Question For Longtime WWE Fans.... About the Current Product.

[EastCoastFan]

I'm one of the guys who got caught up in the hoop-la of WrestleMania 1 and became a fan way back in 1985. Not just of the WWF, but pro wrestling in general. I watched WWF, AWA, and JCP/NWA, plus I followed UWF, World Class, Memphis, Florida, Japan and other areas.

I remember back in the 90's when the Monday Night Wars were at their peak. It was a great time to be a fan with WWF and WCW throwing everything they had at each other, plus ECW turning the wrestling world on its ear. I missed a lot in the 90's because I didn't have cable (thankfully, my friends did) and I was working three jobs but I kept up with it as much as I could.

Then Vince won the war. WCW and ECW were no more and we were left entirely with Vince's vision of what pro wrestling should be. It was still fun for the first couple of years, but slowly, the cracks started to form. By spring 2004, I was only tuning in occasionally until one day in late-summer 2004, I just stopped watching.

I occasionally checked in over the next 5 years, but not much grabbed me. Vince's limo blowing up grabbed my attention, but then it waned again after the Chris Benoit tragedy. I didn't start following wrestling again until 2009. I still follow WWE (TNA and ROH not as much) but the product doesn't grab me enough to watch it every week religiously like it used to. It's not "fun" like it was for so long. Maybe the product's gone stale, maybe I've grown too old to enjoy the current wrestling scene, I don't know.

 

[mikde_]

Before I start I want to say....GREAT THREAD!!! after raw last week when McMahon returned I tried posting a similar thread but just couldn't word it but you have so well done.

I have been a fan since about 92/93 and have always watched so I find it extremely difficult to just stop even though for the better part of 8 years I have asked myself "why do I still watch this?". The reason? Hope that it will improve again. Like others I really got excited and started to be proud to be a fan again after punks shoot but as soon as triple h stuck his big nose in, I knee that we were going back to the same old shit. The same thing is happening now with the brock lesnar angle. A big summer storyline has been teased and I'd love to say that I will stop if they dont deliver but I won't. I'll keep hoping and keep watching. Seems to me like every angle WWE do now always has many great ways it could go but they always seem to take the simplest and least creative way to go that doesn't really change anything. Case in point, the demise of nexus, punk vs wwe, the people power regime ect. There never seems to be any reward for the fans these days.

As for other promotions. Yes I can watch those but WWE is the be all and end all unfortunately and no promotion has the history and the production to get you as emotionally invested as they do.

 

[DANIELBRYANrealwrestler]

Anyone who started watching again after "CM PUNK's SO GOOD SCRIPTED SHOOT PROMO" should stop watching wrestling overall.

What did CM Punk do ? Did he brought back "THE ATTITUDE ERA" with that promo ?

Some people on this forum think its cool to say that they started watching after the "CM PUNK's PROMO".

I watch because I am a Pro Wrestling Fan. WWE isn't the only Wrestling Promotion. There is TNA, ROH etc

Yeah well most people watch for the entertainment and CM Punks shoot,worked or not,caught everyones attention and made last summer the hottest most entertaining storyline in wwe we've seen in a LONG time.

 

[H33LTurn]

Well it just comes from an admiration of the product. Why do people still continue to listen to music even though its been overrun by talentless golden gooses? Because they enjoy the little good that comes out of it. Both are industries that revolve heavily around public opinion. Wrestling fans hold on because they are under the impression that they will influence whats on TV for the better. This has been proven by CM Punk, Zack Ryder, and Daniel Bryan's pushes over the past year. Not only that but theres a part of us that will never let go of the things we loved when we were children. Some of us have been watching since we were young and its become an unbreakable habit. I dont lose anything by switching the channel to USA every Monday night so why not?

 

[HBsam31]

I am 31, and have been a fan for 26 years. A part of me still watches because I always have, and it is just part of who I am. I really do find ways to enjoy the product, but really I just like wrestling. I am a big collector of all wrestling dvs, and really still enjoy watching old stuff. I watch TNA and ROH every week, and I like a lot of what i see. i also dislike some of it to, but at the end of the day I will watch it, and probably always will enjoy it.

 

[SD619]

I continue to watch wrestling because I am entertained by the product. I agree that there has been a drop in quality since Extreme Rules, but it happens every year, before it picks up around SummerSlam. Even is such times, there is a lot to enjoy about wrestling. Also, generally when the product has a lean season, it is followed by a period of excellent and entertaining product. For example, TNA has been really good for the past few months, so that keeps my interest in wrestling. If even that fails, I watch old matches/promos in Youtube.

