Rock, Cena, Punk, Lesnar - Can These Four Cause Another "Wrestling Boom?"

[scottyshowman82]

Last summer a pro wrestler who was overlooked for so long, put on a Steve Austin T Shirt, grabbed a microphone and changed the face of the WWE. CM Punk set the wrestling world on fire last July, like so many of knew he had in him for so long setting up an epic encounter with WWE main event mainstay John Cena at Money in the Bank. I found myself reminiscing about those days not too long ago, as I watched those epic promos with Punk, Vince and Cena. What amazed me so many months later, and it was still shocking hearing Punk publicly humiliate his boss. Every insult was still had some shock factor. That was then and this is now....

In the present day we have another extraordinary scenerio. The Rock has beaten John Cena at Wrestlemania 28 and has revealed to us that his still has aspirations to be WWE Champion one more time, it has been reported that the Rock will be apart of next year's Wrestlemania. And within that very program where Rock made his future clear, wrestling fans got a return that was so overwhelming it literally had grown men jumping up and down in the stands. Brock Lesnar after a very impressive run in the one of the hottest companies the world the UFC has returned to the WWE.

Cena... the WWE franchise and one of the WWE's biggest draws ever
Punk...the man who can make a wrestling program go chaotic with one promo
Rock... a pro wrestling legend and one of the biggest movie stars in hollywood today
Lesnar... the highest paid draw in the UFC, when the UFC is at it's hottest, defecting back to the WWE.

The landscape of pro wrestling so different than it was even a week ago. Can these 4 guys with the help of people like Jericho, Daniel Bryan, Cody Rhodes and others cause major waves for the WWE in the public eye and perhaps another boom?

 

[RussellMania]

The reason these four guys can get it done in my opinion is because the WWE fans are finally started to get invested in some new characters slowly but surely and as these guys continue to get more over with the fans combined with the foundation provided by the core stars, this is a definite recipe for success in my opinion. Every successful era within WWE history has had a core of guys that could always get it done. In the 80's there was Hogan, Savage, Piper, Andre, DeBiase, Ultimate Warrior. The attitude era has Stone Cold Steve Austin, The Rock, Undertaker, Shawn Michaels, Y2J, Kurt Angle, Mick Foley, etc. This era of wrestling you can have CM Punk, John Cena, The Rock, Brock Lesnar and look for guys to step up and take advantage of programs with these guys such as Daniel Bryan, Sheamus, Wade Barrett, Dolph Ziggler, as well as others. The combination of established stars and rising stars will make 2012 to WrestleMania 29 a great time to be a wrestling fan.

 

[Henry Hill]

I don't think it will be specifically these four who start another boom. The Rock, it seems will be done in wrestling in the near future and Lesnar only guaranteed to be around for a year cuts things considerably close. John Cena has had his time at the top and has had it rough without a clear equal. This wasn't his fault, but still without Orton at the time being booked the way he could have been, it took off Cena's steam and left a bad taste. Punk to me is the only guy that has that "it" cool factor to start another boom. I could see Ryder getting in there because people seem to want to get behind him, as well as Dolph Ziggler who has an upside like a young HBK. There is certainly talent to build to a boom, but i feel creative has to allow stars to grow and be themselves rather than keep it safe and scripted.

 

[dman1373]

i think that a huge boom is coming. The list of major players is growing and the list of credible upper mid carders is growing.
i list like you did.
major players
cena-the man. he is the wwe's go to guy.
the rock-one of the biggest names in wrestling
lesnar-the top ppv draw in the past 10 years.
cm punk-the man in training, the most over constant face
randy orton-lets not forget the top face on smackdown.
daniel bryan-after this week he proved how super over he is.

and then there a ton of others that are over that are in the upper mid card/main event range. then you have the kow and dean ambrose coming up and lord tensai. jesus even wwe cant f this up

 

[Peoples_Champ]

No. Rock, arguably the most widely recognized of the four, is effectively gone for the next few months. He can promote WWE all he wants in his Entertainment Tonight interviews, but his audience probably won't return to be full time WWE viewers, just purchasers of big events. Hell, his first match back in seven years didn't sell very well anyways. Punk and Cena have limited reaches, both of which are pretty much fully extended (they're not gaining viewers, they're maintaining the ones they have).

