WWE Locker Room Morale Reportedly At An All-Time Low
Following this year’s Royal Rumble, which left many in WWE frustrated, it has been reported that morale in the locker room has fallen to an all-time low.
The 2022 Royal Rumble was full of twists and turns that kept the fans in St. Louis on the edge of their seats all night. One shock was Ronda Rousey making her return to WWE after almost three years away and winning the women’s Royal Rumble match, stamping her ticket to another WrestleMania main event.
Meanwhile, in the WWE Championship match, Brock Lesnar was on the verge of retaining the WWE Championship when Paul Heyman revealed his loyalty still lies with ‘The Tribal Chief’ as Roman Reigns and Heyman interfered to hand the victory and the gold to Bobby Lashley.
However, Lesnar had the last laugh on the night when he delivered the biggest surprise of the night, entering the men’s Rumble match at number 30 and making short work of the remaining competitors to win the match for the second time in his career.
Following PWInsider’s report soon after the event claiming that there was frustration backstage at how the show was put together, Fightful Select has confirmed that locker room morale in WWE is the lowest it has been in decades, adding that it could be the lowest it’s ever been.
According to the report, Fightful has spoken to many members of the WWE roster at all levels and have heard of increasing frustrations with the direction of the company across the board.
The men’s Royal Rumble match was highlighted as causing issues as talent weren’t happy with the production of the match, saying that it failed to make special moments and also didn’t capitalize on the angles leading into the match itself. Seemingly,a repeated point of contention was that the majority of the talent in the match weren’t properly highlighted.
The report went on to mention a longtime talent saying that they get the vibe that nothing matters in WWE outside of “maybe” four people. Over a half dozen roster members also pointed to issues with continuity in storytelling and nobody being designed to do anything of note.
Several talents that spoke with Fightful said that they don’t fell like they have a voice in the company and have to make pleas on social media to bring attention to their characters. One roster member claimed they’ve “never felt less heard” in the entire time they’ve been with the company and that attempts to speak with Vince McMahon are either ignored, addressed hastily, or even turned on their ear as plans are made out of spite to directly contradict the talent’s recommendations.
Fightful also say that there have been many instances of contradictory decisions made over the past few months that change the course of plans for talent, changing the story direction to something the talent had already pitched and had denied previously.
In a time of declining ratings, it seems that fans aren’t happy with the direction of programming, but one member of the roster says that the WWE locker room is in the same boat:
“If you see a complaint with merit and in good faith about something that lacks sense, logic or continuity, I almost guarantee we have complained too, it just never changes anything.”
The report also notes that several WWE wrestlers believe the company will eventually be sold, as it’s the only way to rationalize some of the decision making going on at present.
It should be noted that these views aren’t representative of the entire locker room and represent the individual experiences that were expressed.