Owens is fat, and looks like a fan who won a contest, and dresses like a guy heading down to the Y to play basketball. All these shortcomings turned me off when I first saw Owens (Steen) in ROH.
But Owens has something. He’s got legit tough-guy charisma, and he’s good at being (ironically) a bully who backs down at the first sign of the odds not favoring him. In short, he’s a great heel. Owens has excellent heel timing and delivery.
But WWE soured on Owens all too quick because he doesn’t fit their preferred look/stereotype. Using that cookie cutter to numbing excess is high among the reasons more people used to watch fake wrestling than currently do.
From a performer’s standpoint, WWE is especially frustrating because it’s impossible to live your dream, even if you can prove you deserve it.
WWE shouldn’t be fat-shaming. Or race-baiting. There are definite elements of that in The New Day. Did any of you see “Bamboozled”?
WWE wants to go in different directions with its product and its branding. That should be impossible to do. But those of the intelligentsia who watch WWE can’t be bothered. It’s only fake wrestling, after all.
At what point do we acknowledge that creatively, WWE has no clue? (We don’t really have to. The numbers acknowledge just fine.) Those three hours drag out interminably on Mondays. Every show feels the same.
I’m skeptical about the “Divas Revolution.” I’m not skeptical about the Divas: The NXT women have proven their mettle, and a few of the incumbents have kept up, most notably Paige. But it’s tough to get over nine women at once.
WWE needs to break Charlotte, Sasha Banks and Becky Lynch away from the pack sooner, not later. (Is it just me, or does WWE not seem particularly high on Lynch?)
I’ve got a great scenario for re-branding the Divas division. They really need to dump that designation. Turn things more serious and less sexist. But I’m not going to suggest it, because that guarantees WWE won’t do it.
Follow Mark on Twitter: @MarkMaddenX
