Why the WWE appears to be sinking

[Mr-excitement]

Vince is suffering from what hurt Eric, relying on the same people wayyyyy tooo much, and going back to the past and blowing it with potentially great angles, i.e. Jericho.

How many times have Cena and Triple H been in the main event? Even if it has not been together as Cena went out of his way to mention. It's time to move away from both of them and focus on new talent.
As far as the million dollar giveaway, that is about as WCW as you can get. It reminds me of Nitro parties, actually the giveaway is not even Nitro bad. It is Thunder bad.

Ted jr. coming in is good, but if he has half the talent of his father, which is five times more than Triple H and 20 times more than Cena, he should work his way up in the main event as a singles wrestler. Carlito should be doing more, and Santino should be managing someone or at least have a weekly interview show.

I suspect Ted's partner is Cody or Joe Hennig, Perfect's kid.
If it is Cody: This is what they should do: Bring in Dustin to scold him first, although I think he is under contract to TNA, claiming he went down the wrong path and it tore his family apart and Cody just walks off and then bring in Dusty and let Cody attack him.

Then put him with Ted jr., Carlito, Deuce and Nattie Neidhardt and have them make the claim that Triple H, Cena and Edge have been in the main event too long and they are tired of waiting.

This means they get to kick the crap out of Triple H, Cena, Edge, Kane, Stone Cold if he shows up ... etc. yeah I know Vince will probably just have Cena and Triple H squash them or Austin stunner everyone one time and knock them out.

What they will probably do: Have him turn on Hardcore and then have two boring matches with the two of them and we will forget who the tag champs are in a month and the turn will mean nothing.

Re Santino: I do suspect Santino is Piper's protege, but that's a bad idea. He is funny without Piper, Unless Piper and cousin sal are there to facilitate a heel turn it's about as lame as Jay Leno appearing in WCW or Floyd at WM. I'm tired of the old timers, Piper, Austin, Foley and God I wish they would never use DX again. It's not even funny anymore.


In closing, I think the WWE is no longer leaving its audience wanting more. There are two many PPVs, and most of them are filled with matches I have seen before or have no desire to ever see.

 

[stncold1967]

One of the main reasons the WWE is sinking, is lack of competition!!!! Even when WCW was at the end of it's run, it was some form of competition!!! TNA is not a main factor yet.....but it may be some day! Get rid of the brand structure....have guys appear on different shows. How many times do we need to see Randy Orton vs Triple H...and Batista vs Edge!!! We need some new stuff here people. I have been a fan of the WWE for nearly 30 years. I still faithfully watch RAW, but there is just now the "I have to see it right to the end." We need to put a scare into Vince....we need competition!!!!

 

[The Mark of Zur-En-Arrh]

I'm going to have to say that lack of variety is WWE's undoing, which links in tightly with lack of competition.

We're being made to watch the main guys do the same things over and over and being given no reason to care about the lower guys. We all do at first enjoy watching the Carlitos, the Kennedys, the Londons and the Kendricks, but they come to WWE, grab our attention with an impact of some kind and then they slowly fade away into obscurity until u read 'WWE WRESTLER RELEASED' and then think to yourself, 'Wow, i thought he got let go months ago'.

Secondly we seem to see the same one on one matches over and over with a stipulation that isn't played up to make that stipulation special. First blood match is just a one on one match with more punching than wrestling and maybe a chair shot and that's it. Flair bled like a pig in most singles matches so how is First Blood a draw these days? Gimmick matches are now linked to certain talent. We can't have a TLC match now without Edge being in it. It's HIS match. Inferno matches are Kane's match (despite only ever winning one), ladder matches are Jeff's match, and then you have Taker who's got more gimmick matches under his belt than anyone in wrestling (Casket, HIAC, AND Buried Alive).

Basically we see the SAME guys in the top spots doing the same things they've been doing for 5-10 years........... just like WCW when they were Vince's top competition. Hhhhhmmmmm. So that means, if you're a new talent who doesn't either come up with a great idea and Vince hears about it when he's lucid, or it's not thrown in your lap, or the other guys don't like you for some reason then you'll get nowhere in WWE. And that's why WWE is slipping IMO.

 

[mouthforcombat]

Here are the reasons why WWE has fallen off since the monday night wars ended:

1.) As already mentioned, lack of competition. They don't have to try as hard to keep things fresh and interesting, there is nobody to compete with. Remember all the great angles, gimmick, feuds, and shows we saw when WCW was hammering WWE in the ratings week after week? Well, don't expect to see those again any time soon.

