I feel like I’m in a rut. WWE isn’t nearly as fun as it was nine years ago when I first started watching. Everything is bland, uninteresting and downright bad at some points, save for a few people like AJ Styles, The New Day, Seth Rollins, Elias and Braun Strowman.
The action is solid, but without stakes. The promos for the most part are boring, and are just a way to kill time. Wrestlers who have tremendous abilities aren’t allowed to pull out their best stuff and it bores me.
It feels like none of the matches matter, as feuds rarely get personal and never have the feeling of “these two guys hate each other” (and even if they did they can’t bleed, so it loses some of the fire), and the presentation never makes it feel like a win matters.
You’ll have guys like Baron Corbin and Dolph Ziggler, two men who don’t win a lot of matches, and they both pull off fluke wins to go the the WWE title match at Fastlane. Sure, they’re just pawns in the bigger Daniel Bryan and Shane McMahon story (which has drug on for months now, and isn’t interesting anymore), but that doesn’t make it any more fun to watch.
The only pay-per view I’ve watched in the last four months was the Royal Rumble, and I couldn’t even watch all of that. I skip Raw and Smackdown until I hear about something must see.
The only reason I keep the WWE network now is for NXT and the back-catalogue of shows, which is well worth the $9.99. Yet it still feels like I’m giving my money away to continue supporting mediocrity. Granted, I’m just one loser that writes about wrestling on the internet, but it feels weird.
Something that was a habit, a ritual, a thing I looked forward to every week has become a chore. I wonder if people who watch other TV shows spend time thinking about how it could be better, trying to rework things to fit what they think is the best way, but I guess that’s the thing that makes wrestling unique. The endless possibilities that can be made with the talent available.
It also helps that most of the shows are booked at the last minute and can change at the whim of a 70 year old man. Yet somehow they remain predictable.
However, not all is lost. I can still relive the glory days of wrestling and watch over 20 years of what I’ve missed with the network. Plus I’ve also been able to watch and experience something different in New Japan Pro Wrestling, and I have TNA and ROH DVDs that I still need to watch. It’s actually a little overwhelming.
But that’s what you have to do when things get stagnant. You have to jump out of your comfort zone and try new things. That’s why in the past month I’ve made efforts to watch some new stuff, and it’s paid off pretty well.
This thought process also extends beyond wrestling, and goes for everything you do. If something’s getting stale to you and you’re not enjoying it, take a break! Granted, it’s harder to do that when it’s something you’ve been watching for nine years and treat like a ritual, but I can tell you it’s worth it.
Until then, I’ll catch you in another edition of Wolski’s Wrestling Ramblings. Next time it’ll be a little more positive.
Henry Wolski
Executive Editor
