Add an Attitude Era Quality

[DD84]

The Attitude Era was more than likely the most popular era in pro wrestling history and its storylines and characters are surely missed in wrestling today. WrestleMania X-Seven was, to many the end of this era. There are many things missing, but what missing quality would you like to add back into the WWE's current product? Is it the wrestlers, even competition of WCW and ECW, storylines or other?

To me it what is missing is the originality, everything seemed new or at least fresh. Today it feels as though we get the same storylines every year and the product gets stale.

Your thoughts.

 

[fallensaviour]

imho in order for wwe to step back up into the popularity of the attitude era it needs tna to step up and become a serious competitor. when wcw took a lead in ratings over wwf the attitude era began as a counter to its popularity. now that vince owns all the legitimate competition there's no reason for wwe to innovate. how long has it been since there were 2 wrestling shows airing on the same night week after week vying for ratings. thats what we need

 

[supersayian]

i agree but TNA will never be at wwe level. wwe knows they use the same story lines. that is why there paper view buys dropped badly this year. even the major 4 have well 3 so far. Summerslam, Survivor Series, Royal Rumble, and maybe even WM. the other 3 decreased almost a third from last year. this is why Vince is so pissed right now and getting ready to move all major stars over to raw. Smackdown did not pull in the ratings he wanted and ECW is developemental for young wrestlers. if he makes it all wrestlers on 3 shows i think the ratings would improve. more competition for the belts. unify the mid card tittles and the tag already will be and we will see better matches. i think Vince is really working hard on getting tag team wrestling back into the show. if he does we could see the hardys on raw with Edge and Christan carlito and primo. Miz and Morrison. and legacy. cryme tyme. and so on. this would also get the old viewers back. they are really missing good mic skill wrestlers. there will never be another Rock or Austin mic skills again. and the wrestling is less and less each week to. to many young un proven wrestlers to take chances on. thats why we always see the same veterens carrying the strap because they can work a crowd.

 

[jellmoo]

For me, WWE is missing a "go to" guy. One guy clearly at the top that the fans go nuts for, that can draw no matter what. The closest they have is Triple H and Cena, and neither one is quite at that level.

The IWC has their favorites, but it seems like the casual fans don't. Top guys like Cena and Batista get mixed reactions, while others like Taker and HBK don't seem to get that big time constant push.

Without a Hogan, Austin or Rock, angles seem to get recycled a lot more. I don't think that we really need another Attitude era. We just a breakthrough guy that can carry the show.

 

[TwistofRKO]

And I think Randy Orton is evolving into that go to guy. They are pushing him to the limit right now and he's delivering. Since he has gotten his problems straightened out he's been sure-fire and has delivered in the ring and on the mic. I think if you need that guy who is versatile enough to be hated and loved, while meant to be, and Orton is getting there right now.

I do agree that's the main thing they've been missing. But they need more variety, and I think that falls in second place. We have a good main event scene, but both the mid-card and tag division have been ignored and we when all we have shoved down our throats are replays of replays that have already been shown we don't appreciate the quality of what the performers did. We can see a dynamite promo but after seeing it 4x on ECW and 6x on SD! by time we get to RAW nobody wants to see it another 5x. This time should be used to further the undercard so we can appreciate the main event scene more. It's not treated as anything special now.

 

[wolvdog316]

Orton is NOT evolving into anything other than a mid decent heel. I like Orton, but he has a FAR ways to go before he is the HHH of around WM 16-17. But it doesn't help that the angle with the McMahons, in my opinion, has just sucked ass

The problem right now is nobody has "it". Austin, Hogan, Flair, Rock all had "it. They could draw with 2 fish and a singing cockatoo. HHH doesn't have it right now, cause he needs to be a heel. Taker and HBK are too old, Jericho is close but for some reason he doesn't sell. Cena sells Shirts and clothes but not TV and PPVs.

