The Keg Stand: Five Things I Dislike About the WWE Right Now

I haven't enjoyed watching the WWE lately. I'm not going to stop watching because I'm not going to make that mistake twice, but I want to enjoy what I'm watching. I would enjoy watching the WWE more if they fix and improve few things. Here are five thing I dislike about the WWE right now.

1. Weak storylines

The storylines on RAW and Smackdown right now aren't terrible, but they aren't very good either. I am interested in the whole CM Punk-AJ-Daniel Bryan-Kane storyline, but that's the only storyline I care about right now. And that storyline is interesting, but not great. The last great storyline I remember in the WWE was the Brock Lesnar vs. John Cena storyline. That storyline made me want to tune in the next week to see what happens next. That was in April which wasn't that long ago, but the WWE should have great storylines every month. In my opinion, they didn't have a great storyline in May and they don't have one in June so far. I think it's okay to expect great storylines from the WWE every month. Why should I pay $50+ for that month's Pay Per View if the build-up for the main event match wasn't very interesting? I'm not expecting amazing storylines every month. The last amazing storyline was the CM Punk vs. John Cena storyline in June and July. Those storylines don't happen often and when they do happen, there is usually only one of them in a year. It's okay that there isn't amazing storylines every month because they would be less special if they happened too often. But I do expect great storylines and without them, ratings drop. People need a reason to watch RAW or Smackdown each week and I need the WWE to consistently have storylines that are good enough that I start counting down the days until RAW because I'm excited to see what happens on RAW. The WWE doesn't have storylines that interesting right now.

2. John Cena in the main event without the WWE Championship

It bothers me to see John Cena in the main event consistently since February and he hasn't been the WWE Champion since October 2011. I understand that Cena is the guy who brings in the most ratings, but if the WWE is going to have him in the main event of every RAW and PPV then they need to put the WWE Championship back on him. I don't want him to be WWE Champion and I don't want CM Punk to lose the title, but I am not interested in seeing John Cena in the main event without the WWE Championship. Why should I care about who wins Big Show vs. John Cena at No Way Out? What happens if Big Show wins? Does he become the number one contender for the WWE Championship? If Cena wins, does John Laurinaitis get fired? Without a stipulation, the only interesting thing is the match and that match will probably be bad just like the Big Show vs. John Cena PPV matches in 2009. If John Cena had the title, I might be interested in seeing the match because I would be interested in finding out if Big Show could win the WWE Championship for the first time since 2002. I think that 95% of the time, either the WWE Championship match or World Heavyweight Championship match should be the main event of a PPV. Having John Cena in the main event may be good for business, but I won't care what happens if nothing is on the line. If they don't have anything on the line like Mr. Laurinaitis's job or the WWE Championship and if the match doesn't have a great match-up like Cena vs. Rock or Cena vs. Lesnar, then why should I care who wins the main event match? Making Cena vs. Big Show a steel cage match isn't enough. If the WWE keeps Cena in the main event without him fighting for something, I'm likely to stop watching before the main event and I don't think the WWE wants their fans to do that.

3. Weak main event endings

The WWE needs better main events on their shows. I'm going to focus on RAW for this one. Last week's main event ending was John Cena vs. Michael Cole. That one was okay because I don't like Michael Cole so I enjoyed his match against Cena. Before that was Brodus Clay vs. Big Show which I would have enjoyed more if the match actually happened. Before that was Big Show knocking out John Cena right before RAW ending. Those were the last three ending and they were good, but not great. I wish the main event endings were better. "Good" is not good enough. They need to be great or else I'm thinking to myself, "I waited for that?" A great main event is something that needs to be advertised at the beginning of the show and makes Little Jimmy wish his bedtime wasn't 30 minutes before the end of RAW. And then, the main event needs to end in a shocking way that makes you ask, "What did I just see" and/or "What will happen next week". One of those two things need to happen and I don't think the RAW main events have been doing that for me lately. The last great main event ending was when Brock Lesnar returned to the WWE in my opinion. That was two months ago. The last great main event ending should have been last week. Maybe it's unfair to expect a great main event ending every week, but I think two months is a little bit too long. It's one of those things that is making me lose interest in RAW because I'm realizing that the main event each week is probably not going to be great. I am hoping that RAW will have a very good main event ending soon because I am starting to get frustrated. RAW endings should be more anticipated or make me want to watch next week and that is not happening. The main event endings need to improve so I have more to talk about at work the next day.

