Does your age play a role in what you want to see from WWE?

[Mustang Sally]

This statement probably comes off as too general, but it seems to me most of the people on this forum who are completely dissatisfied with the WWE product are the folks in their late teens and early 20's. (Yes, there are tons of exceptions)

The younger ones are more impatient than us old folks. Collectively, we are the audience; we want to be entertained but it must be understood that a program that has so much original content each week (5 hours) and runs 52 weeks a year can only do so much in providing it. There are only so many ground-breaking, never-before-seen events the creative people can come up with.

You might disagree with my logic, figuring that older fans who have been watching longer would tire of seeing things they've been seeing for years ......yet, after reading post after post on this board, it seems to me the opposite is true; the older fans appear to realize there are only so many things that can be done in a wrestling ring. Frankly, as one of the older fans (33), I'm continually amazed at how many twists and turns they come up with to keep us entertained. Obviously, a lot of board members totally disagree with that sentiment.

But hey, there are plenty of older fans who have grown bored with the product simply because they've been seeing it for so many years, even as there must be tons of young'uns who are still fascinated by what they're seeing for the first time. As a rule, though, youth must be served and WWE is going to have to keep things fresh if they want their fan base to stay solid, to stay young.

And so it goes.

 

[HBsam31]

Being an older fan to at 32 I tend to agree with Sally in that we are a bit more patient when it comes to WWE. It is hard for me to even imagine coming up with that many new ideas to entertain us with all of the programming they have. As far as the evolution of my fandom I would say as a kid all I wanted to see was my favorite (Hogan) get the win. I could watch Hogan win everyday when I was a kid. It differs from now in that I like to see the top star get beat from time to time. When Hogan lost to Warrior I cried lol. In my teens I like the blood and the sleezy aspect of wrestling, and just wanted to see them cuss, and see 100 stunners get handed out. Now I am a fan more of the overall product. I don't get as disappointed when things don't go the way I want, and I can understand that they can't please everyone. In a way I do think age matters, and I think for the most part as we get older we get more patient with the product as a whole.

 

[Cosmo Surfer]

I'm on the brink of my late 20s, and some of my earliest memories as a child were sitting in front of the TV with my pops watching WCW on TBS and WWF/E on USA. Kind of like the OP of this thread said, back then I was more interested in the wrestling as opposed to the promos. I'm not saying I didn't enjoy some of the promos, but one thing that's almost a complete contrast is that back then I really enjoyed faces like Hogan, Warrior, Sting, Bret Hart, etc. I also enjoyed heels like Savage, Piper, Rick Rude, Arn and Tully, HBK etc. but these days I find myself being much more into the heels than the faces.

I watched wrestling for as long as I can remember up until around 2005 or so, and then it just began to bore me. Cena was the major buzzkill for me. I just can't stand the character ever since he dropped the Dr. of Thugganomics gimmick or whatever it was called. If I were a kid right now I'd probably be a fan of him based on how big a fan I was of Hogan back in the day, but right now I often times take a bathroom break or simply mute the tv when Cena is talking because he makes me cringe. He's just nauseatingly bad.

When I took my hiatus from watching wrestling I didn't pick back up watching it consistently until one monday night when I was flipping through the channels around 11:00 and thought "Hey, Raw is about to end. Maybe something worth seeing is going on" so I turned it to Raw and when the channel landed on USA Cena was being smashed through a table. I thought "AH HA! Good ending to Raw!" Little did I know that CM Punk was going to cut the infamous promo, and I don't believe I've missed another episode of Raw since.

As an adult I dig the modern-day heels a lot more than the faces. Punk, Ziggler, Daniel Bryan--although he's pretty over as a face at this point, Cody Rhodes and Damien Sandow, Alberto Del Rio--all of these guys are awesome. Sheamus, Kofi Kingston, Orton, Cena--often times I just can't stand watching these guys. They're all good workers except for Cena (imo). I enjoy watching Kofi and Orton work in the ring, Sheamus is just..meh. Cena (imo) is just awful unless he's with someone who can make him look good like Punk, Del Rio, HHH, HBK, etc. Cena is nauseating.

I know that was a very unfocused rant, but all in all I'd say as a kid I was much more interested in the ring work. I started becoming more interested in the promos and storylines as a teen, and the quality of the ring work was also much better back then.