Wrestling ALWAYS goes through these transitions. Remember, Flair nor Hogan could sell in WCW in the early 90's to mid 90's. Along comes nWo and Hogan is top draw again. Michaels, Taker, and Bret Hart were all fantastic wrestlers, but they almost drove WWE into the ground. Austin saved the WWE along with McMahon. So you had Hogan in the 80's, Austin-Rock in the late 90's. We SHOULD be seeing the next big thing right now but it hasn't happened yet. And going PG isn't going to help either.

And in my opinion there's nobody on the horizon that is looking to take that place.

WWE needs a Monster, a guy who destroys everything. Not like Umaga, or Goldberg, but somebody lke Brock that rose fast and destroyed everything in his path. With wins over Hogan and Taker and Rock and Big Show, he was destined to be the next big thing. Who knows what would have happened if he had stayed.

 

[Agent-67]

I would like to address all the last comments. You are right with the TNA comment. It would help WWE a great deal to have some competition. However, TNA does not have the money or the story lines to even attempt that. Watching that show is like dragging my balls over hot coals. They have got the talent, but damn that show sucks. Their music sounds like someone pulled up their car to the back and blasted the speakers. What the hell is the deal with the fog or dry ice crap. The ring sucks with the six sides of stupidity. Did they rob a building of elevator cords for ropes? Those looked and worked terrible in WCW, why are they using those ropes? They need a lot of work before they can even go head to head with reruns of Designing Women!
I agree with the guy who says the story lines are being reused. I would not be surprised if someone next week threw their opponent off a bridge or sprayed them with a hose. We have seen everyone fight everyone. They have too many ppv's. Because of the ratings ppvs should be special. PPV's should contain special events today. Bring back War Games, let the Survivor series be raw vs smackdown with the winners advancing to a final match like in SS 90, Royal Rumble, elimination chamber, King of the Ring, etc. Hell they gave us WM matches on Raw this week(why the hell they did that I am still wondering) and if I have to see one more match with the MITB people I'm going to watch Mantar highlights instead.
As far as the one guy comment goes that is the problem. One guy is not the answer. I know you all loved Stone Cold and I realize and respect that. But go back and watch the rest of the show sucked bad. When WWE was losing in the ratings they were putting out some of the best angles they had done in a while. The Canada vs US angle was awesome. WCW was also putting on better shows when they were losing. The New Blood vs Old Guys had potential but all the marks were bashing WCW at that point and people loved to watch Austin do the same crap week in and week out.
I love Orton, but if you think he is the guy that is going to carry the company your and idiot. I was a senior in high school and in college for most of the New World Order/Austin era. The dorms were packed, no one was going out until that crap was over. We packed rooms to watch that stuff. Could not wait for the next one, argued over it and loved it. Orton does not carry that star power. He is great and I love him, but if I miss him I'm not going to get pissed. If I missed the New World Order or Austin I could not have a good night & neither could the other 20+ people that packed my dorm room every Monday night.
WWE needs an angle right now. They don't have one and its obvious no one writing today has an idea of what the hell to do.

 

[king168]

vince is probably just trying that pg thing just to try it out and see how things work out since the wwe doesnt have any competiton. but if TNA was to EVER be competition than i could see them using another attitude era as a back up plan. they would just have to give the wrestlers that "i dont give a F#@%" perspective. like when cena was making rap songs to his opponents or when he had the us spinner tittle and besides orton kind of allready has that perspective since the thing with vince, the only thing is they would just need to change it a little.

so my point is..
if (competiton) is whats needed so wwe can be this way,
than so be it
thats what i would like to see back ..

 

[NSL]

As much as I hated it, I think the current product needs it more than the Attitude Era product. Bra & Panties matches.

Except for maybe 4 curretn Divas, none of them can wrestle. Yet, they try to force it on us, that they can. It's laughable. If they brong something like this back, we'll at least enjoy watching people like Jillian Hall, Maria, Candice, and Layla in the ring.

