The Wrestling Doctor 04.07.09: The WWE After Wrestlemania XXV

THE WRESTLING DOCTOR

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The Undertaker and Shawn Michaels gave a classic performance at Wrestlemania XXV. Period. End of story. The match was an excellent display of in-ring storytelling, and will become a DVD staple and a point-of-reference in the coming years. Jim Ross has already declared it to be the best Wrestlemania match he has ever called, which covers a lot of serious territory.

And who did not love the over-produced symbolism of the entrances? Salvation vs. death, the continual vs. inevitable judgment, ascension vs. descension. Classic themes.

The match itself was a triumph for the participants, the fans, and the event. It did, however, brightly expose one of the WWE’s current major weaknesses: the inability to conceive, plan, and execute a compelling story in the ring.

Whether you call it professional wrestling or sports entertainment, story telling is the nucleus of the product we all enjoy. Wrestler A and Wrestler B must have a reason why we would like to see them settle their differences in the ring. Once in the ring, a narrative needs to unfold that will pull the audience in and make them forget the realistic confines of what they are actually watching. Nobody wins unless the fans are sincerely sucked into the emotion of the match, despite their knowledge that the outcome is predetermined. Any wrestling fan can tell you of big matches where they rooted for one participant, clinched their teeth, and wiped the sweat from their palms in the exact same way they root for a football or baseball team during a big game. The feeling of investment on the part of the fans is what drives wrestling, and story telling is how that feeling is created.

Undertaker and Michaels know how to tell a story in the ring and create that sense of investment. There were not many potential sleepers on this year’s Wrestlemania; before the show most people would have predicted that UT-HBK would be the match of the night. Most people would also have predicted that the Undertaker would win. Despite this predictability, the crowd was still chanting “This is awesome”, which I believe may be a Wrestlemania first. The match created a sense of investment, and the audience loved it.

The quality of the UT-HBK match made the other weaknesses of the card brightly shine. First, the marquee WWE Title match between Triple H and Randy Orton did not deliver on its promise of violent reprisal. The Game did worse things to Ric Flair in 2005 than he did to the man who has RKOd and DDTd his wife over the last month. Are we supposed to believe that the same Hunter who broke into Orton’s house would wrestle the type of match he did on Sunday night? The vengeance demanded by the story arc was not realized in Triple H’s victory. The feud is by no means over, but the first payoff has cost the program a lot of momentum. Backlash will most likely feature Triple H / Vince / Shane vs. Orton / DiBiase / Rhodes, and Judgment Day will have a one-on-one stipulation rematch between HHH and RKO. This scenario could have been easily predicated before the big event. The build to Triple H-Orton was solid, but the payoff did not round out this critical chapter of the story the WWE is trying to tell.

The John Cena-Edge-Big Show World Title triple-threat was a primary draw for few viewers, and it delivered on its prospect of mediocrity. The angle was silly and rushed, and the story line never clicked. The WWE had two months to figure out what to do with Cena when Batista went down, and they failed to deliver.

The weaknesses with the two major title storylines stood out at Wrestlemania XXV because Undertaker-Michaels showed the fans what a good story is: two wrestlers fighting for a reason – in this case, to simply see who is the better man on the grandest stage of them all – in a match that delivers drama, intensity, and a result that ends the narrative in a satisfying way. Only the Hardys matchup came close to rivaling what UT and Michaels delivered.

A even bigger problem for the WWE is that the Undertaker is 47 and Shawn Michaels is 43. They had the match of the night – maybe even the WWE match of the year – but such an accolade should be going to younger talent instead of two veterans who probably have less than five years left. UT and HBK have earned every inch of their spot, but at this stage in their careers neither man should be the ones drawing the “This is awesome” chant if the WWE is a truly healthy company. Somebody has to be in the wings to take their place.

Wrestlemania X is seen as watershed event for the WWE, where new talent in their late twenties and early thirties – Bret Hart, Michaels, Owen Hart, Razor Ramon – broke out in a major way and established the direction of the company for the next three years. A similar situation evolved between Wrestlemanias XIII and XIV, when Steve Austin (then 32 / 33), The Rock (who could not rent a car without an extra deposit), Triple H, and a reinvented Undertaker set the tone for the Attitude Era. Wrestlemania XXI saw John Cena, Batista, Randy Orton, and Edge prove themselves as break out stars worthy of the top tier. But during the last four “showcases of the immortals”, no new talent has truly emerged as a real name for the future. Sorry, C.M. Punk marks. No one really believed that Bobby Lashley was going to go any further than he did two years ago. Mr. Kennedy is the only fresh face who may have had a real shot, but his door has likely closed.

The lack of territories and the sterile corporate nature of the WWE developmental system are largely to blame for the new generation’s inability to deliver. Even with Dusty Rhodes running FCW, the young bloods coming out of Florida do not know how to put together a story in the ring – and the WWE does not seem to care. UT-Michaels got a huge reaction last night, but the WWE seems to be more focused on video packages and skits than consistently delivering a high quality wrestling product at big events.

The saddest part of this whole thing is that the WWE has the best teachers in the world – guys like the Undertaker and Michaels – to show the new talent how to bring it to a big event. The WWE needs to reevaluate their internal training practices, and maybe establish a mentor system, if they want to be prepared to fill the gigantic holes in their roster that will open when guys like Taker, Michaels, and Triple H retire. The attitudes of the new talent may be poor and they deserve a lot of blame, but the WWE can do a lot to change those young mind sets if they take the right approach.

Meanwhile, the tag team title match was bumped for a last-minute performance by an irrelevant Kid Rock, in a move that clearly illustrates how out of touch the WWE is with their audience and their product. An AC/DC two song performance of “Rock ‘n’ Roll Train” and “Shot to Thrill” would have made sense considering the promotional tie-in, but The Devil Without A Cause only served to fill the “Hey, look what celebrity we got” slot that Vince McMahon believes is essential for his signature event. The stillness in Reliant Stadium that Undertaker-Michaels broke down was disconcerting for a Wrestlemania, and should have sent a much stronger message to the back than any “This is awesome” chant.

I do not know where the WWE goes from here. They are entering an era where their product is exceptionally stale – no, downright boring – and they need to find a way to reinvigorate the marketplace as they did in 1997-1998. The WWE currently lacks the incentive they had during those years provided by looming bankruptcy, but the reality is that movies where John Cena rescues his wife, McMahon family tension, Triple H title reigns, and seventh-grade slumber party innuendo are not going to sustain long-term growth. The best match of the night at the biggest show of the year should not be between two veterans who probably will not be at Wrestlemania XXX, but it was. No disrespect to the veterans – but there needs to be some young blood snapping at their heels. Young talent must step up if the company is stay strong, but no fresh talent on the roster even came close. No stronger indictment of the WWE’s current state can be found.

One day short of writing this column for a year, changes in life have dictated that I retire The Wrestling Doctor. It has been a great experience writing for you all and exchanging ideas – even those responses that were only Epic Fails and RVD! RVD! RVD! I want to thank Ashish and Larry Csonka for giving me the chance to do this most every week for the last year. 411mania is a great site, and the people who run it do more to keep it going than anyone can ever conceive. There are some great columnists with excellent ideas and interesting perspectives putting a lot into their work each and every week. Generating quality ideas every seven days is not an easy task – and these guys write for free. Lastly, thanks to everyone who visited the doctor’s office over the last year. Keep on the road, and maybe one day wrestling will turn its head around. Now I’ve got to go sterilize this space so they can give it to someone else.