2024: The Year That Could Make Or Break WWE
WWE has not felt this hot since the days of beer drinking 'Bionic Rednecks' and a bloke in a silk shirt asking folks if they could sniff what he was preparing.
And a lot of that is down to the consistent and sometimes quite superb work Triple H has done creatively throughout 2022 and 2023 heading into this year.
'The Game' has successfully gotten fans to invest in the stories of Cody Rhodes, Sami Zayn, LA Knight, Bayley, Gunther, Rhea Ripley, and more over the last few years, building a properly stacked roster of superstars folks would happily cough up their hard-earned cash to pay for whenever WWE comes to town - as seen in the constant sell-outs of Raw, SmackDown, live shows, and PLEs.
However, after putting in all that hard work to get over his heroes and villains of today and tomorrow, the return of that aforementioned Hollywood icon may just have undermined all that graft.
It's clear WWE stupidly felt they could get away with pushing pause on 'The American Nightmare's story to give 'The People's Champion' the attention he was looking for coming into 'Mania XL. But despite said people quickly letting the promotion know exactly who they really wanted, a familiar feeling of doubt has now once again began to rear its ugly head.
After years of part-time stars coming in to steal the spotlight and take the spots of fan-favourite performers, it honestly felt like times were a-changing under Trips.
But the need to squeeze a Rock and more Bloodline drama into Philadelphia has likely just cost hard-working, and super popular full-timers like Bayley, IYO SKY, Becky Lynch, and Rhea Ripley the chance to make a little more history at a time when WWE could do with a few more positive headlines. The more things change, eh?
Will these new and/or returning fans be in that much of a rush to dedicate their time and attention to another long-term potential 'Mania main event story if they know the whole thing will likely just get overshadowed by a crossover star when the biggest show of the year comes around?
Probably not, and that could have quite the effect on viewership in the coming post-'Mania months when that Johnson inevitably hits Hollywood once again.
However, there's still an argument to be made that the company currently boasts one of the most promising and exhilarating collection of talents of all time.
And with a few more bold and strong pushes of young, up-and-coming superstars of the future like Tiffany Stratton, Jade Cargill, and Bron Breakker there is still hope that WWE could take all of this momentum and attention and give those hopping onto the Road to WrestleMania ride a reason to stick around for the rest of 2024 and beyond.
The future could certainly be a bright and historic one if Trips is able to maintain his currently quite harmonious locker room. But the return of another outspoken icon also holds the potential to break all that he's trying to build in 2024...