Long gone are the days of the loved Attitude era, the era in which older fans compare everything to. The attitude era is widely renowned as being the biggest era in wrestling history, often thanking people such as Stone Cold, The Rock, and Mick Foley for the boom the WWE had. I ask, whats different today?
Today, people seem happiest complaining about the current product, complaining about the champions, and complaining about the storylines. Its cool to not like what youre watching. People hate the fact Triple H is champion. But when asked what they would do to change that, youre greeted with blank stares and no replies.
When the attitude era began, McMahon pushed the limits of what could be done very far. His choices were erratic, and he did what he wanted, seemingly without a care in the world. The wrestlers also did what they wanted, looking at authority and not even ignoring it, but going against it. It was the era of rebellion, of fighting and of rule breaking. And people loved it. Controversy was McMahons middle name.
Now, I think thats all gone. The WWE isnt wanting to take real risks anymore. They prefer to play it safe and keep things they know work. Triple H as champion for example; he can be trusted. I think hes scared of giving the belt to any newer talent at the moment.
The thing is, WWE still has storylines which make people shocked. McMahons limo being blown up for instance. In the attitude era, this would have been greeted with shock. However, now daily we are greeted with attacks on the news, soaps where people are murdered and attacked, dramas which portray everything to such an exaggeration. The WWE doesnt seem as brutal anymore.
So, what is the problem? Has the WWE changed for worse, has society changed, or have the fans changed for the worse?
I just think that the whole McMahon on-screen angles just get old. McMahon might have been shocking with his various on-screen roles in the Attitude Era but now it's been going on for a decade and has lost its shock value because of the amount of time that it goes on.
You're right about WWE staying the same. They push the same guys all the time, and only once in a while does something truly shocking or surprising happen. Combine this with their new effort to win over these stupid kids who will buy merchandise and not care about wrestling. Vince wants to make those kids happy so he will always push the likes of Cena or Batista, further adding to the stifling of innovation.
I think that the buying out of WCW was the Trojan Horse that led to today's wrestling scene. McMahon bought out his competition so he had a virtual monopoly. He didn't need to be competitive and innovative anymore because his control over the market was guaranteed. And let's face it, TNA is not yet at the level to truly compete with WWE, but hopefully it will be soon. That's when you will see some of the Attitude Era "attitude" lol, return.
To me, the problem lies with Vince McMahon and in a much more roundabout way, Hulk Hogan.
Vince McMahon has gotten comfortable. Right now there is nothing around to challenge him. The Monday Night Wars are long since dead and Vince won and won big. When the Attitude Era began, it was out of desperation. Listen to WWE all you want, but they were dead in the water. There had some good thigns going but no one was watching. It was all about Nitro and the NWO and what would they do next? Vince got desperate and he looked up and saw the crowds going absolutely nuts over this bald headed Texas redneck, and he listened to the people. That was all well and good, but it wasn't enough. This is where the other half of the equation comes in.
On December 27th, 1997 WCW was supposed to be at its peak. Sting and Hogan had come to its head and the feud was going to end. Supposedly the NWO would go down from there and WCW would move on accordingly. However, Hogan allegedly plays his control card and won't let the match go down the way it should have. This match had one right way to go: Hogan is almost forced into the ring due to fear, Sting beats him in less than ten minutes and Hogan is gone for at least 4 months. Hogan came out like he was wrestling the Brooklyn Brawler and beat on Sting the whole match, then there's the false finish and the rest has been said a million times. The point is, every fan I know that watched that match including me said collectively What the Hell was that? and turned on Raw the next night for the first time in forever. The rest is history. WCW fell from grace and WWF took back its throne.
Fast forward 7 years. Vince and WWE rule the wrestling world. There is no reason at all for them to give a damn about anything. WWE's ratings are as high as anythign on the networks they're on so they're not going anywhere anytime soon. TNA isn't a threat and won't be for years and if they are even still around in 5 years, I doubt they'll be a major threat because they have 2 major stars in Sting and Angle and if they're both around then I'll be stunned.
WWE's issue is that there's nothing to challenge them anymore. The Attitude Era won't happen again because no one needs to beat the other company. With no competition, why put forth your best effort if there's nothing to gain anymore?
I think the problem can be blamed on society and WWE fans in general. They have all changed. The current WWE product is fine in my opinion and I personally think they have been taking many risks and suprising turns lately including the shock C.M Punk World Title win and the recent Kane's mystery bag that revealed to contain Rey Mysterio's mask. Since the WWE draft this year, the WWE product has changed for the better. Much more refreshing in everyway.
While the WWE product itself has changed for the better, the fans have changed. Fans are more 'smart' and up to date nowadays. Many websites reveal Wrestling news headlines, spoilers, columns, forums, you name it. With the internet being so big these days, more and more people read about headlines and news. Say if William Regal wasn't on t.v for 8 weeks, a large percentage of WWE fans will know the exact reason why he isn't on television. Why do you think Smackdown almost never gets high ratings over 2.6? Because spoilers can be read 3 whole days before the show airs on t.v.
