This week's Raw did not get a good rating at all. Following the worst December the WWE could wish for, this is the earliest that Raw has ever dropped below a 3.0 in a year. Football was an issue, although not NFL action. Nevertheless, Raw did not get a 2.9 when it had to contend with the big game last year.
Are we supposed to believe that Jericho crying, Brodus dancing, and Ryder changing a tire could not draw ratings? What can be more exciting to wrestling fans than a guy taking way too long to change a tire, while a maniac is out to get him? It looks like the WWE needs lessons on horror movies. In all the time wasted with Jericho and Ryder, how many typical diva matches could the WWE have squeezed in? How much more time could they have added to the actual match in the main-event segment? How much more Brodus Clay could we have gotten?
As a fan of both Kane and horror movies, I can appreciate what the WWE was trying to do. I can see the tone they were trying to set. Problem is, it appears the fans have seen this story before. Cena wins. He always wins. They have seen Kane get built up strong, then get knocked down not too long after. Then again, most people who go to see a movie, whether it is horror, romance, comedy, action, or so on, usually know how it will go. The true draw lies in how it is done. That being said, not only may some fans not be interested due to all this seeming repetitive to them, and with a lead actor they are tired of, but the execution may be poor. Zack Ryder vs. The Tire sharing the main event with Cena and Ziggler? Whatever the case, it is not working. Even before this week, the ratings were still not improving too well with Kane's return to the mask and the drama with Cena.
The WWE has a definite problem. If ratings were simply stagnant, not going anywhere, you can at least see that as allowable. What is going on, however, in terms of ratings, is that the WWE is losing ground. CM Punk could not get it done. Masked Kane could not get it done. It was obvious that Cena could no longer get it done. The Rock succeeded in bringing the best ratings last year and a little more interest into the product, but not enough to offset the horrible numbers. That is just Raw. Over on Smackdown, what will the WWE do now that Mark Henry's push has reached that time that it has to be slowly phased out? Daniel Bryan will probably do an even worse job at drawing interest than CM Punk. Then again, this is Smackdown I'm talking about here. How much further can those numbers drop? The WWE has to figure out how to make their product entertaining and their workers draws again. They have been doing a great job pandering to the regulars, but they are still losing ground. What's left to attempt?
I didn't put up a shot of Trish Stratus just for the eye-candy value. Am I leaving out any regular readers who may be girls? Don't worry, I'll be sure to bring some for you too next time. How about some Brodus Clay? Anyway, I want to talk about the two major causes as to why the WWE is treating the diva division like it currently is. There is definitely a lack of good focus and development. The most obvious reason, which I always bring up, is the WWE's inability to get what it exactly wants from their diva division. Namely, getting the women they want to be the major successes the major overness.
I'm going to bring up an example from the business world that I think will be pretty easy to understand. It's not like I went to business school myself. When is the best time for a typical company to branch out? Is it when that company is already doing well for itself? Or is it when the company is seeing profits decline and is heading in the wrong direction? In the latter situation, if the company attempted to do something big, whether it means expanding to more locations, doing more for the community to raise its image, or offering more to its workers to retain them and attract better workers, it might be the last straw that leads to the end of the company. The company was already showing signs of doing bad, yet they take on more costs? In some situations, they might have done that to try one big move to save itself, but it is definitely a huge risk. That being said, the best, safest time to look into other things is definitely when a company is in a solid position. If anything goes wrong, it is less likely you are taking a hit that will kill you.
Back to the WWE and the diva division. Not only is the WWE facing the dilemma of finding a good centerpiece for the diva division, but they have a ton of more serious issues to deal with on their major shows. As I was talking about earlier, the company's top show is losing ground. You look at other indicators, the WWE is not doing well. The diva division was created around the same time the Attitude Era really kicked in. In other words, it started around the same time the overall product was hot. Everyone talks about how great things were with Trish Stratus and Lita. Keep in mind that guys like Austin and The Rock were still around when these two women debuted and were being built up. These women got rubs from guys like that. Even during the dark days, when The Rock and Austin were not regulars anymore and Triple H had his reign of doom, ratings were not at the level they are today, you still had other good stars, and The Rock and Austin still popped in now and then. During this entire time, the WWE was still having a good run and was succeeding in selling their diva centerpiece, Trish Stratus. When Cena first became centerpiece, ratings were looking good again for about 2 years. There was no reason to worry yet. The diva division did not immediately fall to pieces when Trish Stratus left. The WWE was still trying pretty well to maintain a respectable division for the next centerpiece they would create.
Of course, the diva division now lies in ruin and the overall WWE product is showing all the wrong signs. The diva division is not the WWE's major focus. There was never a real period where it has been. Now that the WWE is having the problems it is having with saving ratings and keeping fans interested, do you honestly think they will switch focus to the diva division now? That would be like a sinking computer company suddenly placing an order for a million pens with their company advertised on it. How is that supposed to help you now? Even if by some magical way the women suddenly all became super in the ring, mega over with all the fans, and were without any flaws, then what? They only make up a limited number of segments on the shows. What about the men? At their best, can the divas regularly draw that 3.5 rating? And how will that impact the WWE's desire to sell a glamorous model as the best female wrestler at the expense of real wrestlers?
My point is that there are two problems that go hand-in-hand that causes the diva division to be what it is now. Getting fans tuning in regularly again and in larger numbers will not fix the problem with the diva division on the spot. Accomplishing the WWE's own agenda for the diva division will not make any large gain in the ratings problem. If the WWE cannot accomplish what it wants to accomplish in the diva division, things are going to be painful. If the WWE is distracted by the larger issues, that will make it even harder for them to want to put proper focus into the diva division. So, in the end, to anyone ranting on Youtube about the WWE needing to save the diva division, the WWE might feel they have bigger problems to deal with. Like deciding whether to have Zack Ryder job to a tire every week?
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