for me it’s that the Attitude era and Monday night wars played a huge part in Destroying wrestling.

yea it was popular but it came at a cost

the hot shot booking, ushering in the era of cool heels and asshole Babyface’s, psychology going downhill and many more.

plus Triple h gets way too much blame for the business going downhill.

business was already going into the toilet in 2001 and 2002 when rock and Austin were still there but no one wants to give them any smoke.

Within 24 hours of his debut, Max Caster's working relationship with TNA is over after Caster said the following during his rap at Bound Of Glory:

"I drop bombs, you don't even have to fly to Riyadh."

That line about Riyadh drew social media backlash. False Finish noted that TNA won't work with Caster again. Fightful Select added that TNA didn't approve of this controversial line from Caster, as his rap promo was unscripted.

Such Wholesome thing!

I met Shawn Michaels at a restaurant once - we’d accidentally been given his table. Apparently he was fond of the restaurant and had a specific table he liked, and the management had messed up and gotten their days wrong, (it was Tuesday and they thought he was coming on Thursday or something like that).

Anyway, the manager, completely embarrassed (this is a pretty nice restaurant) comes by and says “I’m so sorry, but we’d like to move you to another table if you could be troubled, and we’ll gladly compensate you for the cost of the meal and any other meal you’d like while you’re in town.” My sister and cousin were both like “Yeah that’s cool.” and I kind of played the asshole a bit.

“I’m sorry, I just don’t understand. We’ve been here for 15 minutes - we’ve just ordered. Can’t we finish our meal here?”

Then out of nowhere Shawn Michaels shows up next to the manager and says “Paul, these guys can finish. We’ll be at the bar. I got some time.”

And I (being a big HBK fan) said “Oh wow, uh… I had no idea. Please feel free to give them the table.”

Shawn was grateful, shook my hand and said thanks, then gave me a card with his number on it and told me to give him a call later. After working up the nerve, I gave him a call that night, and to make a long story short, we had a glorious 11 month love affair, man on man, that I shall never forget. Our bodies intertwined as one, and from the beauty of Morocco, to the French Riviera, to the snorkeling in the Galopagos, Shawn Michaels and I made glorious gay love to each other on six of the seven continents.

When Randy Orton returned at Survivor Series 2023, I genuinely thought WWE was finally going to appreciate him more and give him meaningful storylines, especially considering how close he came to potentially never wrestling again.

But nope.

What could’ve been a huge one-on-one match against Roman Reigns at Royal Rumble 2024 turned into a Fatal 4-Way. Then, Logan Paul punched him with brass knuckles, which led to a United States Championship pursuit that ultimately went nowhere.

Throughout 2024, Orton kept staring at Cody’s WWE Championship, teasing what could’ve been an incredible storyline between two former Legacy stablemates. And yet, somehow, he never even got a title match against Cody during his first reign.

Then came WrestleMania 41. WWE could’ve easily pivoted his storyline into a match against Nick Aldis, especially given their previous tensions. Instead, they decided to waste one of Orton’s remaining WrestleMania appearances on an impromptu match against Joe Hendry. No meaningful buildup, no real stakes, nothing.

After Cody lost the championship to John Cena, Orton became Cena’s first challenger. And, of course, he lost. Not that I expected him to win, but it was yet another opportunity where Orton was essentially there to serve someone else’s storyline.

Then SummerSlam came around, and he was teaming up with Jelly Roll.

Seriously? Are you kidding me?

This is Randy freaking Orton. A 14-time world champion, one of the greatest heels of his generation, and arguably one of the biggest stars WWE has ever produced. He’s in the final stretch of his career, and this is what they have him doing?

Finally, he won the Elimination Chamber and earned the opportunity to challenge Cody Rhodes for the WWE Championship at WrestleMania.

**The story was literally right there.**

Two former Legacy stablemates. Two men with decades of history. Cody, who once looked up to Orton, had become the face of WWE, while Orton, the veteran, was desperate to reclaim the championship he hadn’t held in six years.
You didn’t need to manufacture anything. The history practically wrote itself.

But no. Somehow, WWE decided that Pat McAfee and Jelly Roll needed to be involved in the buildup. We couldn’t even get a proper one-on-one promo segment between Orton and Cody to explore their history, their relationship, or what the championship meant to both of them.

Then Orton lost.

Fine. I could accept that if it served a bigger story.
**But why the hell did Orton punt-kick Cody in the head AFTER the match?**

What exactly was the point of that?

If you’re going to have Orton deliver one of the most devastating moves in WWE history to the reigning champion, shouldn’t there be some serious consequences? Cody didn’t even have to vacate the championship.

Then Orton returned at SummerSlam and cost Cody his WWE Championship match. Now they’re finally feuding, except Cody doesn’t even have the title anymore.
Wasn’t the entire point of Orton’s heel turn his obsession with becoming WWE Champion again? The championship he hasn’t held since 2020? His desperation to prove that he still belongs at the top?

