Are We Watching The WWEs Renaissance?

[Rick Rudes Mustache]

Has it finally happen? Are we finally witnessing the renaissance of the WWE?

In the 80's we all welcomed into our homes a mass produced homogenized product of wrestling known as the WWF. The 80s gave us the stars of are childhood - Hogan, Beefcake, Hart, Bulldog, Giant, Piper, Steamboat etc. In the early 90's the product fell off. Come the later 90's WWF/E underwent a transformation & ushered in new story lines/arcs. We learned to love/loath Rock, Austin, Taker, Gangrel, Dude Love, Edge, the stories went risque almost day time tv soap operaish. Then the product fell off.

Now after years of what many IWC ppl consider "down years" the WWE may be undergoing a change - allow me to explain.

When was the last time the WWE/F had some many quality story lines flowing at once. Punk VS "The Man" , Cena VS Kane, Truth VS Miz, Show VS Bryan, Ziggler VS {insert here} , redebuts of Jericho & Clay. The return of The Rock. Have we finally begun to see behind the curtain a bit? Have we finally begun to see where this company is headed in a positive light? What say you. Is this the beginning of a quality 10 year run or are we stick in the same dead-in wash rinse repeat cycle of years past?

 

[The A]

I think it's getting there. I like to think that once the network launches, There will be another surge in popularity and we'll be in store for another great era. It will once agin become more popular than real sports because at least we admit that it is fixed for the purpose of assuring a good show. I think some basketball games, ufc matches, etc are fixed but they'd never say it. So I agree that we are almost there but not quite yet. I think we'll see things greatly improve the day after WM and a few months after the Network launch, it'll be better than ever. Imagine if it came with basic cable packages!

 

[Rckstrtmmy]

I think it finally shows that realism and wrestling can't completely go hand in hand. The Cena/Kane storyline has a nice old school feel to it where you have to suspend belief and just enjoy whats on screen. They have done the storyline fantastically and have made it easy to enjoy. With the attempted kidnapping, brawling, sneak attacks, ring spots etc, it's been great.

They are also starting to go back to slow builds and intricate stories as opposed to the instant gratification and hot shotting that became commonplace in the PG era. Jericho's return has been awesome and I can't wait to see the payoff! Even though I know some people don't get it yet, but they will. Bryan/Big Show has been entertaining and they're doing a good job of keeping the angle going despite the fact that Bryan is as big as Big Shows right foot. They're also hinting at a heel turn for one of them, but who? Could be either one at this point. Plus Mark Henry is still hanging around as well. The Punk vs. Laurinitis isn't working for me since Laurinitis is just so dry, but Punk has been fun to watch.

They are also finally putting on some AMAZING matches. The young guys are really starting to develop and find their way around the ring and it's been awesome to watch guys like Cody Rhodes, Dolph Ziggler, Bryan, Punk, Miz, etc, fine tune their characters. Ziggler WILL have a 5 star Wrestlemania match sooner rather than later. Same could happen with Rhodes and Bryan as well. The future looks bright for the WWE as far as in the ring goes.

All in all, yes I think the WWE is on the verge of a boom period. Wrestling as a whole is just not as popular as it once was, but all business is cyclical in nature. WWE is just trying to make things fresh again which is a step in the right direction.

 

[Y2JBL]

Geez I hope not. You make a good point, WWE is spinning a lot of plates at once right now, and manage to keep all of them fairly well balanced. (Punk VS "The Man" , Cena VS Kane, Truth VS Miz, Show VS Bryan, Ziggler VS {insert here} , redebuts of Jericho & Clay. The return of The Rock.)

With that said, with all that potential for good material, they are doing terrible. The 1/9 episode of Raw was awwwwful. I was hoping it would improve. It wasn't a good sign when I caught myself thinking "geez, this was a rough first hour" and it was only 8:36. Time drags when you're watching a terrible product. I won't get this thread off topic by going into detail about what was wrong with Raw though.

They do have some decent angles going on right now, but that doesn't mean anything about the quality of the product. Just like the people who still insist the PG rating is the issue, and then you look at TNA without the PG restriction and it's still terrible. It still comes down to the small details of the writing, the pacing of the shows, etc. There are a number of decent feuds running right now yet that was the most brutal 2 hours of Monday TV in recent memory. So obviously it's going to take more than that.

 

[VinnieSunshine]

Wrestling always goes through a period of crap. Fans grow out of it, fans get bored and tune out, or some fans miss so much that they just quit watching (friend of mine is here. Missed too many Mondays then always had shit going on).

