By @anarchyroll
12/8/15
Do you have a pro wrestling themed podcast, blog, or website? Are you a retired pro wrestler or pro wrestling personality? Do you make the choice to sit through every minute including commericials of WWE presented television every week? If so, you likely think the current state of WWE is half a drop of sweat from tiping over the point of no return into the doomsday pit of armageddon, hell, and Impact Wrestling levels of no return.
If you are not one of the types listed above but still watch and pay attention to pro wrestling on a casual or slightly dedicated status you likely think the current state of WWE is somewhere between; meh, could be better, and damn good wrestling but the promos are too scripted.
I am not a fan of the current product WWE is presenting on television every week. I think it is too predictable, formulaic, and presented in a tongue and cheek manner as PG as it has been in the last ten years.
However, the negative bias against WWE by those who choose to dedicate their time, energy, and focus on a weekly basis has reached levels previously reserved for terrorist attacks and Star Wars prequels.
If you choose to watch every minute of the seven plus hours of content WWE produces every week, it is easy to loose the forest in the trees. To think that the current product is the worst ever, which I have read and heard on numorous sites and podcasts is to also choose to ignore or not remember WWE in 1983, 1993, 1995, 2003, 2010; WCW from 1994 through the birth of the nWo ; ECW of Syfy ; and TNA Impact Wrestling from 2011- present.
To have such a viciously negative paradigm of WWE while ignoring the good to great work being done consistently by Ring of Honor, New Japan Pro Wrestling, Lucha Underground, and Pro Wrestling Guerilla makes the bloggers, podcasters, and haters part of the problem as much as Vince McMahon’s unwilligness to change/evolve/retire.
Choose to not watch, not cover, not report on the bad and to focus on the good of alternative pro wrestling. That is what I have done. I stopped watching WWE on a consistent basis during the Road to WrestleMania 21. John Cena and Dave Bautista have never been my cup of tea after 2004.
I still watch WWE, but not as often. I will read results before choosing whether or not to watch except for the big four ppvs (Rumble, Mania, Summerslam, Survivor Series). I instead choose to spend my time, focus, and money supporting ROH, NJPW, and the indies. From 2003-2009 I also happily did so for TNA.
But it is not WWE’s actual quality that all these podcasters and retired wrestling personalities hate. It’s that if they don’t choose to cover WWE someone else will. The fear of being unpopular and irrelevant. The fear WWE hasn’t had since March of 2001.
Sheamus isn’t that bad of a champion. Roman isn’t that bad of a lead babyface. Neither are my preferred choice. If were up to me the wrestlers currently feuding for the IC and NXT titles would be the faces of the company. But…..
WWE is not obligated to live up to the expectations of my imagination and personal taste.
Just because you have a blog, podcast, Twitter account, and/or a history in the pro wrestling business doesn’t mean WWE owes that to you either.
Accept that and cover them with some integrity and respect for journalism/broadcasting or accept that you are as thick headed, immature, and unable to evolve as the people booking the current WWE product.
That being said…..
Good points!!