I fear for the future of WWE

[Dave]

Does anyone fear that the WWE might struggle in the next few years, well more than what it is just now. I mean think about it, at most Triple H might have a couple more years in him as he is at his peak just now, Shawn Micheals might be gone by this time next year, as might the Undertaker. Batista might only have a year or so in him, Kane and big show don't really have a lot of gas left in the tank. Is it just me or does WWE look doomed to go on without main event stars. I know that when all of these guys leave then people like Randy Orton, Cena, Edge, DiBiase, Punk, Bourne etc will take up the mantle but is this good enough? And how long will Cena be there is another matter.

I mean when the Rock and Stone Cold left the ratings plummeted by all accounts and some wrestling fans are only watching the show to keep up with their favorite superstars like Triple H. I'm just not sure that some of the guys the WWE are banking on to keep them popular are good enough. Any thoughts?

[ztwhite]

I mean when the Rock and Stone Cold left the ratings plummeted by all accounts and some wrestling fans are only watching the show to keep up with their favorite superstars like Triple H. I'm just not sure that some of the guys the WWE are banking on to keep them popular are good enough. Any thoughts?

At some point in time, we have to accept the fact that these guys will walk away. But then again, Flair & Hogan haven't exactly walked away (or at least Hogan would still like to be around).

Sorry, I digress. Simply put - several years ago, you could have said the same thing when new guys at the time like Edge, Angle & Jericho were coming along.

The one thing that has to be remembered with wrestling (in my opinion) is that it really isn't the action itself, as much as it's the storylines.

There are dozens of posts on here talking about crappy writing, but wrestling fans don't really to seem to care about the action anymore. They recognize when a guy has great skills in the ring, ala Angle, Malenko, Guerrero, Benoit, etc... but the fact of the matter is, they'd rather see a great story line play out than a great match. If they wanted great wrestling matches, they'd watch Grecco-Roman wrestling :) !!

The future of wrestling and the future of TNA depends on great writing which produces great storytelling. Cena can't wrestle worth a shit, but people love him because he's good on the mic and good at storytelling. The Rock and Stone Cold were much the same.

[Dave]

Yeah I agree with you to an extent but surely if people care about the storylines then they must care about how good the superstars that are carrying them out are. The thing is that when the Rock and Austin left, that was just 2, perhaps the biggest 2, but 2 none the less. What I'm trying to impress is that a massive amount of superstars are close to the end of their career and with all of them leaving at the same time, the WWE could find itself with not enough good talent to carry out the stroylines effectively.

[ztwhite]

In my opinion, and I know it's been stated on here several times before in other posts, there is plenty of talent to step up to the plate.

It sounds to me like you're fearful of not seeing the guys you grew up watching, rather than not seeing great talented wrestlers. I'm the same way for the most part. I love HHH - everything from his in ring work to his story telling ability. But I also loved Bret Hart - so it's all copesetic :) And I'll mark out more than anyone if Hogan's music hits !!

It looks like you're from the UK, so it's hard for me to compare wrestlers to other significant US athletes. But there was a void for many sports fans when Michael Jordan, Dan Marino, John Elway, Wayne Gretzky, etc... retired.

The great thing about wrestling is that wrestlers never retire. If they were great (and I do mean great, not good) in their primes, they will always be around in some form or fashion. Maybe not in the ring, but they'll always be visible.

There are plenty of talented wresters in the WWE right now. From Morrison, Punk, Orton, Rhodes, Dibiase, etc... the WWE won't hurt in the long run. It's entirely possible that it gets stronger with a fresh infuse of talent at the top. Only time will tell - just enjoy what time we may or may not have with the current legends in the ring and let the future play itself out.

Most importantly - and I can't say this enough - be a fan of wrestling and of the WWE - not a fan of an individual wrestler. The product will thank you eventually.

[Leeds Guy]

No i dont fear for the next couple of years. Even with guys like HHH,Taker and HBK Retiring theres always the next generation.... so to speak. Edge has plenty of years left in him and has already established himself as the top heel kinda like HHH did back in 99/00, then we have Randy Orton who again has established himself as a top heel and Legacy who have great careers ahead of them and will no doubt be maineventers.

