The Business of WWE

The difference I have observed between Raw and SmackDown since SmackDown moved to FOX in October 2019 is that many of the more established stars who the WWE universe is already very familiar with have been assigned to SmackDown to become acquainted with the bigger audience that watches FOX. Raw seems like more of a platform for superstars who are newer to competition. This allows stars to ease into the WWE universe and get acquainted with fans as they adapt themselves to the WWE style of production. Paul Heyman is absolutely the right man for a job like this, because he is excellent at observing what works and what doesn’t work. He very quickly adapts to the changing landscape in the world of sports entertainment.

These two formats (and so-called friends) within WWE are clearly making efforts to distinguish themselves, even though they are part of the same company. It’s proving to be a successful formula. It also seems very similar to the start of the Ruthless Aggression Era in 2002. When WWE had bought out WCW in 2001, the company was at a loss with regards to how they would go forward. They strategically ended up deciding, as a company, to compete with themselves because there was no other legitimate competition.

Raw and SmackDown were split and developed their own separate identities. Raw focused more heavily on entertaining fans by providing extensive video packages and very nuanced storylines, whereas SmackDown concentrated on in-ring action with a no-nonsense approach.

At this stage in WWE history, it really doesn’t matter anymore what WrestleMania match gets the main event spot because there’s such a high level of anticipation for the entire event. As long as fans are emotionally invested in the story the superstars are telling, it doesn’t matter where on the card the match is positioned. If this was 15 or 20 years ago, it might matter a lot more.

Whether it’s Lesnar-McIntyre or Goldberg-Reigns in the main event, it’s not a huge deal to me. I would be extremely passionate about seeing Brock Lesnar and Drew McIntyre going last if this were 15 or 20 years ago, but it might get the WWE universe talking and be a significant point of discussion if Goldberg and Roman Reigns end up in the main event slot because it would be totally unexpected.

One other element to consider that would obviously support Reigns-Goldberg being the main event is that WWE is making a concerted effort to continue to establish SmackDown as the new “A-show” as opposed to Monday Night Raw. WWE has been working on this since October when SmackDown’s TV deal with FOX began.

However, Mr. McMahon would also have to consider that there may be quite a bit of fan backlash if this happens. WWE fans might voice their displeasure if Roman Reigns is thrust into his fifth WrestleMania main event and turn on The Big Dog. We all know this would be the exact opposite of Vince McMahon’s intention, so he will do anything to avoid this again. From that perspective, Lesnar-McIntyre as the main event is the way to go.

No matter what goes down at WrestleMania 36 in Tampa Bay at Raymond James Stadium, most WWE fans can agree that they would all love to see Roman Reigns and Drew McIntyre walk out as Universal and WWE champions respectively. This would officially end the era of part-time champions in WWE and starting the new decade off fresh. WrestleMania season is like WWE ending one year and beginning another.

Overall, I’m very optimistic about how the reboot of Roman Reigns will play out the second go-around after it felt forced. Vince McMahon was simply making the WWE universe submit to his will by pushing the guy he wanted to be WWE’s top star rather than letting fans decide for themselves who that would be. No one wanted another face of the company who was so heavily endorsed by Mr. McMahon after over a decade of John Cena. This time with Roman it actually feels organic, which is what the WWE universe wanted all along. Booker T seems to agree with my optimism as he talked about it on his Hall of Fame podcast this past week.

Now Roman’s being allowed more freedom out there to be authentic to himself – and it’s working!

One of WWE’s next tasks on Raw over the course of these last four weeks before WrestleMania 36 will be to lay out Edge’s perspective in his storyline with Randy Orton (which now includes Beth Phoenix) as clearly as they did for Orton. I’m sure the company will do an excellent job of this because Paul Heyman, the Executive Director of Monday Night Raw, is an excellent storyteller; this obviously began on March 9.

Vince McMahon might want to strongly consider booking Edge and Randy Orton to open the show at Mania. This match has earned a prestigious place on the card because it’s the most prominent storyline on Monday Night Raw heading into the biggest show of the year. It’s a prestigious spot on the card given that the Universal Championship was defended to open the show last year, and Seth Rollins walked away as the new Universal Champion under a new moniker – The BeastSlayer.

Edge and Randy also have earned that spot because the WWE universe is emotionally invested in their storyline to a deep degree. That is in essence the entire point of sports entertainment – for superstars to present their story to the audience in a believable manner and they should be rewarded for this. Randy Orton has done the best work of his career.

This match would work so well in this spot because the WWE universe is invested in the story and would even entice casual fans to watch the rest of the show.

It was a very smart marketing decision by WWE to not burn up people’s attention spans by announcing the major WrestleMania 36 plans for SmackDown over a month in advance and capitalizing while anticipation is hottest because of John Cena’s return. This will create as much anticipation for Mania as possible and give fans plenty of time to ruminate about booking possibilities and the potential direction the company could go after Mania. This decision was subtle and will go unnoticed by the large majority of the WWE universe. I guarantee it will be a big reason why this installment of WrestleMania will be very successful.

I feel the company misses out on the potential for massive profits when they don’t advertise matches for an adequate amount of time before the biggest show of the year. When they advertise WrestleMania matches about two weeks in advance, fans don’t have enough time to digest what has even happened, let alone become attached to the storyline.