Why do you think heels sometimes get cheered over faces? Because fans think they are 'smarky' so therefore they follow the IWC trend. They think booing Cena is cool, or cheering Edge is awesome. I believe its the fans themselves, that are hurting the WWE the most. This past weeks Raw main event lost viewers. Obviously the fans aren't very loyal then. I always watch the main event no matter how shit I think it will be, because I am a loyal fan. The WWE doesn't have many loyal fans like they used to have.
Sure the finger can be pointed at somebody like Triple H who is the current WWE Champion as they may believe he should put over new talent. For starters, he doesn't have control over his title reign, creative does. Some people even think he is hogging the main event scene on Smackdown, when in reality he has hardly even been on t.v since being drafted to Smackdown. You look at somebody like Edge. Say if you replace him and his current storylines he has had more the past year with Triple H or John Cena. People would be complaining even more. Just imagine if Cena or Trips had as much air time and mic time as Edge does. The whole IWC would be going ballistic.
My point is that 'smarks' can't see the simple faults in the WWE that I think make the product repetitive and boring. How many segments of the Cutting Edge or the Highlight Reel have we seen this year? Too many for my liking. If a babyface got as much mic time as Y2J or Edge, he would be booed out of the building especially by the IWC. I don't hate Edge or Jericho as I think both bring a lot to the table and are always superstars that are consistant, don't get me wrong, I just think they have been booked too repetitive this year. But because its "Jericho" or because it is their beloved "Edge", its fine for them to get as much air time as they possibly can.
I believe Smarks in particular, hurt the WWE. I personally enjoy the WWE product every single week and I am always entertained by the product. Sure, I might not agree with everything the WWE does, but if everything was perfect it would be a boring world. People focus too much on the negatives rather than the positives. The world has changed from 8 years ago, and theres nothing anybody can do about it.
Well I just got to start by saying that in some area's the attitude era sucked just as much as todays wrestling, if people want to complain about the same people being pushed all the time then they should just go back and see Austin, HHH, The Rock and The Undertaker, with the fluke champion (at the time) Kurt Angle (dont get me wrong the guy is fantastic) and the guy on the brink of stardom Chris Jericho, those two were pretty much Punk and Kennedy, the only thing is back then there were three key differences:
1. The fans werent all smarky and most didnt even care that some of the wrestlers they were cheering were pretty talentless in the ring and knew about 5 moves.They had intenisity, the same intensity John Cena has believe it or not.
2. The lower cards were far more interesting, time and money was obviously spent on making these guys interesting to the fans, people cared about tag teams, the IC title and even the light heavyweight title.
3. Angles were different and unique, todays product (maybe not so much anymore) is basically the same story repeated with a title involved with the same people, the attitude era had the same people facing off but with different and unique angles, for some reason nobody cared if this was actually the third time in a row Austin had beat HHH or The Undertaker, now they do.
EDIT - What I mean to say is, blame is on both sides
Lack of competition is to blame for the WWE's problems, simple as that IMO.
People talk lovingly of the Attitude era, which indeed was great, and I for one look longingly back at the days when I literally couldn't wait to see what was going to happen on Raw.
However, the catalyst for the the Attitude era and the big changes in the WWF product that came about at that time was competition, plain and simple. WCW was taking over in the ratings by riding the fine line of kayfabe with the whole invasion angle and the NWO, ECW was a rising star with its ultra violence and hardcore action, and WWF was just same old same old, still relying on the '90-'92 formula of wacky gimmicks and good guy vs bad guy. Therefore, to raise their game, WWF had to adapt to the competition, and incorporate what was successful for the other organisations into their own unique offering. Hence we saw more 'shoot' style angles and interviews, more violent matches and a lower tone to the programming...
However, fast forward to today, and what reason is there for WWE to change the, to be truthful, very average product that they are giving us each week? If their quarterly figures are anything to go by, then they are making good money as they are. And we all know by now what Vince's favourite catchphrase is....
In my humble opinion, ratings would rise if things got a bit more hardcore and unscripted again, like in the brilliant Raw is War days. However, with so many sponsors and stakeholders to please nowadays, the WWE are beyond just merely just pleasing the consumer. Business has sadly taken over, and if that business is ticking over nicely then there is no reason to change.....
Off the top of my head I can think of a few reasons.
1) Fans don't give new things a chance. TNA is not terrible. TNA is a valid competitor to the WWE, or at least should be. They have talent and a prime time slot. They have guys that people loved and cheered in WWE, and yet most people stay blind and do not cross over and watch both. I have no idea why this is. Sure some of it has to do with TNA getting the word out, but they have done a decent job with what they have so far. Competition is good for the industry, without it, we would never have even had the Attitude era. If they don't have to worry about losing fans to competition, why get better?
2) SHAREHOLDERS - fans, non-fans, whatever. WWE now haw a Wall Street obligation. They can't take as many risks because they are playing with other peoples money and a new set of rules. If HHH draws and brings in cash, why would you risk your revenues and stock price on someone else who is not proven.
I have to say that we as fans have to be blamed in some way. It's seems now that whatever the WWE tries to do, the fans will instantly hate it and complain constantly. In the Attitude Era, the WWE could do no wrong at the time and everything was gold. I guess you can blame growing up on that part. I don't think that the kids who watched the Attitude Era are going to mark out to the same thing now that their older. They now want better quality matches and wrestlers who can wrestle being champion. Before, the storylines were what drew in the fans and they always wanted Stone Cold or the Rock to have the belt. Our tastes have changed, simple as that.
