3. Lack of Credible Competition
For most of the WWFs run, WCW was a viable competitor, with Nitro beating Raw in the ratings for 84 consecutive weeks in the late 90s, before, under Vince Russos command, the WWF clawed it back with storylines of increasing outrageousness and moral ambiguity. In March 2001, when WWF purchased WCW, this competition, which had been slowly on the decline anyway, ceased to be. It wasnt long after this that the WWF coincidentally had to change brands to WWE, and in the interim decade-plus, has operated free without any conceivable competition. Even the success of TNA, now featuring many former top-line WWF/WWE workers such as Hulk Hogan and Kurt Angle, is a small fish ratings-wise compared to WWE. This lack of competition is poor for the product as a whole, as it promotes complacency and a lack of self-awareness, with nothing with which to reflect and compare it. This might go a way to explain why WWE doesnt feel so magical these days, because there is no need to compete; they can run on autopilot and still outdo TNA week in, week out.