Big Bang Theory and The Blacklist: What can WWE do?

[No Count Pup]

Monday will mark the beginning of a feverishly competitive TV lineup. Premiering on Sept. 22 will be the Blacklist, Big Bang Theory, and the Voice. With Monday Night Football in the mix Raw could be in for a dramatic ratings drop.

WWE tries to be all things to all people. The problem is, they aren't the best at anything. If an audience wants to see comedy, they will watch Sheldon and Penny over El Torito. If the audience wants drama and suspense, they can watch the Blacklist. If they want to watch a sport, they have football. If audiences want family entertainment they can watch reruns of Full House on Nick at Nite or Step By Step on the Hub.

WWE needs to be the wrestling show, not the variety show. Enough of the veiled references to wrestling. Just be wrestling! The NFL doesn't hide the fact that it's football. It's proud of it! If WWE can't be proud of what it is, how can fans be proud of what they watch?

My solution is more systemic and long term. What about for the short term? Should WWE shake things up for ratings, or just accept some dramatic lows until the MNF season is over and the Big Bang Theory returns to Thursdays? If WWE needs to shake things up, what could they possibly do?

 

[Jack-Hammer]

When it comes to ratings juggernauts like Monday Night Football, Big Bang Theory and the Blacklist, there's not really all that much WWE can do. Monday Night Football still draws massive audiences even though it's broadcast on a cable network now rather than ABC. For the 2013-2014 TV season, Blacklist ranked #6 with an average viewership of 14.95 million per new episode while the Big Bang Theory was ranked #2 for the season with an average of 19.96 million per new episode, without factoring in DVR viewership. Without DVR viewership, Raw would fall just a bit outside the top 100 if it aired on a broadcast network.

I don't mean to keep harping on this, but I honestly think that there'll be very little, if any, of the "variety show" stuff IF Triple H takes over from Vince at some point. Triple H is certainly more of a "wrestling minded" sort of guy than Vince is at this point. If you watch NXT then watch Raw & SD!, you generally see near total consistency in terms of storytelling, feuds and a near total lack of nonsense in NXT because Triple H has been allowed to make THE final decisions, at least most of the time. I mean, I have great difficulty believing that Vince didn't bigfoot Triple H when it came to bringing Eva Marie to the main roster LONG before she was remotely ready. Also, take Daniel Bryan's booking in late 2013 to very early 2014 as an example because that struck me mostly as Vince's decisions as it just doesn't fit with Triple H's style as demonstrated in NXT. While you don't see nearly as much of the "sports entertainment" style of booking on Raw or SD! as there was 5 years ago when the product was getting damn near unwatchable, it's been popping up a bit more lately.

Some of Vince's booking choices can be clearly seen as they tend to feature more comedic stuff, heavy protection of some wrestlers and cheap drama. For instance, the stuff with Adam Rose's bunny and Slater Gator have Vince's fingerprints all over it as does having John Cena look like an absolute beast after losing to Lesnar. Vince likes cheesy comedy and he gets the insane notion that Cena looking vulnerable is a bad thing. The stuff with the Jerry Springer segment on Raw with Brie & Nikki Bella also have strong hints of Vince's booking choices.

I just think WWE should do what we've seen them do quite a lot in 2014: just put on shows with strong wrestling content with long matches, a handful of relevant promo segments and tone back on the "sports entertainment" stuff. I would say that while it might not produce ratings growth during this time, it'd cut back on the complaints about the product but I can't. C'mon, even when WWE's product is riding sky high and looks to be running on all cylinders, there's still just as much griping from some internet fans and dirtsheet writers even if they have to pull the complaints out of thin air.

 

[Blade]

If an audience actually wants comedy, they won't be watching the Big Bang Theory at all. But that's neither here nor there.

WWE seems to be in a state of only thinking in the short-term. Sure, they've got Roman Reigns' rise to the top all planned out. But they don't seem to have much of a plan B until they know for sure when Daniel Bryan is returning. They just need stars. People who'll pull in the viewers. They haven't had real star power since the Attitude Era, unfortunately. All they've really had in the last decade is John Cena. Batista fizzled out after a few years. Punk was never mainstream enough. Bryan's career has had obstacle after obstacle.

So yeah, WWE shouldn't be worrying about the fall season of 2014. They should be focused on the fall season of 2015. Build some stars so that Raw won't seem like such an underdog against NBC, CBS, etc. They've got a good foundation with the former Shield boys. They just have to start putting it all together. But it seems like WWE doesn't have that kind of long-term planning ability any more.

