No More Frontiers In Pro Wrestling?

[ABMorales787]

Pro wrestling has been around for a hell of a long time. And through out history, it's evolved. From being a circus attraction, to being a regional spectacle, to being a global phenomenon. A mix between stage acting and athletic showcase, pro wrestling is pretty much an artform. The same way as a Broadway play, a movie, or even a painting or a photograph. It's an artistic expression. But in one of my example's, I named photography and painting. Also around for many years, they've been fast to evolve concepts that captures moments for people to enjoy as well as expressing unique artistic values. But in theiur own evolution, they've reached a climax. There's no more to explore in these fields other than to expand on what's already known. Impressionism? Been there, seen that. Realism? Meh. Nothing new. But what about our beloved artform/pastime, pro wrestling? Is it in the same state as well? Is that a bad thing? Well, for paintings and photography, it really isn't. Even though there won't be anything more modern than a digital camera, that in itself expands as it becomes smaller and smaller and finds it's way into new places like phones and such. Meanwhile, drawing, painting and any kind of static imaging aren't go past being on a computer. But there's always something new made that can be expressed. T-shirts, posters and such. Those two concepts may be stuck in the same evolutionary stage, but they can't and will continue to expand from their frontierless landscape.

But again I ask, what about the wrestling? I ask myself that. Is there nothing left to explore? PG? Been there, doing that. Attitude? Yeah, nothing new. Unless we start seeing stuff as morally corrupted as rape, man-slaughter and such or blantant kiddie stuff like wrestlers teaching math to the crowd during promos, there really isn't anything left to give. Become real? Then it wouldn't be an artform, it would be the sport known as MMA. Evolution seems to have backed wrestling into a corner. Is it dying? No! It's still a very very profitable field. But to many, it's bland and unattractive. Desperately in need of something to refresh it. But it just can't find it. That's why I ask what the title says. Is it true? Is there nothing new to give? Are we gonna continue to cling to the hope of another wrestling boom? And if there is one in the future, will there be anything for us hard to please internet fans as "new"? Or is that term ready to be retired?

 

[Hawkeye]

There really is no reason for there to be anything new. All they can do now is keep pushing forward and hoping to catch that next batch of die hard fans. American football hasn't changed since they switched from leather helmets(don't quote me on that, I don't know shit about football) and millions watch it daily,weekly,monthly,yearly. There's no need to change anything now, longevity is the name of the game now, and this youth movement is promoting just that.

 

[Hulk Hogan's Brother]

Well, it certainly seems like there are no more frontiers left to achieve in wrestling but that is what people said before the last frontier ie the attitude era was achieved. Before the attitude era actually came into being most people would haave thought that something of that kind was not possible in wrestling. But the Monday Night Wars forced the Attitude Era to manifest itself. It could be the same case now. We are thinking that wrestling has evolved all it had to evolve but another ratings war and we might well be forced to eat out own words however unlikely it may appear now.

That being said, I do think if wrestling has to evolve or at least not be as bland and unattractive as it is today we do need another ratings war. And no, I don't think that either TNA or ROH would ever be able to come close to WWE's financial strength to be considered as competition. That is because wrestling has already evolved so much that it would be hard for these promotions to come up with something new and revolutionary that will take the audience's breath away.

I think that a new ratings war will only happen if a billionaire decides to invest in the wrestling market and start a new wrestling promotion. If a promotion is hoping to compete with the WWE, it has to start at WWE's level that is have similar production values, media connections etc. That is so because it is very hard for a wrestling promotion to grow these days for the reasons that I have already mentioned. Only then will we have a ratings war as compelling as the one we originally had in the late 90's.

So instead of talking about the next big superstar or the next big storyline, wrestling fans should pray for the next big wrestling promoter to come up if they want to see another boom period in wrestling.