As an adult I hope for better storylines and better promos because the quality of the ringwork is much lower than the mid to late 90s. CM Punk, Daniel Bryan, Dolph Ziggler, Kofi Kingston, Alberto Del Rio, and some others are incredible, high-level workers, but there just aren't enough of those these days as compared to when I was a kid. If the lack of high-level workers is going to remain consistent, then they need to up their game on the microphone. So I suppose the biggest difference in what I enjoyed when I was a kid vs as an adult is that I enjoy more edgy, original promos today, and I can't stand the nauseating faces who haven't even remotely evolved their character in years.

 

[#tamale]

Cena (imo) is just awful unless he's with someone who can make him look good like Punk, Del Rio, HHH, HBK, etc. Cena is nauseating.

Kind of off-topic but I always find this argument hilarious. "Cena is horrible in the ring. The only reason he looks good is because 'x' wrestler made him look good".

Seriously, Cena looks good because he is good. Great worker, actually engages the audience in the match. Nearly all his matches have a main event feel. Notice that all the wrestlers he's faced (HHH, Punk, Jericho, HBK, Batista, Orton) and the different style each one has, yet he was able to have good to great matches with all of them. Guy is no slouch.

Back on topic, I'm not so sure it's age, but more of a generation thing. Which era you grew up with. I grew up with the early 90s, WWF, CMLL, AAA, and WCW. As you grow older, people appreciate different aspects of wrestling but I always feel the most overlooked aspect is creating compelling storylines and that's what each era had.

 

[Cosmo Surfer]

Kind of off-topic but I always find this argument hilarious. "Cena is horrible in the ring. The only reason he looks good is because 'x' wrestler made him look good".

Seriously, Cena looks good because he is good. Great worker, actually engages the audience in the match. Nearly all his matches have a main event feel. Notice that all the wrestlers he's faced (HHH, Punk, Jericho, HBK, Batista, Orton) and the different style each one has, yet he was able to have good to great matches with all of them. Guy is no slouch.

Back on topic, I'm not so sure it's age, but more of a generation thing. Which era you grew up with. I grew up with the early 90s, WWF, CMLL, AAA, and WCW. As you grow older, people appreciate different aspects of wrestling but I always feel the most overlooked aspect is creating compelling storylines and that's what each era had.

I agree Cena is good overall, but I completely disagree that Cena is a good worker from a wrestling standpoint. He has what, four moves? Shoulder block, the side slam thing, five knuckle shuffle, AA, STF, legdrop off the top rope. Ok, that's six moves. We can agree to disagree in that regard. I think Cena is an abysmal in-ring worker when it comes to actual wrestling. He's great at engaging the kids though.

And wouldn't being a generation thing be akin to it being an age thing? I grew up watching heavily in the hulkamania and attitude eras. I was a teen in the attitude era, so the evolution of the product was pretty fitting with my aging at the time. As I got older, I wanted to see a more edgy product and stopped watching when Cena became the face of the company.

Don't get wrong. I'm not discreding Cena's status as a superstar. His character is completely and totally nauseating, but that doesn't change the fact that he's the man of the company. Kind of sucks considering Punk is the champ, but the reality of it is that Cena is the man of the WWE at this point. He does a great job of engaging the children and reminds me a lot of what Hulk Hogan was in the late 80s and early 90s. I think I'd be a huge Cena fan if he'd turn heel and start berating the crowd.

 

[Sexcellence of Sexecution]

I agree Cena is good overall, but I completely disagree that Cena is a good worker from a wrestling standpoint. He has what, four moves? Shoulder block, the side slam thing, five knuckle shuffle, AA, STF, legdrop off the top rope. Ok, that's six moves. We can agree to disagree in that regard. I think Cena is an abysmal in-ring worker when it comes to actual wrestling. He's great at engaging the kids though.

