PWTorch.com - THE TOP 10 STORIES OF 2014: The Network, The Warrior, The Streak, The Punk, and all points in-between

CALDWELL'S TAKE
THE TOP 10 STORIES OF 2014: The Network, The Warrior, The Streak, The Punk, and all points in-between

Dec 31, 2014 - 2:05:54 PM

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By James Caldwell, PWTorch assistant editor

The Top 10 Stories of 2014. How do you rank such big stories from 1-10? How does a monumental shift in wrestling storylines like breaking The Streak compare to the launch of WWE Network? Or, the death of Ultimate Warrior? Or, the year-long battle between C.M. Punk and WWE that played out behind-the-scenes?

There were some big stories in 2014 that will have ramifications in 2015 and beyond, such as WWE shifting away from PPVs to the Network. Or, Spike TV booting TNA, who signed a new TV deal with Discovery.

With all of that said, I will attempt to rank the Top 10 Stories of 2014...

(1) Launch of WWE Network. WWE, the leading company in the industry, shifted its entire business model to be centered on a pay subscription service. The struggles out of the gate led to WWE implementing new subscription plans, then giving away the Network for free in November. We won't know if they hit 1.0 million subscribers in December until their next quarterly report in 2015, but it's clear WWE's marketing strategy did not work in Year One after three years of build-up.

(2) WWE breaks The Streak. At some point in the last seven or eight years, The Streak became as big of a draw as the "WrestleMania" brand itself. Vince McMahon, whether looking ahead to wanting a heat transfer from Brock Lesnar to a new leading star at WM31 or simply believing Undertaker needed to "do the honors," decided to have Lesnar beat Taker at WM30.

Like the launch of WWE Network, the results have not been there. Lesnar was booked like a monster vs. John Cena at Summerslam, but Cena quickly recovered, would have beaten Lesnar at Night of Champions if not for Seth Rollins, and Lesnar is limping into his next title defense against Cena at the Royal Rumble playing a supporting character. Plus, Roman Reigns is not ready for the heat transfer and WWE's WM31 plans seem to change by the minute. And, for the first time, The Streak is unavailable to anchor the Mania card.

(3) Death of Ultimate Warrior. The turn of events was almost impossible to believe. First, Warrior returned to the WWE fold. Then, Warrior was inducted into the Hall of Fame. Then, Warrior gave a farewell speech on Raw. Then, Warrior died after arriving home from WrestleMania Weekend. It was conclusive, yet tragic, especially for his family.

(4) WWE's TV Rights Renewal flops. WWE management believed they would get a very nice bump in TV Revenue from either USA Network or another TV entity when their TV contracts for Raw and Smackdown came due. Unfortunately for WWE, the marketplace does not see WWE at the level of major sports programming. Nor with the appeal of high-end entertainment shows. So, WWE remained at USA Network with a small bump in Revenue, but nowhere near "doubling or tripling" their haul, as predicted by Vince McMahon. The stock price plummeted (and has since rebounded), lawsuits followed, and three-hour Raws are, unfortunately, still here.

(5) C.M. Punk vs. WWE. For 10 months, everyone waited to hear C.M. Punk talk about why he left WWE after the Royal Rumble in January. Then, Colt Cabana's podcast dropped on Thanksgiving and Punk "shared his story" that painted WWE in a negative light, while also making WWE sound incompetent and ineffective as it relates to management, Creative, and health practices. Punk followed up the podcast by announcing his shift to UFC, distancing himself completely away from WWE after rejecting Vince McMahon's apology on Stone Cold's podcast for sending him termination papers on his wedding day.

(6) Daniel Bryan Wins WM30. It wasn't so much that Bryan beat Triple H and then won the WWE World Title in the main event of WrestleMania. But, what got him there. Batista was rejected as the returning movie star returning to win the WWE Title, Bryan was left out of the Rumble match, the audience demanded Bryan in the main event, WWE changed their booking plans, and Bryan did indeed get his long-awaited WrestleMania Moment. Of course, Bryan went on to miss the second-half of 2014 with an injury, but Bryan's journey to the WM30 main event could be in-play once again with Roman Reigns playing the Batista role and Bryan now cleared to return to action. Will history repeat itself at WM31?