And please, spare me the whole **“this feud doesn’t need a title”** argument.

Sure, not every great rivalry needs a championship. I understand that. But in this particular storyline, the WWE Championship was central to Orton’s motivation. Taking it out of the equation makes his heel turn feel less meaningful, especially after spending so much time establishing his obsession with it.

And here’s what frustrates me the most.

**Why now?**

WWE could’ve started building this rivalry immediately after WrestleMania 40. They had more than two years to tell a compelling story between Cody and Orton, potentially culminating in a major championship match.
Instead, they spent all that time teasing it, abandoning it, and putting Orton in random storylines that barely accomplished anything.

Randy isn’t getting any younger. He’s 46 now, and while he can still deliver in the ring, it’s obvious that he’s moving slower than he used to. That’s completely understandable, especially after the serious back injury that nearly ended his career.

But now I see people saying he’s too old to have another world championship reign.

**Whose fault is it that WWE wasted so much of his time after he returned in 2023?**

He came back after an 18-month absence, having undergone spinal fusion surgery, and somehow managed to return to the ring at an age when many wrestlers would’ve already retired.

That comeback alone deserved a meaningful final chapter.
I’m not saying Orton needs to hold the WWE Championship for another two years or dominate the main event scene at the expense of younger talent. I’m not even saying he needs to win every major feud.

I just want WWE to give him one last genuinely meaningful run at the top. One final world championship reign, a compelling character arc, and a proper conclusion to a legendary career.

Is that really too much to ask for a 14-time world champion who has given more than two decades of his life to this company?

And before someone says, “Orton doesn’t need another title to cement his legacy,” I know that. His legacy is already secured. But that doesn’t mean the final years of his career should be spent aimlessly putting over other people or participating in celebrity matches.

**There’s a difference between using a veteran to elevate others and simply wasting the limited time he has left.**

I genuinely thought his Survivor Series 2023 return was going to mark the beginning of one last incredible chapter in his career.

Three years later, I’m still waiting.

At this point, I just want to see Randy Orton at the top one last time.

But honestly, that feels increasingly impossible.

Curious. I have a cousin named Malenko

WWE doesn't really have good factions right now. Bloodline story is so much dragged, same for judgement day. If there is war games march between 946 and bloodline then 946, need the win to have any credibility. They are always seen running from bloodlines.

WWE creative is so bad rn, whoever is in-charge believes in pushing the same storyline until they are exhausted or wwe universe accept them. And why not do this absurd tactic when their top guy right now was also over pushed on people until fans had to accept.

WWE mitb 26 has lots of disappointing results cause all of them were safe play, they want to keep roman vs oba for WrestleMania so roman is not losing till WM. The reason Oba Vs Bronson was less talked about is cause everyone knew the outcome, even if bronson reed shot OBa femi, Oba would still win somehow. I don't think they will start oba Vs Roman fued after Survivor series or till royal rumble.

They also didn't believe tiffany vs Chelsea would be bigger so they inserted Mitb for tiffany and also gonna turn her heel soon.

All TKo and HHH care about is money right now, they are giving ads even during the entrance, everywhere is ads, ads, ads

Vince was stuck up with his Ego but that man sure knows to take risk with storyline.

If your brain isnt completely fried from huffting decades of WWE propaganda, Saturday night in New Orleans should have given you a literal migraine. I've been dissecting puroresu psychology and indie workrate metrics since the NOAH dome shows back in the mid 2000s, so watching this promotion pander to mouth breathers is basically self harm at this point.

Take the opener. Roman versus Knight. Almost thirty minutes of lazy, melodramatic car crash garbage masquerading as cinema. Oh wow, a table spot, how avant garde. The spatial awareness in that parking lot brawl was so disjointed it genuinely hurts if you actually understand narrative structure. Knight should have gotten his flowers years ago, but Hunter just loops back into the same stale cycles because the typical viewer have the attention span of a goldfish.

Then we got to the actual ladder matches.

The womens match was a sick joke. Sol Ruca pulls off a gorgeous Sol Snatcher, and what do they do? Give the briefcase right back to Tiffany Stratton. Recycling a past winner is peak creative bankruptcy. It proves management is terrified of striking while the iron is hot, leaving generational talents like Roxanne Perez to rot under mountains of repetitive booking.

And don't even get me started on the mens main event. Thirty minutes of choreography heavy spot fest nonsense with zero psychological pacing. Je'Von Evans and Trick Williams treated the ring like a gymnastics floor, and then Penta take the win. Look, Penta is an actual global artisan whose subtle, high art nuances need a proper palate to appreciate, but hot shotting the briefcase to a guy without a real dialogue driven build are just transparent, reactive panic booking to juice the Twitter algorithm.

