Make WWE Great Again

06/13/2024 11:38:35 AM

Photo from WWE. Obtained via The Illuminerdi.

First of all, pardon for sounding like a US rightist politician there. Well, it's a struggle to name this opinionated piece, with the other being “In Hunter We Trust,” as some religious wrestling fans would probably say, no matter how realistically agnostic they may seem.

For more than a decade, we have seen how World Wrestling Entertainment have become a shadow of its old glory. Although there were tremendous development and 'revolutionary movements' in the company when it comes to keeping up with the times, then-Vince McMahon's promotion would absolutely suck for most of the time, thanks to the always-atrocious product made out of problematic booking and creative decisions as well as the toxic working culture. 

That, until Hunter took over, thanks to the sexual allegations that prompted forced the senile old man to get off his seat as the Chairman of the Board, even if WWE was already part of the TKO Group. Yup, the same son-in-law who made NXT the greatest brand of all in WWE despite the low-ratings turnout during its head-to-head competition with AEW.

Paul Leveque – or Hunter Hearst Helmsley, if you will – may be the guy who may be always politicking his way out of SmackDown to solely perform on RAW back to 2000s, but for sure he now has a matured POV as a businessman – way beyond his billionaire father-in-law who lost his magic touch after building a world-dominating wrestling empire. Look at his relationship with CM Punk, for example. They were once estranged workers to each other and it's no secret that this guy, or Phil Brooks in real life, went out of WWE after dealing with massive differences between him and Vince. Now that the old McMahon is out of the company for good, the return was imminent and boy, it did wonders. Besides, Hunter called it already 'water under the bridge.' 

And we mean better storylines, production works, and perhaps letting their talents grow without being handcuffed to a degree. It also helped that some of the guys who made the hardwork even harder got their pink slips like Kevin Dunn, the name one. Yeah, we finally got rid of the guy who puts hundreds of camera cuts per minute for every single TV and Premium Live Event/PPV program possible. Now, the standards perspectives were widened by range and grew more in numbers without the need to ridiculous cuts and zooms.

Other than that, look at how the stories got their finishes and beginnings nowadays. Most of the programmed rivalries among wrestlers were more sensible and matches have stepped up qualities than it was before. Sure, you can always give credit to the producers like Jason Jordan, Adam Pearce, Michael Hayes, Tyson Kidd/TJ Wilson, and Bobby Roode for bringing them up even before the Hunter takeover, but today's era added much better creative freedom – not just to the producers but to the wrestlers/superstars as well. 

While we have seen collaborations taking place in the past, it is a good thing how Triple H engage with promotions outside WWE to loan stars from them, even if it's just oftentimes a one-night thing. Look at how Shinsuke Nakamura got his match in Japan while he's still employed at the Connecticut-based media company, as well as having then-Impact Knockouts Champion Mickie James suit up for Royal Rumble – not once, but twice! Also, it seems that even with competition, WWE and TNA or even GCW crossovers would become more prevalent.

And at the very most, wrestling isn't a dirty word anymore – even if they still say sports entertainment, sometimes. WWE may have a world of their own, but they do exist as just one planet in a multiverse of wrestling, with collaborations and the never-ending support between wrestlers in different promotions linking them like an interweb of sorts.

No wonder why WWE has transformed themselves into a new but better brand they have ever made sense, since the once-hailed catalyst get sacked out of his Board.

Author: slickmaster | © 2024 The SlickMaster's Files