What's the MAIN reason the WWE appears to be in a slump right now??

[Rasha]

I wholly agree with your point about fans having been "spoiled" (although I don't think the term is necessarily appropriate).

I'm afraid I can't think of any way WWE could ever climb back up to that peak again. I mean, really, what could WWE or TNA do that would shock the fans and even mainstream to the same degree that NWO, DX, Austin, Rock, etc. did?

"Spoiled" wasn't mean as an insult, and it doesn't always have to be taken as such. Sometimes it simply means that one has grown accustomed to a higher standard and now views it as an expectation. The difference between someone who's just spoiled and one who's a "spoiled brat" is how they react when a lower standard is presented to them.

Also, I think you're overvaluing the need for "shock value" in the wrestling product. Think of a long-running television drama like "E.R." or "The West Wing." Of course you had the occasional shockers and cliffhangers, but for the most part the audience stayed because they were drawn to the well-crafted characters and storylines.

Obviously pro wrestlers aren't on the same level as the George Clooney's or Bradley Whitford's of the world in terms of creating compelling characters, nor are they given the material to work with that these actors receive from their writers. However, a wrestling fan doesn't turn on RAW expecting to see Emmy-worthy acting or dialogue. They know what wrestling is and simply want it to meet the regular quality that they've enjoyed in the past. It's not about the big moments, but rather the weekly ebb and flow of the product that has to improve for the slump to end.

 

[Trill Co$by]

The answer to this question is and forever will be the simple fact that the IWC exists.

The IWC is too picky in wanting everything to go their way, and nine times out of ten the complaining comes from some wannabe smark who isn't getting what they want from the product. Seriously, back in the hey days there weren't as many dirt sheets and forums out there for people to read results. All you had was WWE, WCW, and few sites that conducted interviews with people but never blurred the line between Kayfabe and reality.

Nowadays you have sites like NoDQ, PWIonline, WrestleZone, and the like sitting here and giving us every single detail about wrestlers that it just doesn't matter what happens, the products are going to be stale. Right now, Orton gets heat for the simple fact that he's a dick in real life at sometimes... Well if the IWC wasn't around then nobody else would really know that.

Not to mention, you have such a wide range of people on these IWC sites sitting there and complaining about what they THINK should happen and passing it off as real information... and when that doesn't happen they turn and blame it on poor booking instead of admitting that they got worked.

So yeah basically, WWE's not doing anything wrong... it's IWC that's changed wrestling.

 

[Arkham Noir]

There's one thing you're missing that I have been saying for quite some time is the problem, and it's what Paul Heyman said was going to be TNA's problem:

"I also explained how we would make this thing move and an acknowledgment that wrestling is a diminishing market and it's not perceived as cool."

Everything has been steadily declining for a decade.

That's true. Pokemon was huge in the late 90's. Why isn't it still prominent? Becasue people just move on to the next thing. People get bored of things and just move on.

That's not to say that WWE's not still doing well. They're still massive. They might continue dropping, they might get bigger again. I don't think that any one thing will result in WWE "slumping".

Than again, I still don't understand why RAW's ratings are getting killed by football this year so much worse than any other year.That has me stumped.What's so different about this year?

 

[ScouseSlammer2010]

The PG Rating Is Stupid . I Think Any Type Of Maritals Arts Is Brutal And Should Be Full Of Blood . No Matter What Kids Are Gunna Watch Smackdown/Raw . The Range Of Matches Have Went Down Due The PG Era . As Some One Said They Were Matches In The Toilets . We Miss The First Blood Match Aswell .

I Also Think Theres No-one As Big A As Austin Or Rock .. Its Cena This And Cena That ... Always Orton Too , I Think Get A Brand New Wrestler And Build Him Up Step By Step .

There Is A Couple Of PPVS That There Is No Point Being There And I Also Think Theres A Issue With Storylines Cause The Creative Team Hasnt Done A Good Storyline For A While....

