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GUEST EDITORIAL
By Col Smith
PWTorch.com reader

Last night's WWE Hell in a Cell was the first PPV I've watched live in years for various reasons and I just had too many thoughts after it was over to leave them in my head. There was no typical "I hate [insert name here] being champion again" or "that match sucked" or the usual frustrated fan reaction. It's actually far worse than that: complete and utter apathy.

It's a horrible thing switching off and checking emails in the middle of a live event you've paid £15 for, and maybe I was spoiled back in the attitude era when I was watching PPVs monthly (for free) and enjoying every minute of it. But there is just so much wrong with WWE at the moment it's not so much frustrating as it is downright sad.

Horrible to see the fans completely reject John Cena's - sorry, WWE's - new family-friendly direction. Cena getting booed out of the building as he walks away as the losing face... Storyline: not working. You still have what's left of the company's hardcore, long standing 18-49 male demo drowning out the girls and the kids, voicing their disapproval of the sometimes insane booking and wrestling-lite direction, but for how long? When they're quiet, the arena is dead. Too many matches with almost zero atmosphere, and we're talking big matches here as well. I understand the need to bring in a new generation of fans, but with three brands and a PPV almost every three weeks on average, you'd think there would be room enough to please and cater for everyone.

There's probably a lot of reasons for it, mostly concerning the number of PPVs to plug each year, but the WWE has been in cruise control for far too long. Where is the sense of event TV? It's certainly not the "celebrity" hosts on Raw. Where are the integrated storylines? Every PPV match these days is booked out of either "wrestler-A-interferes-in-wrestler-B's-match-for-no-reason" storyline or "challenger-pins-champion-in-non-title-match" storyline that happen on TV every single week. The lack of creative originality is mind boggling; are the creative team that useless or just overworked? I can sit here and think of about seven new storylines while writing this email. I understand that there is more to a storyline than imagination; there is every other division to consider as well - I get it, I've worked in entertainment for eight years myself. There is licensing and home entertainment and legal and talent schedules affecting how wrestlers are booked over time. But it's still not that difficult.

For years now, they've been churning out TV show after TV show, trying to fill the endless amount of broadcast hours they've acquired, and it's getting more and more difficult to seed and plan and build. But the irony is, there is enough depth on the roster and enough talent to have enough programs to alternate them on PPV and give them time to grow. Smackdown has some great wrestling at the moment but it is also lacking in interesting storytelling. Couldn't Ziggler and Morrison be given more than just "I'm arrogant and I want your belt so I'm going to annoy the shit out of you until we face each other"? Their match was fantastic I thought, but the crowd was given little to care about going in other than it being two great wrestlers facing off, and it was all expectation and little drama. The two worked their asses off and I'd handpick them to be leading the company in five years, but they need better guidance to get there. Swapping belts every few months in strong but flat matches is not going to do them any favours at all.

Also, what's going on with the announcers lately? No sense of drama, cheesy fed catchphrases (Satan's Structure? oh f--- off) and endless moments of silence during matches. Have they run out of exciting things to say? Hey, I know the feeling. Even J.R. sounds bored. They need to debate and disagree more, call the match, heighten the sense of importance, and analyse the moves and the booking. It's hardly novel; at least two of the lead announcers were doing it for years back in the day. Watching old PPVs with Gorilla Monsoon and Jesse Ventura and Bobby Heenan just makes me sad. Announcers today are useless and they are further killing matches.

And this is before we even get to the fundamental issue of glass ceiling involving the same wrestlers headlining the PPVs with the same matches every month. I like the idea of theming PPVs to break things up, but I bet everything that they refuse to bring back the original Survivor Series format this year - the perfect opportunity to break up the monotony and add something different to the schedule - and we'll get a couple of elimation matches and another round of title matches with no build and no emotion. Why not get Vince to come out at the next PPV and announce brackets for the Series, with eight team captains in four matches, and give each captain until the event to handpick their own teams. There's your TV storylines sorted for the next four weeks, never mind the opportunity to build the PPV early and get people talking. I think four big elimination matches and one title match would sell better than anything outside the big four this year. But what do I know.

I think major injuries have put the fear in the company considering long term planning. But in my opinion, for example, the card for WrestleMania should be laid out in October. Not waiting until February to start switching things up. If someone gets injured, you adapt. They've done it before. Even the largely reorganised WM8 turned out to be a very strong PPV. The completely rearranged WM13 gave us one of the best matches ever seen. Seeding is everything in WWE. Especially when it comes to WrestleMania and making it as big as it deserves to be. Conviction, not paranoia, is what should run long term booking. The frustration as well is that all just sounds so obvious to many, and yet continuously ignored by the company.

I could go on - no tag team roster, two world champions instead of one, John Cena's channel-switching persona, impatience with young talent, misuse of young talent, but it's nothing you haven't heard before. I tend to watch PPVs objectively and don't get angry if my favorite wrestlers lose. I do get angry when I feel like I've been robbed, however, as WWE spends my money without ever getting out of first gear. And in no way am I talking about the wrestlers, who continually give 100percent each week. Creative Direction has been lacking for years and it's starting to feel, at the moment, that we've reached, well, Breaking Point. Something has to give soon. I've been watching for 18 years and I don't think I've ever felt such a lack of interest before. And I remember 1995 pretty well...

I hope I haven't depressed you too much. With any luck I'll be able to email with a "I can't believe how much things have improved" message in a few months.

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[John Cena photo credit Wade Keller (c) PWTorch]

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