This leaves Lesnar, which is the wildcard in all this. It will be interesting to see how he's booked, but his steam will dwindle a bit, like Punk's did. If they can make Lesnar be a monster *and* use him to help get guys over, there's a chance a wrestling boom can be created. But to me, we're in the midst of a comfortable era of great wrestlers (Jericho, Dolph included to this list) and improving storylines. But still, I don't think another wrestling boom can happen until WWE gets someone from the mainstream who has never wrestled before and makes them a star (no, not like David Arquette).

 

[jokernaut]

it is definitely a possibility. cant hit the attitude era numbers but those guys can get to it back to a very respective level. adding brock creates a ton of match up possibilities and with the success of wm28, its going to bring a lot more mainstream attention. as long as brock is booked right, the rock makes a good amount of appearances and maybe even winning the wwe championship then that right there can be huge. help the younger guys like ziggler etc get over more with the crowd. cena and punk will do their usual thing and if cena turns heel in a rivalry with brock then that i think can be huge to see one of the biggest baby faces in the history of wwe play bad guy against a bad ass wrestler who we havent seen in 8 years. daniel bryan seems to be another factor too with his awesome wrestling and a simple quote of "yes" going over very well with the crowd. if wwe creative and vince will let things get more edgy, then things could become consistently awesome every week.

 

[Reflection]

Why not? Rock was the biggest guy of attitude era, Brock was the biggest guy of ruthless aggression era, Cena is the biggest guy of universe era, and Punk is the biggest guy of thìs slightly-edgy era. These four have everything it takes to cause, or should i say- to bring into effect a Wrestling Boom, and the best time to do it is now. For the older guys, there is no better way to make a mark than give cena a thrashing, and they have done just that.

 

[TWJC: The Beginning]

The problem is how you measure it. A 3 today is not a 3 in 1999, different number of people with homes. Plus you have sooooo many other devices to watch on.

Basically right now I think pro wrestling (and really the last year) has been great. The shows are good, the stars are getting reactions, the midcard is young and hungry. I don't think it'll ever get 7s in the ratings again (like it did in basically 1 or 2 years, not like it was a huge span). However, I think it will continue to be an incredibly healthy niche entertainment product.

Rock will be part time and Punk as much as I love him, isn't a cross-media star. It's really the Cena/Lesnar show right now. The other guys surely help, but at this very moment, the cross-media fans are watching Cena/Lesnar.

 

[FarFromFine]

No. Rock, arguably the most widely recognized of the four, is effectively gone for the next few months. He can promote WWE all he wants in his Entertainment Tonight interviews, but his audience probably won't return to be full time WWE viewers, just purchasers of big events. Hell, his first match back in seven years didn't sell very well anyways. Punk and Cena have limited reaches, both of which are pretty much fully extended (they're not gaining viewers, they're maintaining the ones they have).

This leaves Lesnar, which is the wildcard in all this. It will be interesting to see how he's booked, but his steam will dwindle a bit, like Punk's did. If they can make Lesnar be a monster *and* use him to help get guys over, there's a chance a wrestling boom can be created. But to me, we're in the midst of a comfortable era of great wrestlers (Jericho, Dolph included to this list) and improving storylines. But still, I don't think another wrestling boom can happen until WWE gets someone from the mainstream who has never wrestled before and makes them a star (no, not like David Arquette).

I disagree that Lesnar should be used to put people over. He was a superstar in UFC and should continue to be the mega-monster. Let him run over Cena. He has the star power for his character to take it. Let him destroy every major player he goes up against. Of course there should be some struggles but he should be victorious overall. This will lead up to a massive WM showdown with Taker. After beating everyone within sight for a year it will be credible that he could end the streak. That is the one big "title" left for people to shoot for. Also, after Brock goes undefeated for the year it will basically be streak vs. streak. If they're looking for Brock/Taker WM29 that should be the booking strategy.