Get A Legend To Take On The Nexus With A Team Of Legends ,... That Would Inrest Me .

__________________________________________________________________

CAN YOU DIG IT YOU SUCCKAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA !

"Ethier Your Wendys Or Kfc ! "

 

[Rasha]

The PG Rating Is Stupid . I Think Any Type Of Maritals Arts Is Brutal And Should Be Full Of Blood .

Funny; most martial artists would disagree completely. Bloodbaths are a mark of savage combat, and martial arts are supposed to anything but savage. The goal is not to mutilate your opponent but rather to either defeat or repel them as efficiently as possible.

Besides, the peak of wrestling had nothing to do with the amount of gore they portrayed. Sure there are some historical images like Austin's "crimson mask," but they're relatively meaningless compared to major factors in what drove wrestling's past success.

 

[Optimist Prime]

WWE and wrestling are in a slump right now because yes, there is lack of competition...but also because all of the "new" generation of wrestlers don't have nearly the personality and charisma that the other guard had. They're pretty much just all in-ring ability and nothing else. So it becomes boring as it lacks substance.

In the days of old, you didn't need that great of in-ring ability because the personality, charisma, and build-up made the matches amazing...even if the 2 wrestlers couldn't "wrestle" (i.e. Hulk Hogan vs. Andre the Giant). Today you have boring gimmicks with nothing special, no personality, and they could put on the best technical wrestling match ever...but nobody (outside of the IWC and similar fans) is going to remember it.

Chris Benoit and Eddie Guerrero could have wrestled a thousand times until their hearts content...but it would never be able to match the greatness of Hogan vs. Andre at Wrestlemania 3. Not in a million years.

 

[Jack-Hammer]

I don't know if there is a single "main" reason why the WWE is in a bit of a slump right now. As far as the PG rating goes, too many people make far too big of a deal out of it. Throughout history, the vast majority of wrestling you'd see on television would be firmly within the PG category.

When it comes to ppvs, I do think that the WWE has too many of them and the cost of them is simply too high.

The roster split, not having a single World Championship and SmackDown! not being live don't strike me as major factors. These are generally things that the IWC complains about and discusses at length rather than the average wrestling fan.

Not having stars as big as the likes of Austin & The Rock does seem to be a bit more relevant to me. The Rock & Stone Cold Steve Austin were huge, no doubt about that. At the same time, however, the ratings for WWE programming started going down before they left the company. I think one thing that's affecting the WWE numbers wise right now is the fact that Raw simply doesn't have a lot of hugely established big names on its roster right now other than John Cena & Randy Orton. Chris Jericho is taking time off to tour with his band, Batista is gone, HBK is gone, Triple H is out and there's been no solidified word on when he'll return. Edge is on SmackDown! so there's another big name gone from Raw. The WWE has spent a lot of this year, particularly post WrestleMania, building and pushing new stars on Raw to be the ones to carry the company. With so many familiar faces and established names gone, I'm not surprised that Raw's numbers haven't been as strong. It's going to take time for these younger guys to become as accepted and as popular as the bigger names. The simple fact is that Monday Night Football is also a huge factor right now. Up against Monday Night Football, Raw's numbers always take a hit. It's taken a harder hit than usual this time around and I think part of the reason for that is the lack of established stars on Raw. I'm curious as to how many people that've switched to Monday Night Football for the time being that regularly have watched Raw have recorded Raw using the DVR. You almost never read anything on the net regarding DVR numbers.

I also think that lack of competition could be a factor. When the Monday Night Wars ended, Raw's numbers began to slide very soon thereafter. The two years prior to WCW's demise saw the average Raw pulling roughly a 6.0 Nielsen Rating. After WCW went down the tubes, that rating decreased to a 4.6 in 2001, it went down to a 4.0 in 2002 and was firmly within the mid to upper 3s on average in 2003 and that's where it's generally remained since. The Monday Night Wars was an exciting time and many people were drooling with anticipation that TNA's move to Monday nights would help usher in a new age, but it simply did not happen as TNA regularly got slaughtered. I honestly wonder what kind of numbers TNA would pull against Monday Night Football.

