Big Fight Atmosphere

[wetland]

In my opinion one of the greatest things wrestling is missing at the moment is the big fight atmosphere. After hearing Paul Heyman talk about the big match atmosphere on the rise and fall of ecw dvd. it got me thinking.

One of the best things wcw were good at imo was creating the big fight atmosphere. Before the pay per view theyd really push on the main event. During the pay per view theyd talk up the main event. Then when it came to the main event, theyd get Michael Buffer out, and hed do the 'lets get ready to rumble' thing and introduce the wrestlers and talk them up.

What i mean by the big fight atmosphere is simular to what you get in boxing. With the promoter building the two up before and during the event.

I beleive the main reason for the decline in the Big Fight Atmosphere is because of the frequency of pay per views, but even still like i said i beleive that was one of the things wcw was good at.

IMO It really adds something special to a pay per view when you create that feeling, and really makes you feel like your getting your moneys worth from that pay per view.

Interested to hear some opinions on this.

 

[Lee]

The problem with the big fight thing is we've seen most of the matches before. Look at your big big main eventers, they've all feuded each other with Punk just really getting in there. It's because we see Cena v Trips or Orton many times over, the PPVs are at least monthly.

The big fight thing happened when you have four a year and it would be a huge fight for the belt, when there was only one WWE championship, now there's two so it kind of mixes that up. Why should I be excited about this big fight when last month the Divas match was higher up in the billing?

The closest we had recently was Taker v HBK and it was something because of the build up, the fact that both are wrestlemania legends and the fact that we'd not seen a match with them two for twelve years.

 

[The Brain]

The frequency of pay per views does hurt the big fight atmosphere. Six hours of television each week hurts it too. It's hard to get pumped for a match when you see all the stars so often.

If you don't mind me adding to your thread, I wonder what are your favorite matches that had that special big fight atmosphere. One of mine is Bret Hart vs. Steve Austin at Survivor Series 96. There was something about it that I can't quite explain. There was something in the air that night at the garden. I guess that something was the big fight atmosphere.

 

[Loveless]

I'm not sure at what point the BMA disappeared but it's definitely gone now. To be honest I didn't even feel it for the HBK/Undertaker matchup.
I put it down to two things. The lack of characters, which really hurts the atmosphere but the main thing is the kids. I hate the bloody kids at PPV's, they totally kill the crowd.

 

[De Mysteriis Dom Satanas]

The big fight atmosphere doesn't mean anything in wrestling now, especially since we can watch the majority of the 'big fights' for free on TV. It's really only for boxing and MMA, but boxing's on its way out unless the Klitschko brothers decide to fight for once, or someone finally beats Pacquiao.

But yeah...I just don't think the big fight atmosphere matters so much in wrestling anymore, at least in America.

 

[BernacK6]

I was actually just talking about this with my Monday Night Raw cohort tonight. After Cena and Orton had their little spat to start the show, I said that I hoped Orton and Cena didn't touch each other inside of a ring until Summerslam. I wouldn't mind seeing them have a backstage altercation, a brawl of some sort, or whatever, just not a match. No 6 man tags, no handicap matches, no DX/Cena vs Legacy, nothing. This all adds to the big fight atmosphere. Good booking, actually, by WWE for putting them on the same team for next week....if they fight, it won't have anything to do with an active match, it'd be a post-match blowup.

With the frequency of PPVs, it is more important now that WWE keeps Main Eventers away from each other in terms of physical contact. This helps build the "drooling for violence" factor that most men ages 18-35 (WWE's Key Demographic) need to purchase said PPV. I know that personally, Undertaker/HBK leading up to WM25 was especially great because they played mind games and their contact with each other were limited to HBK Superkicking him twice. Once WM25 rolled around, I was literally salivating for a fight.

Punk-Hardy is slightly different because Smackdown didn't quite have their Main Event for Summerslam in place until this past week. Now that Jeff Hardy "may not be available" over the next two weeks, this keeps them away from each other so Punk can build heat verbally, leading to a crowd explosion when Hardy enters the arena. That's good booking. Because Cena-Orton is an older rivalry, creating a big fight atmosphere is more possible with no physical contact.