Maven Huffman has offered a blunt critique of WWE, saying the company is “on the wrong track” and pointing to the decline of house shows as a major factor affecting match quality and locker room chemistry.
Speaking in a YouTube video, Maven argued that today’s wrestlers simply aren’t getting enough in-ring repetitions compared to previous generations, which he believes is showing on television.
“Two guys who I believe one day will be in the Hall of Fame, two guys who I know can wrestle circles around me, two guys who are at the top of their games, and on a recent episode of Saturday Night’s Main Event, they put a match out that both guys in their heart of hearts probably wasn’t happy with,” Maven said. “They looked sluggish. Their timing was off. They lacked any aggression, and they looked like they were still in the feeling out process of working one another.”
He compared that to his own era, where frequent house show matches allowed wrestlers to refine their chemistry before performing on television.
“When you work somebody three, maybe four times in one week, you get to figure out what works, what doesn’t work,” he said. “And you’re not feeling this out on television.”
Maven also pointed to comments from Cody Rhodes, who echoed concerns about the loss of team cohesion due to reduced time on the road together.
“One of the things that I really fear is it’s hard to say you’re part of a team if you’re not playing with your team all the time,” Rhodes said. “Those are a lot easier when I know you already. When it doesn’t feel obligatory. I thought for me, it was incredibly valuable. It was tight, and you learned, and there was a rhythm, and it helped with the live TV matches.”
Beyond in-ring issues, Maven criticized the modern WWE style as overly choreographed.
“Every match in the WWE looks like a dance. It looks structured. It doesn’t look like free flowing, just listening to the crowd, reacting from your audience, giving what your opponent gives you,” Maven said. “It looks like every move is laid out and diagrammed like routes on a map.”
He also took issue with wrestlers repeating botched spots instead of adapting in the moment.
“If you mess up a spot, don’t go back for it,” Maven said, citing advice from Test. “All that is, is telling your audience, ‘Hey, I messed up, but I’m going to fix it right now,’ and that’s not doing anyone any favors.”
Maven further warned that rising costs could alienate fans, pointing to subscription services, ticket prices, and merchandise.
“There’s no reason that people should have to spend 50, 60, $100 a month strictly to professional wrestling, because what you’re going to do is you’re going to lose fans,” he said. “Fans are going to choose another option. There is no lack of entertainment for younger viewers.”
He also highlighted the heavy ad load on WWE Raw.
“Every time I could get into something, I was getting sold DoorDash, or I was being told to buy this or buy that,” he said. “I guarantee if you run too many ads, you run the risk of boring your fans, and if you bore your fans long enough and ask for too much of their dollars, they’re going to find their entertainment options better utilized somewhere else.”
Maven closed by warning that accessibility is key to wrestling’s long-term survival.
“The days of being a wrestling fan being passed down from father to son, from mother to daughter, those days are just going to stop,” he said.