 

[hatehabsforever]

Really, when you stop to think about it, is WWE really even in a slump? Really? The way I see it, RAW ratings are down, and this is mostly attributable to one thing and one thing only: Monday Night Football. Ratings will probably suffer a little bit for the next couple of months as the football season wears on, and after the Superbowl, it'll be Road to Wrestlemania time, and everything should rebound.

Smackdown is still pulling in ratings pretty much in line with where they've always been. A pre-recorded B-show, with internet spoilers, aired on a Friday night on a less popular television station, SD is probably never going to pull in massive numbers, but they are holding their own. Same could be said for NXT (not season three, that was a disaster), Superstars, even ECW when it still existed.

Professional wrestling doesn't have the same allure that it once did, and it might never be the same. Expectations are higher than ever. Fans are more knowledgeable than ever. The IWC spoilers play a negative role. And of course the "they" angle on TNA has rocked WWE to its very core . But from where I'm sitting, WWE is doing just fine. Ratings will suffer a little during football season. PPV buyrates will continue to suffer as long as they have PPV's as frequently and as close together as they do. BUt RAW will be all right, it always is. McMahon will figure something out and keep his organization in great shape. He always does.

 

[Wolf Pac]

It's not really in a slump, WWE just dont feel the need to try because of lack of competiton and I mean TNA, ROH etc. WWE is too big & cant die, they will always draw an audience whether it's shit or not, whether their audience is kids or not. It has nothing to do with anything else on the list. Even if WWE improved on the other options in that list, people still wouldnt like WWE just because they love Austin, Rock etc. so much. Cena, Orton, Sheamus wouldnt be able to get over in the Attitude Era if WWE went back to the Attitude Era, nobody will accept Cena, Edge, Orton etc. as the next Austin, Rock, HBK etc. even if they try to get them on their level. All it really is, is nobody wants to accept the new generation of wrestling.

But I would love for WWE to end the split rosters. Smackdown is always gonna be the B show to Raw no matter how much WWE tries to get it on Raw's level, so I see no point for the split rosters anymore especially as they are unifying titles & wrestlers from both brands to appear on each show every few months.

 

[Calderownz]

Excellent point!



Actually, it took less than a year. He debuted as The Ringmaster in December 1995. He cemented his name in history with the Austin 3:16 speech after beating Jake Roberts at the King of the Ring in June 1996 in a victory that was originally supposed to be Triple H's (really that is the bottom line core reason why he rose to stardom... imagine what WWF and hell the whole industry would have been like had Levesque not participated in that MSG breaking kayfabe incident).

In less than one year after his debut, Austin had already won King of the Ring, coined an immensely popular catchphrase, participated in a shocking bit (breaking into Pillman's house where Pillman fired a gun at Austin), and wrestled Bret Hart at a major PPV. I'd say that was making quite a bit of noise.

Just over a year after his debut, he won the Royal Rumble with Bret Hart as the last remaining man to be eliminated.

A month later, Austin was in a WWF Championship in a match against Bret Hart, Vader *and* The Undertaker.

A month after that, he was in the famous submission match against Bret at Wrestlemania where he passed out from bleeding instead of submitting.

Etc. and so forth.

True, he didn't win the top belt until Wrestlemania XIV, two years and four months after he debuted, but he was a mega star long before that.

But like you said, he had something special *AND* he was in the right place at the right time. It's unrealistic to expect many people to be able to have such a meteoric rise to stardom.



EXCELLENT points. Cheers.

You make a solid point with the Austin thing. I should have specified that I meant from the moment he took the title at WrestleMania. However, without that title run, he might have been a hot character that never took the company to new heights. That's what I meant. But I clearly see your point.

