The WWE product is currently in the midst of what is known as the Reality Era, a time in which the content is PG and the situations are more kid-friendly. While this is a far cry from the days of the Attitude Era, the fact is that the company obviously felt the need to change, and evolution is certainly a necessity in order to survive.
And while many fans are surely not very happy with the current state of WWE, the fact is that the Reality Era does have the potential to work on many levels. The only problem lies with the Superstars, many of whom do not seem very committed to making it work in the first place.
It's an argument that fans have heard many times in the past, and it's one that keeps popping up all the time. A great number of the WWEfaithful believe that this era of the company is just a watered-down version of much better times.
Stone Cold Steve Austin has been replaced by John Cena, Degeneration-X has devolved into The Authority and Kane is nothing more than a corporate lackey. And the only ones who brought back any real edge similar to the Attitude Era, chief among them CM Punk, are gone now.
The WWE product has been sanitized for fans' protection, and that does not seem to be changing anytime soon.
And the fact is that the company encourages fans to become involved, to accept the Reality Era and support it by not only watching at home but going to the live events. Vince McMahon certainly seems to be committed to the direction WWE is now going in.
If only the talent were as well.
A great example of this is The Bella Twins, who are in the middle of a heated storyline right now. Nikki turned on her sister Brie atSummerSlam, costing her the match against Stephanie McMahon. The moment was one of the most shocking ones that fans had seen in quite some time.
Matters only worsened on the August 25 edition of Monday Night Raw, when Jerry Lawler tried to bring the sisters together in areconciliation. That did not work, however, and the moment completely broke down as Nikki physically mauled her sister in the middle of the ring.
While that night in particular stood out as perhaps the most intense thus far, the fact is that it made little difference later.
The Bella Twins' Twitter page was quite active in the days following that Raw, and in many ways, it rarely reflected their angle. Of course, the explanation could be that both sisters were using the account during that time, but it still perhaps lessened the impact that their angle initially had.
Another example is the two people directly involved in The Bella Twins' storyline: Triple H and Stephanie.
As WWE's top corporate entity, The Authority's screen roles are that of devious and power-hungry heels bent on total domination of the company. They rule WWE with an iron fist, and anyone who gets in their way pays the price.
But when they're not on TV, Triple H and Stephanie are not only professional, they're very approachable and very courteous. Stephanie's Twitter bio even states that she "plays a bad guy on TV." The Authority is so different in social media that it's almost as if someone else is running the accounts.
Or the simpler answer is that neither Hunter nor Stephanie is very interested in maintaining appearances outside of regular WWEprogramming.
In both cases, there are Superstars involved who are expected to act a certain way and portray a certain character. And despite how well they do exactly that on TV, the fact is that when those moments are over, so too are the performances.
It seems the Reality Era only applies when the cameras are turned on.
Hence the real issue with this topic. The commitment to get the storyline and the character over is there, but it's only there when everyone is looking. While social media outlets like Twitter may not quite be the same environment, the truth is that fans are indeed still watching.
These are the same fans who are encouraged to follow WWE socially, to hinge on every word and every move that the company makes on regular TV and pay-per-view programming. And when fans get to that point, they see Superstars acting out of character.
This is not to imply that the talent inWWE needs to stay out of the public eye between Raw and SmackDown. In fact, fans should be able to connect with their favorites because it does strengthen the connection between the audience and the company.
But the commitment from today's Reality Era Superstars just does not seem to fully be there. The fictional reality known as kayfabe is casually disregarded as fans are perhaps expected to just buy in when the talent is in character on TV.
The real question, however, is how are fans supposed to believe and accept what they see when they consistently see other versions of the characters they're asked to love and hate? Where is the commitment to keep getting the storyline over, to keep working the crowd? Make no mistake about it: The crowd is definitely still there.
WWE's Reality Era is often criticized by fans, but the truth is that it has the potential to work on many levels. But without a willingness from the talent to keep pushing the character and angle away from the camera, then the Reality Era becomes a little less real a lot quicker.
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