There are a lot of words that could be used to describe WWE’s 2014 campaign, and some of them are better than others. While the 2014 year did give us some great moments, like Wrestlemania 30, or the squash of John Cena, it was also filled with moments that left us scratching our heads, and planting our faces in our hands. Understandably, not everything a major promotion like WWE does will be a success, but there’s a big difference between something failing, and something going neglected.
WWE had a number of chances to do big things last year, like pushing Cesaro to the main event, or building on the destruction of The Shield, that they simply did not capitalize on, or at least not to the level they were capable of doing. Because of this, a lot of people are afraid that WWE 2015 may suffer some of the same fates, and it very well could, if in the following year, some of the same decisions are made. If WWE wants to avoid the path of decline, and produce a gripping, fan-friendly product, than they must do the following five things:
5. WWE Must Improve Its Booking.
It was brought to my attention by Reddit’s top wrestling community, /r/SquaredCircle recently that, not counting battle royals or one on one matches, The Usos have faced the Rhodes Brothers over twenty times across the last year. To put that to scale, let’s say The Usos & The Rhodes Brothers have one tag match a week for twenty weeks. This means that, on RAW, you would see The Usos face The Rhodes Brothers from January to April / May every single week. That is almost half a year that you would see the same match over and over again. From a practical standpoint, let alone an entertainment standpoint, this is absolutely unacceptable. Putting the same four superstars in the same match over and over again is boring. Imagine if John Cena and Randy Orton fought every single week for almost half a year. Oh, wait…
You may also remember the stipulations leading up to Hell in a Cell; John Cena and Dean Ambrose had a match to determine who would get Seth Rollins, as each man felt like they had a legitimate quarrel to settle. Dean Ambrose ended up winning, and going on to Hell in a Cell to face Rollins, but the very next night on RAW, the main event was John Cena vs. Seth Rollins. Combined with the dirty finish at Hell in a Cell which set up an average-at-best feud between Ambrose and Bray Wyatt that also somehow erased that past number of months from Dean Ambrose’s head, John Cena circumventing the event and going right after Rollins the next night basically rendered all of October meaningless.
If 2015 is going to be better than 2014, one thing that must change is bookings. New match-ups and match possibilities must be created. The same seven or eight people cannot be used week in and week out for main events. Titles cannot just go back and forth, especially between two or three people. WWE must take the time and seriously commit resources to increasing the depth of their show, and the number of people invested in the main angles of the product. Otherwise, we may see yet another Gold & Stardust vs. The Usos half-year battle.
4. John Cena Must Begin Playing A Smaller Role.
When Daniel Bryan was injured last May, John Cena stepped in and replaced him in the title picture. At the time, I was upset by this because it felt like they were trying to use Bryan’s popularity to push a stale product who was already over, but in retrospect it easily made the most sense; John Cena is a reliable, proven commodity, who can not only handle singles feuds, but carry them, and with the direction WWE was heading, there was no way they could have chanced that spot with an unproven rising star like Reigns or Wyatt.
However, as of Smackdown tonight, Daniel Bryan is back in action, and barring something like a re-aggravation of his injury or bad writing decisions, his rise to the top is almost guaranteed. The truth is, there is plenty of money to still be milked from the “Ultimate Underdog Daniel Bryan” angle, and only a fool would miss a chance to milk that cow while it’s prime. What that means is that Daniel Bryan must take back his spot from John Cena. Otherwise, it won’t feel authentic, and it wouldn’t be nearly as interesting or gripping as it needs to be. If Daniel Bryan stays in the shadow, there’s no sense of urgency, or worth. He’s just another name. An over name, but just a name all the same.