 

[WWEIsLife2]

The WWE is not really in a slump,yes PPV Buyrates and Ratings have gone down a little bit again but its not the first time this has happend so I don't know why people are that suddenly surprised about it. Ratings don't mean as much as they did back then as the WWE has other ways to make up for Low Ratings and Buyrates and what not. Especially since they are on Youtube now where people can watch it and Hulu as well plus people can DVR it if they chose and watch the Shows later on.

Add to that about the PPVs as they are Streamed on the Internet now and people can watch them that way without Buying them (though I like to Buy them on TV because the Streams sometimes don't work very well). WWE still makes alot of Money and still Draws the Huge Crowds wherever they go in the World.

WWE is in no danger of going anywhere anytime soon and there's no real one reason why stuff is down again right now but it will go back up again,it normally has before.

 

[Kenny Powers]

Really, when you stop to think about it, is WWE really even in a slump? Really? The way I see it, RAW ratings are down, and this is mostly attributable to one thing and one thing only: Monday Night Football. Ratings will probably suffer a little bit for the next couple of months as the football season wears on, and after the Superbowl, it'll be Road to Wrestlemania time, and everything should rebound.

Smackdown is still pulling in ratings pretty much in line with where they've always been. A pre-recorded B-show, with internet spoilers, aired on a Friday night on a less popular television station, SD is probably never going to pull in massive numbers, but they are holding their own. Same could be said for NXT (not season three, that was a disaster), Superstars, even ECW when it still existed.

Professional wrestling doesn't have the same allure that it once did, and it might never be the same. Expectations are higher than ever. Fans are more knowledgeable than ever. The IWC spoilers play a negative role. And of course the "they" angle on TNA has rocked WWE to its very core . But from where I'm sitting, WWE is doing just fine. Ratings will suffer a little during football season. PPV buyrates will continue to suffer as long as they have PPV's as frequently and as close together as they do. BUt RAW will be all right, it always is. McMahon will figure something out and keep his organization in great shape. He always does.

Seriously habs man, can you bring up the WWE without bringing up TNA? I do agree that wrestling in general is in a slump and that maybe if TNA were up to WCW's level then WWE and TNA would have better ratings. I think that main reason WWE is in a slump is because there is no huge breakout star like Austin or Rock. Superstars like that take a long time to build and come only ever so often. Cena and Orton are popular, but they aren't creating the buzz that Rock and Austin created.

WWE has lost a lot of talent and is now building from the ground up. It will take them a while to be as popular as they were if ever. WWE isn't doing bad, but they aren't doing great with dwindling sales. They are basically losing more money then they are making. I guess it doesn't matter as long as they are #1 right? Something has to come in and make wrestling popular again. I don't know what that is. I don't think it is a PG or TV 14 rating though.

New credible stars and credible competition are the only things I see that can get WWE and wrestling out of this slump.

 

[It's...Baylariat!]

I chose the PG rating because my REAL reason why the WWE is slumping plays off the PG rating.

The reason the WWE is slumping right now is because the WWE is appealing to the lowest denominator as far as demographics are concerned. As much as we like kids, they're not a majority of the audience. Hell, they're not even a majority of merchandise purchases. Yet, Vince thinks that by appealing to a younger crowd, he'll gain a larger audience. Not the case. The WWE has on it's corporate website that it targets the 18-35 year old audience. Really? REALLY?!

I'm not saying that the WWE will be cured when John Cena comes out and calls Wade Barrett a dick head and smacks him in the balls. But it'll get people talking. No one's talking about the WWE. Even when celebs are on Raw, they're mentioned for one day in mainstream media. Nowhere near enough time to garner a following. If the WWE wants to get back it's audience and gain in the ratings, they need to get people talking about the product again. And I'm not talking about us here in the forums. I'm talking about the average joe who happens to come across Raw on USA and finds Cena beating the hell out of Nexus and busting them open something awful. Or you see Ted Dibiase smack the hell out of Maryse.

