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WWE Is Still Failing To Learn From Its Past Booking Mistakes

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Credit: WWE.com

Those who do not learn from history are doomed to repeat it, and one need not look any further than WWE to see that old adage come to life.

WWE has been at the center of controversy in recent weeks, not just for its decision to return to Saudi Arabia but also for its major problems with backstage morale, which blew up once former WWE Champion Dean Ambrose blasted the company and its creative process on Talk is Jericho. Ambrose's hard hitting interviews (he's since done more of them, all of which have painted WWE, and specifically Vince McMahon, in a negative light) have really highlighted the past mistakes of the world's No. 1 pro wrestling promotion.

One of the biggest criticisms of WWE's is its penchant for relying far too heavily on a select few names and pushing those stars so much that it crosses the line between a massive push and full-blown overexposure. That has been exemplified perfectly by WWE's unofficial end of the brand split, which has put a handful of names, most notably Roman Reigns and Shane McMahon, in the spotlight on both Raw and SmackDown, casting aside the vast majority of the roster in the process. The introduction of the "Wild Card" rule, a direct result of pressure from TV executives wanting WWE to improve its ratings, has thrown the main roster into disarray, once again making Reigns and McMahon the focal points of not one but two shows in a move that is bound to eventually backfire.

After beating leukemia, Reigns returned in route to WrestleMania 35 as the biggest babyface in all of WWE. Finally, WWE had achieved its long-running goal of making Reigns almost universally popular. But WWE, rather than being satisfied with Reigns' new, more widespread popularity, had to take that a step further. Undoubtedly a response to WWE's plummeting TV viewership, Reigns, supposedly a SmackDown star, is now front and center on both Raw and SmackDown, which will inevitably lead to fans turning on Reigns again down the road just as they've soured on the overbearing push of McMahon.

That same fate could befall other stars, ranging from Kofi Kingston to Becky Lynch, who have become cornerstones of both Raw and SmackDown, taking up valuable TV time from other stars who have nothing to do but sit backstage and enjoy some catering. In fact, a recent statistical analysis on Reddit showed that an astounding 56 main roster stars hadn't wrestled a televised match in the previous two weeks, a major issue that is only going to be exacerbated by the continued erosion of the brand split lines.

As WWE continues to focus so heavily on the same stars (Reigns, Kingston, Lynch, McMahon, Baron Corbin, etc.), many WWE fans have been turned off to the product as their sentimental favorites, like Rusev and Shinsuke Nakamura, have disappeared from TV while others, like Ricochet and Braun Strowman, have been largely buried by the booking. It's no wonder why Ambrose bolted the company or why Sasha Banks took her ball and went home, as WWE continues to repeat the mistakes that have put the company in this situation in the first place, with plummeting TV ratings (Raw scored its worst viewership ever this week), live event attendance and WWE Network subscribers.

WWE's refusal to learn from history has been perhaps best exemplified, however, by Brock Lesnar's surprising Money in the Bank win.

Lesnar won the briefcase at last month's pay-per-view, even though Raw viewership plummeted by 25% between WrestleMania 34 and 35, a span during which Lesnar held the Universal title more than anyone else and was the most protected star on the show. "The Beast" isn't the answer to WWE's rating woes, and his overbearing and seemingly never-ending push is reverting WWE right back to where it was not all that long ago: With an over-pushed Beast, a ridiculous amount of TV time for Reigns and limited TV space for a slew of talented stars, many of which can't even seem to get on TV at all.

To compound that problem, WWE recently relied on the likes of Goldberg, The Undertaker and Triple H to sell Super Showdown, even  though the show was lackluster and WWE's reliance on part-time, past-their-prime veterans over the past year led to the company losing a whopping 120,000 WWE Network subscribers between WrestleMania 34 and 35. Rather than making a concerted effort to push and promote new talent, WWE is relying on also-rans who have put the company in the position it is in to begin with.

Stars are breaking down the door to get out of WWE and into AEW, a result of the poor booking of NXT call-ups, WWE's overuse of a handful of top stars, its refusal to push promising up-and-coming talents (The Viking Raiders, for example, have completely disappeared) and its continued insistence that the only stars who can draw are the ones who have been around for 20 years or more.

If you're wondering why WWE has been a hot topic of late and for all the wrong reasons, this is why.

The company needs to make fundamental changes to its booking philosophy, and until that happens, it will continue to repeat the same mistakes that have created this unprecedented blend of lackluster storytelling and superstar dissatisfaction.

Blake Oestriecher is an elementary school teacher by day and a sports writer by night. He’s a contributor to @ForbesSports, where he primarily covers WWE. You can follow him on Twitter @BOestriecher.