There are always going to be episodes that lack, its like that with ANY show you watch. There are TV series out there that will have an episode or 2 that dont progress the story. Granted RAW has these on more than 1 occasion, but you get my point.

Im not saying that wrestling is coming back up just yet or its dying...just give it some time. As kids that watch it right now get older, they are able to appreciate it more and watch it more. Then when said kids gets too old, some will drop out.

Its a vicious circle of life for wrestling.

 

[Y2J1245]

I do think they are finding a nice middle ground. I liked the Attitude Era(when I first started watching) but after having gone back and watched old episodes of Raw & Smackdown again, I realize that they were so caught up in "hardcore" matches that they lost sight of wrestling.

I think if they can find a nice middle ground between then and now things would be off the charts. Gritty & Feuds go together very well.

 

[tebow720]

I am sorry but I have to disagree! The WWE product is absolutely horrible! Kane starts off the show with a ridiculous rant... then a few matches come up which is fine.. but then it goes downhill with Jinder Mahal and Sheamus for the 100th time, CM Punk making his ONLY appearance at 10 pm without any significant MIC time, Jericho repeating his 10 minute parade in the ring without saying a word, a horrible segment between R-Truth and Ricardo... shall I go on??

The past two years saw highly exciting angles thrown into the gutter way too quickly i.e. Nexus, CM Punk leaving with the title, etc... I have been a fan since Wrestlemania III and I have stayed loyal thru the ups and downs, but this is simply too much...

The WWE is totally out of touch with its fans, both old and young...
I am just waiting for Taker's final match before I probably part ways. The mere fact that its going to be against HHH again makes me want to throw up!!!

 

[jungledeano]

I think WWE are trying to find a middle ground of how to satisfy their audience, young and old. I think it was Triple H who said in an interview not long ago that they will never go back to an attitude era because of how far they went, they couldn't really push the envelope any further because it would be too much. And he also agreed that the product had become a bit too sterile and that there is a lot of room to move in that direction without actually getting to that point of giving birth to hands or fucking corpses a la, Katie Vick.

Don't ask me to link the interview, this is why I'm saying that I think it was Trips who said that. Well, except for the bit about fucking corpses.

Point is, that I think they are trying to find this middle ground that does satisfy everyone. So for all your CM Punks and old school Kanes, you're going to have things like Hornswoggle and Santino with the Cobra. And I reckon it's a fair deal. Additionally, and more to the point, the stuff with Kane and Cena, and the Jericho silent treatment are good examples of how WWE are returing to long term booking and story telling, instead of hotshotting angles in a month from what could have been 3-6 months worth of booking. They're getting there, but haters gonna hate. This is a good time for WWE. They're trying to make things edgy whilst staying in the realm of PG programming. And I personally don't think WWE should go 'attitude era' on us again. If they do, people on here will start coming on and complaining that WWE should go PG again, or some shit like that.

 

[justinept]

This question isn't black and white and can't be answered with a yes or no answer. While the product has improved since this time last year, it hasn't gotten itself over the hump and out of the rut it has been in since 2007.

The most important improvement over the past few months has been the increase of feuds outside the World/WWE Title. The WWE is finally starting to stack their cards with running feuds as opposed to just letting guys sit around, waiting for their shot at the title. Not all these feuds have been great, and most of them could use some tweaks to be better ... but lets remember that SummerSlam featured 6 matches. Of those 6, one was a women's match ... one was a thrown-together 6-man tag .. and 2 were World Title matches. That gave us two matches that resulted from legit non-title feuds. It's easy to see the landscape today, and that problem wouldn't exist.

The Kane/Cena feud has built nicely over the past few weeks with Kane continually getting the upper hand on Cena and reminding everyone of the monster that he is. The incorporation of Zack Ryder into the feud has given it an added dimension, giving Cena even more investment in the feud. It has also allowed Ryder to remain relevant while they build up his next/first US Title feud. I would like to see Ryder break away from this feud sooner than later so that he can concentrate on his title, but his recent history with John Cena makes him a sensible addition to the program.

The Barrett/Orton feud the past few months worked. Though Orton scored most of the victories, it reminded fans that Barrett is going to be a top player in the company for the foreseeable future. The timing of Orton's injury was unfortunate, but given that Barrett has not fully invested himself in a feud with Shaemus, I do expect Orton to be back sooner than later. My reasoning is that if Orton was expected out longer, then Barrett would simply move on ... he hasn't done so, and I believe it's because they're anticipating a blow-off match between the two at either EC or WrestleMania.