This argument is completely ridiculous and to say that those are the ONLY moves Cena does is profoundly ignorant. Yes, that is Cena's comeback, babyfaces have comebacks. Shawn Michaels, who is a revered worker, had a comeback. Flying Forearm & nip up, atomic drop, scoop slam, diving elbow, sweet chin music. based on that I could say that I could say that HBK knows only 5 moves, but that would be equally ridiculous. John Cena will often use a fisherman suplex, gutwrench suplex, clotheslines, bear hug, headloack takeover, hip toss and superplex among other moves. When Austin was on top his moveset didn't really have more "variety" than Cena's does now. There's also a lot more to being a good worker than just knowing a lot of moves. You can know a lot of moves, but if you can't tell a story in the ring and can't connect with the audience you're not a good worker, I can't stress this point enough:that's what being a "good worker" really means. Cena has demonstrated time and time again that he can tell a story in the ring and get the audience extremely emotionally involved in the match, and he is therefore a good worker. One of the other trademarks of being a good worker is being able to work with a wide range of different opponents. Yes, Cena has had good matches with guys like Michaels, Guerrero, Angle, Jericho and Punk, all of whom are very "technically skilled" and proficient. But he's also had good matches with guys like Umaga and even the Great Khali at One Night Stand 2007. That was without a doubt the best match of Khali's career, and it took place against Cena. Keep in mind Khali has also wrestled the likes of Triple H and the Undertaker, two highly respected veteran ring generals. Cena vs. Edge TLC Match at Unforgiven, Cena vs. Triple H at WrestleMania 22 and at Night of Champions, Cena vs. RVD at One Night Stand 2006, Cena vs. CM Punk at MITB 2011, Cena vs. Umaga Last Man Standing, Cena vs. Michaels for one hour on RAW, Cena vs. Jericho from Survivor Series 2008, Cena vs. Orton Iron Man match at bragging Rights, Cena vs. the Rock from WrestleMania 28, these are all great main event matches that Cena has participated in, and they come from a wide variety of match types and opponents.

Don't get wrong. I'm not discreding Cena's status as a superstar. His character is completely and totally nauseating, but that doesn't change the fact that he's the man of the company. Kind of sucks considering Punk is the champ, but the reality of it is that Cena is the man of the WWE at this point. He does a great job of engaging the children and reminds me a lot of what Hulk Hogan was in the late 80s and early 90s. I think I'd be a huge Cena fan if he'd turn heel and start berating the crowd.

Yes, Cena is reminiscent of Hulk Hogan, and you said yourself you started watching as a kid during the Hulkamania era, so think about the kids who start watching today. That's the point of John Cena. Also, if Cena were to "turn heel" and then you liked him, he wouldn't be doing his job as a heel. A heel's job is to be hated so that people want to see him get beat by a face. Like I've said before, Cena is the top face and top heel at the same time. Kids and women cheer for him as want to see him triumph, so he's a face to that demographic, adult males hate him and passionately want to see him get beat, so he's a heel to that demographic. The adult males you see in WWE crowd with anti-Cena signs who try and boo him out of the arena are the true marks of the modern era, they are getting worked by Cena and the WWE extremely well, and I suspect they don't even know it.

 

[Hollywood Naitch]

I definitely think that as a younger viewer you buy into pretty much anything they feed you, as long as your favourites are involved, which is why you see the younger WWE audience still adoring John Cena even though the material he is given to work with makes me cringe almost every time I see him.

As an older fan, I found I was looking at the storylines and promos in greater detail and wanting myself to be entertained more, rather than just cheering or booing when I was expected to, and for the people they wanted me to react to.

The age of the viewer does definitely alter what you want to see. As a mid-20s male I really have no interest whatsoever in seeing a midget running around under the ring, or seeing things like R-Truth and an imaginary friend. I want to see athletic, violent matches with wrestlers who can put on a good feud, and make me care about their characters and the reason they are fighting.

I want to see things that make me jump out of my seat, I want the Attitude Era back.

 

[Kris Benwa]

This argument is completely ridiculous and to say that those are the ONLY moves Cena does is profoundly ignorant. Yes, that is Cena's comeback, babyfaces have comebacks. Shawn Michaels, who is a revered worker, had a comeback. Flying Forearm & nip up, atomic drop, scoop slam, diving elbow, sweet chin music. based on that I could say that I could say that HBK knows only 5 moves, but that would be equally ridiculous. John Cena will often use a fisherman suplex, gutwrench suplex, clotheslines, bear hug, headloack takeover, hip toss and superplex among other moves. When Austin was on top his moveset didn't really have more "variety" than Cena's does now. There's also a lot more to being a good worker than just knowing a lot of moves. You can know a lot of moves, but if you can't tell a story in the ring and can't connect with the audience you're not a good worker, I can't stress this point enough:that's what being a "good worker" really means. Cena has demonstrated time and time again that he can tell a story in the ring and get the audience extremely emotionally involved in the match, and he is therefore a good worker. One of the other trademarks of being a good worker is being able to work with a wide range of different opponents. Yes, Cena has had good matches with guys like Michaels, Guerrero, Angle, Jericho and Punk, all of whom are very "technically skilled" and proficient. But he's also had good matches with guys like Umaga and even the Great Khali at One Night Stand 2007. That was without a doubt the best match of Khali's career, and it took place against Cena. Keep in mind Khali has also wrestled the likes of Triple H and the Undertaker, two highly respected veteran ring generals. Cena vs. Edge TLC Match at Unforgiven, Cena vs. Triple H at WrestleMania 22 and at Night of Champions, Cena vs. RVD at One Night Stand 2006, Cena vs. CM Punk at MITB 2011, Cena vs. Umaga Last Man Standing, Cena vs. Michaels for one hour on RAW, Cena vs. Jericho from Survivor Series 2008, Cena vs. Orton Iron Man match at bragging Rights, Cena vs. the Rock from WrestleMania 28, these are all great main event matches that Cena has participated in, and they come from a wide variety of match types and opponents.

