Wrestling is like any business, it has its ups and its downs, its successes and its failures – and its highs – and its lows. In history’s past, the reasons for those lows have been due to tough competition, a slump in ratings – or a bulk of top talent jumping to competition for longer term contracts and higher salaries.

But what if there was no competition?

No ship jumping?

No ratings war?

No one else to steal your audience?

And what if your business has full copyright authority to use all of your competition’s logos, names, graphics and merchandise – and you were not using it. And worse, what if you were instead creating a flock of new personalities – and dropping them in storylines and pay-per-view matches as fast as your mom used to shove a spoonful of Vicks 44 in your mouth – and your reaction to the new talent was the same as it would be to the cough medicine?

Then what?

Its no secret that I am referring to the current state of the WWE. As of late, a show that has risen to the top of the cable ladder has recently become so dry – that the fans have evolved to the worst form of response to the action at hand – complete silence. The key to a good “character” or “gimmick” is that you are either cheered to the point where the roof gets ripped off – or booed to the point where you think that someone will throw something at you before you leave the ring. But as of late – the majority of the WWE fans have greeted most of the talent – heel or face – with silence. Silence is deafening in any sense – but never as deafening as when you step into a wrestling ring, climb to the top rope and raise your arm – and hear nothing.

Even as I write this, I am watching Tough Enough III – and stopped writing this column when they made their latest cut – but could not remember anything about the live SmackDown that I watched just two hours before.

What does that tell you about the current state of the wrestling industry?

It tells me that the WWE is in another downturn, which is again – normal in any business – my point is that they are using the wrong form of escape route to get out of this particular downturn. It is a known fact that the WWE is remarkable at “inventing” new “characters” that have risen to the ranks of the immortal. Men like The Rock, Stone Cold Steve Austin and Triple H have become icons in their own time, have defeated legends that rose before them – and have chiseled their place in wrestling history with their own bear hands. But now is not the time to “introduce” new talent. Now is the time to reintroduce the aces in the whole that they already have and draw their audience back using the very things they know and love.

Who would have thought, just two years ago, that the WWE would have the perfect poker hand in the form of wrestling talent, “gimmicks” – and immunity as they do now. At this very moment, the WWE has the copyright authority to use the nWo, WCW, ECW, The Four Horsemen, Degeneration X, Nitro, Eric Bischoff – and Hulkamania – and have thrown most of them by the waste side. Granted that each reason has not been entirely the fault of the company, but the fault lies in the fact that the WWE has chosen to “introduce” these new characters rather then utilize their guaranteed ratings winners.

And worse then that, they have chosen to once again push the envelope – but have pushed it in the completely wrong direction. Normally, storyline involves in-ring confrontation, backstage antics – and matches that culminate the feud. Now, the storylines involve soap-opera plots and ideas, clips pushed way beyond the point of enjoyment – and angles that travel to realms such as two half-naked girls making out – which normally would be exciting to some – but was placed in as uncomfortable a context as if the act was done in a school.

Remember – kids are still watching.

If I could give the WWE any advice – not that I deserve to – I would tell them to smoke what they have, use what they got – and remember what it is that the fans want to see. If wrestling fans want to see a half-naked hussy marry an old man – they would watch Passions. If wrestling fans wanted to see weddings that lead to the bride and groom stripping to their underwear – they would watch The Jerry Springer Show. And if wrestling fans wanted to watch something better then the WWE – they would watch their competition.

But there is no competition.

So now is the time to do things as drastic, unpredictable – and amazing as reintroducing the WCW under the control of Eric Bischoff. Can the RAW and SmackDown brands and have the WWE and the WCW brands go head to head like they used to. Return the Survivor Series to team elimination – and make it count for something – and most importantly – remember to ask for and use what your fans want to see. Remember – they are the reason that the WWE has become the giant it is today – and will always determine whether it is a success or a failure.

I know that as always, this slump will be over in due time – I guess this time I just await it the same way a Dr. K fan awaited his next strikeout…

…very impatiently.