Planet Kayfabe: Maybe It Is That Bad
Planet Kayfabe: Maybe It Is That Bad
By: “KCA” Paul Matthews
July 2026
Summer is here. We just had our first heat wave. The beaches are packed. The World Cup is heating up as well. America just celebrated its 250th birthday. What a summer.
Oh. And WWE exists.
Yeah. I’ve been on NoDQ doing these columns since May of 2016 so we are now celebrating a whole decade, which is a cause for some reflection. In 2016, we just came out of what I felt was the worst year I ever experienced as a WWE fan in 2015, and it’s not like it got better. 2017 was bad. 2018 was bad. I always maintained that 2009 and 2015 were close for the worst year of WWE Raw since the show started in 1993 but then 2019 happened and ran away with it in a landslide.
This past year I heard and saw on social media many fans, mostly younger fans, saying the build-up to this year’s WrestleMania was the worst ever. I laughed. Worst ever? I watched Brock Lesnar and Roman Reigns play Tug-o-War with the world title as a go-home segment. Don’t tell me this is the worst ever. I know fans of anything on the internet are prone to hyperbole, especially wrestling fans and content created by wrestling fans but worst ever? That’s debatable. It wasn’t good, though. I’ll give you all that. I got more flowers for you Gen Z fans as well; 2026 fucking sucks in WWE. No, I wont go so far as to say it’s the worst year ever, but it does force me to compare it to what I said was the worst year ever, and you may have a point.
I am not the type of fan who is going to go on X or write in this piece that the company needs Vince McMahon back. However, for every podcaster I’ve heard use the word “soulless” to describe WWE right now, I have to agree with them. To me, that may be the worst thing of all that you can say about any TV show, movie, any form of entertainment is that is lacks any sort of true human soul or feeling. 2019 was awful, but I guess I still watched because it was so bad that I knew once in a while Vince McMahon would put something on the show that’s so random and baffling that at least I could laugh or remember it. In 2026, I was Raw, and I can barely tell you the next day what happened or what I just watched outside a plethora of ads and your token promo spot where someone says “bitch” for a pop.
Raw in 2019 was a terrible show. Raw in 2026 is a nothing show. I don’t post on NoDQ as often as I did back then partly because life is just busier now. However, the main reason is that there is nothing to fucking talk about. Oh, Sheamus is leaving WWE. Ok. Whatever. He’s fucking 48, injuries are piling up, he hasn’t been pushed as a serious top guy in what feels like 15 years so what are they supposed to do? I’m not going to pretend to be outraged like everyone else on Twitter because I know for a fucking fact that if right now they decided to reset Sheamus and give him a big push to go after Sami Zayn for the WWE Title, it would get zero reaction from the fans, but yall can bitch about how there are no more “lifers” in WWE. Yeah, go ask Gerald Briscoe, Jim Johnston, Mark Yeaton, Gene Okerlund, Bobby Heenan, Hulk Hogan, Mick Foley, Ric Flair, Edge, Christian, The Hardys, and Bret Hart what it meant to be a “lifer” to Vince McMahon. This is nothing new.
There. There’s my thoughts on that. What else? The 50/50 shit they’re doing with Oba Femi? Yeah its the hottest angle in WWE right now, and it makes zero sense. Oba’s gonna get his win back. Cool. He never should have lost. Why is the match even happening at Summer Slam? Why is Brock so mad if he already beat him? Whatever. Oba’s gonna win. Cool.
The Bloodline is back. Ya know I was just saying there wasn’t enough time allocated to Dwayne’s relatives on the show, so boy, it’s a great thing we are rehashing this storyline. Way to prove all the doubters wrong who say that Paul Levesque is already out of ideas, and this idea wasn’t even his. The Bloodline started with Vince!
