If you ask a group of people who don’t even watch wrestling nowadays to name at least one wrestler they heard of, they will most likely say Hogan, Bret Hart, Sting, or Goldberg. You mostly won’t hear them say names like Roman Reigns or Seth Rollins.
This past week on Raw (I only saw certain clips on YouTube) it was basically what I personally called “Nostalgia Raw” because it was mainly centered around the old guys from The Attitude/Ruthless Agression Eras like Kurt Angle, DX, Lita & Trish while the young full-time main roster performers and the fans continue to suffer because of it.
One of the main reasons why The WWE continues to rely heavily on the nostalgia factor is to appease the Saudi Arabian officials who have an extreme taste for nostalgia which is why much like the recent Super Glorified House Showdown In Australia, the main event of The Crown Jewel glorified house show event in Saudi Arabia will be DX vs Brothers Of Destruction which was nothing more but nostalgia which absolutely doesn’t do much for the main roster.
Here are top 5 reasons as to why the nostalgia factor is killing the current WWE product.
1. Leaves Full-Time Performers Off The Card - A recent example of this was the glorified house show event in Australia called Super Showdown where main roster performers like Finn Balor, Shinsuke Nakamura, Shelton Benjamin, and Alicia Fox we’re deliberately kept off the card to make room for part-timers like DX, Brothers Of Destruction, and John Cena. This is one of the main reasons why the ratings for Raw continue to slide every week. Another example of this is when women like Sasha Banks, Ember Moon, Ruby Riott, and Asuka who also played a part in the so-called “women’s revolution” are deliberately being buried by being kept off the card by The WWE to make way for the overrated part-timers in The Bellas when Nikki Bella faces Ronda Rousey for The Raw Women’s Title at Evolution in which I personally call “Nostalgialution”.
2. WWE’s Refusal To Create New Stars - The only three biggest stars that the WWE has created that have transitioned into the mainstream in the last 16 years are Batista, Brock Lesnar and John Cena. But since that time, they have deliberately refused to create new stars because they don’t want them to branch outside The WWE bubble into the mainstream where they could achieve bigger success than when they were in The WWE. There are absolutely NO stars currently in The WWE nowadays.
3. Leads To Burials Of Young Full-Time Performers On The Main Roster - One of the main reasons as to why the nostalgia factor is killing the current WWE product is because it is often used to bury any momentum that young full-time wrestlers had achieved and example of this are 1) The Rock burying CM Punk at The 2013 Royal Rumble 2) Goldberg burying Kevin Owens at Fastlane 2017 3) Triple H burying Jinder Mahal in an house show in India in 2017 4) Undertaker burying Rusev at The Greatest Royal Rumble 2018 5) The Bellas burying The Riott Squad recently.
4. The Raw Ratings Continues To Decline - One of the most negative aspects about The WWE’s heavy reliance on the nostalgia factor is that Raw’s ratings have continued to decline from the overuse of nostalgia on Raw in particular because this past week on Raw, it was basically The Nostalgia Raw Show that was filled with mostly segments littered with guys from The Attitude/Ruthless Agression Eras which is good for a cheap pop, but is one of the main reasons why it damages the current product. How can WWE build up the talent they currently have when they continue to rely and focus heavily on the nostalgia factor?
5. Giving Part-Timers Unnecessary Title Runs - Another reason why the nostalgia factor is killing the current WWE product is that they have given part-time performers unnecessary title runs which often come to the detriment of full-time performers. Examples of unnecessary title reigns by part-timers which came at the expense of full-time performers this decade The Rock, Triple H, Goldberg, Brock Lesnar, John Cena, and Chris Jericho.
The Conclusion - The WWE has the most talented roster they ever had, but they often continue to misuse and bury them for the sake of over relying on the nostalgia factor.
By Kwame Shakir
Tags:
Wrestling
