Why do you still Watch WWE?

[Psykohurricane55]

The topic came up on the complain thread and i thought maybe this would be a nice subject for a thread.

I've seen a lot of fans on this board complain about WWE and the current direction they are going yet, they still watch WWE anyway. So i start asking myself, why would anyone continue watching something they don't like. It's not like WWE is the only game in town anymore. They are multiple choices for wrestling fans to choose from either on TV or with the multiple streaming services.

Personally, i stop watching NXT because i didn't like the product, i decided to stop watching the weekly shows even through their some guys that i like. Same goes For IMPACT. I didn't want to waste more time on a product that i wasn't enjoying. I still watch RAw and Smackdown mostly because i really like the product as a whole, while i don't always agree with some of the decisions they make. I'm still enjoy watching the product because, overall, i think they have the right characters at the right places and the storytelling for the most part is enjoyable. If i didn't enjoy watching those shows i would not waste time watching them since they're so many other quality shows playing at the same time that i could be watching instead of WWE wrestling.

So the question is, why do others fans that complain about WWE are still watching WWE if they hate it so much?

 

[George Steele's Barber]

I fold laundry on Monday nights. Raw makes for good background noise. It's the kind of show that you can watch while doing something else that isn't too mind or labor intensive. When something good happens or you expect something good is going to happen you can divert your attention to the show and take it in. Otherwise I treat Raw and Smackdown as background noise. When I do get to "watch" Smackdown I am mostly on my phone reading something about as trivial as wrestling.

And that's kind of it. Good and great things occasionally occur on WWE programming. I prefer to be there when they happen. I also don't have the time or capacity to throw myself in to an entertainment product during the week where I have to pay full attention. My weekdays are pretty stressful. Raw and Smackdown are the perfect fluff entertainment in that respect. I also find that I don't find much that really interests me otherwise. The Cubs are back on tv so that will take me away. The NBA playoffs are not bad but I don't have a horse in the race and I find that I am satisfied by just watching the last two minutes of a game if it is close, otherwise I don't really care.

 

[Mr.Maikeru_Sawyer]

there are TWO reasons that I still watch WWE....The American Dragon & A J Styles. that is it.

 

[Kamala316]

I couldn't agree more with what has been said so far. You may have certain favorite that you like to watch. But at the end of the day for me, Raw and Smackdown has become background noise while I'm doing other things. It's gotten to the point that I will wait an hour (or longer) so I can fast forward past the McMahon (Stephanie and Shane) talking segments, the pointless tag matches, and other filler. I've watched wrestling for over 30 years, and over the past year or two, I've become completely disinterested in the product. I've accepted it for what it is: the wrestling world is owned by the McMahons, and WrestleMania has become their personal playground. I respect what the performers do throughout the year - being on the road, putting their bodies on the line, etc. They earn the right to wrestle on the WM card. Yet, Stephanie, HHH and Shane decide they need to further their personal brands, and talent gets pushed to the pre-show. Personally, I hate politics, which is why I think I've completely soured on the product. I don't know what I'd do without my DVR, because there's no way I could sit through a 3 hour snooze fest.

 

[Snugglebites]

I'm one of those weird people that doesn't take it seriously and actually enjoys it.

 

[Ceen]

Matt Hardy and Y2J. I don’t mind watching the “pushed” guys, but when in comes to interest, I always see their matches. Now, Balor, Sami and Owens are also matches that I “must see”, NXT has make me a fan of them. I have skippied a lot of women’s “tag” match, a lot of intranscedent matches and even some “main event”, if we don’t have Bryan or AJ in it. For me, a lot of storylines which are not the main focus are which I care and I stop everything to see it.

 

[Very Average]

I watch for mostly nostalgia, it isn't a patch on what it used to be but still entertaining in parts. Plus it's good for making money from betting.

For some reason I am quite looking forward to this Greatest Royal Rumble tonight...

 

[GOOZEKING]

For nostalga... I watch the stuff I care about and turn off my tv/change the channel when something stupid is on.

 

[yourdamnluck]

Watching tgrr live I got my answer. It's a lot of fun. You can feel the electricity. The noise is absolutely insane. Wrestling was and still is a lot of fun. Infinity war disappointed me but I'm sure TGRR won't and it's just the first match. That's why I watch wrestling.