Now it seems that every main event player is politicing and they are burying the younger guys. We don't stand for that stuff anymore and I think that's a shame. I don't understand why some fans have turned their backs on the product that made them mark out huge before and made them coming back for more. But I think the answer is clear, the internet.
Before, no one knew what went on behind the scenes so they didn't know if someone was politicing or not, but no one cared. Fans now also want storylines and fueds to go their way and if it doesn't then they crap all over it. Whatever the WWE does, it isn't good enough or it is in the early stages, but they blow it. Well, I have this to say. If that storyline happened before you would absolutely love it (examples like Cena getting hit by a car, everyone thought it was the stupidest thing, but when Austin got hit by the car everyone was loving it...Kane "hurting" Mysterio is looked at as corny, but when the Ministry was doing it, it was golden). Now we are too knowledgable for our own good.
1.) TIVO- People tape the show now, and the ratings appear down, despite the fact they aren't as bad.
2.) The Fans make champions- When the fans joined together to hate Cena, the WWE did not know what to do, and they were willing to go to the end of the world for him. Hes a great guy, and perfect as the Champion.
3.) The networks and the stockholders won't let the WWE expand. The same problem WCW had down the stretch.
4.) There is no competition. TNA is only a challenge to ECW if at that. The WCW was a great running partner. Until the WWE can get that running partner again, the product will suffer.
5.) Politics. The WWE is increasing political, just like most would argue that the WCW was during its finishing years.
Before, no one knew what went on behind the scenes so they didn't know if someone was politicing or not, but no one cared. Fans now also want storylines and fueds to go their way and if it doesn't then they crap all over it. Whatever the WWE does, it isn't good enough or it is in the early stages, but they blow it. Well, I have this to say. If that storyline happened before you would absolutely love it (examples like Cena getting hit by a car, everyone thought it was the stupidest thing, but when Austin got hit by the car everyone was loving it...Kane "hurting" Mysterio is looked at as corny, but when the Ministry was doing it, it was golden). Now we are too knowledgable for our own good.
I think the Madden feature on the main site pretty much explains this one - the way these angles are now being presented lacks value - we know that the whole Kane thing is going to be short lived and throwaway - the same with JBL running over Cena. In the past, the Austin and Ministry angles on the other hand were meaningful, there for the long haul and played a major part in the direction of the programming. Another prime example is the Cena Batista Summerslam match - no value to it. We all deep down knew it was a match that had no meaning other than to draw the casuals and kids in, and that would mean nothing after the night was said and done.
I see a lot of people that are complaining about "smarky fans", but you can't have both sides of the argument. You can't say "the average fan doesn't read the internet reports" and then say "the fans that read the internet reports are so vast in number that they're ruining it". Also, as an entertainment company, its your job to move with the trends. If by some chance the majority of the fans out there ARE connected to the IWC, then deal with it. Don't just hope that it goes away or tell them that they're wrong and wish that they'd stop bitching. Simply don't give them something to bitch about.
Take the Kane angle. Everyone was SO excited about it when it first started up. We were hoping we'd get "the old Kane back" as for years, he's been a jobber (which is WWE's booking, not the fans booking, so you can't blame anybody but the WWE for that). Then, they decide to just barely mention it, making it lose all the steam that it had. Is that the fans fault? Nope. That's WWE's. Then, they decide to throw a loophole and put Mysterio's mask in it. Are there some fans that want to see Kane/Mysterio? Sure. But there are also fans out there that want to see Super Crazy win a heavyweight championship. I personally do not feel like sitting through a feud between Kane and Mysterio because Mysterio is a bore on the mic and in the ring to me, but more importantly, when you book Mysterio against someone big like Kane, all that ends up happening is that the big man looks completely inept. Now some are saying "don't complain about it because it hasn't started yet". Double-edged sword. If I'm allowed to get excited for a feud or a match before it starts, then I'm allowed to NOT look forward to it. Its a letdown.
Another letdown? Let's talk about the Matt Hardy/Mark Henry match at Summerslam. Oh, wait, there wasn't a match to talk about. Three moves and a disqualification. Now, I'm not a fan of Mark Henry, and I really dislike Matt Hardy, but you can't argue that Hardy doesn't have a legion of fans. All of those people that paid to watch Summerslam just to see Hardy, what did they get, besides cheated out of their money? Should they be happy about it? No. If I had paid 40 bucks just to see one match, out of loyalty and hope that they'd perform well, I'd be pissed off.
So that's a big problem lately: all build, little to no payoff. Many matches, angles, and so forth in the WWE are being booked like dangling string in front of a cat. You're almost there, but when it comes to execution time, you crap out. The fans are the cats. You can't fault them for getting upset.