Katie Vick's storyline was repugnant, but we still discuss it to this day. Think about that. And what's funny is that people still see the WWE as a low brow version of entertainment, even when Cena's in bad movies and other stars aren't being vulgar. So why not just let loose and be more 'realistic'. When Cena takes a damn good beating, it's not tough to limp for a week or two. Or when there's an attack, make it look like a legit ass kicking.

It's not tough. And if the WWE started doing this, ratings would steadily increase and the WWE's stock would rise.

 

[Nada]

WWF back in the 80's was PG as was WCW during the Monday Night Wars (1997, the best year for WCW was definatly PG), the very parts of WWF Attitude really had nothing to do whether it was PG or not, bar maybe Austin flipping the finger.

The reason WWE is in a slump is because of lack of stars at the level of Austin and Rock, without those types of wrestlers it dosent matter what you do, you need that guy who pulls in the casual viewers.

Stuff in Attitude Era you cant do today: Divas in skimpy clothes, bra and panties match, Sable wearing less clothes each week, swearing, blood, none of these things really are the reason Attitude worked.

Austin vs McMahon
The Rock

Let me remind everyone here that WWE wasent "PG" in 2002-2003 etc, infact we had a homosexual tag team with Billy Gunn and Chuck, we also had "Hot Lesbian Action" on RAW, Katie Vick, remember those exciting times?

Remember the ratings? 3.x something, same as today. 2 years prior that we had ratings in the 4-5s because The Rock was carrying the company on his back


Cena is the closest attempt at a crossover star, however IWC and WWE are quite mistaken as to why he hasent taken off in the ways of Austin and Rock. IWC says its because he isent a great wrestler, neither was Hogan, nor Rock even bar a few matches against quality opponnents. WWE thinks its because of some "wrestling cycle", this is just a excuse to explain why things are down.

The truth is: charisma. There is a severe lack of charisma in the main eventers of WWE today, and the ability to give a memorable promo. Look how much we in the IWC praise The Miz, yet someone like The Miz wouldnt even carry a jockstrap in 1998 when you had so many good mic workers.

I enjoy Randy Orton, as he is the closest thing we have to anything attitude esque and he is absolutely horrid on the mic, Cena is slightly better but cringe worthy nonetheless.

Who is to say a Rock or Austin isent out there, but that person cant break through the WWE because of politics, booking, writing an what not. Casual fans do not care about rating (WCW and early WWF prove this), they dont care about technical wrestling 50 min draws (Dean Malenko never became a bigger star than The Rock), they dont care about girls in skimpy clothes, otherwise TNA Impact would be doing 9.6 rating, they dont care about BIG MUSCULAR guys (Rob Terry is proof of this, Masters is a jobber etc), they dont care about BLOOD (otherwise yea TNA would be doing much better) etc etc.

They care about charismatic wrestlers, just like they care about charismatic pop stars, charismatic movie stars. The ability to draw people in is not measured by the buckets of blood, nudity or language, but by the charisma of the wrestler.

It is absolutely ridicilous that athletes who train for UFC have in many cases more charisma and give out better (non scripted) promos than many of the WWE stars. Brock Lesnar is more entertaining when he is himself in UFC than he was in WWE, how are actual athletes better at "Sports Entertainment (Copyright by Vince McMahon, World Wrestling Entertainment) than people who should be experts at it. Every WWE star should be able to talk people into buying a PPV

 

[eezy1]

I think its been touched upon already in this thread. Im of the same opinion that the talent isnt what it used to be. There was alot more strength in depth in the roster back in the day. From the jobbers to the mid-card to the main event, they could all work. And they could all pull off a gimmick. There were so many more different and diverse characters aswell. Wrestlers had territories to learn and perfect the art before moving to the big leagues. These days the wrong guys get hired for the wrong reasons. Im sure there are other things that have contributed to the decline of the business as a whole, but 1 things for sure, the majority of the blame can be placed at the WWE`s door.

