Jonathan Coachman has a major problem with the way WWE is presenting 946, and it has nothing to do with whether the group belongs in a top storyline. With Survivor Series getting closer, Coachman believes WWE has skipped over some pretty important details — and he wants the members of the faction themselves to start pushing back on creative.
Taking to Twitter, Coachman directly addressed 946 and argued that getting a prominent spot alongside Roman Reigns, The Usos and Solo Sikoa isn’t enough if WWE doesn’t give viewers a reason to understand the people involved. He encouraged the group to challenge creative instead of simply accepting their place in the storyline.
“I hope 946 sees this, ’cause you guys need to push back and challenge your creative. You guys are skipping over all the details because you wanna have your spot on the main storyline, and you should. But you gotta have depth to your characters instead of giving me a type of story with five people and Jaida beating people up.”
Coachman’s first problem was Cruz Montana. He pointed out that Montana had previously been presented as a babyface in NXT, only to suddenly show up as part of a heel faction without WWE really explaining what caused such a major change in his character.
“Number one, Cruz Montana. I love Montana. So did NXT, where he was a babyface. And then all of a sudden, you throw him into a heel faction where he’s all of a sudden supposed to be this bad guy. Then you bring him right back to NXT, where once again he was a babyface! But yet he’s a heel now. But you haven’t told me why. With all the vignettes and everything he’s gone through, why would you not explain why he is a heel?”
And Montana wasn’t the only member Coachman thought WWE had failed to properly introduce. He questioned whether casual viewers could even name the two powerhouse members of 946 before turning his attention toward Jaida Parker.
“Number two, the two Goliaths in this. Can anyone tell me their names? Again, 25% of the audience watches NXT. But these guys have been on the main roster. You’re seeing Jaida, because she’s my number three. What Jaida says at the end of this promo is everything.”
That’s where Coachman found something pretty ironic. Parker recently described herself as “misunderstood,” and Coachman believes she accidentally summed up his entire problem with the faction — WWE hasn’t done enough explaining for viewers to understand her motivations in the first place.
“She says, and I quote, ‘Misunderstood. I gotta be explained.’ Guess what, Jaida? You’re absolutely right! We haven’t explained why you’re part of 946. We haven’t explained why Cruz is like that. And then how about Carmelo? The most charismatic man in the entire group, and he’s an afterthought. Everything has to be explained.”
Coachman wasn’t willing to dismiss Parker’s line as normal faction trash talk either. For him, those words should actually mean something, especially when WWE is asking viewers to invest in a group that has suddenly found itself battling some of the biggest names on RAW.
“So when you’re actually throwing it in as a throwaway line, guess what? It’s not a throwaway line, because we need to understand — why are you misunderstood? What are we misunderstanding? All of that. Well, that’s just what, like, ‘factions’ say. Words matter. Things matter. Nothing is a throwaway.”
With Survivor Series only weeks away, Coachman believes WWE is running out of time to fill in those blanks. 946 might already be throwing down with Roman Reigns, Solo Sikoa and The Usos, but Coachman wants WWE to give viewers a reason to care about who these people actually are before the story gets any bigger.
“Everything with 946 right now absolutely needs to be explained from the top down. So let’s start doing this, because Survivor Series is only a few weeks away, and right now this is all we’re getting. Sure, misunderstood, but more than that, it has to be explained.”
Coachman isn’t asking WWE to pull 946 out of the limelight— he’s basically asking them to make that spotlight count. If WWE wants this group standing across from some of the biggest names in the company heading toward Survivor Series, the next few weeks could be crucial for turning 946 from a collection of people causing chaos into characters viewers actually know.
Do you agree with Jonathan Coachman that WWE needs to explain 946’s characters and motivations before pushing the faction any further? Let us know what you think in the comments.
This transcript was produced exclusively for Ringside News from the original recording. Republishing the transcription in full is prohibited. When using excerpts, provide prominent credit and a link to this article.