It's awesome.

 

[Vintage Punk]

I record it via DVR. I enjoy seeing nostalgia and the segments that are good. So I skim through it stopping on things, matches or segments I want to see. Or if I here about a killer match I can watch that match. However I just fast forward alot of it because it's not like it was back in the day when you were hooked to watch all the way through

 

[Bookerkingston]

Brock Lesnar.

And Braun Strowman.

And Samoa Joe to a lesser extent because his run on the main roster has seemed very underwhelming to me.

Everything else is painfully repetitive and skippable

 

[Strife3]

There is 100's of answers to this question. for me watching raw and smackdown is fun cause it is like a soap opera. Yes it has crap in it, Raw and Smackdown both have crap but smackdown is better written. I am along time fan and I enjoy the whole show even the crap parts because it just makes the diamonds that apper that much better.

On avarage With Raw being 3 hours and 5 minutes you lose 30 to 45 minutes with commercials and with Smackdown being two hours it goes between 15 to 20 minutes on avarage and sometimes you get to see the action while the commercials are running.

Raw has usually 30 to 40 minutes at best of good stuff and Smackdown has usually about an hour of good stuff depending on the night.

 

[mkw1962]

The only complaint I have is Brock being Champion, he is a part timer enough said. I love Wrestling and have watched it for about 30 years even before Raw started. I like Raw a little bit better than Smackdown but they are both pretty good. I always say Wrestling is a violent soap opera I love it and I appreciate what the Wrestlers sacrifice and do for our entertainment every week. If people don't like it they can just turn there t.v. off but every Monday night I am at the t.v. at 7:00 p.m. with my pizza, and on Tuesday night as well. I will leave you with this Roman got screwed at GRR.

 

[shooter_mcgavin]

To be honest I don't really watch anymore. Though the idea of Styles, Bryan, and a heel Nakamura on Smackdown! really intrigues me.

But for the most part I dont watch anymore beyond some of the bigger shows, some NXT take over stuff and tournaments in recent years like the CWC or Mae Young Classic.

In the network i usually just watch the older stuff and the documenatires like the Bruno Sammartino one (which was great by the way).

 

[Messiah]

I watch it to be entertained obviously.. Is there any other reason somebody would watch WWE?

 

[THTRobtaylor]

I watch it now for what I know it to be... a soap opera that I can sit through and on occasion enjoy. Millions watch Eastenders/Coronation Street/Days Of Our Lives/Neighbours etc. and no one bats an eyelid. WWE is in reality a soap SET in a wrestling company and I can relate to it much more than I can any of those other bloody awful shows.

There might be more content for this particular soap to sit through and I can go and interact live with a show... but the principles are the same we see the people who play the roles AND the roles as they play them. WWE doesn't even try to hide it anymore and that's why I stick with it to an extent.

There is an element of "muscle memory" in that even if I am not as interested or watching as religiously, I keep up with events and make the effort to watch eventually, even if I skip the segments I don't like. Only thing I won't do anymore is stay up till silly o clock and take a day off work for a show... I used to.

 

[Dagger Dias]

It comes down to two major contributing factors for me. I've been watching for nearly my entire life so it would take a lot for me to stop. Secondly, I still enjoy the product. Sure the main event scene in Raw has been horrible for the past year, but I still have reasons to watch the red brand. The midcard and female division have both been more than enough to keep my interest. Smackdown and NXT remain very entertaining. Even if I were to give up on Raw then I would still watch WWE for the other two brands. Smackdown has consistently been the better brand in the new brand split, even when Jinder freaking Mahal was the World Champion. NXT's constant revolving door with its roster and their fantastic booking makes it must-see. I'm not going anywhere anytime soon. I find a great amount of enjoyment out of the overall product. The stupid stuff gets fast forwarded and I watch what I do like.

 

[Sexcellence of Sexecution]

It's awful so I dont. I'm a pro wrestling fan, and that doesn't necessarily mean I have to be a WWE fan.

RAW is three hours long and impossible to sit through. Even if I loved all the characters and stories being told, and even if the commentary wasn't the single worst thing on the planet Earth, I'm not watching anything for three hours straight every week. I'll follow the news and tune into the major shows like Royal Rumble and WrestleMania but apart from that I don't really watch and life goes on.

