Has WWE finally hit the positive stride they've hoped for?

[Hawkeye]

Think about it. My news feeds and timelines are filled to the brim with overly excited casual wrestling fans because of The Rock and SCSA's returns. Trish Stratus and Booker T have returned to help spearhead a new season of Tough Enough, the original and one of the hottest reality TV shows of it's time. No matter how much the die-hards may hate it, Snooki was quite well received last night on Raw and is even performing at WrestleMania 27. Imagine the rub Snooki could give WWE if she went back to the Shore and talked about how cool wrestling is? Are all of these things just coincidence or has Vince finally hit that stride he's been searching for to propel WWE back into mainstream spotlight?

 

[Humansoundxxx]

They did it with The Rock, Stone Cold, Trish, Booker....none of these people are part of wrestling today. I think if anything, this will cause a short term hype, but long term will remind everyone why they stopped watching or caring when these people (Rock/Stone Cold) leave after Wrestlemania. They're banking on cameos, so Wrestlemania should have a pretty great buyrate, but it'll be back to blah after

 

[ugotpwned999]

If anything this will create a short buff and the ratings will go up. Presumably after wrestlemania alot of the people like Rock and Stone Cold will leave and it will lose alot of its current popularity. I'd say its just a coincidence that the people they are bringing in are working well and attracting a wider range of audiences. After they start leaving it will go back to the boring product alot dont want to watch anymore and will lose its mainstrean attention it has at the current moment.

 

[bjarvis]

I understand what you mean. WWE will never reach that height again. At least not for the forseeable future. But I understand what you mean. WWE seems to be a more positive company. The PG exists but the workers are working with and around it. Of course, the Drug Testing system is in place, younger wrestlers such as Del Rio, Sheamus, Ziggler and The Miz are starting to be accepted as the new future.

But in answer to your question, yes, I believe she is getting paid a lot of money plus her contract states for her to do something of the sort. But here is something for you. I work in an office building in Sydney, Australia. Its a well to do office building that has several leading corporations. Well the lift contains screens where you get advertisements and snippets of news. One of them was about this, how Snooki, star of the Jersey Shore, would be wrestling at the WWE's WrestleMania XXVII. Well that's advertising for one in Australia. My sister, who loved wrestling but kind of fell out of it because she doesn't have much time to watch the DVDs, but loves the Jersey Shore sent me a message 10 minutes later telling me this. So its working.

Plus don't forget Bieber is going to be there as well. To me, this is more relevant than people like Snoop Dogg, the Miller Lite Catfight Girls, Kid Rock. Justin Bieber and Snooki are unfortunately, current massively popular celebrities and Vince is using them, as long as some of the legends of WrestleMania (Austin, Rock, Triple H, Undertaker, Stratus) to sell this Mania.

 

[Brahma Bull]

I wouldnt say they hit a positive stride. Their matches this year are shit compared to last year, so they have to bring back legends to hype it up. Batista has been replaced by the miz, so they had to bring in the rock to get some type of credibility to the match. Jericho was replaced by del rio, and they have to involve christian just to make it decent. taker vs hhh will be great, but taker vs hbk great? i dont think so. all in all, it is the worst mania card ive seen, so they have to bring back the rock and scsa to get the high buy rate that they want.


as a side note: morrison went from being on the brink of main eventing to teaming with snooki at wrestlemania. talk about your fall from grace. another example of the wwe destroying a build. (that goes for ziggler too)

 

[bjarvis]

Personally I think the matches have been increasing in quality. Ziggler-Edge, Cena-Punk, Sheamus-Bryan, Morrison-Miz, Morrison-Sheamus. I don't really remember much stand out matches last year. This year, they are trying to include a great match on every card.

As for the Morrison-Ziggler situation. I agree. Firstly, whilst I love Ziggler, he should have not won the Title in that fashion. Even Ziggler f'n hated it. I think Morrison and Ziggler are the two big pushes to come post Mania, so expect these two to feud Mania. Snooki will probably wrestle Vickie either on Raw or Backlash (whatever that PPV is called). Its not good enough.

There was nothing wrong with a MITB with guys like Ziggler, Morrison, Marella, McIntyre, Bryan, Kingston, Swagger, etc. Its a fun match, allows for the wrestler to strut their stuff and the fans always cheer for it. Plus it allows a wrestler a chance to step into the Main Event. Whilst I like the idea of Bryan vs. Sheamus II, I really do, what's Kingston, Christian, Marella (yes Santino draws huge popularity and a spot in the MITB would have done wonders for him) and R-Truth, doing at WrestleMania. Four of the WWE's biggest and most popular stars are being left off. A Money in the Bank match would have been perfectly fine.

