- 2 years ago
Less Bray Wyatt BS would be a start...
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00:00 While WWE, under the stewardship of Triple H, is a vastly superior beast to the WWE seen
00:05 under the maniacal reign of Vince McMahon's final few years, there are still plenty of
00:10 problems with the present day WWE, and that's what we're looking at here.
00:13 So with that in mind then, I'm Andrew from Raw Culture Wrestling, and here are 10 things
00:17 WWE needs to stop doing immediately.
00:19 10.
00:20 Hit Rowe on the main roster
00:22 Clearly, some of Triple H's rehires of 2022 and 2023 have been better than others, but
00:29 few acts have failed to click on any sort of level as much as Hit Rowe.
00:35 In the group's previous iteration in NXT, and on the main roster briefly, it was Isaiah
00:40 "Swerve" Scott who was the focal point of the group, with B-Fab, Top Dolla and Ashanti
00:44 The Adonis serving as decent supporting players to Swerve's undeniable star power.
00:49 Of course, Swerve can these days be found in AEW under his Swerve Strickling guise,
00:53 and the remaining trio of Hit Rowe have floundered in Swerve's absence.
00:57 As a hand-slapping, energetic babyface act, fans didn't give a damn about Hit Rowe upon
01:02 the three's return to the company back in August.
01:04 It was a little bit sad and slightly uncomfortable to hear Fab, Dolla and Adonis put their all
01:10 into their pre-match raps, only for those raps to play out to an apathetic crowd.
01:14 Many had suggested that some of Hit Rowe's problems could be served by turning the three
01:18 heel, and just such a turn played out towards the end of last year.
01:22 Unfortunately though, the act is still an awful one that garners minimal reaction.
01:27 In fairness, Ashanti The Adonis is a decent in-ring worker, B-Fab has something, but Top
01:32 Dolla just carries himself on screen and on social media as if he's the second coming
01:37 of the rock.
01:38 Not in a "ooh what a cocky heel" way, the way you'd love to see Top Dolla get
01:42 his ass handed to him by a babyface, but more in a "seriously mate, have a word with yourself"
01:46 way.
01:47 As babyfaces, Hit Rowe have sucked.
01:48 As heels, Hit Rowe continue to suck.
01:51 The best option right now would be to send the entire trio back down to NXT to work on
01:55 their craft in the hope of finding something that clicks with audiences.
01:58 If not, Hit Rowe's return to WWE may be a rather short one.
02:03 Those painful ad break spots during premium live events
02:06 While there's clear plus points to WWE having tiered pricing options for their WWE Network
02:11 and their Peacock service, there are so many times during the premium live event where
02:15 those who pay the most for this service are left twiddling their thumbs as yet another
02:20 bunch of countless promo spots and montages play.
02:23 For those who opt to pay $4.99 to watch content through Peacock, that price point comes with
02:28 the inclusion of adverts.
02:29 The problem here though is what the viewing experience is like for those who choose to
02:33 pay the higher fee of $9.99 to watch ad-free action.
02:37 With WWE not wanting anything of note to happen during Peacock's ad breaks, that means that
02:42 premium live events are basically put on pause.
02:45 So to fill that time, the $9.99 subscribers find their screens filled with nothing video
02:50 packages designed to spotlight Bobby Lashley or Charlotte Flair or promote an upcoming
02:55 event, for no particular reason other than there's broadcast time that needs taking
02:59 up.
03:00 Obviously those watching on demand can skip through any such montages, but it makes for
03:04 a somewhat jarring viewing experience for anyone tuning in live to watch a premium live
03:08 event.
03:09 So much of the NXT daftness
03:13 Sure, NXT these days is far removed from the glory of the feigned black and gold days,
03:18 but the product is also better right now than it was when NXT 2.0 was in full flow.
03:24 And while there is absolutely a place in pro wrestling for a good old dollop of daftness,
03:29 NXT needs to drop what percentage of such daftness can be viewed on its weekly programming.
03:34 One has to remember NXT is technically a developmental ground, designed for talents to hone their
03:39 craft and learn the WWE style.
03:41 It's also a developmental ground in terms of a particular talent being afforded the
03:45 opportunity to flesh out a character or gimmick.
03:48 Still, at the end of the day, NXT is televised to a worldwide audience, and so what's seen
03:53 on those broadcasts does and should matter in terms of perception.