 

[Hollywood Naitch]

I think that a new ratings war will only happen if a billionaire decides to invest in the wrestling market and start a new wrestling promotion. If a promotion is hoping to compete with the WWE, it has to start at WWE's level that is have similar production values, media connections etc. That is so because it is very hard for a wrestling promotion to grow these days for the reasons that I have already mentioned. Only then will we have a ratings war as compelling as the one we originally had in the late 90's.

So instead of talking about the next big superstar or the next big storyline, wrestling fans should pray for the next big wrestling promoter to come up if they want to see another boom period in wrestling.

Agreed, but do you think this is likely to happen?

WWE has developed into a billion-dollar enterprise with incredible merchandise, promotional capabilities, tv exposure etc in almost every country on the planet. It would take an incredible amount of money for another company to even begin to compete with WWE, and is there anyone out there willing to invest the amount of money neccesary to make a new promotion capable of challenging Vince McMahon?

Also, this new promotion would require the talent to do so, and TNA has snapped up almost all the free agents with any big-name reputation in the business, and the Japanese companies already have their stars- although most have little name value to the casual wrestling fan in the US. This new organisation would need to offer SERIOUS money to any WWE stars coming to the end of their contract to even have a shot at building a roster which would make the wrestling world sit-up and take notice.

Look at TNA, they have a fantastic array of talent, arguably comparable to WWE and they have not gained hardly ground in the ratings. By destroying the value of legends such as Hogan, Flair and Foley, TNA have made these names almost worthless as "BIG PLAYERS", and there are really very few wrestlers not attached to WWE that would make a big acquisition for any new company.

I think its very unlikely we will see any company arise to challenge the WWE ever again, as there just isnt the same number of big name wrestlers around now as there was when WWE, WCW and ECW all had rosters packed with their own star names. Now there is just a 3rd of the number of well known wrestlers as there was at the turn of the century.

Also, with WWE dominating the TV coverage, it will be even harder for any network to give another new company a shot at another Monday Night Wars, especially after seeing how TNA gave up almost immediately after getting their ass kicked for a few weeks.

I really think we are going to have to settle for WWE as the number 1, with TNA well back in 2nd place (unless they REALLY have a big boom), I cannot see another new company threatening these two. It just wont happen, there isnt enough talent with name value around for a billionaire to consider it a worthwhile investment. Who are they going to fill the roster with? Shawn Waltman? Shane Helms? The Boogeyman???

 

[shattered dreams]

I think it comes down to how you look at it. In the broad sense everything has been done. Thus, whenever anything even somewhat new is attempted the majority of the IBC is going to fixate on the similarities to prior things that have happened. In a broad sense that might be accurate but when you are talking about exploring something deeper the specific details are what is important. I guess that is a tough sell to a fanbase that isn't usually portrayed as the brightest bunch. For example, I think saying nexus is nWo is inaccurate. The nexus idea was fresh at times. Problem is that doesn't make it good by itself. Often the ideas that have not been explored haven't been for a reason.

When it comes to WWE I think they are choosing to be a business and there is nothing wrong with that. When it comes to making money why not put out the same old summer blockbuster that has been done a thousand times that we know people will buy? They could explore other areas by why stray from the formula? Sad but true IMO.

In general, I think there are still places to explore in how the story is told outside the ring. I also think tying in stories to current events might provide some new areas to explore.

 

[Hollywood Naitch]

In general, I think there are still places to explore in how the story is told outside the ring. I also think tying in stories to current events might provide some new areas to explore.

Agreed, imagine Wade Barrett coming to the ring and cutting a promo on the current UK Economic crisis, or global warming? A sure-fire ticket seller...

Nah, just fucking with you man....I agree, if the product was more relevant to todays society then it could be successful. ECW worked because it linked with peoples changing views and desire for something different, using music from the popular styles of the days. TNA went for the X-Division because of society's interest in extreme sports such as the X-Games. If WWE could decide on what society is interested in right now, and tailor their product to that to a degree, then it could become more relevant and interesting to casual fans who have lost interest in the product right now.

 

[Hulk Hogan's Brother]

Agreed, but do you think this is likely to happen?