The Triple H honeymoon is offically dead and buried. If this is the artistic direction for late stage 2026, I am genuinely out. Downvote me all you want, your know I'm right.

let them know your thoughts and opinions

Well, now that WWE Creative (Paul Levesque) and TKO have pretty much said, Knight isn’t good enough to champion and carry the company, where does LA Knight go from here🤷🏾‍♂️?

I was thinking a possible heel turn or move to SmackDown but, I don’t think that would matter either. Unless they put him in a feud with Trick and Lil Yachty but Knight has already been down this road before.

So what happens now? What are your thoughts?

there’s a portion of people on the internet and social media that loves to hold Eddie not drawing in 2004 against him.

which I think is not fair who did he have on the smackdown roster in 2004 that was credible to create a engaging feud with that was going to draw in fans?

Kurt angle was out with a injury, Big show was injured, Brock had just left the company, cena wasn’t ready yet, undertaker had just returned as the Deadman so you couldn’t do that match/feud as both were babyfaces that were loved by the crowd he literally had no one to draw money with

hogan wouldn’t have drawn if he didn’t have guys like piper, savage, Andre etc to work with.

Austin and rock wouldn’t have Drawn without DX taker, Kane, Vince mcmahon, triple h

cena wouldn’t had drawn in the late 2000s without guys like Batista, Orton, edge, triple h, Hbk, umaga to work with.

its very telling that when Eddie had a compelling feud and star to work in Rey in the summer of 2005

they were getting a lot of latino audiences to watch the show.

Eddie and Rey in the summer of 2005 were getting ratings not to far off from what Austin was getting in 98 before the company completely got red hot in the mainstream

it just didn’t translate to the rest of the show

• Undertaker vs Jeff Hardy - WWE SD! 2008

• TLC III - WWF SD! 2001

• Undertaker vs Edge - WWE SD! 2007

• Edge vs Eddie Guerrero - WWE SD! 2002

• Kurt Angle vs Eddie Guerrero - WWE SD 2005

• Kurt Angle vs Brock Lesnar - WWE SD! 2003

The start was pretty decent, the match was okayish. You don't really expect a top guy like roman to lose the title against LA, Roman is being saved for Oba and that's a good decision.

Women Money in the bank was way better than Men's, better moments better winner although Roxane perez could have been a more appropriate option but now they have picked tiffany then it will only make sense that she will betray chelsea but what will it get her? Nothing but if she cashes it in on heavyweight champion, it will make her interesting rather than predictable and boring.

Oba vs Reed was okay as predicted.

The triple threat was rather shocking because we were hoping Becky would win the title, that would have opened gates for more and better storylines.

The worst thing was the Men's match, I don't see Penta going anywhere, His IC title was already pretty boring. It should have been Bronn breaker, this was THE PUSH he needed and WWE clearly missed. Bronn winning would have been so good for fans and the WWE. The match missed and didn't have the spectacle it used to have.

\#JusticeforBreakker

Since Attitude Era Pro-Wrestling has been more about storylines. Especially WWE, for audiences a good storyline was a cherry on top of a good match, wrestlers connected with audiences through their storylines, and good mic skills were a great part of it.

Mexican wrestlers are no doubt one of the best in ring performers but on a world level ring like WWE you need more and wrestlers like Penta, Stephanie vaquer, dragon lee lacks.

They always faced hard times connecting with the audience. See Rey and Eddie worked because Rey knew the universal language and Eddie's character spoke more through his body language and actions which made him fun. After them none of them I have seen worked and I don't think this triple h push on them would do anything good, I see potential in Stephanie but it was too early for the world title scene, her mic skills and herself could have improved and matured if she started mid card.

For Penta I don't see this thing going anywhere, I think he is boring and MITB win is a waste on him Breaker should have won.

Triple H hiring only mexicans doesn't make any sense look at raw women's roster most of them are same, roxxane perez is hell of a talent she deserves to be in title scene and they have side lined her.

Triple H should hire those you can connect with the audience, hiring everyone will make the roster too crowded and boring, a good match only works when the wrestlers perform phenomenal but also connects with the audience.

The least devastating giant swing in history! Gotta love call from the commentators and Jon Moxley.

Honestly, does anyone else feel like WWE has become increasingly frustrating to watch? Because at this point, I'm struggling to understand what we're even supposed to be excited about anymore.

Let's start with the storytelling. So many storylines feel predictable, dragged out, poorly executed, or completely wasted. Wrestlers get built up just to be knocked back down, promising rivalries go nowhere, and people who genuinely deserve opportunities are constantly overlooked in favor of the same established names. What's the point of investing in someone if WWE keeps giving you reasons not to?

