WWE and TNA: Is It The Product That's Bad Or Are We The Problem?

Hello Bleachers!

2010 is coming to a close. With a little less than two months left of the year, we are getting (I believe) one more TNA PPV and two more WWE PPVs to take us into 2011.

That said, many believe that this year has been a real letdown for fans of both promotions. 

Some believe there were too many PPVs for both promotions.

Some believe the booking was boring and stale. It seems to be the general concensus that the product has gone stale for both promotions. 

However, as the title indicates, is it really the WWE's and TNA's fault that we didn't enjoy what they gave us? Or have we, as wrestling fans, become jaded?

Let's take a look at some of the arguments given about why the product has gone stale and try to offer a differing viewpoint on the matter.

The Storylines Have Become Stale

This seems to be one of the biggest complaints by many of us on the IWC. Many times, WWE and TNA (mostly WWE) will start something that they just don't know how to end.

We saw 3 straight months of John Cena vs Batista this year, which seemed to bother a lot of people. However, this could've been a "going away" present of sorts to Batista, giving him one last shot, if you will, at the gold.

Think about it: Would you really want your last match to end with you being duct-taped to the ring post?

A big example of this is the Nexus storyline. The attacks and the constant bossing around of Cena is getting a little tiresome. But can you really blame the WWE for this? After all, earlier this year, many complained about the WWE failing to create longlasting rivalries. Now, the WWE is trying to deliver, by putting Cena in a long feud with the Nexus.

How do we respond? "This story is getting stale."

I'm not saying the Nexus is the most exciting thing in the world. Then again, we are die hard fans who have witnessed a lot of what the WWE could give us back in the Attitude Era and Ruthless Aggression era. This all probably seems very new (and interesting) to the younger members of the audience AKA the target audience.

Titles Have Lost Their Prestige

Here is another big complaint that is often thrown into the comments section a lot. People claim that title reigns don't last nearly long enough and have therefore, lost their prestige.

Well, think about it from WWE's point of view. They probably see it as "We tell you the title has prestige, so it does." To them, it doesn't make a difference how long a title changes hands. As long as they say the title is prestigious, then it is.

Also, titles are majorly defended more often than they used to be. During the last decade, we witnessed many single branded PPV's that featured solely RAW or solely Smackdown superstars. These were the only times that the World and WWE titles were defended majorly. Though they were sometimes defended on RAW or Smackdown, it didn't really make much of a difference, as the titles weren't going to change hands on free TV anyway (though there were a few exceptions). Now that PPVs are all cross-branded, the titles are defended more often and more often than not, the title will change hands.

It's not to say that a title can't lose prestige if handled incorrectly. The Miz hardly defended his US title live (he often defended them during house shows and live events), which made the title seem like a prop. David Arquette was given the WCW World Title, which seemed like a way to promote his movie "Ready To Rumble." These acts can kill a title to the point of (almost) no return (as we can see, Daniel Bryan has breathed new life into the US title).

Speaking of secondary titles, one could argue that they have lost their value as well. Whereas guys like the Rock, Stone Cold, HBK, Jericho, Triple H, and Mysterio used to feud over the IC title, you now only see Kofi, Dolph, MVP, and other midcarders facing off for the title. However, it doesn't take away that the title was once held by the legends who made the belt seem so prestigious. Instead of saying "I'm Dolph Ziggler and I won this title from Kofi, who won it from Drew, who won it from Morrison", which honestly, makes the title sound a little less than prestigious, he could say "Hi, I'm Dolph Ziggler and I'm holding the title that Razor Ramon won after he beat HBK in the first ladder match in WWE history."

Doesn't that sound a lot better?

They Revive Too Many Old Angles

This seems to be something that TNA is blamed for more often than WWE is (though they are not completely innocent). TNA recently seemingly revived the nWo in the form of "Immortal", with Jeff Hardy turning heel as an homage to Hulk Hogan's heel turn back in 1996.

Considering the likes of Hulk Hogan, Eric Bishoff, and Vince Russo, it seems to be understandable that people have made this comparison. However, many fans seem to pine and yearn for the days of the old. They crave for storylines like they used to see back when wrestling was "good." Can you blame TNA for trying to revive old angles that were popular when we were kids? Though they seem to bury their lesser known, more talented stars (Styles and Joe anyone?), TNA seems to be trying to please their fans in the best way they know how.

They Don't Listen To Their Fans

This seems to sum up the entire thing, but let's take a look at it as a single complaint.

The WWE doesn't listen to their fans.

TNA doesn't listen to their fans.

Is this argument entirely true? Many of us seem to think that because we want something, the WWE and TNA must deliver. Then, when they don't, we say they don't listen to their fans.

However, we are only part of a much larger fanbase.

While they may ignore our pleas, the WWE and TNA probably listen and hear other fans asking for something else entirely. So they DO listen to their fans, just not all of them. You can't please everyone, so you have to please the largest majority that you can.

The problem with this statement stems from the fans. We are too imaginative. We see how a story is going and create our own fantasy about how it should play out. We hype it up and get excited for it when it seems its going that way and finally, we are proven to be false. Our fantasies are crushed when something else occurs entirely. Something that wasn't as exciting as what we made up. We then start with our "WWE is too predictable" and "TNA keeps doing the same old s***" rants and we watch as others, whose fantasies were also crushed, join us.

The thing is, you can't hype yourself up about something too much.

Especially if it isn't a guarantee.

Take Star Wars for example. The Original Trilogy was one of the most popular movie franchises of all time. When it was announced that there was going to be a series of prequels, the fans went nuts. They were so excited about what they were going to see and started making predictions and getting themselves pumped up. Then they saw the movies and didn't like that their ideas were nowhere to be found. To make up for their bruised egos, they complained and said that the Prequel Trilogy "blows." Though it can be aruged that bad acting might have caused this, I see a different side.

One problem I had with the prequels was that everybody was a Jedi. The main characters were comprised of almost all Jedi and it bothered me. The reason why this bothered me is that we didn't see a Han Solo like character: A normal guy who was beast with a gun, didn't care about anybody except for himself (at first), and had an overall likeable attitude and appeal that made the Original trilogy so great. In the Prequel trilogy, we saw a bunch of emotionless Jedi who seemed to complain about having to play the role of the good guy and breaking every single rule they had. I guess you can see where this would be a letdown.

The same can be said about wrestling. We no longer have a Rock or Stone Cold. Their likable personas are what kept a lot of us coming back. Nowadays, we don't have as many memorable characters like that.

All of this stems from human nature's tendency to become jaded about almost everything. Movies, music, video games, TV, wrestling. Its all the same. We have to accept the fact that what we liked from our past has gone away, replaced with what is going to help the current generation get by. Soon, they will join us in our bitter states, witnessing a change to make way for the next generation.

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