I watch New Japan Pro Wrestling. The matches have better pacing and selling, the promos more real and authentic, the product and stars aren't overexposed, the angles get legitimate heat, the big matches are well-built and feel huge, the live crowd isn't a bunch of idiots trying to put themselves over, and the commentary doesn't make me smash a brick through my TV. It feels like an old school wrestling territory, updated for the modern world in the right ways. I love New Japan, and at this point it would really take a lot for me to start watching WWE again.

 

[Razz]

Because was hooked in the late 80's and followed regularly as a kid since the early 90's and it is still considered the big show and part of pop culture. WCW as an alternative was part of it too and a void that is missed even during it's lean final years. Pretty loyal to a product once get hooked. Still follow TNA after discovering it in the mid 2000's. Digital viewing helps now that you can forward through stuff easily. Now I mostly watch WWE for the matches. Especially NXT. Unfortunately the biggest thing lacking is storylines, feuds, character development etc. for the most part on the main roster are not as good as they can be and have been in different era's in the past. I started watching some stuff outside of WWE now like Lucha Underground, occasionally ROH/NJPW which has entertained me more times than WWE in recent years..

 

[Navi]

Actually I've almost stopped watching it completely. Been a fan for 30 years now and it's time to take a break for awhile. Did the same thing about 15 years ago, my son got me back into it, now it's time for another break.

Glance through the spoilers a few days after a show airs, but haven't watched a complete RAW, Smackdown or NXT since before Mania. Didn't watch much of that either, that's how interested I was. Also used to participate in the LD threads every week just can't sit through the shows anymore. My son still watches and tells me when something interesting happens, strange though he's silent a lot of the time which tells me not much is happening.

The repetitive matches, absence oi a main title on RAW and the continuing push of Roman Reigns, turned me off. What are we 5 years into this push now, give it up for God's sake. If it hasn't happened by now it's not going too. He gets big matches and might sell merchandise but people are now apparently walking out during his matches. Yea maybe once the WWE changes I might come back, I don't expect I ever will to the extent I watched before.

 

[King Patrick Star]

Championship Title Belts!!

The WWE hasn’t been as great as it once was, but it’s still the best thing going today. I really only watch when a new Championship Title Belt is rumored to debut. Recently, I only subscribe to the WWE Network during WrestleMania season, and just catch up on the pay per views I missed. I just cancelled my subscription last night. See you again in late March / early April.

 

[LibSuperstar]

Championship Title Belts!!

The WWE hasn’t been as great as it once was, but it’s still the best thing going today. I really only watch when a new Championship Title Belt is rumored to debut. Recently, I only subscribe to the WWE Network during WrestleMania season, and just catch up on the pay per views I missed. I just cancelled my subscription last night. See you again in late March / early April.

Interesting! But I see you're one of the WrestleMania only viewers. Does the show often make it worth your while?

 

[King Patrick Star]

Interesting! But I see you're one of the WrestleMania only viewers. Does the show often make it worth your while?

I am not a “WrestleMania only” viewer. Actually, when the Network debut, I watched every WCW, WWE, and ECW pay per view in chronological order. Then I watched every Saturday Night’s Main Event and Clash Of Champions, in chronological order. I also watched most of the Original shows on the Network.

I originally planned to cancel my subscription for the first time in October 2017, but they gave me one free month to stick around. So I finally canceled my subscription in November 2017. I then reactivated the subscription for WrestleMania, and caught up with what I missed. My one month ends tonight, but because I saw everything I wanted to see, I canceled it a day early.

I’ll reactivate it again in Srping 2019, and just catch up on everything I will miss from Money In The Bank 2018 to WrestleMania 35, and everything else in between.

Oh, and to answer your question, WrestleMania lives up to the hype, but that hype fades away more and more every year.

 

[Steak]

I still watch for the matches that have a big match feel, and hope for some decent comedy inbetween, not the Santino kind. It's usually something Kane or Goldust are involved in as they do comedy well. Dallas and Axel are pretty good too.

Past that, it feels sometime the shows I used to anticipate and love have been handed off to women and children, and that is fine. The climax of today would have a pretty high bar to reach if WWE stuck with entertaining the same people for thirty years.

I enjoy what I can, I throw the rest out the window, no time to hate on something that just wasn't impressive to same old me.