Hulk Hogan's Brother
Stop asking me what I'm gonna do!!!
As we all know wrestling is not as popular as it once used to be. The reasons why this is the case are discussed on our forums quite often but what I would like to discuss is the impact that this lessening of popularity has had on the wrestling companies. It seems like the two biggest companies out there have a niche audience for themselves and they are just trying too hard to make sure that they do not lose a single member of their audience. What is happening as a result is that pro wrestling has become a bit less riveting. Allow me to explain my point further.
WWE
Now WWE as we know are trying to target the kids. What is happening as a result of this is I feel that the faces are just winning much too often. There were three feuds in 2010 namely Nexus vs Cena; Punk vs Mysterio and Batista vs Cena that did not live up to their potential just for this reason. As we know Cena won all three of his matches versus Batista and we all know that he singlehandedly destroyed the Nexus. Also I really want to have a look at Rey Mysterio's win loss record. For an underdog, a guy who is supposed to lose more often than he is supposed to win, he has a damn impressive record for sure.
What I want to say is that I think WWE does this on purpose. Perhaps they think that the kids who are buying tickets will be disappointed to see their hero lose and might decide not to watch wrestling again. The win/loss record for the heels in this company is startlingly poor and the record is even worse when it comes to PPV matches. I think that the only time a heel wins matches in the WWE is when WWE want to push a new heel. Like in the case of Punk in 2009 and more recently Kane in 2010. But in all other cases, and especially when they have booked a face to win a feud, they ensure that the face totally dominates the heel. I think that WWE try to hard to create a feel good moment and that is the reason why wrestling does not seem very riveting to me. Tell me why should I buy Batista as credible enough to challenge Cena when I know that Cena has already beaten him with ease in their earlier two matches? This is the same thing that I felt going into their third match. Tell me why should I even think that Punk can beat Cena when I know that he could not even beat a midget. The reputation of the heels have been tarnished so much that it is difficult to take them seriously.
TNA
It looks like TNA want to create an attitude era of their own. They have made it no secret that they are targetting the 18-49 demographic. One thing that was the norm in the Attitude Era were the over the top storylines.
To sum up what the Immortal angle was all about, it was about Jeff Hardy turning his back on the fans in order to win the title. But TNA built it up as some extremely convoluted storyline. With Abyss behaving like this raving lunatic there were actually some people who were saying that "They" might turn out to be some angle involving religious undertones and other even more convoluted ideas that are too fantastic to even deserve a mention. Some said that Dixie's parents might be involved. All in all people were expecting something so fantastic that they felt a bit robbed with the relevation.
Now while we are on the topic of over the top storylines, what in the blue hell are TNA doing with the Pope? He looks to have made a heel turn but was it really all that neccesary. I thought he cut a good promo on the show after Turning point and was primed to make a comeback in his feud with Abyss but all of a sudden he is heel. Why did this happen?
Also, as has been stated by Hulk Hogan, TNA are supposed to be going shoot crazy. Recently there was an event at which Jeff Hardy was scheduled to appear for an autograph signing but instead he came out and told the fans to save their money and go buy some groceries because he was not gonna oblige them, or words to that effect. The thing is that this is a clear indication that TNA are trying too hard to attract the smark fans.
Another point that I want to touch upon is the fact that the promos that the wrestlers cut in TNA seem completely unscripted. There are some promos of which I just cannot make any sense. Like in the promo when RVD was questioning EV2 and Raven started laughing. What was Raven exactly trying to say there? I just thought that he was triyng to use big words to sound smart. There are more examples that I could give but this seems to be directly a result of the attitude era. There is this rumor that does the rounds that the wrestlers cut their own promos in the Attitude Era without requiring the help of the creative. Now this I feel is very untrue. Sure the wrestlers might have impovised a bit here and there but I refuse to believe that the promos were unscripted. And even if they were I feel that TNA should just realize that the talent was better back then. This is one more step that they have taken towards creating their own attitude era but it is not working to say the least. Some people might point out that WWE's promos are overscripted but between overscipted promos and shit promos I would take overscripted promos any day.
