Reasons Fans Say WWE Is Worse Off These Days

There's always reason to dislike something, and that has certainly been the case for WWE over its 72 years of existence as either Capitol Wrestling, the World Wide Wrestling Federation, the World Wrestling Federation, or its current incarnation. The promotion has always been a powder keg for controversy outside of the ring, largely thanks to its former WWE Chairman Vince McMahon, who has faced federal charges, numerous accusations of sexual misconduct/assault, and one current lawsuit from Janel Grant accusing him of sex trafficking and abuse. That alone has made WWE very difficult to like for certain aspects of the wrestling fan base, and doesn't include things like WWE's working relationship with Saudi Arabia and other controversial aspects.

Of course, when push comes to shove, most fans don't care about things outside of the onscreen product. Unfortunately, the onscreen product has also produced many reasons for fans to dislike WWE over the years, with McMahon once again receiving most of the blame. Though he is held in high esteem for his creative work in the 1980s and late 90s during the Attitude Era, McMahon's work in between, whether it be the cartoonish Next Generation era in the mid-90s or WWE's post-Attitude Era run from 2001 all the way to McMahon's first departure in 2022, has received sharp criticism and accusations that McMahon had lost his fastball. With McMahon now gone, many thought those days would be over, something that was reflected in the positive reaction WWE received from 2022 through 2024. But with 2025 now halfway gone, some are starting to wonder if WWE may be worse off than expected. Is that the case?

To be clear, the answer is no. While there's been signs that WWE business isn't quite at the level it was the last few years, all indications are that revenue is through the roof and ticket sales are largely still strong. Any fears that WWE is in a 2010s esq slump is an exaggeration. Still, compared to the last few years, there has definitely been a change in WWE's perception with its fans, and a big factor in that is the promotion's parent company, TKO Group Holdings. Formed after Endeavor bought WWE in 2023 and merged it with its other properties, TKO was largely out of sight, out of mind for wrestling fans when things were firing on all cylinders. But as TKO has gotten more spotlight in 2025, it's also drawn more ridicule from fans for its decisions.

The TKO decision that has garnered the most ire has been the location of WrestleMania 42. Back in February, The Rock walked out on a New Orleans episode of "SmackDown" and announced WrestleMania would be back in the city the next year. It all changed in the spring though, when word came out that WWE would instead would be bringing both nights of WrestleMania 42 to Las Vegas, Nevada, which hosted WrestleMania 41. For some fans, the site of WrestleMania isn't a huge deal, especially for those watching it at home on their couch. Others, however, have come out against the idea of WrestleMania becoming an event largely confined to one place, and lashed out at the decision being made more for a monetary reason than anything else. The latter point is especially significant, as to some fans, it confirmed suspicions that TKO had become less concerned with WWE's quality of product, and more concerned with their bottom line.

Yet again though, business metrics, WrestleMania locations, and the works can disgruntle fans, but they won't take precedent over WWE's onscreen product, especially if its to fans liking. And that's where the issue has sprouted regarding fans thinking WWE has declined; for the first time since Triple H took over, the wrestling product hasn't been as beloved as it was the last few years. Murmurs of that appeared to be in the air during the early stages of the WrestleMania build in January and February, but it wasn't until after Elimination Chamber, when John Cena turned heel in the lead up to his match with Cody Rhodes, that things took a turn south. This is ironic, as Cena's turn at the time was critically acclaimed, even being compared to Hulk Hogan's famous 1996 WCW heel turn at Bash at the Beach.

It's been a different tone since then. The Rock, the catalyst behind Cena's heel turn on Rhodes, disappeared, never to appear again. Cena and Rhodes' confrontations leading into WrestleMania featured very little physicality, despite Cena's brutal attack on Rhodes at Elimination Chamber, but plenty of Cena explaining his heel turn was "because of the fans," a reasoning many felt was weak. The WrestleMania match itself ended with a poorly received appearance by rapper Travis Scott, who helped Cena win the title. And Cena's subsequent title reign has drawn mixed reviews, with many claiming his heel turn has been a dud, or at least hasn't fulfilled the promise that it seemed to have when Cena first sided with The Rock.

And then there is The Rock himself. It doesn't take a detective to take a look at all the sequence of events related to WWE this year and see that the wrestler turned Hollywood star kind of has his hands in everything that has ruffled fans feathers. He was the one who announced the WrestleMania location that wasn't. He was the catalyst behind Cena's turn, a turn that began with Rock, Rhodes, and a bizarre "SmackDown" segment where people mocked Rock for asking for Cody's soul. His disappearance from WWE after Cena's turn was seen as many to be a big reason it petered out, and his later explanations for why he wasn't part of WrestleMania led to more criticism, and some pondering if there was a rift between him and Triple H behind the scenes. And even things that preceded those sequence of events, like Rock appearing on "Raw's" Netflix premiere and seemingly ending potential programs with Rhodes and Roman Reigns, or his rambling follow up promo on "NXT" one day later, have been seen as a prelude to the poorly received events to come.

Is that entirely fair? Of course not; even if one holds Rock responsible for changing WrestleMania plans, it doesn't explain the rest of the build underwhelming fans, or the post-WrestleMania swoon, neither of which Rock is involved in. It's also unfair to lump everything onto Cena's turn. Does Cena's so-so switch to the darkside mean everything in WWE is bad? No. Is WWE devoid of anything interesting at the moment? No. But the lackluster Mania build, fallout from Cena's turn, disenchantment with The Rock and TKO's decisionmaking have all become a symbol for fans that believe that the new golden era of WWE's product may have come to an end. Whether that is the case or whether things can turn around remain to be seen.