It’s been well-documented that WWE has lost some steam over the past year, an almost unavoidable scenario since every peak needs a valley, and the peak of the current era was when Cody Rhodes finally dethroned Roman Reigns for the championship a few years ago. In many ways, TKO bought themselves a safety net of an extra year to keep the drawing power strong through the John Cena retirement tour. It was the smart business move, as the corporation maximized the exit of the last mainstream star that the WWE made for the general public. Make no mistake about it, Roman Reigns, CM Punk, and Cody Rhodes have all done a solid job in the position as the top guy in the company, but Cena is still the most recent pro wrestler that the average American will recognize. If individual performers can reach that status today with the structure of how the WWE promotes the brand ahead of specific stars is a different discussion for a different time.
So, TKO had a selling point throughout 2025, but there was no doubt that this year saw the momentum slow to some extent, and the product cooled off. The sluggish ticket sales for Wrestlemania, and TKO’s insistence of Pat McAfee’s random involvement to almost point out the flaws didn’t help the situation. McAfee was put in a no-win situation to the point that he stepped away from the business completely after the conclusion of the storyline. At the same time, TKO CEO, Mark Shapiro more or less thumbed his nose at the criticism toward the conglomerate that ticket prices soared while pay-per-view broadcasts were littered with more commercial time than anything else. When audio of Shapiro giving a lecture at a college surfaced online, he acknowledged that TKO’s business model would sour some fans, but the goal was to make new fans in the process. If that strategy or lack thereof erodes the overall fan base in the process is definitely a debatable topic.
In many ways, it appeared that TKO tried to convince the audience that they were watching some grand spectacle simply because of the WWE logo, but more often than not, at least within the past year, the content didn’t live up to the hype. There was a lot more sizzle than there was substance, leading to some underwhelming viewing experiences. The 30-minute main event between Roman Reigns and Seth Rollins at Summer Slam wasn’t this epic drama that saw The Shield have a full-circle moment. Instead, it was a slow, boring segment that dragged on way too long, making both athletes look less impressive than they usually are in marquee matches.
The Bloodline angle being recycled doesn’t do anyone any favors either. In short, the WWE needed to shuffle the deck, as very few on the roster seem to have purposeful roles on the shows, while most competitors get thrown into a random storyline to keep them busy rather than to progress the overall narrative. The LA Knight title chase literally is a carbon copy from the original Bloodline angle when they had a match at Crown Jewel three years ago.
When Sami Zayn won the WWE championship in a triple threat match against Cody and Gunther this past June, it was somewhat of a surprise, not because Sami isn’t championship material, as we’ve seen he’s one of the best in-ring workers in the entire business. but rather the notion that TKO isn’t going to venture too far outside of the typical look of a pro wrestler at a time when the WWE continues to look for more mainstream exposure through the ESPN deal. When someone is channel surfacing through the ESPN line-up and finds The Golics simulcast of their ESPN radio show, it’s much easier for the casual fan that might remember the Attitude era to identify Roman Reigns as a WWE wrestler from pure aesthetics than to understand the value of a performer the caliber of Sami in the ring if he’s sitting at a desk.
When Sami dropped the title to CM Punk on Raw less than two weeks later, it was assumed that he was used as a transitional champion to set up the Punk/Cody bout that was one of the main events at the previously mentioned Summer Slam weekend. In truth, Sami doesn’t necessarily need the belt since he makes the best of anything he’s involved with, but him unseating Punk on Smackdown in Mexico City adds some variety to the product, if for no other reason than it sends the message to the audience that anything can happen on any given week, even the WWE title changing hands on television. That spontaneity is key to avoiding complacency, especially outside of Royal Rumble season when the pieces of the puzzle start to get put into place for Wrestlemania.
Granted, this might be another short-term run with the belt for Zayn, and maybe it was something booked specifically for Mexico City since it had been several years since the WWE ran TV tapings there, but the intrinsic value is the same, it brings a more organic presentation to the table, which is something TKO has needed for the majority of the year. Furthermore, it gave the Hispanic audience a title change, which might be used as somewhat of a substitute for a noteworthy result in the country if Penta is going to do the job in his match against Roman on Raw tonight.
Obviously, it remains to be seen where things go from here, particularly with Sami as champion, but that’s the point of the surprise switch, it avoids the stale or predictable direction. From what we’ve seen so far, it looks like CM Punk/Kevin Owens is going to be a money feud, and I’m not sure it would need the championship to be a featured match based on the quality of the promos already. Still, the booking of the actual title contest kept CM Punk strong with him getting the visual victory with the submission on Zayn with the interference from Candice LeRae and Johnny Gargano before Owens’ involvement.
One thing is for sure, regardless if Sami keeps the title for an extended period or not, it’s a good thing that the office has added some variety to the product. As much as Johnny Gargano was made to look like a dork for months, maybe this will lead to something more meaningful for him to do in the grand scheme of things. If I had to pinpoint one specific reason that this year was so flat, it was probably because that the current crop of main event guys have more or less already done everything there is to do, which happens much faster now than it did in the past with the two-night format for signature pay-per-views, along with the rest of the expanded calendar. For example, the Bron Breakker/Oba Femi bout could’ve theoretically been booked for a major pay-per-view, but Sunday Night’s Main Event needed some big matches to justify its place on the line-up. I’m not saying that Sami Zayn has to main event Wrestlemania next year, but hopefully, his tenure in the main event scene will be longer than the two weeks he had with the belt prior to this, simply for the chance to booked fresh matches in the next few months.
Until next week
-Jim LaMotta
Email [email protected] | You can follow me on Instagram, Facebook, & Threads @jimlamotta89