Another issue: promo time. Its ridiculous. You watch a segment on Raw which spends 10 minutes doing nothing but setting up *insert match*. Then, on the second hour, they show you a recap of that segment. Then, on ECW, they show you a promo about the segment. Then, on Smackdown, they show you the same promo, which is around 4 minutes long and you've seen it four times by now. Then, next week on Raw, they show you an even longer recap. So now you've just seen this same segment FIVE TIMES in a week. And you know what they follow it up with? A segment talking about the promo! Which, naturally, you're treated to 3 or 4 more times the same week again. And the worst part is that they do this for four or five angles at a time. I think any level-headed wrestling fan that isn't a toddler perfectly understands that promos are valuable and that they help build feuds. But this is ridiculous. The more something is pounded into my head, the less I give a shit, so there have been many angles that don't have a good build (Edge/Taker was a great feud, great build) that I lose complete interest in because I've seen enough of it already. Too often, they throw two random people together and they try to make a feud out of "heel randomly attacks face....that's it". Or they do the whole "you win a match, they win a match, now you're in a feud with no storyline but hey, all we have to do is keep having you in matches together and people will buy it". You lay 4 or 5 or 6 repetitive screenings of the same lackluster execution matches in a row on me and now I've seen enough of it and I don't care about wanting to see it at the ppv...especially if there's potential that the execution will be even worse than previously. Do the fans choose how many promos we get? Nope.
Another issue: the amount of squash matches. A squash here and there is ok. It helps your monsters look dominant. But we've gone through shows at times where there are only 5 wrestling matches in a 2 hour span, and 3 of them were total squashes. Wtf? Am I supposed to get excited when you have Umaga or Khali against "unknown jobber" and not just assume that its going to be the same old, same old? After a certain amount of squashes, it doesn't help anymore. Khali comes out and beats the shit out of say, Jimmy Wang Yang. As soon as Jimmy's music hits, everyone knows the complete layout of the entire match, from beginning to end. So why bother watching if they won't surprise us? Are the fans at fault for finding your product boring when its repetitive and offers no surprise? And before anyone says it, yes, Kane pulling out Mysterio's mask was a surprise, but will it result in highly entertaining matches? Doubtful, so that's an execution problem and when its almost abundantly clear that there WILL be an execution problem with something like Kane/Mysterio, it kills the interest, rendering the "shock and awe" nothing but a momentary thing that you can't draw back to for sustenance.
Another issue: boring feuds or boring competitors put in feuds: Would it have been such a great risk if they'd have given us Punk versus Kane at Summerslam instead of JBL again? JBL isn't anywhere near as popular as Kane (whom they left off the card completely. That's smart. Book someone less popular in place of a guy who still gets cheered as a heel). If your average viewer thinks JBL is out of shape, can't wrestle, and is boring to watch when he's doing anything but cutting a promo, don't use him as your #1 contender in a one-on-one match with a champion that has been booked as a loser! You want the fans to get behind Punk? Book him against someone that they think he'll lose to, make it a close match, and have Punk go over. If you book him against Snitsky, nobody gives a shit. But is that the choice of the fans, or WWE? Fans are really giving Big Show pops right now, yet for some reason, he's
not involved in the championship scramble
and stuck with nothing to do? How does that make sense? Clearly, if the fans had a say in it, they'd put him involved in SOMETHING, so you can't blame the fans for that either.
I could go on and on, but the point I'm trying to illustrate is that the fans, the IWC, whatever you want to group people into..."the people that you rely on to make your business successful"...if they're not happy, give them what they want, because its not up to you to watch the show, its up to everyone else. You can't blame the IWC alone, saying they're the majority of the problem when on a different post, you say that they're the minority of the fans. The fans that have no clue about the IWC have no influence from them outside of thinking "I guess they're fans of Edge because they're cheering him". They wouldn't be thinking "I wonder if they're trying to be ironic. I guess that's a psychological response to try to make themselves seem cool, because smart marks, uh oh, I just learned a word out of thin air, feel that way, and are always negative towards the wrestling community." For the record, I DO dislike the mentality that some people feel they're special if they cheer for the bad guy just to go against the company. But a minority of fans in an arena saying "same old shit", does that kill your business? I highly doubt it. And if they aren't the minority in the arena, then you know that the majority of the people...NOT JUST "smarks"...feel the same way. What do you do in response to that? You change. But WWE has a tendency not to do just that. They would rather just try to throw an extra promo in to try to convince you that you're flat out wrong and that you should do what they say. When Cena was being more heavily booed, what did they do? Did they try to turn him heel and see if that would work? Did they try to change anything up? Nope. They ran video packages trying to say that he's the guy you should cheer for. First attempt at it is understandable, but they would try over and over and over again, desperately hoping that people would change their mind and go back to the status quo. Thusly, they didn't listen. And if you don't listen to the customer, they not only stop raising their hands, but they stop showing up in the first place. If you went to a restaurant and ordered a burger and they refused to believe that you didn't order soup, would you just say "I guess I did just order soup", or would you walk out? Sure, the soup might be fantastic, but you ordered a burger, and unless they give you a burger, you're not going to be paying.
The WWE has many faults that cant be blamed down to one person. I will try and explains ome here
1; Vince Mcmahon - The guy refuses to move with the times. He constantly pushes big, musclebound freaks over guys with genuine talent
2: The writing team - Coming up with crap storylines, though this might be due to the fact a writer will be blasted for admitting he likes another style other than the WWE.
3; "The main event style" - Wrestling style thatw as built to protect guys at the top, like Triple H and Stone Cold. It worked back then because you had the wrestlers with huge personalities to back it up. Sadly, if you cant work this style, you wont get pushed
4; Stone Cold Steve Austin - He was a legend, but when he got injured, he refused to go away. He continued to lurk around the main event scene and not put anyone over.
