WWE Polls and Debate: WWE and the War on IWC, Clay, Punk and Other Hot Topics

Writer's Note: It is a proven fact (based on years of hard research and the fact that this article will probably prove it) that only around 30 percent of all readers who view an article participate in the polls within that respective article.

While I cannot offer a bulletproof reason why this may be the case, I would like to dare all who view this article to stand up for their beliefs, opinions, thoughts and wishes and vote/debate throughout this article. We, as a nation of loyal, knowledgeable fans, can rise as one and let our voices be heard. Let those that govern the product we hold near and dear to our hearts see that we are untied, and can come together in peace, love and harmony in order to discuss and debate this wonderful source of magic known as professional wrestling.

We are the ones who dictate, command and control the product's word-of-mouth advertising. The ones who stand by idly, while other so-called "fans" continue to leave the product claiming it lost its "attitude." We are the ones that will one day become just as important as the members in creative. We are the present, future and sole holder of the wheel that will guide the company's direction for decades to come. Let your voice be heard among the masses...

... Or don't vote. Cause you know what? No one wanted your opinion anyways, and I really don't give a (expletive deleted).

Here's how this is going to work. I'll throw some random topics, questions and polls at you. Feel free to vote on the polls, answer the questions in the comment section, as well as debate with your fellow peers on anything related to the topics presented...or basically anything that's on your mind (within reason please; no one cares about your relationship problems).

Now, without further ado...let's get it on debate style!

Poll No. 1: A Bleacher Report Sighting/Undertaker

I'm honestly trying to decide which was a bigger deal this past Monday night on Raw: the fact that the Undertaker has once again returned to build up potentially his last match at WrestleMania, or that the WWE, when showing various news reports about Mike Tyson being inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame, placed an article written from Bleacher Report (B/R) amongst others, including ESPN, Yahoo, USA Today and TMZ within Tyson's Hall of Fame promo.   

There's no denying that this is a tremendous occasion for not only the admins at B/R, its advertisers and writers, but for the readers who consistently show up each and every day and continue to elevate this site to the level it is today.

It not only proves that the WWE does in fact have its eyes and ears on the online wrestling community, but credits it as a viable source for WWE news.

While that may be all well and good for those involved within the online wrestling community and members of Bleacher Report; I do realize that it is still the minority of wrestling fans. Most wrestling fans have one thing and one thing only on their minds after Raw, and that's simply the return of the dead man.

The Undertaker has once again risen from the dead and ascended upon the WWE universe for what may be the very last time. While it's not set in stone who will be the Undertaker's opponent at WrestleMania, the world can now watch, with bated breath, perhaps the final road to WrestleMania the Undertaker, and his legendary career will traverse.

Poll No. 2: The Curious Case of Brodus Clay

I can immediately tell you where I stand on this topic. I freakin love it. Not love like "I love lamp" love, but love like "I love Scarlett Johansson" love. And that's a lot of love.

The universe seems to be unequivocally split straight down the middle in regards to the way WWE has displayed one of its more promising big men in awhile. Crowned with the gimmick of the Funkasarous, a track suit-wearing, disco-dancing, gyrating behemoth, Brodus Clay has found instant success for now, but will one day have to summon the inner strength and mental fortitude needed to overcome this ridiculous gimmick in order to achieve a long, respective, main event-level career many had hoped for. 

While the early success of Clay's character has much to do with its initial shock value and lunacy coupled with grandiose production, it has also been success based, in part, due to being something completely different then anything the WWE is currently offering in its product. However, there is no denying that once the "new car" smell wears off, and fans no longer want to "call their mommas," Clay has a lot of work to do in order to move on from such a ridiculous gimmick many claim to be a "WWE career death sentence."

Here's hoping that Clay is more Justin Timberlake than the rest of N'sync.  

Oh P.S. Backstreet Boys suck, for real! N'sync all day, everyday! I did attend a Backtreet Boys concert with my little sister once, but just like Brodus Clay will one day have to forget about past gimmicks, I try and forget I ever attended such an event.

However, just like Clay will have to forever deal with people bringing up his "Funkasarous" gimmick, my sister always brings up this asinine story everytime we are around friends and family:

My sister: Get a couple of drinks in Billy at a Backstreet Boys concert, and he instantly transforms into a 14-year-old girl!

Poll No.3: The Royal Rumble/Fumble

The WWE held their annual Royal Rumble event this past Sunday, and in a shocking turn of events, handed the ball to Sheamus and basically told him to run as far as he could until he dropped it, or the WWE eventually trips him.

With numerous reports reporting the WWE gave Sheamus the win over Chris Jericho at the last minute in order to throw off hardcore fans, the WWE might have accidentally pulled a Plaxico Buress in its attempt to remain unpredictable.

Why would the WWE mortgage future plans for the sake of misdirecting a small percentage of its fans?

...Or did it?

The WWE might have discovered the secret to controlling its biggest fanbase, dissenters, adversaries, friends and enemies—the all-knowing, always watching, reading, judging, speculating, rumor-spreading, spoiler marketing loyalists known as the Internet wrestling community (IWC)—while simultaneously creating a better product landscape for the mainstream based on our insight and advice.   

The WWE, who no longer has to compete with anything other then itself in order to draw viewership, finds itself placating more to this growing crowd of loyal followers than to what may be better for the mainstream, casual audience.

IWC: Dude, the WWE has to compete with TNA, duh! How could you forget about a wrestling promotion that features icons like Hogan, Sting, Flair, RVD, Hardy and Angle...

