WWE Top 10 things to watch out in year 2021: It’s been a tough year for WWE. The COVID-19 pandemic has turned the wrestling world on its head and the absence of live crowds is really hurting the on-screen product.
Hopefully, fans will return to arenas in 2021, but there are also plenty of things WWE can do to improve their overall product. With that being said, here are seven things Vince McMahon and co. should change in the new year.
1. Keep Goldberg out of the title picture
Remember when Goldberg squashed Dolph Ziggler at SummerSlam 2019? This was a nice dose of nostalgia that didn’t overstay its welcome or damage any major storylines. Why can’t it always be like that?
53-year-old Goldberg shouldn’t be anywhere near the title picture, but this year WWE thought it would be a good idea to have him beat one of the biggest current stars clean and enter WrestleMania as champ. While it might draw in some lapsed fans in the short term, the long term damage it could do to the company just isn’t worth it.
Our very own Louis Dangoor recently revealed that WWE are considering bringing Goldberg back to face Roman Reigns for the Universal Championship at the Show of Shows. The best-case scenario is a dominant win for Reigns to further his awesome heel run, but a Goldberg win isn’t out of the picture.
2. Save Hell in a Cell for special occasions
Hell in a Cell matches used to feel like a big deal, but sadly this is no longer the case due to the annual pay-per-view. With three cell matches taking place at this year’s event, it’s clear to see why the famous stipulation has lost its shine.
These bouts should take place at the end of a big feud, not just because it’s that time of the year again. A series of horrible finishes in recent years has also played its part in the stipulation’s downfall (who could forget Seth Rollins’ infamous match with the Fiend?)
Scrapping the Hell in a Cell event would give WWE the opportunity to bring back a pay per view from the past. Who wouldn’t want to see Armageddon or Vengeance return?
3. Less scripted promos
Eddie Kingston’s recent AEW run is a great example of what can happen when companies give their stars freedom on the mic. Kingston managed to turn a one-off match into an epic feud culminating in the main event of Full Gear, one of their biggest shows of the year.
You only need to look at the likes of Kevin Owens, Roman Reigns and Mustafa Ali to see WWE has some great talkers on their roster. But no matter how good you are on the mic, it’s always difficult to make scripted dialogue sound convincing – sufferin’ succotash anyone?
WWE’s stars won’t truly be able to shine until their shackles are loosened and they can express their personalities throughout their promos.
4. 50/50 booking
It’s hard to think of a better pairing than WWE and 50/50 booking. How often do we see someone score a big win on pay-per-view, only to lose a meaningless rematch the next night on Raw?
WWE has struggled to build new stars in recent years and this isn’t going to change until they start booking decisively. If the company doesn’t care about feuds, why should the fans?
While AEW’s ranking system has its flaws, it has generally made wins and losses feel important. Perhaps it’s time for WWE to introduce a similar system.
5. Camera cuts
Kevin Dunn has been working for WWE for over 30 years, and based off his recent work he might have finally lost the plot. His rapid camera cuts are distracting and often makes it difficult to follow the action on the screen.
Sometimes less is more in wrestling. If you want an example, just look at New Japan. Instead of trying to create a sense of action by changing shots every two seconds, they keep it simple and let the in-ring action speak for itself.
Many aspects of WWE’s presentation are top-drawer, but Dunn’s bad habits are holding back the overall product. This really needs to change in 2021.
6. Stop splitting up tag teams
For some reason, WWE decided 2020 would be the year they broke up every tag team in the company’s entire history. Maybe that’s a slight exaggeration, but far too many teams have bitten the dust over the past 12 months.
Both the Raw and SmackDown tag divisions are a mess, and the lack of depth makes it clear to see why the Hurt Business have received so many title matches in recent weeks. It’s no secret that FTR were unhappy with the way tag team wrestling was viewed in WWE, and things have gotten even worse since they left.
Perhaps it’s time to merge both main roster tag titles. At least this way there would be more than two teams competing for the gold.
7. Change Raw back to two hours
Three hours is far too long for a weekly wrestling show, even with a roster as big as WWE’s. Going back to a two-hour format would allow Vince and co. to cut out the filler and maintain a good pace throughout the show.
Sadly, WWE makes lots of money from the third hour and it isn’t going away any time soon. But maybe there’s a way to keep both fans and shareholders happy – why not use the final hour to showcase famous matches from the past?
Adam Blampied suggested something similar in a recent fantasy booking video over at PartsFUNknown, and it makes a lot of sense. Not only is it a great way to advertise the huge amount of content on the WWE Network, but it might also bring back some lapsed fans and boost ratings.
8. Move The Draft And Make It More Legitimate
Virtually everything about the 2020 WWE Draft needed some tweaking: The timing (why right before Survivor Series?), the format (could it be any more boring?), the logic behind the picks (why are lower card stars being selected before established/borderline main eventers?). You name an aspect of the draft, and chances are, there are some issues with it.
Once a surefire way to boost TV viewership, this year’s draft couldn’t even accomplish that. In other words, it’s a broken system that’s badly in need of refinement. The draft itself should be a spectacle. It should have a logical system and order. It should come at a time that fits in with WWE’s storyline directions. It should result in wholesale changes to the roster that are thought out well in advance, not just on a whim.
Until that’s the case, WWE’s halfhearted attempt to mimic the NFL draft will continue to be one of the biggest wastes of TV time and talent the company does each year.
9. Merge The Tag Team Titles, End The Women’s Tag Division (Or Commit To It)
Especially in comparison to AEW’s deep and meaningful tag team division, WWE’s tag team division is virtually nonexistent, maybe even downright laughable. That holds true for both the men and women’s divisions, which are hanging on by a thread, rarely delivering truly compelling storylines and consisting largely of makeshift tag teams with no long-term direction.
WWE Hall of Famer Bret Hart is the latest major name to call out Vince McMahon’s disdain for tag team wrestling, and more will almost certainly follow. As evidenced when The New Day and The Street Profits simply swapped the Raw and SmackDown tag titles like they were pieces of candy earlier this year, WWE simply doesn’t seem inclined to make tag team wrestling matter. At all.
Whether or not that continues to be the case, WWE has at least a few choices here. One, the company can cut bait with the women’s tag titles. Two, it can merge the men’s main roster titles. Or three, the creative team can finally put some effort into making these titles meaningful before they dip even further into irrelevancy.
10. Forget About NXT
Remember when NXT stars getting “promoted” to Raw or SmackDown felt like a really big deal? Ah, those were the days.
At least from a storyline quality perspective, top NXT stars moving to the so-called main roster rarely results in an actual improvement in the quality of the storytelling involving those talents. For those stars, the added exposure of being on a show with a bigger audience is good, as is the potentially large boost in pay. But far more often than not nowadays, former NXT standouts find themselves drowning in mediocrity on the main roster, a trend that extends back to names like EC3 but hasn’t changed much with the likes of Aleister Black, Shayna Baszler and others. Even now, stars such as Riddle and Keith Lee aren’t exactly making waves on Raw.
So, here’s a novel idea for WWE: Why not just forget about calling up anyone from NXT in 2021? The Raw and SmackDown rosters are already overcrowded anyway, and NXT’s TV product has been hampered by the departure of several notable stars. Having WWE end 2021 without any significant main roster call-ups is an out-of-the-box idea that will give NXT stalwarts a chance to develop their character inside the black and yellow bubble while also ensuring that they don’t show up on Raw or SmackDown with nothing significant to do.