(7) Year of the Free Agents. A.J. Styles left TNA to do his own thing and become IWGP World Hvt. champion, Batista was in the biggest movie of the year outside of the WWE umbrella, and Matt Hardy moved from ROH to TNA while holding multiple independent promotions's titles and wrestling nearly every weekend. Styles, Batista, and Hardy proved that wrestlers can earn a very good living, grow their own brand through social media, and be successful on their own outside of the tent of a nationally-televised promotion.

(8) Spike TV bounces Impact; TNA gets new TV deal. Spike TV ended an eight-year run with TNA after surveying the situation: sagging Impact TV ratings, the inexplicable re-hiring of Vince Russo, and a chance to re-allocate resources while filling Impact's timeslot with "Cops" re-runs that regularly outdrew Impact in 2014. After Spike ended the relationship, TNA found a new partner in Discovery, who linked up Impact and third-tier Destination America. Will a fresh start for Impact lead to a rebound for TNA? Or, will the downturn in TNA's 2014 business extend to next year on a less-visible network after fading out on Spike TV?

(9) Rise of NXT. The brainchild of Triple H soared in 2014, mainly due to disciplined booking, budding stars, solid wrestling, and increased presence through live specials on WWE Network. With three-hour Raws weighing down the wrestling industry throughout the year, NXT provided a true alternative to WWE's own main roster product. WWE might have an ulterior motive for turning NXT into the world's largest independent wrestling promotion, but the result is a solid pro wrestling TV show for fans looking for a dependable, consistent product to latch onto.

(10a) Continued Rise of New Japan. New Japan was the #1 promotion of 2014 in terms of consistently great wrestling shows and matches. Plus, New Japan enhanced their top acts such as Tanahashi, Okada, and Nakamura, while growing their second-tier stars into big-time players, such as Shibata. New Japan entering the U.S. TV market in 2015 through Global Force Wrestling on January 4 and then AXS TV could be the first step toward an increased presence for the #1 international wrestling promotion.

(10b) Introduction of New Promotions. Global Force Wrestling is still an unknown entity heading into 2015, but AAA entered the U.S. market with Lucha Underground, delivering a very unique and refreshingly different approach to presenting pro wrestling. With New Japan entering the market and Jeff Jarrett talking about big plans for 2015, will the collective presence of TNA, ROH, WWNLive, Global Force, Lucha, New Japan, and top independent promotions make enough of a wave for WWE to take notice and shore up their business and Creative practices going forward? We'll see in 2015.

Finally, two stories that did not make the Top 10. Hulk Hogan, namely. After toiling in TNA for four years, as Hogan has made it sound like since returning to WWE, Hogan was named guest host of WrestleMania 30. He was part of a very memorable segment with Steve Austin and The Rock to kick off the PPV, but Hogan's return to WWE otherwise did not seem to have the impact expected from WWE's all-time top star. WWE downplayed Hogan's re-entry into the WWE fold, turned him into a WWE Network pitchman, reduced him to cartoony Ho-Ho-Hogan on his final Raw TV appearance of 2014, and regularly brought Hogan out on TV without advertising him in-advance. Overall, WWE gets a below-average grade for their use of Hogan in Year One of his contract.

And, secondly, the first-ever appearance by Sting in a WWE ring. This should have been a Top 10 Story, and it will likely be a bigger story in 2015 when Sting wrestles at WrestleMania, but WWE dropped the ball on the follow-up and this week rendered the Survivor Series result meaningless by bringing back The Authority before the end of the year. After S. Series, nothing really changed on Raw. Top heel Seth Rollins mentioned The Authority in every promo, Rollins ran roughshod, even winning a steel cage match against John Cena on Raw TV, and guest authority figures were implemented as mere pawns in the booking without any real power during a "break" from The Authority. This is definitely a "wait 'til next year" story.

Read More: PWTorch specialist Shawn Valentino's Top 10 WWE Moments of 2014 can be read HERE.

Hear More: VIP members can listen to PWTorch editor Wade Keller and PWTorch columnist Bruce Mitchell discuss the Top Stories of the year in last weekend's three-part Bruce Mitchell Audio Show. NOT A VIP MEMBER? Go VIP by CLICKING HERE.