Why WWE F*cked The Revival Last Night
It is cringeworthy. DX, the Kliq, whatever - those on and offscreen factions were predicated on the essence of cool rebellion. They are now the sagging, old establishment. They broke the rules of wrestling to get themselves over, but maintain this dismal and destructive status quo to remain relevant. They have become what they hated: made men luxuriating in a position of security, unwilling or unable to recognise that the ‘Game’ is in dire, dire need of change.
Naturally, most fans fascinated with the inner machinations of the industry examined the segment from a political standpoint - but even as a work of fiction, perceived at face value, this betrayed all internal logic. Multiple babyfaces outnumbered and beat the p*ss out of two heels. Any returning fan watching must have wondered what the hell happened to WWE, to wrestling, in the interim. Was Road Dogg, that glorified cheerleader who had grown irrelevant by 1999, really as good as wrestling got in the intervening 20 years?
Is that an hysterical overreaction?
WWE RAW25 will inevitably command the biggest televised audience all year long. Many of that lapsed Attitude Era audience will have received the Revival, simply, as the new Midnight Express - just two anonymous geeks positioned as sentient w*nk socks for an old boy’s club f*ckabout.
A certain section of the fanbase reacts to this rampant ego-driven behaviour with a doomy outlook, perhaps unable to grasp that this was a spot of non-canonised fun. This segment may loom somewhere between “burial” and “rub”. The Revival might not be entirely f*cked. That said: they certainly, certainly were not helped. With WrestleMania part-timer season approaching, this momentum looks unrecoverable in the immediate outlook. As wrestling fans know all too well, months worth of nothing all too often equate to years of worse. American Alpha were once perceived on the level of the Revival - this time last year, in fact - and if ever there were a symbiotic tag team, it is Scott Dawson and Dash Wilder. There isn’t just precedent with which to forecast disaster. It is par for the bloody course.
WWE last night actively pursued a demonstrably uncaring casual audience by offering them a grim retread of a past they are only fleetingly interested in. In parallel, the hardcore audience were given fewer and fewer reasons to invest. It’s a familiar story - but never before have such potentially important players been killed off.
WWE f*cked the Revival last night because they felt they could. Last night, they also contrived to enrage the most loyal spendthrifts who deem themselves fans: those who paid a fortune to get in to the Manhattan Center, a mecca of nostalgia, rained down protests of “Bullsh*t!” and demanded refunds. WWE antagonised the immovable core audience. There can be no more telling indictment of the show.
Can WWE keep f*cking talent and audience alike with such drastic, p*ss-taking measures?
That is an unanswerable question. But Scott Dawson d*mn sure won’t ever be in a position to dance about like a juvenile jag-off at RAW50.