10 Reasons WWE Is Incapable Of Creating New Main Event Stars

6. Stephanie McMahon

Stephanie McMahon
WWE.com

Stephanie McMahon is a carcinogen. When Vince McMahon threatened to inject the WWF with a lethal dose of poison, in 2002, he was referring to the reintroduction of the New World Order - and yet, he actually carried out his threat by installing his daughter to oversee the creative regime later that year.

As aforementioned, it was Stephanie who employed a brigade of writers with "real" TV experience, homogenising the product to a tedious degree. Her onscreen character is just as counterproductive as her creative philosophy.

The logic behind her persona is impossible to parse. She principally exists to make matches and drive storylines, but seems to revel far too much in her powerful businesswoman shtick. She doesn't like Sami Zayn because she just doesn't like him, but she doesn't need a reason to - he's hardly about to stand up to her. Very few do. She belittles babyfaces and heels alike. She received Kevin Owens and Chris Jericho's bromance with a withering condescension.

She has berated Mick Foley ceaselessly on RAW for months, and usually, such a storyline would necessitate some form of blow-off at a major show. Curiously, there is no match scheduled for WrestleMania in which Stephanie and Foley each pick a member of the roster to represent them in a battle for the stewardship of the flagship.

In any other era, that would be the logical conclusion to their conflict - but there is no conclusion to anything Stephanie does. She never receives comeuppance for her endless malignancy. Everybody just has to stand there and accept her as the queen - which makes the task of presenting a roster of ambitious, talented *ss-kickers absolutely impossible.

Contributor
Contributor

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!