"The big John Cena push just wasn't doing it for me"
Okay, to go back to the early 2000's I was literally obsessed with wrestling, with The Undertaker being top of my list. Around 2006/2007 it just stopped captivating me.
I'm not sure if I had gotten tired of seeing the same people paraded out each week or perhaps the big John Cena push just wasn't doing it for me.
Every time anyone at work or in the pub mentioned anything to do with WWE it just seemed they were either running low on ideas or just losing the plot. Bizarre and often distasteful storylines were being pushed, none of the new superstars seemed interesting. I'm not sure if it was just me being jaded or whether Vince McMahon and his board had flipped.
I wondered if a lack of competition was the problem. The famous Attitude Era came about because WCW was killing the ratings with Nitro. Now that WWE had bought out ECW and WCW perhaps they were lacking the motivation.
TNA seemed very interesting at first. They had a big reputation for pushing new wrestling and new ideas. Sadly as they started to adopt more and more ex-WWE wrestlers they started the terrible formula of pushing all of the known faces to the top and relegating their TNA athletes to mid-carders or even jobbers.
"Pushing all of the known faces to the top"
It wasn't until 2015 when I even started talking about wrestling again. I heard that The Undertaker had finally lost his winning Wrestlemania streak to Brock Lesnar. It left me a little conflicted. The Undertaker was always my favourite but he is older now and I don't like seeing the guy reduced to being wheeled out once or twice a year at pay-per-views. Either way it raised my interest in the sport again and it was bold to change what had become a very old Wrestlemania tradition.
"Getting the job done rather well"
So I borrowed Summerslam 2014 from a friend, who told me this was what got him back into WWE again and I can see why. Vince seems to have retreated to the boardrooms and in his place we have the team of Stephanie McMahon and Triple H, known as The Authority (authoritah!) and getting the job done rather well. The WWE feels fresher with the Hemsley-McMahon couple running the show. Triple H is a ring veteran. He knows what works and what doesn't. Stephanie has inherited the McMahon intelligence but she is not her father and her ideals are less tainted. They are pushing younger and sometimes even smaller athletes because of the charisma and favour with the crowd. Vince's comic-book physique obsession has lead to some very bland wrestlers being pushed in the past. The show is only as good as the performers and finally I feel they have got that back.
"The new face of fear"
From my own personal experience we have awesome talent in the form of the cocky Seth Rollins, the powerhouse Cesaro and the inspiring Daniel Bryan. We also have the new face of fear with the merciless Bray Wyatt, a man who (like the Undertaker) was brought in as a heel but is so captivating that he is already a fan favourite.
It's not just for the guys of course. The women's division has been boasting the charismatic Bella Twins, the amazingly talented AJ Lee (sadly retired however since I watched Summerslam) and the absolutely awesome Paige, the screaming raven-haired talent from England.
"Screaming raven-haired talent from England"
Well there you have it. I've watched a further three PPV events since then and I'm happy to say I genuinely like WWE right now. Yes, Cena is still their baby-face but he obviously works hard and he has become more impressive. Undertaker has recently appeared again but that's not really what I tune in for anymore. Bray Wyatt fills the evil slot now. As much as I love and respect Mark Calaway, Steve Austin and Dwayne Johnson I feel they need to move aside now and let the next generation make their own era. So far they've proven to me that they have what it takes.
Anyway, get in touch with any opinions you might have on the subject and check in again soon because when it comes down to it my life is basically good-ish!
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