I had this article days ago. I was going to avoid making fun of Degeneration X. Then Raw happened, and two 50-year-old men started acting like pre-teen boys. Which is weird because I was a pre-teen boy when they started this and I loved it. However, I turned 36 last week. I’ve moved past it, but the WWE seemingly never has.
That’s one of many issues with the WWE. They just can’t get anything going so they rehash the same things over and over and over again. Hence the reason we have the damn Shield again. AGAIN. All three guys have moved on as characters and had success on their own. Holding titles. Holding the top spot. But we have to have them be in a group again because why? It makes no sense but here we are. Again.
That’s the root of the issue. Nothing makes sense. Last week, Kevin Owens (along with Elias) was part of one of the best segments in ages. Before Sami Zayn got hurt, KO was one of the top stars on Raw. This week…he lost to Bobby Lashley and then Lashley went heel on a heel and attacked him.
There’s no damn consistency. Kevin Owens is one of the best in the world. Bobby Lashley is so boring drying paint would turn the channel. But he’s got the physique that Vince McMahon loves, so perhaps this is where the big boys play? Wins and losses don’t matter. Nobody can build up any consistency or prominence because they win one week and lose clean the next, usually to a guy going nowhere. Bray Wyatt, for example, has a great character, a tremendous entrance, and has basically disappeared. Likewise, titles are almost as meaningless at this point.
— J.T. Nutt (@jtthenutt) October 9, 2018
Sam’s Club already has Christmas decorations up. In October. But Christmas is (I guess?)just around the corner. I’m reminded of being a kid and being really excited to see what Santa brought. Looking back on it now, the build up to Christmas was the best part. Opening the gift that morning was thrilling and exciting, of course. And I loved that toy or game for a while. Then I got tired of it. It got boring.
This is how I feel about the current WWE.
Meh.
That’s the overall reaction to 90% of the WWE right now. Elias had heel heat we haven’t seen since Vickie Guerrero and John Cena. Elias made fun of Seattle not having a basketball team, which is cheap heel heat but it struck a nerve to the point they turned up the house lights on the audience. I don’t think I’ve ever seen that before. I’m hoping the WWE cashes in on it, but they likely won’t. Oh look, he got interrupted by Rhonda Rousey? Umm…what?
The product is not terrible. It’s not great. It’s just….boring. Only a handful of guys make me stop what I’m doing. Kevin Owens is one. The Miz is the best guy on the Mike…er mic and has been for a while. He really is Must See TV. He has a feud going with Daniel Bryan. I was sad to see Daniel Bryan retire, happy to have him back, but now he’s just…there. The magic is gone with him. It’s not his fault. It’s not anyone’s fault. He’s still a great wrestler, but that mojo is gone. He’s just another guy, which is something that was unimaginable a few years ago. That’s the problem with many of the wrestlers is they are just replaceable and forgettable.
The WWE couldn’t even get AJ Styles vs Nakamura to work. These guys have had some of the best matches in the history of pro wrestling, and they came out like a popcorn fart. Nakamura was amazing in NXT and has been…meh…in the WWE. Speaking of which, NXT is amazing week in, week out. The talent there you hope stays there because they’ll just be a waste on the main roster. See: Tye Dillinger, Bobby Roode, Nakamura. Hell, it took a heel turn to make Sami Zayn interesting and then he got hurt. But, hey, let’s push Bobby Lashley because…well I don’t know why.
Samoa Joe is finally getting some mic time, which is nice. But the stalking of AJ Style’s family seems like a bad TNA angle. Samoa Joe has everything the WWE wants in a “guy,” yet he’s largely just been…there. That’s kind of how a lot of guys are. They are just there. Nothing is being built up. Nothing is happening. I have buddies that are going to drop the WWE Network. It’s not even worth the $10 a month. Personally, I skip through most of Raw and Smackdown.
Cody Rhodes left the WWE because they were making him into what amounts to a cartoon character (Stardust). I’m still pissed they never tagged him with Dolph Ziggler and gave us Ziggy Stardust. It’s a bad pun and that’s a total WWE thing to do. And I would have been fine with it. But Cody left the WWE because of the creative aspect of it. He wanted to redefine himself and has done so, brilliantly.
He might be the hottest commodity in all of pro wrestling. The “All In” PPV was executed perfectly. It gave the spotlight to a ton of talent the WWE crowd was not familiar with. He didn’t put himself in the main event (hi, Triple H) but did win a title. It was a tremendous wrestling PPV because was all about wrestling.
The WWE needs a shake up. They need a pipebomb. They need…something. Anything. Triple H is doing fantastic things with NXT and would be smart enough to do the same with the main roster if given the chance. Brock Lesnar made a mockery of the title. AJ Styles is carrying Smackdown. Becky Lynch might be the most over person on the roster right now and rightly so. They are finally letting women wrestlers be wrestlers instead of just running random feuds and backstabbing and what we got out of the Diva’s era. Alexa Bliss cuts promos better than almost anyone in the company. Paige has been the best general manager we’ve had in years. So there are several things going right. But all in all, it’s just all a little flat. It’s lukewarm. It’s…boring. It’s not for a lack of effort or talent or intelligence. It’s just …stale. It’s just…meh.