Lasting Ramifications

The need to negotiate fan approval in fear of storylines being rejected and/or shows getting “hijacked” remained a legacy more lasting than Daniel Bryan’s main event status. Due to their success in getting WWE to push Bryan, fans used similar participatory behaviors in the future. However, WWE more often stayed the course with its narrative direction despite fan disapproval. For example, WWE attempted to build up a young wrestler named Roman Reigns as the top face character in the company. However, once again, the fans largely rejected the “chosen” face challenger, this time on the grounds that Reigns was not a good enough “worker” and was too much an example of WWE pushing good-looking muscular types over mat

technicians.50 WWE temporarily halted Reigns’ rise to the WWE Heavyweight Title, but

49 _{WWE stripped Bryan of the championship because he could not defend it. Wrestling insiders later reported that} Bryan was originally scheduled to drop the title to Brock Lesnar at that year’s SummerSlam event in August. Upon his return in early 2015, Bryan found himself back on the midcard.

50 _{In a baffling moment of ill judgment, WWE had Daniel Bryan return from injury right before the Royal Rumble} event in 2015, which they planned to have Roman Reigns win. The fans again cheered Bryan heavily and were dumbfounded when Bryan was eliminated early in the Rumble match with very little hype. From that point (about half-way through the match), the crowd booed nearly everything in the match, especially any time Roman Reigns was on offense. Due to the duration of the negative reaction, that year’s Royal Rumble match seemed even more

eventually went back to its original plans despite fan disapproval.51 Currently, WWE is still positioning Reigns as the top star and face of the company despite continued negative reactions from fans. Reigns won the WWE Heavyweight Title for a third time by defeating Triple H in the main event of WrestleMania XXXII. While fans attempted to hijack the show by booing Reigns vociferously, WWE proceeded with its intended narrative. WWE now finds itself trying to navigate when to bend to fan pressure and when to stay the course. Thus, while the “Yes! Movement” shows the ability of fans to collectively influence the narrative direction of media content producers, the lack of change regarding Reigns’ push illustrates that producers will not always bend to such pressure. The case study further illustrates the implications of fan pressure in all forms of media entertainment.

The idea that fans can “hijack” shows to force their choices onto the creative direction of WWE has implications for the narrative process beyond who is the champion at a given time. WWE is not alone in having to navigate the pressures of fan expectation when creating its narratives. Fan pressure has influenced producers of narrative content in popular culture to alter their creative plans. For example, George Lucas claimed that he significantly changed his creative direction in the Star Wars prequels due to fan reaction after the first of the trilogy.52 WWE differs in that the fan pressure can come in the moment of telling the narrative, unlike when fans express frustration at a movie like Star Wars. The fan pressure in professional

hated than the previous year’s match. Even putting The Rock, one of the most popular stars of all time and Reign’s

real-life cousin, out to endorse Reign’s victory could not stem the tide of boos.

51 _{Roman Reigns faced WWE Champion Brock Lesnar in the main event at WrestleMania XXXI. Fans in attendance} vocally booed Reigns, the supposed face. During the match, heel wrestler Seth Rollins “cashed in” his title match contract to make the match a triple threat featuring all three wrestlers. Rollins quickly pinned a prone Reigns to win WWE Championship. Fans cheered Rollins’ win because it appeared WWE were again changing plans, no longer positioning Reigns as the new face of the company.

52 _{Shyam Dodge, “’They Didn’t Use any of my Ideas’: George Lucas Says New Star Wars Film is not how He} Envisioned It,” Daily Mail, January 21, 2015, http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-2920541/George- Lucas-says-new-Star-Wars-film-not-envisioned-it.html.

wrestling is present in the narrative itself due to the live performances and the on-the-spot creative process. Like other popular culture industries, WWE now struggles with how much and how often to acquiesce to fan desire in its narrative creation choices.53 As WWE has entrenched itself in a battle with consumers over narrative content direction, business is lagging, with ratings for RAW! and Smackdown at all-time lows.54 The fate of WWE’s battle with fans may have implications for other media producers regarding the danger of either giving to much or too little heed to fan desires in crafting narrative content.

