By Dominic Lovallo
When people say they watch wrestling, there are two questions that usually follow. The first being, “Real wrestling or fake wrestling?” and the second being, “You know that stuff is fake, right?”
Yes, World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) is a business built on made up story lines, scripts, predetermined winners and fake punches. Still, WWE draws in huge audiences and makes its mark on mainstream media consistently. Almost everyone knew about the John Cena meme that took over the internet during the end of 2015, which featured Cena’s entrance blasting out of nowhere in vines, and the company still has representatives making appearances on talk shows all the time.
The WWE is just what it says it is: World Wrestling Entertainment, with the key word being entertainment. If someone just happened to watch a single episode of Monday Night Raw, they would see how much athleticism and strength goes into putting on great matches in the WWE.
With all this said, why is the WWE starting to drop in ratings? Ratings are so low, they haven’t been at this level since 1997 which is around only 3.5 million viewers on the main show. What has the WWE done to lose fans from watching its show every Monday and Thursday night?
The problem with the WWE is that the company is stuck in the old days when big muscular men were the way to get the biggest “pop” or amount of excitement from the crowd.
When John Cena became the face of the WWE, he was well received by fans. He was tall, in shape, strong, had no tattoos and was willing to do whatever Vince McMahon asked of him. He became the biggest baby face in the company and was unstoppable in the ring, capturing 15 WWE World Heavyweight Championships. That is one less than the record held by WWE Hall of Famer Ric Flair. One could argue Cena became the face of the company a little over ten years ago, and in the past few years, fans have become sick of Cena winning match after match. The top good guy in the company is getting booed every time he comes to the ring.
WWE finally thought it was time to find a new face for the company, and they picked a guy named Roman Reigns. Reigns is big, strong and muscular and for a long time, was cheered by fans because he was impressive to watch. The WWE then ruined their chance for having its new top guy being loved by all fans when they applied the “Superman Effect” on Reigns.
The Superman Effect is when one guy is made unstoppable. This is why John Cena was starting to become resented by WWE fans, and that is why Reigns quickly received the same treatment. The fans don’t care what a WWE superstar looks like. They don’t care how strong they are. WWE fans want wrestlers to always put on great matches. Fans don’t want to know who is going to win a match until the ref counts a pin 1-2-3.
The superstar that has received the most acceptance from fans in recent history is a 5’10” man with no six pack to be found. That man’s name is Daniel Bryan. WWE fans made Bryan so popular that he was pushed into the Main Event of the biggest pay per view of the year, WrestleMania. Other superstars that don’t fit the WWE mold of a face of the company are Dean Ambrose, Antonio Cesaro, Kevin Owens, Neville and many more. The thing about all these superstars is that the fans love them and want to see them in Main Events but the WWE is not listening.
The WWE has had non-traditional stars hold major titles before with the likes of Rey Mysterio to people like Shawn Michaels and had great ratings at the time. Neither Mysterio nor Michaels are big guys, but fans loved them, and they were exciting to watch.
The WWE is losing ratings and needs to realize that the fans truly do know what’s best for the business. The fans are the reason the WWE found a moneymaker in Daniel Bryan, and the fans are the ones who choose who is entertaining and who isn’t. Right now, a lot of top stars are out due to injury, but when they return, superstars like Cesaro and Seth Rollins should find themselves near the top of the WWE food chain because that’s where the fans want them. The fans want guys who put on great matches but aren’t indestructible.
lovalldv15@bonaventure.edu