There was nothing wrong with Snooki/Trish Stratus/Kelly Kelly vs. Vickie Guerrero/Michelle McCool/Layla. Yes, its not going to be great but the WWE want to draw attention, hence Snooki, Trish Stratus is a legend and is loved and apparently Vince wants to really push Kelly Kelly. Vickie Guerrero draws mega heat and McCool/Layla are the two heels being focused on.

 

[BTLion1990]

They are hitting strides and I agree that once Austin and The Rock (mainly The Rock) leave then it will slowly decline. However, people who watched the WWE before Rock and Austin (the 3.3 ratings) won't stop watching WWE, I mean they watched it without both before and they'll do it again. The people who have watched recently due to The Rock etc (3.9 ratings... so the 0.6 extra) could stop watching again but maybe not. Even if throughout all this WWE draws and extra 100,000 homes for the next year it's a win as far as they're concerned. I think their main priority however, is the 1,000,000 buys for Mania.

 

[ptsheridan]

I understand what you mean. WWE will never reach that height again. At least not for the forseeable future. But I understand what you mean. WWE seems to be a more positive company. The PG exists but the workers are working with and around it. Of course, the Drug Testing system is in place, younger wrestlers such as Del Rio, Sheamus, Ziggler and The Miz are starting to be accepted as the new future.

But in answer to your question, yes, I believe she is getting paid a lot of money plus her contract states for her to do something of the sort. But here is something for you. I work in an office building in Sydney, Australia. Its a well to do office building that has several leading corporations. Well the lift contains screens where you get advertisements and snippets of news. One of them was about this, how Snooki, star of the Jersey Shore, would be wrestling at the WWE's WrestleMania XXVII. Well that's advertising for one in Australia. My sister, who loved wrestling but kind of fell out of it because she doesn't have much time to watch the DVDs, but loves the Jersey Shore sent me a message 10 minutes later telling me this. So its working.

Plus don't forget Bieber is going to be there as well. To me, this is more relevant than people like Snoop Dogg, the Miller Lite Catfight Girls, Kid Rock. Justin Bieber and Snooki are unfortunately, current massively popular celebrities and Vince is using them, as long as some of the legends of WrestleMania (Austin, Rock, Triple H, Undertaker, Stratus) to sell this Mania.

Dude, this is the EXACT SAME THING that everybody said when Hogan, Savage and everybody else left back in the day. Then the Attiture era came along with Austin, Rock, Foley, Angle and everybody else and it arguably got even bigger than it was before.

These things happen in cycles. It will be huge again. Just relax and wait.

 

[bjarvis]

Dude, this is the EXACT SAME THING that everybody said when Hogan, Savage and everybody else left back in the day. Then the Attiture era came along with Austin, Rock, Foley, Angle and everybody else and it arguably got even bigger than it was before.

These things happen in cycles. It will be huge again. Just relax and wait.

Look, that's true and your point is more than valid. But I just can't see what can lift it again. UFC is dominating now and putting on great shows. Competition is weak. Attitude is gone and I doubt when the WWE click back into attitude mode, it will pull anywhere near the ratings or value we were getting, stables are not as groundbreaking as they were in the mid-late 90s. We had nWo which was a landmark stable until WCW created about 10 different versions. We had DX, Nation of Domination, Ministry (sub: Corporate Ministry). Evolution wasn't bad either. Nexus V1 tried desperately hard to be ground breaking but everything went wrong for it. Firstly the WWE won the tag match, then members got injured, then Orton takes out the stable on their own. Some stable.

I'm a fan. I don't manage to watch it in Australia because I don't have Pay Television but if I here of a good PPV or a solid wrestlers DVD set, I buy it. I'm saving to go to Mania 28 next year, so I do care. I won't leave because we lose Austin, Rock, Triple H, Michaels, Undertaker, Edge, Jericho, Show, etc. In fact, I actually like our new crop: Ziggler, Miz, Morrison, Sheamus, Kingston, Del Rio, Swagger, McIntyre, Jackson, Barrett.

But again, your point is extremely valid, so I'm not counter arguing against you. Who knows the way the future runs?