 

[Ambiguous Turd]

The Attitude Era was more than likely the most popular era in pro wrestling history and its storylines and characters are surely missed in wrestling today. WrestleMania X-Seven was, to many the end of this era. There are many things missing, but what missing quality would you like to add back into the WWE's current product? Is it the wrestlers, even competition of WCW and ECW, storylines or other?

To me it what is missing is the originality, everything seemed new or at least fresh. Today it feels as though we get the same storylines every year and the product gets stale.

Your thoughts.

I know that many people blame Stephanie McMahon on Creative for this, and they may be right. But I am convinced that Vince McMahon is the one who is doing more damage at the moment with Creative, than her. Recent reports said she is even getting frustrated with him. I think Vince needs to step away from Creative, so that Stephanie can be 100% accountable for the product.

Another point, is the rating, of course, which is restricting the product.

I've seen mentioned from time to time on here, in which I have also raised the same suggestion on another Forum, that WWE needs to do a better job distinguishing their three shows from each other. Raw should be an edgy show, like it used to be, that used to push the envelope. Target that to your older teens and adults. Give it a TV14 rating. Smackdown should be a show, similar to today's product, targeted to General Audiences .... suitable for a child, but so that adults who don't care for the sex, cursing, etc. can watch it. Then, ECW could be either a Hardcore show OR turn the show into a Cruiserweight Brand. This show's target audience would be a niche group of fans, since the show would have a specific theme to it.

Not only that, but they need to completely distinguish the shows in terms of appearance, as well. Using the same set was one of the biggest mistakes they could have made. Because it seems to eliminate each show's identity.

On a side note, can someone tell me what they feel the consensus is on this Board, about the opinions of posters on here on the topic of the Attitude Era vs Today? I haven't been at this Forum for nearly as long as others, but do more posters enjoy today's product over the Attitude Era or do more people seem to enjoy the Attitude Era over today's programming?

 

[rolltide_pisco]

For me I've said more fan interaction and catch phrases. If you go back and look at The Rock's promos, every one in the arenas chanted every catch phrase and he held the audience in the palm of his hands. He could stop and say, "in 4 seconds they'll all chant The Rock's name" and the crowd would go nuts.

I think when you make the people in the crowd feel apart of the show, you can't go wrong. That is one thing that helps out in television ratings as well. If the people at home are seeing the crowd go ballistic every show and enjoying themselves, 1: they're gonna watch 2: they're gonna buy a ticket to come to one of their shows. I think Triple H said it best in a dvd that when it came to the Monday Night Wars, WCW might have been winning the tv ratings, but the WWE were winning the people on the streets. Entertaining the fan sitting in the 3rd row so next time they came back, he's gonna buy another ticket.

I also believe that the scripts have to go. Let them improvise and cut their own promos in a way that they can and not someone telling them how to do it. The Rock, Stone Cold and others did it perfectly. I feel that's one of the reasons why many have left the company. Not only do you have to be focused on your actual match, but you have to take the time and memorize a scripted promo? Written by a bunch of nobodies who know nothing about wrestling and think they get the wrestlers over?

And the competition has to be there as well. TNA after 7 years is still not there yet and might not ever get there but in honesty, why should TNA try to compete head to head? Make your money, do your own thing and last a long time in the business.

 

[image1986]

What's with the obession with comparing everything to the attitude era? So many threads are based on that subject, the IWC needs to let it go. Yes the attitude era was great but the main reasons it was popular because the company was doing something fresh and new and in addition wwf at thhe time was in a completition with wcw to get ratings. That was the same reason wcw was winning the battle for a long time cuz what they were doing was fresh and new compareed to the conpetition. I don't think going backwards will help the wwe in the long run I believe wwe need to come up with new concepts to get ratings. Shock tv isn't as shocking as it was before and building a company around one guy(basically cena) isn't going to solve the problem either. To comment on the "it" factor people are mentioning about superstars on the contrary to popular belief while austin and rock was awesome and drew a lot for the wwe he wasn't only reason people watched, they were very popular but so was dx mankind taker kane and many others. Instead of living in the past the wwe needs to do something revolutionary in wrestling and people need to let go of past glory

