10 Ways WWE Storytelling Has Declined Since 2000
1. Trolling The Audience
Ever get the feeling you’re being trolled? It’s often inevitable while watching WWE programming. The company can’t please everyone at once, but some of their decisions feel so misguided and illogical that they’re either the work of an out of touch madman (which could well be the case), or someone who just wants to mess with you.
Take Carmella and James Ellsworth at Money In The Bank. The match’s build focused entirely around one of the women etching their name in the history books by becoming the first ever Ms. MITB. It was built as a huge honour, and the next big step forward for the Women’s Revolution, but the company tore it all down by making a man the bout’s deciding factor.
It was an obnoxious, Russo-esque swerve for swerving’s sake that put heat on the company, not the performers, and provoked outrage across the fanbase. WWE played a terrible joke at the viewers’ expense, and it definitely won’t be the last time.
There’s only so many times you can treat your audience with such disdain before they abandon you. Through situations like this, Batista’s 2014 Royal Rumble win, and Roman Reigns’ Superman push, are often more concerned with treating their fans like fools instead of telling a good story, and it's costing them their viewership.