wrestling / Columns
Falling for It: WWE’s Lack of Effort Always Shines Most Brilliant in the Autumn
The post-SummerSlam lull is the time of year I rarely look forward to. While WWE somewhat hits a cruise control period sometime in May, and continues on it until it’s time to build to SummerSlam, you can usually count on some new superstars debuting after WrestleMania, and definitely get some new stories going on. While the stories themselves may not be the greatest, at least something new is being built.
After SummerSlam, you can basically count on not much happening until Survivor Series if you’re really lucky, but it’s more likely that you’re going to be waiting until the Royal Rumble to get the ball rolling again.
Raw the last few weeks has reminded me that this is my least favorite time of the wrestling year. Last year at this time, we were spinning our wheels watching as Daniel Bryan would win a heavyweight championship, only to immediately lose it by hook or by crook. Then Big Show took his place. Nothing progressed- we simply had Big Show in title matches instead of Bryan, while Bryan spun his wheels with CM Punk in a feud with The Authority. We were constantly told to “wait and see” where the story was going, even though it was quite clear that the story was going nowhere until after the Rumble.
These past few weeks, Raw has basically given us one decent-good match, and then an absolute overload of filler. Interviews with the Bellas, “9.99,” and Rallies for America have taken the place of actual confrontations, of actual matches, and most importantly, of actual feuds that may draw any kind of interest.
That’s not to say there’s nothing good going on. Paul Heyman has managed to get some of the best John Cena promos I’ve ever seen from the man. However, this is also coinciding with a period where, if the reports are to be believed, Vince McMahon himself is booking John Cena like a kid books his favorite action figure, having him smash everyone and anyone in his way, because getting dominated in one whole match might make all the Cena fans walk out. Or, something like that.
What I am saying, however, is that this trend of sleepwalking for 3-5 months each year has always been grating, and in the 3 hour Raw era, has only gotten worse. What has really made it atrocious this year, in my opinion, is that they’ve lost the guys that the fans actively care about. Last year, for better or worse, the Daniel Bryan fans made sure that they were heard every week, and hey, at least we got to see our guy wrestling.
In 2012, we had CM Punk inching in on a year long title reign, along with the rise of Ryback. 2011 had the same CM Punk in his corporate rebel phase. 2010 had the Nexus. Now, though? We’re literally stuck with John Cena, Randy Orton, Brock Lesnar, and… Roman Reigns? I’m not even complaining about Brock, as I have always been a huge fan. But I think it’s clear that he’s not a guy that gets everyone super excited to see, week in and week out. A big pay per view match, sure. Another non-wrestling segment on Raw? Nah, no thanks.
The frustration only grows when I think of all the possibilities right now. So many wrestlers are simply sitting on the sidelines so that we can watch more sports entertainment. Would you rather have watched a Titus vs. Justin Gabriel match, or Nikki Bella’s Confession? What about Adam Rose taking on Heath Slater instead of Jerry Springer getting rolled over? Would any of those matches take wrestling to new heights? Of course not. Would they have been better (and, presumably, more entertaining) than the segments we had forced upon us instead? In my opinion, absolutely.
What if Brock Lesnar spent the next two months actively ducking John Cena, but still showing up to wrestle far less worthy competition? What if one of those lame duck challengers actually gave him a surprisingly spirited effort? Wouldn’t that pique some interest heading into a ppv rematch between the two? At least, more so than, say, what we’re getting at Night of Champions? Couldn’t giving September or October title shot to someone like a Cesaro or a Swagger help showcase Lesnar against some other guys, while giving those guys a chance to look decent against the Beast Incarnate? Couldn’t someone else use the rub of getting a match with Cena by making fun of how bad he looked against Lesnar?
No, no, that’d require using like 2% of your brain and coming up with something new. And during a time where we’re clearly overloaded with great ideas, we certainly wouldn’t want to do anything like that.
When I juxtapose Raw with TNA’s Impact, it gets almost more frustrating. TNA is working with a fraction of the roster, but still manages to maintain a World Champion with multiple people constantly gunning for him. On top of that, we then get title matches that are also fun to watch, for free. No, I’m not trying to directly compare the circumstances that lead to how each company presents its television shows, I’m simply saying that it can absolutely be done. WWE deciding to take the fall off each year is unacceptable.
What should be a time to experiment a bit and see if anything works out is instead used for lazy retreads and rematches. Remember when R-Truth was given a title shot with John Cena at Capitol Punishment? I remember thinking how stupid that was, that Truth was clearly a dead man in his match. However, along the way, something funny happened, as Truth got himself quite over as a heel. He was then able to parlay that into a decent spot on the roster, and eventually was a part of the Awesome Truth group with Miz. That never happens if they don’t take a chance on Truth, instead of giving Miz like a third rematch with Cena.
If the point of a business is to make money, then I’d assume the point of a television show is to entertain. More specifically for wrestling, it’s to entertain you to the point that you’d be willing to spend money on a pay per view or live event. If you know that for the next couple months, what you’re seeing right now is probably what you’ll be seeing for the near future, then where’s the rush to spend going to be generated? I was very excited for SummerSlam, but I can’t be bothered to care so much for Night of Champions, and really, why should I be? I either get a repeat of a match I saw a few weeks ago, or I get John Cena as Champ again. Neither of these are new developments that make for “must see” anything.
I love WWE. I love wrestling. I’ll always watch, even when it’s shitty. But that doesn’t mean I love every single second of what I’m watching. And while I won’t make silly threats or fantasy book the show I think should be made, I’ll absolutely question the decisions that are being made. Why is the company focusing on a Bellas feud that, by my last tally, zero people were asking for? Why is it getting so much time? Why can’t we get two or three matches featuring guys not so high in the pecking order instead of one long, drawn out skit that ends well for nobody?
No one’s buying Mark Henry as the one to stop Rusev, right? Or am I alone in that? Well, if I am, while I have no problem with a Henry/Rusev feud, I do have a problem with watching them stand in the ring and talk to each other, week after week, for 10-20 minutes at a time. We get it. They’re both strong. One likes America. One doesn’t. They’ll fight. Can’t we get them in separate matches, showing what they plan on doing to the other?
The most frustrating part of all of this, for me at least, is how quickly they’ll flip that switch back to “On” when we get close to the Royal Rumble. Suddenly, we’ll have big feuds, title feuds that captivate (at least, moreso in comparison to what we have now), and there will be chaos. Until then, though, we have to sit through interview after interview, Network plug after Network plug, Total Divas plug after Total Divas plug, and just sit on our thumbs until the next wave of NXT guys show up to hopefully save us from the boredom.
But until that moment happens, let’s just enjoy some more Corporate Kane. That’s what we really want.
