Now that I can watching wrestling again, I find myself struggling to be entertained by the current product. The last time I was really into wrestling, and I mean watching it, following it, reading Lords of Pain, and living it, there were the big three. WWF, WCW, and ECW ran the show, Monday Night Wars were coming to an end (as we all know WCW was suffering), and it was just interesting. Now, not so much.
The WORST thing that could have happened to wrestling did, one company (WWF/WWE) absorbed the mainstream competitors. They bought out ECW, which was bleeding itself out of business. That left the industry with two main stream companies. Then Vince McMahon purchased WCW. As a fan of wrestling, that was the worst possible scenario. As a businessman, that was the best thing for Vince to do. He essentially has a monopoly. If it wasn't for TNA (Total Nonstop Action), it would basically be a monopoly. The after-effects of that purchase is showing quite evident today. The product is terrible. There is no brand skipping. No surprises, and a lower interest.
Fast-forward a few years and you have today's product, a PG rated product (at least for WWE as TNA is TV-14 last I checked). Something more kid friendly. Even "ass" is censored. It seems like WWE has reverted back to the same product it was in the early 90's. I'm just not a big fan of it. Maybe it's because I grew up during the "hardcore" era where wrestlers were set on fire, put through tables and wrapped in barbed wire, but I need some sort of "wow" factor that only that aspect of wrestling brought to the table. I also think Vince can pull off the "attitude" era style with the kid-friendly "entertainment" era. This is how:
Make Raw the edgy show. Keep it TV-14. Listen, Raw's original existence was to be a more edgy Wrasslin' show. Supposed to be different that the rest. It seems to be tarnished with a more friendly production. I don't think that's a good thing. Then make SmackDown! the kid-friendly PG show. Make the audience understand the difference between the two. If you're going to continue keeping the two brand separated, then you need to have them be two completely different entities. If you don't, then why bother keeping them separate. It's certainly not doing the same thing the Monday Night Wars did. That is for sure.
Last thing I want to comment on is the TEMPORARY return of The Rock. I don't believe for one second that The Rock is making a complete return. Nevertheless, I am happy he is back, even for a short time. Yes, he is spewing the same comedic lines that made him popular in the late 90's/early 2000's. The best part about it is that despite being old, it's still 1,000x better than what anyone else currently has to offer on the WWE roster. Even Edge has lost his luster. John Cena isn't nearly as funny as he once was, and HHH is, well HHH. The Rock brings the best out of the other wrestlers, and to see him back is refreshing despite being a rehash of 10 years ago.
I really hope the other wrestlers take notes from the great one. They certainly can use all the help they can get. I have a suspicion that wrestling is going to a lot get worse before it gets better.
You may wonder why I didn't talk at all about TNA. Well, they're dying. It's that simple. Their ratings are dropping like a heavy dense stone in water, their attendance is down almost 25%, and their management is terrible. It's basically WCW all over again. Dixie Carter isn't a good business person, nor is she any good at booking, and Eric Bischoff is a complete moron. The best thing they did was get Hogan off of TV. I think it's safe to say EVERY wrestling fan is sick of Hogan (and Flair, but he's out on injury).
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