7 Reasons WWE Is Failing To Engage (And 3 Ways To Solve It)
7. Not Enough Compelling Storylines
In my mind, this could be the biggest problem the WWE faces today: there just aren’t enough compelling storylines to keep me engaged. Good story fuels fan support of wrestlers. That's why the best storyline in the last year or so has been Heath Slater. Yes, it got cheesy at times, but we cared about his character. And considering what a two-dimensional hackjob his character was before, it’s hard to create an argument against that being a wonderfully executed storyline.
We need more of that. We need characters pushing boundaries and developing any kind of rapport with the fans. People want to react. Cheap pops are fine and good wrestling is entertaining, but they both only go so far. It’s when there’s a character we care about behind those two things that we get truly excited as fans.
These days, compelling storytelling has been replaced by Michael Cole telling us what we should think and feel, instead of the wrestlers conveying it. It’s been replaced by the same old mean boss storyline, only this time Stephanie never loses. And it’s been replaced by an abundance of new championships, each one with the sole intention of trying to bring relevance to a roster filled with mid-card talent.
Creating new championships across platforms to drive storylines and elevate wrestlers is simply bad storytelling. It’s lazy, and particularly insulting when announcers try to drum up interest in a belt that has no history whatsoever behind it. Which brings me to my next point…