WWE Slammy Awards in Need of Major Changes to Format

The WWE Slammy Awards presentation is in a state of disrepair—a decrepit, broken program that annoys more than it entertains.

Each year, the company tries to jam two different vastly entities into a single space. A wrestling show and an awards show converge, only to get in each other's way.

WWE's announcers talk up the prestige of the Slammys, but what fans see onscreen says otherwise.

On Monday's Raw, WWE handed out a slew of Slammys, per annual tradition. The awards show's flaws were on full display, warts that made the crowd cringe.

Victors did not show. WWE tried to pass off roster regulars as special guests. Raw had too little room to work with after allotting so much time to something that needs to be on its own.

Pro wrestling writer Kevin Berge commented on how boring the proceedings were:

Former WWE tag champ Lance Storm was among those pining for more action throughout the night:

And for those lamenting how bad the show was, PWTorch's Benjamin Tucker reminded us that the Slammys have always been like this:

It's hard to dispute any of those opinions. This is not a night most fans look forward to. Rather than it be a celebratory evening, it is too often a torturous one.

WWE has a number of realistic fixes to change that. Wrestling's answer to the Oscars can be so much more fun and noteworthy. The path to making that happen begins with who is in the building.

Make Sure the Winners Are There

On Monday night, Sting won the Slammy for Surprise Return of the Year. He didn't appear to take the trophy home. 

John Cena, The Rock and Brock Lesnar all earned the right to be called Slammy Award winners. Not one of them stepped onto the screen.

How can WWE expect fans to treat the Slammys like they matter if so many of those set to take home trophies don't bother showing up? What's the point of watching if half of those set to be honored aren't around? It forces WWE to go through the motions and provide only half an awards show.

The Rock is certainly hard to corral these days, but WWE has to assure that a larger percentage of the nominees are in the building.

One solution to that is altering the nominees, making sure that less of those in line for awards are as hard to nab for an appearance as The Rock is. 

In addition, WWE can have more of the potential winners record a pre-taped acceptance speech. Sting thanking fans from home isn't as big a moment as him doing so live, but it beats seeing Bo Dallas dressed as Santa Claus as fans did on Monday's Raw.

Bring in Real Special Guests

The Slammys poses as a star-studded affair.

What is billed as a huge night for the company struggles to feel that way as WWE trots out midcarders to present awards rather than bring in big names.

The 2015 edition of the Slammys saw Mark Henry, Dallas, R-Truth and The Miz hand out statuettes. That's not exactly a show brimming with star power.

Ric Flair showed up, as well. Normally, The Nature Boy making an appearance would be newsworthy. However, he has been on WWE TV for the past few weeks to stand in Charlotte's corner. So him showing up was far from special this time around.

WWE doesn't need to break the bank to fill the Slammys guest list, but there needs to be a more impressive lineup.

With Raw being in Minnesota on Monday, it would have been a no-brainer to invite Greg Gagne. Billy Kidman, Arn Anderson and Finlay all work behind the scenes. Why not have one of them take up the spot that a guy like R-Truth did?

And the more marquee names WWE can haul in for the show, the more prestigious and must-watch it becomes. No fan is going to say, "Did you see the Slammys last night? They had Mark Henry and Bo Dallas on!"

The perception of the Slammys changes, though, should wrestlers like The Iron Sheik or Kurt Angle stop by.

Make It a WWE Network Exclusive

The Slammys' biggest issue is that WWE tries to blend it into Raw.

That forces Raw to slow down and lose momentum. Roman Reigns' first Raw after his title win should have been a lot more eventful and exciting than it was, but the writers had too many things to juggle.

This format creates time restraints on the awards side of things, too. Presentations are hurried along. Acceptance speeches are rapid-fire blurbs.

Credit: WWE.com

The best bet is to film the ceremony separately and air it exclusively on the WWE Network. 

For one, that gives WWE another event to sell tickets to. The company has one more selling point for its streaming service.

It also means that Raw doesn't have to try and be two shows at once. And the whole evening can be better paced, freeing winners to improvise more.

That's the route to making the Slammys a true celebration of WWE's Superstars.

WWE can still have the feud-advancing angles that sometimes pop at the event. Kevin Owens still could have brawled with Dolph Ziggler after becoming angry about not winning Breakout Star of the Year, as he did on Monday night.

There would just be more time and space for those moments to happen, along with some heartfelt speeches.

The Slammys are a long way away from being a date on the WWE calendar that fans anticipate. To get there, it will take some major changes, a willingness for the company to take a hammer to the mold.