 

[The Doctor]

For God's sake, I'm SICK of people whining about how amazing the Attitude era was and that this isn't it.
Get with the times, people. The Attitude Era is gone. This new wrestling is different. It's not bad! Just different! Wrestling's been pretty damn good recently, if you ask me! I've watched old Attitude stuff, and I enjoyed it, but I don't shit on the new wrestling. Get past your blindness and watch the new stuff. stop whining and fucking enjoy it for what it is!

 

[Savage1]

For me, WWE is missing a "go to" guy. One guy clearly at the top that the fans go nuts for, that can draw no matter what. The closest they have is Triple H and Cena, and neither one is quite at that level.

The IWC has their favorites, but it seems like the casual fans don't. Top guys like Cena and Batista get mixed reactions, while others like Taker and HBK don't seem to get that big time constant push.

Without a Hogan, Austin or Rock, angles seem to get recycled a lot more. I don't think that we really need another Attitude era. We just a breakthrough guy that can carry the show.

I totally agree! And I agree that Randy Orton is the guy who can be the mega heel and lead that side of the show. He is becoming a flat out super heel like HHH and the Rock were when they were part of the Corporation and the NOD. But I also think that its equally as important to have the heels counterpart, meaning you need the hero, or mega face. Think about it...when you had the Iron Shiek you had Hogan. When you had Mr. McMahon you had Austin, and now you have Orton but you don't have a true true babyface. Think of the way the crowd would go crazy booing HHH and chanting Rocky sucks, or Asshole for Mr. McMahon, and how they are booing Orton now...and they always had Austin to pop for, or Hogan. And those pops were ridiculous! The guys we have as faces right now are good dont get me wrong but nowhere near as strong of characters or heros as we use to have. Once they have the counterpart to Randy Orton and Jericho it will be a lot more entertaining...at least for me it will.

 

[ztwhite]

I was a senior in high school and in college for most of the New World Order/Austin era. The dorms were packed, no one was going out until that crap was over. We packed rooms to watch that stuff. Could not wait for the next one, argued over it and loved it. Orton does not carry that star power. He is great and I love him, but if I miss him I'm not going to get pissed. If I missed the New World Order or Austin I could not have a good night & neither could the other 20+ people that packed my dorm room every Monday night.

I think you hit the nail on the head by making this statement. Like yourself, I was also graduating high school and starting college, and like yourself, our common area in the dorm was packed with dozens of people on Monday nights. Frankly, they had a bigger tv than any single college student, so we watched Nitro and Raw on a massive 60-inch projection tv !!

But there's a point I think you're missing - the type of fan that watches wrestling these days. Some, like you or I, are diehards and won't change the channel no matter what happens. But most of those college kids stopped watching once the Attitude era ended. Now, the majority of wrestling fans are kids and that's where the WWE is losing ratings points.

Stick with me here for a second. I work in television and we get ratings for our newscasts on a daily basis so I have a pretty good understanding of how they work. Nielsen calculates ratings based on the number of tv's "tuned in" to your newscast based on "clicks". They happen at 10 minutes past the top of the hour, 20 minutes past and at the bottom of the hour. Repeat the process for the second half hour of a show if it's an hour program. Simply put, that means in order to receive a ratings click, you have to be in programming (not commercials) at the top of the hour, 10 after, 20 after, the 30 minute mark, the 40 minute mark and the fifty minute mark. This is why a network like USA or Spike allows the WWE to run past 11 o'clock - their highest rated show gets a "click" at 11:07 or whatever time Raw runs until.