 

[TheNotoriousMOD]

How can you blame the E's slump on just one thing. Man where do I begin. Let me star with the one positive. Cena and The Nexus is the only thing interesting right now. What a shame that is. The problem with that is nothing else matters.

We all love Orton, he is super over. He is not in a program with anyone so we don't care about it. We have no vested interest.

We all love DB, he is super over. No program...You get it!! Not to mention a stupid ass entrance theme.

Creative is not creative! Thats the problem. They are not putting anytime into building interest. There is no big build. There is no big build so there is no big payoff.

Kane and the Undertaker? You all beat the shit out of TNA for recreating storylines....at least they do it with new people. This fued is a joke. The Undertaker is killing Smackdown.

I beg the WWE to get me interested again. They just are forgetting what got them here. Being creative. Build more than one fued or storyline that is interesting.

 

[Miss Flawless]

Wrestling isn't "cool". Hasn't been for a while. MMA has overtaken it in that department. Thus demand for the product in general is down. You can make the best product in the world—which WWE isn't doing mind you—but if no one wants to buy it then it doesn't really matter much now does it?

I was gonna say this. But more descriptive, but good job.

I agree with LigerBomb. Wrestling is not "cool" anymore. It's now UFC or just MMA. People just lost interest after The Rock and SCSA left. Does Vince give a fuck? No. He's got all the money he needs. Just because the AE is gone, doesn't mean there is no people watching. Cause quite clearly, there still is.

Also, either the fans grew up and stopped watching, or just stopped watching in general. I asked my cousin, who is 25, why he stopped watching wrestling. He said "There's no more AE." I then said "So? You don't love the product anymore?" He said "I know who is who. I know every star from Hulk Hogan to Lex Luger. I just grew up, I guess. I don't have the time, nor the interest to watch WWE anymore. Now move, I have to watch UFC..."

Have of the WWE audience from 1998-2002 moved on to other sports. Wrestling is just fake to some people, and to others, it's just not interesting or cool.

Then you have wrestling fans, who will stick with wrestling, well, forever. It's probably a big part of their life. I'm one of these fans. I will love wrestling forever and ever. I know it. Wrestling will always, always be "cool" to me. I've realized, that it's no use trying to get people to watch WWE anymore. Just watch it and be cool with it.

 

[Raiden]

IMO, everything has to do with the lack of competition. Just think about it. WWE was at its best when they competed head-to-head every monday night with WCW. After WrestleMania X-Seven, when the war ended, the downfall began. During Invasion era, they hit some 5.0 ratings, but also 3.9. Peaks and valleys ? Sure. But the overall trend was downward. The creative just didn't care making new stars or giving them a gimmick to work. The priority was the main event guys, unlike Atittude Era when every wrestler from the roster was important and that's why we don't have stars like Steve Austin or The Rock anymore. The creative lost their interest, they stopped working hard to gain attention from audience, creating buzz week after week, WWE had monopoly, so that time either you watched WWE or nothing. Because of the lack of competition, WWE decided to create their own competition by splitting the roster, but the booking was so horrible that it didn't work at all. Also not coincidental is the fact that ratings started taking a tumble just after the brand split and continued falling until they bottomed out at the 3.5-ish range they are today.

 

[Serious Mozzarella]

I'm going to be honest, I don't think this really has anything to do with the PG rating. There are plenty of PG-rated shows that provide a compelling story, and don't have the same problems with ratings that wrestling shows have. I just don't think that either wrestling show has broken away from riding on the coattails of the "attitude era" of wrestling. Not just the WWE's attitude era, but the WCW's "cool" era that made wrestling a massive market in the first place.

Every single angle you see, on both shows, have been done before. There is not one thing that hasn't been done before, and better. This goes for both the wrestling as well as the story telling. Nothing can be considered interesting anymore because you know exactly what's going to happen, or you know that there are 2-3 possible different endings, tops.