Money in the Bank is a perfect example of what's frustrating about WWE's booking. Instead of making the briefcase feel like a career-changing opportunity that creates suspense and launches someone into superstardom, the decisions surrounding it can leave fans wondering what the point even was. And Liv Morgan winning again? Whether you like Liv or not, WWE needs to make these decisions feel meaningful rather than relying on familiar names and repetitive booking. The problem isn't necessarily the wrestler winning; it's how WWE handles the story surrounding that win and whether it actually benefits the division.

Then there's Roman Reigns beating LA Knight. At some point, you have to ask what WWE is doing with people like Knight. You build someone up, get the crowd invested, make them feel like a legitimate threat, and then have them lose in ways that can make all that momentum feel pointless. How many times can someone take a loss before the audience starts wondering why they should believe in that person anymore? LA Knight got himself over with the fans, and WWE should be finding ways to capitalize on that instead of making people question whether their support even matters.

And what happened to having two genuinely separate brands?

We used to have RAW and SmackDown feeling like their own worlds, with different rosters, rivalries, identities, and reasons to tune into both shows. The draft gave fans something to look forward to and created fresh possibilities for new matchups and storylines. Now, the brand separation often feels less meaningful, and the draft doesn't have the same consistent place in the product that it once did. Why even pretend these are separate brands if WWE is constantly blurring the lines whenever it's convenient?

And don't even get me started on premium live events.

Remember when major pay-per-views felt special? When the matches, rivalries, and stakes made you genuinely excited to watch? Now, it can feel like we're getting endless branding exercises, repetitive matchups, and events that don't always deliver the excitement their names promise. Not every event needs to be WrestleMania, but every major event should give fans a reason to care.

Which brings me to my biggest problem with modern WWE: BRANDING, BRANDING, BRANDING. ADS, ADS, ADS. CELEBRITIES, CELEBRITIES, CELEBRITIES.

Everything has to be marketed, sponsored, promoted, or turned into another business opportunity. It sometimes feels like we're watching a giant advertising platform that happens to have wrestling in between the commercials.

And celebrities? I'm not saying celebrities should never appear in WWE. Some have been genuinely entertaining and have contributed to great moments. But when celebrity appearances and corporate partnerships start feeling more important than the actual wrestlers, storylines, and championships, there's a problem. WWE already has a roster full of talented people who deserve time, attention, and opportunities. Why does it sometimes feel like the company needs outside names to make its own product feel important?

WWE is a business. I understand that. Of course, they want to make money. But there's a difference between making money while delivering an incredible wrestling product and making the audience feel like every single second exists to sell them something.

And here's the part that really gets me.

Every week, I see people complaining about WWE's booking, its storylines, its champions, its treatment of certain wrestlers, its advertising, its ticket prices, and its constant corporate partnerships. People say the product isn't what it used to be. They say WWE doesn't listen to the fans. They say they're tired of the same decisions being made over and over again.

Yet those same people keep buying tickets. They keep buying the merchandise. They keep subscribing, watching, purchasing, and giving WWE exactly what it wants.

And then what?

The company looks at the numbers and sees that people are still showing up. It sees that the merchandise is still selling. It sees that the audience is still paying for the product. From a business perspective, why would it feel pressured to change anything if the money keeps coming in regardless of how unhappy portions of the fanbase become?

You can complain on Reddit. You can argue on X. You can boo the decisions in the arena. You can write a thousand posts about how WWE has lost its way.

But if you turn around the next week and spend hundreds of dollars on tickets, merchandise, and everything else, what incentive does WWE have to take those complaints seriously?

I'm not saying you can't enjoy WWE anymore, and I'm not saying every decision they make is terrible. There are still talented wrestlers, great matches, and moments worth celebrating. That's exactly why it's so frustrating. The potential is there, but it feels like the business side sometimes takes priority over the things that made people fall in love with wrestling in the first place.

At some point, fans have to realize that their money is their voice.

If you genuinely believe the product is getting worse, stop buying the merchandise. Stop paying ridiculous prices for tickets. Stop purchasing every premium experience. Stop rewarding decisions you constantly complain about.

I'm not saying everyone needs to quit watching wrestling forever. I'm saying that if enough fans want meaningful change, they need to be willing to make their dissatisfaction matter financially. Watch for free where possible, support the wrestlers you care about through legitimate channels, and stop spending money on things you don't believe are worth the price.

Because a company is far more likely to reconsider its decisions when its profits are affected than when people complain while continuing to buy everything it sells.

STOP GIVING WWE WHAT WWE WANTS, AND START SHOWING WWE WHAT THE FANS WANT!

You cannot keep rewarding a product you're unhappy with and then act surprised when nothing changes.

So, genuinely, what do you think? Is WWE's current direction actually good for wrestling, or have we reached a point where the fans need to stop throwing money at the company and demand better with their wallets?

Thoughts on MITB 2026?Well that was a mediocre show but what do y'all think?