How Confident Are You In Your Belief That WWE Can Turn Things Around?

[Jack-Hammer]

Complaints criticisms and general negativism tend to surround WWE at all times when it comes to some fans. As of right now, Raw's ratings are reaching record lows with reasons varying from a lack of roster depth, primarily in the main event picture, booking that is described at times as nonsensical, chaotic, illogical, lazy, flat out dull or some combination all those, the fall television schedule, the holiday season, fatigue and/or frustration among fans, etc. WWE is in a tough spot right now, no matter what excuses or assignations of blame on whoever Vince McMahon wants to dish out.

However, generally speaking, is it really any different than other times they've gone through a rough scrape? After all, there've been plenty of times where WWE has gone through a stagnant period only to emerge later on with renewed excitement, interest in the product and overall product quality. However, t some degree, I think it is a bit different this time around because it seems to get tougher for WWE each time this year with each passing year. This year in particular as a whole has been rough when it comes to the overall quality of the product and the ratings; Raw has usually not broken the 3.0 ratings level this year whereas they were routinely doing mid and occasionally upper 3s in 2014. Numerous people from fans to dirt sheet writers to insiders to financial publications believe a significant change needs to happen in WWE's creative process; some have even called for Vince McMahon to sell his shares of WWE and/or step down as CEO of the company.

With the new year looming on the horizon, there's always a sense of optimism and renewal as WWE hits the reset button to kick off another year. The first Raw of the new year is highly anticipated and is among the better episodes of the year. I think that sense of optimism is still there, I also believe that more fans than ever are hoping to such a degree that it borders on desperation that the new year will bring renewed faith.

With that being said, how confident are you in WWE being able to get things back on track?

 

[Mustang Sally]

If operations in WWE are as they seem, it's plain that new blood is needed to direct the production. Fortunately, the new blood is already here in Mrs. & Mrs. Paul Levesque. Looking at what Triple H accomplishing in NXT, it appears he could do the same with the major league affiliate if he could get his stubborn old father-in-law out of the way.

Obviously, we all know the problem with that; Vince McMahon doesn't seem to be going anywhere. Still, the man is 70 and one has to wonder if the company has enough steam to be a factor until he either dies or retires.

With Vince gone, I feel really confident WWE can turn things around. They are still a profitable company and have the financial strength to keep it going while they wait for the owner to let go of the reins.

As for the performers it takes to make the place run, I remember when Internet boards were buzzing about "Whatever will we do once Rock and Austin leave us? There will never be anyone to replace them. Oh, my! Oh, my!" Meanwhile, the next big thing was coming of age in West Newbury, Massachusetts.

Unlike the days of yore, we have a healthy minor league system in full operation, ever-searching for the next Sammartino, Hogan, Austin, Rock or Cena.

WWE will be around.

 

[SuperTaco]

There won't be any big changes. WWE is going to toil along with their grand "plan" and throw in a couple slight modifications to make it seem like something huge is on the horizon.

As long as WWE is making money, things are not going to change. They have a system, and the only way that system is breaking is if someone big in the company drives that change. This has to be Triple H, because nobody else has enough power to make it happen besides Vince himself.

 

[Redemption-2012]

Very sceptical and under confident. The WWE (specifically Vince and Triple H) don't believe anything needs to change and THAT is the problem they have. Need I say anymore?

 

[Iversen]

They'll turn it around eventually. The problem is that like every other time they go through a bad patch they'll have lost however many more people from the product. If you go to an indie show at the moment it feels like the wrestling industry is booming, in fact, you could argue it is everywhere apart from WWE. It becomes easier every year for people to find an alternative and every time WWE begins to insult its fan's intelligence. More and more people will turn to it.

 

[King502]

Not much will change Cuz the same ppl r making major decisions and they still don't believe in the same talent the fans do example Cesaro n AMBROSE and Cena heel turn could help

 

[resignedknight]

I'm trying to keep it all in perspective and remember that, going back years and years, it's usually pretty bad this time of year (DX In Your House, anyone?). And every year they get it ramped up right about the time the new year turns. We could just be in a particularly bad example of that this year, exacerbated by Rollins' injury and, yes I'll say it, Cena's absence (I've been as big of a Cena detractor as anybody, but the show is less entertaining without him on it, if for no other reason than the fact that when I wanted him to lose I actually cared).

