WWE Hasn’t (Really) Changed in Over 15 Years

 

This article is going to ruffle a lot of dainty feathers. However, rest assured, this is not a hit piece. If you see it as a hit piece, then I can’t help you, kid. And I know what you’re thinking already — you’re looking at the title of this column, and you’re looking at the author, and you’re immediately thinking to yourself how biased this is going to be.

More like based, am I right?

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I need to address two immediate points of interest right off the bat:

1. A product that doesn’t change doesn’t mean it isn’t good or enjoyable. If you like the WWE style, don’t let anyone ruin that.
2. There are good parts of WWE, that even myself, an AEW fan, can enjoy.

However, the entire purpose of this writing comes, again, two-fold: I was told by many for many months now how different the WWE product is now compared to the past. So as Wrestlemania lands upon us this weekend, I actually combed through and watched four weeks of WWE Raw and WWE Smackdown to play catchup.

Understanding that as a fan of AEW/New Japan/Stardom — you know, a neckbearded weeaboo — I went into this with the expectation that at the least, the WWE that I have known over the last 15 years looked a little different from what I remembered.

Perhaps I wasn’t going to enjoy it as much as other shows, but at the very least, I was going to gain valuable insight on how they’ve changed.

Was I wrong? Do I have reason to look forward to Wrestlemania weekend?

Let’s find out…

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Who’s The Boss?

“This will sound offensive to every critic out there. I wish I could tell people off for being a critic. Be a fan. Go watch this and be a fan.” – Paul Levesque

In other words, shut up and like it. 

We have to be honest here. Vince McMahon and Paul Levesque are cut from the same cloth. Paul has known Vince for decades, married into his family, served on the WWE board, and was even there to support Linda McMahon at her hearing to become Secretary of Education. A job she is clearly not qualified for, but who is in the current administration? This is the booker man who utilized the “Cody Crybabies” to the fullest when online sentiment was craving a Cody Rhodes world title win, but now that we have a lackluster build to WrestleMania, he suddenly proclaims that the “internet is not real life”? (Yet, Raw airs on an internet streaming service, but I digress…)

So when things are going well, we wants the praise. When they aren’t going well, he wants you to put your head in the sand, ignore it, and believe in him anyway — then blame journalists for his own short-comings.

Sound like a familiar current President…? 

This has seemingly been made clear by the recent build to Wrestlemania 41. Take away The Bloodline saga and what are you left with?

• A John Cena heel turn that to this day makes little to no sense.
• Two main roster women’s feuds with little to no story.
• A Paul Heyman on a Pole match.
• A white guy in a luchador mask with a culturally-appropriated name taking on a legitimate legendary luchador.
• A.J. Styles versus an “Internet Celebrity” (I thought the internet didn’t matter?)
• A World Champion who built his name on building a promotion whose mission statement was to listen to their fans, that is likely dropping the world title to Heel Goldberg Cena.

It seems like all of the major storylines had segments to get their heat weeks ago, and there has been next to nothing since. It’s as if the stories have been booked in reverse. This is the genius booking from Paul Levesque?

Wait, isn’t this supposed to be a different WWE? Vince McMahon didn’t really care what fans thought — it doesn’t seem like Paul Levesque does either.

I was told by so many that things have actually changed. But I’m looking at this card and I’m seeing guys like John Cena in the main event, the women’s roster being underutilized, ridiculous gimmicks, nonsensical storytelling (three grown men fighting over a manager? Really?), and THIS is supposed to be the Renaissance Era?

So let’s take a step back. What change did many IWC fans want in 2018-19 through WWE’s “darker” years?

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A List of Demands

I remember this guy. In 2019, he claimed that all wrestling fans were “fickle”. Was he right?

I fondly remember the black & gold NXT days. On any given week we would see bangers between the likes of Asuka and Nikki Cross, Sami Zayn vs. Cesaro (Claudio Castagnoli), Bayley vs. Mercedes Mone, The Revival (FTR) vs. DIY, etc. We would wait in anticipation as the next big superstar would inevitably be called up to the main rosters and the world could see what we NXT fans could see. Adam Cole, Aleister (Malaki) Black, Neville (PAC), the list goes on.

In fact, NXT in that time represented a lot of what many internet fans wanted.

More in-ring wrestling | less soap-operatic/more long-term storytelling | a little more violence and grit – less flash | new superstars | a focus on women’s wrestling 

Afterall, the lack of this on a continued basis throughout 2018-19 helped lead to fan disgust and eventual investment in AEW. This is what a lot of us wanted, and well, we got it. To this day, many of us are happy with, and continue to support AEW. It’s not perfect, but it’s on an upswing, and still represents a lot of those core elements mentioned above. While many jaded WWE fans from 2019 clearly didn’t actually want an alternative, they just wanted WWE to get better, they still agreed with us AEW fans on one thing:

We wanted WWE to actually care what we thought as consumers.

