Is professional wrestling lukewarm or did the temperature of the industry drop below 32 degrees in the middle of June?
One of the common talking points online right now is the notion that WWE is “soulless” under the TKO banner that churns out endless commercials and shameless sponsorships to the point that even the most diehard WWE fan has taken notice. The ironic part of that is, most of these corporate troupes have been apart of WWE programming for the past few years, and it seems like some viewers have only taken the time to truly put it into context more recently. Granted, the entire point of the promotional side of the business is to make as much of the product seem “must see” and as big as possible, but the WWE leaned into the sizzle to the point that it more than overwhelmed the level of substance that couldn’t live up to the hype.
The original Bloodline narrative was very well done, and against the odds, management was able to keep the Cody Rhodes chase for the championship relevant. It should be noted that his 2023 bout with Brock Lesnar at Summer Slam was pivotal to keep him strong as a baby face contender. Rhodes winning the title in honor of his late father, Dusty was fantastic storytelling and obviously, one of the most memorable moments of the modern era. That being said, the victory was the peak moment of this time period and everything within the past two years has been a natural decline. That’s not a knock on anyone, just the fact that every peak has a valley, and the best case scenario is to minimize the depth of the valley to maintain good business during those overall decreases as the next crop of money-drawing stars are produced.
There’s no doubt that Cody is a successful champion, and generally speaking, the WWE has a very successful business model right now with a significant amount of star power on the roster. If TKO is maximizing the short-term money in exchange for eroding the fan base in the future is a completely different discussion. However, it’s tough to argue with the Nick Khan and TKO philosophy when the WWE can tout record-setting profits for shareholders during conference calls.
That being said, and this might be the biggest point to be made of the current criticism of TKO, did the corporation overplay its hand to the point that it diminished the enthusiasm that was around the brand not that long ago?
While I will say that the Samoan saga of the Bloodline was brilliantly done, the notion from some pundits a few years ago that it should’ve been considered for an Emmy was completely silly. This is pro wrestling, not Casablanca. Along those lines, it was almost as though the WWE’s selling point became more about some faux “fine art of pro wrestling” than a compelling product that often didn’t justify the astronomical ticket prices. The biggest WWE selling point became that the fans should understand how wonderful this dramatic sports entertainment spectacle is rather than booking a product that could accomplish that goal organically based on the substance of the storylines.
Eventually, when the momentum of the Cody victory subsided, the audience was left with the previously mentioned slew of commercials that surpassed the amount of time given to the action on the broadcast. Calling the TKO product “soulless” is a way to get fans to click on the titles of Youtube videos, whereas the actual reasoning behind it is less dramatic than that. The WWE product is repetitive and stale, which was the same issue they had about a decade ago, albeit under different circumstances. The harsh reality is that the current narratives have more or less been told so it’s time to evolve and bring the audience something fresh. Does that mean that the entire main event scene should be scrapped? No, Cody is cemented as a top guy and should be booked as such. Roman Reigns is also bulletproof, as is CM Punk, but that doesn’t necessarily mean that any of them should continue to occupy the main event scene on a full-time basis going forward. The bigger point is that while those guys are still options for the main event picture, there should be a concerted effort from the office to productively push the next group of stars that are going to be responsible for representing the brand.
As I said, Cody was a successful champion and his two-year journey to the championship at Wrestlemania 40 was a successful coronation of the next top guy at the time, but the metrics of more or less every aspect of the industry is different because of the countless hours of WWE programming. On one hand, those media rights deals are why the WWE is worth billions of dollars, but on the other hand, the schedule burns through material at an exponentially faster pace than in the past. It was much easier to book Hulk Hogan as the champion for four years in the 80s when there was usually one hour of wrestling on TV each week. You inherently get less mileage out of everything in the business because there’s a lot more that those characters and angles have to do to satisfy the line-up of WWE programming at any given time. The bottom line is, more exposure leads to a shorter overall run.
If I had to guess, I think that’s why the WWE finds itself at the point it does right now, booking a repetitive angle on television simply because they don’t have anything fresh on the horizon. The Roman Reigns/Jacob Fatu storyline is a carbon copy of the Roman/Jey Uso feud from five years ago. As I wrote previously, the way Cody was booked to lose his way into the spot at Wrestlemania actually devalued him as a character. He lost the title on a random episode of Smackdown, lost at the Rumble and then lost at the Elimination Chamber. After he was made to look like he wasn’t up to par for the main event of WM, he won the belt back on another random episode of Smackdown. As we know, the Randy Orton match-up, as well as Pat McAfee’s involvement fell dismally flat when the office hit the panic button about ticket sales. Why wasn’t Cody vs. Drew deemed a strong enough main event for WM 42? The reason was, it was a match that the fans had seem a few times already because of the previously mentioned demands of the WWE schedule. With the repetitive angle of The Bloodline, and the argument to be made that Cody hasn’t recovered as a baby face from the way he was booked earlier this year, it’s fair to say that the current WWE product might not be frozen since it has star power, but it’s undoubtedly cold in the grand scheme of things.
All Elite Wrestling had its most compelling storyline in recent memory with the MJF/Darby Allin title match at Double or Nothing. The problem is, and this is probably why it worked because it didn’t run long enough for Tony Khan to complicate it, that compelling feud only lasted a month. There are reports that MJF suffered a minor knee injury during a match against Rush, but as long as he’s healed up by the Wembley Stadium event to presumably drop the title to Will Ospreay, it doesn’t really affect the big picture. Don’t get me wrong, All Elite shouldn’t necessarily be the subject of criticism, or at least no more than the usual justified amount, but in terms of the climate of the industry, All Elite doesn’t really boost or plunge the temperate. That’s not a jab, but rather an observation. It would be too lengthy to rehash many of the previous articles, but essentially, for the positive and the negative, All Elite Wrestling is already what it’s going to be. The die is cast so to speak as far as Tony Khan books the matches that he wants to watch, not necessarily what’s going to bring in more fans. He has the right to do that, his family funds the project and it’s one of the perks of the job. Somehow, an increase in the amount of star ratings is more important than stagnant or decreased television ratings. If the promotion makes money or turns a profit is moot since money is no object to the Khan family. The point being, All Elite Wrestling has a format that caters to more of a niche audience so the vast majority of the programming isn’t going to shift the direction of the industry.
New Japan was just sold to Cyber Fight for a reported $22.6 million so it remains to be seen if that will put them on a bigger platform or not, but there’s no question that the Japanese league is in a rebuilding phase. All things considered, All Elite Wrestling remains lukewarm because with the amount of talent they have, even a hit or miss product can yield some gems, but overall they are at room temperature because as I said, AEW isn’t going to truly impact the course of the business. I don’t think the WWE is in an ice age, because again, with the amount of talent and star power that they have, the potential is there for a much bigger upside, but management needs to rejuvenate the current landscape with some fresh angles to boost the product.
Until next week
-Jim LaMotta
Email [email protected] | You can follow me on Instagram, Facebook, & Threads @jimlamotta89
