The appointment of Paul "Triple H" Levesque as the Chief Content Officer (CCO) has yielded mixed reactions. While there have been good moments; there have also been bad moments. For the most part, however, it's been the latter.
As a result, the masses have dubbed this era as the, "Ruthless Depression" era. This is a clear knock-off of a previous era known as the, "Ruthless Agression" era. Mistakes have been made that have angered fans. Now, the staff are critical of the CCO because of the rapid changes in plans to Wrestlemania.
WWE is creatively stagnant. This due to a lack of interesting characters; a non-existant mid-card; prescriptive weekly television; increasing ticket prices and more frequent Saudi-shows that has inspired many fans to dub this the "Ruthless Depression" era. While meant partially as a joke, the popularity of the phrase/meme is indicative of where WWE is at today.
Every Monday begins with the same twenty minute promo. Every episode features poorly filmed and poorly acted backstage segments. The mid-card is a cast of feckless buffoons who battle one another in a sprint toward the bottom. Yes, CM Punk is the World Champion; yes, John Cena had his farewell tour; yes, Dominic Mysterio is hilarious and yes, women feature better representation than they did twenty years ago.
None of it seems to matter. Why? Because the creative apparatus is fundamentally broken. Professional wrestling wants to be an improvised art and yet WWE insists on scripting its characters out of a personality.
Criticising all of this, even playfully, will get fans nowhere fast, though. We need our agency back. If we want to affect change we have to offer WWE well-considered, respectful alternatives. If this is a depression (and it certainly feels like one) how are we going to get ourselves out of it? Let's treat WWE (and its fans) like a patient in need of help and offer up actionable solutions so that it might thrive.
Between Peacock, Netflix and ESPN Unlimited, the working class wrestling fan has been priced out of their fandom. This will continue to have a negative impact on the audience and, by extension, the perception of WWE. We get it. WWE and TKO are all about making money. The problem is they're assuming their value is greater than it is.
As is often the case with the annual "Royal Rumble" show, the 2026 edition had some surprises, such as the debut of former AEW star, Powerhouse Hobbs, who is now known as Royce Keys. Still, many criticiSed WWE for leaving off the likes of Finn Balor in favour of Mexican wresting promotion, AAA stars, Mr. Iguana and La Parka.
Its aftermath continues to leave a mark on the worldwide pro wrestling conversation. This premium live event provided brutal action, emotional high spots and major creative ramifications that will set WWE off in a new direction as it embarks on WrestleMania season. The show yielded everything from title heartbreaks to career-defining moments, making it one of the most newsworthy Rumbles in recent memory.
Outside of what happens in the ring, reactions from fans have been as loud as the crowd inside the arena. Criticism of the injury situation, creativity and the long-term viability of several top performers has sparked substantial discussion; including: Sami Zayn's injury; outside WWE management facing public backlash; Gunther’s powerful strikes and AJ Styles' in-ring farewell. This finished on an emotional note.
Since the Royal Rumble, we have seen what can only be ave seen what can only be described as backlash from sections of the fanbase against Triple H. WWE turned some heads, especially with creative decisions regarding the outcome of matches and how they were utilising some big-name stars. With WrestleMania just around the corner, social media has questioned whether long-term storytelling is getting its due or if some talents have been effectively put in a position to succeed.
The crowd in Riyadh sent a myriad of chants towards the panelists. Closing out the guest portion of the 2026 WWE Royal Rumble post-show was Triple H. As he was speaking about the Premium Live Event, the crowd in attendance in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, began to chant, 'We want Vince', referring to former WWE Chairman, Vince McMahon.
Fans in Saudi Arabia were not universally positive towards WWE Chief Content Officer Paul "Triple H" Levesque following the 2026 Royal Rumble. The 56-year-old executive had chants of, "We want Vince" and "You f**ked up" aimed at him during the Royal Rumble post-show.
Triple H didn't acknowledge the chants during the broadcast. Sean Ross Sapp noted on a Fightful Select Answers Q&A that there has been no internal reaction to the “We want Vince” chants within WWE.
