Former WWE Tough Enough winner Maven Huffman has released a new video on his popular YouTube channel titled “WWE has a problem”. In the video, Maven, who described himself as a lifelong wrestling fan who lived his dream, explained in detail why he “goes out of my way to avoid watching the WWE”.
“The first reason I don’t watch is just how much the product has changed and resembles a completely different show than when I left in 2005,” Maven stated. “These days, it’s moved to more of a corporate product, and it seems like one big, gigantic ad while I’m watching”.
He pointed to a specific segment as an example of sponsorships going too far. “A few years ago, I’m watching Ray Mysterio Jr… and while Rey is in a blood feud with his son, who is escorted to the ring in chains and irons, we have to watch him dance with the Cinnamon Toast Crunch mascot”.
“I miss the days when the ring apron was just a blue piece of canvas and not the monstrosity of corporate advertising that it is these days,” he said. “These days, it almost feels as though the advertisers have a stranglehold… during the match, we should be focused on the match… I feel like I’m being bombarded with buy this, watch this, do this”.
The In-Ring Style
Maven’s second major criticism focused on the evolution of the in-ring style. He offered high praise for the current talent, saying, “These guys are better wrestlers than I ever could hope to be… When I lay my head down on the pillow at night and I dream about being in the WWE I still don’t do the moves these guys do on a nightly basis”.
“But therein lies the problem,” he continued. “When you’re so good at something, you want to showcase it… and when all the moves look like a pre rehearsed dance, and everything just flows so seamlessly… It’s just a little too much”.
He shared an anecdote to illustrate his point. “I was watching wrestling recently with… a non fan said that looks like a dance. That was their opinion. And this is a person that does not watch wrestling on a regular basis,” Maven recalled.
“Of course, it was, of course, we had spot set the entire match, but the whole match wasn’t a spot fest,” Maven said, comparing it to his era. “If I would have came back after a match… where it looked like I was waiting just to go to the next spot the entire time, A, my agent would have jumped my ass. B, Vince McMahon would have jumped my ass. C, I would have gotten backstage, and one of my buddies would have told me, ‘yo it just it looked too rehearsed'”.
The Absence of Vince McMahon
Maven then made what he acknowledged was a “controversial” statement about Vince McMahon. “I don’t think professional wrestling is a better product without Vince at the helm,” he said, before immediately clarifying. “Hold on. Let me explain. I’m well aware of the allegations, and no part of me is insinuating that WWE should bring Vince back. I don’t think so, and I don’t co sign on anything he did”.
His reasoning, he explained, was two-fold: McMahon was an “amazing businessman,” and “probably most important, Vince was a fan”. Maven contrasted this with TKO, who he feels is driven primarily by the “almighty dollar before the showmanship of professional wrestling”.
This focus, Maven argued, has led to a “too glam” and “too clean” product that “almost looks too much like Cirque du Soleil in a wrestling ring rather than a real fight a bad guy versus a good guy”. He defended Paul “Triple H” Levesque, stating, “I think Hunter is doing a great job,” but noted “Hunter has bosses” and likely “would change and go back to that just rugged professional wrestling” that “people of my age grew up loving” if he could.
The Ultimate Truth
After listing all of his criticisms, Maven admitted that even if WWE reverted to the “grimy aspect” he loved, he still would not watch. He then revealed what he called “the ultimate truth” of why he avoids the product.
“Since my release in 2005 I truly grew bitter towards the business,” Maven admitted. “And though I’ve exorcized those demons… it’s still something that whenever I watch… I can still trick my brain into thinking you can still do that, even though I know I can’t… And it just hurts too much”.
“It’s hard to see a business that I love, a business that I’ve given so much of myself to given my body over to actually move on and be not only fine without me, but better off without me,” he said. “All that said, I’m not done with wrestling. In fact, I recently was able to sneak inside of wwe’s biggest competitor, AEW”….that was a plug for the video he recorded backstage at AEW several weeks back. Check out Maven’s latest video below.
If you use any portion of the quotes from this article please credit Maven Huffman’s YouTube channel with a h/t to WrestlingNews.co for the transcription. You can watch the full video, “WWE has a problem,” and find other content on his channel now.
