Where is the WWE heading? Monday night on Raw as The Authority returned, Stephanie and Triple H decided to finally “punish” the members of Team Cena from Survivor Series. In doing so, Dolph Ziggler, Ryback and Erick Rowan were “fired” to end the show. What is the WWE trying to create by burying three young, rising stars?
The fans understand that professional wrestling will never reach the heights that were established in the mid to late 1990’s with the Monday Night War, but why does WWE management have to dump all over their product? If fans weren’t fed up before, they are now. We get the same matches every Monday and Friday on Raw and Smackdown. We get less interested in promos and feuds as they go on. And right when we do think a feud is over after an overdue run, it comes right back.
Can the 2015 Royal Rumble save the direction of the WWE? I am hopeful that it will. It is always an exciting pay-per-view that relies on a return of an old superstar or a superstar from injury to get a nice pop from the crowd. John Cena in 2008, Mr. Perfect in 2002, and as I witnessed live last year in Pittsburgh, Kevin Nash. Who can we expect this year? There have been rumors and speculation that due to the fact that the Rumble is taking place in Philadelphia that a few old ECW stars may take part. We do know a few things: it isn’t last year, when everyone knew Batista would return and win to a crowd of boos in the Steel City. We also know that the most popular WWE star will be in the Royal Rumble match: Daniel Bryan.
The WWE transitioned into the New Year with an interesting tactic to “fire” Ziggler, Ryback and Rowan, but they can easily rebound. Surely, the young stars will be back in a few weeks and may return to be involved in the 30-man Royal Rumble on January 25th. New details came out on the WWE World Heavyweight Championship match as well in a few weeks. The match will now be a triple threat match with Brock Lesnar defending his title against #1 contender, John Cena and Mr. Money in the Bank, Seth Rollins. Is there an emerging surprise in the title picture with Brock Lesnar getting calls back to MMA? I feel that there is a special twist in store for the title match involving Paul Heyman stabbing Lesnar in the back to help Rollins claim the company’s top prize by the end of the night.
Only time will tell what direction the WWE is actually heading in as Wrestlemania is now only a few months away. Can they resurrect the current low-standard of programming? With the Royal Rumble coming around, the event can propel into the Wrestlemania countdown and set up the biggest feuds of the year. It is truly the most exciting time of the year for WWE and its fans, so Dear Management, don’t screw it up.