WWE has developed into a billion-dollar enterprise with incredible merchandise, promotional capabilities, tv exposure etc in almost every country on the planet. It would take an incredible amount of money for another company to even begin to compete with WWE, and is there anyone out there willing to invest the amount of money neccesary to make a new promotion capable of challenging Vince McMahon?

Also, this new promotion would require the talent to do so, and TNA has snapped up almost all the free agents with any big-name reputation in the business, and the Japanese companies already have their stars- although most have little name value to the casual wrestling fan in the US. This new organisation would need to offer SERIOUS money to any WWE stars coming to the end of their contract to even have a shot at building a roster which would make the wrestling world sit-up and take notice.

Look at TNA, they have a fantastic array of talent, arguably comparable to WWE and they have not gained hardly ground in the ratings. By destroying the value of legends such as Hogan, Flair and Foley, TNA have made these names almost worthless as "BIG PLAYERS", and there are really very few wrestlers not attached to WWE that would make a big acquisition for any new company.

I think its very unlikely we will see any company arise to challenge the WWE ever again, as there just isnt the same number of big name wrestlers around now as there was when WWE, WCW and ECW all had rosters packed with their own star names. Now there is just a 3rd of the number of well known wrestlers as there was at the turn of the century.

Also, with WWE dominating the TV coverage, it will be even harder for any network to give another new company a shot at another Monday Night Wars, especially after seeing how TNA gave up almost immediately after getting their ass kicked for a few weeks.

I really think we are going to have to settle for WWE as the number 1, with TNA well back in 2nd place (unless they REALLY have a big boom), I cannot see another new company threatening these two. It just wont happen, there isnt enough talent with name value around for a billionaire to consider it a worthwhile investment. Who are they going to fill the roster with? Shawn Waltman? Shane Helms? The Boogeyman???

Well I never said that it would be easy, did I ? But yes I am assuming that this new company would have enough money to buy out a few established superstars, especially those on the TNA roster as well as a media connections to get a Monday Night slot.

Of course, its an unlikely scenario but I think that this is the only way that we are going to see another boom period in wrestling. Because I do not see either TNA or any other company getting big enough to challenge WWE's supremacy. I agree though that in reality we will have accept the fact that TNA will have to be a distant second to the WWE for the forseeable future.

 

[Tastycles]

You're incredibly naive if you think culture just stops innovating. You're like those people in the 18th century who claimed that we knew everything we need to know about physics. The theatre is about 3,000 years older than professional wrestling and it is still doing new things. Just because you don't have any new ideas doesn't mean that there aren't any, and probably goes some way to explaining why you don't work for WWE creative.

As for frontiers, wrestling always does well when it is aligned with popular culture. The WWE were there at the forefront of shock TV and rode on the back of the Music Television wave. Tough Enough and the Diva Search weren't weaved in enough to the main product and NXT came about 5 years too late, so the WWE really missed the boat with that.

If the next series of Tough Enough is pitched like a talent show, but obviously focussed on the fundamentals of wrestling, then it has a chance of raising interest in wrestling by being in the format of a current flavour of the month. The presence of Steve Austin as host would suggest that they are going to do that.

That's not likely to make wrestling undergo another boom period, but it is an example of the kind of new ground it can break. The chances of it becoming truly massive again are low, but as are the chances of a band being as popular as The Beatles again. All culture is niched these days as an increase in accessibility has made it easier for people to get what they want. The challenge for wrestling, and the frontier if you like, then, is not to do something original, but to try and spread itself in as many interest categories as possible.

That's what the idea behind PG is, but the IWC is too fucking stupid to realise it. WWE is not aimed at children, it's suitable for children. There is absolutely nothing whatsoever about the characters of Edge, Randy Orton, The Miz etc. that is liked by children. The Nexus is about as far from the Teletubbies as you can get, and it's part of an effort to get a cross demographic popularity. Attitude was popular with 18-24s and Hulkamania was with families, getting the balance right is wrestling's biggest frontier to cross.