Must suck to be the most successful guy in the history of the business over a period of time much longer then what Stone Cold ever dreamed of. Steve Austin was what you call, a flash in the pan compared to Hulk Hogan. Austin maybe a bigger name then John Cena, but in ten years time, it might be a different story.
I don't see it. And I think this is one of those things, where as if the guy is being pushed to the moon now, and he isn't performing as good as the others while being on top now, nothing is going to change several years down the road.
I firmly believe that Cena is at his pinnacle right now, as we speak, and I really don't forsee anything changing that.
The Attitude Era may have some decent matches, but there was a ton of shit that it brought to the table to. The fans that watched the attitude Era weren't wrestling fans, they were fans of Jerry Springer, and the WWE just happened to put that type of garbage on its programming. When that Era ended, exactly zero new stars were created, and the business was left in a funk, one in which it is still trying to recover from.
Well, I suppose what is "garbage" is in the eyes of the beholder. I, for one, loved a lot of that stuff, but it wasn't like I just started watching it during the Attitude Era. I watched wrestling since the Hogan Era ... 1990 to be exact. So, I enjoyed the Hogan Era AND I enjoyed the Attitude Era.
That is why, I suppose, what I would like to see is a hybrid, with elements of both of those Eras interjected into today's programming. I have given my views of how I feel that would be effectively accomplished many times, so I won't go into them again.
Now, I do think the Attitude Era could have went on longer. But the problem was that WWE was not prepared with another major star to take over for Rock or Austin once they moved on. So that, in my view, ended the Attitude Era.
The kiddie crap is the reason why any of us are watching in the first place. The WWF is what it is because of what Hulk Hogan and Roddy Piper did to gain attention to the WWF and the business in general. The crap of the mid 90's was simply Vince taking a formula that worked, and running it into a ground with over the top gimmicks that were too much for even kids to stomach without laughing at.
The New Generation definitely wasn't one of my favorite Eras, I give you that. The gimmicks were way overboard, even though he did produce some nice ones like Goldust and Waylon Mercy during this time frame.
The WWE right now is far from kiddy TV.
As someone who doesn't like basically anything about this Era, I do agree with you in this sense, in that I don't believe that the WWE of today is a Kiddie product. Like I went on in other threads, what I see Vince doing is trying more so to make his product look more so as if it is a real sport. That way, he tries to keep the adults happy, but at the same time, he keeps the material suitable for kids. Basically, it's like a father indoctrinating his son into the NFL at a young age.
When you think about it, other than Hornswoggle, there really isn't that many kiddie gimmicks on the roster, at all. Cena's character, though, is obviously designed to be a role model for kids, however.
It's simply tuned down to try and sell itself to a broader audience. Do you realize how much money the WWE makes from merch sales?
WWE is making money through inflating its prices. No doubt about it. One has to wonder, though, if the revenue would be as high for WWE if the prices reflected the same prices as the Attitude Era, though. I think there is a difference in making money, and being popular. I don't think the two are necessarily the same.
I think WWE is "popular enough" to still make money, by taking advantage of its base of fans and charging more money, to make up for the amount of fans that they have lost over the years. And that is why they are successful. But hey, in business, it's whatever works to be profitable, I suppose. That's the name of the game.
Do you realize that in ten years time, when all of the kids you chose to ignore now, don't grow up watching the business, end up growing up and take exactly zero interest in the sport, that the business is going to die.
You have to grow your audience.
I agree. I just think there is more than one way to grow your audience, without alienating your existing audience ... and making both happy.
I think it all comes down to Vince trying to tell his adults that they should be liking the same thing that kids should like, and Vince telling kids that they should be liking the same things that adults like.
Some fans will buy into the philosophy and like it. Others won't like it, but will still put up with it since they refuse to give up wrestling. And other's won't like it at all, and move on.
The fans of the WWE in the 80's grew up with the Cartoon Era, and grew into the Attitude Era, and then they all grew up, had kids of their own, and guess what, the WWE is catering to them once again.
I can't necessarily agree.
I would say that the WWE of the Hogan Era did cater to kids.
The New Generation catered to kids.
The Attitude Era catered to older teens and adults.
In the PG Era, I don't see kids being catered to, like we talked about. Vince is basically not targeting any specific age group in this Era. He's basically trying to be a politician ... and trying to "be everything to everyone". At least, that is what it looks like on TV. And the thing is, that I don't really see him trying to aggressively go out and attract new fans to the product, since he isn't really targeting anyone. So, in that respect, I have to ask, "Is the strategy of physically going out and attempting to attract new fans, working?"
Again, I just think there is a right way and a wrong way as far as the strategy goes. One way which will retain more fans, and attract more fans ... as opposed to another way.