But here's the main problem - kids don't necessarily factor in Nielsen ratings. Sure, mom and pops may have a meter box or their tv's may be on during Raw, but they're not really watching - kids are - and most kids these days have their own tv's in their bedrooms, computer rooms, offices, dens, etc... Kids don't always watch the same programming that mom and dad watch. Back in the day (early to mid '90's), if you wanted to watch Raw or Nitro, you had to watch it on your mom or dads tv, so the ratings were naturally higher.

The WWE is killing themselves by appealing to kids. That doesn't mean if they start appealing to adults again, ratings will go up. TV has changed in the past fifteen or twenty years. Now we have popular reality shows on every night. Popular crime and medical dramas. Major sporting events played every night of the week and broadcast on ESPN and ESPN2.

The WWE doesn't suffer from a lack of wrestling competition - it suffers from other quality tv programming that didn't necessarily exist 15 - 20 years ago. Go back and name a major, high profile tv show that was on Monday nights between 1990 and 2000. Now, there's Dancing with the Stars (ABC), Gossip Girl, One Tree Hill (CW), House & 24 (FOX), Big Bang Theory, Two & A Half Men, CSI Miami (CBS). These are some of the highest rated programs on tv and they're on Monday nights !!!

What Raw may need is a new night.

 

[jellmoo]

I totally agree! And I agree that Randy Orton is the guy who can be the mega heel and lead that side of the show. He is becoming a flat out super heel like HHH and the Rock were when they were part of the Corporation and the NOD. But I also think that its equally as important to have the heels counterpart, meaning you need the hero, or mega face. Think about it...when you had the Iron Shiek you had Hogan. When you had Mr. McMahon you had Austin, and now you have Orton but you don't have a true true babyface. Think of the way the crowd would go crazy booing HHH and chanting Rocky sucks, or Asshole for Mr. McMahon, and how they are booing Orton now...and they always had Austin to pop for, or Hogan. And those pops were ridiculous! The guys we have as faces right now are good dont get me wrong but nowhere near as strong of characters or heros as we use to have. Once they have the counterpart to Randy Orton and Jericho it will be a lot more entertaining...at least for me it will.

WWE is heeltopia right now. They have a bunch of top notch heels in place (like Jericho, Edge and Orton) and several faces that can turn Heel in a heartbeat and fill that same role (Trips and I believe Batista). The problem at hand is that they don't have a dominant face that puts people in the seats. Great heels make the show, but it's great Faces that sell the tickets.

They just don't have anyone right now with that Hogan/Rock/Austin quality that can be counted on to be the money man. They've tried their damndest to groom Cena to be that guy, but it isn't working. I don't see anyone on the roster right now that has that potential.

 

[jrf328]

The one thing that I would bring back is some of the comedic stuff. Santino is the only comedic relief we have. Stone cold was funny, d x was funny, the rock was funny that was part of the attitude. Its what made alot of these people cool. No one is funny anymore. Everyone is always serious. Except Santino. But i think that also means that the writers need to relax vince needs to relax and they need to let the wrestlers be who they naturally are.

 

[OIL]

I'd say the unpredictability.

I mean, with the WWE being PG rated, everything is limited to what they can do. You're not going to see a huge beatdown on RAW with someone bleeding (I know we just had one with Flair, but it's WM time) or Divas doing all sorts. I'm not saying for RAW to be successful we need blood & naked ladies, we just need to know that anything can happen. During the Attitude Era everything & anything could happen. Most of the time, it did. Now, you can pretty much guess how everything is going to play out. Nothing exciting can happen except a few occasions.

 

[Jimmbo420]

I agree with every one else it is a lack of competition. The WWE can do whatever they want without really having to worry about having someone out doing them, because they feel they are they are the only game in town.

I was just watching the Kane/ Austin king of the ring 98 storyline....that shit was AMAZING...I miss those incredible storylines.

I think it also has to do with a lack of amazing talent that the attitude era had. Even the mid carders were amazing and very entertaining to watch.