4. No new main event superstars

Why are Big Show and Kane in the two of the three No Way Out main event matches? I wish the WWE would start pushing guys who haven't been in the main event much during their careers. Who are superstars that could challenge for and win a World Championship next month? I think it is John Cena, Daniel Bryan, Kane, Big Show, Alberto Del Rio, and Chris Jericho if he returns. That's a list of only six superstars. Did I forget anyone? I don't think Christian is going to return to the main event picture by next month and Brock Lesnar may not be back next month if he comes back at all. Not only is that list short, but I don't think Kane and Big Show are going to win a World Championship this year. So the list of non-title holders that could become win a World Championship in July is four and three if Chris Jericho doesn't come back. Shouldn't there be more contenders? Are we going to see the same five guys (including the two current champions) compete for two World Championships? The WWE needs to create new main event superstars. One of the superstars who should be ready is Dolph Ziggler. I don't think he will win a World Championship in the next few months, but he should at least be in World Championship matches. Another superstar might be Cody Rhodes. I think Cody Rhodes is overrated, but I would like to see what he can do as a main event superstar. Put him in a couple World Championship matches and see what happens. The WWE needs to take more chances. Sometimes they work (see Sheamus, CM Punk, and Daniel Bryan) and sometimes they don't (see The Miz and Jack Swagger). It's obvious that the WWE needs more main event stars. If they were fine, then why did Daniel Bryan have a WWE Championship match one month after having a World Heavyweight Championship match? Why did Chris Jericho compete in a World Heavyweight Championship match a month after losing his WWE Championship match at Extreme Rules? Why did Kane get booked for a WWE Championship match just one week after losing an opportunity to get a World Heavyweight Championship match? Why have a veteran who never reached his full potential like Big Show feud with John Cena when a new superstar like Tensai (veteran superstar but new gimmick) can feud with Cena? The WWE needs to focus on the future more because the veterans won't be in the WWE forever. Guys like Big Show and Kane weren't great World Champions during the Attitude Era and they won't be great World Champions now.

5. Michael Cole as a heel announcer

I don't like Michael Cole as a face announcer and I dislike him even more as a heel announcer. I like heel announcers, but I hate the idea of a heel play-by-play announcer. Cole is ruining WWE history. I like The Miz, but he was a heel when he won the WWE Championship so Cole shouldn't have been excited when Miz defeated Randy Orton. Daniel Bryan may become a WWE Hall of Famer someday and the play-by-play man's call of his first ever championship in the WWE will always be, "Come on Miz...you got to get to the bottom rope to break this...you got to be kidding me!" That was Cole's reaction after Daniel Bryan won the United States Championship. What other great moments will Cole ruin? What if Cole was heel in early 1999? Would he have ruined Mick Foley's first WWE Championship win? Would he have reacted differently after The Rock (a heel at the time) won the "I Quit" match at the 1999 Royal Rumble? He can't affect the past, but he can affect the future. I also don't like that he is on both RAW and Smackdown. If he is going to be heel for a long time, at least have Josh Matthews and Booker T be the only two Smackdown announcers. What I really want to see happen is Jim Ross replace Michael Cole on RAW, but that will never happen. Michael Cole is getting worse. John Cena was the only face Cole liked and now he hates him too. If Cena wins at No Way Out, I would expect Cole to go nuts and say nothing positive about Cena's win. It's okay to have a heel color commentator, but not the play-by-play man. I'm hoping that Cole either turns face or gets fired.