For How Long Can WWE Be This Bad?
Battleground wasn’t an aberration. Much of Extreme Rules made little sense, either. Neville and Austin Aries teased disqualifications in a match decided solely by submissions. The Tag Team Title Steel Cage bout between Cesaro and Sheamus and the Hardyz was a hot mess of senseless strategy.
Match quality is one of few things WWE can boast about in 2017. But can it? AJ Styles Vs. John Cena, Roman Reigns Vs. Braun Strowman I, Goldberg Vs. Brock Lesnar III and Tyler Bate Vs. Pete Dunne excepted, how many proper blow-away awesome matches have WWE presented this year? WWE pay-per-views are never as good as they are on paper. Something is invariably held back for the next one - and by the time next one comes ‘round, fans have tired of the machinations. As much as anything, AJ Vs. Owens suffered from a lack of heat. On the evidence of their elongated feud, you can’t blame the usually noisy Philadelphia natives for tuning out. It had been done and done inadequately before. Their Backlash match was also let down by a cheap finish.
On the evidence of Battleground, WWE has little idea of what they’re doing - but what that is changes all the time, so it hardly matters. They can just make it up as they go along. Battleground was terrible. Terrible. Does it even matter? WWE can’t juggle several storylines at once, irrespective of how many writers they hire, which is why at least 80% of PPV matches are never one and done deals. They can’t - or won’t - feature the performers fans audibly want in prominent positions. If WWE was a democracy, even a meritocracy, Baron Corbin and Jinder Mahal would be nowhere near the top of the card. But, they’re Vince McMahon guys. So they are.
It’s hard to determine whether the post-WrestleMania season is always this bad, or whether the Network era truly has rendered creativity redundant. Still, it feels now more than ever that the divide between the company and its fanbase is a chasm. Heels win, cheaply, more often than not. The faces are barely faces. Payoffs aren’t delivered upon. With so many shows to fill, how can they be? Fans are conditioned that nothing matters because nothing really does. On this week’s RAW, WWE built towards a Revival Vs. Hardy Boyz match. It’s already happened.
So much is backwards. Matches no longer pay off rivalries; they initiate them. Titles are meant to make guys now. The over stars, like Nakamura, are already over - so let’s concentrate on building the guys only we care about first.
For a company defined by paradox, it’s almost fitting that the illness is the cure. The Network has drastically affected the quality of supershows - but what’s a tenner a month? The relationship between company and fans is mutually destructive, and toxic dependency rarely, if ever, ends happily.
This article might be somewhat redundant by the SummerSlam go-home show, and that’s just it. If nothing else - and that hyperbole feels warranted, even after a decent RAW - WWE excels at the promise of something greater. RAW is a dying brand, but SummerSlam, and WrestleMania, still possess a certain magic about them, their reputations bolstered by history and bluster. WWE conditioned a generation of fans to perceive WCW as the enemy. The Invasion angle wasn’t a mere creative dud but the inevitable result of years of cultivating partisan brand loyalty. It still happens to this day - despite so much supporting evidence in a shrinking world, several fans still refuse to accept New Japan as competition. It’s not just overrated - it is the enemy. When Dave Meltzer lavishes praise on Kazuchika Okada, it just galvanises WWE with support.
Reports indicate that WWE fans, so dismayed with the barely visible slog that was Jinder Mahal Vs. Randy Orton, left the arena before it concluded. They didn’t drive home, #CancelWWENetwork, and sign up for New Japan World in their droves. They lined up outside of the same arena and purchased tickets for next year’s Royal Rumble. To them, the WWE brand is so strong that even when it’s terrible, it can somehow save itself. That’s not to suggest all WWE fans are blind, dumb loyalists. I count myself among that number, too. But they get a pass no other wrestling company ever gets. It’s strange. I protest, but I’ll always go back. I’m excited for SummerSlam. Not necessarily SummerSlam 2017, but SummerSlam. The promise of something greater.
For how long can WWE be this bad? They’re good at what counts, ultimately. A great while yet, then.
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