 

[Azane]

The wrestling itself is in a pretty terrible position right now, hopefully they can put on matches like they put on promos in the upcoming weeks. Vince is really good at stealing the mainstream spotlight around Mania time, and this ones looking to be the most star powered one in a while (Granted not the Wrestling portion).
Its been more entertaining the last month than its been in years, but that's not saying too much. I just hope they can orient the product more towards the athletics over charisma for at least a couple hours of TV Before they hit WM

 

[mrhexum]

Honestly, I think this is just the usual "Road to Wrestlemania" build-up and excitement. Unless something really earth shattering happens at 'Mania, we will be right back to pre Rumble WWE for awhile. Not saying WWE won't improve in time, Vince always finds a way. There's plenty to work with, give it time though. We're all getting antsy watching the pot and waiting for it to boil.

 

[DeadmanFan]

I started watching again after The Rock returned. So yeah it does seem that some older Attitude Era (and before fans) might be tuning in to see what's going on. The last time I paid attention was in 2008. One could argue that it's just the Road to Wrestlemania hype, but I've also noticed that the talent pool at least so far has gotten exceptionally better since then. The matches seem more entertaining and the guys seem to be getting more heat from the crowd.

Also I think Michael Cole is a pretty good heel and WWE made a real good call by making him turn. Time will tell about the long term trends once Rock, Austin, etc. recede after Mania. The fundamentals seem to be falling into place but it could take more time.

 

[Jack-Hammer]

The WWE is getting the kind of numbers and general publicity that it wants heading into WrestleMania. Will the numbers remain as high for Raw once WrestleMania season ends? Probably not as there's always some degree of a decline.

Of course everyone is laying these increased numbers on The Rock & Stone Cold Steve Austin. While they've had influence of course, they're not the entire reasons, not by a long shot. The WWE is still in the 3s and the return of guys like The Rock & Stone Cold haven't elevated WWE back into the Promise Land of the 4s and 5s that it was drawing during the Attitude Era. Even when Austin & Rock haven't been advertised as being part of the show for the past month, Raw has still drawn in the upper 3s. Wrestling simply doesn't have the audience that it once did and there's not a big name left in wrestling that can bring the WWE back to those record setting numbers that they once drew. The Rock & Stone Cold are great to see but, let's be perfectly honest, nobody in their right mind is going to pay $65 for WrestleMania 27 just to see a few cameo appearances from those two. They're a special attraction designed to get people's attention, just like Snooki for example, but if people aren't interested in watching the matches, they're not gonna order the show. Rock & Stone Cold are great, but let's not overexaggerate their importance to WrestleMania.

The Attitude Era was a fad. It portrayed wrestling in a way that'd never been seen before and during a time in which television shows that pushed the boundaries of what was acceptable to show on television were all the rage. Like all fads, however, the Attitude Era eventually lost steam.

 

[Fargo]

For a while, it was cool to be a wrestling fan, even celebrities could be seen in the audience. Now that's pretty much gone away, and it's back to "you don't watch wrestling do you?". The Attitude Era was the top of the mountain, and now we've gone back to the valley. The writers have put too much emphasis on goofy story lines, and the "gang" thing is the NWO all over again. That was the fall of WCW, and it's not going to do any good for WWE. When that comes on I change the channel. I want to watch a wrestling show, not a side show.

 

[iwinulose]

isnt randy savage suposed to make some appearances after WM 27? the rock is there the night after, the deadman is taking another 3-6 months off, triple hhh making appearances every so often. sin cara debuts, christain getting some spot light recently, awesome kong is suposed to debut, miz (hopefully) not champ, new nexus being beaten to a pulp, US title may get some more interesting feuds soon, tough enough starting. if vince can figure out a way to capitolize on all this attention he could keep this going for along time, however if he cant find a ay, then ratings drop back to the normal.

 

[Hulk Hogan's Brother]

WrestleMania season is always a great time to be a wrestling fan. This time's WrestleMania is a bit extra special though with Rock and Austin both being featured in WrestleMania for the first time since 2004. Both Rock and Austin and to an extent Trish will draw in the casual fans in hordes. I don't know who Snooki is and do not care for her a bit but surprisingly it does seem that she has some fans and Vince vision for 1 million buys does not seem like the pipe's dream it seemed two months ago.

