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Something I haven't seen anyone talk much about on this thread are titles. I remember when I was a kid and titles meant something. If you could see a title change hands, it was special. Now, it's routine. The IC title got to where it was being traded every 2 weeks, the world titles change with such frequency that unless you're an already big name (ie Triple H) or you're given the rare long reign (Cena, JBL, etc) then your run at the top seemingly means nothing. Then you see guys who the fans like a lot, such as Benoit, Guerrero, Mysterio, CM Punk being world champion at a certain point but they are booked so poorly that they come across as not deserving of the belt. I remember at WM20, when Benoit and Guerrero left the show s the champs, I thought that the days of the titles meaning something was back. Then on Raw you had benoit curtain jerking against Rob Conway or someone and the main event revolved around whatever gimmick match Triple H and Shawn Michaels were having this month.
And it's not just the world titles, look at the absolute lack of a tag team division. Nowadays we get 2 random guys thrown together or two main eventers in a fued and they're given tag title pushes. I remember actual teams that actual storylines revolved around and i miss those days. When two random guys can beat your tag team champions, what's that say about your tag titles? When you book a guy to beat your tag team champions SINGLE HANDEDLY, what's that say for your tag team titles? They become worthless props, just like every other belt in the WWE at this point. Why even have champions if you're not going to use them properly?
I guess it's not necessarily a starting point of the downfall, but the title situation has probably killed my love for the business as much as anything else over the last 10 years or so.
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