No New Eras in the WWE
There Hasn’t Been an Era in WWE since ‘Ruthless Aggression’
Establishing an Identity
When marketing a brand or a product, there is nothing more important than your identity and making that identity distinctly recognizable.
Nike has a slogan that is three words which you know without me saying it. If I say TV commercial and gecko, you immediately know I’m talking about Geico, and you would know how much 15 minutes would save you on your car insurance. That’s a distinguishable brand.
If you casually talk about the WWE on the street today, you can say Stone Cold, and you’ll get a Steve Austin in response. People know who the The Rock is because they see Dwayne Johnson in the movies and TV.
Stone Cold and The Rock were the face of the “Attitude Era” which ran from ’97 to the early new millennium. The Attitude Era ran during a proverbial high point for wrestling entertainment.
After Austin and Rock, a new influx of talent entered the WWE and a change was in order leading to the brand split and the Ruthless Aggression era. I grew up with wrestling in the Ruthless Aggression era, in a time where there was plenty of talent to get behind, but frustrations built as John Cena and Triple H became the concrete focus and better talent was fazed out as years passed.
The reason I say the Ruthless Aggression era was the last true “era” in WWE entertainment, was because there was a distinct identity: the SmackDown and Raw brand split. The two shows always felt like they were constantly trying to outdo each other, and I myself, was a SmackDown guy.
I compare it to EA Sports and 2K Sports. The cream rises to the top, because each company wants to gain the competitive edge. The consumers will determine the competitive edge by buying the game that is the better product. When no one started competing with EA Sports on Madden, their games progressively became worse and worse, but consumers were forced to buy it because it was the only NFL game on the market.
EA Sports made NBA Live, 2K Sports made NBA 2K. 2K Sports wasn’t afraid to innovate in NBA 2K and really sink their teeth into a lucrative market by making a sports game that captures the closest essence of NBA basketball. 2K Sports ended up leaving EA Sports in the dust on NBA games.
Today, the SmackDown show is the Raw replay show. It’s very rare to get a title changing hands, or a key storyline development that makes people want to tune in. SmackDown had a purpose in the Ruthless Aggression era, and the contrasting styles of the shows gave fans options. Do I want to watch Batista or Cena? Do I want Undertaker or Triple H?
If it wasn’t for the brand division, and the stacked roster from 2002–2007, I wouldn’t say the Ruthless Aggression era had enough going for it to stick. But the star power, although not in comparison of Austin and Rock, was still enough to carry the WWE through the mid-2000’s prior to today’s dark age.
The WWE was doing well during the Attitude and Ruthless Aggression eras because the program and product was captivating and must-watch. The Attitude Era and Ruthless Aggression era are merely marketing jargon. Words that stick with you like Nike and Geico ads. But these eras become brand defining and have staying power.
Why the WWE Hasn’t Had a New Era in the Last Decade
The WWE is dying to create a new brand today that can captivate the kids, and their mothers and fathers.
Some would say the WWE are in the PG Era or the Reality Era, but both monikers are fan-based assertions on the product. PG for the family programming and Reality for the fans understanding of kayfabe (the scripted and behind the scenes elements of the WWE product).
The stagnation of the product over the last decade is why I don’t consider there to be a definitive era since Ruthless Aggression.
The WWE in the last few weeks have been trying to push this idea that there’s a “new era” in the wake. A new era with new stars and rising talent from around the world. Basically, with the influx of indie wrestling stars cashing in their checks for the WWE call up, the WWE marketing team is trying to bring in the rabid fan bases of an AJ Styles, Kevin Owens, Sami Zayn, and Finn Balor. The roster is practically overloaded with extremely talented wrestlers that the WWE doesn’t know what to do with them.
Instead of pushing any of these new talents into a prominent strong role, the WWE flushes the majority onto their minor league show NXT, and the rest to fend for themselves in the mid card.
But what about AJ Styles? AJ is getting yet another title shot at Extreme Rules.
Styles is in the same position CM Punk was years ago. “Make Roman look strong,” Vince McMahon says. Nothing has changed over the last decade.
WWE consistently books one guy to be their top seeded and cemented baby face wrestler that everyone has to respect and look up to. With John Cena reaching the twilight of his career, Roman Reigns has caught the torch and picked up exactly where Cena left off.