 

[TheGreenEagle]

If you want WWE to go back to the attiude era...or do stuff similar to it, we as fans have to get them to stop marketing to the younger crowds. This means going back to TV-14. To do this this means and it may be painful at sometimes, but maybe we need to switch to TNA. Did anyone see Samoa Joe one week have another wrestler (i had no idea who it was) tied hanging upside down beating him up. That's the kind of stuff I'd expect to see during the Monday Night Wars. I don't know if Vince would do something like that today. Maybe on Raw but Smackdown seems more kid freindly than Raw.
Now I'm not saying to stop marketing to kids 100% but why can't you take one show and market it to one age group and take another show and market it to another age group. One idea I had was to take ECW and push it to about 11:00 EST/10:00 CST and make it a two hour show and you don't have to go 100% old school ECW (that would be nice) but you could at least do attuide era stuff. That way you can still keep that older crowd.
When I got into wrestling I was about 8 or 9 years old. This was when Raw was only one hour and they were still stuck in the 80's. I mean in a since that they had way too many gimmicks and it was very childish when it came to characters. As I grew up so did the product. It got edger and attracted older crowds as I grew, so I literally grew up with the product. Now I find myself watching it strickly out of loyalty to the product. Yes its good to start them off young, but you also can't forget the audience that brought you to the dance.
Who buys the PPVS, Who buys the merchanising, Who buys the tickets to the shows, its the parents that grew up like me through the 90's watching some of the best wrestling ever. So we want our kids to enjoy the same things we did. We grew up on wrestling and the best years in wrestling was 1994-2001. Best stuff you wanted to see in all three brands (although WCW started slacking around 99 and 2000).
Now the closes thing they (WWE) have done recently that is attuidish was Triple H at Randy Ortons house. But then they ruined it by having Orton get up instead of staying on the ground and actually selling it. I mean come on he was thrown threw a window!! And anyone whose seen cops knows if you hit someone whose in police custody the cops arrest you too, i know its a story but come on, try to be realistic if you want me to supsend my beilef.
I'm not saying what they're doing is completely wrong I'm just saying they need to do more stuff like this and like what John Cena did to JBL's Limo. And let Kane be Kane!

 

[z99zazn]

I have a few things to say about this.

First off, Randy Orton is one of my favorite wrestlers of this time period. I think he's great in the ring, and on the mic I don't think many people can touch him right now. But there is no way in Hell that he can carry this company right now like Austin or The Rock. And I don't really ever see that as something that'll change with him. Think about it. Austin was a guy that was portrayed as the world's biggest badass. He said and did anything he wanted. It was really easy to turn him face, because he got so much support from the fans. Same with Rocky. He was so great on the mic that Vince couldn't leave him to be a heel forever. But both were great heels and faces. And together, with one a heel and one a face, they could really carry the company. Now I think Randy is a great heel. He gains a ton of heat, and you hear a lot of RKO chants and see support for him at shows. But he isn't a heel that can carry a company by just switching to a face like that successfully. His crazy, psychopathic character wouldn't even get close to being able to carry the company as a face. Maybe in another character, but that would have to be a ways down the road. So while I love Randy, I see zero shot that he could carry the company right now, or anytime in the near future.

imho in order for wwe to step back up into the popularity of the attitude era it needs tna to step up and become a serious competitor. when wcw took a lead in ratings over wwf the attitude era began as a counter to its popularity. now that vince owns all the legitimate competition there's no reason for wwe to innovate. how long has it been since there were 2 wrestling shows airing on the same night week after week vying for ratings. thats what we need

I agree with this quote completely. While I have no desire to watch TNA, if everyone wants to see the WWE get back to their previous level, TNA has to get a lot more popular. Right now WWE ratings are going down, and TNA is way up. While some people say that TNA will never compete with WWE, I don't see it that way. I think that they can do it. It'll take awhile, and WWE will have to become total shit, but it could happen if TNA gets a few big stars. I don't watch TNA but I hear that the MEM is pretty entertaining, and it sounds like a good angle and I'd like to get into that a bit. And AJ Styles is exciting as all hell. So maybe it could work?

