One of the things that was exposed in the WWE this past weekend with WrestleMania 36 was the behind the scenes politics with several matches. It’s something most of us have known and accepted for years, and frankly didn’t care about as long s we got entertaining matches. We actually got a couple this pay-per-view, which is about standard in the WWE the last year whether it’s in front of a crowd or not. One that was pretty good was Charlotte Flair and Rhea Ripley.
Bigger star vs bigger show
The match was billed as Flair seeking the NXT Women’s Championship, but it reality it was a choice between making Ripley a huge star or making NXT a bigger and better show. The WWE has experimented by sending Finn Balor to NXt to boost it, but he’s rarely seen. Others were teased to go there to help boost ratings but it didn’t materialize for whatever reason. But Flair winning the women’s championship instantly gives NXT a boost.
She adds a proven commodity to the roster as well as fudging the lines between it being a developmental brand and main brand. While it’s still the minors, NXT has and probably will be the better of the three brands for a while. They just lack the recognizable names that draw casual fans in. Assuming there are any left watching WWE after this weekend.
The problem with having Flair win, despite the fact she’s the best the women’s division has with Shayna Baszler a close second, is the fans wanted Ripley to win. She’s the fan favorite (Much like Baszler. Just saying.) and having Flair go backwards to win the developmental brand’s championship could be viewed as being sent to ECW in the early to mid 2000s — demotion.
There’s no reason for Flair to be demoted that we known of, so it enforces the idea that this was done to bring viewers to NXT.
There are no big stars
Ryback recently said he was told by Triple H that there would never be another Cena or Hogan. Hardcore fans claimed he’s disgruntled, and that’s understandable.
Jim Ross said on is podcast last year that the WWE relies on the WWE name to sell out arenas and pay-per-views, not the stars. Fans decried it.
CM Punk said the WWE buries fan favorites. Fewer fans spoke out against this.
In other words, we have at least three former WWE employees telling us that Vince McMahon is actively keeping top draws from developing. In many ways that seems exactly what he shouldn’t be doing considering how much Hulk Hogan, Steve Austin, The Rock, and John Cena has made him over the years, but if he had a falling out with any of them, he’d be over a barrel. So, it makes a certain amount of sense he doesn’t want a talent to become too big. If everyone’s claims are true.
And while it’s possible the three listed above are wrong of lied about it, JR and Punk are known for being straight forward. Ryback, while he seems to be honest, has had his integrity questioned bay fans for various reasons. Personally, I think all three are being honest. But like always, there’s a bigger reason why something’s being done we don’t know about.
What does all of that mean? To fans like us, is means the overall health of the company is more important than a single person reaching stardom or pleasing the fans. It appears to be a gamble that we’ll continue watching or bring back.in others due to having three shows.
But if the fan favorites don’t win and we’re ignored, is that really healthy for the promotion as a whole?
There’s little doubt to us that Flair winning the NXT Women’s Championship was done to give NXT a boost. Was it done at the expense of losing more fans?
Let us know your thoughts in the comments. We’d love to hear from you.
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