Over the last decade, there have been moments where the WWE has struck gold. Daniel Bryan’s WWE Championship build and win at Mania, CM Punk’s Pipe Bomb, Lesnar beating the Undertaker’s Wrestlemania Streak. The Rock going over John Cena. The Shield had their moments.
If there was any appropriate era title since the Ruthless Aggression era passed, I would say the WWE post ’07 would be called the “Soap Opera” era.
Lack of Good Writing, Lack of Humanization
The WWE has been overwriting their shows for some time. Wrestlers outside of Cena and Reigns have trouble finding a groove because their characters gets caught in a gimmick or a sing along chant (see Cesaro for gimmick, see Ryback for sing along). Do either Cena or Reigns have a gimmick? No. They’re just “the guy”, the guy that can’t be defeated, the guy that overcomes the odds.
If you can’t define a wrestler in one or two words immediately, then that wrestler (if you have any future plans for them) likely needs to be repackaged.
Lesnar: Beast
Steve Austin: Badass
Rock: Electric
Undertaker: Phenom
AJ Styles already came in as phenomenal. But many wrestlers get lost in the shuffle and aren’t allowed to grow as characters or get suffocated by terrible writing. Is Dolph Ziggler a try hard wannabe ladies man or a half-wit comedian? Is Cesaro the Swiss Superman, a not-so-real Real American, a Heyman guy, James Bond, that guy that a section of fans like?
Take the Diva’s Revolution. The push has been for Women’s Wrestling. Since the debut of Charlotte, Sasha Banks, and Becky Lynch, there hasn’t been a huge shift in the booking of WWE Women’s wrestling. There hasn’t been a concerted effort at a character build for Sasha Banks and Becky Lynch. The Women’s division has mostly been assuaged by Ric Flair’s devious tactics. I’m fine with good heel strategy, but what will it make out of any of the other wrestlers?
The WWE hasn’t taken the time to humanize any of their new women’s wrestlers. They barely humanize the men. They call their wrestler’s superstars yet most of the ‘superstars’ don’t act as a superstar would.
Kevin Owen’s had a moment where he said he is the “prizefighter”. That’s genius. It’s one word, and it’s memorable. The guy has been terribly booked, but works wonders on the microphone, and is a ring technician. How is there 3 hours of Monday Night Raw and no time to develop Kevin Owens into a superstar?
The main show, Raw, is so overwritten, yet so under-produced. The wrestling ring has become the primary scene. It’s a soap opera where the only scenes are in the ring and a backstage set for an interview that usually ends up being a snarky sound byte for the pay per view promo package.
Stale. Stagnant. Boring.
Young to middle aged men, even kids, aren’t trying to watch soap operas. Kids want Dragon Ball Z. Action, special effects. Men want Game of Thrones, Sons of Anarchy. Shows where the writing is consistently good, the storylines are well developed and a team of educated people put time and effort into creating a genuine product. These shows, among others, aren’t afraid to take chances.
But this isn’t the soap opera era of WWE. This is repetition. Regurgitation. The ever so cliche definition of insanity brought to you by Albert Einstein. Viewers of the WWE have been watching the same show on loop for nearly a decade. Outside of a few spectacular moments from year to year, the WWE isn’t pushing forward, it’s rusting.
The WWE has one new thing for you, not a new era, a new mid card. There’s a lot of promise in the WWE roster, but with the inevitable glass ceiling where new talent can’t break through, it’s the same old product.
The WWE Doesn’t Embrace Being a Niche Product
The WWE has always been a niche product like boxing. Fighting sports are geared toward a certain demographic of people. Some are drawn to it, some aren’t. The WWE has been taking giant steps from being what it is, a scripted fighting sport.
The WWE’s reliance on superstars that don’t transcend the industry: Cena, Reigns, and Triple H, have been detrimental and have helped lead to the ratings demise of the product. Boxing has had similar issues. Mayweather isn’t fun to watch, so no one wants to watch him unless there’s a chance he loses. Manny is past his prime. Boxing has no superstars, no transcendent up and coming trash talkers or ass kickers.
The UFC is blowing away the WWE and boxing. Rousey, Jon Jones, Conor McGregor. Young stars that jump off the television screen. Fans want them, Dana White provides them. There’s blood, there’s swearing, and there’s brutal fights inside a cage.
Hmm. Sounds a lot like the Attitude Era…