With all of that said, it does seem remarkably bad right now, and it does seem to be bad on a fundamental level. There just is no unpredictability, and I think that's the biggest problem. I've been thinking about ADR recently. Why is that I thought it was awesome when he showed up in Lucha Underground, but I just don't care about him in WWE? I think the answer is that he seemed like a loose cannon on the indy's--pissed off and hungry after he left WWE, but there is no such thing as a loose cannon in WWE right now. The cannons are all very precisely aimed, and it's boring as hell when you know where all the cannonballs are going to land, especially since they aren't hitting anything particularly interesting. The closest thing we have is a lunatic fringe who does lunatic things like throw popcorn in people's faces. Seriously, popcorn? Wow, how edgy.

I'm not going to get into how to fix it. That's been discussed ad nauseum, and, at the end of the day, who the hell am I to pretend like I know. I just think they are on the verge of losing their core audience. I know because I am that core audience, and I'm on the verge of not watching for the second extended period in 25 years. I'm not naive enough to think PG or over-scripting is going away, but they need to figure out a way to strike a balance between that and what we lifers are looking for. It's like a presidential campaign: you have to court moderates and casuals, but you have to do that in a way that doesn't alienate your base. If you can do that you win, and if not you go away. Can they figure it out, I don't know, but I hope so.

 

[Deoxyribonucleic A.C.I.D.]

Here;s the deal. They can change. It's not like WWE will become TNA. There will always be the hardcore fans to support them.. The problem is, are the hardcore fans enough for the WWE? Or do they want to attract more casual fans? That's the big question in play.

As long as the hardcore fans watch it, it will be fine. Will it change? Not at least the day Cena, Lesnar, Orton, Undertaker and Triple H retire. Now, this is not a jab at these legends. My point is that WWE puts their faith in these guys. The part-timers. And in return the part timers bring in money. Hence the reports that Vince is not panicking at the moment with the low ratings, because the part-timers will return.

So my point is, when there are no more part timers left, that's when they will have to change. They will have to evolve, or perish. Natural selection's a bitch. Trust me, I'm a biologist.

Until that time, I don't think anything major will happen though.. Why? Because they're still making money.

 

[kris8524]

Every generation goes through this and i have been waiting for it since like 2005. Its just this generation of kids getting older and changing their tastes. The same thing right before the attitude era and then they found a way to hook the teenagers on until a mew group of children were ready to be introduced. So it will get a shakeup again then rinse and repeat.

 

[Jeff Deliverer of Mail]

I'll say fairly confident. You have guys like this sitting in the wings....

The Undertaker
Brock Lesnar with Paul Heymen
Sting
Seth Rollins
Cesaro
Randy Orton
Daniel Bryan
Ric Flair
Chris Jericho
Sami Zayn
Triple H
The Rock
Possibly Batista
Possibly Jushin Thunder Liger ?? He did wrestle on an NXT Event...

Plus you have guys that are being underutilized like Zack Ryder, Bo Dallas, The Intellectual Savior of the Unwashed Masses ...

AND you have a roster of NXT guys in case things get really, really bad. So , with this big roster of back ups WWE can easily change things around. They are really trying to squeeze what they can out of the depleted roster they have left. Why they don't grab a few ready NXT guys to shake things up a bit is a mystery.

 

[stingray11214]

The problem with WWE is that they are trying to be all things to all people. They are serving too many masters. However, as long as WWE is making money, what is there to change? They are going to forge forward, even as the Indies pick off fans here and there.

 

[kingofkings1]

Things can turn around if and only if they have the charismatic talent like Dwayne Johnson , stone cold, Chris Jericho, Hulk hogan, Shawn Michaels, triple H, Kurt angle etc. you know what, there was something incredible in the above listed guys which attracted fans whenever they were on the screens like the magnet attracts iron nails when magnet is close to them. Now a days , wwe has guys who can wrestle well but they lack that charismatic thing. This Raw, the last promo between sheamus and roman was so boring. nothing charismatic was in that promo. You see, Roman was calling Sheamus 'son'. oh my gosh. that promo was pathetic. Now about wwe turning things around. Well for that they need to have those charismatic quality type of players which they lack. Roman, Cesaro can fight well but lack that charisma. similarly for Owens, Ambrose, sheamus. the only good thing about ambrose is that he is a kind of a psycho. there is a question. WHY WWE IS TRYING DESPERATELY TO BRING BACK ATTITUDE ERA PLAYERS? The answer is not only they are famous and have a nice fan base BUT BUT BUT, they know that they lack charismatic personalities. The only way wwe can turn things around if they are able to bring back guys like CM Punk , Daniel Bryan, Seth Rollins (yes, he is damn good and in coming years, he will be huge, if injuries don't happen again), The Rock, Stone Cold. Hell, they even want Shawn Michaels to come out of retirement.

