8 Biggest Complaints with WWE Right Now

WWE has rarely been hotter than 2023. The company is consistently selling out arenas while establishing fresh names at the top of the card. Recent pay-per-views have broken records in terms of audience figures on Peacock.

Roman Reigns and The Bloodline remains the biggest story in wrestling, and Cody Rhodes, Sami Zayn and Seth Rollins are some of the most popular babyfaces WWE has produced in over a decade.

The women's division is loaded with talent from champions Asuka and Rhea Ripley to top challengers Becky Lynch, Bianca Belair, Charlotte Flair and Ronda Rousey.

The WWE undisputed tag team champions Sami Zayn and Kevin Owens may be the most popular tandem of the modern era, and Gunther is on the greatest Intercontinental Championship run in its history.

However, this does not mean WWE has no issues to resolve. The company can still be better.

After starting with some positivity, the following are the eight biggest complaints to be levied at the modern WWE product.

WWE Has No Story That Can Replace The Bloodline

Roman Reigns is the biggest star WWE has produced since John Cena. It has never produced a story as layered as that of The Bloodline over the past few years throughout The Tribal Chief's 1,000-day-plus title run.

While that story has carried WWE for almost three years, the company has not done enough to begin creating new angles that can replicate the success of The Bloodline.

Instead, everything else has played out too short-term. Even lengthy title reigns for Bianca Belair and Gunther have not been built up with the same level of care.

Sometimes, magic happens in professional wrestling. No one could have expected that Sami Zayn's inclusion in The Bloodline in its third year would revitalize the angle and allow Jey Uso to stand out even more.

However, WWE has had opportunities with The Judgment Day and Imperium to begin building the foundation. Damage CTRL could have been that special angle for the women's division.

Instead, the creative team has refused to protect these groups at any level like The Bloodline, telling far more conventional stories of talented wrestlers trading wins on weekly television for months on end.

As The Bloodline seems to be falling apart, with Jimmy Uso following Zayn's lead in turning against The Tribal Chief, it may be years before WWE can hit this same level of fan investment.

Women's Division Lacks Credible Depth

WWE has assembled its most talented women's division of all time. From the established veterans with championship pedigree to a crop of young performers getting better by the month, the division has never been better on paper.

However, the weekly product tells a different story. Rhea Ripley cannot find anyone to truly challenge her as SmackDown women's champion.

And Bianca Belair almost ran out of opponents before Asuka dethroned her at Night of Champions. The Empress of Tomorrow has few clear challengers for the future.

Mia Yim, Piper Niven, Nikki Cross, Shotzi, Candice LeRae and Tegan Nox all proved their value in NXT but can barely get a few minutes of TV time per week.

Even Iyo Sky, Dakota Kai, Liv Morgan, Zelina Vega and Sonya Deville have struggled for the respect of true women's title contendership.

There is no excuse for Ripley and Asuka to struggle for challengers any time soon. The rest of 2023 must include a revitalized focus on the depth of the women's division.

This is a division that can main-event for a world title with the right stories, which has been proved regularly in the past. All it takes is a respect for this talented roster.

Men's Tag Team Division Cannot Escape Shadow of Singles

Sami Zayn and Kevin Owens have begun to build a legacy as the undisputed WWE tag team champions, but they are still more individuals than a team.

Moreover, they have struggled to escape the shadow of The Bloodline. Jey and Jimmy Uso led the tag team division for a while but have grown past it since losing their belts at WrestleMania 39.

While Zayn and KO have fought The Street Profits and Imperium since becoming champions, neither were established as real challengers beforehand.

The Judgment Day has the next shot at the longtime friends, but Finn Bálor, Damian Priest, and Dominik Mysterio have been treated more as individual cohorts than a cohesive team.

Truly established tag teams including Alpha Academy, Brawling Brutes, LWO, Viking Raiders, Hit Row and others have not built any real credibility.

The arrival of Pretty Deadly and Indus Sher can help, but WWE must make a concerted effort to create clear tag team feuds and build challengers who can dethrone the popular champions.

Women's Tag Team Division Needs Firm Identity

When Sasha Banks and Naomi walked out on WWE, leaving the WWE Women's Tag Team Championships behind, they made a clear statement about WWE's commitment to the division. WWE has proved both women correct since that time.

Bayley, Iyo Sky and Dakota Kai were brought in as the group, Damage CTRL, that could revitalize the division. While Sky and Kai held the championships twice, little changed. WWE failed to develop compelling stories for the champions.

It has been difficult to pin down the women's tag team division as anything more than a back-up option for the top women in the singles division.

That could be changing though. The new WWE women's tag team champions were crowned on the May 29 edition of Raw. Ronda Rousey and Shayna Baszler now rule the division.

The Baddest Woman spoke with the New York Post's Ryan Glasspiegel about the shallow competition in the women's division. She correctly identified it as WWE's job to build a group of women that can reliably stand up to top names.

It will be important for WWE to step up in terms of creating reliable challengers across the division. Until Liv Morgan returns, Raquel Rodriguez and Shotzi must find their chemistry. Sonya Deville and Chelsea Green need clear wins under their belts.

