What does the future of wrestling look like?

[BuckshotBrian13]

In an update to a developing top story, WrestleZone can confirm that in addition to a big Smackdown name considering a WWE departure, there have been discussions between Rey Mysterio and WWE management regarding Mysterio's future in WWE.

According to a well-placed source in WWE who read our initial report, Mysterio has discussed with management several concerns he has regarding his character and the future of the Smackdown brand.

With stars like Shawn Michales, Matt Hardy and Chris Jericho seemingly out of the WWE picture, and with news that Triple H is not in any hurry to return to TV, we're being told that low locker room morale is continuing to see fallout.

"There's a real sense of disappointment in WWE right now," our source told us, "paychecks are down, from pay per view bonuses to merchandise royalties. Only the very top guys are making great money, and it's the guys underneath who are really feeling the pinch right now."

Smackdown's first rating on Syfy wasn't a morale booster, either. The show registered a 1.7 cable rating, averaging 2.5 million viewers over the course of the two-hour broadcast. WWE was expecting, and openly talking about scoring at least a 2.0 for the live edition of the show. The Smackdown locker room is concerned what will happen after the initial week's hype and publicity for the live cablecast."

Mysterio still has considerable time left on his contract, but he's a prominent star who is addressing his concerns with the company. "With Matt Hardy obviously wanting out, and Chris Jericho leaving so publicly," our WWE insider told us, "it's going to be hard for WWE management to maintain the happy face mentality much longer."

TNA president Dixie Carter is shown shaking her head in disgust. Jeff Jarrett comes out and hugs Hulk Hogan. Abyss comes out and does the same. Rob Van Dam comes out and tries talking to Jeff Hardy, but Hardy hits RVD with the title belt instead. The show goes off the air as all of the heels celebrate and fans fill the ring with trash.

^Credit to the wrestlezone staff.


With the SD locker room down on what seems to be the downfall and now seeing another rehashed version of the NWO now with Hogan, Bischoff, Abyss, Jarrett, and suprisingly Jeff Hardy. What does the future hold for pro wrestling in general? The WWE seems to be losing all their big names and may bring SD to the level of ECW was. The ratings have been down and not all the blame is to Monday Night Football. TNA is going to try the NWO angle...again and it seems that's going to be attempted for the 8th time now overall from the WWE, WCW and TNA. What do you guys think is going to happen seeing all of this happening for both TNA and the WWE?

 

[Sparky]

It all depends on the Mid carders of today. We all knew that it couldn't be the same wrestlers for ever. It will just be sink or swim time for people like MVP, Swagger, John orrison ect to step up and show us what they are made of. It will still be the same but it will give all the mid carders the chance to shine. There has to be at least 10 current non main eventers that could step up and replace the big names that are planning on retiring.

 

[ReallyReally]

Pro wrestling will sooner or later fade away in favor of MMA. MMA offers true unpredictability. The hay-day of wrestling has passed and will never return regardless of what anyone thinks. Internet has killed any slight chance that still exists of being caught off guard by anything in pro wrestling, which dilutes the product as a whole. I' m not saying pro wrestling will necessarily go away for ever, but it doesn't get any better as the years go by. It seems likely to go the way of of boxing in that it will have a hardcore niche of fans that are just "trained" to watch if you will.It's only a matter of time.

 

[Kaneanite]

They need to mix things up.

-Stop having a PPV every fucking week

-If you are going to give someone a push, then PUSH them.

-Give everyone a feud or at least a reason to be there. What is Miz, Morrison, Bryan, Sheamus, and so many others doing right now? They only focus on Cena, Nexus, and Orton. Please, give the others attention.

-Make SD! Live

-LONGER TITLE RUNS

It's also important to keep in mind that HHH will rush his way back if he has to. And what I mean by that is if the WWE gets in some kind of panic mode look for Hunter to come back sooner rather than later.

If the WWE just did these few things it'd be so much better. Guaranteed. Also, I know so many people disagree here, but maybe giving Cena the title until this bad feeling in the 'E' goes away would be a good move.

 

[Sparky]

Pro wrestling will sooner or later fade away in favor of MMA.

Nope. there will still always be Wrestling fans. MMA might be getting bigger but it's not going to leave wrestling in the shadows.

MMA offers true unpredictability.

Maybe because it's real?

The hay-day of wrestling has passed and will never return regardless of what anyone thinks.Internet has killed any slight chance that still exists of being caught off guard by anything in pro wrestling,

This I sort of agree with but did you honestly think THEY was going to involve hardy?The internet might of killed it but if you think that, stay off sites like this. Who that wasn't online would of ever thought paul bearer was going to return? and when a wrestling company does manage to sneak in a surprise it makes it even more interesting because it didn't get leaked out.

which dilutes the product as a whole. I' m not saying pro wrestling will necessarily go away for ever, but it doesn't get any better as the years go by. It seems likely to go the way of of boxing in that it will have a hardcore niche of fans that are just "trained" to watch if you will.It's only a matter of time.