I highly doubt that I will ever "Outgrow" wrestling despite being one of the few people in my age group (that I personally know) that still watches wrestling.

 

[Dilligaf]

Ive been watching WWF/WWE since 1989 I was 13 at the time, 23 years later im still watching now and im 37 this year.

Im a Die-hard WWE fan & whilst I do watch TNA too, WWE will always be my No1 passion, but as far as the current product compares to back in the day, you know its not as good, but I still love it.

Wrestling is like Marmite, you ether love it or hate it.

With the current product as most of the above posters have said, it gets boring for a while & then it'll burst back into life & then go boring again, but thats just life ups & downs you stick with it.

I cringe when people say "I don't watch wrestling because I'm not a kid anymore". I heard this a lot during the friggin Attitude era! Is there really an age limit to watch wrestling? I don't think so....

I get that all the time & get ridiculed for the fact that im 36 and I still watch wrestling, I love WWE & will continue to watch for many years to come.

Also, some people have said to me why fly all the way to Miami when ya can watch wrestling at the local working mans club for £10 to which I reply "because I love WWE wrestling & its what I love to watch, get over it".

 

[Dagger Dias]

In the end it simply comes down to the fact that I enjoy watching the shows. I've been watching for over 20 years and the only time I ever considered walking away from it forever was during a time when I didn't really have anyone onscreen I liked anymore. There is always someone cool and/or funny enough to keep me entertained and that has been the case throughout the years. Hogan, Michaels, Hart, Austin, Rock, Trips, Cena, Batista, Orton, Jericho, Sheamus.... there has always been at least one person worth returning to watch at any given moment, and then there's a little concept called brand loyalty. I still watched WWE during times when it wasn't as popular. I watched becuase I liked the product, unlike countless peers who only tuned in to see Austin or The Rock then suddenly all vanished after the Attitude Era.

After watching for nearly my entire lifetime, why stop now? I would have to hate every aspect of the product in order to stop watching at this point, and I doubt that will ever happen. The one time I did almost walk away as a fan, I nearly missed out on Cena's rapper persona. I ended up sticking around just to see that and in a short amount of time my fandom was back. There will always be decisions they make that I disagree with, but it will take A LOT for me to walk away. They could make a diva end Undertaker's undefeated streak and I would still remain a fan, unless I felt there was absolutely no one left on the roster worth watching. I'm basically a fan for life who every single week sits down to enjoy the show, and proud of it.

 

[ravssss]

Well .. its same for i guess a lot many too ...

I had quit watching WWE maybe after cena became boring ... used to watch jst youtube vids of austin returns ... like once an year ...

I started following it again ... ever since my friend told me about Rock's return promo .. and i was quiet impressed by it ... and i hear austin was comin back next week as well .. Though i am an austin fan i enjoyed rock's return than austin's ..

so started watchin it till mania where cena lost to miz and i thought this was over ...

then they announce the feud b/w rock cena .. then came Punk who was quiet like an attitude era guy .. and few segments that were gold but soon that got over and i stopped following ...started following it again when rock came back .. i tried following other matches but cudnt watch ..so started following weekly updates ..

I was quiet happy with mania and thought this is it .. now ill stop watching it since rock is going but some1 here had posted rock was booked for next raw .. and then comes BROCKKKK .. I never really was a brock lesnar fan .. but he looked sooo superior as far as an entertainer ... to all the existing ones that i dint care whether he gave a fuck or not abt the fans ... and now that he is missing .. i thought ill continue following and c'mon what did they give ?? .. all the laurintus vs cena .. c'mon how boring ... the main events with jst cena's name in it ... but again there is mention of austin's return for mania which am looking forward to ..

the reason that we all still tune into it should probably be the fact that the product back then was way ahead of its times as well .. i mean u go back and watch 80s wrestler promos i feel it was more a not soo serious kind .. maybe good back then but not nemore ... but the kind of edginess and storyline back in attitude era is still unmatched

maybe this interest would be over in us .. if we see a rock or stone cold not that good as entertainers ...they still have got it in them way more than the current lot ... which wasnt the case then ... the best was right there in the ring ... all the comebacks that we wanted back then was of the injured ones ...

 

[tripleddd]

A very good and sensible topic - I think like a lot of us fans we got spoilt by the Attitude era - the wrestling the acting the writing the mic work and as the attitude era came to an end we had one great story on top of another the alliance , the NWO etc - now I understand the brand split and the rebirth of ECW but to be honest I think the writing and the feuds got a little lazy. WWE just needs to go back to the basics better stories, better writing better feuds over all titles , increase profile of Tag teams and Unify the WHC and WWE belt - do that and the product comes back to as edgy as it was and it can still be PG if necessarry