My Two Cents: What's 'NXT' For a Stale Era and WWE Champion?

It truly is an exciting time to be a pro wrestling fan!

In an earlier piece, I talked about how the pro wrestling business operates in cycles.  Much like any other business in the world, all pro wrestling companies are concerned about turning profits and will do whatever is necessary to take home at least 12 more dollars than what they spent to produce their product.

It is when we encounter a “stale” wrestling product or a company that blatantly disregards their fan base that we experience wrestling’s “down period.”  The product is no longer appealing to us, and thus we stop watching. 

In that sense, the current state of pro wrestling for any given company is not reflective of the product being produced by said company, but rather is a scathing look at the inconsistent motivations and oxymoronic desires of the fans. 

After all, if a company is out to make money and they make money by giving the fans what they want to see or what they think the fans want to see, then everything we’re presented on a weekly basis is stuff that we’ve either overtly asked for or tacitly agreed with.

In other words, we get crap because we asked for it.

Nevertheless, with all the crap we see from the top two pro wrestling companies in the United States, it is still an exciting time to be a fan of the sport of champions.

“How can this be, Ash?” you may be thinking. 

“The WWE is stale, I hate Sheamus, I’m mad because the old ECW wasn’t the new ECW and now the new ECW, which was never the old ECW, won’t be ECW anymore. The WWE won’t push new and younger stars, but I won’t watch their NXT product (pun intended) because it’s going to feature new, younger stars that I don’t know and won’t care about, and TNA still sucks.”

It is for these reasons that I believe pro wrestling may soon face a new surge in revenue and viewership. 

WWE NXT

At this point, the only information we have about NXT is loads of speculation about the face of Vince McMahon’s latest pro wrestling endeavor.  Honestly, the only facts we have about NXT is that in two weeks, it will take the SyFy Network spot of ECW.  Other than that, it is anybody’s guess as to what NXT will be all about.

However, to borrow an idea made popular by Eric Bischoff, “controversy creates cash.”

Regardless of what happens with NXT, it has already created enough buzz to at least create a small level of controversy amongst pro wrestling fans. 

At this point in the business, the idea of something different is all that’s needed to give fans a much needed impetus to once again rally to their television screens and the various pro wrestling Web sites for any information they can get. 

The funny part is, several articles have surfaced on these sites (B/R included), and the only thing that has been announced is that the show is coming.  They haven’t even given us teasers or viral videos of the product; just an announcement and a couple of 14-second promos with a NXT logo. 

With our appetites merely whetted, we’ve already started labeling the show as a possible success, or an outright failure.  In that sense, the WWE’s NXT has already succeeded.

Even if you don’t support the idea of this new show, you’d be a fool to try to convince yourself and others that you wouldn’t break your neck in two weeks just to see what the show is about.  At the least, a good number of folks will tune in just so they can craft articles for B/R the next day talking about how right they were about the WWE’s latest epic failure.

I liken the NXT announcement to everything that happened on the night of Jan. 4. 

In hindsight, we now know that the winner of the ratings war that night is inconsequential.  The fact is that after 10 years or so, the WWE had viable competition on a Monday night.  Both shows were painfully average, but at least for one night they were painfully average at the same time.

The true winners of the Jan. 4 fracas were the fans.  We were presented with an alternative, and the aftermath resulted in vigorous debates that lasted for rest of the month.  We were all energized, hopeful, pessimistic, and thrilled to be excited about pro wrestling again. 

The quality of either show was a positive note in the long term for the WWE and TNA.  The primary short-term goal for both companies, however, was met with spectacular results.  Fans were now once again über-enthusiastic about pro wrestling.

The same thing has already happened and will happen when NXT makes its debut in two weeks.  McMahon’s announcement on last week’s show has already captured our attention and caused a stir in the pro wrestling community.  We also cannot forget that this announcement came at a time when a good number of diehard fans consistently complained about the “staleness” of the WWE’s product.

The show could live up to our dreams and expectations, or it could be a crap shoot that ends up getting kicked off of the SyFy Network.  At this point, it doesn’t matter; we’re all going to tune in anyway to be proven right or wrong.  Say what you will, but most folks thought the Colts were going to run over the Saints last night…but I digress.

“The WWE is STALE”

This argument has already run its course and is beginning to sound eerily similar to the temper tantrums of a small, selfish, and spoiled child that wants 40 more Oreo cookies at the risk of going into diabetic shock.

