WWE Should Fix Its Storytelling

Hello, readers and readettes, sorry for missing the Monday RAW Super Show, but life had a nice swift kick in the ass for me! However, I am back from being in the fetal position. This edition won’t solely be about RAW as it was really weak this week anyway and I feel I see what’s missing. We as the Internet Wrestling Community (IWC) felt a few years back that the WWE was getting way too old and needed to let all the youngsters graduate to a higher status.

The WWE listened to us and gave us a completely new breed. This new graduation class is fundamentally solid and the characters are cool in their skin, but there is a disconnect and I feel what is missing is the connection to the WWE past. Losing Edge, HBK, Undertaker, Kane, Big Show, Hogan, Flair, The Dudley Boyz, The Hardy Boyz, Brock Lesnar, The Rock, Austin, Mean Gene, Arn Anderson, Dusty Rhodes, Owen Hart, Mick Foley, Macho Man… Okay, I’ll stop the list, but all these legends could have enhanced the current newest characters.

When the WWE started this youth movement in ECW back in 2006. We, as the IWC and the mainstream fan base, rejected it and didn’t embrace the mix of the “New Breed” against the “Originals.” We were still jaded that the show was called ECW and we never gave the show a snowball’s chance in hell. Hindsight is certainly 20/20. ECW gave us CM Punk, The Miz, Elijah The Pope Burke D’Angelo, a successful Johnny Nitro and other young talent that was meant to be mixed with the likes of Chris Benoit, Kurt Angle, and Rob Van Dam. Sadly, I feel when Benoit died we lost a chunk of a wrestling story at that time and the new ECW with him. The ECW “Originals” were a great complement to the young talent, but a guy like Benoit brought class and creditability to the experimental federation. I would imagine Angle would still be with the WWE if Benoit was still around, which would have carried that new ECW to high levels, hopefully leading to Brock Lesner joining that highly competitive wrestling group.

Losing Flair and Hogan also was a huge hit to the WWE in its present state as well as the Legends themselves. Flair is literally dying in TNA and the Hulkster is not far behind, going into this Sunday’s Bound for Glory PPV. Yes, they are finished in the ring. Yes, their egos are bigger than Mabel, Viscera, and Big Daddy V put together, but they have something to offer in small doses. Hogan and Flair can be doing what Roddy Piper, Dusty Rhodes, The Rock, HBK, Bret Hart and Ricky Steamboat have been doing – quick powerful pop-ins on the mic and maybe a run-in once in a while like Nash has been doing.

Otherwise, go tour the world with the WWE banner around your shoulders and feel the warm love of your fans that keeps you addicted to the business. Hogan and Flair touring with the WWE logo, shaking hands, and kissing babies would not only help them keep out of trouble and out of the ring, but also show them how much the wrestling fans of the world love them without having to make the current roster go from Canada to Mexico to Africa and then to China.

Flair and Hogan not interrupting Vince MACMahon during his madness against John Cena would have been more powerful than son-in-law Triple H, who is cool and all, but he certainly has not earned his spot on the Mount Rushmore of wrestling. Triple H does not have that feeling/depth that Hulk or Natch give us. This is not to knock Triple H, but this brings me to the last two Mondays of RAW where I was supposed to feel like the WWE roster walking out was important. The roster had no one of real respect besides Jerry Lawler and Jim Ross walking out. WWE didn’t even give us our current main event players to make me feel like that walkout was important or let the current champions chime in about the matter in a professional manner.

Maybe if Arn Anderson was in that group with Dusty, Bret Hart, and Steamboat as a legends group, I would say “wow.” Basically all of the FCW/NXT graduates walked out on the COO. That picture of everyone walking out was as weak as the talent they chose to speak. Wade Barrett I’ll accept because the Nexus line was solid. Mike Chioda was okay, but lil’ Natch would have been more powerful. Christian is awesome in my book, but he lost his TNA/Old school E&C luster he had while he was in ECW. Beth Phoenix is coo,l but as suggested by my friend Elliot, the female voice that was repeating “Hunter, Hunter” should have been Stephanie MACMahon on the Titantron asking Triple H to exit the ring and come to the back. That would be powerful. Even the Undertaker coming out or speaking via satellite or Mick Foley or HBK or anyone one that has a powerful voice on the mic could have added to this supposed “Chaos” that’s going on.

That brings us to this past Monday’s loss of an opportunity to make RAW interesting. Like every wrestling blog on earth has mentioned, the WWE let their load loose way too quickly. The John Laurinaitis character is fun but everything happened too fast when the WWE could have had a topical subject stretch for months. Miz and Truth could have been amazing from the outside looking in characters like the NWO, or have old friend Gabe Sapolsky bring in his roster from DGUSA/EVOLVE to blow the fans minds or even let us see Seth Rollins versus Dean Ambrose as a main event of RAW because you know they can go for 40-50 min matches while introducing us to Antonio Cesaro and debut his partner Chris Hero. There is so much that could have been done with an open-ended show. Let Triple H show his pull and bring out Double A or Mick Foley or The Rock or HBK or, my personal wish, Ric Flair to come out and tell the current WWE Roster to “Man up!”

Bottom line is the storytelling in WWE is broken because the past is broken. Triple H deserves credit for bringing up the past when he speaks, but it’s been pretty empty with nothing to back up his talk. I wish the WWE would “Man up” and use their history and amazing talent that is sitting right in front of them to their advantage. The WWE needs to use their history that dates back to 1952 and use all the history they bought and actually use it. The WWE needs the heart and the passion Paul Heyman had when he ran his ECW. Yes that was a niche group, but the passion and heart put into the storytelling was what made ECW successful. That goes for Southern Wrestling of the Ric Flair/Jerry Lawler years where it didn’t matter that wrestling was predetermined, but the people cared about the story being told inside and outside of the ring.

Thank you for reading. Please continue the convo with Blog Dudes or at the dinner table. Just remember whether its Batman’s Dark Knight or a Ric Flair feud with Dusty Rhodes, when a story feels real, who’s to say it isn’t in our imaginations.