How WWE Grew To Hate Itself

Becky Lynch's SummerSlam 2018 heel turn was the start of her rise to true superstardom, but it wasn't meant to be. The switch to the dark side was there to reinvigorate her, not strengthen the voice of her audience to the point where her acts of rebellion looked overdue in the face of the company's chosen few.

Months later, post-Nia Jax smashing her face in, post-"I choose you" Austin/Tyson adjacent promos with Ronda Rousey, the company was still relying audience mistrust of the brand. Still relying on "WWE" to be the heel. Apologise to Triple H, Becky. Apologise to Stephanie, Becky. Win back your opportunity from Vince, Becky.

A year later and the corporate ladder has been scaled. She's not a heel because she doesn't do bad things. But she's not a babyface because she feels in league with the same initials the audience wanted her to destroy.

WWE doesn't know what you or I want, but they know what they can get away with, and that difference is vast. But it won't bring the hundreds of thousands of viewers that have switched off over the past several years or the Network subscribers that gave it the old "No thanks" before being brought back in on a limitless freebie lately.

Booker T used to say "don't hate the player, hate the game", when he was in a WCW game he couldn't win. Mindful of the meaning, WWE replaced that catchphrase the second he arrived, but in the 19 years since purchasing their opposition, they have become 20 times more self-loathing than the Atlanta outfit ever were. We in the meantime, are tragically complicit, hopeful that our next favourite will smash the system in the way the last ones failed to.

Now can you dig that, suckers?