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