10 Reasons Why WWE Needs To Fundamentally Change Everything About The TV Product

3. Why Are The Wrestlers Wrestling?

Paige Bored
WWE.com

The Attitude Era is often remembered as a halcyon age for pro wrestling, but lost amid the breasts and bloodshed are some truly dumb programmes.

Kane once feuded with Chris Jericho because the Ayatollah spilled his coffee on him. The Big Boss Man once drove The Big Show's dead father away in a hearse to instigate their rivalry. The same man fed Al Snow's dog to him...

...all of which is considerably more creative than virtually anything on WWE TV today. Vince Russo once took pride in creating bespoke programmes for every talent on the roster, and even if he did nothing else, he at least did that. Nowadays, wars are fought on the flimsiest of constructs - it's all about proving who is the better man, or something or over - The Miz just sort of annoys people into wrestling with him, does that count? - but the purpose is self-defeating in the 50/50 booking era. The better man changes on a monthly basis.

There aren't enough characters in wrestling anymore. Too many talents are just guys who are great mechanically and who wear shin pads. That might be why we never see an actual reason behind many matches on TV in 2017 - and one of the few genuine characters WWE does have on its hands, Bray Wyatt, has no internal logic to him whatsoever - so there's little they can do (or are capable of doing) there either.

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Contributor
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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 current Undisputed WWE 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!