Thursday, March 28, 2024
EditorialWWE Pushing Equality & Competitiveness Makes For Exciting Viewing.

WWE Pushing Equality & Competitiveness Makes For Exciting Viewing.

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Hi everyone! Taking a break from the Rumble series, which I do plan on finishing .. but perhaps won’t post them as often. Today, I’m looking at the way WWE has used equality and competitiveness to make their products more consistently exciting and memorable.

The NXT Big Bang

Much of what we’ve seen in recent times has been influenced by NXT and other promotions. Not just the talent, but the way WWE treats its divisions has changed. For years, the women of WWE were not taken seriously as they were paraded around as Divas. While promotions like TNA Impact (Knockouts) and SHIMMER (Women Athletes) enjoyed healthy women’s competition, WWE were stuck with eye candy champions like Kelly Kelly. AJ Lee did a lot to show women could be part of major storylines, and they could be taken seriously as wrestlers. But it wasn’t all down to her (and her tweet to Stephanie McMahon about equal opportunities for women), much of what we see today came about because of the NXT Women’s Championship. Paige & Emma kicked it off, with their amazing match in the final of a tournament to crown the first champion. There’s a young Charlotte Flair in attendance, and Stephanie McMahon was present to hold up the title for the world to see.

Other NXT titles showed the potential success a wrestler can have if given opportunities. Seth Rollins, Big E, Bo Dallas, Neville, Sami Zayn Kevin Owens, Finn Balor, Shinsuke Nakamura, Samoa Joe, and Bobby Roode are all former NXT Champions. Out of the tag champions, 14 of those made it to the main roster in some way. This includes Neville, Rowan, Harper, Corey Graves, The Ascension, Kalisto, Sin Cara, The Vaudevillains, The Revival, and American Alpha. You could say 15 if you include Buddy Murphy; as he’s debuting with 205 Live soon. Authors Of Pain, Sanity, Undisputed Era, Andrade Almas, and Drew McIntyre are all bound for the main roster at some point. We know Drew’s already been there, and Adam Cole/Almas had good times in the Rumble.

What is exceptional about NXT is the success rate. You find many talents aspiring to go to NXT because they know it will get them over before moving up to the mainstream. It gives a back story WWE can actively feature. They’re more likely to sell that, than your Impact/ROH/NJPW/Indy career in the same way. And there’s the UK Division, which has brought in young guys like Pete Dunne and Tyler Bate to NXT. It’s a wonderful place which is forever changing, always losing top guys/girls so they can be replaced with future top guys/girls; and just look at the recent signings of EC3, Ricochet and War Machine. There’s always something to learn, whether they’re a rookie, or a seasoned veteran like Bobby Roode. NXT gets wrestlers used to the WWE style, without throwing ’em in the deep end with the sharks. There’s room for tweaks in character, and time to improve wrestling ability. This has an adverse affect on the main roster, as many talents wish they could work with the same freedoms.

It also gives the main roster a sense of danger. If you’re not willing to perform, there’s plenty of talent chomping at the bit. There’s plenty of men and women capable of moving up and taking spots, and it forces main roster talent to deliver consistently. It also makes it tougher on them if they get injured, even more so if it’s long-term. No one can afford time off in 2018 as the landscape changes every passing day. What WWE has shown, is there’s an extraordinarily gigantic pool of talent to pick from. They’ve scoured the globe and taken the best; only those who they believe will succeed working the WWE style. When you have the best of the best being signed year-on-year, it creates a competitive edge everywhere. It’s not just the talent wanting to move up from the indys to NXT, to the main roster .. there’s managers (like Paul Ellering), commentators, referees, and even backstage staff who want to prove they belong working on Raw or Smackdown. Instead of waiting for other promotions to compete, WWE has gone the other way and created an environment which promotes equality. There’s an expectation to deliver, and even more importantly .. the skill and intelligence to be innovative in every aspect of the individuals work. Those who show the total package will get booked, and their value will increase at the expense of those who are not pulling their weight. WWE is pitting everyone against everyone, and it seems to be working.


Specials

WWE doesn’t always want to bloat NXT with newcomers, so they make special tournaments to give fans the chance to see what outside talent are capable of. The Cruiserweight Classic, The UK Tournament, and the Mae Young Classic were all great in their own ways. In fact, it feels like some of these divisions declined immediately afterwards, with only a handful of guys/girls (the cream of the crop) getting contracts to sign. Let’s take a look at those who proved themselves worthy:

