Drawing Money: Why Today's WWE Is Struggling

No, I'm not saying WWE is going to die anytime soon, I wouldn't be surprised if they manage to stay around forever, but what I am saying is that they could be making A LOT more money. This coming from someone who likes the love triangle and didn't mind Hornswoggle being revealed as the anonymous GM (that thing was a joke from day one, are people really getting up in arms about it now?). This isn't a matter of what is good and what isn't, its a matter of appropriateness.

Lets take the CM Punk/AJ/Daniel Bryan love triangle. The angle is hot, AJ is over, Daniel Bryan and CM Punk are delivering on their ends too...but it isn't helping them. Bryan and Punk are likely the two best wrestlers in the company, they are unarguably two of the biggest stars in the modern era, and they have yet to be given the ball to draw money together. Oh, sure, they have had tons of matches together and co-headlined a few PPVs but when was the last time you actually bought into any bitter feelings between Bryan and Punk? They put on great matches and there is no denying that people enjoy watching them work together but its been months of interaction with minimal heat between them. They wise crack and mock each other, but I don't buy that they HATE each other.

The WWE World title is supposed to be the top belt in the "sport" and it is sharing spotlight to get over a diva. I think AJ is a great talent, have ever since I saw her in NXT, but three is a crowd. AJ is getting the attention which takes credibility away from Bryan and Punk. If this was an angle involving the Intercontinental title then it would be remembered as one of the greatest angles ever, but when this is the BEST you're offering each week there is a major problem. A bunch of guys aren't going to gather around to find out who AJ is going to kiss next, they don't care unless that person is them.

While we're talking about wrestlers who are supposed to be on different brands, lets talk about the brand split. There is a reason why the brand split is USEFUL. If you need any evidence, just look at Daniel Bryan, he became a main event quality heel on Smackdown and was easily the best thing in WWE for months on end. Then they moved him unofficially to Raw to be in a second-tier feud with WWE CHAMPION CM Punk. Just look at that last sentence and realize how bad that is. John Cena, the guy in what SHOULD be a midcard feud with the Big Show, is headlining all of the PPVs. The Big Show, a guy who has barely been a draw since his original debut, is headlining pay-per-views over the two top talents in WWE right now.

Sheamus. Who honestly cares about Sheamus? This is a guy I've always been a big fan of but he has never been in a good angle. Even his angles with Cena were forced and boring. The worst part is that it isn't his fault. He is a big guy that delivers in the ring with a great physical style but WWE is too scared to utilize him in a way that would make him a bigger star. Or maybe they just don't know how. So, in essence, the WWE and World title scenes are both floundering. Gee, I wonder why they can't draw bigger ratings? You have made the two top guys in your company boring and irrelevant. You could stick Santino Marella in the love triangle angle and it would have the same effect.

I realize that a lot of the top old stars are completely gone now but how did they BECOME top stars to begin with? Think of different feuds and big angles that the Undertaker was a part of, you can probably name ten easily. HHH? The Rock? Stone Cold? Same thing. These guys weren't always big stars, hell a lot of them became big by wrestling EACH OTHER, now apply that standard to modern day stars. Name three memorable angles that anyone outside of John Cena has been a part of. I'll start you off, CM Punk feuded with Cena, Jericho, and Bryan (with the latter two being secondary to Cena matches on the card despite CM Punk being the WWE Champion for BOTH OF THEM). Anyone else? Anyone?

WWE is in major need of star power, so what do they do? Bury Christian. Push Zack Ryder (a guy, like him or hate him, that isn't worth a damn thing outside the midcard). Bury Drew McIntyre. Push Alberto Del Rio (great look and talent but his gimmick is dead, someone just needs to shovel dirt on it). Bury Tensai. Push Great Khali (huge draw in India, no one else gives a damn). It can be argued that Tensai didn't make as big of an Impact as he was expected to so he is getting de-pushed for a while...chalk it up as yet another in the hundreds of times that WWE rushed a new character to the top because they have NO STAR POWER. What happened to building angles to make stars? The laziness in booking is what makes all of these guys fizzle out overnight. Guys like Punk and Bryan have staying power and even they have trouble staying over with the seat of your pants booking they are involved in.

On the plus side, Cody Rhodes has had a nice slow build, there is promise in Damien Sandow, Dolph Ziggler seems like he will be a main eventer that almost never wins for the foreseeable future, so that's nice. NXT has been overhauled and talented stars are allowed the opportunity to...get this...put on an entertaining show without a ton of bullshit. Camacho looked like a credible talent on NXT when he faced Seth Rollins, that would never be allowed to happen on one of the "big two" shows. Mainly because NO ONE looks like a credible talent on the "big two" shows anymore. You're either in a boring multi-man match or you're squashing/being squashed. News flash WWE, people tune in to see competition between top talents, when they perceive 90% of your roster to be jobbers then they STOP CARING.

For fear of ranting forever, I'll end it here.