It's Official: WWE Has Debuted A New Era

Alexa Bliss Shayna Baszler
WWE.com

If WWE and Vince McMahon in particular didn't suffer from such a chronic lack of self-awareness, you'd be forgiven for thinking that some sort of crisis meeting took place inside of Titan Towers, in which it was decided that the promotion simply must stop ritually embarrassing itself.

WWE is almost inoffensive in 2022, as if by design. It is as if the product is precision-engineered to elicit a response like "That was actually solid". SmackDown is dire most weeks, but the days of Shayna Baszler being murdered by a sentient doll are all but over. You have to forget about the existence of NXT 2.0 for this hypothesis to work, but the WWE of 2022 is a far more drab and less perversely amusing animal than it was a couple of years ago. It's still very easy to rip apart from a simple, logical standpoint most weeks, but it isn't stunningly awful. When Roman Reigns is actually on the show, he's one of the best, coolest and most credible characters WWE has developed this century.

WWE had quietly developed a fairly strong tag team division highlighted by genuinely excellent action at its peak before Randy Orton's injury forced him off television. The Cody Vs. Seth Rollins programme wasn't revolutionary or even that compelling week-to-week, but in crafting an excellent signature PPV trilogy, WWE - and this isn't snark, it was great - did what it does best.

Chad Gable best illustrates this shift.

CONT'D...(4 of 6)

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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!