Is WWE trying to market it's product with NOTHING to sell?

[Y4J]

Is WWE trying to market it's product with NOTHING to sell?

I mean think about it..

No matter if you hated them or not, let's look at what superstars used that sold them over.

When it was Austin, it was "Austin 3:16 said I just whooped your ass"
Or "DTA, Don't trust anybody"
Or "That's the bottom line"
And then "WHAT?" which is STILL used to this day.

Or The Rock
"If you smell what the Rock is cooking"
Or "THE MILLIONS"
"Rooty Poo candy ass"

Or Jericho..
Well, he's got like a thousand... But still..

Hell, BENOIT even had "Prove me wrong!"

I think Kennedy was the LAST guy to have something marketable. With "MR KENNEDY.... Kennedy..

Now WWE has Cena, Rey, Orton, Edge, name ONE catch phrase they have that they can sell? Something people can chant in arena's, or what you can sell on T-shirts.

We have Cena's "You can't see me" which he uses in the ring, and THAT'S it. But other than that, what else is there to market? HHH doesn't even say "THAT DAMN GOOD" anymore.

WWE wants to sell merchandise, then start making WWE more marketable.

 

[Shua]

Marketting goes far beyond just a simple catchphrase.

For example, Edge is being marketed as the "Rated R Superstar", "Ultimate Oppertunist", ect. Thus, Rated R Superstar gets put on a Tshirt.

Cena? They come up with new merchandise for him every other week....same with Triple H.

Orton....well, they did just debut the "Legacy" shirts not that long ago....I'm sure it won't take long for other stuff to follow.

As for Rey, do you SEE how many kids are wearing his masks? Sure, that's pretty much all he's got, but it still sells.

 

[Sean Valjean]

Well, let's see what we've got now:

Cena
"The Champ is here!"
"You want some, come get some!"
"Hustle, Loyalty, Respect" (whatever that means)

Undertaker
"Rest in peace!"

MVP
"Ballin'!"
"Cornrow wearin, blah blah, etc"

Mr. Kennedy
"KEEEEENNEDY!!!"
"Behind Enemy Lines: COLOOOOMBIA!"

Miz & Morrison
"Be Jealous!"

R-Truth
"What's up?!"

Not looking good so far. Good thing we have Jeff Hardy: The King of Catchphrases.

Jeff Hardy
"WWE Chaaaaampiooooon!"
"Extreeeeeme ruuuuules!!"
"LIAR!! LIAR!! LIAR!!"
"I want everyone to stand up and SCREEEEAM!!
"I didn't do it to impress you! I DID IT TO HURT YOU!!"
"Ya hate ma, doncha Mayatt?!?!?"
(Sorry, couldn't resist )

Yeah, the WWE is definately lacking in marketable catchphrases, slogans, mottos, etc. Does Jericho's current catchphrases count? I'd love a shirt that said "hypocrite", "sickophant", and "parasite" on it.

 

[BIGJUICYNIPPLES]

OMG your so right, now a days no more catchphrases i used to love yelling at the T.V when the rock would do his promo's and say his catch phrases, it's what got superstars over, every top player in wwe had them before, kurt angle had IT'S TRU IT' DAM TRU, tipple h had THAT DAM GOOD, and others but i forgot em, rock trully had a million, austin had heaps same with jericho, but now no 1 has any

cena is just dull and lame, when was the last time he realy used ,you cant see me or ,if you want some come get some,choke on THESSSE NUTSSS like 2 years lol

 

[Mitchguy]

I think it's just a change in marketing strategy. WWE are going with a more visual, logo oriented marketing approach these days it seems as far as t-shirts go. In that department they are taking a nod from the Affliction and tapout lines of clothing where it's more about having a cool design then a catchphrase written on it. Frankly, there is a certain segment of the wrestling fan population (myself included) that won't wear wrestling t-shirts because if the stigma attached to being a fan.

However, if you market a shirt with a cool design without really giving away that it's a wrestling shirt, you're more likely to get people like be to buy it. To me, would I wear a Triple h shirt that has some catchphrase on the back, no I wouldn't. Would I wear a Mankind smiley face/mask shirt? Yes I would because it's something simple and iconic and unless you were a wrestling fan, you probably wouldn't know what it was.

