Fans are given so much access to their favourite superstars these days, it’s almost impossible for them to keep anything in their lives private. You can like them on Facebook, tweet them on Twitter, snap them on Snapchat, like their photos on Instagram and there was even a time you could tout them (remember that?).
See back in the ‘attitude era’, what you saw on television was essential who that superstar was to you. Stone Cold Steve Austin was a beer swilling bad ass, The Rock was the cool hero, Kane was the ever silent ‘big red machine’, and The Undertaker was the mysterious ‘Phenom’. What you saw is what you got, which really added to the exclusivity of their character, whereas today all that is ruined.
Let’s kick off with the most annoying example, Rusev & Lana. So in the newest series of WWE reality series, ‘Total Divas’, Lana is the newest member of the cast, which also features appearances by her real life husband, Rusev.
The huge problem I have with this, is that ‘The Ravishing Russian’, Lana, speaks in her normal American accent. Admittedly I haven’t watched any of the new season of Total Divas, but are we really expected to watch an hour of Lana speaking in her Florida accent, then buy into her as a Russian character? It makes no sense. To me that’s like watching Braun Strowman on the WWE Network as a stand up comedian laughing and joking, and then having to believe he’s an unbeatable monster on RAW.
Now I do understand that the whole premise of Total Divas is a behind the scenes look at the Women in WWE and their lives, but when you have a character like Lana who bases her whole gimmick on the fact she is Russian, DON’T have her on a show speaking American. Same as if you have a superstar that is apparently in a wheelchair, don’t have them in a show on the network doing salsa dancing.
During the summer of 2015, WWE produced the storyline of Lana ‘breaking up’ with Rusev and being with Dolph Ziggler instead, which apparently was a long term plan. Despite a few people knowing that Rusev & Lana were in fact a real life item, fans bought into Ziggler & Lana as a couple, with some questioning if the two had actually started an off screen romance.
Whilst not great, the storyline was still picking up steam with the involvement of Summer Rae, but then news website ‘TMZ’ broke the story that Rusev & Lana had gotten engaged, which ended all speculation of a Lana/Ziggler romance as well as the whole angle it would turn out.
Instead of continuing with the storyline and writing Lana turning on Ziggler to go back to Rusev, or Ziggler betray Lana to be with Summer Rae, it just ended abruptly, bizarrely with WWE even promoting the TMZ story themselves.
WWE feel the need to have to announce every relationship between WWE superstars, which really doesn’t have any part of the storylines. The Miz and Maryse are a great example of how this CAN work on screen if done correctly, but does anyone remember when WWE tried to pair her with Ted DiBiase jr? It didn’t work of course, because it was common knowledge that Maryse was dating The Miz, so nobody bought it for a second.
Edge & Lita also worked, but almost entirely by accident, as it was in fact Matt Hardy (Lita’s scorned ex) that outed them as a couple, but that was the first time this had happened, and it was new, fresh and exciting.
This past week on Smackdown Live, The Miz declared Renee Young was dating Dean Ambrose to the audience (although not a surprise to anyone admittedly seeing as they both feature on Total Divas themselves). What was the point though? Ambrose is supposed to be a loose cannon, lunatic character, why give him the image he’s a doting boyfriend off screen? That ruins the alternate universe Ambrose had created for himself as a WWE superstar.
Can you imagine if WWE had produced a documentary on CM Punk being straight edge, yet attempted to portray his character as someone that drinks as much as Stone Cold Steve Austin? Fans wouldn’t buy it in a million years, it’s ridiculous.
On the subject of Total Divas, WWE dug themselves a hole with the ‘Divas Division’ as it was, by confusing the hell out of the fans. Whilst on Total Divas they showed Natalya as friends with Paige, on WWE television they would be bitter enemies, so it was something fans simply couldn’t get invested in, and then to make matters worse, two weeks later, Paige and Natalya were booked as tag team partners! Just typing that has got me shaking my head again.
Baron Corbin is ‘the lone wolf’, so would that be beneficial to his character to have him star in a show laughing and joking around with other WWE superstars? It’d ruin the image of who he is to the fans.
With social media, you can watch Raw and really believe two superstars hate each other, locked in a bitter feud, but then they’ll post a photo on Instagram of the two of them hugging that very same day. We’re not stupid, we know that they have a life outside of WWE and a lot of them are genuine friends off camera, but it does spoil the magic of what we’re seeing on television.
I love the WWE Network, but I do feel there is too much insider access to the superstars, which quite frankly makes it hard to buy into a lot of the characters, which is why it’s a lot harder for them to get over or taken seriously on Raw or Smackdown. I think less is more when it comes to professional wrestling, certain characters such as Styles and Corbin leave fans wanting to know more, whereas over exposing them on various network shows shatters the image watching WWE has led you to believe.
Matt Hardy is one of the most talked about characters in professional wrestling today, which is bizarre, but how did he do it? He created a unique ‘Broken Matt Hardy’ character for himself, and he kept within kayfabe. When he does interviews, he’s in character, when he’s spotted by fans on the street he’s in character. Obviously behind closed doors in his own home, well that’s his business, but for the eyes of the world, he is his character, Broken Matt Hardy.
People want to see more, they’re entertained by him, and they’re truly invested in his character, which is a credit to Hardy and his dedication to his work and kayfabe.
Again, I understand that these wrestlers have a life off camera, but sometimes WWE themselves need to stop giving fans access to every aspect of their personal lives. WWE Superstars are characters for fans to suspend reality and be entertained by. Would Bray Wyatt’s gimmick work if the company also put out videos of him singing karaoke and playing with kittens? I don’t think so.
Let us suspend reality, WWE. For a few hours a week, allow us to get lost in the world of professional wrestling and be enticed by the drama, theatrics and storylines.
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