wrestling / Columns

WWE Is NOT Struggling Right Now

November 9, 2016 | Posted by Justin Watry
No Mercy WWE AJ Styles Image Credit: WWE

Hi, I’m Justin Watry. You may remember me from such classic columns as March 2012’s “WWE WrestleMania 28: Sheamus Should Defeat Daniel Bryan in Less Than a Minute” and October 2015’s “WWE NXT: Bobby Roode, You’re Next.”

Why WWE Is NOT Struggling

Television ratings are down (again). Live event attendance is hit or miss. WWE Network numbers are stagnant (but still strong). While it is easy to point the blame at the Fall season lull, there are a few reasons why the company is in a stand still. I will discuss them later. For now, here are some excuses that are NOT true.

PG rating – Over the course of the past eight years, I have mostly stayed away from discussing the PG rating because it is fairly irrelevant in my mind. I don’t care to talk about the rating of other shows. Again, because it does not matter. Titanic is my favorite movie of all-time. At no point did I care if it was PG, PG-13, Rated R, or XXX. I don’t care. I love the Toy Story series and can’t wait for the next installment! Who cares it is not filled with cuss words and nudity? Seriously, I could argue adults enjoyed the first three films than kids. On the flip side, doesn’t it seem like kids love horror movies more than adults? Plenty of gory Rated R movies have stunk and been garbage? Yet, I am supposed to like them more…because of its rating? Makes no sense.

Newsflash people: CM Punk and his story line in summer 2011 was during the PG Era. Smackdown and all of its glory has always been PG. Shawn Michaels and The Undertaker at back to back WrestleMania events? Yeah, PG rating. The Rock and John Cena doing record business? Of course, PG Era. Daniel Bryan rising to the main event scene and getting huge crowd reactions? Yep, you guessed it – PG rating. I could keep going on and on, but you get it. The rating is not and never has been the issue. WWE is profitable these days despite all evidence to the contrary. How is that possible you ask? PG rating.

Champion – This one is tough. When Roman Reigns was WWE World Champion, fans would mock the television ratings and blame him and ONLY him. Big shocker I know. Yet, last year was Seth Rollins for most of the time when ratings REALLY stated to dive. Then came the Reigns run (which actually was short lived comparatively). Now is the Kevin Owens Show for Raw, and things are looking even worse. Okay folks, which is it? Do we blindly pile on Reigns for ratings some more or remove the hypocrisy and go after the internet darlings as well?

Truthfully, the answer is neither.

Kevin Owens is not to blame. Seth Rollins is not to blame, and no, Roman Reigns is definitely not to blame.

Too Many WWE Network Specials – It is still far too early in the post-WWE Draft period to determine if pay-per-view over saturation is a problem. My initial gut reaction is ‘yes.’ However, we are not there yet. I mean Smackdown won’t have its own show for another month or so named TLC. That leaves plenty of time. Same with RAW after plenty of room to build up WWE Roadblock in December. The co-branded events are another story; my point stands though. The events are spaced out well enough…so far. We’ll see how 2017 fares. Not like I care that much since FastLane is coming to Milwaukee in March baby!

Weak Main Events – I have been writing about this for over a year now: WWE has absolutely NOT taken it easy. There was some concern that the WWE Network Era would mean the company would rest on their laurels and not put on marquee main events. You know, get cheap and lazy with its viewers on pay-per-view because technically, they didn’t have to sell spectacles each month anymore. That is false. We got Evolution reuniting at two B-PPV events in 2014. Brock Lesnar vs. John Cena at Summerslam and a B-PPV in September 2014. Brock Lesnar got his title rematch in 2015 at a B-PPV. The Undertaker came back in mid-2015 for multiple pay-per-view appearances. Amazing when you think about that. Heck, Sting wrestled for the WWE World Title at a B-PPV last year. Even in 2016, we have seen plenty of Brock across the board, AJ Styles in numerous main events, a long awaited ‘dream match’ headline Summerslam, and yes, BILL GOLDBERG is returning to have his first WWE match in over 12 years at Survivor Series. Don’t tell me WWE has been taking our $9.99 for granted. They have more than delivered on interesting main events since 2014.

Those are just some reasons used as to why WWE is not struggling right now.

Here are three that actually have some truth to them.

Why WWE IS Struggling

Brand Split – Still too early to decide. I was NOT in favor of a brand extension returning in 2016. I found it laughable when folks claimed the rosters could be fine cut in half. I said it, Stone Cold Cold said, and surprise – we are not seeing the effects. There is a different between having a lot of great wrestlers vs. having a lot of tar power. WWE could do it in 2002 with relative ease. Fourteen years later, it is a whole new world. While the initial buzz was cool for the draft in July, that is long gone. The excitement lasted all of two weeks before numbers went back to normal (down). All you have to do is read the weekly Raw and Smackdown results to know that there are a whole bunch of roster question marks. No reason to wonder why fans are tuning out and have only gotten pumped up for a 49 year old Goldberg coming back. I know that is the only thing I am looking forward to at Survivor Series. Raw vs. Smackdown…yawn.