Pretty simple, right? I am a consumer; hence, I should at least have my voice heard on the product I am investing in to consume. This is Business 101. No operating corporation worth a damn will ignore the critiques and demands of their own consumers. Yet, here we are again with WWE. Even with streaming numbers dropping week-to-week, and fans expressing concerns over this WM build, it’s “shut up and like it.”

But before I get ahead of myself — remember — I actually watched. What better time to watch than to the build of their biggest show of the year?

So, has WWE actually changed from pre-2019 levels?

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In-Ring Quality

Easy one. Is this any better?

Slightly. But it’s not terribly noticeable from the viewpoint of someone who regularly takes in AEW, Stardom, and New Japan. While I will give WWE some credit for implementing a bit more blood on a rare occasion in matches and storytelling, and pushing strong-style competitors like GUNTHER and Dragunov, it doesn’t come all that often, does it? Or hell, even more of your high-flyers at the least. Types like Carmelo Hayes or Montez Ford — both rarely seen or in any important feuds.

However, I recall many of these types during 2002-2019.

RVD, Kurt Angle, Edge, Jeff Hardy, Mysterio, Jericho – and hell, even young talents (at the time) like Johnny Nitro, Paul London, Evan Bourne, Dolph Ziggler, Sin Cara, (a younger) C.M. Punk, and even Kaval (Low Ki) ended up in WWE for a hot minute. And aside from the obvious legends on this list (and there are many more I’m leaving off), most of these talented workers didn’t do all that much, did they? Having types like Daniel Bryan and C.M. Punk win world titles was pretty rare if we look at a list of WWE champions in perspective.

Yet we compartmentalized, right? 

John Cena/Romain Reigns is in the main event (again). Whatever. At least I have this Paul London match to look forward to — or Murphy vs. Alexander — or Mysterio vs. Hardy.

This idea really hasn’t changed in how I watch pro wrestling, and as I’m watching matches on Netflix, I’m finding myself doing the same. Ignoring the corporate main event fluff (or promos) for who could be featured more prominently. I’m watching L.A. Knight and Carmelo Hayes do battle, or Finn Balor vs. Penta, or even any Io Sky match. And while she is a shell of her former Stardom self, (I get it. Safer style, etc…) she is still miles ahead of someone like Liv Morgan, who has hit her ceiling in the ring, and is very average.

But wasn’t that the point of NXT? Isn’t that what we wanted? A little more violence, a bit stiffer contact, a bit more wrestling? For no corporate “fluff” and for most of the card to be full of awesome wrestlers? Yet when I watch, I’m using the same strategy as I did decades ago. Ignoring the average promo-heavy fluff for the small amount of actual good wrestling on the show.

In addition, as I’m comparing match times on both TV and PPVs, they are roughly the same.

In 2005 and 2015, the average PPV match ran roughly 13-15 minutes at best, and TV match around 10-12. It’s still about the same in 2025.

So I’m seeing the more technically sound wrestlers that aren’t forced at fans every week compete in TV matches that could (but likely won’t) go longer.

This sounds like the same ol’ WWE to me…

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Your Main Event Scene

I believe this is the first WrestleMania in 10 years where Roman Reigns or Brock Lesnar will not compete in a title match. Cool, so who is in the main event, then?

Well, for night one it’s still Roman Reigns, just not for a title (but a manager). Night two it’s…John Cena?

And hey, we get Cody Rhodes, so that’s something, but you’re telling me that the main events are still be taken up by John Cena and Roman Reigns? The average age of the five men in these two main events is 42-years-old. The same dudes on top. Again.

Again, this is the new and improved WWE? 

Look, I’m not saying you can’t enjoy veterans. AEW has many, from Cope to Jericho, to Joe. It’s not so much a matter of age. But hell, at least TK features his younger stars in the main event scene. Swerve, Ospreay, Page, MJF, Storm, Mercedes, Statlander, etc.

So what is truly different now than compared to 10 or even 15 years ago when it comes to the main event picture? Even in last year’s main event, we still saw The Rock, The Undertaker, and John Cena involved in a match they weren’t even technically in. It seems like WWE is still relying on their older established names while keeping others in the background. 

Something they’ve been doing for many years now.

Well, hey, surely women’s wrestling has gotten better…

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Women’s Wrestling (clap, clap, clap-clap-clap?)

Can I ask an honest question? I like Rhea Ripley; but what has she done to earn a title shot at WrestleMania? While I understand why Giulia isn’t majorly involved due to injury, why isn’t Stephanie Vaquer, a talent more skilled than the majority of the entire women’s roster, not featured in a major match here, even if on NXT? If we slapped a title on Tiffany Stratton, a woman who is clearly average at best in the ring and in promo, who just looks like she graduated out of the 2003 WWE Diva Search class, then where is Vaquer? Why aren’t we giving a legitimately good talent like Michin a run with a major championship? Is Dakota Kai not worthy of a main roster world title run at this point?

We can’t create major title feuds and stories around Lyra Valkyrie or Roxanne Perez — two very gifted in-ring competitors? 

What are we doing here? 

