If you’re frustrated with WWE, it’s time to break up

If you’re feeling drained by the WWE product and can’t seem to find enjoyment in wrestling anymore, it’s time to call for a breakup.

Hey you! Yes, you! Let’s have a talk. Have you been a lifelong WWE fan? Are you bored or frustrated with the current product, but find yourself going back; night after night, week after week, WWE Network Special after WWE Network Special? Do you find it exhausting to watch your few favorite bright spots on the roster, the shining stars you look to in the vast expanse of The WWE Universe constantly misused and dimmed?

It may be time to break up with The WWE. While we’ll talk about The WWE at length here, this may not be about WWE for you. This could be about whatever wrestling promotion it is that you’ve been attached to that no longer fills you with joy and I’m here to give you the kick in the pants you need to make a tough decision. Life is too short for bad wrestling.

It’s okay to acknowledge that your relationship with WWE might be an abusive one. That’s the first step. At times, it feels like WWE makes creative decisions specifically just to spite its fans or in a clumsy attempt to be unpredictable.

An example from the Fall

Hell in a Cell 2019 is a great example.

Hell in a Cell matches are 22 years old, and prior to the 2019 main event of the eponymous WWE Network Special, there had been 41 of these matches. Each Hell in a Cell match up until the 2019 event had featured unimaginable carnage in the scope of The WWE Universe. We’ve seen people fall 20 feet through commentary tables, plunged through the ceiling of the cell onto piles of thumbtacks, thrown into the beds of trucks, and yet none of these matches ended in the referee stopping the match because they were too concerned about the well-being of the competitors on the receiving end of this harm.

Saturated in red lighting, buried under a pile of foreign objects, your 2019 main event featuring “The Fiend” Bray Wyatt squaring off against Seth “I’m Bad at Twitter” Rollins for the WWE Universal Championship ended in the referee stopping the match.

Why did the referee stop the match? Well, you see, he was worried about the well-being of the character that’s supposed to emulate various supernatural horror movie characters, including being immune to pain. Immediately following Wyatt’s excavation from underneath the mound of weapons, he immediately went on the offensive, attacking Rollins to end the show.

This creative decision, beyond making little sense – even in the context of The WWE Universe – illustrates several problems with WWE’s creative direction. Despite my own misgivings with Wyatt’s latest character development/re-branding, “The Fiend” was over; Bray Wyatt was popular again, only for fans to leave an event in which he’s being given a big push, to feel as though the WWE failed to pull the trigger on Wyatt.

Wyatt is far from the only talent on the roster to suffer from a lack of commitment from whomever it may be in the back (read: likely Vince McMahon) in charge of creative decisions. WWE has a wealth of talent, but oftentimes it feels like some of the most talented members of the roster, what may be many of your favorites, fall victim to a start-and-stop creative mentality.

Momentum in WWE is a tricky thing and many wrestlers on the roster seem to have their moment squashed for little to no reason at all. Many wrestlers are fed to Brock Lesnar in an attempt to make someone who can no longer go in the ring for more than ten minutes (or perform german suplexes without looking like an enraged strawberry) look strong.

Multiple german suplexes are still an impressive physical feat, but in an era where a move like the Spanish Fly is commonplace enough to not be used as a finisher, it’s no longer a draw in the realm of creative offense. As a result, many of these superstars who could outperform Lesnar in more metrics than just ring work, have their momentum halted for a wrestler who works roughly 4 times a year in ten-minute spurts.

WWE and the emotional cycle

This all raises the question of why are you committing your time to watching WWE, when you’re not happy with the product? This is the cycle that WWE runs on. They build up many of your favorites, they get you to believe that there’s a fraction of a chance that you’ll get what you want, only to pull the rug out from under you.

WWE wants you shocked and outrage on a consistent basis, so you’ll have no choice but to keep turning in to see what happens. It’s a hell of a cycle and recognizing that they’re manipulating your emotions to keep you coming back is the first step in breaking free. You don’t have to keep watching. It’s okay to still have your favorite WWE superstars, and peek in on WWE from time to time, but you’ll be much happier if you break the cycle of torment.

Figure out what it is that brought you to professional wrestling. We all have different tastes, different needs that we want to be met by what stories we consume. I know it sounds a little silly to say, “Do some soul-searching about your tastes in professional wrestling”, but it’s what you might need to do to move on, especially if you can’t articulate it with words alone.

In 2019, it’s never been easier to be a professional wrestling fan. Many independent or otherwise non-WWE promotions have either their own streaming services or are available through various other streaming platforms or viewing options. Many of these promotions you may already even be familiar with.

Do you enjoy it when professional wrestling is combative, technical, a game of human chess? Promotions like Ring of Honor or New Japan Professional Wrestling might be for you.

Do you prefer professional wrestling that plays on the comic-book-like aspects; bright costumes, stories involving magic, science fiction and characters that are larger than life? Promotions like Lucha Underground (prior to the promotion effectively shutting down), CHIKARA, or AAA might be up your alley.

If you’re looking for something that has an older feel to it, The NWA might catch your eye.

Additionally, many of these promotions might appeal to more than one of these sensibilities. A great example I’ll point to are the matches in CHIKARA featuring “Lightning” Mike Quackenbush facing off against Zack Sabre Jr. You’ll be hard-pressed to find a better display of excellency in technical wrestling than these two tying up in the squared circle.

Once you’ve come across a promotion that piques your interest, the next step is finding a good jumping-on point. I find this is the biggest hurdle to overcome when diving into a new professional wrestling promotion as an adult. I think it’s easier as a kid to dive into something new because you’re a sponge when you’re younger, you absorb and imprint on things that get your neurons firing so much easier.

The nice thing is, some promotions have seasons, like a TV show or professional sport. Couple the seasons with a way to stream past and current content, and binge-watching is a breeze – no more than a couple clicks away.

Should the promotion you be interested in not feature seasons, and maybe pattern themselves after a weekly TV show, monthly pay-per-view/special event combination – a more traditional structure that the average wrestling fan might be used to, don’t be afraid to ask some of your wrestling friends around you about good ways to dive in.

If you can manage to navigate your way through the toxic fandom community (as is unfortunately present in many fandoms, hardly exclusive to professional wrestling) you can find a supportive community, ready to make suggestions and help you dip your toes into the deep wrestling waters of a promotion that is foreign to you.

Ultimately, if you do the little bit of footwork suggested here, you’ll find yourself happier. You can stop ending one Sunday night a month in a mouth-foaming rage. You can stop spending money on subpar shirts, start supporting independent wrestling talent, content creators, and artists who truly value your fandom and support. Let’s start 2020 off right, and stop spending time, money, and energy on something that doesn’t bring us joy.