 

[dingman29]

Rock is leaving and Lesnar is a part timer. The entire industry cannot rely on Punk and Cena alone. There needs to be a competitive number two company to give the writers a reason to invest time into the characters and story lines instead of this half-ass writing we get now. Competition is good.

 

[TWJC: The Beginning]

Rock is leaving and Lesnar is a part timer. The entire industry cannot rely on Punk and Cena alone. There needs to be a competitive number two company to give the writers a reason to invest time into the characters and story lines instead of this half-ass writing we get now. Competition is good.

What the hell are you talking about? Why do you people NEVER realize that their competition is not all other wrestling shows. It's all other TV programming.

Take a look at other major Mondays. Last Monday was a damn good show, why? They were head to head with the National Championship game that had 2 powerhouse teams. That's enough competition. You think the networks care if they beat TNA? They want them to beat EVERYONE.

The writers do a good job. They have to write a live show every week. It's not easy, these are real people, injuries happen, contracts happen, shit happens. 2011/2012 was a good year.

Another thing to realize is that it's a highly successful show. You CAN'T say "well they used to get 7s (like 4 times) and now they get 3s, they suck" because it's not even the same thing. That'd be like saying "well cars only cost a few hundred bucks back when they first came out, HOW CHEAP" times change and you can't compare hard numbers. You have to dig deeper.

I'm not saying that it's as popular as it once was. I'm saying that all you doomsayers sound ******ed because the product is incredibly healthy. When you draw 80,000 people, you aren't in trouble.

 

[Henry Hill]

Rock is leaving and Lesnar is a part timer. The entire industry cannot rely on Punk and Cena alone. There needs to be a competitive number two company to give the writers a reason to invest time into the characters and story lines instead of this half-ass writing we get now. Competition is good.

There doesn't necessarily need to be a number two company so much as a dedication to a good product. The writers need to better understand the audience as opposed to just writing for a producer.

You are correct in saying competition is good, however, there is the possibility of a good product even while there is only one major company.

 

[ProWrestlingFan]

Replace Punk with Randy Orton then yeah...

Rock , Brock Lesnar, John Cena, Randy Orton can cause a Wrestling boom. CM Punk isn't that much of a draw look at the ratings after his "promo" last year... 2.5, 2.7 etc.

And anybody who said Brock Lesnar should be used to put people over...NO he is only 34 and he is still extremely over with the fans. Give Brock Lesnar a few more World titles. Brock Lesnar is still the top guy.

 

[obamartins]

NO.

The talent alone cannot spark another wrestling boom. For another wrestling boom to happen the entire direction of the product needs to change. It's no coincidence that Austin started to take off right around the same time WWF started getting more edgy.

 

[jbarilla]

You know what could help ignite another boom? If they spend they next year ELEVATING CM Punk and not burying him, as after the year is up he is going to have to be the lead dog IMHO for any such boom. They also have to not screw up Ziggler, Rhodes, and Bryan.

 

[RJJ]

With all due respect, Punk doesn't belong to that list. He doesn't have the draw power that Rock, Cena, and Lesnar have. He might be IWC "god", but he's really not much of a draw.

 

[jrichardson25]

The problem is how you measure it. A 3 today is not a 3 in 1999, different number of people with homes. Plus you have sooooo many other devices to watch on.

Basically right now I think pro wrestling (and really the last year) has been great. The shows are good, the stars are getting reactions, the midcard is young and hungry. I don't think it'll ever get 7s in the ratings again (like it did in basically 1 or 2 years, not like it was a huge span). However, I think it will continue to be an incredibly healthy niche entertainment product.