03:57 Case in point, a recent episode of NXT opened with a very solid 15 minute TV match between
04:03 Tyler Bate and Grayson Waller.
04:05 For those impressed by the in-ring action delivered between Bate and Waller, they were
04:08 then left rolling their eyes by a segment involving a 22 year old virgin getting a lesson
04:15 in how to kiss a girl.
04:16 This same episode later had Apollo Crews writing in his diary.
04:19 The Aheo was freaked out by four jobbers in dreadful masks.
04:23 There was a pantomime villain voice note from Isla Dawn.
04:25 We had a security guard learning how to wrestle.
04:28 A couple of tag teams played pool and racked up a comedy bar bill.
04:31 And we got the aforementioned 22 year old virgin getting giddy on Twitter before having
04:36 his big moment ruined.
04:38 Way, way too much daftness.
04:43 While it's nowadays ridiculous to see poor Excalibur have to rattle through a multitude
04:48 of matchup announcements in a short amount of time over on AEW programming, Tony Khan's
04:53 promotion should absolutely be commended for how they have their Dynamite and Rampage lineups
04:58 in place weeks ahead of time.
05:00 For WWE, it's completely the polar opposite to AEW when it comes to having upcoming shows
05:05 mapped out and to letting its audience know what to expect.
05:08 As an example, a recent AEW Dynamite was already planned out a week in advance with fans knowing
05:15 that they'd be tuning in the following week to see an 8-man tag match, a Hangman Adam
05:19 Page vs Kip Sabian match, Jungle Boy vs Brian Cage, Mark Briscoe vs Josh Woods, Tony Storm
05:25 vs Britt Baker vs Ruby Soho, and Jon Moxley and Claudio Castagnoli vs Arouche and Preston
05:31 Vance.
05:32 It was revealed that Wardlow would be sitting down to talk to Jim Ross, Adam Cole would
05:35 be interviewed by Rene Paquette, and there'd be an appearance from AEW World Champion MJF.
05:40 In WWE's case, you'll be lucky if you get two matches announced for either Raw or
05:45 Smackdown and even then, such announcements are often made online on the day of the show.
05:50 How bushy does it look on a kayfabe level when so many matches are conveniently put
05:55 together as Raw is in process?
05:57 As in, if Wrestler A didn't unexpectedly come out to interrupt Wrestler B and set up
06:01 a contrived singles bout, what exactly did WWE management have planned to take up Raw's
06:07 three hours?
06:08 It makes no sense.
06:11 Stop allowing Road Dogg to do his podcast!
06:13 For many wrestling fans, wrestling podcasts are part of their weekly or daily routine.
06:19 While there's clearly our own fantastic WhatCulture wrestling podcast output, there's
06:23 a whole array of other great content out there too.
06:26 Be that from outlets such as the Wrestling Observer to podcasts from those within the
06:30 industry like Dax Harwood, Jim Ross, Chris Jericho, Kurt Angle, Eric Bischoff, Arn Anderson,
06:34 Jeff Jarrett, Kevin Nash and the man many love to hate, James E. Cornette.
06:38 And then, well, there's Road Dogg.
06:41 Yes, Bruce Prichard may currently have his own podcast and be an active WWE Senior Vice
06:46 President, but at least Prichard's podchatter doesn't particularly impact WWE.
06:51 For the Road Dogg, Brian James, his podcast often seems to conflict with his present-day
06:56 role as WWE Senior Vice President of Live Events.
07:00 Case in point here, the D.O.
07:01 Double G's podcast comments about Dax Harwood have reignited a beef between both men.
07:06 Of course, this being the one and the same Dax Harwood whose AEW contract is expiring
07:11 in April and who has very publicly addressed that he and Cash Wheeler returning to WWE
07:16 is a very real option for the pair right now.
07:19 Would Diggs and half-arsed apologies from Road Dogg be enough for a talent to turn down
07:23 WWE?
07:24 Probably not, but it's still something which could be a factor where the free agent is
07:28 weighing up the various options and destinations available to them these days.
07:32 If you're going to have any WWE VP do their own weekly podcast, why not give William Regal
07:37 a nudge to restart his gentleman villain pod?
07:40 You know, as in a polite, professional, humble icon of the business.
07:44 5.