The bottom line is WWE have wrestlers but they need to make them charismatic. Fan attracting. They have to work on it.

One more thing about turning things around is they need to do something about the Match results predictability.

 

[Azane]

If NXT is any indication, WWE will be turning around within the next couple years, the guys and gals that look ready to come up are all looking great, and getting the exposure needed through NXT to be able to transition well.

The big sticking point is if they actually listen to the audiences though, if they leave Reigns as a Main Event face when he's been getting Booed out of every building for a year, then there's no saving them.

 

[SSJPhenom]

I’m fairly confident that they can turn things around. They did it in the 80’s, then again in the late 90’s, and now it’s time again. Everybody likes to talk about what the problems are with the current product. We hear that booking is the problem, creative is the problem, talent is the problem, etc; but what I feel is the huge problem is that WWE officials no longer listen to the fans. I’m not talking about us in the IWC. I’m talking about the fans that attend live shows and events. The live fans tell the WWE each and every night what the rest of us are all thinking with their various chants, cheers, and boos. When the WWE officials hear the fans chant, “This is boring”, for a particular segment or performer, then that means that it’s time to change something about that segment or performer. When the fans cheer for certain performers over others, shouldn’t WWE push those performers instead of telling us what we should and shouldn’t be cheering? I have never seen the WWE work so hard to get someone over as they are working to get Reigns over. It used to be that a performer got their shot to win us over and if they didn’t, they went to the back and the next guy got their shot. It was the fans that decided that Austin was going to be the next huge star in wrestling and that Bret Hart was going to be a heel after their match at WM 13. So what happened to listening to the fans?

Listen, if you’re waiting for the WWE to stop making money then you’re going to be waiting for a long time because, I believe it was Punk who said; “Vince McMahon is going to make money to spite himself”, and he is. Having said that, though, it was also Punk that said, “McMahon is a millionaire who should be a billionaire”, and that’s also true and all he has to do is listen to the fans. I remember a while ago Triple H said something to the effect of all you have to do to make it in wrestling is get over with the fans, but that’s not true anymore is it? If that were true, Bryan, Cesaro, Ambrose, Wyatt, and others would be on top right now and others like Reigns, Cena, and so on would be heels or what have you. So when is the WWE going to turn things around? When they realize that their formula for making a big star isn’t always going to work. When they realize that it’s 2015, not 1985 or even 1998. When they realize that everything they need to know about what to do to entertain us is being told to them every night in the form of chants, cheers, and boos.

 

[Poop Master Flex]

I have little to no confidence because quite frankly a lot of WWE's creative woes are directly related to them being a publicly traded company. Even with the McMahon's controlling 96% of the votes they are still highly pressured to keep things the way they are to make their investors and stakeholders happy. Working for a publicly traded company myself I often have to deal with these same things, I've spent time in those meeting rooms with the CEO and stakeholders and it's insane how stifling those stakeholders can be and how much they can control a companies future.

Not only that WWE has created a money making system that isn't dependent on attendance figures, buyrates, and TV ratings. These days their revenue is mostly dependent on merchandise, advertisements and network subscriptions so if keeping their product kid friendly will bring them the most money from those areas then they are going to keep going in that direction no matter how many people bitch. Within the last week or so WWE just got a Coca-Cola sponsorship, that alone is HUGE MONEY for the WWE.

The only reasons a successful business changes what they are doing is because things around them are evolving (forcing them to change with the times) or if what they are doing doesn't work anymore. Even though creative sucks and the product is mostly trash they are still making a shit ton of money and unless that starts changing then it's unrealistic to think the WWE will change.

