How WWE Ruined The One Thing That Made It Great

Baron Corbin Chad Gable
WWE.com

He’s a tiny lil’ guy, but he’s got a big heart! is the premise of this storyline. It is also the premise of several sh*tty kid’s TV shows. This man is an Olympian athlete. His lack of height could be subtly sold in the context of commentary, to put over his sublime technical skill as all the more impressive. But no: Vince loves broad dumbass comedy, and you must like it too.

Daniel Bryan is our last hope, but what happened the last time he was a babyface? Hopes were high for Kevin Owens, and look what happened there. This company cannot book babyfaces.

Shorty ‘F*cking’ Gable, man. What next?

Fat Kev? Dork Rollins? It’s a wonder they didn’t call him Fúnn Bálor, because with that big beaming smile, he just loves to have fun out there!

Again, everything circles back to the same arguments because the company is in need of a complete systemic creative overhaul. WWE doesn’t book babyfaces. It writes for babyfaces. That is the problem.

WWE’s team of über-hack TV writers—if they were any good, they wouldn’t subject themselves to ungodly working hours and a 74 year-old lunatic blowing gaskets in their faces—attempt to apply inspirational TV narratives to the context of pro wrestling and it doesn’t work. At all. The plotting is all over the place and is scrawled everywhere except “the point”: Rollins is pathetic, not sympathetic. He’s lame; he isn’t cool. His eventual retribution always come off as petulant and detestable. He’s as much a dork as Michael Scott was, and he shares the same gift for ruining any currency he may have built by being a total d*ck.

WWE used to be good at this.

CONT'D...(4 of 5)

Advertisement
In this post: 
seth rollins
 
Posted On: 
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!