Over the past few years, WWE has become more than satisfied with itself to deliver the bare minimum to the fans, with a view to minimising effort and maximising profit. Whose fault is this? Vinnie Mac's I'm afraid. Ultimately it is he who has the final say on the product we see on TV, despite a wise team of bookers with many years in-ring experience to draw from, it seems that Vince wants to make a little soap opera each week interspersed with a few minutes of 'action'. All done by a team of writers, who have a very weak understanding of the wrestling business, in-ring psychology and how to tell a story in a violent way. Every word is scripted, so that wrestlers have little else to do other than read their lines and learn absolutely nothing.

No wonder it falls on the shoulders of the last few ring veterans on the roster to try and send the fans home happy, and to try and educate these young guys and gals to make them the stars of the future. HBK, Taker, HHH and Jericho are the ones I am talking about, but two of those won’t be active much longer, so what do we do then? True, there are definite stars shining, extremely talented on either the mic, as a worker or both, guys like Edge, Matt Hardy, Christian, Orton and Cena, yes I said Cena. These guys have stepped up to the plate and have developed their characters to back up their abilities, and can all deliver on the main stage. But what about the younger guys? How can they develop and learn the craft, when they are given so little freedom to become creative vocally or physically?

Vince is his own worst enemy, and it will show very soon when the Vets can no longer go in the ring. Hell, Vince even employed Freddie Prince Jnr. on the creative team! No doubt to help them learn their lines. RAW is now a mockery of its former self, the edgiest thing about the show is the crowd! I think my point was proven on the TLC PPV, when Christian had to basically talk Shelton Benjamin through every step, and he's been with the company how many years????!!!

WWE does have stars in the making, it’s true, John Morrison, Kofi, Evan Bourne, Jack Swagger etc. They all scream main-eventers, and have limitless potential, but unless something severe changes backstage soon, Vince will find himself in a bit of a pickle, with the big shake-up in TNA. I, for one, am looking forward to seeing what happens. Hogan is saying all the right things and seems to have the right attitude. He is saying what the fans have been demanding for a long time, a quality wrestling show, done right. Not a weekly movie aimed at selling merchandise and promoting the next PPV (which seems to be every few weeks with the WWE now), but a product where fans can watch talented athletes perform exciting matches that last longer than the ring entrances.

Fans, both young and old are becoming wiser now, they know lots about the industry, how it works and what makes pro-wrestling great, and it is certainly not what WWE is doing right now. Thanks to the autobiographies, documentaries etc, people know what it is all about, even kids become wise to it all, and it is starting to show - take the dead crowd from RAW this past Monday. The loudest pop of the night was from the mention of Bret Hart possibly hosting RAW! I hope to god it sinks in with Vince, because these guest hosts are becoming an embarrassment and an insult to the staff who work their ass off (both performing and backstage) only to be insulted by a C-list celebrity wanting to plug their latest book or TV show. Hell, some of them don't even know the wrestler's names! HHH must have been fuming when Miller introduced him as 'The Show', and let us not forget 'Summerfest'. Time to wake up and smell the roses Vinnie, this angle has only ever worked with Wrestling legends and Alumni hosting. Dibiase, Rhodes, Ventura, even Trish all made the show entertaining. If you are going to drag this one out, at least use these people to make the show successful and not a 2 hour blooper reel.

The amount of PPV's needs to be trimmed down significantly, perhaps even to the point of bi-monthly? At least that may help gate sales and buy-rates. Proper build-ups to feuds, rather than the same old tired formula's each week, with 5 minute matches, mixing and matching faces and heels in singles, tag and multi-man matches so that we are 'teased' to buy the PPV, except that we have seen the same feuds re-hashed and exhausted to point where it means absolutely nothing. How can the wrestlers build heat and anticipation up for the big show-downs when they are literally only given a few scripted minutes to try and tell a story or sell and angle each week? WWE has a 'Best of RAW 2009' DVD coming out soon, over 500 minutes of the best of the year. I'm sorry, but I can't remember the last decent match on the show that went more than 10 minutes? Predictable crap, fuelled by gimmicks that mean nothing any more.

So, 2010 may help to correct these wrestling atrocities. Let's hope that TNA jumps up to the next level, goes head to head with RAW on a Monday night and starts off another 'war'. Both companies will benefit from it, it has been said by so many people, WWE will have to step up their game, and if Hogan backs up what he says, true wrestling fans, even the kids, will start to take notice of what TNA has to offer.

Whatever happens, it's going to be an interesting year ahead...