  • From the Cruiserweight classic the following talent remain on 205 Live: Finalists TJ Perkins & Gran Metalik, Tozawa, Noam Dar, Brian Kendrick, Lince Dorado, Cedric Alexander, Tony Nese, Drew Gulak, Jack Gallagher, Mustafa Ali and Ariya Daivari. 12 out of 32. Only three of these men have been Cruiserweight Champions. Many will argue the way 205 Live has been presented (compared to the Cruiserweight Classic) has hampered the show considerably. Not only that, but the crowds they get are not energetic in the slightest. Under Vince McMahon’s watch it didn’t feel right, but the past couple of weeks (with Triple H taking over) has been miles better. Drake Maverick (I still call him Spud) is a no-nonsense GM who promotes tough, do-or-die competition. Because of this, I have a vested interest in seeing how the current tournament pans out.
  • The UK tournament brought one Irish and 15 British participants to crown the first UK Champion. Danny Burch was already in NXT, so he was the only familiar face. As we know (I’ve written too much about them already), finalists Pete Dunne and Tyler Bate were the breakout stars. WWE has used Wolfgang and Trent Seven sporadically, usually on NXT or at live events. Only last night on 205 Live, Mark Andrews had a breakout moment of his own, when he cleanly defeated Tozawa in the first round of the cruiserweight tournament. It remains to be seen whether we’ll get a UK show like they announced, but for now .. at least a few of the guys survived. As a British fan, I’m happy enough with that.
  • Sadly I didn’t get to watch much of the Mae Young Classic, but I did catch the semis and the Final. Much like the Cruiserweight Classic, it featured 32 women wrestlers from around the world. Not as many were kept on, but some found more success than others. Considering Sarah Logan lost in the first round to Mia Yim (and only ever seemed to lose on NXT), she was brought up to Smackdown with The Riott Squad. Bianca Belair is working on NXT more lately; and she’s going places. Lacey Evans sometimes shows up and looks incredible (I’m probably more in love with her than Graves is with Mandy Rose). Candice LeRae has managed to sneak on to NXT TV lately, as she’s Johnny Gargano’s real-life wife, but it’s not the only reason! Finalists Kairi Sane and Shayna Baszler are future NXT Women’s Champions, and it’s only a matter of time.

If WWE continues with these specials it will give men and women the opportunities to break through and make it to NXT, and possibly the main roster. Smaller guys from NXT have another platform in 205 Live, but I’ll talk about that in a minute. The most important thing is they don’t sign anyone who isn’t ready, and putting the talent in a competitive environment brings the best out of them. It’s easier to scout when they are doing their best in an environment of WWE’s choosing. And as for 205 Live, it has yet to prove it can be a stepping stone to greatness. It remains to be seen if 205 Live can get over to the point that the Cruiserweight Champion comes out on Raw and is showered in adulation or hatred. It may feel like a dead-end to guys like Neville, Austin Aries, and possibly Hideo Itami .. but for the young and hungry like Mark Andrews? They don’t care as long as they get on TV .. and it beats working elsewhere.


Equality For Women

There’s so many factors which sparked the Women’s Revolution, and I don’t want to go in to detail here. What I will say though, is the women have gradually been given chances to show they can perform in any type of match, and tear the house down just as much as the guys. And wrestling is like that, it’s not always about who the biggest and strongest is. If you want that kind of wrestling, you go back to the 70’s and 80’s when big guys dominated the world, a time when seeing the women’s champion main event a show would’ve been extremely puzzling to the audience. Wrestling used to work like boxing, as it seperated the big guys from the smaller guys (Flair is an exception Woo!), and the women were rarely seen outside of valet roles. Times have changed, so WWE has changed. It’s not all about Superman anymore, Supergirl is in town. Culture is shifting to show we should appreciate the work of any individual the same, and just because it’s woman vs. woman match, doesn’t mean it’s time to fall asleep, or head for the stands to get a hot dog.

Main eventing shows. Hell in a Cell. Money in the Bank. The First Royal Rumble. The First Elimination Chamber. What’s next huh? An all women’s Wrestlemania!?? Is what some backwards sexist would say. Women have never wanted to dominate the programming, all they wanted was some equality. With Ronda Rousey coming in, it sparks even more interest in the women’s divisions. Who will beat her first? Will she ever come across Asuka? And speaking of which, Asuka is the strongest and most dominant woman WWE has. You put the most dominant women’s wrestler against a former UFC Champion, and you’ll find treasure chests left at the doorstep with jewels and other precious trinkets. It’s a money match, and it could end up being one of the biggest WWE moments of all time.

The Ronda Rousey Resistance:- Just to note before I move on, we’ve heard negative reactions for Ronda and I don’t get it. We’ve seen former MMA fighters come over and be successful in the past; just look at Ken Shamrock. There’s no logical reason to assume Ronda won’t be able to put on a good match. It’s either because fans don’t like all the attention she’s getting, or they think she’s trying to take the spotlight from Charlotte, Alexa Bliss, and Asuka. It doesn’t at all .. it helps everyone to have a big name like Ronda to draw in the casual viewers. Why do you think Muhammad Ali was at the first Wrestlemania? Why do you think Mike Tyson helped Steve Austin at Wrestlemania 14? Celebrities have always played their part in WWE, and unlike many .. Ronda wants this full-time. She could’ve done acting for more money and less risk, but she loves it. She loved Roddy Piper, and what better way to pay tribute than to follow in his footsteps? I don’t think she’ll disappoint. She’s going to make mistakes here and there, but she’s only human .. so give her some slack? We never learn if we don’t make mistakes.


