WWE News: Road Dogg Jesse James Says Wins And Losses Don’t Matter In WWE

When the Rock and Stone Cold Steve Austin were dominated the 90’s and into the Attitude Era, did they trade losses with random WWE superstars each week? As soon as Chris Jericho came to the company, he was extremely popular and didn’t get pushed down to the mid-card. Did WWE book him to lose a match or two a month? Triple H was the face of the Ruthless Aggression Era. WWE officials didn’t book him to lose every other week.

The point of that first paragraph is that when WWE built proper legends, they didn’t lose often. When a loss occurred, it was a huge revelation in programming. People tuned in to see the Rock lose to Mick Foley on WWE Raw. Despite Foley’s yearning to be a top guy, the Rock losing was just as important as Mankind winning. It was storyline-driven, but the win/loss record meant something back then.

Even up to the mid-2000’s, winning and losing was very important to WWE programming. The Undertaker’s legacy rests with his undefeated streak at WrestleMania. WWE built the Phenom’s streak around WrestleMania. Brock Lesnar’s launch to stardom in 2013 was after his victory over the Undertaker. Winning and losing do matter.

The times are changing in the WWE. It’s even different than a year ago. WWE NXT is changing the industry. Daniel Bryan is now retired. CM Punk left the company and Triple H is the WWE champion. Did anybody predict that to happen a few years ago? WWE Smackdown‘s lead writer, Road Dogg Jesse James, said on Twitter recently that wins and losses don’t matter, and even backed it up repeatedly.

@philgreensauce wins and losses don’t count, it’s about character and he’s a winner!

— Brian G. James (@WWERoadDogg) February 4, 2016

@JStevenson15 don’t be worried James, last year was the most profitable year on record so I feel like it’s all gonna be ok.

— Brian G. James (@WWERoadDogg) February 6, 2016

@MrWillieJones @adecorativedrop @philgreensauce because you like being entertained I guess, that’s why I watch tv shows. Agree to disagree

— Brian G. James (@WWERoadDogg) February 6, 2016

@SeanRossSapp @philgreensauce we’re talking about apples and oranges though, 2 completely different things. 1’s real and 1’s character based

— Brian G. James (@WWERoadDogg) February 6, 2016

@philgreensauce of course I mean that, it’s not real competition so how can they count? You and I just see it differently I guess. All good

— Brian G. James (@WWERoadDogg) February 4, 2016

It’s evident that the Road Dogg doesn’t quite understand how stars aren’t built then. For example, WWE fans called for Bray Wyatt to win the Royal Rumble, and thus the WWE World Heavyweight championship. However, what made sense did it make for someone to win the title that barely wins anyway? WWE programming often books champions to lose on WWE Raw every-other week. It doesn’t make sense.

Jim Ross has said time and time again that 50/50 booking in WWE isn’t the right way to go, not even in the slightest. Here’s his latest critique of that way of writing television.

“Titus O’Neill seems to be evolving but then he gets beat up after getting his win vs Stardust which is a great example of non vertical, 50-50 booking that helps who?”

That was on January 12th. More examples have come about since Ross posted that. He’s absolutely right. One of the earlier tweets above talked about Kevin Owens losing again on WWE Raw. It derails progress and makes WWE fans not believe in him. To stay on Owens, he defeated John Cena in a non-title match at Elimination Chamber.

It was his first win on the main roster. He lost the next two matches and the momentum completely died. This is what can happen in the WWE. Storylines can help pave the way to stardom. Take Daniel Bryan as a prime example. That WWE championship run would’ve never started if the WWE booked him to lose all the time leading up to WrestleMania.

[Image via 411mania.com]