WWE's programming has hit a slump. Viewership on its flagship show, Raw, is way down, and Seth Rollins even commented on the quality of the show recently. Although that was part of the storyline, Rollins was saying what fans of WWE programming have been saying for quite some time. WWE's non-NXT content had become stagnant and boring.
On the December 17 episode of Raw, the entire McMahon family--sans Linda--came out to announce that there will be changes in WWE, and much like the announcement in the '90s that ushered in the Attitude Era, the landscape for the sports entertainment company will change.
However, this change won't happen overnight. The episode of Raw that followed was a bit more of the same, as expected, but we did get a fun gauntlet match for the number one contender for the Raw Women's Championship. And Tyler Breeze returned to television and challenged Dean Ambrose for the Intercontinental Championship. On top of all that, six NXT superstars are getting called up. When? No clue, but probably in the new year.
We got more of this "everything is changing" landscape on Smackdown the next night, but again, it's going to take time to see how all of this plays out. The Roadie didn't become the Road Dogg overnight.
As we look at the current landscape with WWE's primary programming--Raw, Smackdown, and the PPVs--we have a few ideas on how to return these shows to their glory days. Let us know what changes you want to see in the comments below.
16. Stay the course with Smackdown
When it comes to the Tuesday night series, Smackdown, WWE needs to stay the course. Sure, the tag division could be expanded a little bit, but overall, it's a very solid show. Smackdown does a great job highlighting most of its roster and giving the spotlight to more than three or four performers, and does so with one hour less of programming each week. Keep doing what you're doing, Smackdown.
15. Cut ties with Saudi Arabia
WWE's deal with Saudi Arabia is a stain that could easily be cleaned up. The Greatest Royal Rumble was nothing more than a propaganda piece, where Michael Cole called the city of Jedha "progressive" and "beautiful" more times than they told us the price of the WWE Network. Then, there was Crown Jewel--the PPV that took place just days after the country's leader ordered the assassination of a journalist.
Look, I understand WWE is a global brand, but how about you stay away from countries that violate human rights on the regular. Doing so will make the company look better in the eyes of the public. Also, it's very obvious even WWE fans want this to happen. Remember when everyone booed at The Undertaker before the event when he simply mentioned it by name?
14. Put Paige back on TV
In the wake of WWE trying to change what's happening on television, Paige was pulled from her job as General Manager and now her future is in limbo. She's a fan favorite and needs to be involved with the company in some way, and like many of you, I want her on TV. The general manager role was the perfect fit. She can't compete anymore, so what she can and can't do is limited. Personally, I don't like the idea of her on commentary. She could work in some facet as a kayfabe mentor backstage, giving superstars advice, all for the viewers to see play out. This would be a new role we haven't really seen before on television.
13. Slow down on the NXT call ups
With the announcement of big changes coming, six NXT superstars were announced they would be moving up to either Raw or Smackdown. As this happened, I could only worry about members of the current roster that were sure to be future endeavored. There's only so much room on TV for the superstars, and many of them are already absent as is, like Ascension--the former, dominant NXT tag team champions. Or remember Zack Ryder? Adding six new superstars doesn't fix the already over-bloated roster and poor stories that focus on very few wrestlers to begin with. WWE should slow down on these call ups until they can figure out how to get more stars onto each show.
Side note: Nikki Cross appeared on Smackdown back in November, to challenge Becky Lynch. So why are they announcing she's being called up with this new pack of NXT superstars?
12. No more 30-minute-long opening segments
It feels like every episode of Raw opens up with a superstar coming to the ring, and talking into a mic. Then someone else comes down to the ring, and says something mean, then they eventually have a match. Before that match even begins, sometimes, it's been 30 minutes. How about Raw gets kicked off with a match with superstars we don't always see on TV? Sure, long segments can be good, but that time could be used better.
11. No more Brock Lesnar
Brock Lesnar ruins a lot about Raw. He's currently the Universal Champion, and for the most part, has been for the better part of two years. Also, he's never around and barely defends his championship. Essentially, Raw doesn't have a main championship title, and because of this, there is no real reason for superstars to rise to the occasion. It was on a recent episode of Raw that Women's Champion Ronda Rousey said those with titles should be ready and willing to defend them the night after a PPV event. Brock doesn't even show up for TV the night after a PPV. There's a glass ceiling for everyone, and its name is Brock Lesnar. If you get rid of Lesnar and have a fighting champion, I can start caring about the show again. Also, this guy hasn't been a "big money draw" in ages.
10. Put the Universal Championship on Finn Balor
Vince McMahon and the WWE have a love affair with giant, muscle-bound men as champion. However, that's not how wrestling has evolved. Some of the best in the world, are smaller, more agile human beings with huge movesets. With the Universal Champion being harder to see than John Cena in camouflage, it's time to hit the reset button, and that means Finn Balor should reclaim what he never lost, the Universal Championship. He has the in-ring ability, charisma, and mic skills to be the perfect champion for this new era.