2.) STABLES/FACTIONS. This one is huge. There needs to be at least three stables, they don't all need to be massive in size, but look how interesting things were when we had DX, Hart Foundation, The Nation, DOA, Los Boriquas (sp?), The Ministry, The Corporation, Right to Censor, The Brood, etc. While some of these may have been much better than others or had moments where they were just stupid, at least they made sense and kept things interesting. Ahmed Johnson battling the Nation of Domination was one of the best examples I can think off where things were kept interesting, or look at Steve Austin vs. Hart Foundation. Look at what the NWO did for WCW, it single handedly swept the ratings away from WWE for a very long time. It disgusts me to see factions like Evolution. How stupid, it didn't even make sense and felt very forced and pushed together. You ever try and make a snowball when it's five degrees outside and the snow keeps crumbling? That's evolution, in my opinion.

3.) Roster Brands. I ABSOLUTELY despise these ridiculous roster brands and have drastically stopped watching as much as I used to once this crap started. They need to cut a third of their roster and let everyone appear on both RAW and Smackdown. Well I'm sure someone is thinking, "well that's too much work for them". No, they don't always need to appear at both shows every week. If they do, they could just participate in a segment or interview. This is how it used to be and this is one of the biggest problems right now. This isn't NFL, I don't want to watch a stupid draft. Just let them carry their angles out and appear on whichever show works out. The way it used to work was Raw was the bigger show and Smackdown was still good, but a little less star heavy and action packed than Raw so everything worked out great. I am dead positive that WWE will remain in this slump until they cut this brand garbage.

4.) Bring some familiar faces back. It seems like I stopped watching somewhere between 2002-2005 and all of a sudden there is a bunch of new guys that do not appeal to me at all and make the product feel of a lesser quality. WWE used to have a very good formula/method of bringing new guys in while the old leave. They would keep their guys who put up ratings and everyone is familiar with while they develop and push a FEW guys at a time. It seems like all of the familiar guys up and left at the same time and a whole new class of guys was shoved down our throats. You also don't see any more surprise returns from big stars. I'm not talking something like Big Show or D-Lo. I'm talking like Hogan jumping to WCW or Jericho returning to WWE. Epic returns and nobody saw coming from major stars. This happens VERY rarely. I agree that it shouldn't be a common occurrence or it wouldn't be exciting at all, but they need to find a good medium and keep us wondering week in and week out. There is just not an element of surprise any more.

5.) Speaking of the element of surprise, I can not believe how predictable everything is. The angles and feuds are always the same and have very similar endings. The whole creative team needs to be fired because we need a huge breath of fresh air in the storyline department. You don't see limos pulling up and wondering who's in it too often anymore, you don't see guys breaking in to houses with guns or jumping people in front yards (see Steve Austin in 1997), there are no more morgue visits with Undertaker embalming people, no more mysterious, shocking storylines that keep you tuned in week in and week out (Kane's intro to WWE). Angles are completely stale and uninteresting, WWE needs to figure out how to do what they did before, it is the only way the next boom period of wrestling will ever come.

6.) While I could keep going, the last thing I will say is the feel of the shows is not the same. Raw used to have a unique feel about it. I would struggle through crappy Mondays and be able to push aside all the trash and BS I had to suffer through that day and kick my feet back and watch Raw. The music, the set, the logos, the artwork, the show format, they all play a role in the "feel". Back then it was a really different feel. Now their show is waaaay too futuristic feeling, filled with crappy music, poor show content, and the format is just as terrible. They need to go back to the grunge looking logos, the hard metal music with video packages that have dogs barking, etc.

I will close this rant with this; sometimes to move forwards, you have to take a step backwards.

 

[knslms]

There are not coming up with good creative ideas. They used to try new things and take risks and they don't have to any more because there is no competition. They are so out of touch with the fan base its unreal. Vince gives himself all the airtime, and his charactor is worn out many times over, and unrealistic. They are not even trying to give the fans what they want anymore, instead pushing what they want to happen down the fans throats. The best thing they have going for them now Edge is on smackdown which I understand they want to boost ratings for this show, but now that taker is gone He is the only real talent they have.

 

[stfu63]

The ideals are old and they won’t commit to new talent long enough to get them over. They punish them with the drug policy, but they make them use because if they aren’t big enough they don’t get pushed. Kennedy is a good example when he was suspended he lost all the momentum he had, they have to have a way to salvage situations like that. Another example with Kennedy is when he was on Smackdown he had heat only to lose it once he made it to Raw. The older guys need to learn how to pass the torch. The main problem is WWE doesn't have competition. Vince is to the point where he is to arrogant to see what needs to be done, he thinks he can buy ratings. I recently got a DVR and now I watch Raw in about 45 minutes or less.

 

[Monkey_Mania]

Agreed. They need to start pushing the new talent harder than ever. It's hard to do that though when none of them with the exception of John Morrison, Ted Dibiase Jr, Cody Rhodes, and maybe C.M. Punk have what it takes.

