EXPOSING The Biggest Myth In Modern Wrestling

Paul Heyman Grief
WWE

In 1996, the foundation existed to remodel the house. In 2019, the foundation is oozing, inexplicable bullsh*t into which all WWE acts are bogged down, developing a rancid stink in this weird process of normalisation.

Vince McMahon does not feed off competition.

This take was rendered Hot, capital H, all the way back in 2002. Vince McMahon couldn’t even bear an internal competition that benefitted his own company. The Paul Heyman-penned SmackDown, and its awesome in-ring action and ironically competitive framework, routinely out-drew RAW—and that would not do. Management used Heyman’s apparent attitude as a thin excuse to remove him from his position.

It’s the mentality that is corrosive. Heyman did not do things the “WWE way”. The WWE way is the Vince way, and as the years rolled on, only the Women’s Revolution felt like a legitimate outside influence. Triple H’s pet project hasn’t come to fruition.

Russo left for WCW in 1999; Jim Cornette left in that same timeframe to helm OVW. Match layout genius and consigliere Pat Patterson left a few years later, and no respected and or combative voices replaced them. Vince replaced these minds with a hive-mind of TV writers too sh*t-scared to challenge his monocratic power.

Contrast Vince Russo’s influence in 1997 with that of Triple H in 2019. Vince McMahon was more receptive to the ideas of an opportunistic magazine writer than the son-in-law set to take over the entire company. McMahon famously grabbed a copy of RAW Magazine and demanded his waning product reflect it. This year, Vince grabbed the “four best guys” Triple H had down in NXT, and bundled two of them together in a strange bedfellows loser of a tag act which just…existed.

The management structure does not exist to encourage change, even if Vince were capable.

CONT'D...(3 of 5)

Advertisement
Contributor
Contributor

Michael Sidgwick is an editor, writer and podcaster for WhatCulture Wrestling. With over seven years of experience in wrestling analysis, Michael was published in the influential institution that was Power Slam magazine, and specialises in providing insights into All Elite Wrestling - so much so that he wrote a book about the subject. You can order Becoming All Elite: The Rise Of AEW on Amazon. Possessing a deep knowledge also of WWE, WCW, ECW and New Japan Pro Wrestling, Michael’s work has been publicly praised by former AEW World Champions Kenny Omega and MJF, and current Undisputed WWE Champion Cody Rhodes. When he isn’t putting your finger on why things are the way they are in the endlessly fascinating world of professional wrestling, Michael wraps his own around a hand grinder to explore the world of specialty coffee. Follow Michael on X (formerly known as Twitter) @MSidgwick for more!