Okay, back to Raw in 2026. There was a lot of talk earlier in the year about AI writing storylines, and that’s what this year feels like. Things happen. People say words. People have matches. Spots are hit. Ads are read. The show ends. Every week it seems like we are good for one 20+ minute PLE style match and even those have become a snack and piss break for me because I’ve fucking seen it all. I sound like fucking Ole Anderson now, but dude, tell some fucking stories. I’m so sick of these spotfests, video game/dorky ass anime season finale matches. Maybe this shit has just passed me by because I’ve been watching for so long, but I don’t think you need to be a fan that long to call every spot in your pattern WWE match designed to pop a “this is awesome” chant. Your dive spots. Your crash and burn spots. Your 4 or 5 false finishes that get no reaction anymore because every fan assumes it’s going to take more than one finish to actually beat some midcarder on a TV match.
Something else that really sucks about WWE is these entrances now. The best entrances in WWE history were Steve Austin or Hulk Hogan, where they just walked to the ring and posed and that was it. Now its all about aura farming. Most talent have a Triple H at Wrestlemania aura farming entrance. It takes up so much of the show. Last week on Raw, Roman Reigns came out and it was like 15 minutes into the show before he even said a word. Maybe the live crowd loves that slow burn shit, but on TV its fucking hell. Everything feels like a time stretch. Ads eat up the show now more than it did on cable. Entrances are way too long, especially just to cut a fucking promo. Matches are artificially extended with false finishes and random dive spots so we can watch people sell for 5 minutes. Oh, and don’t forget to show the Slim Jim table and the Tampax Ring Pad and the Preparation H fire extinguisher.
Ads on the ring canvas didn’t bother me, but I should have known better. This shit never ends. It was never going to be just the ring. Of course it has to be every turnbuckle pad, every weapon just in the ring, the announcers’ table, the ring bell, the apron. I can’t imagine being a wrestler and doing some devastating weapon spot that we are supposed to take seriously and then there’s an ad for some personal injury attorney or whatever plastered on the table like a billboard or someone pulls out a sledgehammer and its painted green for Mint Mobile.
To sum up the difference between Raw in 2026 and Raw in 2019 is in 2019, no matter how bad it got, I felt like something could happen at any moment to turn things around or they’d do a hard reset eventually or there would be a segment on the show so absurd that it made it worth watching. In 2026, it is boring, soulless, and there is ZERO urgency. There is no drive on this show to put on a great product, but at the same time its not bad. Its like every episode is a 5.5/10 but very boring and forgetabble whereas in 2019 every episode was a 3/10 but I at least remembered what happened. These days I don’t even know who the title holders are. I’m dead serious. I know Sami Zayn and Roman Reigns are your world champions. I don’t know the difference between the women’s champion and the women’s world champion and can’t tell you who is holding what. I think Iyo Sky has one? Becky had a belt for a bit, but now someone else does. I know that much. The tag titles… uhh… I guess the Usos will have them soon but I have no clue who currently holds them. IC title, no clue. US title? Not even sure it still exists.
It feels like Raw exists today the way some YouTuber who had a hot channel in the late 2000s but has since fallen out of relevancy still exists. Yeah, that 45 year old dude will still play Super Mario Bros. 3 and talk about the Sega Genesis and Back To The Future and there are still some old loyalists who will hang on forever and watch out of habit, but the content is just posted and exists out there and makes zero difference at all. No cultural relevance. Roman Reigns goes on The Tonight Show, another dying franchise, and no one really knows who he is. They say “WWE Superstar” and probably assume he’s The Rock’s son. Pat McAfee was shoehorned into the WrestleMania angle (another soulless TKO driven move) and all it did was piss off both WWE fans and sports fans who watch ESPN for sports and every comment section on McAfee’s show was “how much longer do we have to put up with this wrestling stuff” and “ESPN is for real sports, get this shit off”. Yeah, that partnership is going over well. Sports fans who have no interest in WWE turn off ESPN, and WWE fans now have to pay $30 a month to watch 5 matches on a PLE, and one or two of which are sometimes given away for free on ESPN’s cable channel. What a deal!