I may also be in the minority, but I hated the attitude fixation on catchphrases. It made promos meaningless because instead of listening to the promo, the audiences were just listening for the catchprases so they could chant along. My favorite promos were when The Rock turned heel and would mock the audience for chanting along with him. "Baa! Baa! Baa! You're all a bunch of sheep!"

...good times...

 

[thesacredcow]

I may also be in the minority, but I hated the attitude fixation on catchphrases. It made promos meaningless because instead of listening to the promo, the audiences were just listening for the catchprases so they could chant along. My favorite promos were when The Rock turned heel and would mock the audience for chanting along with him. "Baa! Baa! Baa! You're all a bunch of sheep!"

I think the point is that it's not about personal preference, but marketability to an audience or a demographic. And the fact remains that people loved those catchphrases. I don't think they made them meaningless either. Sure the Rock used an insane amount of catchphrases in his promos, but they added tot eh excitement of a Rock promo.

For me personally the major plus point to a catchphrase is that it creates distinction between wrestlers and helps build up a character. Triple H "I am that damn good" sums up what that character is all about. Also it allows the fans to feel like they're part of the show. And it could help get a guy over. I think a lot of guys around to could benefit from having a catchphrase. Personally I'd love for Santino to have one. It'd be comedy gold.

 

[sicmcnasti]

Consider the following though - guys with catchphrases now are all midcarders. When they do make t-shirts for them, you don't hear about them. Any of you have the R-Truth "Whats Up" t-shirt? Didn't think so.
How about the "Be Jealous" wristbands? Nope.

I have to agree that there is a certain stigma about wearing a wrestling t-shirt, thats why I don't like doing it in public and I have plenty of them. The only ones I willingly wear are those that don't come out and say WRESTLING SHIRT OVER HERE.
My "I'm Your Papi" Eddie Guerrero shirt. My "Sweet-and-Sour" Larry Sweeney shirt. My "King of Kings" Triple H shirt? My friends thought it was a reference to Jesus and asked why Jesus looked so scary on the front. I convinced them it was a scary Jesus simply because its easier to joke about that than it is to hear the crap about being a wrestling fan - "You know its fake" or "It's only for kids" or "I used to watch it, it sucks now, I don't know who anybody is".
WWE product is still marketable, but only to certain people. Me, as a college student at a big university - semi marketable only because I'm a fan, but because I still have a social reputation, it drops.
The children, and the guys who don't actually do anything but stay online and complain about the wrestler who they actually have a shirt on about, the rednecks that go to crappy indy shows in Alabama - those are the ones who will eat it up with a spoon.

 

[Azrael Cain]

I am pretty sure there is a t-shirt for just about every superstar on the roster. I think even Jack Swagger and DJ Gabriel have a few. It isn't that there's nothing to sell, it's just that there are 3 - 8 guys that sell the most, and then there is everyone else. And besides, the WWE isn't a t-shirt making business, it's a wrestling federation, and their product is their shows, their talented athletes/entertainers/whatever we call them these days. So while from a t-shirt and stuffed bear p.o.v there may be nothing to sell, keep in mind that merchandise is the byproduct of what the WWE's real product is: the TV shows, the PPVs, house shows. Wrestling is the product they sell.

Now whether or not they have something to sell in that department anymore is also debatable, but for another time.

 

[CKO]

OMG your so right, now a days no more catchphrases i used to love yelling at the T.V when the rock would do his promo's and say his catch phrases, it's what got superstars over, every top player in wwe had them before, kurt angle had IT'S TRU IT' DAM TRU, tipple h had THAT DAM GOOD, and others but i forgot em, rock trully had a million, austin had heaps same with jericho, but now no 1 has any

cena is just dull and lame, when was the last time he realy used ,you cant see me or ,if you want some come get some,choke on THESSSE NUTSSS like 2 years lol

ok you just admitted to reapeating the rock's catch phrases...yet you make fun of people who say cena's?

you actually actually admitted that'? hmmm ok

i dont think the catch phrases are what sells merch. right now the top selling item is a triple h Eversoris t-shirt..with guess what? no catch phrase! i think if a shirt or something looks cool, people are going to buy it reguardless whether the catch phrase is on it or not.

 

[Mitchguy]

I think the point is that it's not about personal preference, but marketability to an audience or a demographic. And the fact remains that people loved those catchphrases. I don't think they made them meaningless either. Sure the Rock used an insane amount of catchphrases in his promos, but they added tot eh excitement of a Rock promo.