07:45 The Major Lack of Character Development Mia Yim and Piper Niven are two extremely
07:50 capable, talented wrestlers.
07:52 Well, why did the pair's recent match on Raw play out to utter crickets at Brooklyn's
07:57 Barclays Centre?
07:58 Clearly, the fact that Yim and Niven were given less than three minutes to impress is
08:02 of course one issue, but more problematic is that audiences haven't been given a reason
08:06 to care about either individual.
08:08 What do we know about the Mia Yim character since she's returned to WWE?
08:12 Okay, she's buddies with AJ Styles and the Good Brothers, and she likes to go by the
08:16 Meacham nickname.
08:17 Great.
08:18 As for Niven, she thankfully dropped the 'do drop' gimmick when she returned to
08:21 WWE programming at the Royal Rumble.
08:24 But what's the kayfabe reason for Piper to revert to her former moniker?
08:28 And why was now the time to do so?
08:30 All that we know from WWE TV is that Niven is a heel, and that's about it.
08:35 For fans to be invested in a wrestler, they need a reason to care.
08:38 You look at any even half over current act, and there's clear-cut characteristics on
08:43 display.
08:44 This is far from just the problem with Mia Yim and Piper Niven, don't get that confused,
08:47 for there are numerous members of the Raw and Smackdown rosters who lack any sort of
08:51 true character definition right now.
08:53 And until that is rectified, those talents will continue to struggle to connect with
08:57 audiences.
08:58 Number 4, the monotonous opening promo format.
09:01 Promo trains are nothing new to the wrestling business, and they certainly aren't a problem
09:05 unique to WWE, but they are still a problem for the company nonetheless.
09:09 In particular with WWE, it's the Raw brand that forever opens with one wrestler cutting
09:14 a promo, just to be interrupted by another wrestler.
09:17 It's too often to be interrupted by yet another wrestler.
09:20 It doesn't even have to be the traditional promo train of more than two acts exchanging
09:24 barbs.
09:25 For WWE's approach, in particular for Raw, is to just constantly open their show with
09:30 an interruption segment.
09:31 There was a 6th of February, where Edge and Beth Phoenix cut an in-ring promo, only to
09:35 get interrupted by Finn Balor, Damien Priest and Dominik Mysterio.
09:38 The week before that, the 30th of January, Cody Rhodes cut an in-ring promo, and then
09:42 got interrupted by Finn Balor, Damien Priest and Dominik Mysterio.
09:46 The 16th of January, The Bloodline cut an in-ring promo, only to get interrupted by
09:50 Rhea Ripley, Finn Balor, Damien Priest and Dominik Mysterio.
09:54 And the week before that, on the 9th of January, Kevin Owens cut an in-ring promo, only to
09:59 get interrupted by JBL and Baron Corbin.
10:03 Of course, for those wondering why the 23rd of January episode of Raw wasn't mentioned
10:08 there, that was Raw 30, and there was a whole different format, complete with an awful opening
10:12 promo from Hulk Hogan, brother.
10:15 In a TV broadcast, with a promo, a promo interruption or even a promo train involving multiple acts
10:21 is absolutely fine.
10:22 But seriously, can we not start to mix things up a little bit from week to week?
10:26 How about starting with, you know, a hot wrestling match from the get-go?
10:30 Maybe dropping a little backstage chaos?
10:32 Something, anything but just the same old, tired show opening trope each and every week.
10:38 Number 3, Standing around in the ring.
10:41 One of the more baffling tropes WWE has introduced in recent years is having a talent stand around
10:48 in the ring for a ludicrous amount of time as they wait for something to happen.
10:52 For example, a wrestler will make their way out to the ring, complete with their usual
10:57 entrance pomp and circumstance, then the show will go to a commercial break.
11:01 Upon returning from that ad intermission, a video package might air.
11:04 Another star or two will be interviewed backstage, and only then will the person stood out in
11:09 the ring either get to cut their own promo or be greeted by whichever opponent they're
11:13 scheduled to face.
11:14 There are regularly instances such as this where a wrestler is left to twiddle their
11:19 thumbs in the ring for like 7, 8 minutes.
11:22 Then that wrestler will have to be all smiles and poses once the focus finally returns to
11:27 them.
11:28 Just stop it.
11:29 Number 2, Bray Wyatt.