Me: Dude, I can't even visit TNA.com on my work computer because the server thinks it's a porn website and blocks it. I'm sure they have quality shows, but let's be real here. The WWE doesn't care about TNA, and probably treats them like their girlfriend's younger brother. "Hey little buddy! How's it going? Did you have fun playing arts and crafts today?" followed by a pat on the head and a trip to get an ice cream cone.

If the Royal Rumble, along with a flood of misdirection and slight of hand movements by the WWE, proves anything, it's that the WWE has acknowledged its new competition for the new era in wrestling, the IWC.

We all wanted a product that was more diverse, edgy, story-oriented and unpredictable. And while we have all that and a better overall product that features more "wrestling" for the time being, there are still those that want a different direction, focus and agenda. I personally think the WWE has finally pulled the covers off us, and exposed us for what we are, a band of rumor-raging, narcissistic, pre-ordained nostalgic pundits, that while possessing an undying love for the WWE tend to air on the side of bashing and impatience rather than supporting a product we advertise and promote whether we know it or not.

How are others suppose to watch when its loyal fanbase doesn't even want to watch and comes up with 100 different reasons why you shouldn't watch as well?

Enter the WWE and its love/hate relationship war with the IWC. As long as they keep us guessing and enthralled (while continuing to take our advice on how to improve the product), we'll continue to exude passion and supportive arguments as to why casual fans should continue to tune in.

While it seems to be working in the short-term (the WWE now has a fantastic balance of mainstream entertainment appeal along with actual wrestling), is this something the WWE can maintain?

Poll No. 4: CM Punk/The Rock/A Game of Ratings

Whether its been designed on purpose or it's just dumb luck, the WWE champion, CM Punk, is about to have his day in the sun completely eclipsed (just like the Miz last year) by a returning Dwayne Johnson just in time for WrestleMania.

All signs are now clearly pointing towards what should be an "instant classic" feud between CM Punk and Chris Jericho, but will have to share an already-crowded WrestleMania spotlight with the Rock and John Cena coming to a head simultaneously. With all the hard work that Punk has clearly put in in order to reach this moment in his career, the question is rather simple to ask, but probably has a convoluted answer.

Is this fair for CM Punk?

Does it even have to be fair? Has the WWE always had this design, or is it our faults for pushing CM Punk so high up that it had no choice but to elevate him to this status before they had made room within the warm, comfortable confines of the WWE WrestleMania spotlight?

I tend to think It's just dumb luck that just so happens to make the WWE look brilliant at the same time. Why shouldn't we be treated to multiple main event-headlining matches every WrestlMania, pay-per-view, hell, even every week. We saw what kind of muscle, this past Monday on Raw, the WWE can flex and display when it wants to. Who passed the law claiming the WWE needs to only settle for one big match a night surrounded by complete and utter filler?

I highly doubt that during WreslteMania time last year (when the WWE knew it already had next year's WrestleMania main event lined up) that they planned such a tremendous and sudden rise to glory for CM Punk, but who knows? 

While the WWE has to play a fickle game of "Get the Ratings while building the future," it somehow still manages to look for scapegoats when ratings are bad. More often than not, the finger will be pointed at a man crowned the "Best in the World" not only by himself, but his legions of followers who demanded the WWE push to the top, CM Punk.

There's no question that ratings will be high as we travel along the road to WrestleMania (The Rock being a strong catalyst), but only after the event comes and goes will we see if Punk can carry the banner of a company that was basically carried, dragged through the mud and shouldered by one man for so long, John Cena.

Whether you like it or not, CM Punk will have to live up to lofty expectations (Set by The Rock) after the grand daddy of them all comes to an end, and if ratings once again fall to undesirable levels, we could all be looking at another Cena title reign in the near future.

So I ask again: Is this fair for CM Punk?

We saw what happened to the Miz after last year's WrestleMania...

Poll No. 5: Pushing the limits of PG/The Future

I think we can all agree that a TV-14 version of the WWE would be fantastic to watch once again. Could you imagine the (stuff) that would fly out of CM Punk's, Jericho's, possibly even Daniel Bryan's mouths? It would all be so hilarious that we, the IWC, would instantly rejoice without even failing to see the huge ramifications it could potentially have on the company as a whole.

The WWE has gotten increasingly edgier since the summer of last year, but I feel as though it has finally leveled off into a nice comfort zone that it will probably never leave until something catastrophic happens to the wrestling industry. It has found it's threshold and, while playing with its boundaries, will never cross too far over the line. 

Would the WWE be better off with a much edgier program?

The WWE, after transitioning to a PG format, found a wealth of new advertising, media and marketing streams it never knew it could obtain. WWE is slowly starting to be recognized as a family-friendly event that no longer draws the scorn of government officials, parents, politically-correct pundits and advertisers scared of bad press randomly popping up from the WWE. 

With these new media outlets opening up, the WWE is starting to reach (but not quiet yet) its pop-culture presence it had in the late 80's through the 90's, except this time through more positive images rather than the "shock and awe" campaign they put on display in the late 90's.  

Which is a better, overall product?

We all claim the WWE turns a corner whenever they find short term success with an angle or "flash in the pan" wrestler only for the company to resort back to the same tedious, mundane approach it seems to find comfort in. But perhaps we're witnessing a transformation by the WWE.

With a cleaner program, an abundance of talent it now chooses to display and push simultaneously alongside returning legends and finally turning their eyes and ears to the heartbeat of the industry, the IWC, a heartbeat has finally caught the attention of a company continuously devouring lame booking, uninterested story arcs, no plan for the future and an unwillingness to adapt to what its heart needs in order to beat.

I ask you one last question: Has the WWE finally turned a crucial corner?