I’m not arguing that the WWE’s product couldn’t use an injection of something fresh and different, but it’s really becoming annoying to hear the word “stale” used over and over and over again when referring to the WWE.  Is it possible for us to find a different way to voice our growing frustrations with the WWE’s creative direction?

I don’t believe that the WWE’s product is “stale,” per se, but rather it no longer appeals to a segmented part of a key demographic it once largely appealed to.

Merriam-Webster’s online dictionary defines stale as tasteless or unpalatable from age, and as tedious from familiarity . Conversely, the same online dictionary defines fresh as having its original qualities unimpaired and as full of or renewed in vigor . 

In this sense, one can successfully argue that the WWE’s product is indeed “stale.” However, that is an opinion that while shared with numerous others, is still an opinion. 

We may hate the PG Era with an unbridled passion, but there are tons of fans that are enjoying this product for the first time in their lives and are quite pleased with what they are presented with.

This is particularly true for the young WWE fans and their single-parent mothers who pay millions of dollars for the merchandise and house show/TV tapings/PPV ticket sales.  So, one can’t argue that the product is tasteless or unpalatable because someone is swallowing it…just not you.

On the other hand, I will agree that the WWE’s product has grown tedious from familiarity .  It is quite boring seeing as we’ve seen so much of the same superstars over and over again.  They have been involved in the same feuds and story lines with the same people for the same title.

This product will always be particularly stale to fans that have been following the WWE religiously since they were kids (assuming that they’re now adults).  But that’s also a subjective argument based off of one’s emotional response to what’s occurring. 

In effect, things seem stale because we’re accustomed to only seeing the WWE product for at least the last ten years.   This is why anything that competes with the WWE is seen as better…not necessarily for the pro wrestling they provide, but really because it’s not the WWE. 

As mentioned before, the current direction of the WWE’s product just doesn’t appeal to a good number of the company’s most loyal and veteran fans.  This is a perfectly acceptable opinion, especially seeing as the WWE caters more so today to a younger fan base.  What bothers me, however, is the rationale behind freshening up the “stale” product.

Let’s continue for a second with the notion that the WWE has grown tedious from familiarity , which essentially means that the product is dull from having been spoon fed to fans for years.  A good number of pro wrestling fans contend that the WWE could counter their stagnancy by returning to their Attitude Era days, or by bringing back the “old ECW.”

So in theory, some fans actually believe the WWE could become “fresh” by reintroducing an era or a company that took place in the late 1990s.  What the hell is fresh about that?

I’ve mentioned this in another article, but the Attitude Era would not float by today’s WWE television standards.  In reality, the Attitude Era was loud, crass, controversial, vulgar, and plagued with material and story lines that crossed the line of human decency for the sake of shocking the audience.

The Attitude Era was filled with blood and unmitigated violence that even by pro wrestling standards was pretty gruesome. 

It was filled with women flashing their genitalia and mammary glands at random times during a given broadcast (I hope you didn’t forget Mae Young was included in this too).  Every single episode of WWE television really had the sensors on their toes during this period of time, and fans loved it!

What we’re also forgetting is the fact that the Attitude Era also had its downsides.  The television production was terrible, the sets looked terrible, and the matches still had that same “WWE storytelling” that we’ve seemingly grown to dislike.  A lot of fans will even readily admit that the major star of the Attitude Era, “Stone Cold” Steve Austin, wasn’t even a great wrestler!

I contend that fans really don’t want the Attitude Era to return; what fans long for is the euphoric feeling the superstars of the Attitude Era and the original ECW gave them.  They want superstars that speak to their innermost desires and motivations. 

They want a product that excites them and keeps them actively entertained and engaged in what’s happening in the ring.

That’s what the Attitude Era did for fans in the late 1990s and early 2000s.  It wouldn’t work well today because we’re not fans in the late 1990s and early 2000s, and it’s not the “fresh” creative direction that we’re clamoring for.  Never, and I mean never , should anything that happened more than a year ago be considered “fresh.”

Instead, a good number of WWE fans really just want something different , which places this whole issue in a completely different ball game.

Sheamus and the WWE Championship

A lot of fans will easily admit that they are not a fan of our current WWE Heavyweight Champion and do not support or condone his championship reign.  No matter how much hatred fans may harbor for the Sheamus character, we cannot overlook or deny the fact that his reign is something different .

Isn’t this what we were asking for all along?