This case study illustrates the potential of the narrative portrayal of authorship and audience to influence the perception of fans for or against the actual authors of content. The pushback from smart fans to the narrative story decisions have prompted WWE to self-

reflexively include a response to fan desires in the storylines even if the business is lagging. The Authority regularly attempts to get heat by claiming to know better than fans how the creative decisions should be handled. Some wrestling journalists have argued that the stale direction of the heel authority figure trying to stop the fans from getting what they want has exacerbated the steady decline in viewership for WWE programming in the last several years.55 The fans may not be able to always get their desires, but consistently not listening to fans runs the risk of actually turning fans’ interest away from the product. Without seeing the heel authority proven wrong, the heat gained from belittling fan opinion turns to fan resentment. If business continues to falter, WWE may have to again reexamine the narrative choices made with regard to the role of the audience in the production process. Thus, the decision to include a narrator representing the

53 _{Logically, WWE cannot always put over the fan favorite wrestlers. If Daniel Bryan always won because he was} the favorite of the audience, the dramatic product would suffer. Part of the enjoyment of wrestling comes in hoping the face character can overcome the odds and win the prize after a long and difficult journey. Therefore, the protagonists must suffer setbacks in wrestling.

54 _{Dave Meltzer, Wrestling Observer Newsletter, May 23, 2016.}

implied authors within the diegetic world proved dangerous for WWE, illustrating the importance of paying special attention to narrative concepts of author within media content.

The aftermath of the Daniel Bryan storyline also provides implications for the portrayal of narrator characters as a representation of authorial intent. WWE had success rallying fans behind Steve Austin (in the Entertainment Era), CM Punk (in the Reality Era), and Daniel Bryan (also in the Reality Era) against an antagonist character representing the corporate boss of WWE. In all three cases, WWE used the story to drive up merchandise sales and sell tickets. However, with the narrative now reflecting the process of production more clearly, later attempts to work the same sort of angle failed because fans understood that the narrator characters did not match up with the behind-the-scenes production. WWE attempted to push Batista as a protagonist fighting against The Authority, but fans rejected Batista in the role. The fans recognized that Batista had the backing of the implied authors of WWE, and thus did not legitimately represent an opponent for The Authority. Similarly, current attempts to push Roman Reigns as anti- Authority are not working because fans perceive him as the “chosen one” handpicked by the implied authors of WWE Creative. In both cases, the fans have not rallied behind the supposed protagonists because they have smart knowledge of the behind-the-scenes production that betrayed the diegetic story. Because WWE foregrounded the production process in the diegetic narrative, the narrative audience made that production process a part of their interpretation of the narrative. To use a term from Walter Fisher, the narrative audience rejected Batista and Reigns as opponents of The Authority (who represented the implied authors of WWE) because the narrative provided to them lacked narrative fidelity in that it did not “ring true” to their understanding of the production process.56 _{This did not happen in the Entertainment Era with}

56 _{Walter Fisher, Human Communication as Narration: Toward a Philosophy of Reason, Value, and Action} (Columbia, SC: University of South Carolina Press, 1987), 47.

regard to Steve Austin. Thus, it is by foregrounding production in the Reality Era that WWE shifted the expectations of representing the legitimate behind-the-scenes creative processes. These examples suggest that narratives which foreground production work primarily when the narrative portrayal of production more closely mirrors the actual production process. The narrative audience in this new era will largely reject narratives based on production that do not ring true.

Further, WWE now finds itself stuck in a narrative wherein the implied author is portrayed as an antagonist to the fans. In the time after the Daniel Bryan “Yes! Movement,” WWE continued pushing Triple H and Stephanie McMahon as The Authority in the role of the top heels in the company. Due to the self-reflexive nature of the stories, The Authority has continued to get heat by denying the fans what they want to see with the excuse that they are doing “what’s best for business.” This role casts WWE (as a company) as the enemy of the fans. This positioning makes sense historically within the parameters of the wrestling industry because wealthy and politically powerful characters have almost always been cast as heels against

“common man” type face characters. The large corporate structure of WWE who operate as a near-monopoly in the wrestling business logically fits the wealthy and powerful heel

stereotype.57 _{Oddly though, outside of the on-air storylines, Triple H and Stephanie McMahon}

publically act as positive spokespeople for WWE, participating in charity events, interacting with fans, etc.

57 _{Henry Jenkins, “Never Trust a Snake: WWF Wrestling as Masculine Melodrama,” in Out of Bounds: Sports,}

Media and the Politics of Identity, ed. Aaron Baker and Todd Edward Boyd (Bloomington, IN: Indiana University Press, 1997), 51-53; Thomas Hackett, Slaphappy: Pride, Prejudice, and Professional Wrestling (New York: HarperCollins, 2006): 7-30.

