Current State of the WWE

I have watched wrestling ever since I was a kid in the mid-80's. Back then the big stars were Hulk Hogan, Randy "Macho Man" Savage, The Ultimate Warrior, Andre the Giant, "The Million Dollar Man" Ted DiBiase and Jake "The Snake" Roberts. I am sure that many of these names are still recognizable up to today.Wrestling was believed to be real back then. Fans would react every time the heel (villain) would hit the face (hero) with a foreign object which ranged from steel chairs to brass knuckles. I even saw fans crying every time Hulk Hogan bled in the ring.

Wrestling was a simple good guy versus bad guy sport. People like Hulk Hogan and Ultimate Warrior were on the side of truth and justice. People like Ted DiBiase and Roddy Piper were on the side of villainy and deceit. Feuds between the two sides lasted for a year back in the day.Then came the "Attitude Era." Wrestling was not a simple good guy versus bad guy battle anymore. Tweeners existed. These were people who embodied the anti-hero yet were fans favorites. Examples of these were "Stone Cold" Steve Austin and "The Rock" Rocky Maivia. Austin fought dirty and basically pummeled opponents. The Rock verbally scathed opponents and was cocky and arrogant.

Flash forward to today. Wrestling is not the same as before. Gone are the stars of the 80's. Also gone are the big names of the "Attitude Era." Stone Cold doesn't wrestle anymore. The Rock has gone to Hollywood. Mick Foley has jumped ship to Total Nonstop Action Wrestling.What we have now is a kiddie show. You don't see beer drinking, finger gesturing, swearing wrestlers like Stone cold anymore. Wrestlers who could have been fearsome behemoths end up with stupid and pointless gimmicks. Have you seen The Great Khali and the Kiss Cam? Enough said.

Another aspect that has gone way down is the story lines. Have you seen the angle on Rey Mysterio being harassed by Kane and his mask being placed in a burlap sack? After fans being teased for weeks of the return of the masked Kane, fans get this garbage. Kane and Rey have no history together and there was no buildup for this feud either. Also, how many times does Triple H have to be champion. I know that he wants to beat Naitch (Ric Flair) someday but this is destroying the company. Talent is being depushed just to satisfy Triple H.The WWE has also not capitalized on the acquisition of former rivals WCW (World Championship Wrestling) and ECW (Extreme Championship Wrestling). WCW was known for southern rassling. It put focus on wrestling rather than storylines. It also has a special lucha libre style division called the cruiserweight division. ECW was known for its violence. People there engaged in hardcore action. Wrestlers went through tables, fell from ladders and got entangled in barbed wire. Catfights among women were commonplace and so was their swearing. Sadly WWE eventually evolved into three brands with basically the same show. There is not enough distinction in between shows. Raw, Smackdown and ECW are basically the same only with different rosters. To further erode any sense of distinction there is a talent sharing agreement between the brands. This doesn't make sense at all. Whatever happened to the wars between the shows when Raw stars would invade Smackdown and vice versa?

The WWE also needs to bring back brilliant wrestling minds such as Eric Bischoff and Paul Heyman. They should run their old federations under the WWE banner. This would give each show distinction. These people are also very good as on screen characters. Have you seen Bischoff in the New World Order? He has great mic skills and a very nice heel character. Heyman meanwhile is good in creating storylines and has experience in managing people. Who do they have in recent memory? Mike Adamle and Vickie Guerrero! Wow! I couldn't contain my excitement! Yeah right!Another aspect that I miss from the good old WWF days is the relevance of all titles. The cruiserweight belt should be revived. The tag team championship and the intercontinental championship need to gain their luster once again. They need to be relevant once more. The way to do it is to let main event caliber wrestlers feud over it and not midcarders. The Intercontinental belt was held by the likes of Bret Hart and Ultimate Warrior and is now being feuded over by the likes of Carlito and Santino Marella. Likewise the Tag Team belts which have been feuded over by the likes of Demolition, LOD and The Hart Foundation is being feuded over by tag teams which were just put together for no reason.

While there is no question that the WWE is profitable, it should change its direction. It does not have the same following it once had during the Attitude Era." It also has half the viewers as compared to its heyday during the Monday Night Wars. The WWE needs to get better writers and storylines. They need to push younger talent. Stop feeding them to Triple H for goodness sake. They should also let some form of competition thrive so that the product and the general public would benefit. That mantle is currently held by TNA.It is sad to see the WWE in its current state right now. Its stale and doesn't have the same excitement anymore. I watch WWE sparingly now and would rather watch old WCW reruns and TNA than the awful product WWE is churning out right now.

© TheChosen1. Review is published in other sites under the same name

-Previously published in Ciao and Dooyoo
-This piece is an opinion only based on my experience watching WWE, WCW and TNA. I did not cite sources aside from previous printing in Ciao and Dooyoo because this is opinion based and not facts based.