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WWE Doing Good?
April 6, 2005 by Joseph Huber

I seem to be in the minority in thinking that WWE is heading back on the right track. I have criticized them a lot in the past. My point was always to help improve what I love. I am sure many of my fellow fans, columnists, and critics feel the same as I do.

Why do I feel that WWE is headed back in the right direction? Mainly because I have been seeing what I have been missing for so long......actual wrestling. I doubt I am the only one who feels this way. The WWE crowds seem to be more in tune with the matches. They have been cheering and booing as of late, like I haven't seen in a long time. It reminds me of the wrestling I grew up with.

I think some of the fault for wrestling being down is our own. I mean us wrestling fans. We have grown and become cynical. We see storylines and matches and read spoilers on the internet. We ruin the fun for ourselves instead of just sitting back and enjoying the product.

Sure, some of the wrestlers are young and lack the charisma factor to get over with fans, but there are many who have stepped up. John Cena. Eddie Guerrero. Rey Mysterio. Undertaker. Kurt Angle. There are many others who have helped carry the load lately. Even JBL & HHH deserve praise for making us all hate them so much. That is their job and they do it well.

I ordered WrestleMania XXI. Unlike last year I felt that my money was well spent this time. Rey Mysterio vs Eddie Guerrero was classic. It got the event off to a great start. The ladder match was a surprise. I went in not caring about it all and ended up enjoying it, despite my pre-conceived expectations of a boring match.

Cena beating JBL. Batista becoming a force on RAW and giving us an alternative to HHH. Even Big Show has built a following as of late. Kurt Angle and HBK built a nice feud and the possibilities for it is endless. Undertaker & Randy Orton put on a good match. Hulk Hogan saving Eugene.

The best thing about WWE lately is that they aren't always so predictable. Wrestling is at it's best when you aren't sure what is going to happen and who is going to win or lose.

What I liked about this year's WrestleMania the most was that it honored the past more then they have in recent years. I think WWE will benefit from honoring their past instead of trying to ignore it, or bury past wrestlers with criticism.

If you haven't tuned into WWE (RAW or SmackDown!) lately, I suggest you do. You are missing a lot. Put aside your cynicism and enjoy the show. In my opinion, the WWE is on the right track. Old school seems to be returning. Pull up a chair and enjoy.

by Joseph Huber

Dawnnick37 wrote:
I'm sorry but I couldn't disagree with you more. I think the WWE is going in the wrong direction. First off to put Batista and John Cena as the headline on both shows is ridiculous. it shows that the wrestling talent has really diminished. I enjoy Triple H being champ and I feel he still should be. Batista is a flash in the pan with no charisma or wrestling skill. Cena is the same boring wrestler with the same moves.

Second Wrestlemania was not worth the money. Rey Mysterio and Eddie Guerrero was really a sad sight to see I think they tried to much to put on a good match and failed Rey spent the whole time trying to fix his mask. I think the bar is set to high for ladder matches now and it was obvious that this ladder match didn't live up to the one's before it. there were to many spots were there was one guy climbing the ladder and then another guy would come and attack.

I believe for wrestling to back on the right track we need guys who can really sell like back in the old days. I do agree with you that we should just watch the program and not go to spoilers and just enjoy but as far as being unpredictable you couldn't be more off. RAW is the most predictable show on television. Edge and Christian haven't won in ages on RAW. Shelton Benjamin, Chris Jericho, Chris Benoit, and HBK never lose. I also believe for it to be better we need to get rid of all these big guys with no talent like Heidenreich, snitsky and the Masterpiece then just maybe we could say WWE is doing good.

EJO10488 wrote:
Now, I really dislike WWE right now. In fact, the only time I watched WWE this year was WrestleMania 21. No reading anythnig about it online and no watching it at all except WrestleMania, and not reading anything on the net about it doesn't help at all. It just isnt the same anymore. They just book crap on a stick because they know that the fans really have no where to turn. TNA is WWE version 2 and fans would most likely have to buy DVD's for other promotions. WWE barely has any wrestling on it on TV. You can usually get a good 30 minutes on a RAW or Smackdown! of matches. THIRTY MINUTES out of a TWO HOUR show. That is bad. I don't care if it is Sports ENTERTAINMENT. It is also World WRESTLING Entertainment, not World No-Wrestling Entertainment.