Perhaps not, but this is the main reason I believe the WWE is keeping the title on him at the current moment.  As fans, our tastes and motivations are so fickle that if left up to us, the major titles would change hands every month.

I’ll never forget Jeff Hardy’s first run as a major champion in the WWE.  At the WWE Armageddon pay per view in December 2008, Jeff Hardy defeated Triple H and Edge in a triple threat match to win his first WWE Heavyweight Championship.

The very next day—I kid you not—there were fans taking bets on who would beat Hardy at the January 2009 Royal Rumble pay per view for his championship.  This, of course, was on the heels of fans celebrating his win as well as complaining that his main event run with the title should’ve happened long before that night.

If fans can’t get 100 percent behind one of the most popular WWE stars in recent times, then there’s really no confusion as to why we’re not 100 percent behind Sheamus.  Fortunately for Sheamus, the collective hatred he’s garnered among fans justifies his current reign as champ. 

After all, the fans dislike him so much that they’re willing to watch and critique the product, eagerly anticipating the moment he loses the title to someone else.

This is why I firmly believe that Sheamus is a decent choice as our current WWE Heavyweight Champion.  With this logic we can easily see that he’s playing the role of a transitional champion , “a holder of a traditionally-short title reign which bridges two ‘eras’, long-running title reigns by usually-popular champions.”

Remember, we’re all certain that we’ve grown weary of the “stale” product.  So placing the championship on Randy Orton, Triple H, or John Cena would only exacerbate our hatred towards the WWE. 

Cena has faced and beaten everyone on the RAW roster except for Evan Bourne, Kofi Kingston, and Primo Colon.  Unfortunately for Cena, fans will never take those three men as serious contenders for his title at this point…not to mention the fact that they’re all “faces.”  What is the WWE to do?

Why not place the belt on a superstar that has potential to be a main event star, but currently lacks the ever so treasured “it” factor?

For the most part, Sheamus has not really defended his title much on television and has barely made an impact as champion other than winning by fluke decisions.  He’s not all that impressive in the ring, his mic skills are average at best, and the fans absolutely hate him being in the position that he’s currently in on the roster.

Why take the belt from him now, especially seeing as we don’t have a fresh direction for the title or any fresh superstars and story lines to accompany their reigns?

The January 2010 Royal Rumble further explains the point I want to make.  This year’s winner was Edge, a superstar that had been sidelined with a major injury for quite some time.  In my opinion, there was nothing “fresh” about the finish to that pay per view, but fans ate up Edge’s victory that night. 

The fans did so because his victory was something different that they actually wanted to see.

There was nothing fresh about the last five men in the royal rumble match, all of whom have already headlined at Wrestlemania. There’s nothing fresh about Edge’s win seeing as most main event superstars that return from injuries are usually given title shots upon their return. 

In fact there was nothing fresh about Edge’s return since most fans already figured that the superstar was one of the surprise entrants that usually grace the royal rumble match.

With all this staleness in the WWE, why would the fans cheer and celebrate Edge’s main event match at Wrestlemania 26?  Because his victory at the Royal Rumble and future main event at the grandest stage of them all is different from what we’ve been given on WWE television as of late.

Clearly, it’s not that the fans are 100 percent convinced that the WWE product is stale; we’re just thoroughly convinced that we want to see something different.  We want to be excited about pro wrestling again, to be energized and thrilled with the action presented.

All of this brings me back to the very first sentence of my article: it is truly an exciting time to be a pro wrestling fan.

Whether or not you agree with all of TNA’s story lines and practices, their product in a lot of ways is very different from what we’re accustomed to.  Despite their faults and ill-conceived current direction, their product is different from what we’re used to seeing .

Whether or not you believe the WWE’s product is stale, disagree with having an uncharismatic lump of clay as your WWE Heavyweight Champion, or know deep within your heart that their NXT project will ultimately fail, you cannot deny the fact that their product is slowly inching towards something different than what we’re used to seeing.

It is for all these reasons that we, the fans of pro wrestling, should be renewed and full of vigor.  It is for all these reasons that we flood websites like B/R with our thoughts, opinions, speculations, and spoilers.  It is for all these reasons why a lot of people inside the business hate the IWC.

Nevertheless, all we’re asking for is something different.  As long as we continue to ask for something different, then pro wrestling will never truly be “stale.”

Here’s to the next level of pro wrestling and sports entertainment.