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Originally Posted by Mr. Nerfect
He's a talented guy in the sense that he's got the tools to be a top guy. The one thing he might be missing is that intangible charisma. Not everybody has that talent. He's not an insulting choice to be WWE Champion.
There's a difference between writing the story and it playing out and actually working. There are actually stories in the WWE. Apollo Crews and Bobby Lashley/MVP have a story going on. But is that equating to anything? Getting people over is a result not an action.
The problem is that, beyond being a sterile product and guys not being allowed to cut promos or seem like genuine people anymore, you've got a three-hour program on Mondays and a two-hour program on Friday, which might not be the same "brand," as they tell you, but totally is and is followed by a lot of the same people.
The product is fatiguing. It's way too exhausting to be a completionist. And it's way too hard to fill five hours of content each week, featuring two "unique" rosters that places emphasis on people that is conducive to them becoming stars.
Reduce Raw to two hours, take the hit financially and/or produce more content for USA to air at different slots -- things like a one-hour Raw edit, a late night show with a bit more attitude, a studio show on Saturday mornings or just shit like 205 Live. Things that are not going to be priority viewing, but will still probably do a bit better than other things in those slots. Raw can then tighten up. Let guys talk and tighten up their work so they're not all having the same match and leave shit to PPV. Build around the talent you actually want to be stars. Don't be afraid to get rid of people you don't or who aren't. Have one fucking main roster.
That will go a long way to making things better, but even that doesn't feel fresh, because we've seen that all before. In a perfect world where the WWE wasn't so decided to by TV rights fees, it wouldn't hurt having either Raw or SmackDown go dark for a bit and wait until there was demand for a second show back.
But they need a star. If they get that, other things might click into place a bit more nicely. I don't know if that guy is Drew McIntyre.
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WWE is at the point where adding content is what matters most. It is a business model a lot of media properties do nowadays.
Two I can think of right off the bat are South Park and Its Always Sunny. Both are incredible shows, but they both have been coming out with 10 episode seasons, because they are simply adding more content each year to an already amazing catalogue.
No matter what WWE does week to week, they are adding 7 hours of prime time content to their catalogue. The end game is what was hinted at prior to covid. If WWE can license let's say 7500 hours of back catalogue to a streamer, let's say Peacock for 3 years, then at the end of that 3 years, the catalogue is now 8500 hours. Even if those extra 1000 hours are the worst 1000 hours of the 8500 total, the catalogue is worth more than it was, because it's still got all of the best content, plus an additional 1000 hours.