5; The InVasion - This steaming pile of turds turned a hell of a lot of people off.
6; Paul heyman - The guy helped create the attitude era, with Ecw, so nowadays all the storylines are shit compared to what he created.
7; Triple H -Im not saying anything here, its been documented many times why he stays on top
Id also like to mention the WWe dropped the ball bigtime in 2003, when new guys like RVD, Booker T, Benoit and Eddie Guerro were ready for the main event, yet couldnt get anywhere. Thankfully, the WWe changed this in the past couple of years for RVD and Eddie, but they screwed Boooker to the point where he didnt care about his work anymore.
HBK has a small part to play in this. He is a old man with knackered knees. He is very entertaining to watch, but his name value could be used to create a huge new star. For example, a guy from development comes up and destroys HBK(thus getting heel heat. He continues to destroy him throughout the fued,ending with a ppv win over HBK)
I think there are a lot of people at fault. In my opinion, John Cena is first on my list. I really don't understand why he is always in the title picture 24/7. The same exact rules apply for Batista. Those two need to STOP hogging the spotlight all the time (and Batista needs to learn how to wrestle cause he can't wrestle worth a crap!!!)!!! Who gives a crap if they're the two guys who sell the most merchandise. Give other guys a chance! I also think that creative is to blame. Haven't we seen these storylines in other forms years before? Use your brains here peoples! And the match making can use some BIG improvements. Can we go one show without seeing 4 jobbers get squashed by people like Kane, Khali, Show, or Koslov?? The new PG rating... because the WWE is trying to target kids, they had to 'clean up' the shows and make them kid friendly. My opinion, really stupid move. Stop making John Cena into Mr. kid friendly super hero, and change WWE back to the way it was before with lots of weapons, bleeding, explicitness, and all that good stuff.
The McMahons are somewhat responsible also. They're the owners, they should step in, speak up, and fix it to make it better. Make it less cheesy and predictable and make it more exciting to watch.
Lastly, I think we as fans are partially to blame as well. We're pretty smart, and probably read spoilers 3 days ahead of time before Smackdown. Like others have said, we read the spoilers, we know what to expect, it's not exciting anymore, so what's the point of watching. If we want WWE to be somewhat exciting again, do yourself a favor and don't read the spoilers! Then you'll have something to look forward to.
1. End the brandsplit. The draft just happened, and the product is already stale. The reason the attitude era was so awesome was that you could have a card with Austin/HBK for the title, Rock/HHH for the IC, Taker/Mankind, Y2J/Benoit, and Edge/Angle. And then the next month, all that could switch around. Now, we get six months of Edge/Taker, and HHH winds up fighting Khali. Not that Edge/Taker hasn't been interesting and good, but it keeps other feuds from happening.
2. Put the belt of Jeff Hardy. When CM Punk won the WHC, the ratings went up because the fans felt rewarded. I am not a fan of Punk's, but I know that I am in the minority in that opinion. He is over, but you know who is more over? Jeff Hardy. Jeff Hardy also has legitimacy with wins over HHH, Umaga, HBK, Y2J, etc. Punk got the belt, then got legitimacy. Jeff deserves better.
3. Open up movesets. WWE is notorious for restricting the moves of wrestlers. They claim injury prevention, which is cool. Why not restrict them at house shows, and then let them go on TV? Five times a month, the talent can open up and put on great TV matches, and then go back to punchy kicky fake MMA in Sheboygan on a Wednesday.
4. Close out angles. Rey's mask? Please. Finish. Right. I know that suspensions got in the way of Regal the King and Kennedy the bastard, but there is no governing body. Don't make the show lose direction because of steroids. I'm sorry, but sweep that shit under the rug. These guys are shortening their lives, and the result is my getting entertained. If they want to shrink their balls and grow tits, fine by me. Plus, there are other ways to punish them. Make then go stiff against Holly, or take them off of House Shows, and pay them 1/3 of their salary to only be on TV. Have Orton shit in their gym bag, and have JBL soap rape them, just don't forfeit the show on one idiot's account. I will give them credit for the Hornswoggle angle because it was shocking and went OK, considering that there was a long term plan in place, and it had to be scrapped. Without that stipulation, the angle sucked.
5. Have whoever is writing HBK/Y2J write everything. This is the best long-term angle in years, and has made one of the most over faces in the company to number one heel. Jericho is awesome, everything he does is great.
6. Don't bring in Sid. He sucks. And if he stabs HHH with scissors, the WWE will never forgive itself.
7. More McMahons. Sorry IWC, but the McMahons are some of the most over heels ever. Stephanie's shrill voice, Shane's arrogance, and Vince's disregard for everyone else are legendary. If someone could catch one tenth of the magic Austin had with McMahon, it could really build the company. I think Cena belongs in this feud. He's funny when he needs to be funny, and intense at the right time. Plus, he has nothing to do. Punk/Batista for the title, and JBL should be elevating someone right now (because JBL/Cena is played out). This is the time, bring McMahon back, ahve him go crazy blaming everyone for the stage collapse, and Cena could be offended. It's that easy to start a feud. Reveal later that he did, in fact, rig the stage. He will get cheers, but use his new found craziness and bloodlust into a heel change, preferably on one roster, and have him fight Jeff Hardy.