 

[George Steele's Barber]

The good news is that unlike MNF, shows like Blacklist and BBT ate far more recordable than Raw. I record Raw but that has more to do with my other responsibilities and the fact that I record almost everything I watch but Raw is more of a show that you don't want to put off compared to a BBT or Blacklist.

That isn't saying Raw won't lose viewers to these shows. They most certainly will. But I don't think it will be as dramatic as football. These shows don't last three hours and I don't believe they cross over as significantly as MNF does.

Plus Cena is going to win the title and become a Paul Heyman guy at NoC so everyone is going to be watching Raw to see how that plays out. Plus others will stop watching BBT now that Kaley Cuoco is married and cut her hair short. A lot of folks have been watching so many shows recorded to the point they will forget that BBT and Blacklist are even premiering that night.

 

[Mustang Sally]

The OP's remarks are admirable in nature but if WWE wants to advertise itself as strictly a wrestling show, they're sticking their necks out too far, as pro wrestling isn't.....and hasn't been.....the "in" form of entertainment for a long time. It's far from fashionable to identify yourself as a fan of wrestling.

Somehow, in some way, Vince McMahon found the correct formula to convince people to join his movement 15 years ago. He got many people to follow pro wrestling although they never actually became fans. He's probably been searching for a way to catch lightning in a bottle again, but I don't see how he'll ever do it, not to the extent brought in the Attitude Era.

So, in order to capture viewers, wrestling has to be many things besides just pro wrestling. Various formulas have been tried over the years, including the ill-fated concept of putting on rock shows during broadcasts of Raw, Nitro, and other promotions. True, they didn't get many folks to tune in their wrestling show to catch Kid Rock performing on stage, but you can see what the wrestling promoters were aiming for.... trying to make a wrestling show seem like many things to many people in an effort to make them want to watch. Variety is the spice of life, but wrestling is still wrestling.

That's where we now stand in considering how to keep folks who spent the Summer watching WWE and are now ready to desert in favor of Sheldon Cooper or Monday Night Football. All McMahon can do is come up with the best storytelling ideas he can and have them practiced by the best wrestlers. The usual skits, music and comedy routines are a welcome part of the whole show but unless WWE can again find the way to get people to follow a mass movement to his product, it's gonna be the same problem as long as football keeps broadcasting on Monday night.

 

[L@RISANO]

First thing WWE has to do, is make people interested in the product, and especially, try to convince those already watching that what is being put on by the WWE is worth coming back to week after week.


After SummerSlam, especially, the programming has been weak,lMO. Apart from Cena's story(which will only be truly worth it based on what occurs tomorrow night), the other stories have fallen flat because they have been poorly done as far as I am concerned.


As Sally said, admittedly, Vince will find it hard to catch 'lightning in a bottle' again, but what is being put on the table right now, isn't exactly giving people(Current weekly viewers) a reason keep watching RAW and at least keep up the current numbers.


The next few months going onto Rumble will be an interesting time for the WWE fans, no doubt.



Honest Question:
Looking at each match on the NoC Match Card, based on how each feud has been played out, how much interest has been generated such that fans genuinely Want to watch and see the end game at NoC?

My Answer:
Besides the World title match, there isn't any other match that is really of much interest, mostly because of obvious half-arsed build-ups that have been done for the majority of the other matches.

 

[MrHashasheen]

When it comes to ratings juggernauts like Monday Night Football, Big Bang Theory and the Blacklist, there's not really all that much WWE can do. Monday Night Football still draws massive audiences even though it's broadcast on a cable network now rather than ABC. For the 2013-2014 TV season, Blacklist ranked #6 with an average viewership of 14.95 million per new episode while the Big Bang Theory was ranked #2 for the season with an average of 19.96 million per new episode, without factoring in DVR viewership. Without DVR viewership, Raw would fall just a bit outside the top 100 if it aired on a broadcast network.

I don't mean to keep harping on this, but I honestly think that there'll be very little, if any, of the "variety show" stuff IF Triple H takes over from Vince at some point. Triple H is certainly more of a "wrestling minded" sort of guy than Vince is at this point. If you watch NXT then watch Raw & SD!, you generally see near total consistency in terms of storytelling, feuds and a near total lack of nonsense in NXT because Triple H has been allowed to make THE final decisions, at least most of the time. I mean, I have great difficulty believing that Vince didn't bigfoot Triple H when it came to bringing Eva Marie to the main roster LONG before she was remotely ready. Also, take Daniel Bryan's booking in late 2013 to very early 2014 as an example because that struck me mostly as Vince's decisions as it just doesn't fit with Triple H's style as demonstrated in NXT. While you don't see nearly as much of the "sports entertainment" style of booking on Raw or SD! as there was 5 years ago when the product was getting damn near unwatchable, it's been popping up a bit more lately.