So yeah, I can say that the PG-era limited a category of storylines you can write at any given moment, so for the most part, you're seeing a bunch of different storylines you've already seen before, all scheduled closer together, so things become more predictable, and/or more corny, because when you see a guy get smashed in the head with a sledgehammer, chances are they're going to bleed. It sucks you right out of the show, and there's no suspension of disbelief, especially because wrestling has a history of blood, so you're left wondering why things have all of a sudden arbitrarily changed. When you're told that the blood has been taken away because the show wants to go more PG, you're immediately sucked out of the show, and you're in real life, wondering what the fuck you're watching.

No, I don't think blood is necessary to provide for a good story, but they should just stop talking about it all together. It shouldn't have been major news that blood was being censored from WWE television, because breaking the fourth-wall is a device that should be used lightly, not all the time. If they continue to break the fourth-wall on a nightly basis, you're going to start to think you know what's going on back stage, then all of a sudden you're some random mark, posting on forums as if you know the ins-and-outs of the business, when in reality, you're just a guy who is trying to enjoy a television show, while having irrelevant information about "PG" and what's "supposed to be on TV" thrown in your face.

Now, to answer your main question, I think it has a lot to do with a lack of competition. TNA is just not a threatening promotion. Mistake after mistake after bad decision after bad decision isn't going to make the WWE all of a sudden step up their game, because they're scared of a show that's barely breaking the 1.0 barrier. If I were on the writing team for TNA, I would step back and wonder why my show, consisting of the biggest names the wrestling business has to offer, is barely putting food on the table for my family.

In TNA, you have a bunch of really old guys who don't realize that wrestling isn't what it was back in the late 80s, early 90s, and it's massively evolved from what it was back in the late 90s, which is one of the main reasons why WCW died. Yeah, you can have Eric Bischoff and Hulk Hogan saying that they were blocked by Time Warner, but let's just be honest for a second here. The only storylines I can remember from 1999-2001 WCW are hilariously, unbelievably bad ones that I seriously thought were parodies of itself.

Everybody in charge of TNA seems to be deluded to the point where they think they're actually better than the WWE (who actually attempts to articulate their storylines in a cohesive manner) and are just being held down by whatever-the-fuck will shift the blame off of themselves.

And it leaves the WWE with absolutely no competition. They're going to sit at their 3.0 ratings threshold and keep their viewers watching, no matter how little effort they put into their show, because nothing else is going to take those viewers away from them.

 

[Mr. Artistic guy]

All I can say is that it most certainly not the PG rating, all that does it change the market. Kids dont care so much about whther somebody is bleeding or not if they never watched old wrestling and saw it happen there which is the case with most kids that watch currently. The only negative effect that PG has is reducing the adult market particularly in males but seen as they have just been replaced with kids that really aint a problem. I would atreibute a coctail of the above problems namely the split roster.....I really think this was the moment the WWE started to slunmp, its where the whole thing began right there, sounded like a good idea first but once you get your head round the fact that it is onyl there to bring in more money and that it limits the amounts of available feuds at one given time then it just becomes bull.

The biggest contributing factor is there being no competition. Its thats simple when the product is in a tight spot the product has to immprove to stay on top, right now its in a comfort zone and so doesnt move anywhere or try anything dangerous to stay on top.
I dont think the undisputed belt is really an issue at all. Smackdown is now live so that isnt a problem. I dont think there being no star on austin or the rocks level is a problem, they were only as big as they were because they lived in the best era of wrestling for th last 20 years. I always evaluate superstars and say that if they had been around in the attitude era they would have done well for them selves e.g. CM Punk in my opinion. there re superstars who have that same -potential but it isnt fulfilled because they live in a different time now.

And once again there being too many PPVs is a problem because it isnt long enough to develop really great feuds between wrestlers etc.. and other problems. Some of the above are problems and others arent

 

[Dave]

If I had to guess right now, my reasoned guess would have to be the Return of Monday Night Football.