The main problem is no major competition. If you've no one snapping at your heels then you think theres nothing to worry about.
Too many complacent wrestlers, happy to show up and collect the cheque. Instead of waiting to be handed the ball someone needs to fucking stand up, take the ball and run! Nobody seems to have the passion like Austin, Rock etc from the attitude era. Only person I seem to see with passion and workrate is Cena.
Fans, If fans are happy enough to go to the shows and sit on their hands for a Khali match or the 19th McMahon skit of the night then thats what we'll see, If they shit all over it every week then they'll have to start changing it up! You pay big money for tickets, dont sit there like robots, make your feelings known.
I disagree with that. The entire E.C.W. television show is a "risk". It's not a great one, but giving a solid hour of television time to that much young talent, with it's leaders currently being Mark Henry, Matt Hardy, John Morrison & The Miz.. I'd say that's a lot to put hope on.
The biggest risk they've taken, is by far.. C.M. Punk as the flagship show's World Heavyweight Champion. This is a risk that's still yet to show whether or not it's going to pay-off in the long run. Currently, as much as I don't want to accept it, it's paying off in short term goals because Raw is being viewed by more people.
Perhaps not because Punk is a Champion, persay, but instead because people are realizing since he won that title.. anything is once again, truly possible.
They prefer to play it safe and keep things they know work. Triple H as champion for example; he can be trusted. I think hes scared of giving the belt to any newer talent at the moment.
If you haven't read the Smackdown spoiler, then don't continue reading.
The fact is, Triple H. as Champion is them holding at least one solild past memory. He's a safe bet in saying as Champion, he's proven himself to be worth the spot. However, judging by who all qualified for the SD Championship Scramble, I'd say that's the second biggest risk of all, with the chance of becoming the biggest should any of them win the title at Unforgiven.
Seriously. Brian Kendrick is in this thing. That's amazing for someone like me, who loves this character, but it's a GREAT risk just having such an unknown in a Heavyweight Championship match. Benjamin, M.V.P. and Hardy are the others. Hardy is the only main proven one, and M.V.P. is a future Champion, but is he ready.. RIGHT NOW? I'd definately say this is a risky move on their part.
The thing is, WWE still has storylines which make people shocked. McMahons limo being blown up for instance. In the attitude era, this would have been greeted with shock. However, now daily we are greeted with attacks on the news, soaps where people are murdered and attacked, dramas which portray everything to such an exaggeration. The WWE doesnt seem as brutal anymore.
A lot of people in the media just want to find a face to place the blame on. Chris Benoit's tragedy.. of course it's going to be blamed on the W.W.E., even though they had zero connection in the events that unfolded.
Why? Because Benoit was a wrestler. Because selectively you get a wrestler every couple of years, who can't handle life any longer and unfortunately hurts themselves, or worse.. others. The Von Erich Family was big on suicide. The Benoit tragedy is perhaps the new "worst" moment in wrestling history, beside the Von Erich's.
Other events with suicide issues such as Mike Awesome, and all the drug abuse because of the amount of pain these guys go through and the issues with being on the road almost all their life.
For the media, placing blame on one individual isn't going to draw your news report ratings. Which is, afterall, all they're after as well. So they target the source.. the company, and T.N.A. isn't big, so W.W.E. is it.. which is why they get such a bad rep, for doing next to nothing.
Times change. That's roughly the best way to put it. People love selective parts of the past. Those who were apart of the Hulkamania era never wanted to break into the future with Bret Hart, Shawn Michaels and others. Those apart of the Attitude era never wanted to break into the next step. It's a growing process and it takes some getting used to.. so for that, if anything.. I blame the fans.
If you love the sport as a whole, then it shouldn't matter what evolves or changes. You'll change with it, or you'll get left behind in the era you refuse to leave. It's like hippies who don't wanna grow up.
W.W.E. can't continue repeating past events, otherwise everyone will then turn on them (again) and say they aren't doing anything new or different. Yet when they do "new and different" it's "not the same as before" thereby making it not as good.
The wrestling industry will never will 100% of the fans, because everyone is different. But overall, the industry as a whole will survive because it's still giving everyone something to enjoy overall.
-Competition when they bought WCW the need to be creative went out the door when the doors closed; you can do anything when there is no one to compete with you
-Fans mostly care more about backstage politics than the actual match and the wrestlers for it; people hate Hogan cause backstage politics but do people really think the Brooklyn Brawler could have been a good champion or Skinner or the Repo man. If your favorite wrestler isn't in M.E. picture there's probaly a reason why *coughs* Shelton Benjamin
-Actual Wrestling; people complain about people don't really know how to wrestle well the last time I looked this isn't actual wrestling I wrestled thu-out high school and trust me that isn't the most exciting thing to watch
-The Amount of PPV why is there what 14 PPV's in a year and really so close together you really don't have time to build up a PPV and basically you get re-run of matches to me we watch the same PPV just in a different city under different names Honestly they need to bring back brand PPV to many people are lost in the shuffle now and storylines can develop better.
