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I understand that the WWE isn't promoting a wrestling product per se, if I want that I'll watch Ring of Honor (which I enjoy tremendously).
As they are presenting an entertainment product to me I'm hoping that the storylines will make sense, there will be some buildup to big angles, and it will be entertaining. But instead they present a product that looks like it was written about 5 minutes before showtime, and lots of head-scratching moments:
1. NXT: Chance to present an innovative product, pulling back the curtain and showing us something we've never seen before. Instead it's obstacle courses, joke telling competitions, and other assorted things that do not show us why these guys are the future of the company. In fact the opposite happens, every wrestler is exposed and the announcers treat it as a joke.
2. Constant start/stop pushes for the young wrestlers. Evan Bourne is very over with the crowd. Why don't they let him get a push? They've hinted at it several times and invariably he goes back to enhancement work. Daniel Bryan is given the US Title, and then they feed him to Sheamus this Monday. Why put in this time trying to develop a wrestler and then make him look like an idiot? Either push him or fire him.
The problem is that with all these retiring veterans they haven't replaced them with wrestlers that have credibility. So now it's a very select list of top wrestlers and 90% of the roster that the fans don't accept. They had their chance a year ago before all these guys left, but their youth movement came too late and now there's very few veterans to help get over the next generation.
The viewership has also been severely damaged because of this abuse. PPV buyrates are down. TV viewership is very fragile and sensitive to what else is on TV. If the product was that great, Monday Night Football would be afraid to go up against Raw but it's the other way around, if there's anything else on people will switch the channel.
As a lifelong wrestling fan I will keep watching but I do feel personally insulted by this shoddy product and hope that they'll turn things around somehow.
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