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PICTURE IN A PICTURE, WWE RETURNING IN FRONT OF FANS, THE BRAND OVER THE WRESTLER AND MORE

By Dave Scherer on 2021-05-23 10:00:00

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Am I alone in wishing that the end of the Wednesday Night War also spelled the end of Picture-in-Picture commercial breaks?  I assumed that they had existed in order to discourage changing the channel to the other product, but on AEW at least, it feels like they are doing it even more now that they have the night to themselves.  Personally, I have a hard time focusing on the match in a little box with no sound with a commercial going on.  I try to keep it on and watch the match, but as the show goes on and they keep happening, I find myself just hitting the fast forward button.

You are not alone.  The box means FAST FORWARD to me.  I am sure that there are some people that enjoy being able to watch every single move that happens, but I am not one of them.  I wish it would go away as well.

What is next for John Morrison with the Miz out?  He has been stuck as Miz's second banana for some time now.  Is there any chance that he gets a serious heel push?  I think he could really benefit from a drop to NXT for a while and a pairing with his wife.  He needs a reboot after "Johnny Drip Drip" and she could use the rub in her introduction to WWE audiences.  They were fire together in Lucha Underground.  What do you think?

They really haven’t done much with him and he certainly can still go in the ring.  I like the NXT idea (provided he is OK with it).  I wouldn’t do it immediately.  I would bring him in to be with his wife (Franky) at a time when it could provide maximum impact.  If he stays on Raw I see him getting lost in the shuffle the way that most of the talents do.

What do you think of WWE returning to having fans at shows?

I think it was just a matter of time and bound to happen.  The rest of the world and sport is opening back up so it was just a matter of time until WWE did too.  I think they will monitor the virus and if things regress, they will react accordingly.  If things continue to improve and more people get vaccinated, giving the virus less new hosts to attack, WWE shouldn’t have any issues, at least in the US.

On another note, they haven’t had to make fans react in over a year.  Do you think they will have problems, especially with Raw, when they present a boring product?

At first, probably not.  Fans will just be happy to be at the shows in the beginning, and understandably so.  It’s been a long time.  As things go on though I think if they are bored or don’t like something, they will let WWE know.  I hope they do, Raw needs some shaking up.  Big time.

It's been discussed before how the philosophy in WWE seems to be that the priority is to push the brand, rather than building around one or two top names. This is ostensibly to prevent a situation where they could flounder if an injury or sudden departure etc happens.  Do you think they are right to act this way? History has shown that things don't always work out the way WWE wants. Rock left to become a movie star, Austin, Brock and Punk all suddenly departed the company when they were unhappy, even recent examples such as the situation with Velveteen Dream happened when he was seen by many as a future main event player.  Obviously the company feels that by preventing any one star from becoming "too big" they're protecting the company, but it can be argued that the company would be more successful if they could build around a massive star on a Rock/Austin/Hogan level. Which do you think is correct?

I don’t think it’s the way to go, but I get why they do it.  If “the brand” is the draw, they aren’t going to be held up by any one talent if they get super over.  They have done extremely well financially, if not artistically, with this approach so whether we like it or not, it’s what they will do.

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