In this thread, I believe you are targeting Raw because Smackdown is achieving it’s highest ratings on SyFy and that is not a quality of a “slump”. So, now that we have attained that Smackdown isn’t in a slump and Raw is going up against Monday Night Football, I guess it is pretty clear to see why the ratings are continually going up and down like a yoyo. Now, I am not an American and I do not live in America. However, when I see people on these boards turning their backs on the WWE to watch American Football, it becomes abundantly clear that the competition that comes from the NFL is stiff, to say the least,

Outside of that though, I would have to say that the product is not what it should be right now. There has been a lot of superstars taking time off or just leaving that would have pulled in some more viewers. I know that personally, I will love to see Triple H back on Raw. The same could be said for Shawn Michaels and Batista. Even though they weren’t my cup of tea, you know that some people were tuning in to watch them perform. I would imagine that once Triple H comes back and perhaps Batista in the future, we could see the ratings rise again.

Really though, I don’t think the WWE is in any trouble at all. I mean, we are over half a year away from WrestleMania, which is generally when the WWE pull out the big guns. Sure, we have had the Nexus over the summer but that is beginning to fade now too. Perhaps another reason is that viewers feel as though they are not getting the entertainment value that they would require to keep watching. Perhaps they feel as though WrestleMania quality matches and angles should be continued all year long and that is why they are not watching right now. My best guess is that people are tuning out for this reason. They are tuning out because Monday Night Football has returned and it is more entertaining than a Raw product which doesn’t seem to be firing on all cylinders.

 

[Hulk Hogan's Brother]

ive voted for no star on the rock/austin level.here's the reason why.

the fans who view wrestling as an art form,the ones who know that is it a fake sport but still care enough to watch it week in and week out ie us smarks are always going to watch wrestling.they are never going to stop.hence we dont matter a whole lot to the surge or downfall in the ratings.its the casual fans that matter.only a superstar with the charisma of rock/austin is going to draw them in.there is not a single person capable of doing that.cena is the closest guy out there and so he is the face of the company.but even he is far far away from the rock/austin level

 

[MMK]

Honestly, i think it's a lack of drama. During the attitude era, RAW was like an action-drama series. Now it's an action-comedy. Everything is too jokey for my taste. I never get the sense that any of the guys wrestling each other truly hate each other. The characters are so goofy. I guess that's due to the PG era.

Although we can't forget that the times have changed a lot since the golden age. People have more to do nowadays. There may not be any wrestling competition for WWE but there's competition in other ways. There's social networks like FB and you tube, lots more tv channels, DVR, all kinds of things that factor into lower ratings. It's a new media era and nearly everyone is suffering to some extent.

 

[BillAlfonso]

First, love your handle. Heh, heh, muff diver.

Second, if I have to choose one of your choices, I'd say the title. It's supposed to be a simulated sporting event and the titles don't even seem that important. They try too hard to make a story when the main story should be the titles and everyother title/feud should grow organically from that.

 

[The 1-2-3 Killam]

I believe the WWE appears to be in a slump, but that it's only relative to the generation watching. My little brothers and their friends all think that WWE is awesome right now, and watch it with the same sense of awe that I did back in the Attitude Era and WCW days. It appears to us that WWE is in a slump because we are in a generation where the current product doesn't really appeal to us. They have shifted strategies and are still making a ton of money despite an economic low for the nation. I'm not convinced that WWE is actually in a slump. I just think they're doing what they can to continue making money like the business they are, and we just aren't a huge part of that plan right now. We are also the largest demographic for people in the IWC, who go online and talk about all their opinions of the wrestling industry. If everybody in the IWC isn't being marketed towards, of course it would seem to us that the WWE isn't doing too hot right now. You have to be careful not to confuse your personal distaste for the product with an actual and accurate analysis of the product.