I don't think so. One product you can watch what five times a week for free (minus what you pay to have paytv) or the other two that you have to pay to watch any remotely interesting matches? Wrestling will not end up taking a back bench. That's why the WWE are catering to kids at the moment. Because todays kids that watch wrestling, Will end up being the futures adults watching it.

 

[Arkham Noir]

I really don't know . It's always possible that we're just seeing a slump, but who knows.Thanks to UFC, MMA has started providing the drama that was once unique to pro-wrestling. I'm actually afraid that as time goes on, wrestling might just fade away into obscurity. Alot of the people ending up in wrestling just seem to care about a quick way to get their face out there opposed to actually making something of themselves. I know for sure that Triple H has made that point in the past. This is really more of a problem with society in general but I'm not going to get into that here.

I don't know what the future holds for wrestling, I really don't.

 

[BuckshotBrian13]

That's why the WWE are catering to kids at the moment. Because todays kids that watch wrestling, Will end up being the futures adults watching it.

I really don't know . It's always possible that we're just seeing a slump, but who knows.Thanks to UFC, MMA has started providing the drama that was once unique to pro-wrestling. I'm actually afraid that as time goes on, wrestling might just fade away into obscurity. Alot of the people ending up in wrestling just seem to care about a quick way to get their face out there opposed to actually making something of themselves. I know for sure that Triple H has made that point in the past. This is really more of a problem with society in general but I'm not going to get into that here.

I don't know what the future holds for wrestling, I really don't.

They need to mix things up.

-Stop having a PPV every fucking week

-If you are going to give someone a push, then PUSH them.

-Give everyone a feud or at least a reason to be there. What is Miz, Morrison, Bryan, Sheamus, and so many others doing right now? They only focus on Cena, Nexus, and Orton. Please, give the others attention.

-Make SD! Live

-LONGER TITLE RUNS

It's also important to keep in mind that HHH will rush his way back if he has to. And what I mean by that is if the WWE gets in some kind of panic mode look for Hunter to come back sooner rather than later.

If the WWE just did these few things it'd be so much better. Guaranteed. Also, I know so many people disagree here, but maybe giving Cena the title until this bad feeling in the 'E' goes away would be a good move.

It's true that MMA stole the thunder. Then the internet can ruin it for most people with spoilers. Wrestling isn't what it used to be. Also TNA is at the wrong place and wrong time. The attitude era came and past. Yes, Hardy's heel swerve and him becoming champion threw us off, but what's going to happen with that now seeing he is still dealing with legal issues? On top of that, THEY is just another spin-off on the NWO. How far can Russo, Bischoff, Hogan can go with another spin on it? Remember the band rehash came and went. It just seems the NWO idea is turning into a cockroach. You try to kill it and it doesn't die and comes right back.

Also if you think of it, Nexus is a nwo rehash. It did well in the summer, but now they're dragging it out. The ratings are starting to decline. Seeing Cena joining might do the unthinkable of turning full-fledged heel on PG tv, but all we can do is hope and pray that happens.

Wrestling as a whole is going down the shitter...but for how long...who knows?

 

[yoshi_doce2006]

Since I haven't watched WWE in a year due to extreme stupidity of their writing team I will stick to the TNA side here. TNA took an entirely new direction tonight, one that will create a buzz and keep me interested while showing great action that has made TNA Famous.

I thought it was a very good pay-per-view.

The opening match was awesome with lots of action.

Jay Lethal and Douglas Williams was a solid mid cart bout with some good wrestling.

The Knockouts match was better than any women's match I have seen since Awesome Kong vs Gail Kim.

Abyss and RVD was brutal, a good brutal, and made me cringe at some of the spots though they totally screwed up the Janice bit with Abyss coming out at the end.

I enjoyed Lethal Lockdown, it was a very good match overall that reminded me of some old War Games matches, even though I think that TNA is dropping the ball with Furtune by making them look beatable so soon.

The Word Title Match was a hell of a match with the end swerve being one that could never be expected. I expected Angle to turn and Hardy turning was out of left field to me. It was not Hulk Hogan cerca 1996 turning but it was a turn that could benefit TNA and create a buzz.

Team 3D's announced retirement was a nice moment. With this supposedly being Kevin Nash's last match and now 3D supposedly getting out it seems to be the start of a youth movement.

Overall I give the PPV 9 of 10. The Ink Inc vs Jordan/Young match was stupid and should not have been on a PPV at all which brings down the value and makes me unable to give it a perfect score.

Even though this is going back and rehashing old history it has new players and people in new positions. Hulk Hogan is the one in charge of the product and his team including Bischoff, Vince Russo, Jeremy Borasch, and Jeff Jarrett came up with a move that WWE has been contemplating for years, turn their top babyface heel. It was a move completely out of left field and one that will create buzz.

The question I have is simple. Can TNA build off of this great Pay-Per-View and build on it? If they do it will increase viewership in their product. If that happens and Impact grows to the 2.5 Million viewers Smackdown brings in it will make Vince acknowledge that he has lost some steam and need to work harder to put out a great product.

