WWE Unable to Tell Coherent Story....

For a long time I have defended my continued viewership and fandom of the WWE as it being a man's soap opera, well the writing has begun to suffer of late. To borrow a line from the Sports Guy at ESPN, I feel like none of this would have happened if Vince McMahon were still alive.

And yes I know Vinny Mac is still alive, but he may as well be dead. Last year when son-in-law Hunter Hearst Helmsley relieved him of his duties I was excited at the possibility of the story line. However they have continued to botch the angle.

For one thing the mysterious, anonymous Raw GM angle just died. Then we were saddled with Johnny Ace, John Laurinaitis is quite possibly the least skilled man with a mic in his hands in the entire company. They tried to write in a power struggle angle between HHH and Laurinaitis but it fell flat, and was rushed.

I will give them credit though for one thing building the Rock vs. John Cena match for a whole year, they somehow managed to mostly succeed there. However, even in success they still fell short. Watching the Pay Per View of Wrestlemania it lost all flow what with the nonsensical musical interlude, followed by the preening nonsense of the two men at the outset of the match.

Yes I am complaining about a match that went for more than 30 minutes, saying it was too short and far too mechanical. That complaint falls on Rock and Cena more than creative.

Another failure has been the tease, then backing away, then teasing of a heel turn for John Cena. It is time the goody two shoes act is tired. He needs a fresh start, a heel turn for the longest running baby face in the corporation is something that would show an ability to finish a story. And finishing a story would be a major improvement in creative direction for a federation that once more or less ridiculed its competition out of business for an inability to effectively finish a story.

Now I know Vince is still the man in charge but we need to see him onscreen again. He needs to be once again the face of his operation. Not Mr. McMahon heel owner, but Vince McMahon, story teller.

I've been watching the WWE for nearly 20 years now and can still remember the time when I was incredulous when my friend Andrew explained to me the thin, turtle-necked fellow in the WWF blazer calling the action on Raw was actually the guy signing the paychecks for everyone.

That Vince is the one who we need to see again. For one thing the announcing is dreadful. Michael Cole, who should be selling the angles WWE creative comes up with spends far too much time trying to be a heel and get heat. Jerry Lawler has been phoning it in since sometime in the late 90's.

Vince was always able as an announcer to let whoever the heel announcer was supposed to be get their heat and letting the good announcer build the major story, while selling the angles. No one calling the action can do that anymore in WWE. So even when creative has a solid story to tell it gets lost.

The WWE merrily rolls along retreading their past as they look for some magic formula to return them to their heyday in the late 90's. The problems are

• they are now a monopoly having destroyed their competition
• No one tries to sell the major story lines 
• They think bringing back some of their previous Superstars will bring back their fanbase...Witness the return of Brock Lesnar, The Rock, Kevin Nash.....etc.
• Their alleged authority figure Laurinaitis has no demonstrable ability to wield authority, let alone use it effectively

They can right the ship but it will take some soul searching and a willingness to work on their deficiencies.