WWE: The Golden Period?

We all like to moan about wrestling.  I myself do it on a regular basis.  We particularly like to bash the WWE.  If you were to go by forums and Twitter, you would believe that they were at an all time low.  However, that’s not actually true.  In fact, I would argue that WWE is actually in the middle of a golden period.

Now let’s make one thing clear, there are a lot of creative problems at WWE and I’m actually disregarding creative in this argument.  This particular golden period is wrestling centric.  The WWE has more great performers now than they have ever had before and the in ring product is at an all time high.

Let’s start at the top of the card.  Mr. Cena himself, who while now operating in the mid card, is still very much the face of the company.  Now I have my problems with Cena’s matches.  However, when you compare him with guys from the past, John is a very good wrestler.  Sure he’s never going to go hold for hold with Bryan, but he puts on incredibly entertaining matches.  When was the last time he put on a bad match on PPV?  It doesn’t happen often, because the guy is a big game player.  He’s also unique in face of the company terms by being willing to put others over.  On Sunday he got pinned by Kevin Owens, a man who has around ten matches on WWE TV.  Would Hogan have done that?  Would Austin?  Not a chance in hell.  Cena has his issues, but the guy is good.

Standing next to him is Seth Rollins, the World Champion and one hell of a worker.  He was the workhorse of The SHIELD and he has consistently delivered.  Rollins is a top class wrestler that in many ways exhibits all the attributes that people claim Vince hates.  Competing with him you have Roman Reigns, who is the first guy I’ve mentioned who could truly be called limited.  However, there is still a shit load of upside to Reigns and he is constantly improving.  It’s easy to forget that not that long ago Reigns was seen as the epitome of cool.  Creative may have shot him in the foot, but Reigns will go on to be a star for years to come.

Backing them up you have Dean Ambrose, Sheamus, Ryback, Dolph Ziggler, Neville, Bray Wyatt and more.  All guys who have up and down sides, but also all guys who can go in the ring.  Even Ryback, who is famously sloppy, is capable of putting on good matches.  Sure, Big Show and Kane still get far too much TV time, but even they can both lay claim to being two of the best big men of all time.  The top of the card is stacked and while the IC title may have been made essentially worthless over the years, the men surrounding it are easily good enough to change that.

Even the long poor WWE Tag Team Titles are now surrounded by talent.  New Day, whether deliberately or not, have developed into great pest heels, while Tyson Kidd and Cesaro have come together to be one of the best teams we have had in years.  Los Matadores, Lucha Dragons, Primetime Players and The Ascension are all creatively damaged at times, but put them in matches again those two teams and they will generally deliver (apart from maybe The Ascension, I think they are probably just bad).  While the reunited Eric Rowan and Luke Harper add another excitement element to the mix.

Even the main roster Divas aren’t terrible.  Paige has shown she can be great, while Naomi has done a great job in embracing her heel turn.  Nikki Bella could easily pick up an award for most improved wrestler and Natalya is always waiting in the wings, ready to show why she is one of the best women wrestlers in the world.

Finally, we come to the future.  It’s no secret NXT is good and it is often better than the main show.  It is also stacked with talent.  Whether it’s Owens and Zayn, who are in the process of making the step up or Tye Dillinger and Solomon Crowe, who are still trying to find themselves.  They also have the best women’s wrestler WWE has ever had, who are actually outperforming the guys on a weekly basis.  The present is pretty damn good in WWE, but the future can be even better.

So sure, WWE creative still makes me want to pull my hair out and scream with frustration at times.  However, when the bell actually rings, the WWE has never been better.  This roster is rammed full of talent and in years to come I think we will genuinely look back on this period as a golden time in the WWE’s history.  Every week there is at least one good to great match for us to get our teeth into and often there is more.  So maybe it is time to stop the whining and appreciate just how good we’ve got it.