A bad example of this was two years ago at WrestleMania 34 when John Cena had an impromptu match with The Undertaker (which he obviously lost). However, a good example of this has occurred this year because the WWE universe knows about 8 or 9 matches that will occur. WWE is clearly past the era where the WrestleMania main event can’t be determined a year in advance because there are too many moving parts.

Since Royal Rumble, it has been a foregone conclusion that Roman Reigns would be the likely winner of the Elimination Chamber match and go on to face The Fiend at ‘Mania for the Universal Championship. It was also thought that John Cena was a pretty safe bet to be paired with Elias to work a WrestleMania match. These two matches, along with several others on the SmackDown agenda, are being rethought, according to Dave Meltzer of Wrestling Observer Radio.

Rather than working with Reigns at WrestleMania, Vince McMahon is reportedly considering booking Bray Wyatt with John Cena as he did at WrestleMania 30 in 2014. The other option would be Braun Strowman in a Universal Title match. This dynamic would be interesting because these two guys have never worked together in a singles program, and only have experience as members of The Wyatt Family.

It could be a fresh matchup that the WWE universe has never seen before. Mr. McMahon might be hesitant to put Strowman in such a spotlight because he is still relatively green in the business. He doesn’t have 10 or 12 years of experience like many others do.

Along with the notion of throwing Cena into the Universal Championship match at Mania or booking him to work with Elias, Mr. McMahon is also considering having him work with King Corbin or Sheamus. Both of these possibilities make sense because John has worked with both men in the past. Fans should remember that one of the primary goals of WrestleMania each year is to book the card so as many superstars as possible get the opportunity to be a part of the show.

Congratulations to Tyson Fury on defeating Beyoncé Wilder by seventh round TKO in what will go down as the biggest boxing fight of the decade. This result creates even more of a possibility that the WWE universe may see Fury in some capacity at WrestleMania 36, even if he doesn’t participate in a match. Also, it would be extremely cool and have dollar signs written all over it to have Beyoncé Wilder potentially do a match with WWE. Wilder has said that he would jump at the opportunity if he were approached by WWE.

The impending return of John Cena on February 28 has the WWE universe thinking about a potential WrestleMania 36 match between The Champ and The Fiend. Maybe it sounds like wishful thinking and outlandish potentiality, but it makes a whole lot of business sense for several reasons. It would significantly benefit Roman Reigns, because it would avoid the company having to turn him heel after a loss to The Fiend (as all The Fiend’s opponents have gone through a significant character change after losing to him).

It also doesn’t make much sense for WWE to book The Fiend to take a loss to anyone at ‘Mania, nor should he lose to Goldberg at Super Showdown. It would negate nearly all of the momentum behind his mystique. WWE should look to take advantage of the fact that this very creative gimmick caught fire with the WWE universe a little less than a year ago. This is in addition to Reigns being able to avoid a loss and keep his character intact.

Vince McMahon could put together some video packages highlighting the previous history between Cena and Bray Wyatt from 2014. Over the years, when WWE has been serious about pushing a superstar, they have gotten the nod to earn at least one victory over Cena (take Daniel Bryan, Randy Orton, or Edge for example). Wyatt did not earn that level of trust at WrestleMania 30, but it seems that he may be ready six years later, and the audience has formed a significant attachment to “The Fiend” character.

On the other hand, this is just pure speculation, so it may not come to fruition and we may indeed get a Reigns vs. Fiend Universal Title WrestleMania match (albeit it should in all likelihood not be the main event; that distinction should go to Drew McIntyre hopefully winning the WWE Championship from Brock Lesnar). In this case, I might anticipate a Cena vs. Elias match since John has worked a few times in the past with Elias.

Since SmackDown moved to FOX in October 2019, the quality of the programming has been up and down. The February 7th show was all over the place shifting focus between about 10 different stories. The continuity of Monday Night Raw with Paul Heyman in charge has probably been the best incarnation of Raw since the Attitude Era.

Every segment on the show over the past few months has felt very meaningful, and Heyman has done a very nice job of pivoting within storylines. The stories resonate with the WWE universe when certain superstars have suffered unexpected injuries. Maybe all he needed was for Brock Lesnar to come to Raw so Paul could gain a little more star power to work with and not have to divert his attention from Monday Nights.

WWE has announced that Hollywood actor Dwayne Johnson’s (The Rock) daughter Simone has officially started training at the WWE Performance Center in Orlando, FL. She will give the sports entertainment industry a go. She most likely feels the sports entertainment industry is embedded in her blood, since her father, grandfather, and great grandfather all achieved success with the company. She will endeavor to become the first-ever fourth-generation superstar in WWE history at just 18 years old.

WWE has also officially announced that WrestleMania 37 will be held in the Los Angeles Rams / Chargers new SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles in 2021. The stadium, which is scheduled to open in 2020, has the capability to seat 100,000 people. Expect a potentially record-breaking crowd about as large as the crowd that was in attendance for WrestleMania 32 at AT&T Stadium in Dallas.

Matt Riddle reportedly had a verbal altercation with Brock Lesnar at the Royal Rumble which did not do him any favors in the match (the reason he was in the match was because Triple H lobbied for him to be in it). He was eliminated from the match, however, in less than a minute. He was at it again on Saturday night had an NXT live event in Las Vegas, guaranteeing that he would one day retire Brock Lesnar.

I can’t say I’m surprised, because The Bro’s been making comments like this for nearly 3 years. He may want to tone it down and have some respect for the hierarchy of the business and his day will come eventually (assuming his mouth doesn’t get him in trouble first).