WrestleRant
  • Home
  • Columnist Corner
  • Reviews
  • Interviews
  • Audio
  • Videos
  • Store
  • About
  • Contact
Picture

Out With the Old, In With the New Era in WWE

5/14/2016

0 Comments

 
Picture
By Graham "GSM" Matthews

​"If you can't get behind this, you will be left behind."

Those words were famously tweeted by CM Punk, a well-documented advocate for change in WWE, immediately following 2011's WWE TLC pay-per-view event. It was an up-and-down year for WWE (and personally one of my favorites), and say what you will about it, but it certainly felt like there was a sense of change in the air at that time. It may not have lasted long, but look at all the fresh faces that rose to prominence that year. And by "fresh faces," I mean stars that were unfamiliar to the main event scene, not necessarily newcomers or NXT upstarts (that was before NXT was what it was today, mind you).

Christian, Mark Henry and R-Truth, who all debuted during the Attitude Era, rejuvenated their careers that year and were featured in pay-per-view main event matches for world championships against the very best the business had to offer. Meanwhile, stars such as Alberto Del Rio and Daniel Bryan won their first world titles in 2011. CM Punk became wrestling's hottest commodity. Even Zack Ryder managed to get himself over. As noted, things reverted back to the stagnant status quo not long after, but for a time, it definitely felt like the WWE landscape had drastically changed, and for the better.

Picture
Taken the night of TLC 2011, it was the perfect picture of champions. Everyone holding a title had such an undeniable yet inexplicable chemistry together on paper. Some of those wrestlers had been there longer than others, but collectively, they represented the future. A new era of sorts, and that was before WWE starting saying a "new era" had arrived as they have been in recent weeks.

I didn't feel that same way about a crop of champions in WWE until after WrestleMania 30. At the time, Daniel Bryan was fresh off winning the WWE World Heavyweight Championship, Big E was the Intercontinental Champion, Dean Ambrose was the United States Champion, AJ Lee (and ultimately Paige) was the Divas Champion, and The Usos were WWE Tag Team Champions. In other words, every champion at that time debuted in 2010 or later. Amazing, right? Again, it didn't last long, and while we had something similar after WrestleMania 31 as well, that era of change was also short-lived.

Well, what's different now? Is WWE is calling it the "New Era" actually making a difference? I'd say no, simply because they shoved the "Divas Revolution" down our throats and that was a bust. Is it all of the latest NXT call-ups? We usually get a number of names promoted from the developmental brand to the main roster after WrestleMania, but that hasn't boded well for WWE in the past. Bo Dallas and Adam Rose floundered in 2014, and Neville and The Lucha Dragons did next to nothing for most of 2015. Currently, Apollo Crews is wrestling on WWE Superstars and Main Event.

Is it who is in charge? Stephanie and Shane McMahon are running Raw, which has only been done a dozen times in the last decade and a half. It's an improvement over The Authority, sure, but them taking up television time doesn't help any of the wrestlers get over in a meaningful way. Is it releasing a bunch of enhancement talent that haven't been seen in ages? Those mass firings have happened before, and no new stars received opportunities. So, I'll ask again: what is so different about this "New Era" from past eras?

Calling it a new era will not make it a new era. Rather, WWE must show that they are truly turning the page and changing their ways, and all things considered, I will say they have done a decent job of doing that since WrestleMania 32. Big Cass confronting Chris Jericho last week on Raw was an excellent example of how they can successfully switch up the tired formula of the three hour show. Raw's ratings remain less-than-stellar and not everything is exceptional, but the overall quality of the product has improved immensely this year, and the Payback card exemplified that.

AJ Styles, who arrived in WWE in January, challenged Roman Reigns for the WWE World Heavyweight Championship in the main event. Two tag teams from NXT faced off in the finals of a WWE Tag Team Championship tournament. Dean Ambrose beat Chris Jericho. Sami Zayn vs. Kevin Owens, a rivalry that had roots to NXT, stole the show. Charlotte retained her WWE Women's Championship against Natalya. Even Kalisto maintained his possession of the United States Championship over Ryback on the Kickoff show.

I realize it's only been a month and it might be too soon to tell, but WWE's New Era is off to a strong start. There's plenty more that can be done to usher out the old including toning down the presence of the McMahons on the program and not relying on the same stars to carry the show (i.e. John Cena and Randy Orton when they eventually return). But hope remains. And as wrestling fans, that's all we can really do, is hope. No matter how deplorable the programming can get at times, you have to know there will be a time that it will be better, because it always is. Now is one of those times. Sit back and enjoy as the New Era unfolds.


​SEE ALSO: "Breaking WWE News: King Barrett, Santino Marella, Cameron and Several Superstars Released"

0 Comments



Leave a Reply.


    Categories

    All
    #AskGSM
    Battle Of The Belts
    Cruiserweight Classic
    Halftime Heat
    Hidden Gems
    Interviews
    Lists/Rankings
    Mae Young Classic
    Mixed Match Challenge
    News
    NJPW
    NWA Shockwave
    NXT PLEs
    Opinion
    Previews
    Retro Reviews
    Reviews
    RJ's Two Cents
    Satire
    Slammy Awards
    SNME
    SummerSlam Recall
    The Deadly Draw
    The World Is A Vampire
    Tribute To The Troops
    Women's Eliminator
    Worlds Collide
    WrestleMania Recall
    WWE Draft
    WWE Network Specials
    WWE PLEs
    WWE Starrcade


    Archives

    May 2025
    April 2025
    March 2025
    February 2025
    January 2025
    December 2024
    November 2024
    October 2024
    September 2024
    August 2024
    July 2024
    June 2024
    May 2024
    April 2024
    March 2024
    February 2024
    January 2024
    December 2023
    November 2023
    October 2023
    September 2023
    August 2023
    July 2023
    June 2023
    May 2023
    April 2023
    March 2023
    February 2023
    January 2023
    December 2022
    November 2022
    October 2022
    September 2022
    August 2022
    July 2022
    June 2022
    May 2022
    April 2022
    March 2022
    February 2022
    January 2022
    December 2021
    November 2021
    October 2021
    September 2021
    August 2021
    July 2021
    June 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    October 2013
    September 2013
    August 2013
    July 2013
    June 2013
    May 2013
    April 2013
    March 2013
    February 2013
    January 2013
    December 2012
    November 2012
    October 2012
    September 2012
    August 2012
    July 2012
    June 2012
    May 2012
    April 2012
    March 2012
    February 2012
    January 2012
    December 2011
    November 2011
    October 2011
    September 2011
    August 2011
    July 2011
    June 2011
    May 2011
    April 2011
    March 2011
    February 2011
    January 2011
    December 2010
    November 2010

    RSS Feed

©2025 WrestleRant. All Rights Reserved.
  • Home
  • Columnist Corner
  • Reviews
  • Interviews
  • Audio
  • Videos
  • Store
  • About
  • Contact