Stop going after the fans

[Mustang Sally]

Or, I don't know, book a product that favors the people paying for the product. I know it's a novel concept for you. But when you go see your favorite band at a concert, you kinda expect their popular hits. Not the one's they favor. When you go see Disney on Ice, you kinda expect the popular characters to be the highlights. Not the one's Disney favors.

It makes sense, although it's admittedly hard to do. After all, folks don't go to a "Disney on Ice" show once a week, don't follow the character development of Mickey Mouse on ice skates.....and in fact, if a different person played Mickey from one performance to the next, who would know it, anyhow?

Pro wrestling requires us getting interested in individual people who, while in essence are portraying cartoon characters, actually involve human beings who have their own problems and rewards in trying to be what their employer is telling them to be. For myself, I wonder if Vince McMahon's increasing inflexibility in how his product is being presented (if that's a problem) might be playing havoc on what we're seeing on our TV screens.

Looking at just two of the characters, it's plain the fans want Daniel Bryan....and don't want Roman Reigns, at least at the very top of the hierarchy at this point in time.

Is this logical in terms of the "sport" of professional wrestling? Not as far as I'm concerned, it's not. Yet, that's what the crowd wants. It might not be what they want a year from now, but it's what they want now.

I've always had the feeling that while Vince McMahon recognizes the value of pleasing his fans, he's also hardheaded about it, figuring he'll tell the people what they want and expect them to fall in line. Maybe his arteries have hardened sufficiently that he really thinks it will work that way......and perhaps in the 1970's, it did. It's a different world out there, particularly with the development of the Internet.

At the same time, when I read people on this forum complaining that WWE has to listen to their suggestions and give them what they want, the number of opinions that range all over the board preclude this type of input ever coming into play......the company has to come up with the script, adjusting things along the way to at least give a nod to what the fans are obviously telling them.....without sacrificing the integrity of the product to do it.....but not every fan can get what he wants, and if his response to a single instance is to cancel their subscription to the WWE Network, it speaks volumes as to the difficulty in what the company has to deal with.

Is it hard? You bet it is! Especially in view of the sheer number of hours of original programming they have to put on each week, it's as hard to do as anything in media production.

Going after the fans? A certain amount of that is natural; many of them don't follow wrestling closely enough to give realistic and valid opinions.....but when WWE completely ignores fans, they're running a big risk.....and it's important they realize it. How they mitigate the damages will determine how successful they will be in the future.

 

[Justin Satiable]

Denial of the existence of critical thinking is strong on this forum.

The Rumble sucked from any perspective. You have to have low standards to not see that it was simply executed poorly. Being a smark, a mark or a neutral fan with his own opinions is irrelevant, so stop grouping everybody who disagrees with you. Talk about babies? How about the guys still crying that people are fans of Punk and Bryan.

You're marks. The lot of you. Weirdly enough, a lot of you are marks for the IWC, desperate to know what move the community will take next. Do they accept Roman? Do they hate Bryan now? Will they speculate about Punk?! OH LORD TELL ME NOW WHY AREN'T THERE SPOILERS FOR THIS?!

 

[PeterSellersSTL]

If that were true then Cena should be getting only cheers. He busts his ass more than any other individual in the business.






The wrestling business as a whole has dropped off a lot since the end of the Monday Night Wars because wrestling has evolved and the casual fan is no longer interested in it. WWE tries to bring in the casual fan when they have stars like Hugh Jackman hosting the show but that doesn't give Raw ratings a bump, either.

To say that Daniel Bryan got a real shot at bumping the needle is unfair because no one really expected him to win at WM. Plus he never had a real shot to prove himself as a champion because of his injury.

That does not mean that I think Daniel Bryan should've won this year. If he had won it would have been too close to last year's Road to WM storyline for it to work. However Ziggler winning made more sense.

My biggest issue with the WM Main Event isn't even with Reigns. If Brock really is leaving after WM then I'm afraid that there will be a repeat of WM 20 with Brock/Goldberg. I just don't trust him professionally enough to expect a different result. And Reigns is not good enough to carry a match like that. Personally, I think that Rollins should've won the Triple Threat and figure out a way for Ambrose to get involved and finally have the Shield Triple Threat for the title.

Daniel Bryan got the biggest push, a lengthy push of anyone in a decade since Cena. Leading up to Summer Slam through Wrestlemania he was pushed. He beat Cena clean at Summer Slam.

