THE MORE THINGS CHANGE, THE MORE THEY STAY THE SAME.
From Shane McMahon’s return to the Draft and the New Era – what has really changed? Not Much, honestly.
The Brand Draft and New Era may have given us the best RAW and SMACKDOWN of the year the week after the Draft, but the next week – well, right back to the same old.
Shane McMahon’s return was an epic moment. I loved it. I was glad to see him. It wasn’t just WWE epic either, the mainstream world went ape as well. The prodigal son had return, hope had come with him.
Many believed Shane’s return was the beginning of the WWE turning the corner and getting back on the path to glory. Indeed many hailed his return as the return to glory.
Shane was back to secure the McMahon legacy for his children – the next generation. A legacy he believed Stephanie and HHH were destroying. He wanted control of RAW.
Shane literally took a leap of faith to gain that control, and failed. Even though he lost to the Undertaker at Wrestlemania, he was still given what he wanted, RAW – for a time at least.
This is a major problem with the WWE – stipulations never adhered too. Even if it was a popular decision, it was a decision that showcased one of the many problems – piss-poor writing, and something worst: Acting like the fans would never noticed, and that they don’t remember what happens week-to-week.
Truth be told, Shane in control was no different than Stephanie in control. Only this time Shane was the face, flaunting and abusing his powers to benefits the face wrestlers. He was the Authority going for Cheers, not jeers. Just how any times did he screw over KO and his ‘contractually obligated’ IC Title rematch?
It amazed me how many people thought a McMahon family feud would be new, groundbreaking and invigorating. Yeah, this was never done before.
Shane’s return and the loose feud between him and Stephanie lead us directly into the announcement of the Brand Split and the Draft – and the claimed “New Era.” Am I the only one who remembers they did this 15 years ago after the buyout of WCW? And that at that time it was done to create competition between RAW and SMACKDOWN – and handle a larger than normal roster? Am I also the only one who remembers that it really never worked?
For weeks they teased the draft – with claims that nothing would ever be the same, tag teams would be split up, we would never see certain matches. In particular they pushed on both RAW and SMACKDOWN, and at BATTLEGROUND that we would never see Sami Zayn versus Kevin Owens again.
Did any of that happened? Hardly. Zayn and Owens are on the same brand, and are sure to cross paths again. The week before the draft they announced that tag teams would be drafted together. Yes, the Wyatts were split up, but Bray and Rowan are on Smackdown. Expect Harper to return on SMACKDOWN and the original Wyatt Family to be reformed.
What they claimed would happened, really didn’t. Fin Balor and American Alpha drafted? GREAT.
Nai Jax, Mojo Rawley, Carmella, Alexa Bliss, Eva Marie? Draft fail.
How can the NXT portion of the draft be called a success when Asuka, Aries, Bayley, Joe, Nakamura and Roode are still in NXT? It can’t be.
Yes, Apollo Crews and Fin Balor are getting titles shots at Summerslam, but is that enough?
We are also getting Styles v Cena . . . a match we were told we would never see again. Plus, Brock v Orton, a match from over a decade ago.
The RAW and SMACKDOWN after the draft were excellent, both the best shows of the year for their Brand. The week after, back to the same old routine.
Nothing has changed. Hell, Bray made his own match on SMACKDOWN – inmates still run the asylum.
All that has been done is a rotating of the players, and making them exclusive to one show. The people making the decisions, those writing the show, are still the same.
Think of it this way: You have a problem with your car. The axel is broken, and the steering is misaligned.
You take it into the shop right? Of Course. Their fix: Rotate the tires!
That fixes everything, right? Yep. Drive off the lot, tires rotated, feeling good, until the car veers off the road into a ditch. Steering still isn’t work and the axel is still broken.
The Draft didn’t fix the issues, it just rotated the pieces. Those pieces aren’t even the problem. In truth the WWE doesn’t even need an overhaul, everything it needs is there.
The first post-Draft RAW and SMACKDOWN proved this. When creative wants, and talent is on the same page, they can put out great shows.
The truly sad thing is, the WWE can put out good shows with what they have in place right now – even with what seems at times to be a poor creative team.
They just don’t.
STATE OF THE WWE: MEDICORE AT BEST.
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