Yes, women’s wrestling has made leaps and bounds in WWE since the 2010s, but it seems like Rhea vs. Charlotte at WrestleMania 39 was its pique.  From what I’ve seen over the last four weeks is a women’s roster being held back by incredibly safe and uninspiring booking. It’s a division that from what I can see, is full of missed opportunities. It’s a division that seems to be grounded in keeping your usual names at the top while not taking chances on younger bright stars.

And well, isn’t that what we wanted to get away from? Does Mariah May have to sign with WWE to save this division? Because right now, I’m watching women continue to main event Dynamites and Collisions, and continue to be prominently featured, and I’m watching Raw and Smackdown, and the most I’m getting is seeing Lyra get a rub from being involved in a low-card feud teamed up with Bayley.

Again, this is the best we can do here?

Be honest with yourselves as WWE fans.

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“Long-Term” Storytelling

“Let him cook!” This is what I hear when it comes to Paul and long-term storytelling.

Alright, now that the Bloodline story has cooled down, what are we left with? The aforementioned Paul Heyman on a Pole match? A women’s three-way match where a functioning story barely exists other than “you looked at me funny so now I hate you”? A world title match where the story just seems to be built on endless brawl segments in Uso vs. GUNTHER? The main storyline of the company being a heel turn that makes no sense and has seemingly been abandoned on television aside from highlights?

This is the work of a booking genius?

Arguably your best example of “long-term booking” comes in the form of Drew McIntyre vs. Damian Priest, and while these are two great workers — don’t they deserve more than this? A random low-card spot on one of two nights of WrestleMania?

This is the best y’all can do?

There isn’t really any long-term storytelling here — which isn’t everything. There’s nothing wrong with short-term storytelling, but isn’t long-term the big thing now? Isn’t that what we all wanted? Isn’t that what everyone is telling me that is so great with WWE?

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Do Promos Mean Everything Now?

Wasn’t there a time when fans wanted less talking? Wasn’t there a time where we collectively thought 20-25 minutes for an opening show promo was a bit excessive? Yet it seems like the common thread with WWE fans is to look more forward to a promo than a wrestling match. It’s as if the mindset is that listening to rap-battles are arguably better than listening to the rap songs themselves.

Since when does an entire wrestling story involve nothing but an exchange of words? Remember when stories were told through backstage segments, run-ins, arena brawls, and oh, I don’t know, an actual wrestling match? Historically, you build stories through the matches — the promos are the light supplement to it.

When did internet wrestling fans become so soft and lose sight of the simple notion that the wrestling show they are watching should focus on wrestling matches? Did a chunk of these “jaded” fans pre-2019 decide that they actually prefer in-ring promos over the matches?

Look, I know I sound like an old fart right now — shaking my fist at the sky — “these damn kids don’t understand that you tell the story in the ring!”. But holy shit, is this really where we’re at now? Perhaps WWE and their band of paid podcasters have convinced an entire sect of online fans that ‘corporate is cool’, “glaze these numbers and profits!” All while ignoring what we actually wanted over 6 years ago in the first place.

Are we wrestling fans, or rap-battle fans? And look, I know there’s a balance. I love a good in-ring promo — but in my eyes, watching Raw and Smackdown over the last 4 weeks, it seems like Mr. Levesque is leaning way too heavily on promos as a storytelling device instead of literally anything else.

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The Hard Truth

As I alluded to at the top, if you enjoy the WWE-style of pro wrestling and presentation, you do you. I won’t tell you that you shouldn’t watch. However, when I’m told that this company is truly different, I have to push back because I have now watched, engaged, and noted that this is mostly the same company I watched in 2005-2018. I could argue that in some parts, it was better in 2005.

-It’s still excessive in flashy production value.
-The in-ring product is about the same as it was 10-15 years ago.
-WWE is still extremely promo-heavy.
-WWE is still the same when it comes to in-ring wrestling, and it’s treated like an afterthought.
-They still rely on old names for their major shows.
-Women’s wrestling is treated like an obligation with uninspiring stories.
-Long-term storytelling seemed to have ended with The Bloodline.

Did WWE pull the wool over wrestling fans? Is this just the same WWE, but with with a fresh coat of paint and a few very minor upgrades? “Look at these brighter ring mats with corporate logos all over it! We’re on Netflix now, that’s new! Hey, kids, we have crypto-grifter Logan Paul now, ain’t that cool? Oh for the ‘smarks’, here’s GUNTHER. You like GUNTHER, right?” 

WWE programming comes off as the equivalent of the middle-aged man in his 50s trying his best to keep up with the cool kids. In a lot of ways, that is how it’s always been. Some of your biggest names have come from Ring of Honor, New Japan, PWG, or in some cases, even AEW. Rarely have they come from the WWE system. Like most major corporations, they don’t set the trends, they find them, assimilate them, and then capitalize on the profit.

After WrestleMania, I will go back to not watching WWE programming, and that’s probably for the best. It’s just not for me — and that’s okay. But for anyone to tell me that this is a much different company than it was pre-AEW — is completely full of shit. 

-TKW
mocwrestling@yahoo.com