Some of Vince's booking choices can be clearly seen as they tend to feature more comedic stuff, heavy protection of some wrestlers and cheap drama. For instance, the stuff with Adam Rose's bunny and Slater Gator have Vince's fingerprints all over it as does having John Cena look like an absolute beast after losing to Lesnar. Vince likes cheesy comedy and he gets the insane notion that Cena looking vulnerable is a bad thing. The stuff with the Jerry Springer segment on Raw with Brie & Nikki Bella also have strong hints of Vince's booking choices.

I just think WWE should do what we've seen them do quite a lot in 2014: just put on shows with strong wrestling content with long matches, a handful of relevant promo segments and tone back on the "sports entertainment" stuff. I would say that while it might not produce ratings growth during this time, it'd cut back on the complaints about the product but I can't. C'mon, even when WWE's product is riding sky high and looks to be running on all cylinders, there's still just as much griping from some internet fans and dirtsheet writers even if they have to pull the complaints out of thin air.

Agree with most of this, but I think you're placing the cheap drama too much on Vince. Steph's head of creative after all, and most of the cheap drama now synonymous with the WWE came since she stepped up to creative.

 

[No Count Pup]

When I say WWE should be about wrestling, I don't mean there should be just one match after another. What I mean is the wrestlers should be motivated by pride, money, and gold. Pride because they say they're the best and they want to save face. Money because winners should get the bigger purse. Gold because it is visible proof that the holder is a champion and alpha male.

Matches are oftentimes too quick and illogical. Jack Swagger lost to Bo Dallas on Smackdown after a simple arm wrench and bulldog. It was only a couple of minutes. Come on! Ridiculous! If the intent was for a fluke finish, Swagger could have at least snapped! That would have been simple, effective and believable.

A guy with Swagger in his name shouldn't be pinned so routinely. With his size, credentials, and namesake, he should be a pretentious gold-wearing or title contending badass. Fans like cocky athletes who can back it up every night. Look at Richard Sherman, one of the great talents of the NFL. He cut a self-aggrandizing and disjointed promo en route to the Super Bowl. BUT IT WAS ALL PASSION! That's what wrestling fans want.

Razor Ramon and Macho Man put on a clinic: http://youtu.be/B6UuJYfs_6c?t=14s

They were two hard headed SOBs who just wanted to defeat the other as a matter of pride. You could feel the animosity. Could WWE wrestlers of today pull off an exchange like Razor and Macho did? Cuz if they could, WWE wouldn't have to worry too much about ratings.

 

[wwesux]

worst wrestling excrement can start acting like a wrestling promo instead of a variety of circus show. Focus on wrestling action like TNA does and less on the storylines and talking and BS that no one cares! Drop the comical crap and charcter inventions
UFC is already taking shots at wwe that they are a fake sport and they don t get it!
THey are stubborn and stupid to even realize many have adverted and converted to UFC and some switched to TNA and ROH!
While some other fans can t stand the 3 hour of crap and 30 mins of wrestling!
They have sooo many benchwarmers many wrestlers not utilized and getting paid to sit on their asses that s why wwe is unorganized while TNA is pushing their talent wwe is not and just pushing the older guys Orton, MIZ, Semen, Henry, Big Slow, Khali etc
Swagger should get the push instead of Rusev who would have to prove himself
Where s fango? He s losi in the shuffle? lol Sooon Rusev will follow there

 

[jpickens]

How much you want to bet that a. a shadow conspiracy storyline ( I'm only guessing that's what the Blacklist is about since I don't watch it) or b. a new four man faction comprising of nerds will pop up sometime in the future.

 

[MERPER]

I don't know that there is anything they can do short of going back to Attitude Era events.

The only stuff that will drastically alter ratings are ridiculously over the top storylines and plot twists and turns ala Rollins turning on The Shield every week.

That and adding sex appeal with the Divas but there appears to be zero interest in that happening. (Though a bra and panties/Nikki Bella Playboy showing would be nice).

