WWE Needs An Attitude Adjustment

Whenever anybody under the age of 35 thinks back to their youth or discusses it amongst their friends, the topic of wrestling and World Wrestling Entertainment (WWF back then) will more than likely will be brought up. Names such as Stone Cold Steve Austin, Triple H, The Rock, The Big Show, Mankind, Kurt Angle, etc. are discussed with a reminiscing tone and smiles eventually creep up on faces. Wrestling is usually a fad among teenagers, by the time they reach high school they suddenly find it not cool and they say it's "fake" and "crap". I am one of the only people out of my group of friends who still watch the WWE pretty regularly, they usually say the phrases in the prior sentence, and at this very time, I could not agree with them more. Wrestling right now is terrible and I'm being nice when I say that. It's kind of crazy how the WWE has changed in the past 15 years or so. It was once a private company that basically could do anything it wanted to, it didn't have to worry about pleasing investors or to worry about its content. Now it's a public company, with investors looking over their shoulder, worrying about content and the image of the WWE. It's gone from having a roster full of stars to barely having enough people to put together an entertaining show. I used to be able to defend wrestling to people who would put it down back in the day (which was a Wednesday). I would say it's entertaining and that the athletes that were in the WWE were a sight to see. I really cannot speak very highly of the athletic talent now, and as far as entertainment is concerned, the E should be changed to excrement because right now it's crap.

Some people say that it's a dip in the business but I see it a little bit differently. First, I think that the WWE is terrible right now because it really has no competition. There was a point in time to where the WWE was fighting for its life against a wrestling organization called World Championship Wrestling (WCW). Every Monday night, WCW's "Nitro" and WWE's "Monday Night Raw" would battle each other out in the same time slot for wrestling supremacy. Between 1995 and 2001, the "Monday Night Wars" brought out the best in each company. As we've seen time and time again in all aspects of our culture, competition brings out the best in everybody. You are forced to be on your game at all times, and if you screw up in any way, shape or form, your rival is going to take advantage of your shortcomings. Some of the WWE's best ideas and biggest stars came out of this time period. Stone Cold Steve Austin, D-Generation X, and the Rock were some of the huge stars that got their start during that period. These characters and ideas needed to be thought about carefully and executed perfectly to respond to the WCW's big stars of the time such as Hulk Hogan, Scott Hall, Kevin Nash, Sting and Goldberg. But once the WCW went belly-up in 2001, it seemed as though the WWE didn't have the urgency or the same fire under it's behind. Another organization has come up since then Total Non-stop Action Wrestling (TNA), but it really cannot compete financially with the WWE. One of the main reasons why WCW could compete is because it was affiliated with Ted Turner and both of its networks; TBS and TNT. For another rivalry to start again, somebody with a huge checkbook needs to be willing to spend the money to compete with Vince McMahon. For the WWE to be good again, it's going to need a person with deep pockets and big ideas to give it a run for its money.

Secondly, I don't think the talent is there for the WWE anymore. For example, Real World reality star Mike Mizanin decides he want to become a wrestler, and HE BECOMES A WRESTLER!!!!! The only way you can convince me that a reality television star makes it as a wrestler back in 1997 is if you...I can't even think of a scenario where I would let that happen. Also after the boom back in the late 90's, a lot of meathead bodybuilders decided they wanted to become wrestlers. It was more about the look than the substance. But my argument to that is, if you wrap up a dog turd in wrapping paper and a bow, it's still a dog turd. Guys like Batista, Chris Masters, and even John Cena (although he has some talent) couldn't hold the jock straps of guys like Kurt Angle, Steve Austin, and Triple H. When guys like Triple H, Shawn Michaels, and Undertaker retire I can't imagine what the WWE is going to do. Guys like Randy Orton, John Cena and others are going to pick up the slack, or try to anyway. I will say though that Randy Orton is the only guy right now I think could have made it back in "The Wars" era, now that he's got his act together mentally, he's in a league all of his own. But one man cannot carry a company because he cannot wrestle himself.

Lastly, the fact that the WWE is now a public company, has taken some of the "Attitude" away from its programming. When WWE was a private company, they could get away with murder, and they did; middle fingers, colorful language, T & A from the women, blood, and bashing people over the head with chairs. They were the renegade company that could do whatever they damn well pleased and still make money while doing it. However, there's a time when you need more money to run your company, that's where investors and sponsors come into play. You have to please them just as much as you please your fans. So you have to be more careful with what you put on television because now you have to answer to people who write big checks. Now the edgy programming that could play in 1997 wouldn't be talked about going into today's programming. For example, John Cena, a baby face "good guy", gets booed on a pretty regular basis. If this was the case back in the hey day, they would have changed him in a heel "bad guy" and had him tell all the fans to kiss his ass and to f*&k off. They can't now though, due to their young demographic and investors liking John Cena in a "role model" role. Wrestlers have never been considered role models, they've always been considered bad boys and that's what made wrestling great. Ric Flair was probably in Wilt Chamberlain territory with how much ass he got, Jake "The Snake" Roberts did so much blow he could dwarf Tony Montana in Scarface, and Michael P.S. Hayes parties are legendary The more investors and sponsors you get, the more you have to tone down programming. But for a traditionally edgy thing like wrestling, it's not necessarily a good thing in my opinion. In closing, I'm disappointed where the WWE is right now. No stars, no competition and bland programming. I just can't believe that the one thing that was once considered a "renegade" company is now bland and corporate, just like everything else.