WWE always has its ups and downs. It’s hard to write several hours of compelling television 52 weeks a year and it’s understandable that sometimes they will step up to the plate and strike out. Recently however WWE has been like that drunk friend you have when he tells you an idea that he thinks is genius but it’s actually terrible…really, really terrible.
We obviously live in a different era now where WWE doesn’t have competition which means they don’t feel the need to cater to wrestling fans, but have they gone too far? WWE seems very desperate when trying to appeal to a more mainstream crowd but as we’ve seen lately, desperation is a stinky cologne.
WWE’s partnership with Susan G. Komen is a great thing and they should certainly be commended for it. Using pink ropes and turning all of your merchandise pink while giving the proceeds to breast cancer research is a great idea, but bringing in Kathy Lee and Hoda is the complete opposite of a good idea.
Outside of the wrestling world people probably look at wrestlers and have no idea who they are. Inside of the wrestling world we look at people like Kathy Lee and Hoda the same exact way. Who the hell are these people and why the hell should we care? We shouldn’t care and we don’t.
On Monday WWE will be bringing in Chris Chrissley (I think that’s his name) and Nene Lekes and in all honesty once again our reaction is…who? Who the hell are these people and why are they wasting our time? We understand WWE sees itself as an entertainment company and not a wrestling company but there’s nothing entertaining about this.
WWE wants pop culture figures on the show and it’s worked in the past. Arnold Schwarzenegger is always welcome, Hugh Jackman always does great, even William Shatner and Bob Barker have been entertaining in the past. But Kathy Lee, Hoda Nene whatever her name is and others are a slap in the face to the wrestling fan. We can guarantee that Kathy Lee and Hoda fans aren’t tuning into Raw. In the words of Vince McMahon we “guaran-damn-tee it.” WWE isn’t gaining ANYTHING by having guests like this and their audience is not the type of audience WWE should be attempting to draw in.
If WWE wants to draw in a different demographic that’s understandable but these recent attempts show that the company is very much out of touch with current pop culture. If you want to be a part of pop culture at least make it fun for the audience.
Stephen Amell who plays Oliver Queen on CW’s “Arrow” has pretty much begged to host Raw and he’s a huge WWE fan. That’s the type of crossover that would work because he appeals to a similar audience and he knows and respects the product. His fans would without a doubt tune into Raw to see him and he might be able to persuade some WWE fans to tune into “Arrow.” Superheroes are all the rage right now on TV and the big screen. Comic book culture has exploded much the same way wrestling culture did in the late 90s. That right there is a perfect pop culture crossover staring WWE directly in the face and they’re dropping the ball big time.
All you need to do is take one look at this man’s Facebook page to see that when he posts about WWE the common response is: “I would actually watch Raw if you were on it.”
The point is, WWE needs to crossover with an audience that might actually watch Raw otherwise it’s just a one way street that benefits someone else and not WWE.
WWE, if you want to do pop culture crossovers, we’re cool with it, but for the love of wrestling, get your act together. Your recent attempts at trying to prove you’re in touch with pop culture just show that you’re old and out of touch, time to reinvent yourself.
