10 Reasons Wrestling Will Never Ever Top The 90s
8. The Power Dynamic
RAW is micromanaged within an inch of its life by a fading Vince McMahon; underneath him is a team of creative writers, a not inconsiderable number of whom have no prior experience. The result is an often dismal blend of polish and ineptitude.
The 1990s saw the transition from wrestling booking to wrestling writing, and for many fans - the recent, disastrous RAW rating all but confirms this - things were better before the broad strokes were coloured in. When men who grew up in the business had a grip on the wheel, the industry was more capable of creating bigger stars. Paul Heyman fostered the likes of Steve Austin and Mick Foley in ECW. Jim Cornette's immaculate knack of pacing ensured that Kane was over even before he stepped through the curtain.
Even Eric Bischoff, widely derided as a magpie, at least knew exactly how and who to plagiarise. Wrestling was once run by men who knew what they were doing. Nowadays, it's written word for word by men who might not even like it.
The rise of the internet skewed that dynamic yet further. McMahon is impervious to criticism of his handling of Roman Reigns, but the internet fans WWE pours scorn on do have a hand in what makes it to WWE TV. Beyond that, the web changed the way wrestling is received as much as it is presented.
It's impossible to be surprised at everything that happens anymore because everything leaks and is visible immediately. The obvious answer is to not look, but when the backstage machinations are often more interesting than the onscreen production, it's hard not to.