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WWE in 2026

Mr. S£im Citrus said:
Yeah, but this message board is populated mostly by dudes in their mid-40s to early-50s. Do you think that's typical of the average wrasslin' fan in 2026? Hell, forget about The Jeffersons, they signed Danhausen to appeal to kids whose parents were born after Amen went off the air.
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The typical wrasslin' fan in 2026 is either skewing older or too young to have seen guys like HHH have hair let alone work a normal schedule. Besides, it's pretty common to see Norman Lear shit pop up as reels or TikToks (especially after Rob Reiner's death), which kinda blows my mind also makes me extremely happy. Also I don't think most of this board is mid-40s yet let alone 50s.

Now the cross-section of wrestling fans and Amen watchers actually kinda fascinates me.
 
The quality of the actual wrestling is better than the attitude era, especially once the booking team went from Prichard/Cornette/Russo/McMahon to mostly just Russo/McMahon. The booking in 97/98 was pretty good, after that, not so much. The level of fan engagement was definitely better during the attitude era.
 
Some of the Bloodline stuff was fantastic and the Rey-Dom feud with Dom's prison entrance at Mania was epic. The wrestling quality (when I still watched) was better. That said Attitude Era felt like you had to watch every single moment or you would miss something. I haven't watched in forever and I'm still hearing about the same people feuding for month after month.

WWE feels like a super manufactured product that you have to watch everything to be into. Loss was making an argument on Twitter today or the other day that AEW is actually much easier to tune into as a casual fan and I think he has a point.
 
I'd say it requires nothing to really religiously watch. Like I could drop in now and it feels like it's exactly the same players in the most prominent places, only Heyman is standing in a different place. The women are the most interesting but the same problems exist for them, too. It's just so tepid and catering to a fanbase that isn't the same to where comparing eras is almost difficult for me. Absolutely there's highlights but it's a product I can't see ever being invested in.
 
Valeyard said:
There's been nothing I've seen WWE do since probably pre-Covid that touches 2000 alone tbh.
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THIS. Too many people forget that 2000 was still the Attitude Era and it's not only one of the best years the company ever had, both creatively and financially, but it's also when the company as a whole started focusing more on the quality of action bell to bell.
 
I just (a full week later) read that Cody got the belt back from Drew last week. It popped up on Facebook in an article about how many dislikes the YouTube video got.
 
Both main events are hilariously bad, but at least Roman/Punk won't cause people to fall asleep.
 
I get it, I just have serious fatigue of both guys, especially Roman.
 
I can’t imagine Roman as a face champion without the Bloodline would be interesting at all. So given Heyman’s propensity to attach himself to a hot act, the realization that the Vision is both boring and cursed by injury, and WWE being in low-key panic mode and creative flux…well I wouldn’t be shocked if Mania ended with Paul emerging from his month-long hiatus and helping Roman win the belt. Not only do you have the super-fresh Reigns-Rollins match to go to, but also interesting possibilities like Roman and Brock as a unit wrecking shit, Bron as a face, Punk and Seth forming an uneasy alliance, work in Logan and the Usos and Sami and it’s 2023 all over again! It’s not the most inspired booking but they need something and I don’t expect HHH and this new lady to reinvent the wheel as much as try to get the interest back to 2024 levels by putting the same guys back in the same spots.
 
Looks like Jelly Roll will have a match at mania or at least be there. Maybe he will answer Brock’s challenge.
 
Jelly Roll’s wife actually was a hooker in Vegas, so they could do a storyline where she got trafficked to Brock after a UFC card.
 
Corporate Invertebrate Phil "CM Punk" Brooks is just way too loathsome.
 
It's just so remarkable that Randy Orton has been around almost 25 years and was actually good for a collective eight months, and none of that is from the last ten years.
 
Valeyard said:
It's just so remarkable that Randy Orton has been around almost 25 years and was actually good for a collective eight months, and none of that is from the last ten years.
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I’m not an orton fan but this seems a bit harsh.

Though I still remember when @Brooklyn Zoo tried to convince old chat that he was better than Bret. Luckily it was pre-slack era so there’s no record of it.
 
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