On paper better creative, storylines and characters will bring up attendance, buyrates, and TV ratings but if that change affects things like merchandise and advertisement in a negative way then its not worth it to change. It sucks for us older fans but when Vince looks at his account balance I'm sure he doesn't give 2 shits and quite frankly why should he?

 

[Stone Cold Tea]

I have faith that they will turn it around. It’s peaks and troughs with WWE.
One of the reasons we’re going through a trough right now is because of the injuries they’ve got. I mean we’ve had guys pulling double duty on Raw. When you look at the top level guys out it’s a worse injury list than Arsenal. Cena (Not sure if he is injured or resting up) Bryan, Rollins, Sting (Who they may have continued to use if he didn’t get injured) Cesaro, Randy Orton. That right there is 3 top matches on a card.

Now the other issue it the over reliance one part-timers these last few years when it’s come to ‘Mania season. This has meant that when it comes to some of the guys they have they haven’t had really big moment. Its like they shown as not as prestigious as guys such as a Lesnar or The Rock. The reason Rollins is such a big hit is because he had that moment. He’s gone over Lesnar. He’s one of the only guys to better Lesnar since he’s been back. In fact since he’s been back he’s the only guy on the roster to have had Lesnars number.

Now when those guys above come back and we see people such as Ambrose, Owens, Cesaro get their moments or get put over by the people above then I think things will get better.

 

[d_henderson1810]

They'll turn it around eventually. The problem is that like every other time they go through a bad patch they'll have lost however many more people from the product. If you go to an indie show at the moment it feels like the wrestling industry is booming, in fact, you could argue it is everywhere apart from WWE. It becomes easier every year for people to find an alternative and every time WWE begins to insult its fan's intelligence. More and more people will turn to it.

If indy leagues are SO much better, then where are the thousands of people attending their shows? Where are their big TV deals?

The indies won't save wrestling in the USA.

 

[AegonTargaryen]

I have no faith whatsoever. After watching the debacle that were the last couple of Raws, and survivor series...I've had it. So I chose the last option in the poll- Supremely Unconfident - The WWE Has Had Its Day, But Too Much Has Been Too Wrong For Too Long

I'm not saying I want the WWE to fail or go out of business, even though if that happens and someone smarter, maybe a group of them- Paul Heyman, Jim Ross, etc.- begin to work for some multi-millionaire if not a billionaire and form a new company, I'd like that over the numerous instances of TRASH I've had to live with since 2005. Had it not been for CM Punk/Shawn Michaels/Chris Jericho, I wouldn't even have followed the WWE beyond 2007. I mean, if that happens, you could literally have two major companies by 2020 and Seth Rollins could show up there- BOOM!

Until then, I'll stick around for Cesaro/Bryan/Rollins. Everything else in the WWE bores me to death(yeah New Day are a bit amusing but they won't be so forever). I don't think Dean Ambrose is half as charismatic/talented/cool as the IWC or others seem to think or claim. Heck, he's a bad wrestler from what I see. But yeah, Seth Rollins is the best overall talent they have had in a LONG LONG time, and I mean the talent which would make/makes John Cena and Hulk Hogan combined look like a bunch of bodybuilder morons- even better than Punk except for the mic, but Rollins is like Shawn fucking Michaels of this era. See you around folks.

 

[Jeff Deliverer of Mail]

I'll say fairly confident. You have guys like this sitting in the wings....

The Undertaker
Brock Lesnar with Paul Heymen
Sting
Seth Rollins
Cesaro
Randy Orton
Daniel Bryan
Ric Flair
Chris Jericho
Sami Zayn
Triple H
The Rock
Possibly Batista
Possibly Jushin Thunder Liger ?? He did wrestle on an NXT Event...

Plus you have guys that are being underutilized like Zack Ryder, Bo Dallas, The Intellectual Savior of the Unwashed Masses ...

AND you have a roster of NXT guys in case things get really, really bad. So , with this big roster of back ups WWE can easily change things around. They are really trying to squeeze what they can out of the depleted roster they have left. Why they don't grab a few ready NXT guys to shake things up a bit is a mystery.

I can't believe I left out John Cena. The face that runs the place.

 

[MERPER]

I posted this in another thread but it's better suited here since this was created afterwards, I am just posting it here as well...

I lack confidence in them for the following: what is the incentive to make it better? What is the incentive to either pay better writers or spend more time developing storylines and characters?