9. Or get rid of the Universal Championship and have the WWE Championship cross shows (Same goes for Women's title)
Much like the last time the brand split happened in WWE, maybe the company could benefit from the main championship being defended on both brands. They could get rid of the cursed Universal Championship and just have the WWE Championship crossover between the two shows.The mid-card belts would still be there, but it would help create the rivalry for between Smackdown and Raw that already exists in the fans' minds.
8. Introduce women's tag titles
I hate saying that WWE needs more titles--as there are way too many already-- but this one makes sense. Moving forward with the women's revolution, both teams of Sasha Banks and Bayley as well as Nia Jax and Tamina have shown that there should be a division for women. There's also The Riott Squad and the IIconics. The seeds for this division are there.
7. Cut down a few PPV, getting rid of the gimmicky ones
Thankfully, in 2018, WWE made all PPVs dual-branded and the cut back a little on how many the company produced each year. In 2019, WWE could continue to highlight the importance of the PPV by cutting back a couple more. The easiest cuts WWE could make would be shows like Extreme Rules and TLC. Both extreme rules and TLC match types can be added to any PPV and don't need a whole event based around them. The same could be said about Hell in a Cell and Elimination Chamber, but because of the sizes of the enclosures, they need their own shows.
6. PPVs don't need every championship defended
Raw, Smackdown, and NXT have, in total, 15 championships between the shows. That's a lot, and I know I just said WWE should add more titles earlier. When it comes to PPVs, though, not every title needs to be defended. Between Raw and Smackdown, there are eight titles--nine if you count the Cruiserweight Championship--and many times, the majority of them are defended on each PPV. Let's give the defenses some breathing room so we can build on stories more, shall we?
This also can help out when you don't have a story for your current champions, like with what happened at Wrestlemania this year, when Braun Strowman and a child won the titles. However, part of the problem with that was because Raw's tag team division is a joke.
5. Raw's tag division needs a complete revamp
Raw's tag division has been in a weird place. There's nothing entirely compelling about what's going on there. The teams are bland, for the most part, and why should anyone watching the show care?
Current Raw tag teams:
- Bobby Roode & Chad Gable
- AOP
- The Ascension
- The Revival
- The B-Team
- Breezango (Fandango is injured)
The Ascension needs a facelift, and for a way to forget how horribly booked they were when they came up from NXT. They could be a dominant force. Roode & Gable are fine, but not really my cup of tea. The Revival needs to be pushed harder, maybe have a feud with AOP, and B-Team needs to be broken up and replaced with something new. Sure, maybe Heavy Machinery could help build up this division. For me, the most exciting thing about Raw's tag division this year was Breezango getting moved to Raw, only to get buried before Fandango's injury.
Look, Smackdown's tag division also needs a bit of a facelift, but the feuding between The Bar, The Usos, and The New Day has been some of the most entertaining stuff of the year and coming out of it have been some incredible matches. So again, stay the course and maybe move forward with the Good Brothers angle.
4. More segments outside of the arena
Remember when Stone Cold beat Booker T up at a supermarket? Remember when DX invaded WCW? Remember when Brian Pillman defended his living room with a gun? Ok, maybe don't remember that last one. One of the things the Attitude Era actually had going for it was that there were plenty of segments that took place outside of the arena, in the real world.
It drew the viewers in and made them feel like anything could happen. It blurred the lines between wrestling and reality, even though--at that point--Vinnie Mac had already told us it wasn't real, and that my childhood was a lie. If the McMahons want to take WWE into a new era, you may as well take some old ideas that created some memorable moments and explore new avenues.
3. Less heavily scripted promos and commentary
One of the things I loved about the golden era or as I call it the "your job is your gimmick" era of WWF was the segments and promos were brilliant. We had these awesome speeches by Macho Man about the tower of power--too sweet to be sour. Ultimate Warrior tried to convey an idea about warrior spirits or something. Ted DiBiase talked about being rich, and Ric Flair was just everything awesome about wrestling.
Now, for every Ric Flair, there was a 20 other stars who couldn't talk to save their lives, but I miss superstars being given that chance to really go for it on the mic, to show off how excited they were to fight in the ring, and to let their characters shine. The same goes for commentary. It's too paint-by-numbers now. The more you can't call the action in the ring--because you're busy promoting Kay Jewelers or Mattel's new toys--the less the viewers feel connected to you.
2. Bring back stables
WWE has a couple stables floating around like Undisputed Era, New Day, and Sanity, but only one of those groups has a stable feel, with New Day and Sanity being more tag teams than anything else. Stables should feel like a force that have the ability to shake the foundations of the company, all while building up underutilized talent. There are plenty of talent performers in WWE that could use this bump. I'm not saying there should be a ton of stables running around, but WWE could use a few strong ones.
1. Don't get rid of title rematches
One of the changes WWE made right away was that there will be no automatic title rematches. I completely understand why this rule was made, as it creates a storyline loop that has two people fighting each other after the story has naturally come to a close. However, rematches are still needed to prove the new champion is superior that the former one. Sending the former champ to "the back of the line" doesn't make sense in the grand scheme of things.
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