So is 2026 the worst year in WWE history? I can’t say that but right now is absolutely the most bored I’ve been as a fan since about 2002 when the Attitude Era was over and The Rock left for Hollywood, Austin’s career was winding down, Triple H was injured, and some of the Attitude Era midcarders have played out there gimmicks with no real direction forward left to go. It was a time for them to build a new, so they introduced “Ruthless Aggression,” but unlike today’s bi-annual new era announcements, they weren’t just empty names. It was a new Raw logo. A new Raw set. New names like John Cena, Randy Orton, Batista and Brock Lesnar debuting and pushed as legit guys right away and not running ropes and taking bumps in a performance center in Florida for 8 years until WWE finally decides to use them. It was a real new direction in a time where they had to find a new identity and even though the roster was green and not everyone got over, it was worth it, and frankly it was necessary.
What’s this “new era”? Cody Rhodes, who yes, I still like, is completely stale as a babyface, yet he’s still on top at the age of 40. They could have done something big with Jacob Fatu, but nope. Michael Cole said he’s been “neutered and domesticated,” and they brought back the Bloodline, which started 6 years ago. Sami Zayn as world champion is new but I can’t help but feel they only did it to pop Saudi Arabia and its not going to last long. In fact, it could end tonight with Cody Rhodes winning it back. There’s nothing left for Roman Reigns to do other than put someone over again. Brock Lesnar is the same old Brock Lesnar that he’s been for like 5 years now. They can’t just hang their hat on Oba Femi winning KOTR (and giving up his world title shot at Summer Slam) and say “see? we’re doing something”. Its not enough. I don’t think I’m being greedy either. It’s simply not enough. They need to do more. A lot more. Shit, they had Gunther go over John Cena last December in his last match. Not just that, but he SUBMITTED John Cena and what have they done with him since? Fucking dick. That’s what. If you were from the future and you told me after that match that WWE would have no real clear direction for Gunther going into Wrestlemania and that by SummerSlam he’d be feuding with the GM of Raw I’d tell you…. yeah… that sounds like WWE’s retarded ass creative that I’ve grown to expect over the years. Great job, guys. Can’t wait to see all the old suits jerk each other off on “Unreal” next season and pass themselves off as a bunch of geniuses. What a waste of time this show is.
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Much like WWE’s roster, I’m getting older too and as I said before, maybe this shit just isn’t for me anymore and as I approach my 40s I don’t want to see myself at 50 complaining about the same shit I’ve been saying since I started Planet Kayfabe in 2016. “Why aren’t they using this guy the fans seem to like”, “this guy is hot right now why did they just beat him”, “the fans have been booing this guy for a year why don’t they just turn him”, “why does it have to cost $500 for a family of four to go to see a fucking Raw taping”. Life’s too short, people. There’s a lot we can be doing for 3 hours on a Monday night that’s better off than waiting for this shit to change. Think about it. Since 2009, other than one bright period between 2021-24, its been the same problem and the same complaints only now its more expensive to watch the shows both live and at home.
I’m always open to a discussion below in the comments, but don’t come at me with “oh, there’s so much wrestling out there. Just look for it.” I don’t give a shit. I know I can go on YouTube and find good wrestling. I can go to my local VFW and watch a good match if I want to. That’s not the point. The shows suck. The characters are lame. The stories don’t make sense. I’m not about to go sift through random promotions around the world just to get a pro wrestling fix and come in cold knowing no one or what they’re doing. Again, life’s too short for that shit. WWE is the biggest wrestling company in the world. It should be better. Every Monday night should be a fucking party, but it’s a drag, and why wait for an abuser to change their ways when you can just leave? Y’all always say “just don’t watch”. Sounds like a great idea.
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Thank you again for reading, everyone. Cody Rhodes vs Sami Zayn is going doing and I’m sure it will be a great 30 minute PLE quality match on free TV. Whoop dee do. Call me next time someone in their 20s is a world champion because ya know the last time that happened? It was fucking Seth Rollins when he first won it 13 years ago and he’s another one I’m sick of watching in 2026 with his boring ass melodramatic 20-minute soliloquy promos.
Enjoy your summer, everyone. For NoDQ I’m Paul Matthews. Take care.