A Change in the Air: WWE’s Response to 2025’s Creative Direction

Coming off a hot 2024, the WWE was poised to make 2025 even bigger and better. They were about to move Raw to Netflix, providing them with their biggest possible audience ever, and the road to WrestleMania was about to start. And that is where, for a lot of people, the wheels started falling off. Going into the Rumble, most people were betting on either Cena or Punk to win. But in the end, Jey Uso would be the one to punch his card to WrestleMania.

From there, Cena turned heel at Elimination Chamber, in an angle that involved The Rock, and then saw The Rock never show up again. Travis Scott would be involved in the ending of WrestleMania, distracting Cody Rhodes to help John Cena win his record-breaking 17th World Championship. The heel run of Cena is probably the most glaring example of the creative misfiring for WWE in 2025. It isn’t the only one; the Raw tag team and SmackDown women’s divisions are things I’ve written about previously.

There was a recent rumor that the WWE has taken note of the fans not liking a lot of the creative direction for 2025. And so they are planning on addressing and adjusting their creative process going into 2026. So, let’s examine some of the things that could be improved going forward.

An additional piece of news was announced after I wrote this regarding the use of AI in WWE’s creative process. Thankfully, it seems that the initial report was overblown, as AI is being used as a reference guide to what they’ve done in the past, and clean-up footage. I do not want AI involved in creative at all. With that said, my job uses AI in the same way, as a reference guide, and it does work well for that. So, if that’s all it’s being used for, then I’m not going to complain about it. Just keep it out of actual creative direction.

The SmackDown Women’s Division

The first thing that needs to happen is to elevate Chelsea Green. She has more than proven herself, and she needs to be the one to dethrone Tiffany Stratton. Stratton has held the title for pretty much all of 2025, and while she has put on good matches, she has been stuck in a perpetual feud with Nia Jax and Jade Cargill. It’s time for a new champion, and Green is the best choice to lead the division in 2026, defending against Stratton, Guilia, and Jordynne Grace.

It’s sad to see how badly the Women’s United States Championship has been booked, and it’s even worse when you compare it to the Women’s Intercontinental Championship. The problem is a lack of depth in the SmackDown women’s roster. Calling up Fatal Influence, Zaria, Sol Ruca, and Blake Monroe can fix that. I’m not saying they all need to be called up at once, but even just a couple of them at a time would help add depth.

Let Blake Monroe run the United States Championship division, and you can build to a replay of the Monroe vs Gracy feud near the end of 2026 or in 2027.

The Raw Tag Team Division

If you count Breakker & Reed and Bravo & Rayo, there are seven tag teams on Raw. You wouldn’t guess that just from watching the show, though. The first thing that needs to happen is just a better focus on the division. Highlight the division at least once per show, and not just the same three teams either, rotate who is fighting so that all the teams are represented.

Secondly, the champions need to defend at least once a month. The New Day had one successful defense before losing the belts to The Judgement Day. Since then, The Judgement Day has defended the titles once, which was in July. At this point, I want Styles and Dragon Lee to win the titles, to hopefully get more defenses.

Lastly, I’d try to shake up the scene a bit. I’d move Alpha Academy, The War Raiders, and The LWO to SmackDown. In exchange, bring The Motor City Machine Guns, Fraxiom, and #DIY to Raw. That will allow both shows to have some fresh match-ups and let the Raw scene have some solid teams to help rebuild the division.

A continued Push for New Stars

Aside from Gunther and Jey Uso, the current main event scene of the WWE is 40 and above. This isn’t actually a new thing, as before the 1990s, wrestlers would stay active and on top well into their 50s. But it is a sign that the WWE needs to start pushing some younger stars into the main event scene.

In 2024, we had three first-time World Champions: Damien Priest, Gunther, and Cody Rhodes. We also had Bron Breakker win his first WWE Intercontinental Championship and LA Knight win his first United States Championship.

For 2025, Jey Uso, Tiffany Stratton, and Stephanie Vaquer won their first World Championships. Jacob Fatu, Ilja Dragonuv, and Solo Sikoa won their first United States Championships, and Dominik Mysterio won his first Intercontinental Championship.

This trend of giving new wrestlers chances needs to continue. I’ve talked before about how the WWE needs to stop relying on past stars, and the way to do that is to create new ones.

By the end of 2026, I hope to see Bron Breakker and, if his rumored injury isn’t as severe as reported, Jacob Fatu win their first World Championships. Dominik also has an outside chance, though I think he can use 2026 to get over as a face (without changing who he is), and then win the 2027 Royal Rumble.

I am hoping that Penta will finally win the Intercontinental Championship before the end of the year. He can then provide some great matches with Americano, a debuting Trick Williams, Balor, Theory, and a returning Dragunov.

I expect Oba Femi to get a strong push right out of the gate, either getting put into The Vision’s story or being the one to dethrone Ilja Dragonuv after a nice run for Ilja.

Letting Femi go on a Gunther-like run will help establish him as the monster that he is. And you can build up a beast slayer, someone like Carmello Hayes, who needs more than a feud with the Miz to regain his momentum.

On the women’s side, Guilia, Chelsea Green,  and Jordynne Grace are all primed to win their first Women’s Championship, with Blake Monroe a possibility near the end of the year, after a solid run as the Women’s United States Champion.

These are just a few of the things that the WWE can do in 2026 to help revitalize creative. I think they are the most glaring issues that aren’t related to John Cena’s retirement tour. While there were some pretty bad hiccups in 2025, I know no one can hit 100, and there were still bright spots that showed that all hope isn’t lost.