I dislike JBL because he was just given a push out of nowhere too fast. One week he is beer drinking Bradshaw and like two weeks laters he is money man JBL....They could have at least built it up better. HHH is one of my favorite wrestlers, however he should at least drop the belt a lot more often and for longer than a month or two. Chris Benoit was the Heavyweight Champ of RAW and he was wrestling on Heat while HHH STILL hogged up RAW....

The only good things on WM 21 to me were the Eddie/Rey match,Angle/HBK match and the Ladder match. The Taker/Orton match was obvious, the Sumo match was a waste of time, the Womens match was stupid because it had someone who could barely wrestle (then again, if you have big boobs and are willing to/look nice in a thong in front of an audience then you are a good womens wrestler in WWE's eyes), the Cena/JBL match was lame, the Hunter/Batista match wasn't that good, and the IC or Tag titles weren't even defended....

Now, to you WWE isnt predictable, but if you didnt know that Batista was gonna win then you must be brain dead (not aimed at you aimed at everyone). While somethings may be a swerve, a lot of the time to me I can guess what is gonna happen.

And that is the main problem. OLD SCHOOL IS RETURNING. It shouldnt return. WWE should be making a New School, a New Era instead of having to rely on past era's to get ratings or draw crowds.

I just dislike WWE, and I am someone who was behind WWE no matter what in the past. I continue not to watch it as well.'

Joseph Huber wrote:
To Dawnnick - I have to disagree about Batista having no charisma. In his promos, where he gives short answers, he came off as being pretty funny and charsmatic. As for being a flash in the pan, only time will tell on that. As for Wrestlemania, the reviews on it from most of the people I read online seem to be overwhelmingly positive. Yeah Rey Mysterio was fixing his mask, but if you focus on every little problem then nothing can be enjoyed. I never liked ladder matches before, but this one stole the show for me. I went in expecting to not like it and came out loving it (except Edge getting the win). Edge hasn't won in ages? He won the ladder match for a title shot. Chris Jericho never loses? He lost the Intercontinental title to Shelton Benjamin, he lost in the ladder match. Benjamin never loses? Benoit never loses? HBK never loses? Correct me if I am wrong, but didn't all of those guys lose at Wrestlemania? We are all entitled to our own opinions. This column was just my opinion.

To EJO10488 - Ok I can agree that the focus on Divas and non-wrestling things has gotten way out of hand, but if you watched lately you would see that wrestling is starting to become more important again. I am dead set against releasing WRESTLING talent (make that GOOD wrestling talent) and having Diva searches though. I think releasing Molly Holly has killed women's wrestling on RAW. Sure her character was stale, but at least she could wrestle. Christy Hemme will never be in her class, in my opinion.

I agree with your World WRESTLING Entertainment comment. I used to dislike JBL for the same reasons you did, why did I change my mind? He defended the title over and over again and made it important. I couldn't agree more about HHH hogging the limelight on RAW. I've always stated my opposition to HHH putting himself over other champs. I like it much more when he helps build talent like Randy Orton & Batista.

I never said WWE isn't predictable. I said they aren't always so predictable. That's why I have had a complaint about them for so long (being too predictable), but I feel they are turning the corner and trying to make it less predictable. They can't do anything about internet leaks etc, but they have TRIED to surprise the fans as of late. It was getting to a point where I could guess every match and every angle. Now I tend to try and throw out my predictions and sit back and enjoy the show. When you were a kid and watched wrestling, did you have all these predictions or did you simply sit and allow yourself to be entertained? Most things are predictable if you sit down and try to figure the outcome out in advance. If you simply watch as you go, wrestling can be enjoyable again.

Were you really behind WWE "no matter what" when you say you dislike them now? That is not "no matter what" that is being behind them when they are doing things you like. That's ok. We are all entitled to our own opinions. My columns are always my opinions. Anyone is free to agree or disagree.

I have written enough negative columns in the past. If a negative column is needed, I will write it. A negative wrestling column can be found on just about every wrestling website. I am never one to just go with the flow. I state my thoughts and opinions, whether they are popular or not. I am just focusing on the positive, because overall I am enjoying wrestling right now.

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