SI.com’s Week in Wrestling is published every week and provides beneath-the-surface coverage of the business of pro wrestling.
Changes to ‘Talking Smack’ rip away the show’s authenticity
Energy has returned to WWE. Fans are back in the crowd, ratings are up and new life has been injected into the product.
But there is still a major problem that needs to be addressed.
WWE’s shows, particularly Monday Night Raw, are built around generating an immediate reaction. The standard operating procedure is to highlight the current stars–or in the case of John Cena and Bill Goldberg, legacy stars—instead of consistently making new ones.