Rock will be part time and Punk as much as I love him, isn't a cross-media star. It's really the Cena/Lesnar show right now. The other guys surely help, but at this very moment, the cross-media fans are watching Cena/Lesnar.

I have to agree. Its obvious in several ways that this isn't the same landscape as 1999. WWE has to push into more media (aka more ways to get content with handheld devices et al. Youtube is a start).

The WWE specifically has gotten much better over the past year. The return of old faces shows me that they're trying to push their way back into the mainstream and will succeed. They have gotten a hell of a lot of press over Wrestlemania and if they book SummerSlam the same way, they can get a lot of press here in Southern California.

As far as cornerstones... I think CM Punk could bring in some viewers that wouldn't have watched otherwise but he doesn't have that cross-over that Cena and Lesnar have. Brock will help ratings/buys for the short term but I don't expect him to carry any load. Rock, he's filming another flick and will be back in a few weeks (months, ppvs, however you want to gauge that)... Cena, he's still the top guy, regardless. There's a lot of young talent that can bring more viewers in but have to continue that cross-over like The Miz has done recently.

There is no shortage on talent. Hopefully they will be allowed some liberties with their characters and make the WWE larger than life and capture an essence of days gone by (I don't mean recreate the Attitude Era... hell no...)

 

[LoudClearVoice]

I think it's definitely possible. Rock and Lesnar have each signed one year contracts and I think those two indviduals alone, could bring back a lot of former fans that outgrew wrestling after Rock, Lesnar, etc. all left.

As for Punk and Cena, feuding with Rock, Lesnar, (and possibly Stone Cold if he comes back) will be great and could actually help WWE regain mainstream popularity.

As much as the so-called "purists" of the IWC don't want Rock and others back, they need to realize, it's getting WWE mainstream exposure it hasn't had in years. It's putting MORE eyes on the product and that is a good thing.

 

[theBec2101]

They could make another huge impact in wrsetling. But just because you have good cards dont make you a winner if you dont know how to play them. So the WWE has the Rock and Lesner now. These are people who came through the attitude era and were able to go out and pretty much do and say what they wanted. I dont know if they can do this in the pg era. I know the Rock said all that stuff that technically wasnt pg but it was he only spoke a few times last year and only returned more when we were about a month or so from Mania.
But if WWE even slowly changes its ways and view then yes. Not only that but I believe more people will be able to rise and start to make a stir for themselves aswell.

 

[#Zombienatureboy]

I think we could be in store for another wrestling boom relative to the times we live in. But, I thought we were about to have it last summer with Punk's worked shoots and his win at MITB. Then it seemed to fall to pieces. It's picking up steam again. But all it takes is a couple bad RAWs and a horrible PPV to bring it to a halt again.

 

[Cabana]

YES! YES! YES!

WWE's on an upswing, and the talent pooling is deeper now than at any point since about 2004. The returns of Jericho, Brock + Rock have massively expanded the main event, and pushed talent that belongs in the upper midcard... back to the upper midcard. The midcard is becoming loaded again (they just need good stories from creative.) The roster is really, really strong right now. This is the right time to end the brand extension, unify the world titles, and go to a full-time twice weekly show (i.e. Smackdown Supershow.)

Here's an easy storyline: Brock has return to re-establish dominance in the biz. The world titles were split because he went to Smackdown exclusively, thereby creating the bastard WHC (for story purposes.) Brock's back to reunify the belts and to destroy the pretender to his throne (Cena.) Lesnar takes out Cena at Summerslam and begins his march to Mania and reunification.

Problem: The Rock has the same plan because it will ensure he's the greatest superstar of all time. Bigger problem: Daniel Bryan, CM Punk, Sheamus and First Undisputed Champ Chris Jericho ain't chopped liver. Neither are Mark Henry, Alberto Del Rio, or Sheamus. Bang. There's your main event scene for 2012-13.

Cena gets the room to turn continue his character development (which has become amazing in the past few weeks.) Jericho, Brock and Rock get paired off wherever possible with established main event talent and give off as many rubs as possible (esp. to Bryan/Punk/Sheamus/Orton, since those guys *are* the future.)

