Everything on ESPN is the WWE now, and that sucks.
It’s not that I dislike professional wrestling. It’s been years since I have watched. Like, the last time I could honestly call myself a wrestling fan there was no AEW, TNA, or NXT. Hell, I’m pretty sure we were still calling it the WWF. I recognize a compelling product and story when I see it though.
Why does professional wrestling work? Maybe you think it’s in the writing. Maybe you think it’s about the live reaction of the crowds in the arena, selling every revelation and twist with real, loud reactions.
Those things all matter, but at the end of the day, all of the drama works because we get to watch two guys actually fight. Sure, it’s scripted, but every story is paid off with physical violence.
Unless Disney makes some serious changes to their employee handbook, I don’t think Stephen A. Smith and LeBron James are actually throwing hands. It’s just a lot of talk, and that can be compelling, but if I’m going to watch two guys each talk about how scared the other is of him, I’m going to need a resolution and there is only one that will do.
It’s So Much More Than LeBron v Stephen A. Smith
Nick Wright recently said that LeBron James has painted Stephen A. Smith into a corner in this feud. I think that’s wrong. They have both painted ESPN into a corner because where the hell is there for this thing to go?
At this point, ESPN’s daytime lineup, which used to be built on journalism, has probably a 3000 to 1 ratio when it comes to personal vendetta versus actual sports conversation. Smith vs. James isn’t an outlier. There is also Kendrick Perkins vs. Charles Barkley and Pat McAfee vs. what ever perceived slight has crossed his mind recently. Oh, and it’s almost WNBA season, so I am sure Elle Duncan’s feud with people that don’t watch the league but are positive everyone in it is lined up against Caitlin Clark is about to start up again.
I don’t have a problem with any of these in a vacuum. I actually agree with the points Duncan made last year about Charles Barkley and LeBron James, but not everything can be a fight that goes nowhere. Just think with your PD hat on for a second. What kind of content is that?
The Pat McAfee Network
Since striking a deal with Pat McAfee two years ago, ESPN’s identity has shifted. I have written about this before. There was never a reason to wonder how McAfee would fit into the ESPN ecosystem. So many of the network’s biggest stars were more eager to fit in with him.
McAfee is a showman. That should be a good thing for ESPN. I don’t think it always fits, but I see the value. It should make McAfee stand out as something truly unique in sports media and in the history of ESPN.
I don’t dislike McAfee. He is silly and quick-witted. There’s a lot about his show that I enjoy, but I don’t need every show to be Pat McAfee.
I also don’t need the WWE where I didn’t sign up for it. College GameDay has turned from a TV show to a live event. I know plenty of younger college football fans that like the show now, but to me, watching McAfee play to the crowd in attendance instead of the much bigger audience watching at home is just bad TV.
And again, I don’t believe anyone on that desk is actually interested in delivering sweet chin music to back up their tough talk. So McAfee antagonizing Washington State fans, Kirk Herbstreit’s ire at anyone that criticizes him or Nick Saban’s shouting down a celebrity guest all ring hollow.
Stephen A. Smith Knows How To Do This
Stephen A. Smith isn’t trying to fit in with Pat McAfee though. He never needed anyone’s influence to find a reason to channel his inner Chris Jericho. He has a long history of staring down the barrel of an ESPN camera to cut a promo for a fight that is never going to happen. Knowing how to manipulate being rebuked and turn it into content is part of what makes the man so valuable to his employer.
The problem with First Take right now is not Smith’s or anyone else’s ego. In fact, ego is part of what makes a debate show work. Mike & the Mad Dog is off the air after a year if Mike Francesa and Chris Russo were just two reasonable people.
Ego is playing a role in the problem though. This is happening, but the Stephen A./LeBron saga won’t end. Every new chapter is a staircase that leads to nowhere.
It’s fitting that Smith has a decades-long love of soap operas, because this fight is playing out just like a storyline on his beloved General Hospital. Only so much can happen and there will never be any real resolution. In a soap opera’s case, there are hours of dead air to fill. Resolution would be detrimental to the product. In First Take’s case, no resolution is not the goal, it just makes Stephen A. vs. LeBron perfect content because, again, there are hours of dead air to fill.
ESPN = The WWE, But Just The Boring Part
I have a friend, who is also in the business, that has suggested that the WWE-ifying of ESPN is a response to the 2024 election. Her argument is that hosts like Dan Bongino and Charlie Kirk, who love to talk about what they would do, are receiving attention from people and institutions that were not familiar with their hustle until now. It’s natural for ESPN and others in the media to see their success and conclude that tough talk that never has to be backed up is the new recipe for success.
I disagree.
ESPN devotes space on its website to WWE news. It fills social media pages with clips from Raw and Smackdown and “did you know” graphics about any wrestler that has a more traditional sports background. Shannon Sharpe was begging to get in the ring with John Cena while discussing the WWE star’s heel turn last month on First Take.
The network didn’t need any election result or societal trend to push it towards professional wrestling. It has always seen value in the sport. That’s part of why it struck a deal with McAfee in the first place.
But ESPN can never truly embrace the WWE, because in the WWE, dudes actually hit each other. That’s what fans come to see. Even if the writing is good and people are locked into the story, they are tuning in for the physical violence.
Until LeBron is ready to chokeslam Stephen A. Smith through the First Take desk, ESPN is stuck promoting the boring part of WWE programming.
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Demetri Ravanos is a columnist and features writer for Barrett Media. He is also the creator of The Sports Podcast Festival, and a previous host on the Chewing Clock and Media Noise podcasts. He occasionally fills in on stations across the Carolinas in addition to hosting Panthers and College Football podcasts. His radio resume includes stops at WAVH and WZEW in Mobile, AL, WBPT in Birmingham, AL and WBBB, WPTK and WDNC in Raleigh, NC.
You can find him on Twitter @DemetriRavanos or reach him by email at DemetriTheGreek@gmail.com.