Then on the Face side of things you still have a young John Cena who (barring a turn to movies) will be around for quite a while and sells enough merch to keep him face for the foreseeable future. You have Jeff Hardy already majorly popular and has just entered the begininng of his prime. He will probably become champion again soon and if he can keep clean will be in the company for years to come. MVP is still young and has already had great experiance as a heel, he has a lot of followers around the IWC and should be a great main eventer in the next few years.

Will Vince retire in the next couple of years? i dont think so, so nothing will change there, he will still be around on occasion for storylines. I dont think we will see Steph and Shane much as they will concentrate on their own familys. Even With HHH,HBK and Taker retiring they wont stay retired. They will be back for special apperances (like Flair's doing now) and will probably put over new talent.

Which brings me to me next point...New talent. WWE will surley pick up new talent in the next few years, and while i dont know who they will be im sure if the WWE take a chance on them they will be repaid. Plus you have people in the mid card/tag team who could be elevated to main event status, people like Miz,Morrison,Carlito,TBK,Evan Bourne, (im not saying these people will be elevated, im just saying its an option) for example, Watch Wrestlemania X-Seven TLC2 Match, You have 6 guys in the Hardyz,Dudleyz and E+C. How many of you back then thought you would ever see Edge and Jeff Hardy as WWE Champion? because i know that i didnt. you never know who will be the next big thing in the WWE.

I think the WWE will be just fine in the next few years

[Dave]

yeah I have to agree with you about Jeff and Edge. As a youngster I never thought that both of them would have separate title reigns. I guess you are right about the WWE in that respect, they always have new generations of wrestlers coming through.

[Zeedeevel]

I think triple h will be in the ring for another 5 years at least, he might be getting up there in age but he is still in great shape, plus hes the boss's son in law.

As for the new talent, it will always be there. In 1986 when Bret Hart was in a tag team, not many ppl thought he would be champion. Same goes for HBK in 1989 or Stone Cold in the early 90's. The talent is always around its just a matter of who gets pushed and who doesnt

[Chrisjeffers]

the thing that wwe has forgotten waswhat made wcw great. It wasn't the massive amount of superstars.... It was the fact that they made us want to see goldberg take out the nwo... We seen so much of the nwo and we wanted to see them get theirs.... wcw gave us that with Goldberg(first failing with sting)
WWe doesn't do that... they accually give us what we want before making us want something...
What was the thing that made wwe win over wcw... Mankind won the belt!
We were so sick of the rock and the corperate ministry and we wanted mick to win! When he did we started watching it hardcore.

WWe would be in trouble if one of us started a wrestling company....
but right now only ROH has a chance at being top company...
Tna really sucks!
WWe is already the top company!
ROH is sooooo small that they hide in wwe's shadow!
so what does this mean? in my opinion wrestling is at its lowest point since just before T.v. or the radio!
Something will come out and change things up...
First it was t.v... then vince mcmahon jr.... then ECW.... then Ufc... Whats next?

[HBK-aholic]

I'm not afraid for them, why should I be? The WWE goes through slumps and boom periods, as do most companies. They're still making a profit, and there ratings are higher than they have been in pervious time periods. WWE will never end, it'll just keep changing until it's 'cool' again.

[Dave]

I had no idea that the ratings were so high. I mean the WWE definately has great fans who will stick by the company. Are the WWE happy with the number if fans they have though? Obviously I don't know how many people watch Raw etc but I was just worried that people would begin to switch off when big stars like Triple H decided to hang up the boots. Obviously this wouldn't be the case if their numbers are that good.