Mania 29's main event is for the UNDISPUTED CHAMPIONSHIP. If it's Royal Rumble winner vs. WHC Champ vs. WWE Champ (say Rock/Cena/Brock), that works out tidily , doesn't it? Cena reunifies the belts, thereby finally, fully establishing him as the sort of marquee draw that WWE needs to *always* have around. Be sure to end The Streak on the same card to create a new superstar in the main event scene, and have Punk go over Austin, too.

Post-Mania 29, your core is (in wrestling terms) young, established, and still hot from their big feuds.

 

[TLK]

I think we could be in store for another wrestling boom relative to the times we live in. But, I thought we were about to have it last summer with Punk's worked shoots and his win at MITB. Then it seemed to fall to pieces. It's picking up steam again. But all it takes is a couple bad RAWs and a horrible PPV to bring it to a halt again.

The problem with that, though, is the fact that Punk is not the level of a Rock or Brock. He wasn't already an established mainstream pop culture icon like the aforementioned two. To most of the IWC, we thought we were in for another boom because we were finally getting something fresh and different. I think a lot of the stuff that Punk said after his first worked shoot went over many of the casual fan's heads. The Rock and Lesnar, on the other hand, bring a lot of mainstream realism to the WWE. That being said, I think there's a good chance that 2012-2013 will be one of the bigger years in recent memory as far as ratings and buyrates are concerned. If WM28 was any indication (supposedly 1.9M?!?), I think fans ranging from extremely casual to the upper echelon of the diehards are in for a real treat.

 

[#Zombienatureboy]

I remember this place I worked in the mid/late 90's EVERYONE watched wrestling. Most of them watched Nitro. Everyone wanted to see who Goldberg was gonna squash next or if he would ever lose. They wanted to see who Hogan was gonna spraypaint NWO or who he was gonna handcuff to the rope and hit with a tazer. Of course lots of people watched RAW. I remember little old ladys marking out over Stone Cold and his dramatic feud with the boss Vince.

As much as I love and mark out for the Punker and Zig and Ryder and DB, I don't see the same level of interest from the general public.

But, it's not just one thing you can put your finger on. It's a lot of things that have to come together. It can be done but it will be relative to the 24/7 information overload age we live in.

 

[TLK]

As much as I love and mark out for the Punker and Zig and Ryder and DB, I don't see the same level of interest from the general public.

But, it's not just one thing you can put your finger on. It's a lot of things that have to come together. It can be done but it will be relative to the 24/7 information overload age we live in.

That is EXACTLY it. And I think the internet has a ton to do with it. There was always a reason to tune in the following week, both because you couldn't look up spoilers or leaked news stories, and the characters you were tuning in to see were larger than life. There really isn't anyone (outside of Cena) that can touch a Rock, or Austin, or HHH, or Taker, or HBK.

That being said, I'm hoping the mainstream attention that Rock/Brock bring back to the WWE will allow more of the casual fans to witness some of the rising stars like Punk, DB, Ziggler, etc. The onus is on these younger stars, though, to prove their worth while people are watching.

 

[#Zombienatureboy]

another problem is that everything has to be kept pg...the attitude era exploded because of the violence and x-ratedness...

Very true. On another thread, after Mania on Sunday, I was saying that I expected more from the Trips/Taker HIAC match. I know most people loved it. But I was expecting them to blade, leave the cell, Trips takes a tombstone on top of the cell, etc etc. I guess I had my hopes up too high.

Some guys said they didn't need to do that. They just needed to tell a story. I don't buy that.

I was watching the Satan's Prison dvd set lasy night. Elimination Chamber from '02 Trips blades in the first 5 seconds!

Sorry to get off topic but, I agree with the guy above me that they will definitely need to get rid of at least SOME of the PG-ness to hit another boom. If you have a HIAC match, your blueprint needs to be HBK vs Taker from '97.