IMO.... In october 1999 changed the face of wwe history. The world was a different place when Linda Mac took over the money side of The Fed. The story lines back then were more graphic but in homes accrost the nation all that could never happen. Then the real horrors of 9/11 happened and sh#t got real . Stock holders got scared of the crumbling economeny. Keep sh#t safe. y stop pushing someone that sells merchandise. Stock holders dont want to lose money. thats y vince used his own money for "the million dollor give away" stock holders did not want to try that. cena=safe trips=safe taker+safe hardy not even close to safe........
....also roids in the news did alot to hinder growth in the WWE. The Fed already beat the feds in the wrestling verson of a steroids scandle. mlb brought it back. Then the Benoit tragity. To much bad publicity and bad pub loses money. thats just my opinion
Hmm at the moment a lot of things are keeping WWE back.
1- First of all the misuse of talent. I mean how many people are just lurking around in Smackdown? Big Show, Festus, Umaga (Before he got injured), MVP, Jeff Hardy (I know they are in the Scramble but when were they actually used before?).
2- The PG rating. I blame this for the recent no use for blood. Espcially in the Hell in a Cell at Summerslam.
3- Injuries. I mean come on how many injuries are going to happen to superstars in a year?
It's Vince McMahon's fault for putting his uncreative daughter in charge of creative. The only real creative McMahon who would be able to help right now is Shane since he seems like he would know what teenagers/young adults would want to see on TV right now. If I remember correctly he was the one pushing for ECW to be taped seperately in smaller venues in front of real ECW crowds to give it the original ECW "feel". He also had a lot to do with the Attitude Era, IMO.
But right now Vince McMahon has to be honest with himself... he's not in touch with the viewers who are watching his product. Sure, in the '80s he knew exactly what the crowd wanted. In the '90s when he started to lose touch he had Vince Russo but now it's him and Stephanie and neither of them know what the current viewers want to see.
I don't think there's really anything wrong with the actual booking of the matches and they can still get some feuds right... especially on the SmackDown side with someone like Michael Hayes having control. I think SmackDown works out for me because they're not trying to be like the Attitude Era. It's more of an old school kind of booking and I like it... but again it's not going to really bring in new viewers. Over on the RAW side they try to be the Attitude Era only their actual storylines are just awful. Everything is too scripted in the wrong places. The promos they give their wrestlers are horrible and the wrestlers themselves come across as completely fake. What they need to do is give the wrestlers a direction to take their promo in and then just let them loose. They're not scripted enough when it comes to actual storylines. Remember during the Attitude Era, it felt like we were watching a regular TV show instead of a wrestling show like Austin/McMahon, Austin/Ministry of Darkness, Austin/The Rock, The Rock/Triple H, etc.? There were just so many good storylines back then that are missing from WWE TV right now.
They either need Vince Russo himself or someone just like him who can work with Vince McMahon and tell him what needs to be done. Russo & McMahon were an awesome combination in the late '90s.
Problems? They are at the point now where there is just no comming back. Look at what is going on present day... The Womens and Diva's title hold's more prestige then the intercontental and Tag Titles... The ECW brand has absoutly nothing to do with Extreme Wrestling and has Mark Henry and Matt Hardy headlining their show. It seems like everytime a PPV takes place, there is one 3 weeks later so there is now time for build-up... and even if there was more time, the story lines are terrible. How many times are they going to "Kill Vince?" Yes, a year later, we can still remember it was onced unsuccessfully used!
The great story tellers throughout wrestling history is what sold tickets. What kind of a story do Cody Rhodes and Ted's son tell?? That they are young and can't talk in front of the camera yet? Even if they could talk, who is willing to put them over?? Triple H? Unfortunatly he is the only one who still breaks Kayfabe on occasion to make things more interesting but yet he does it in the worst possible way. Yes you are Married to Stephanie and you might be the best in the world next to Shawn. The last time he put over somebody, it was Shelton back in 2005 and that one upset on Raw put Shelton right on the map as sombody who could be a huge star... unfortunately they guy sounds worse than Randy Orton on the Mic.
I can ramble for hours on this Forum and I know the first reply from anybody in the WWE is "what the hell does this guy know?" Well i know that at one time The WWE had a winning formula from 98 till 01 telling it how it is. I also know that they had a loosing formula in the mid 90's creating more cartoon characters and putting fans to sleep. Remember Bret Hart vs. Jean Pierre the pirate?? Wasn't the whole story around the fact that he stole Bret's jacket?? Wow! I'm glad I paid for that PPV! Who the hell booked that crap? The only difference is now they are just not creating the cartoons.
I swear its like the creative team is selecting a story line off of the Smackdown video games and comitting to it no matter how well its playing with the fans!
But at the end of the day the only solution is to not watch it... but now what fun would that be? I'm still one of those guys who keeps his eyes open for the Rock to come back, Stone Cold to come back to TV and... oh yes I'm going to say it, have Randy Savage in the HOF!
-1. ::Internet Boom:: Culpability should be given the drastic internet boom since 2000 that permitted fans links to spoilers to gain pre-knowledge of events before they officially transpired with them already aware of the scripted plan. It also allowed them to hold pre-knowledge of new or iconic superstars coming to the biz. It destroyed much of the heel negativity we use to get because instead of booing while already knowing what's going on, people would rather cheer now. Spoilers is half accountable for deteriorating the era of wrestling. A majority of loyal fans from the Attitude Era days have winded up abandoning in wrestling as new kinds of fans came along in a slow transition.
