5 Ways to Fix the WWE Raw and SmackDown Ratings Slump
By Carl Gac
WWE.com
Book your champions the right way.
How many times have we seen Seth Rollins get beaten clean on tv in recent weeks? How many times do we need to see that happen before the belt becomes meaningless?
If you want fans to believe someone is important then you have to present him that way. Seth is extremely overexposed at the WWE Champion. He should be used as the standard-bearer for the company, the man that everyone is trying to beat. Being the top champion has to be the goal for the wrestlers on your roster, if it’s not, then you shouldn’t be in the company. If he gets pinned by people at every turn, then that only shows him as a weak champion and will make people believe it’s not important to see him wrestle. If you’re adamant you want the challengers get a win over him, then have it in a tag or six man match, where someone else can take the fall not the man who you expect to draw the fans in to watch your product.
Having seen John Cena defend the United States title in his open challenge matches against the likes of Neville and Sami Zayn, that’s the perfect way to use one of your veterans to help young or new guys get a bit of a boost in the eyes of the fans. Zayn was so unfortunate to get injured during the match with Cena as he could have been pushed to the moon after a great performance against the 15 time world champion. Keep using the open challenge idea, use it as a way to introduce new talent to the audience and every now and again give the champ a scare with a non title loss to someone like Neville.
Whilst we’re talking about champions, let the Intercontinental Champion actually be the number one contender for the Heavyweight title again. You have such a good crop of guys that can hold your secondary belts. A match between Kevin Owens as IC Champ against Seth Rollins as WWE Champ would be a great way to pull Owens up into the main event bracket, whilst giving the latter the knowledge he always has a challenger looking over his shoulder.
Next: Reason No. 4