As for this hype translating into a longterm success or even a wrestling boom, well that is hard to say but the safe choice would be to say no. Mainstream attention is always great but it cannot be denied that everytime wrestling has hit a boom period the storylines have been really pathbreaking. That is not the case for this year's WrestleMania. The main event rivalries between Cena and Miz and Edge and Del Rio are hardly exciting. Well Cena's is but that is mostly due to The Rock's involvement. The Rock did reference the Miz on Raw this week but it still seems that he is an afterthough in this feud. Edge vs Del Rio is just a basic feud for the title. Nothing that we have never seen before and nothing that will pique the interest of the casual fan.

So yes WrestleMania is going to be a success just like it has been every year but it won't transalate into a wrestling boom or anything of that sort.

 

[Yesiamaduck]

I sort of agree that they are finding their feet, the current WWE product IMHO is more exciting then the product a couple years ago. They have this pool of new talent which they wan't to show and they're baiting people in with the old talent, once this pool of new talent develope alongside each other for a few more years I believe you will have the personality, backstory and prestige to have another minor revival *it won't be huge, but I can see it climbing in a few years*. Much the same way you had some attitude familars rubbing shoulders in the terrible mid 90s, they had time grow with each other and as a result they could work well together and the writers had built up some key charecters to build the rest of the product around.

With the Cena/Orton/Batista generation I consider it to be the attitude hangover where they where the only ones to really blossom during the mid 00s and the WWE kept on rushing out competition or repeated the same stale matches on. I think at the moment they have a lot of guys that can break through together and start a whole new era.

 

[Calderownz]

In my opinion, I think they have really hit their stride. More so then in recent years. They did this with younger talent, a balance of the content and using what they have very well.

I would like to see the wrestling pick up, but the builds have been decent. Nonetheless, I think that it's easier to get the matches back up to shape than interest. So, good for WWE.

 

[mrbooker]

Dude, this is the EXACT SAME THING that everybody said when Hogan, Savage and everybody else left back in the day. Then the Attiture era came along with Austin, Rock, Foley, Angle and everybody else and it arguably got even bigger than it was before.

These things happen in cycles. It will be huge again. Just relax and wait.

Sighhhhhh i cant stand when people go by this logic, the cycle theory is BS look they wont be huge again and here is why the Attitude area was done because WWE was getting done up the butt for months upon months by WCW, it has nothing to do with a cycle it was done as a last resort to not go out of business.

They started letting stars have a open mic, cursing in promos was expected, let the ass and titties hang out, let matches themselves get intense hell in a cell, first blood, I quit, boiler room, parking lot brawl.

WWE had negative publicity was on 60 minutes and the news every week getting questioned about how their stars are throwing up middle fingers, beating up their bosses, doing crotch chops and telling people to suck it, and every girl on the screen has her cleavage out. How it was so horrible for children to see that.

THATS NEVER GOING TO HAPPEN AGAIN... wrestling got huge because everyday people tuned in to see who normally did not like wrestling itself.... Hogan made that happen, and Austin with no leash made that happen.

This is why they have not hit a positive stride their "maineventers" are Edge, HHH,Cena,Orton, Undertaker. 3 of those guys are out the door, and just about every guy that they try to get over to Mainevent stauts simply feuds with Cena then feuds with orton then is considered a major player but is not recieved as such by fans. See CM PUNK, Barrett, Sheamus

WWE gives guys Goldberg likes pushes for about 6 months, without having them look crediable agaisnt opponents , then they slow down because their is not enough talented over superstars to continue the push, and those guys cant carry the feuds with a lesser talent

Simply put the WWE has ALOT of great talents but they need to take a handful of those guys 5+ and make them Maineventers that will be remembered 10+ years from now and until that happens WWE has not hit a positive stride by their standards

They have guys like Cm punk, morrison, miz, and del rio who could reach that status but thats still questionable

 

[ABMorales787]

Sudden comebacks don't do more than bump ratings for a few weeks. The Rock and Austin may be back, but that won't do a damn thing because they aren't wrestling. Employing the old "big return + big shock = ratings bump" routine won't work forever. WWE will hit it's stride when it has more than just John Cena as a recognizable media figure. And no, adding Miz alone doesn't do it either. There's a reason why the Jersey Shore cast is so well spread in the wrestling biz today. They are a full unit. It's not like with WWE where one figure towers over the rest. While to a degree, it happened in Hogan's days, you can't argue that Randy Savage, Roddy Piper and Andre The Giant were big as well in the public eye.