Too Much Content – As noted above, WWE is profitable. That can not be denied. Rip of them all you want, but they have smart people running the business side of things to where when even think go down, the money still rolls in. Whine and cry all day long; WWE has set themselves up nicely with their financials. One of their major deals if television revenue – meaning content. Lots and lots and lots of content. Raw pre-show is 30 minutes on Monday, Raw is three hours on Monday, Smackdown is two hours on Tuesday, Talking Smackdown is usually another 20 minutes or so after that. Then comes NXT for an hour on Wednesday. The Cruiserweight Classic was an hour every Wednesday during the summer, and rumor is a one hour women’s tournament is coming soon. Another cruiserweight exclusive show is being added to the schedule later this month for another hour (BAD IDEA that will fail by way). Plus, whatever WWE Network content is added and live specials from NXT and WWE every few weeks.

Sure was nice when I only had to worry about a two hour Raw and maybe a one hour Heat on occasion…

Oh, and Total Divas and Total Bellas on E! Network for your full wrestling experience.

Now, if you want to watch TNA Impact Wrestling, Ring of Honor, and a host of independent wrestling companies? Good luck. How anybody is supposed to keep up with all this is beyond me. Even when writing this column, I keep backtracking trying to think if I remembered all the WWE shows. Main Event? Superstars? Anything else I am forgetting?

The WWE pay-per-views are still worth watching and have not been overexposed (yet). The weekly stuff is nice for their bottom line but has been exhausting for fans. Don’t believe me? Look at the ratings.

“Don’t like it, don’t watch!”

Okay.

Comedy – If you have been reading my Jay’s Ways column for the last two months or so, you know I have been harping on this issue nonstop. For those of you who have read my rants on this already, feel free to zone out now.

Luckily, Stone Cold recently brought it up last week, so I can feel somewhat justified in mentioning again.

Too. Much. Comedy. In. Main. Events.

Don’t you love it when there is a bitter feud between a face and heel who just want to destroy each other?

Aren’t the intense sit down interviews with Brock Lesnar riveting?

Wasn’t the recent build to No Mercy with Dolph Ziggler and The Miz (and Daniel Bryan) great?

I love it. While I never believe in going “full UFC hype mode,” there is a lot of elements that work in WWE. Keeping it serious and REAL is always huge in selling potential customers on seeing a fight, or in wrestling’s case, a match.

Sadly, right now, it seems all we have is Brock Lesnar keeping that perception a reality.

Raw being centered around “The List” was fun for a week. It’s been months now. I don’t care. Sorry, I don’t. I didn’t even care for the Kevin Owens/Chris Jerichi pairing back in August. Astonishing it is still the focus of the Red Brand every Monday night. All the while, ratings continue to sink, but YAY! He said “it.” He said IT!!!!! Can you believe it? THE LIST!!!! Such brilliant work there.

Yeah. I don’t know about you, but I would much prefer an actual feud between the ultra talented Seth Rollins and Owens with the Universal Title being the sole reason for a pay-per-view battle. A one on one feud built around a championship? What a novel concept, huh?

Then there is the Blue Brand.

Like “The List,” I have not been into the James Ellsworth character. I must have missed my cue to care about this guy back in the summer when Braun Strowman crushed him. I watched the segment and moved on two minutes later. Gave it ZERO thought. Just another local enhancement talent getting beat. Big deal. Then the guy re-surfaced again on Smackdown. Then again…and again, and now he is a regular fixture in the main event scene. Yes, main event. Not hanging around with Big Cass and Enzo or Heath Slater and Rhyno. Nope, he is in there with Dean Ambrose and AJ Styles…

…as ratings continue to tumble.

I am not even going to discuss the ridiculous weeks of defeating WWE World Champion. That was just TV filler for the sake of filler. I guess I am supposed to love Dean Ambrose more for the “hilarious” hijinks or something?

Nope.

None of this is bringing in ratings, selling tickets, or increasing WWE Network numbers.

Good for the dude. He is living the dream and (reportedly) selling a fair share of t-shirts. Amazing for him and a short-term boost for WWE merchandise sales. Like most of these kind of acts though, there is a shelf life. A very short shelf life. I reached my limit awhile back. My guess is many have either gotten to that point as well or will soon. Again, great for James and a wonderful experiment…but he shouldn’t be out there. There is a reason why his initial appearance was against Braun Strowman and lasted 30 seconds.

Absolutely scary he nearly broke his neck. So, so, so lucky AJ Styles noticed it last minute and saved him.

Let’s get back to main events. Real main events. Actual main events. Not The List. Not James Ellsworth running around like a fool and announcers screaming NO CHIN MUSIC! Entertaining and comedic is fine. I love Santino Marella-like antics and what WWE can offer, but there is mid-fun…and then there is just plain nonsense.

Overall: That is my belief on why WWE is current struggling but also why they are NOT struggling. What do you think? Let me know.

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WWE, Justin Watry