Equality For Non-Americans

I’ve always been critical of the way WWE treats talent who do not come from the continent of North America. So sometimes it’s unwarranted, perhaps I’m a little biased and want to see a British WWE Champion for a change. Maybe I’m still hung up on the fact that neither Dynamite Kid, British Bulldog, or William Regal became World Champions. But it’s not just British talent who’ve found it difficult, for years it’s been clear that you want to be American or Canadian to be a star in WWE.

I’ve seen this argument before: “WWE is an American company, so naturally they will always sign more American talents, so it’s more likely an American will represent the company when most of their shows air in the United States!” Ok, so I understand that. I get the point that naturally WWE will sign more American/Canadian talents than they will others. But what does WWE stand for? And don’t say “Walk With Elias”. WWE stands for “World” Wrestling Entertainment. So it’s not just American eyes watching, you’ve got British eyes, French eyes, German eyes, Russian eyes, Chinese eyes, Japanese eyes, Indian eyes, African eyes, Australian eyes .. need I go on? The problem with WWE for the longest time .. was it didn’t treat international stars equally. You’d never see them sign Kenta Kobashi or Mitsuharu Misawa and make them WWE Champion. You’d never see them put on cross-over events with New Japan, or any company for that matter. I think the only guy in recent times who made it big while not being American or Canadian .. is Sheamus. I can’t think of anyone else.

It all changed with the signing of Hideo Itami AKA KENTA. They made such a big deal of it, they had Hulk Hogan fly over there to stand next to him during the contract signing. This was just the first of many big international grabs, as both Asuka and Shinsuke Nakamura signed up later. Before these guys & girls .. we can only say Tajiri got over with fans (there was The Great Muta in WCW as well). WWE has signed Japanese talent in the past, but they’ve never achieved anything major. 2018 changed all that, with Asuka winning the first Women’s Rumble and Nakamura picking up his first major accomplishment on WWE’s main roster. To some fans it’s alien, they’re not going to understand it. To those who appreciate Japanese talents despite their “lack of English”, they see past the weaknesses and recognize them for the smart, charismatic, and strong individuals they are.

And what it does .. is it sends out a message. Not only to all the promising Japanese talent out there, but to any talent around the world, that if you’re good enough .. and you can find a platform to get noticed by WWE, you may very well find yourself becoming a WWE superstar. You’re not going to be held back because you’re a woman, or because English isn’t your first language. I love everything about it, and it adds to the companies philosophy that anything can happen in WWE.


Conclusion

From all the points I’ve made, I think it’s safe to say that WWE is a lot easier to watch. It’s still difficult to keep focus for all of Raw, Smackdown, NXT, 205 Live, Mixed Match Challenge, and any other PPV that might be on. There’s a lot to digest, so some shows are undoubtedly going to be looked over by fans. But there’s a bit of everything for everyone, and if you’re still not tired of watching WWE .. you can see Ride Along (I recommend watching Elias’ Ride Along, it’s great!) and all the other little shows WWE puts on the Network. WWE isn’t just about Raw & Smackdown anymore, there’s a whole range of shows covering most demographics.

I think when Vince steps down, he will be happy to know he’s built a self-sustaining machine which can’t fail, because they’ve made a working formula. It’s so full-proof even Shane, Stephanie, and Triple H can’t screw it up. And with the inclusion of the XFL, we might (but no promises) see a shift in American Football. Ratings for NFL have always affected WWE, so Vince is living the dream while going after his competition. What do you think of WWE lately? Are other promotions going to struggle if WWE keeps signing new talent? Will WWE need more shows if they find they’ve got too many on the books? Won’t fans eventually tire of all the extra shows? Can Vince put a dent in the NFL, and boost WWE/XFL business in the process? It remains to be seen.

All of WWE’s good work makes it harder on me. I remember when I started here, and there were many faults with the product. It was so easy to find something to critique. I always had material, but these days it’s not the same. All I can do is praise WWE’s efforts, because it makes for good viewing. Don’t get me wrong .. it’s not perfect, but what TV show is? Point me to a TV show which never had a bad episode. WWE is evolving, and ensuring its survival past the Vince McMahon era. And it’s getting less likely a golden boy like Reigns or Cena will dominate, because there’s too many guys, and girls .. jockeying for the top spot at Wrestlemania.

There’s no telling what I have in store for the future. I recently asked the webmaster if I can take a step back. I did this because I’ve written original articles for over 44 months with no break, and there’s only so much anyone can do before it gets dull and repetitive. I apologize if my recent work hasn’t been up to standard, but I’ve tried my best to bring something I ain’t done before every time. I’ll still be around in an admin capacity, but you may not see as many articles from me. The Rumble series will carry on, but I’m not expecting much interest. I’ll finish the Rumble series for my own peace of mind, seen as I already started it.

A few months ago I started working on a revamp of the “100 Wrestlers Who Died Before Their Time” list article .. but it’s a monumental task. Posting at a relevant time .. well, there’s never a good time for a piece like that. If there’s interest in seeing it fixed (the original broke after the site layout changed), it will give me motivation to finish it. Otherwise, I’ll move on to something more original. Thanks for staying with me guys, I always say it because it’s true .. I appreciate all the feedback. Positive or negative. See you around.

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