 

[FlairFan2003]

How do these shows do in WWE's key demographic, kids between 7-14 ? I imagine Blacklist, an FBI Crime drama that twists the idea of Profilers tracking killers like on Criminal Minds in a slightly different direction, isn't a big draw with grade school age kids. MNF is, but WWE has been dealing with that for almost 30 years now. Big Bang Theory has a younger audience, but you're talking college age to maybe early 30s as their biggest demo. That isn't WWE's core audience and their share of that audience has been in decline as the legends have all retired. Im not sure what the demo is for the singing show, it probably hits several different demos like American Idol and the old variety shows of the 60s & 70s did but loyal wrestling fans aren't tuning out WWE for it.

Next week Castle returns on Monday Nights but the main demo there is 25 and over, again, a demo that isn't what RAW targets and a demo that has been shrinking in WWE as the legends all left. Like with Blacklist, Castle maybe a Top 20 show in total viewers but how many of them are in junior high, the prime target audience for RAW ?

It may ben fun to watch the battle for audience between these shows but none of them will hurt WWE's audience.

 

[FlairFan2003]

Monday will mark the beginning of a feverishly competitive TV lineup. Premiering on Sept. 22 will be the Blacklist, Big Bang Theory, and the Voice. With Monday Night Football in the mix Raw could be in for a dramatic ratings drop.


WWE needs to be the wrestling show, not the variety show. Enough of the veiled references to wrestling. Just be wrestling!
?

Well, WWE is a wrestling show...wrestling shows by nature since the advent of televised wrestling in the late 50s & early 60s has always been targeted at a male audience and performed as a soap opera, with athletic competition replacing battles over romantic partners and money as the end game of the storylines. WWE still produces a storyline driven product, they haven't deviated from that, and the storylines typically end with some sort of wresting match, so this point really doesn't make much sense.

 

[FlairFan2003]

Agree with most of this, but I think you're placing the cheap drama too much on Vince. Steph's head of creative after all, and most of the cheap drama now synonymous with the WWE came since she stepped up to creative.

Most of the cheap drama actually came from the success of The Attitude Era, with kidnappings, limo explosions, women being drugged and married, etc. WWE was never more soap opera like (and seemingly un real) than during the Atttitude Era. The reliance on storylines that have less to do with athletic competition and more about personal relationships outside the ring was something that became a staple during Attitude and has remained to some extent ever since.

 

[No Count Pup]

WWE needs to be the wrestling show, not the variety show. Enough of the veiled references to wrestling. Just be wrestling! The NFL doesn't hide the fact that it's football. It's proud of it! If WWE can't be proud of what it is, how can fans be proud of what they watch?

Well, WWE is a wrestling show...wrestling shows by nature since the advent of televised wrestling in the late 50s & early 60s has always been targeted at a male audience and performed as a soap opera, with athletic competition replacing battles over romantic partners and money as the end game of the storylines. WWE still produces a storyline driven product, they haven't deviated from that, and the storylines typically end with some sort of wresting match, so this point really doesn't make much sense.

I felt the need to elaborate on this point, so I added a second post on Saturday. If you disagree with it that's fine. Below is what I wrote:

When I say WWE should be about wrestling, I don't mean there should be just one match after another. What I mean is the wrestlers should be motivated by pride, money, and gold. Pride because they say they're the best and they want to save face. Money because winners should get the bigger purse. Gold because it is visible proof that the holder is a champion and alpha male.

Matches are oftentimes too quick and illogical. Jack Swagger lost to Bo Dallas on Smackdown after a simple arm wrench and bulldog. It was only a couple of minutes. Come on! Ridiculous! If the intent was for a fluke finish, Swagger could have at least snapped! That would have been simple, effective and believable.

A guy with Swagger in his name shouldn't be pinned so routinely. With his size, credentials, and namesake, he should be a pretentious gold-wearing or title contending badass. Fans like cocky athletes who can back it up every night. Look at Richard Sherman, one of the great talents of the NFL. He cut a self-aggrandizing and disjointed promo en route to the Super Bowl. BUT IT WAS ALL PASSION! That's what wrestling fans want.

Razor Ramon and Macho Man put on a clinic: http://youtu.be/B6UuJYfs_6c?t=14s

They were two hard headed SOBs who just wanted to defeat the other as a matter of pride. You could feel the animosity. Could WWE wrestlers of today pull off an exchange like Razor and Macho did? Cuz if they could, WWE wouldn't have to worry too much about ratings.

 

[JoeyJoeJoe]

Every fall the WWE hits its doldrum season, and this fall is no exception, though its exacerbated by the absence of people like Bryan, Barrett and now Reigns. The WWE "season" has a rhythm to it, and right now is the calm before the storm of WrestleMania season. It can't upset the apple cart too much because eventually it needs to get primed to showcase its hottest guys. I've no doubt that storylines and pairings for WM31 are starting to be formulated. In addition, as mentioned, this is the time for Fall TV, so why would the WWE want to even bother trying to compete with that.