For me personally the major plus point to a catchphrase is that it creates distinction between wrestlers and helps build up a character. Triple H "I am that damn good" sums up what that character is all about. Also it allows the fans to feel like they're part of the show. And it could help get a guy over. I think a lot of guys around to could benefit from having a catchphrase. Personally I'd love for Santino to have one. It'd be comedy gold.

Oh, don't get me wrong. A good catchphrase can be just the thing to send a career into orbit and I think they do serve a purpose to set characters apart. I just didn't like when promos became littered with them. In my mind, a true catchprase is best when used as a final punctuation to a promo. "If you smell what the Rock is cookin'" is the percet example. As you said "I am that damn good!" was a great way to end Triple H's promos. The signoff catchphrase is a great way to tell the live audience that the promo is over, now's the time to chant along and make some noise.

It basically comes down to personal preferences. I feel that over reliance on catchphrases had robbed promos of that storytelling element. Where you had to pay attention to follow it. It became more about the sizzle, not about the steak. Which is great for selling t-shirts, but for getting someone like me into a story it falls short.

This is getting into a different area, but to me the best promos were by the guys who never cut the same promo twice. I used to love a good Dusty Rhodes promo because he would always come up with something new. Jake Roberts never did the same promo twice.

And perhaps it was changing the format from doing pretaped promos to doing them live that changed the business where you had to cater to the crowd that changed the business? I would like to see the pretaped promos come back because they were a great vehicle for story and character development.

That's just my thoughts on catchphrases and promos in general.

As far as marketing goes. I totally agree that boiling down marketability to catchphrases is very short sighted. I've gone to school for broadcasting, and doing so studied a lot about advertising and marketing. Marketing is such an advanced, complex beast that I couldn't even begin to describe it coherently without my head caving in and my heart exploding like hearing the voice of God in "Dogma".

Trust me when i tell you that t-shirts and catchphrases are barely scratching the surface in determining if something is marketable or not.

 

[BigDaddyKewl]

You forgot JBL the "Wrestling Gawd"

 

[Phenom1388]

Like Azrael Cain said, WWE is a professional wrestling promotion. I'd definately like some more catchphrases from the wrestlers today because not only is it entertaining, it also adds to a promo for that wrestler's rival. For example, remember last year in the weeks leading up to Night of Champions when John Cena & Triple H were feuding, & the following exchange took place?(Note: May not be word-for-word)

Cena: "It's like you say, Triple H: 'Until you beat me, you're nothing'!"
HHH: "Cena, 'If you want some, come get some'!"

One thing I'd like to own, though, is an Edge t-shirt that says on the front, "WRONG!", & on the back, "You were wrong! You were wrong! You definately wrong!".

 

[DhA]

Some of the best catchphrases I think were "I did it for The Rock" and "Excuse me". Comedy gold.

 

[Y4J]

It's not really the selling t-shirts. It's what comes MAKES people buy the shirts. No matter WHAT'S on the shirt.

When I say WWE isn't marketing anything, I believe they are just MILKING everything out of everyone, ESPECIALLY Cena.

They put his name on everything and sell it.

You gotta change the character around. Or at least, be fresh, and catchphrases do it.

When Cena was RED HOT OVER with fans, he was saying You can't see me, and the Champ is here, and OOOOO.. KAY (Which is why he does his new sign I believe) and he got over from his RAPPING. (Good or not, that's how he got over)

THEN, they stripped him COMPLETELY and now he's just running with his name. It's like if the Rolling Stones played every year, every day, never stopped touring. People love it, but shows get lessened and more empty because they want NEW music.. So what happens? The Stones put a new album out, people love it, and it's back to sold out shows. It's called EVOLVING. WWE isn't.. They are stuck..

The Rock had great promos, and can talk trash, but let's face it, the biggest draws like The Rock had the catchphrases. And someone said it earlier, it brought excitement to promos.

Cena said "The champ is here!" last week and it was the first exciting thing Cena said in MONTHS..

You want people to be interested in what Cena says and if he's going to encorporate it in his promos.. People looked FORWARD to Rock's end of his promos so they could go IF YOU SMELLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLALALALALALALA and spit on everything.

People LOVE saying "WHAT?"

Hogan was "WHACHA GONNA DO" but that was back in the day where promos weren't crazy over as they did later.

All i'm saying is you can't just post your name forever. And WWE needs to market their wrestlers..