[SquareSix]

Wrestling has been faced with this type of worry for many years. People get so used to seeing the same guys over the years that when the time nears for them to retire, they question whether or not the company will be able to maintain it's same status without them. More or less, the real question is will it be the same without those stars. That question is simple to answer - no it won't be. That isn't a bad thing though. I began watching wrestling during the attitude era (can i get a "hell yeah"?) and felt that fear when Rock and Austin left. True, the ratings did go down some, but they have since picked back up. True, they aren't at that same level, but that isn't because they left. Ratings aren't at the huge levels they were during the Monday Night Wars for many reasons (lack of competition being one), but certainly not just because Rock and Austin left.

It will be different seeing guys like Morrison, MVP, Bourne, Rhodes, Dibiase, etc. at the main even level (potentially) but that's just how wrestling goes. When Orton came in, he was just another new guy, nothing especially great about him to speak of, but now look at him. In just a short number of years he has grown into one of the top heels, if not the top heel in the business. Given the right push and with hard work, any number of the young guys the WWE has now can reach the same status and have us singing their praises.

Wrestling is faced with older talent leaving (and still staying around in some fashion ala Hogan and Flair) and new talent being given the torch. Doing your wrestling homework you'll find that people have been asking the same question about various superstars in various companies and the result is always the same. The company continues on changed to a degree whether large or small, new talent becomes the new main eventers, people get used to seeing them in that position and will one day question what the company will be like when they have to retire.

As for the guys we have (at least for me) grown up watching, nostalgia is a pretty great thing for wrestling fans. Now, we have YouTube & DVDs for to watch and reflect fondly upon. And to use what is possibly the most overused and yet the most true statement in wrestling - never say never. Who would've dreamed we would have been able to see Hogan vs. The Rock, but it happened. Hell, Steamboat, Piper, & Snuka are competing at Wrestlemania 25, so who knows what matches we will see from guys like Taker, HHH, and HBK after they "retire".

[dmacizdman]

I would hate for it to end for the people who enjoy watching it.

But I have such hatred and disdain for Vince McMahon and everything he is about that I would love to watch his baby crumble before his eyes.

[Dave]

How brilliantly cold of you dmacizdman. Like the Undertaker of yesteryear, you lurked in the shadows of this thread and then, when the time was right, appeared, to kick McMahon's ass. Classic. haha :icon_smile:

[ulimate123]

Naa there's no need to be afraid. WWE can make a doucebag into the next big thing. Its all about WWE and how they market and hype wrestlers. Hell, if they wanted they can make Kung-funaki the next big thing. (OK maybe I'm taking it too far, but you get the jist!). Also with older wrestlers going, they will make way for newer and fresher wrestlers to take their spot and then those wrestlers will get hyped and become actual main eventers.

[Phoenix]

I don't see the WWE's future being a thing to worry about. I'm pretty sure 15 years ago people asked the same when Hogan and Savage went to WCW.

I'm sure people said the same thing 10 years ago when Bret left, Owen died & HBK retired for the first time.

People said the same for Stone Cold and The Rock in 2002/03.

With those three particular situations, guess what's still the remaining factor? The WWE itself. WWE has moved in phases and we've had a period without HBK, we coped, he's come back better than ever!

Hogan/Savage left, we went to HBK/Bret, when they went, we went to Austin/Rock, when they left we went to Triple H/Taker (yes I know they've been around longer), next in line is Cena/Orton, there will be another lot to come, it's only time and phases, it happens all the time!

[Just-Dun Biased]

WWE will be fine. They have a lot of young talent to be developed, plus what about the guys in developmental? Some of them have potential. If anyone is fucked: its TNA. Think about what will happen to them when Angle, Booker, Foley, Nash, Sting, etc leave. The only credible main eventer they will have left will be AJ Styles.

[BIGJUICYNIPPLES]

i actully belive in about 2-5 years the wwe will become incredible, again it happens all the time that where wwe have there good moments and bad moments, simple as that. WWE will never die

[bulldog76]

I'm not afraid for them, why should I be? The WWE goes through slumps and boom periods, as do most companies. They're still making a profit, and there ratings are higher than they have been in pervious time periods. WWE will never end, it'll just keep changing until it's 'cool' again.