Also last night Kevin Nash said he was retiring this week, tonight Team 3D announced their retirement after one last match, Shawn Michaels retired earlier this year, Undertaker is retiring after Wrestlemania, Triple H is an executive now and is said to not be in a hurry to get back in the ring, Sting has been rumored to retire after his contract is up. The veteran guard from the last generation is retiring and the question for wrestling dominance will be answered simply by asking "Who has the best young wrestlers and can creative use them correctly?".

Can TNA build off a great Pay Per View and can the WWE fix their moral issues? If both of those are yes then I think the Professional Wrestling Industry will be alright for a while.

 

[JJohns]

I think that the future of pro wrestling rests in the hands of the bookers in Ring of Honor, Pro Wrestling Guerrilla and the other major independents out there. Not because I think that one day I think that those promotions are going to break through into the mainstream, but because I think it's going to be the talent that they create there that are going to become the future of WWE and TNA, as long as they don't trip on bad booking on their way.

Look at guys like CM Punk, Samoa Joe, the American Dragon and Low-Ki. All were developed in ROH before eventually getting their pushes in the Big 2.

The other thing that needs to happen is that WWE and TNA need to go back to basics. Like Lance Storm said in a commentary, don't book storylines, book matches and PPVs. Give people a reason to continue watching, give people a vested interest and STOP FUCKING REHASHING OLD ANGLES FOR FUCK'S SAKE!!!!!!! And yes, I'm looking at both WWE and TNA here.

 

[Big Smack]

TMZ reporting Jersey Shore's Jwow signed w TNA for a 1-night deal. Are they "shore" they want to push that guy? Guess the mainstream papparazzi media is going to help push it.

 

[ForzaItalia]

There is a simple answer to this situation here with all this low expectation in WWE and crap in TNA. The answer and savior to the future of pro wrestling will be none other than the American Dragon himself.....Bryan Danielson. Pro wrestling right now is not too bad minus this old nWo with Jeff and the stupidity of the WWE.

I think Bryan Danielson, Sheamus, and the other mid card guys will be the future of pro wrestling and bring us an era of pure wrestling and heart just like the early 2000's. I mean you have Kaval, Danielson, Punk, Tyler Black, and even Sheamus is one hell of a wrestler. As for TNA, they are screwed because if they think Matt Hardy (no offense to Matt I am a Mfer 4 life but) is going to bring the ratings up for TNA they are in way over their heads yeah I am talking to you Russo. TNA needs to pull their crap together and get rid of all these junkies and build their own stars. The only guy I would keep is Kurt Angle and even Sting because they are worth double of what Hogan is as an asset.

Anyway, other than all these up coming stars, I think WWE has to merge the brands right now because you need to have all your talent on both shows for people to be interested. If you keep all your big names on one show and the rising stars on the other then the other show will get the bad ratings and the star powered show will do well. Also this will bring in more feuds because we get the same old shit right now with the wrestlers being separated and merging will open up more feuds and more interest. Also get rid of the World Heavyweight Championship, you only need one title. I think WWE will start doing better if they start caring about fans rather than money and that is all I have to say.

 

[Dzone]

The future of wrestling is great for both companies IMO. WWE has their FCW roster to rely on and the mid-carders of today (Danielson, Kaval, Morrison, Miz, Sheamus, Del Rio, some Nexus members etc) and TNA has "future" talent aswell... but I put future in inverted commas because their talent already has the bloody talent to main event FFS. TNA has Matt Morgan, AJ Styles, Samoa Joe, The Pope, Kazarian, Beer Money, MCMG etc its almost never ending ffs use them!!! Get rid of EV2.0 like at latest next PPV and have Fortune split up and fued properly in 1 vs 1...

Another thing I would love to see happen in TNA is if their tag division gains more prestige than their WHC, this would be unique and compared to WWE's pathetic tag division I do think people would enjoy this. IT means they don't have to go head on vs WWE and take WWE's stars that have left but instead they can build a completely new style of wrestling almost 100% based on the tag team division --> ofcourse keep the WHC but just give the tag team division nearly as much prestige =].

 

[Wade's Public Transit Bomb]

What does the future of wrestling look like?

I do like the news bits that claim the locker room morale is low. Just makes me envision some guy with his ear against the wall trying to hear some gossip. lol


So, the fact that Raw jumped back up to a 3.3, their average, after just two weeks is pretty much invalid? Or the fact that John Cena is still making money for the WWE like the rent is due tonight?

The WWE is just lacking some star power right now. Just look who hasn't been on Raw just this past year: Batista, Shawn Michaels, Triple H. Those are some pretty damn big names.

I think people are too quick to jump the gun when it comes to the WWE's numbers. Summerslam did do a lower buy rate than last year, but that was pretty much a one match show with the main event. Even then, it was only by 40,000 buys. When Hell in a Cell's numbers come back, that will be even more intriguing because the only match that had any real hype to it was Cena vs Barrett.


And Smackdown is never going to get comparable numbers to Raw. It is a Friday night show that is taped. Totally different kind of animal.