 

[MERPER]

well, if last night's RAW was any indication they are mailing it in for a while cause the show was absolute garbage from start to finish...

more Nikki/Brie mic time (they are horrendous on the mic)... no Paige wrestling... and a worthless match with summer and nattie... spent 25 minutes giving us garbage from the women's division...

a rusev/henry rematch (cause so many needed to see that again)...

everyone wanted to see cena or ambrose get rollins and neither truly did...

we got more kane shoved down our throats and he has become very tough to watch

another worthless 6-man tag with uso's, sheamus, cesaro, dust bros. that we've now seen 4 or 5 times...

only decent thing was IC title going back to ziggler...

 

[No Count Pup]

well, if last night's RAW was any indication they are mailing it in for a while cause the show was absolute garbage from start to finish...

more Nikki/Brie mic time (they are horrendous on the mic)... no Paige wrestling... and a worthless match with summer and nattie... spent 25 minutes giving us garbage from the women's division...

a rusev/henry rematch (cause so many needed to see that again)...

everyone wanted to see cena or ambrose get rollins and neither truly did...

we got more kane shoved down our throats and he has become very tough to watch

another worthless 6-man tag with uso's, sheamus, cesaro, dust bros. that we've now seen 4 or 5 times...

only decent thing was IC title going back to ziggler...

I agree wholeheartedly with everything you said.

More non-finishes for Raw's double main event? That is how WWE rewards an audience that has better TV options?

The trend is strange. I think the audience wanted Smackdown to become more like Raw. Raw had an heir of unpredictability. But in a twist, Raw has become as droll and predictable as Smackdown.

Why should WWE bother airing Raw live? Maybe WWE should save its money on the live feeds if they are going to act like a recorded show anyway. Just record until the New Year!

I get that programming gets better around Royal Rumble time. But doesn't it cause some alarm to WWE that their ratings fall below 3.0? That is now becoming more the norm rather than the exception.

 

[mkw1962]

The ratings are not going down because of football,the voice or big bang theory, that is just an excuse. They are losing viewers because of bad story lines and injuries, plus you have a part time champion. The Rusev story is getting old, and so is the authority beating up on someone every week(Daniel when he was there, Roman and now probably John or Dean until Hell in a cell). They need to start some good feuds let Rusev lose once in a while, bring back tournaments for the number one contender for the world, u.s., tag team or intercontinental titles. They need to push more mid card wrestlers like Titus or Jack get Bray winning again, here are some feuds Bray vs. Rusev, Sheamus vs. Titus, continue with Seth vs. Dean. There are to many people leaving and injured right now I can't think of anymore feuds change some people from good to bad and vice versa. Mostly start tournaments that can start new feuds and stories. Bring back the writers who wrote in the past sorry Stephanie and yes get back to good old wrestling forget all the talking, I want to see a hardcore match, I want to see the king of the ring remember the old days.

 

[bk555]

There have been good tv shows on the air for a while and monday night has seen a lot of them. Incidentally, Ratings have been down befoe Big Bang Theory and The Blacklist started. The product is weak and out of touch. WWE needs some sort of a reality check or shakeup which has been said for months and months on this site. This is nothing new.

 

[Radical]

How can WWE compete with The Big Bang Theory and The Blacklist?

Well, based on what works for those shows ...

Have WWE debut a new faction of nerds. These would of course be wrestling nerds so they aren't very big or strong but they are super smart so they out smart their opponents to get an advantage. But, most of the time they lose and get wedgies and swirlies. After getting a bunch of wedgies and swirlies the top blonde Diva feels bad for them so she, obviously, falls in love with the shortest, fattest one.

And BOOM, just like that you've got your Big Bang audience.

Then have a character debut who is short and round and convinces Vince McMahon to sell him the company. He turns out to be the leader of the CIA and reveals he has a Blacklist which means very bad things for those who are on it. As he watches matches, anyone who loses goes on the Blacklist and get various punishments for it from being brutally beaten after the match to being thrown off a bridge to being straight up fired.

And BOOM, you have your Blacklist audience.




P.S. I'm really joking about this but honestly, the Blacklist idea is actually kind of interesting for a wrestling show. The Big Bang Theory one is just ridiculous ... however, not more ridiculous than stuff WWE has or is doing already.