Expecting someone else? Last year, during an appearance on a live edition of Stone Cold Steve Austin's podcast, Vince McMahon made some alarming comments. Still, as large as the red flags he raised by saying that Cesaro lacks the "it factor" and that CM Punk's wedding day firing was an accident were, the most egregious statement McMahon made on the show came at the end. Defending himself, McMahon said, "Am I out of touch? No." The past year's worth of programming has proven otherwise. McMahon's mad quest to turn Roman Reigns into a universally-beloved, money-drawing superstar started with a Royal Rumble win that nearly caused a fan revolt, and has progressed to the point where Raw is earning its lowest ratings since prior to the Attitude Era. Each week's show smacks of desperation, but at the same time, the angles and interviews and matches and superstars being pushed dig the hole deeper and deeper. Sometimes it seems as if the writers are deliberately doing the opposite of what the fans want to see, but McMahon is one calling all of the final shots. Perhaps the only way WWE can start to turn things around is if the 70-year-old chairman acknowledges his shortcomings and steps down. Triple H, who's been at the helm of NXT as it's become a critically-acclaimed, commercially-successful brand, would be welcome as the new head decision-maker in WWE.
Scott Fried is a Slammy Award-winning* writer living and working in New York City. He has been following/writing about professional wrestling for many years and is a graduate of Lance Storm's Storm Wrestling Academy. Follow him on Twitter at https://twitter.com/scottfried.
*Best Crowd of the Year, 2013
