8 Reasons Why Last Night's WWE Raw Failed To Live Up To The Hype
4. WWE Are Confused About Who Their Audience Are
Speaking of things McMahon cannot see, the reaction to Roman Reigns was predictably brutal. Fans boo Reigns because of what he stands for in their minds, because of the soulless corporate wrestling structure that he represents. WWE at least realised this would be the case and allowed him to cut a promo that invoked memories of Diesel post-Survivor Series 95, but they need to pull the trigger on him as a heel and just roll with it. He will always be booed playing the goody-two-shoes faux John Cena, and at this stage, nothing short of a full-on Shield reunion will change that.
That might not be as crazy an idea as it sounds. Seth Rollins is going to return as a babyface whether WWE want him to or not and Dean Ambrose is one of the most over wrestlers in the company, so uniting them with the floundering Reigns would only benefit him. A programme between the Shield and the Bullet Club sounds positively mouth-watering on paper. And that may well be the direction they are going too, given A.J. Styles won in the main event to become number one contender to Reigns title.
Of course, there is every chance they will simply have their hand-picked superstar comfortably decimate the internet favourite, but until they do, there is hope. It rather renders Styless defeat to Jericho at WrestleMania all the more inexplicable though, doesnt it?
I found that the internet favourite tag that Jericho levelled at A.J. to be mightily confusing. While it is certainly true that Styles is popular amongst those whose wrestling viewing extends beyond the reaches of the WWE Universe, it would also be accurate to say that WWE by far and away has the largest internet presence of any wrestling company.
Remind me again where the WWE Network is primarily available? Thats right, on the internet. 1.8 million people subscribe to it according to the latest figures, which is not just a fraction of the audience but a large percentage of it. Food for thought next time WWE dismiss someone as only being popular online, considering their business model is built entirely towards driving that online audience.