Completely agree. In the mid 90's when Hogan, Hall, and Nash were bending Vince over their knees in ratings, Bret Hart and the Undertaker were busy getting HBK and Stone Cold into the main event picture. Triple H has helped get the next line of stars in place and even they are getting new stars in. Transition periods are normal in every aspect of life.

We are just probably not used to them since national wrestling isn't really that old.

[wolvdog316]

Why worry, WWE is playing the "time" game.

During the attitude era, those that grew up watching the eat your vitamins, oh no a backdrop is a finisher years of the 90s, were shocked. A cuss word? Blood? LOTS OF BLOOD OMG. Then she shock wore off. Then as time always does, it kept going. And we grew up. Some of us got married, had kids, 40-60 hour weeks, couldn't afford the WWE PPVs, grew tired of it, got into other habits or whatever. So Vince, knowing this, has now started to groom his next target audience.

10 year olds. And they are the future. Give them 5 years and their 15, and he can slowly start introducing more and more edgier stuff. My old man couldn't BELIEVE that Vince was going mainstream with WWE. Rock videos, music? Horrible singers? That wasn't wrestling he said.

But Vince was grooming US for our part in his corporation. He held us onto Hulk for as long as he could, then as stubborn as he is, decided to STILL hold on to it about 5 years too long.

What better way to rebuild his audience, then when it seems he has no major players. Cena is a poor mans, very poor mans Hulk Hogan, and Orton is a an american dollar compared to HHH's euro. And Vince knows this. And thats fine, cause he is just sucking in those 10 years, the ones their parents wouldn't usually let them watch. And just when another Austin, or Rock, or Savage, or MDD, or Yokozuna, or Takr, or HBK, or HHH comes along then he can fire up the old creative juices and the let the fun begin

[Cebeards]

I think wwe is in transition to seeing another big name. Orton could honestly be that guy. He is awesome as a bad guy, if they stop making him such a pussy than he will be the name in the lights (sorry Cena). Vince is getting worried, he is trying to get cleaner (although he doesn't mind some violence against women...but neither does lifetime....any connection? hope not). Vince is cleaning up a lot, but he has left the blood and violence. I think the WWE needs to do a little cleaning, but in terms of habits. I honestly would not mind if Cena was on Vickie's side, give him a chance at Heel again, just anything to make him better than this wannabe-superman BS. Put Jericho in a real storyline, he is awesome on the mic. They could have really made a good match with Jericho at Wrestlemania but...well, they failed...bad. Jericho could have talked about America going to hell and they could have put him against Cena (with Kid Rock in his corner). Kid Rock would do it, don't kid yourself. There, you have your celebrity and a good enough match. Jericho in Money in the Bank would be better than this crap. I see a future with some big names but they are giving weird pushes right now. I think a breakup of Miz and Morrison is necessary. There needs to be some title tournament (IC, Tag, whatever) Ecw championship needs a name behind it (just trade Kane, Rey, Kozlov, Khali, Jesse, Festus, The Colons, etc. to ECW) and Swagger needs an opponent; Christian is destined for bigger/better things. Although I think ECW will have a revitalization after the draft, plus with the return of Monty Brown.

[Cmac3311]

WWE is doing fine the whole family marketing trend will do nothing but make them more money and bring in more ratings.
You can however kiss TNA goodbye if they don't start fixing the major problems within them aka the watered down version of the X division and the awful storylines.
I cant even get through an hour of TNGay anymore.
A few weeks back there was literally 40 minutes in between two matches of all promos mostly about the MEM.
I miss the TNA of Two years ago...

[Milkyway!]