Shaemus/Jinder Mahal -Am I sold on Jinder Mahal? Absolutely not. But this is another case of bad luck for the WWE. Shaemus and Christian were hitting it out of the park in my view. But with Christian getting hurt, the WWE needed to find someone else for Shaemus - and the options were very limited. Think about it like this - Shaemus needed to remain face since his turn is still too fresh in the eyes of most. That said, he needed to find a heel to feud with. Well, Barrett is locked up with Orton ... We already saw Henry/Shaemus feud over the summer ... and D-Bryan/Big Show seem to be locked into a feud of their own. Because of that, the WWE needed to build a new heel for Shaemus. They chose Jinder. Personally, I'd have brought Brodus Clay back as a heel, placed him on SmackDown and put him into a feud with Shaemus ... but, I can't fault the WWE for trying to push Jinder.

Miz/R-Truth has shown both characters in a completely new light. Miz has always been a cowardly heel, but R-Truth has him afraid of his own shadow at the moment. Meanwhile, Truth is coming off as a legit nut job whose unpredictable ways actually scare people - as opposed to a legit nut job that most see as a complete joke. For my money, I need to see Miz get the upper hand at some point, but this is a feud that makes sense, that's working and that will eventually lead to a pay-per view match.

Cody Rhodes/Booker T - The IC title feud appears to be more of a segue feud, offering just the first layer of what should be a two-layer program for Rhodes. It's a great work thus far, giving us a young, up and coming stud against a future Hall of Famer. Most see this feud eventually leading into a Rhodes vs Rhodes match for the title. I, for one, would really enjoy seeing that.

Again, the WWE hasn't been perfect the past few months. I think they blew opportunities with the conspiracy storyline and with the CM Punk character in general ... but the quality mid-card feuds are really helping the product right now. I think it's safe to assume that if SummerSlam were this weekend, the card would be a lot better than it was back in August. To me, that's improvement.

 

[WWEIsLife2]

I do think they are finding a nice middle ground. I liked the Attitude Era(when I first started watching) but after having gone back and watched old episodes of Raw & Smackdown again, I realize that they were so caught up in "hardcore" matches that they lost sight of wrestling.

I think if they can find a nice middle ground between then and now things would be off the charts. Gritty & Feuds go together very well.

I think so as well that WWE is finding a nice middle ground and relying on the In-Ring Work more than the over-the-top stuff of the Attitude Era while having plenty of solid Feuds to help carry both RAW & Smackdown.

I liked Attitude overall as well but it had alot of crap in it too and seemed to be more about the Drama & over the top stuff than the actual In-Ring action at times anyway. So I am pretty satisfied with where the WWE is right now.

 

[The Hardcore Kid]

I SERIOUSLY doubt that.

You greatly underestimate the "I'm never happy" attitude the IWC employs then.

On topic, I was thinking the same thing. The product sure isn't perfect right now, but I don't remember the last time there were so many storylines! One of my biggest gripes over the past couple years have been the total lack of storylines. Sure we've had FEUDS, but it's usually over "I want the belt" or "I think I can kick your ass".

Kane convincing Cena to embrace his demons, Zack Ryder trying to impress Eve AND tying that into Kane/Cena, R-Truth's stalking of Miz, THE FUCKING FUNKASAURUS!, Punk vs. "The Man" like you said, it's all been great. Then we have building storylines like Jericho and Ziggler. And that's just RAW.

Try to sit back and enjoy it instead of just worrying about how much better it COULD be. you'll enjoy it a lot more that way.

 

[THTRobtaylor]

They seem to be settling into a period of making Characters and Gimmicks the forefront and resetting the playing field to how it was in the late 80's... Everyone had a gimmick and a place on the roster... Right now its interesting to see where people fit in to their 80's counterparts... Brodus Clay is seemingly the new Akeem character, Ziggler the Rick Rude and Bryan the Mr. Perfect... Jericho seems destined to fill that spot left by Jake Roberts on the roster... Del Rio is DiBiase... Miz is like Piper... the list goes on

It's the first time in years that you can trace an equivalent gimmick to its new version... and to an extent it means that they can rehash old storylines and have them seem fresh...

 

[reed214]

I think they are rebuilding stars quite nicely and agree with the OP that the storylines are atleast kind of interesting (rare to have so many be interesting at the same time)...

but I only wanted to point one thing out...I liked how the OP had Gangrel with Austin, Rock and Taker...