11:31 This is not to say that WWE needs to immediately stop Bray Wyatt's time with the company,
11:36 and once again, wish him well in his future endeavours, but the market leader needs to
11:41 do something to stop the current stench Wyatt is bringing to WWE programming.
11:46 It's clear that Windham Rotunda is an extremely creative person, a fantastic orator and more
11:52 than capable in the ring.
11:54 Yet the way he's presented in WWE is continuing to drag him and those around him down.
12:00 It would be fair to say that the Wyatt family as a collective certainly benefited all involved
12:04 at times, but who has ever entered the rivalry with Bray and emerged unscathed in terms of
12:09 their character and/or the crowd response to them?
12:12 Let's take a quick look at a few people.
12:14 Braun Strowman was literally drowned on pay per view by Wyatt before then dropping the
12:18 Universal Championship to him a month later at SummerSlam 2020.
12:22 Babyface Seth Rollins was made a laughing stock after his feud with The Fiend in 2019.
12:28 Uber tough bastard Dean Ambrose had the willies put up him by a fricking lantern back in 2014.
12:36 Earlier that same year, the legs momentarily were taken from under Daniel Bryan when he
12:40 fell under the spooky dookie spell of Wyatt.
12:43 John Cena looked like a total idiot after he lost to Bray due to a spooky kid singing.
12:49 And then there's poor Randy Orton who has shared black goo, refrigerator wars, fake
12:54 MAGA infested rings and more with Wyatt over the years, including attempted murder when
12:59 Randle Keith set The Fiend on fire, throwing Roman Reigns, Chris Jericho, Finn Balor and
13:05 even the often maligned Kane as just a few other examples of those who were hindered
13:10 by feuding with Bray Wyatt.
13:12 Thankfully, LA Knight's sheer charisma and personality means he should just about be
13:17 fine moving forward after the pair's Mountain Dew pitch black BS at the Royal Rumble, WWE
13:23 has proven with the bloodline that they can still exquisitely deliver long form storytelling.
13:28 But the whole Wyatt 6 guff and Captain Howdy mystery needs to seriously start to chug along
13:34 at a brisker pace.
13:35 It's been over 4 months now since Bray Wyatt returned to WWE, yet what more do we know
13:41 about Bray and all the spooky stuff that surrounds him now than we did when the Eater of Worlds
13:46 returned last October?
13:47 Nothing, we don't know anything more about this guy.
13:51 No World Title presence on Raw.
13:54 Whether the undisputed WWE Universal Championship is once again split into two separate entities
13:59 or not, there absolutely needs to be a World Title presence on Raw once WrestleMania 39
14:05 is in the rear view mirror.
14:06 It's long been reported how WWE has discussed splitting the two belts that are currently
14:11 in the possession of Roman Reigns, and likewise there have been rumblings that USA Network
14:15 executives are keen to have a World Championship on the Monday Night Flagship show.
14:19 WWE has a couple of options on this front.
14:22 The most logical may well indeed be to re-establish the WWE Championship and WWE Universal Championship
14:28 as individual beasts, with one of those titles housed on Raw and one based on Smackdown.
14:34 However, should WWE decide that it still doesn't want to split these belts, the other sensible
14:39 option would be to just have the undisputed WWE Universal Champion actually appear on
14:44 Raw on a regular basis.
14:46 Granted, Roman Reigns and his schedule means that the Tribal Chief doesn't necessarily
14:50 even appear on every single episode of Smackdown these days, but it's laughable how few Raw
14:56 appearances Roman has made since taking that brand's top title from Brock Lesnar at WrestleMania
15:01 38.
15:02 So, there are 10 things that WWE needs to stop doing immediately.
15:05 Agree?
15:06 Disagree?
15:07 Or are there any other problems WWE needs to fix right now?
15:10 Be sure to let us know in the comments.
15:12 And while you're here, be sure to like, subscribe, share, turn those notification
15:15 bells on, and come and give us a follow on Twitter @WhatCultureWWE.
15:19 While you're there, you can find me @CulturedLeftPeg.
15:21 I've been Andrew Pollard from What Culture Wrestling, and hopefully you've enjoyed
15:24 this video, and most importantly, I hope that whatever you're doing today, it's a good
15:28 day.
15:29 Whether you're doing something, whether you're doing nothing, I hope you have the
15:30 best possible time.
15:31 And if you're not, I hope things turn around very quickly, and I will catch you down the
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