This^ is an amazing post i'm glad someone else understands. Every face has a comeback that doesn't mean those are the only moves they know i mean come on the guy regularly wrestles main events for 30+ minutes you can't do that with only 6 moves. The man is a good wrestler who damn sure can tell a story in the ring.

 

[Revenant87]

As a 25 year old I find it pretty hard to relate to todays WWE product. I'm not saying I want an exact replica of the AE back but I would definitely be more interested if they turned up the violence and profanity a few notches and tried to write deeper, more mature storylines and develop characters better.

 

[stonecoldstv86]

Age plays a factor into what people want to see in the product.

I started watching wresting back in the Hogan and Savage Era when I was really young. Then I was tone in off and on for a while and then started tuning in about full time back in about 01 and am still going.

Anyways, these are generlaztions but, Kids like to watch the bright colors. The over top charecters like Hogan, Warrior, Savage, Cena among others. But the biggest thing is Kids like things that are familar. They like the same people to win, their favs usally the Hero. To see the five moves of doom that has to be in about every match from a wrestler. The cookiecutter matches. Kids don't care much about Promos and storylines unless they are short and basic. When we get into stories that we had in the AE most of that stuff is above kids heads so it dosnt matter to them. Plus kids over look alot of the stuff that just is stupid. Like Cena getting DDT'd on the concret floor and makes a comeback. Or that match with Ortan where it was an anything goes match. Orton beats on Cena for like 30 mins. Cena little to no offence till he does 3 moves at the end and Orton gives up. Kids don't care how stupid that looks, they just care the Hero won.

Then as people get older, the interest shift. Need to have indept stories that don't seem to just fall apart. Need a reason to get from one match to another. Like that feeling that don't really know what will happen. Which with the PG Era they took away the anything can happen aspect that we use to have. Everything seems to be cookiecutter, you know of this person is getting a push so he is going to win. We are not challenged to guess what is going to happen we are pretty much given the answer in the PG Era that we werent given the answer back in the AE as much. Also like to have the matches that are not all the same. The matches that it's not just hitting the 5 moves, finisher its over.

So yes basically kids like over the top charecters, bright colors and stuff that is familar and as we get older seems to moves to storylines and matches that challenge us and we don't know the outcome of.

 

[#MrScissorsKick]

I didn't read any other posts before this one, so my apologies if I repeat anything thats already been said before. Anyways, I'm 20. I started watching professional wrestling since i believe it was 1998 but no doubt i took time off between my life of watching wrestling. From 1999-mid-2001 was the first time i took a break. I missed the biggest events in the history of the professional wrestling industry. So I have a limited memory of that time period in my memory. I remember watching TLC matches on SmackDown! between The Rock and The Dudleyz and since i was so younger than i am today, I used to, like many other youngins thought professional wrestling was "real". I put the real aspect in quotation marks because professional wrestling is half real - the ring is there, fans are in attendance, there are wrestlers fighting etc. At that age I thought the storylines were legit, the injuries were real, and the moves would work in translation to "real life". However as I got older, I begin to surf the web and I had no idea that there was websites - aka dirtsheets. I was a little upset at that at the time but as i get older i still have that passion i once did. I (try to) watch as much wrestling as i possibly can. I was a true WWF fan I hated the WCW but i would try to watch if my favorite wrestler, Booker T was on. When I was about a early teen, I used to have a passion of dislike for Hulk Hogan. However, as I got older I begin to realize that he was from a generation before my time, the same way I'm a fan of John Cena, Booker T. Who knows maybe the generation after mine will hate Cena (well, for all you Cena Haters, i already know you guys don't like him). Moral of the story: Yes, wrestling has played a role in how i react/watch it because of my age.