10 Reasons Why People Don't Give A Sh*t About WWE Anymore
7. The Product Is Exactly The Same As It Was In 1997
"We should introduce a new type of character to freshen up the show." - WWE Creative Writer
"Are you absolutely sure that's wise, sir? I mean, I don't want to sound pretentious here, but a heel authority figure and a babyface comprise a dramaturgical dyad." - Vince McMahon
This isn't an exaggeration: ostensibly, Vince Russo is still writing WWE television and has been since the late 20th century.
There are minor differences. Russo, for all of his faults - and he's the most flawed pro wrestling booker ever - at least endeavoured to do something with every character. This incidentally is A) the bare minimum expected of any storyteller, and B) hardly resulted in good storytelling across the board.
Impromptu matches, heel authority figures, invisible camera capturing convenient interactions with appalling dialogue: it is the same old sh*t and it is impossible to give a sh*t about any really talented wrestler within this beyond drab meta format. A heel can just about not look like a complete twot in this environment.
But the babyfaces, Jesus Christ...