So after reading all this do you think I have a point? Are TNA and WWE trying too hard these days? Or is it a figment of my imagination?
Discuss.
WWE
Now WWE as we know are trying to target the kids. What is happening as a result of this is I feel that the faces are just winning much too often. There were three feuds in 2010 namely Nexus vs Cena; Punk vs Mysterio and Batista vs Cena that did not live up to their potential just for this reason. As we know Cena won all three of his matches versus Batista and we all know that he singlehandedly destroyed the Nexus. Also I really want to have a look at Rey Mysterio's win loss record. For an underdog, a guy who is supposed to lose more often than he is supposed to win, he has a damn impressive record for sure.
What I want to say is that I think WWE does this on purpose. Perhaps they think that the kids who are buying tickets will be disappointed to see their hero lose and might decide not to watch wrestling again. The win/loss record for the heels in this company is startlingly poor and the record is even worse when it comes to PPV matches. I think that the only time a heel wins matches in the WWE is when WWE want to push a new heel. Like in the case of Punk in 2009 and more recently Kane in 2010. But in all other cases, and especially when they have booked a face to win a feud, they ensure that the face totally dominates the heel. I think that WWE try to hard to create a feel good moment and that is the reason why wrestling does not seem very riveting to me. Tell me why should I buy Batista as credible enough to challenge Cena when I know that Cena has already beaten him with ease in their earlier two matches? This is the same thing that I felt going into their third match. Tell me why should I even think that Punk can beat Cena when I know that he could not even beat a midget. The reputation of the heels have been tarnished so much that it is difficult to take them seriously.
TNA
It looks like TNA want to create an attitude era of their own. They have made it no secret that they are targetting the 18-49 demographic. One thing that was the norm in the Attitude Era were the over the top storylines.
To sum up what the Immortal angle was all about, it was about Jeff Hardy turning his back on the fans in order to win the title. But TNA built it up as some extremely convoluted storyline. With Abyss behaving like this raving lunatic there were actually some people who were saying that "They" might turn out to be some angle involving religious undertones and other even more convoluted ideas that are too fantastic to even deserve a mention. Some said that Dixie's parents might be involved. All in all people were expecting something so fantastic that they felt a bit robbed with the relevation.
Now while we are on the topic of over the top storylines, what in the blue hell are TNA doing with the Pope? He looks to have made a heel turn but was it really all that neccesary. I thought he cut a good promo on the show after Turning point and was primed to make a comeback in his feud with Abyss but all of a sudden he is heel. Why did this happen?
Also, as has been stated by Hulk Hogan, TNA are supposed to be going shoot crazy. Recently there was an event at which Jeff Hardy was scheduled to appear for an autograph signing but instead he came out and told the fans to save their money and go buy some groceries because he was not gonna oblige them, or words to that effect. The thing is that this is a clear indication that TNA are trying too hard to attract the smark fans.
Another point that I want to touch upon is the fact that the promos that the wrestlers cut in TNA seem completely unscripted. There are some promos of which I just cannot make any sense. Like in the promo when RVD was questioning EV2 and Raven started laughing. What was Raven exactly trying to say there? I just thought that he was triyng to use big words to sound smart. There are more examples that I could give but this seems to be directly a result of the attitude era. There is this rumor that does the rounds that the wrestlers cut their own promos in the Attitude Era without requiring the help of the creative. Now this I feel is very untrue. Sure the wrestlers might have impovised a bit here and there but I refuse to believe that the promos were unscripted. And even if they were I feel that TNA should just realize that the talent was better back then. This is one more step that they have taken towards creating their own attitude era but it is not working to say the least. Some people might point out that WWE's promos are overscripted but between overscipted promos and shit promos I would take overscripted promos any day.
So after reading all this do you think I have a point? Are TNA and WWE trying too hard these days? Or is it a figment of my imagination?
Discuss.