8 Things WWE Can Learn From Other Promotions

1. NJPW - Wrestling Matters

WWE's obsession with 50/50 booking means that wins and losses no longer seem to matter in the company. The addiction to heat means that no one gets over because every win must be followed up with a loss. WWE has made W's and L's entirely irrelevant.

This is quite clearly to the detriment of the product itself. Wrestling is the story of good beating evil, of the noble overcoming the villainous, but if everyone beats everyone then why does any of it matter? If it doesn't matter, why should anyone care?

NJPW has become the leading in-ring product in the world, and that is almost entirely based on the wrestling mattering. Wins and losses are everything in New Japan, and as such it is a lot easier to get sucked into the promotion. When it comes to singles matches in NJ, there are no throwaway bouts.

New Japan has exploded in popularity by going back to basics. The wrestling is the focus of the product. What happens in between the ropes is the be all and end all. Matches are also won 95% of the time by the better man, meaning fans can have total faith in the product itself.

Tama Tonga recently beat Michael Elgin in the G1 Climax. If this had happened in WWE, Elgin would have been distracted by something outside the ring, or the referee would have taken a convoluted bump. In the G1, Tama simply used his athleticism and ability to reverse a Death Valley Driver into a Gun Stun for the victory. The better man won without eye-rolling shenanigans, he did it by being the better wrestler.

WWE is in a difficult place right now, but the feeling prevails that a few minor tweaks are all that is needed to turn the product around. WWE is unlikely to take a page out of the competition's book, but it might well be in its favour to do so.