Thats just silly. To fear for the future of the WWE. We have Randy Orton, John Cena, Cody Rhodes, Ted Dibiase, Evan Bourne, Kofi Kingston, MVP, (If he improves) CM Punk, (If he improves) Kennedy, Morrison, Miz, the only thing I can see wrong with the WWE's future, is they have less power hitting heavyweights than ever before. But with the British Bulldog's son (DH Smith) coming up to take care of that really. If Koslov can stop with the monotoned russian bullcrap, get a new finisher he can be amazing. Umanga looks to have a lot of time left with us, if he'd stop injuring himself. Theres always the possibility of WWE liking what they see from Matt Morgan, and grabbing him from TNA. Money goes a long way. Bret Dibiase, is looking good to me personally. I see a lot of potential in him. Not to mention guys like, Drew Galloway, Eric Perez, and Joe Henning. WWE is the biggest wrestling company in the world. If they want them, they'll get them. If the need them they'll get them. Vince is a multi billionaire. Anything to make ratings go up, WWE WILL DO. Theres no question about it. Just look at when the Rock and Austin left, or Hogan. We thought WWE was done for. Thats nonsense, they went out. Got some new talent. Now we are seeing good quality telvision.

[Lord Sidious]

WWE is doing fine the whole family marketing trend will do nothing but make them more money and bring in more ratings.
You can however kiss TNA goodbye if they don't start fixing the major problems within them aka the watered down version of the X division and the awful storylines.
I cant even get through an hour of TNGay anymore.
A few weeks back there was literally 40 minutes in between two matches of all promos mostly about the MEM.
I miss the TNA of Two years ago...

It's funny that the things you do/don't like as they change, don't seem to match the ratings trend for WWE or TNA. Not a knock or anything, but I just find it interesting.

TNA changes their style and gets more controversial. You don't like it. But ratings go up.

You like WWE's new direction with them converting over to PG. Ratings go down.

What I find is that the taste of what smarks like in wrestling, don't really match the tastes of casuals, as evidenced by ratings, buyrates, and attendance. I see a lot of smarks online saying "this is great, that's great, everything's great about today" ... yet from a business perspective, they have no statistics to back up their claims at all. Just their own personal opinions.

And ratings won't be picking up anytime soon, with this type of programming. And it is hard to compete with the AE, as they pulled in 5 and 6 ratings thanks to Rock and Austin ... however, it should be noted that even post Rock and Austin, after they were both gone ... WWE was still pulling in 4.0's with their edgy programming.

Today, WWE got a Mania bump, which has all but deteriorated. For the most part though, they do low 3.0's, and have even dipped down into the 2.0's at one point.

So with no big stars on the horizon, I really don't see how you can make a blanket statement like you see "ratings going up", when all statistics point exactly to the contrary.

WWE will get by okay. But they aren't going to do as well, as if they had the edgy programming to fall back on, to help make new stars. Rock and Austin better thank their lucky stars that WWE had edgy programming to rely on as neither of them would have been as successful (more so Austin, than Rock) had they not been given that leeway in their characters.

[Dave]

;979473']Thats just silly. To fear for the future of the WWE. We have Randy Orton, John Cena, Cody Rhodes, Ted Dibiase, Evan Bourne, Kofi Kingston, MVP, (If he improves) CM Punk, (If he improves) Kennedy, Morrison, Miz, the only thing I can see wrong with the WWE's future, is they have less power hitting heavyweights than ever before. But with the British Bulldog's son (DH Smith) coming up to take care of that really. If Koslov can stop with the monotoned russian bullcrap, get a new finisher he can be amazing. Umanga looks to have a lot of time left with us, if he'd stop injuring himself. Theres always the possibility of WWE liking what they see from Matt Morgan, and grabbing him from TNA. Money goes a long way. Bret Dibiase, is looking good to me personally. I see a lot of potential in him. Not to mention guys like, Drew Galloway, Eric Perez, and Joe Henning. WWE is the biggest wrestling company in the world. If they want them, they'll get them. If the need them they'll get them. Vince is a multi billionaire. Anything to make ratings go up, WWE WILL DO. Theres no question about it. Just look at when the Rock and Austin left, or Hogan. We thought WWE was done for. Thats nonsense, they went out. Got some new talent. Now we are seeing good quality telvision.