While I'm not a person that bitches about how bad the WWE has become, I do feel that I enjoyed the product better during the Attitude Era. I don't think that the WWE is bad at all now, I still watch Raw every single Monday and try and catch as much of Smackdown as I can. I order the PPVs, and still enjoy it all (besides ECW). But if people want the PG rating gone, or they want things to change, some shit is gonna have to happen. TNA is gonna have to compete with the WWE on a regular basis. Who knows if its gonna happen, but who knows, it could. If that happens Vince will have to really step up his game to make sure WWE comes out victorious. If TNA can't someone else is gonna have to eventually. Who knows who it'll be, but it'll happen eventually. Just enjoy the product we have now, because it's still damn good.

 

[K Bro 30]

I think all the issues can be traced back to lack of competition. Let's face it, when both WWF and WCW were at the top of their game....things were crazy. Every night you could have any kind of match. Ladder, Table, Cage, Hardcore....something different. Now there is no competition,, so no need to risk guys getting hurt in these crazy matches.

The TV ratings suck because there is no surprises and no on air title changes. With competition, they advertise a World Title match, and we had every reason to believe that on Raw or Smackdown the title could change hands. Now....there is no competition, so if people want to see the title change, spend $40 on a PPV. I personally miss the days where I could turn on Raw (actually, I was more of a Nitro fan) and the WWF/E title could change hands. But without competition, they have no reason to go all out.

I still think Orton and Legacy could be a great turn around for the WWE....but the whole debate comes to who is going to challenge them? Or even better, who else could join them, and help them take over the show like nWo did in WCW. I think if Shane were too join up with legacy and throw some power around, and they could add a few more guys (which is the toughest thing because given the name, we need more 2nd or 3rd generation guys). But once they become powerful and help sell....when do we see the rise of a face and the fall of legacy? The whole thing sounds skeptical, but they need to start taking chances.

 

[TheGreatSPAMbino]

This is a very heavy question and is probably mroe complicated then some people make it out to be. There is not one quality that can be added to the WWE to make it better its not liek that. The reason the WWE is not as popular as it once was is because of a number of things. Firstly, the internet. Smarks are determined to criticize the product no matter what and now for some reason it has become cool for smart fans to simply shit all over everything and boo guys liek John Cena, hopefully this trend changes but i dont see it happening. The other obvious negative brought on by the internet is spoilers which take away unpredictability. I think the number of internet fans is greatly underrated as is their negative impact on the product. Secondly, wrestlers aren't brought up and developed the way they used to be. Everyones style has become watered down and promos are now fed to wrestlers and there is little emotion behind promos. Compare old school promos to that of current era and the promos of the current era are greatly inferior. The era of TV writers ahs taken away the magic of promos. Wrestlers in the mdoern era cant develop in the way that they used to because the WWE wont let them. This prevents them from truly connecting to the audience. Thirdly, the rise of the UFC has hurt the WWE severely. Now more than ever is wrestlign looked down upon for being fake and not a legitimate sport compared to MMA. There is no solution to this problem and i dont see the perspective of the casual audience ever changing which is a very bad thing.

So what can the WWE to combat these three major issues. As to the first i have no idea, you cant censor the internet so solving the first problem is impossible. The second problem could definately be solved however if the WWE actually brings in more experinced wrestlers form the independent circuit as they used to, wrestlers who have truly honed their craft accross the world in small time promotions. They need to let wrestlers develop their own perosnality and show their natural charisma and stop feeding them lines an creating ridiculous gimmicks. I've said it before and ill say it again, the wwe wants to find the next big thing but they are going about it the wrong way. The last problem is also impossible to fix because MMA is defiantely not going anywhere, the WWE could try and look like more legitimate athletics by pushing better "workers" but im not sure how much of an effect that would have. If you can see a better way for the WWE to recover form these problems please let me know.