-2. ::WCW & ECW Demise/Purchase/Storyline:: The death blow of both companies hitting six feet under daggered a fatal blow to professional wrestling in its mainstream publicity causing Attitude Era or Monday Night Wars fans to give up on wrestling. If Heyman had more creative control of ECW and maintained scripting or event planning, he could have reduced financial losses due to sueing that ultimately led to bankruptcy. As for WCW, had AOL Time Warner not buy them out perhaps if Turner hadn't spend extravagant funds paying Hogan what? 500 thousand a PPV appearance or if Hogan didn't hog the limelight, and if the "Finger Poke of Doom" wasn't conducted, perhaps WCW would still be alive today. The purchase of WCW and ECW was like a day spa feeling for McMahon. The weight of the world was finally over and he only proceeded to humiliate both companies in a 2001 Alliance storyline. The storyline was interesting but damaging.
-3. ::Creative Management:: They have not an ounce of clue what they are doing on few occassions. Vince Russo left after giving his last spark of brilliance for the Attitude Era. Now, it all began with the Alliance storyline. Later the Katie Vick crap. Then the Kane/Lita wedding angle, the McMahon staged death, Hornswoggle as McMahon's illegitimate son, Spirit Squad, McMahon staging another near-death demise to blow-off that money club he had going and so on. Then the booking has reduced to today's horribleness. HHH, Cena, Batista, Edge are the primaries being constantly pushed. However, we're slowly seeing a change in that as Punk, Kofi, Hardys, Benjamin, Kendrick, are being pushed now. A 1 plus there on the pushing part.
-4. ::Superstars:: The iconic superstars of the past have either retired, died, are sort of bored of by fans or are getting old. The superstars of today that have been born is this era appeal more to the younger audience and the girls, more than they do to the others and even many others, not at all. Stone Cold and Rock for example, appealed to many than a portion of the masses as did Hogan, nWo, Goldberg and such. Nowadays, Triple H is getting old and same-mo same-mo mostly thanks to his quad injuries. Flair retired (or so we thought). Batista is boring. Cena is Cena which is an hyped overexaggeration. Khali sucks. Many others are trying to re-accomplish themselves or are up-and-comers. Some though are lacking some skills to get themselves out there.
I think that covers it all. I'd hoping for TNA to make it up, give WWE and Vince a run for their money. Have McMahon's head spinning out of control so he can put out some hard effort in attempts to save his company. But by the looks of TNA, they are emulating WWE instead of separating themselves from it which will forever make them a WWE breathing ground. They need to get the head out the ass and tell themselves they want to be their own. Then they should revamp some of their look, expand budget if possible and try again. Will we see this? Doubt it. WWE will likely be the number one wrestling promotion in the world until they falter and wrestling dips into obscurity.
Ive been saying this for the longest time, yes its a big factor that Vince really doesnt have competition anymore, but it is the draft and all of these multiple champions that is screwing up things, confusing things and ruining ratings, it downgrades the champ and makes him less important when his got 2 other champs just like him in the same company, im sick of not being able see certain fueds just because a guy is on Smackdown instead of Raw, combine rosters again, unify titles put on some matches people have been wanting to see, a big reason why WWE was a hit from 1997-2001 was because you had DX, you had the Nation, you had Stone Cold who was solo, then on another side you had Undertaker and Kane, it was all this factions and it was everyone vs. everyone, it was chaos and you never knew what was going to happen next, this made things incredibly fun and you just had to watch, nowadays its one man fueding with one man and he has to pretend that no one else in the company exists except for his rival, like I just said its a lot more fun with combined brands and an environment where you know anyone could face anyone, Im TELLING YOU, all WWE needs to do is combine brands, make things a little less predictable, have only one of every champ so that the belts actually mean something and then I PROMISE you WWE will get better, more interesting, and the ratings will rise
Lack of competition is one the reason of the downfall in quality. The fall of the WCW and Ecw has hurt WWE`s quality over the long run. Add to that, WWE had lost some quality wrestlers like Angle, Eddie, Benoit, Stone Cold etc.as well as some important crew members like Paul Heyman. Also, I feel WWE aims for a younger audience now.(This is not necessarily good).
I also think lack of competition is a huge reason. Let's face it, you can't advertise a World/WWE title match for a non-PPV because no one is convinced the title will change hands. It's only a matter of if the champion wins or gets DQ'ed. There is still Triple H with the title which is getting old. You have a bunch of "goons" who you know won't win the title but are thrown in as legit threats (Khali, Umaga, Kane, etc). The only reason Khali had it was someone got hurt. Kane had it 10 years ago. I like the direction Raw went making CM Punk champion, it's fresh. I think Jeff Hardy needs to be given a chance as Champion.
It just all comes down to this, RAW and Smackdown are weaker. There is very little surprises. Then that in turn just makes paying $40 for the only show when something might happen seem less worth it. There is no more special matches anymore. Every card should have at least one special match (hardcore, ladder, cage, whatever). It just becomes hard to watch Raw when it's just normal singles matches, and no title is going to change hands.
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