And I'm sorry but it's not the WWE's fault Daniel Bryan got injured after WrestleMania.

Someone anyone, please tell me, what was the WWE suppose to do the past nine months without Daniel Bryan?

It'd be one thing if Daniel Bryan showed Rock Austin numbers but he hasn't. Not that they can't go back to him but they're not killing a golden goose here people.

Cena has been the man the past decade, the book on Cena is written. They know what kind of numbers they're going to get with Cena.

Everyone else is up in the air, and I can't fault the WWE for going with someone who has the look of guys who have been bankable in the past.

It's called put up or shut up. They gave you Daniel Bryan, and you didn't give them any money. You should have gifted a network subscription to 2 friends who were attitude era fans - but you guys were to busy circle jerking to Daniel Bryan in your little bubble to consider the big picture, the world outside your bubble full of casual fans that WWE wants to turn onto their product.

You blew it and if Daniel Bryan wants to shoot his fans a glare then he's welcome to do it because his fans let him down.

 

[BillAlfonsos_Whistle]

Funniest part about all you geniouses that seem to have it all figured out regarding Bryan is that you don't seem to realize the YES! chant has become larger than life. They do it at college arenas, at NBA arenas, at NHL arenas. If that's not fucking mass appeal then I simply don't know what is.

The only thing you are right about is that he is so over they know he doesn't have to headline Mania again. A mid-card match will get the same reaction now. Because he's the most over Wrestler since Austin and that pisses some of you off. For what reason? I have no idea. I'm not a big fan of the guy but he can wrestle and is CLEARLY the most over thing they got going.

 

[BillAlfonsos_Whistle]

PeterSellers must work for the WWE telling everyone on this board it's our fault that Daniel Bryan isn't getting the main event again. He literally just blamed wrestling fans for not buying two network subscriptions lololol

All while saying Cena is the one who makes the money and that's why he gets top booking. But surprise surprise he isn't headlining Mania either. Sweet logic, Chief.


What a fuckin' rube.

 

[PeterSellersSTL]

Funniest part about all you geniouses that seem to have it all figured out regarding Bryan is that you don't seem to realize the YES! chant has become larger than life. They do it at college arenas, at NBA arenas, at NHL arenas. If that's not fucking mass appeal then I simply don't know what is.

The only thing you are right about is that he is so over they know he doesn't have to headline Mania again. A mid-card match will get the same reaction now. Because he's the most over Wrestler since Austin and that pisses some of you off. For what reason? I have no idea. I'm not a big fan of the guy but he can wrestle and is CLEARLY the most over thing they got going.

The Yes Chant is bigger than Daniel Bryan. Oh it's true, it's damn true. Newsflash! You don't have to get the reference in order to throw your hands in the air and yell yes when the rest of the student section is doing it. Fuck a yes chant. How many WWE fans know that Daniel Bryan got it from an MMA fighter when they're doing it?

And yeah you should have gifted a couple of network subscriptions to some old wrestling friends. That's how business works. People vote with their wallets, that's what everyone behind the CancelWWENetwork is doing. It goes both ways.

The bottom line is if Daniel Bryan brought in the dollars brought in additional eyeballs I can't give you one reason why he wouldn't be the next guy going forward.

And Cena isn't headlining Mania because WWE is trying to create new stars so they can sustain their business after Cena is gone. Cena has peaked, he's peaked in the ring, he draws 3 ratings he sells only so many ppvs. There's no question in terms of business just who Cena is. You gotta see how someone else does with the ball.

 

[Heath Slater's Trainer]

The bottom line is, for me at least, don't get mad at other fans. Get mad at WWE. They are the ones who push an undeserving generic beast just because he's related to the Rock. And when fans try to protest, it backfires and all the big shots backstage are probably slapping their knees and drinking some beer celebrating, while watching the IWC wallow in frustration and brutally turn on itself. This shouldn't happen. The fans need to unite not to get exactly what they want, but to get an overall better product with a more diverse and unpredictable and entertaining product. Maybe then WWE will appeal to a mass audience besides little kids once again.

 

[PeterSellersSTL]

I'm not mad at WWE I want to see Lesnar vs Reigns, I also wouldn't have minded seeing Lesnar vs Bryan but I wouldn't have canceled my subscription like a whiny bitch though.

