Is WWE Planning for the Future?

It’s difficult to look at WWE with a truly critical eye at the moment. On the one hand, it’s having one of its most successful ever periods in terms of finances. The TV deals that are in place mean that the lost ticket revenue has hardly been felt at all. The layoffs that took place have also meant costs have been kept to a minimum. While there are a number of morally suspect decisions that have been carried out during this time, from a business perspective, WWE is doing very well for itself. So, how is it planning for the future and is it doing a good job of it? 

Is Daniel Bryan Leaving?

This is one of the biggest questions for most people at the moment. It’s no secret now that Daniel Bryan’s contract has expired. You probably would have got good odds not long ago on him signing a new contract. Now though, even if you found one of the best gambling sites in the world, it wouldn’t be easy to get such good odds. WWE is arguably gambling with one of the biggest names it has and is Daniel Bryan gambling as well? 

To put it simply, no one really knows what is going on right now. No one has come out and made a definitive statement. Daniel Bryan has made enough money to be comfortable for the rest of his life – he doesn’t need another big WWE contract. He isn’t a young wrestler anymore either, he’s almost 40 after all. Could it be that both parties are happy to split mutually?

This could be a big step for Bryan in terms of his legacy as a wrestler. He could headline in any other company that’s out there. He might even relish the challenge of helping someone like AEW or ROH to increase their profile and be more of a competitor on the market. If he was to do that, him jumping over could be the modern-day equivalent of Randy Savage making the move to WCW. Hulk Hogan would be the wrong comparison – we all know that would be John Cena. 

It could also be a mistake for WWE. While Bryan certainly isn’t the long-term future of the company in the ring, backstage, he could be one of the most valuable members it would ever have. He knows how to connect with the fans better than most, his ability to craft a match is up there with the all-time greats and he knows how to reinvent a character if it isn’t working. WWE might not regret letting him go in the ring, but backstage, it could be one of its biggest losses. 

Of course, it goes without saying that it is likely WWE is trying to get Bryan to re-sign. But whether he will or not is a completely different matter.

Raw Doesn’t Have a Lot of Youth

Raw has been the flagship WWE show ever since it was launched. It doesn’t have the viewership it had at its peak and a lot of that is due to it being seen as tired. One thing that is obvious about Monday Night Raw is that it features a lot of older talent. Aj Styles, Bobby Lashley, Asuka, Drew McIntyre, Shayna Baszler, Randy Orton and Sheamus are all on the wrong side of 35 and, in some cases, into their 40s. While this doesn’t mean they are bad performers or that they are slowing down, it does mean that there isn’t a lot of youth in there to take over when their day is up. 

This is something that WWE has struggled with for quite a while now – building up new stars. The lack of new stars to take the place of the old ones means that the product just continues to become staler and staler. The women’s division does tend to be better in terms of younger performers, but it has the same problem as the men’s. The same people are still at the top. 

Unless some more quality youth comes through to Raw, then viewership is going to be down as a whole across the company. It goes without saying, if Raw is doing poorly, then generally, everything else struggles as well. 

NXT is No Longer a Development Brand

NXT was fresh not too long ago. It regularly puts on the best shows across the whole of WWE. In fact, being completely fair, this is still the case. However, it’s evolved to be its own entity now. It’s not really separate from WWE anymore. It’s on mainstream TV just like everything else. It means that when someone does make the move from NXT to Raw or Smackdown, it’s not fresh anymore.

When NXT was purely on the WWE Network, a large portion of the viewing public had never seen it before. It was a surprise and provided something new for the viewers at home. Now though, they have seen the wrestlers on NXT, they already know who they are and what they can do when they take the step up. The move to one of the two bigger brands isn’t a big deal anymore. 

It’s not just that either, the fact that NXT is on TV now means that the show has to have a certain level of star power. This is partly why Finn Bálor and Adam Cole are such an important part of NXT and look unlikely to move away any time soon. By making NXT a third TV show, it has diminished the impact of what it had on viewers. 

The other issue with NXT is that, often, wrestlers who are portrayed in a certain way in NXT are often completely repackaged by the time they get to the main roster. While this could be argued that it helps to keep them at least a little bit fresher, it also takes away what worked for them. NXT was once WWE’s greatest weapon, but now, it seems to be just another cook spoiling the broth.