SmackDown drafted its own women's tag team champions from NXT: Alba Fyre and Isla Dawn. The gold brand's longest-tenured teamed moved to Raw in the form of Katana Chance and Kayden Carter.

The foundation can be built on these teams as long as they stay together. These pairs cannot be quickly broken up in the same way most of the past women's tag team champions have been.

Not everyone is truly ready to be in the ring with Rousey. Enough can prove their worth though. WWE should give 10-15 minutes a show to the women's tag team division until they are seen as genuine challengers, even to The Baddest Woman on the Planet.

If WWE can begin to build around the prestige of Rousey and The Queen of Spades at the top while establishing distinct teams, WWE may begin to create the vision for the women's tag team division that Banks and Naomi once hoped to build.

Rewriting Record Books Has Trumped Emotional Payoff

WWE is rewriting its championship records books all at once.

Roman Reigns' 1,000 days as universal champion is unheard of in the modern era, and Bianca Belair just completed the longest reign as women's champion in the modern era at 419 days.

Gunther is on course for one year as intercontinental champion and will become the longest holder of the title in September.

While it's refreshing for WWE to commit to long-term champions, the insistence on breaking every record is growing tedious. It has taken away from the suspense of title defenses.

WWE set the stage for Cody Rhodes to dethrone Roman Reigns in an unforgettable moment to end WWE WrestleMania 39 in April. Instead, the company chose to keep the title on The Tribal Chief so that he could reach 1,000 days and beyond.

Belair lost the Raw Women's Championship at Night of Champions on Saturday but only after first defeating Asuka at WrestleMania to ensure she passed Becky Lynch and Bayley's title reigns.

Fans began to turn on The EST after WrestleMania, cheering both Iyo Sky and Asuka over her. Reigns' legendary run is verging on stale. There is almost no doubt Gunther will remain champion until he passes The Honky Tonk Man's record only to lose weeks later.

Professional wrestling loses its luster when matches begin to feel artificial. That is happening with multiple title runs as of late. Luckily, some of these reigns are coming to an end soon, allowing more unpredictability to return to the championship scenes.

Stronger Commitment to Celebrities Than Organically Popular Young Stars

WWE has learned the art of crafting great celebrity matches. From Logan Paul to Bad Bunny, it has delivered time and again on one-off performances by big names from outside of the company.

The formula is clear, build around the natural athleticism of the competitor while heavily scripting the action for big moments. Unfortunately, these same spotlights are not afforded to the weekly signed talent.

LA Knight is hugely popular, but has not competed on a PLE since the Royal Rumble in January. Latino World Order helped sell Backlash in Puerto Rico but cannot buy a win without help from Bad Bunny or Rey Mysterio.

Fans are ready to embrace The Street Profits, Alpha Academy and Imperium (beyond Gunther), but none of these teams can find a path forward despite their ability to perform in big matches.

While there is no harm in bringing in the occasional celebrity, WWE must find a balance that does not leave half the full-time roster lacking opportunities.

Struggles to Create Legitimacy for Recently Returning Talent

When Triple H took over WWE Creative in July 2022, he began bringing back key names who were had been unceremoniously released over the past couple years as well as several more who chose to walk away.

Bray Wyatt, Karrion Kross, Braun Strowman, Johnny Gargano, Candice LeRae, Dexter Lumis, Hit Row, The O.C., Emma, Tegan Nox and more got the call. While each return received some hype, the follow-up to these moments has been underwhelming.

Wyatt may have had the single greatest return in modern WWE at Extreme Rules last October, but there was little follow-up before he was sidelined by illness ahead of WrestleMania.

Strowman has had the best run, and he is still working the tag team division, but Kross cannot win a match against anyone.

Maybe Wyatt will regain his spark soon. Perhaps Gargano will find some momentum upon Tommaso Ciampa's return to injury. Kross might become the dominant force he once was.

None of that has happened yet, except for Bronson Reed, who seemingly benefited from his short run in New Japan Pro-Wrestling over those who largely remained loyal to WWE.

Constant Part-Time Star Problem

WWE needs reliable stars. The modern era of the company chooses instead to rotate part-time acts that are not always in the shape necessary to deliver high-quality matches.

Ronda Rousey impressed many in her early run with WWE, but since her return to action at the 2022 Royal Rumble, she has not looked like the same performer.

Edge made an emotional comeback at the Royal Rumble in 2020 and performed at a high level against the best competition he could find. But he is slowing more with each appearance.

Brock Lesnar can still perform at a high level when he wishes, but he has been relying more on spectacle matches to make up for his move set growing severely limited. Roman Reigns has at times emulated The Beast Incarnate in his own work.

Even the recent return of John Cena was disappointing. The 46-year-old struggled to compete with Austin Theory, who is 21 years younger, at WrestleMania.

The pace of modern WWE wrestling is difficult to replicate for those who are off the road. The company can use these wrestlers on occasion but must make a firm decision on when their time has passed.