 

[Fire Marshall Bill]

It's clear too many people around here suffer from the delusion that they're even remotely close to being a sizable part of the audience. I've got 3 words for them: the vocal minority. Get out of a smarky town and notice how nights like Sunday just don't happen. Even in a town like Philly (a town that's filled with the worst fans of probably the entire US) I'd still wager that the dumbasses were still the minority. They're just loud. Kids, women, parents, most casuals just are generally not very crazy at shows.

 

[shooter_mcgavin]

I'm not mad at WWE I want to see Lesnar vs Reigns, I also wouldn't have minded seeing Lesnar vs Bryan but I wouldn't have canceled my subscription like a whiny bitch though.

Isn't cancelling your subscription not being a whiny bitch but "voting with your wallet". In fact it's people who canceled or really cancelled their subscriptions are the ones I commend since they are putting their money where their mouth is.

I don't have the WWE network and I don't intend to (I'd rather spend $100 a year for NHL Gamecenter) so the only way I can show my displeasure is stop watching the WWE, which is very close to happening I am already not going to be seeing WM myself.

 

[PeterSellersSTL]

^ letting the world know that you're canceling your subscription is the act of canceling your subscription LIKE a whiny bitch. I've canceled subscriptions to magazines but I didn't start a hashtag in the process.

Ya follow? Canceling your subscription doesn't make you a whiny bitch, making it known to the world is something a whiny bitch would do. Canceling one's subscription "like a whiny bitch".

 

[shooter_mcgavin]

^ letting the world know that you're canceling your subscription is the act of canceling your subscription LIKE a whiny bitch. I've canceled subscriptions to magazines but I didn't start a hashtag in the process.

Ya follow? Canceling your subscription doesn't make you a whiny bitch, making it known to the world is something a whiny bitch would do. Canceling one's subscription "like a whiny bitch".

In today's internet age that's the best you could hope for. Come on this is like this everywhere and not just Wrestling. Twitter and social media has given fans the venue to voice out their opinions.

I mean the worst WWE had was a hash tag to cancel subscriptions.

And at least most wrestling fans are mature enough to at least respect people's opinions.

I mean look at this
http://femfreq.tumblr.com/post/109319269825/one-week-of-harassment-on-twitter

 

[wainy316]

Something that irks me and supports the Reigns 'chosen one' argument is WWE's deliberate suppression of Dean Ambrose. A couple of months ago he was white hot and getting the biggest pop, surpassing Cena and anything Reigns got before his injury.

I believe Vince saw this, felt his popularity was a threat to their push of Reigns so suddenly made him stop going after the authority (even though he's the perfect character to do so) and paired him up in a nothing angle with Wyatt. This ensured he lost both his momentum and the feud and thus protecting Reigns spot for when he returns. I think they've missed a great opportunity here.

 

[shooter_mcgavin]

I think that's the thing with Reigns he is the chosen one, ok fine so maybe the WWE can back up and push him. They can give him some great feuds and probably have a good run at the IC Title for 2015 to build him up in the main event.

This will allow WWE to showcase his talent through the proper and traditional channels so fans can get behind him. But WWE didn't even do that they booked him to look dominant and it was a clear sign of WWE shoving him down our throats.

I mean even Austin or The Rock had to lose matches before rising to the top. For Reigns it was about making him look strong never losing so fans kind of rejected it.

I think to be honest Vince doesn't care what the fans like who they are going for. Vince owns Wrestling and even fans who hated the result of the Rumble either because Reigns won, or how Bryan got eliminated or both knows the WWE is the only Wrestling Company in town.

I remember the Xbox One a few years ago the gaming community went bonkers with the Xbox One's features. But to due a huge negative reaction and competition from Sony, Microsoft had to reverse their policies and turn it all around. However I am pretty sure if there was no Sony, Microsoft would never have changed their features in Xbox One.

For Vince he's Microsoft without a Sony. He knows he can do whatever he wants with his product and people have no choice but to watch it. And even for those who dislike the current product the WWE Network is the only way you can get archival footage of classic wrestling events of various promotions. So even if there's people who dislike the current WWE product but like the older years of the WWF, WCW, ECW, AWA, and other promotions have no choice but to subscribe to the network.

So in reality unless another Ted Turner comes around, Wrestling if Vince's world and you have no choice but to play by his rules. It's unfortunate it has to come to this but it is what it is.