You know I think you have nailed it. I am used to seeing heavyweight superstars going toe to toe maybe when the current batch of wrestlers leave there won't be anyone like that to fill that void. I like the idea of Umaga getting a push but as he can't talk it would be hard for him to headline a show imo. The wrestler's you have mentioned are well and good but in all honesty doe you see a lot of these guys constantly main eventing in the future? Orton, DiBiase, Bourne,Punk, Kennedy, Morrison, yes. As for Cena though, no one is really sure how long he is gonna be around. The same goes for Kozlov, by all acounts he may be out the door soon enough as his gimmick has gotten old and the WWE doesn't know what to do with him. Also, I really can't see Miz and Kingston main eventing in the future. I don't know why but I don't. You have really blown me away there with all the young talent you mentioned because I haven't heard of most of them so I don't know how well they would fare tbh. I'm not trying to call you out here but I would argue that the WWE is becoming very stale in terms of quality story lines and I'm sure that if you asked a lot of WWE fans, including myself, if they thought the WWE was still quality television, I'm pretty sure a lot of them would tell you "No".

[Milkyway!]

You know I think you have nailed it. I am used to seeing heavyweight superstars going toe to toe maybe when the current batch of wrestlers leave there won't be anyone like that to fill that void. I like the idea of Umaga getting a push but as he can't talk it would be hard for him to headline a show imo. The wrestler's you have mentioned are well and good but in all honesty doe you see a lot of these guys constantly main eventing in the future? Orton, DiBiase, Bourne,Punk, Kennedy, Morrison, yes. As for Cena though, no one is really sure how long he is gonna be around. The same goes for Kozlov, by all acounts he may be out the door soon enough as his gimmick has gotten old and the WWE doesn't know what to do with him. Also, I really can't see Miz and Kingston main eventing in the future. I don't know why but I don't. You have really blown me away there with all the young talent you mentioned because I haven't heard of most of them so I don't know how well they would fare tbh. I'm not trying to call you out here but I would argue that the WWE is becoming very stale in terms of quality story lines and I'm sure that if you asked a lot of WWE fans, including myself, if they thought the WWE was still quality television, I'm pretty sure a lot of them would tell you "No".

You stated the fact that WWE is getting stale in terms of quality story lines. How is that the superstars fualt? We are seeing the samething over and over again. Not because of the superstars coming in, but because of the creativity. Your mind can only go so far, in terms of creativity. Theres a maximum compacity. From ages day 1-18 you're mind can take in a create anything, unless this is excersized often. The creativity section of your brain begins to rapidly deteriate. Now then I'm no psychologist, only know a little bit.

Micheal Hayes is 50 years old. One must assume, his creativeness is beggining to deteriate. McMahon is in his 60's. And HHH is in his Late 30's early 40's. All these people have strong influences in creative plans as far as WWE goes. They can only come up with so many new things. We are seeing the same things over and over again.

This is whats making WWE "stale" as you said before. Not terms of wrestlers. All these men are getting old. They will die soon. Or just retire. This opens some slots for creativity. Which again, defeats your "WWE's future is in danger"

[Dave]

I have to respectfully disagree with you. I don't agree that it is Micheal Hayes fault that we are seeing the same story lines over and over. As we all know it would seem that Vince has the final say in the matter and all creative issues.

I did not start this thread to knock superstars or the creative writers in the WWE. I am a wrestling fan, pure and simple. The thing is that you, yourself commented that the story lines were getting old. This is where the problems lies. If someones sees something over and over then they are going to stop watching as it loses it's effect. You only have to look around the WWE to see the same recycled story lines in the WWE that have been used in the past. Rosa Mendes for example. Mickie James id the exact same thing when she came into the WWE, affixed herself to the champ saying she was her biggest fan. In my opinion at the end of this, she will turn on Beth. Vladimir Kozlov as well. When Goldberg joined the WWE, he never did a lot of talking and went on a streak.

In my opinion, the WWE is gonna struggle if they don't recruit more creative writers to freshen the company up a little bit and Vince allows them to do what they do best. Write creative storylines. I would like to add however that the Triple H/Orton rivalry has been the best example of WWE writing since the attitude Era.