Negative remarks towards Triple H have become common at Premium Live Event post-shows since the new format was made permanent at SummerSlam 2025. Fans were notably furious following John Cena’s retirement match on the 13 December 2025 episode of Saturday Night’s Main Event. That event saw Triple H receive significant boos, followed by fans chanting "You f**ked up" and "AEW" during the post-show segment.
Regarding the recurring hostility, Sapp noted the reaction within the company regarding the last few times Triple H has received negative chants. “Well, Triple H didn’t want to be in a room full of media, and this was what he got instead,” Sapp reported.
Wrestling Observer head, Dave Meltzer, has claimed that Triple H is getting some heat behind the scenes at WWE due to changing creative plans heading into WrestleMania 42. Further, WWE/TKO are slightly concerned about a lower than expected advance on ticket sales for both nights in Las Vegas as things stand.
Meltzer likened this to the kind of pressure Vince McMahon was under internally for decades, so it's certainly nothing new but it's something to keep a close eye on. Recently, there had been rumours of unrest between 'The Game' and top star, Roman Reigns, as WWE hopes to get the party hats out and celebrate another money-spinning 'Mania in Vegas.
Of course, a lot of that should be taken with the usual pinch of salt - not many actually know what's said behind closed doors in the company or if there's any substantial frost between Hunter and Roman. Plus, at time of writing, Reigns is locked in to work opposite CM Punk for the World Heavyweight Title during the bumper April weekender.
He won January's Royal Rumble over in Saudi Arabia, which exorcised demons hanging over from his last Rumble triumph back in 2015.
Perhaps the most interesting thing about this write up from Meltzer is word that 'Mania 42's advance ticket sales aren't as high as WWE management hoped they would be. Nobody who has tried to buy tickets to the promotion's shows since TKO took over needs reminded that the prices remain absurdly high.
Dave Meltzer is reporting that advanced ticket sales for the 'Showcase of the Immortals' is down about 18% compared to WrestleMania 41, which was held in the same exact city and venue.
Unless you're among the portion of fans who keep up with constant updates over matches that were reportedly planned but never officially announced, you very likely are out of the loop that Roman Reigns and Cody Rhodes were initially supposed to face one another for the third time in four years. Or that Bron Breakker was a heavy favourite to win the Royal Rumble until Roman's plans were changed and Cody Rhodes pushed to drop the WWE Championship to Drew McIntyre.
While it may be unusual not to have more firm plans in place behind the scenes, it's fairly common for only a few matches to be publicly confirmed for WrestleMania at this point in the build. So what else could be contributing to the decline in ticket sales? Dave Meltzer highlighted a few potential factors in his report.
"Number one, ticket prices are really high. Higher than last year. Number two, a lot of foreigners won’t come to the United States right now… tourism in Vegas is down," Meltzer said on Wrestling Observer Radio. "That’s one of the reasons why WrestleMania is there again, because tourism is down. And it’s down throughout the United States but Vegas has been hit hard."
WrestleMania 42 is still expected to be a sellout, or at the very least a near-sellout, for both nights. It's set to take place on 18 and 19 April.
My dear readers, please excuse my vulgar langauge but Triple H needs to learn when to keep his mouth shut. He sounds like a broken record. He keeps on using the word, "epic" and using the words, "entering into a new era."
I don't know about you but when I hear those words, I tend to get excited because a sudden aspect will be happening. However, time and again, nothing out of the ordinary has happened. If this trend continues, fans might get infuriated to the point where they stop watching.
On that note, I believe he should listen to the fans. Fans are prretty much the backbone of sports entertainment. Without the fans, they will struggle financially. They may be stripped to the bare bones on the financial side.
It's because of this that every word that comes out of his mouth should be taken with a pinch of salt. A roll of the eyes and a possible shrug of the shoulders can accompany that.
To add to this, he mentioned that there would be plenty of big surprises at the recent Royal Rumble event. Yet, to me, none such happened. It was just the usual Rumble surprises. This included return from injuries and out of promotion appearances. There was nothing spectacular about them. Apart from the Vince chants, I would agree with the fans on the others that they chanted.
He should keep the expectations to a minimum. It's never a good idea to raise someone's expectations so high for a next-to-nothing resultant actions. I know this from (personal) experience.