Alternative narrative construction of audience in modern wrestling show that the Reality Era style of narrative address may be a hindrance to WWE’s goal of controlling the production of its narrative content. The story of heel implied authors played out on WWE television programs runs in direct contrast to the narrative told on its developmental program. Recently, WWE revived NXT but switched its format from a competition reality show for rookies to a developmental brand meant to give exposure to wrestlers not yet featured on the main roster. Triple H runs the NXT brand largely independent of Vince McMahon’s input. Thus, the actual

and implied authors of NXT differ greatly from the main WWE narrative. Triple H even arguably plays a face character onscreen for the NXT program because there he plays the boss of the developmental roster who is known for actually pushing fan favorites and rewarding match quality. Over the last two years, NXT went from a small developmental league to a major fixture of WWE corporate landscape. The NXT roster began touring nationally and internationally in 2015 and has sold out major arenas, evidencing the potential for such a narrative to be financially successful. Despite the success of the developmental brand, those inside WWE Creative,

including Triple H himself, have claimed the NXT model would not work on the larger stage of WWE main roster because casual audience does not appreciate the same narrative style as hardcore fans.58 _{However, as we have seen in the Bryan storyline, the potential to have casual}

fans identify with an empty signifier and align with the hardcore fans may allow for this type of narrative to succeed.

The NXT narrative provides a viable alternative to the mainstream narrative of WWE, and possibly evidences a slight shift away from Reality Era style narratives by WWE. After years of battling fans over the production of the narrative content of wrestling, WWE now shows signs of

58 _{Steve Austin and Paul Levesque, The Steve Austin Show – Unleashed 192, podcast audio, WWE COO Triple H,} MP3, 1:36:11, February 5, 2015, http://podcastone.com/pg/jsp/program/episode.jsp?programID=436&pid=482164.

pulling back somewhat on foregrounding production processes within the narrative. The NXT

narrative differs from the main WWE narrative in that it does not address the narrative audience as smarts. The matches and storylines played out on NXT exhibit the same style found in the Entertainment Era. That is, they are crafted for an authorial audience of smart fans but address the narrative audience as marks. The major difference between NXT and WWE Entertainment Era narratives is that the former caters to fan response. Despite not foregrounding production, the narrative audience at NXT shows is known for actively participating vocally during matches. Now that fans have embraced their role as judges who are capable of influencing the creative process, they maintain that role even without Reality Era style narratives. The NXT model may work its way into the mainstream WWE narrative, as many believe Triple H will eventually take creative control of WWE once Vince McMahon steps down.

NXT is not the only example of wrestling narratives not addressing the narrative audience as smarts. Other wrestling promotions have seen success by maintaining a narrative address to a narrative audience of marks. New Japan Pro Wrestling has expanded its market globally in recent years with English language broadcasts. The NJPW narrative style foregrounds the

competitive nature of wrestling as a sport. Importantly, in Japan, the emergence of mixed martial arts was intricately tied to professional wrestling.59 _{The blending of “shoot” fighting and}

“worked” matches blended legitimate athletic competition with scripted narrative.60 _Notably,

NJPW addresses the narrative audience as marks. The success of NJPW calls into question

59 _{In response to fan pressure in the 1990s, popular Japanese wrestlers Minoru Suzuki and Masakatsu Funaki formed} the Pancrase promotion. The promotion featured a hybrid of MMA and professional wrestling mostly featuring legitimately contested bouts. Unlike WWE, who embraced the scripted nature of wrestling, Japanese wrestling attempted to appease fans by abandoning the scripting of wins and losses.

60 _{As NJPW embraced MMA style fighting into its in-ring product, they became known for featuring a “strong} style” of wrestling. While not a legitimate “shoot” style. This style features strong strikes that actually connect with an opponent and sophisticated jiu-jitsu influenced “chain” wrestling.

WWE’s narrative strategies in reasserting their creative authority over the production of the narrative. Whereas WWE attempted to capitalize on fan desire for insider information by foregrounding production in the narrative, NJPW catered to a desire for more authentic

appearance in their narrative product’s depiction of violence. As with indy-wrestling, WWE is already showing signs of attempting to co-opt fan support for NJPW.61 Only the future will tell if WWE will be able to successfully commodify fan desire for an alternative wrestling narrative style, and if the company will again see the new participatory behaviors of the audience as an exigence for altering its narrative address.