1. Rushed Storylines
A compounding problem of the above is that switching titles around so sporadically also pressures the creative department to switch up storylines on the fly, as naturally, a wrestler tends not to be in a feud with someone other than the person they are chasing for the title. Back in the 1990s, admittedly also owing somewhat to a lack of exposure, storylines were drip-fed to us over a course of weeks and months, such that when the inevitable PPV showdown took place, the atmosphere was at a fever pitch, and it simply seemed to matter more. Nowadays, the proceduralism of it all, of dropping storylines as soon as a title has changed hands without mentioning it again, is tiresome, and when the wrestlers inevitably cross paths again, it adheres to that facetious 3-month rule that smarks love to talk about, in which wrestlers seem to have amnesia about most anything past the last 3 months. While it is easy to appreciate pure athleticism, we are likely to be more excited and drawn into it if there is a strong creative counterpart behind it, whether its believable or laughably exaggerated. But not allowing wrestlers to follow through with the full measure only stifles everyone involved for the worse. So, how much of it can be put down to rose-tinted nostalgia? Where is the product heading? And can it find a way to return to the feverish popularity of another 80s-esque wrestling boom?