Triple H is back now, and already has an 11th—if short-lived, as determined by Cena's injury—World Title reign to his name since he has been back. Shawn Michaels reappeared this past Monday on Raw to beat down the man who kayfabe "put him out of action" months ago, and new WWE champion Orton.
All these problems have obviously disrupted WWE and the organization has gone to rather severe measures to try and counter the injuries, such as spur-of-the-moment trades, and the return of the shock factor which they originally wanted to lose. Take Teddy Long's "heart attack" during his "wedding" to Krystal on Smackdown three weeks ago—in the midst of the deaths of not just Benoit, but also former manager and wrestler Sensational Sherri, and former member of "Demolition" and "Kronik," Brian "Crush" Adams. Add to this McMahon's "death" angle—which was to be the biggest storyline in WWE this year before being ripped apart due to Benoit's passing—and it is obvious WWE is doing all it can to keep ratings, often by somewhat desperate tasteless measures.
The somewhat curious "WWE Wellness Program" has also thrown in some interesting conundrums. Now it seems that any wrestler who appears guilty of abusing it will be instantly suspended. This means that the wrestler in question has been supplied with, or admitted to using, drugs—usually anabolic steroids—for body enhancement.
Everybody knows that Steroid use is rife in professional wrestling, and it must be looked upon as a positive that with all the heart-related wrestler deaths in recent years, WWE is trying to stamp it out. Not only does it affect a wrestler's body illegally, but it also puts a strain on the heart and the brain, possibly inducing unprovoked anger, rage (perhaps significant in the Benoit case), and a higher chance of injury. Randy Orton, Booker T and Charlie Haas, among others, have been suspended for allegedly breaching the wellness programme.
Having said that, steroids are not the only problem when it comes to picking up injuries. WWE superstars are on the road and in the ring often 300-plus days a year. There is no off-season in professional wrestling, which, though safe and predetermined, is not without its stresses, strains and injury worries if moves are not performed safely.
It is understandable that Mr. McMahon wants to make as much money as he possibly can from merchandise and ticket sales generated from meaningless house shows in Biloxi, Mississippi or St. Thomas in the Virgin Islands, and the dedication of the superstars to perform every night is admirable. But it might be time to cut down the workload a bit. Can you imagine NFL stars playing all year, 3 or 4 times a week? It is a fair comparison given the sort of strain on the body.
McMahon is all about making money, but he is also all about entertainment. What would he prefer: half a roster performing averagely in Biloxi, or a full roster performing brilliantly at every PPV, fresh and selling out massive arenas with huge PPV buy-rates?
As we look forward to WWE for once having a hungry, talented full roster on par with the roster of the Attitude era, we look forward to exciting times. Back then there were seven or eight title superstars who could win the title at any time, and that sort of competitive unpredictability is what we want to see. It would make a nice change to get WWE back to a stage where there is no chance to predict who will be the WWE champion in a week's time, let alone a year. Cena held it for a year, as there was nobody else ready to take it. If superstars stay injury free, there will be.
Reducing the risk of injury by cutting workloads may lose money at first, but for the writers, wrestlers and fans, everything will get back to normal. If someone is not supposed to lose the title, they won't. Fans won't have the misery of buying tickets weeks in advance to see a superstar gets injured the week before.
Reducing the wrestler's workloads is the only way to go, and with the three rosters, they should be able to divide time out more realistically. Yes there is a chance the WWE will lose money to start with, but surely it will be better for the business and, more importantly, for the people who made the business what it was in the first place—the fans.
As a billionaire who should be looking out for the fans' intentions, I think Mr. McMahon can literally afford to take that liberty.
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