remember when he started watching wrestling but he has a terrible feeling that Dino Bravo was involved. Now living in Prague, John spends most of his time trying to work out how Tomohiro Ishii still stands upright. His favourite wrestler of all time is Dean Malenko, but really it is Repo Man. He is the author of 'An Illustrated History of Slavic Misery', the best book about the Slavic people that you haven't yet read. You can get that and others from www.poshlostbooks.com.