WWE Raw: The Only Answer to Declining Nielsen Ratings

Three years ago, Heath Ledger turned in one of the greatest movie-villain performances in history.  This past summer, Michael Fassbender played an amazing Magneto.  Looking at the top action movies of all time, the common thread is a compelling villain.

Looking at the list, without a shadow of doubt, any reader can likely name the primary villain:

The Dark Knight – Joker.

Star Wars Original Trilogy – Darth Vader.

Star Wars Prequels – Logic/Dialogue.

Spider-Man – Green Goblin.

Transformers – Megatron.

Avatar – Time.

Simply put, you come to the show for the hero, you stay for the villain and you keep coming back for the satisfying conclusion.

During the Attitude Era, WWE’s primary villain was Vince McMahon. He played that role to perfection. Triumphant babyfaces were anti-heroes at best.

The problem with WWE today and why ratings decline consistently is because heels can’t win. Heels and faces should not trade wins back and forth, faces win to conclude feuds. PG-WWE is seemingly obsessed with sending every crowd home happy.

Crowds go home happy in major cities: MSG, Chicago, Miami, Los Angeles, not Podunk, Miss.

Sending people home with a smile is far inferior to sending them home wowed. WWE should try for both, but go for the wow, outside the aforementioned locations.

Fast Five featuring Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson had an incredible scene in the end where he shoots the villain without even looking at him. That was a wow moment that effectively closed the conflict.

Imagine a promo in 2012 where Miz, tells the crowd from a dark room, “I had a dream of a WWE Universe, without CM Punk, and it was so boring.”

This worked for Ledger because we believed the Joker had the ability to destroy Batman, and simply chose not to. The whole movie had convincingly built up to that point.

The WWE can create intelligent entertainment by believably building up both heels and faces. The WWE will consequently raise its own status in the entertainment industry. Ratings will rise, PPV buy rates will increase, and if they are lucky WWE Studios will turn a profit. (Writer's note: Write John Cena character’s like it’s 2011-12 and not like late '80s or early '90s action heroes, you’d be surprised with the results.)

Wrestling needs to increase the wow factor again. This can only be done by increasing the number of stars. UFC is predicated on its ability to have numerous top names for interchangeable monthly main events. As a result, it is never stale, and each title is very prestigious.

WWE cannot rely on the title to drive PPVs, they simply make the outcomes way too predictable. That limits the entertainment factor. Limited entertainment factor results in limited ratings and buy rates.

This can change if only WWE would take a lesson from the entertainment industry it so strongly envies.

Consequently, the John Cena heel turn is not the answer, because right now all roads lead through Cena—even the road to ruin.