They have no true competition in the mainstream industry, especially not one competing against them for a TV audience.

Regardless of how bad the product, they sell out every televised show and do quite well for house shows because people want to see the stars live and only have, what, 1-4 chances per year to do this.

The merchandise makes a ton and that isn't going away when they market to kids. Kids want the T-shirt, action figure, DVD and their parents will buy it.

And, at $9.99 a month for the Network, not many will get so angry with the product enough to cancel. (I admit, I did and don't regret it yet, but I'll probably buy it again for Royal Rumble and WrestleMania).

So, where is the drive and the force that will make anyone say: "Wow, this is a sinking ship and if we don't do something quick, we could be in trouble?" It isn't there because barring an unbelievable situation occurring, there's no fear of the company folding or the money stopping.

 

[Navi]

I'll come at it from a different perspective and say they have to turn it around. This is now a publicly traded company and they have not only shareholders, but contracts with a network and advertisers to uphold.

For me the biggest stumbling block is not the roster, it's the creative team and the fact they only focus on certain wrestlers. They have 7 hours of TV each week to fill, Raw takes up 3, Smackdown 2 and Main Event and Superstars an hour each. Please don't tell me they couldn't come up with something for most of the wrestlers on the roster.

Stop concentrating on the main event talent. They picked them for better or worse, and give them a good story line and let them run with it. If it fails have a back up. Meanwhile get the rest of the roster involved in something just to fill the time and give us new matches to watch. For two weeks in a row now, we've seen the same wrestlers fighting multiple times, there is no need for that.

Now Jack Swagger who hasn't been on TV in forever is in a title feud at the next PPV. What a waste of time that match will be because we all know who is going to win it. The only reason he's in this match is to give Del Rio a TV match. Even Ambrose and Owens hasn't had much build, other than Ambrose throwing some popcorn and a glass of coke in Owens face, then exiting the ring.

The one thing the WWE was brilliant at was building feuds. Now they've just about given up on it. Take the Wyatts for example. Why where they out to confront the League of Nations? They don't have a dog in that fight, they are feuding with the crew from ECW. The same with the Diva's. Why do we still have teams? Break them up for crying out loud and get some singles feud going, the Diva's revolution is over.

Stop putting all your eggs into one basket and start spreading it out a little. Injuries have hurt them right now, but Jesus, they certainly don't have to act like it. I can't predict the future, but the WWE won't fold anytime soon, but they will get to the point where long time viewers will just give up and go watch something else. There are indications that some have already done that with viewership down to historic lows.

 

[L@RISANO]

I think that as the injured guys and more crucially, the Part-Timers return, then the ratings will get some sort of a boost. Whether those ratings will go back to a more average level is left to question.

I'd say that storylines and character building will remain largely the same unfortunately, and as KPGreece mentioned in his post, it is only when the current batch of Part-Time stars start to empty out, will we see any chance of general improvement all round in terms of programming as opposed to what Vince and Co do now and just parade Top Superstar X vs Top Superstar Y at PPV Z. Rinse. Repeat.



At present, I am just holding on to a wee bit of optimism that with some of the aforementioned Top Superstars returning soon, we might get to see some feuds of interest`as we head to toward the Road to WrestleMania 32.

 

[shooter_mcgavin]

If indy leagues are SO much better, then where are the thousands of people attending their shows? Where are their big TV deals?

The indies won't save wrestling in the USA.

It won't save it but talent can be cultivated in the Indie scene. It's no coincidence that the two most over guys outside John Cena (who also had Indy roots in OVW) were Daniel Bryan and CM Punk and currently you have guys like Kevin Owens being the more over heels right now.

While its true there are things WWE can teach that the Indy scene can't it's also the case with the reverse especially the fundamentals of being a performer.

And that's what the WWE is lacking now, Superstars.

 

[shooter_mcgavin]

As for the WWE turning things around. I am not that confident it's not like WWE didn't have opportunities to capitalize on their roster to build new stars. And now without any marquee talent to allows guys to get a rub at the moment (Cena, Lesnar, Taker) it's going to be a harder feat for WWE to accomplish a turn around, at least in the next year or so.

 

[Un-Bo-Lievable Jeff]

Will we get back to the heights of the attitude era, a lot of us were privileged to enjoy, probably not.

Will they get back to better than it is now? Fully confident