As for the people like both Hardy's, Kennedy, MVP, and Chavo who have been around awhile they just need to ifnd their niche. Once they do that they will come along just fine. The mega-stars need to stay at the top for the time being while also help to further the careers of these guys so they can do it for the Morrsions, Burkes, Dibiase's, and so on.

 

[Youalreadyknow420]

Maybe its cuz hhh at 40 has found a way to hog the spotlight again on raw. I might not like kennedy but why hasn't he gotten a title run b4 hhh. Raw blows due to hhh and his fear of losing his spot. Sd gives u what has always given u. Maybe if hhh gets injured u might see new talent get the push they deserve.

 

[FOTH 3:16]

WWE doesn't appear to be sinking it is sinking.Stupid gimmicks,lousy wrestling,and the same matches and fueds has killed WWE.I have seen HHH/Orton,Edge/Batista,and HHH/Cena way too many times.Hopefully the draft will fix that.The Million Dollar Mania is stupid.That is a major problem.If they wanted more fans,they would dedicate more time to wrestling and bring back the feel of the WWE when it was the WWF.That is the way to fix things.New fueds/matches,the old WWF feel,and better wrestling.And bring back the CW Title for goodness sakes.

 

[HellBoundPower]

I'd say that most of the problem is with the booking. They've been booking the same matches over and over again for the past few years. This is especially true on SmackDown, where Batista, Undertaker, and Edge have pretty much taken up the World Heavyweight Title scene. I mean, they don't really have anyone else to push to that level at the moment, but hopefully that'll change with the Draft.

Speaking of the Draft, the whole Roster Split has really become pointless. There are people wrestling on other brands all the time, but they're still stuck in a certain brand. Honestly I wish they would just finally end it and put everyone back together again. That way, the best of the best get their TV time, and everyone that can't prosper either get cut or fill up the house shows.

I've said it before and I'll say it again, they need to get rid of ECW. While I will admit that ECW has some of the best actual wrestling in the company, it just seems like wasted air time that could be on SmackDown instead. There are plenty of talented wrestlers on the WWE Roster, and all they need to do is let them display their talents on Raw and SmackDown. ECW is really not needed. I think it would also save WWE money, as they wouldn't have to produce that TV show. They could even make Raw 3 hours every week instead of making a different show like ECW.

All in all, they need to establish someone as the next big star. They have pushed Cena and Orton to the moon, but they haven't helped pull in ratings as good as Austin or The Rock. They need to push someone that it universally liked, with good wrestling skills, good mic skills, and charisma. I know that that's a rare commodity on the WWE nowadays, but I'm sure someone on the Roster is capable of it. They need a face that will lead WWE into the future, and they need it soon.

 

[wrestlingfanart]

The WWE isn't sinking. I'm not a big fan of their current direction, but they are FAR from sinking. Even though the tv ratings are a little lower from time to time, the WWE is actually expanding globally and making money hand over fist. When the WWE spends more than they make, then they are sinking, but that isn't the case here. They still make a HUGE profit every quarter.

 

[mouthforcombat]

The WWE isn't sinking. I'm not a big fan of their current direction, but they are FAR from sinking. Even though the tv ratings are a little lower from time to time, the WWE is actually expanding globally and making money hand over fist. When the WWE spends more than they make, then they are sinking, but that isn't the case here. They still make a HUGE profit every quarter.

Financially, they're not sinking. As far as keeping things interesting and fresh, and keeping a hold on what fans, over the age of twelve, they have left - they are sinking. It almost feels that they are marketing a younger audience nowadays. Now that the attitude era is over, there is no more beer drinking, less sexual content, less swearing, and the brawling/wrestling seems MUCH less violent. I sometimes feel guilty for watching, kinda like when your two year old brother leaves the room and you realize that you haven't turned "Micky Mouse Clubhouse" yet. With that said, I will end this post with my impression of EVERY promo/mic segment from modern WWE's stars: (simplified)

"I am better than you. The fans are behind me (fans cheer). My wrestling skills are superior to your wrestling skills. [Insert witty way of claiming to be the next champion]." - Fin

 

[biscuitboy]

It doesnt help that the WWE has completely lost it regarding its mid carders. The only belts that matter are the WWE Title and WHC. Of course we all know they are the main titles but the IC and tag belts need to be defended more and with more pride. In some ways the MITB match at Wrestlemania has contributed to their downfall. Morrison, Jericho, MVP all title holders all competing for a title shot?? How about defending once in a while?? Hardy as IC champ was non existant. Just pushing main event status the whole time. Take the belt and put it on Jericho earlier if you want to challenge higher.

 

[King of Kings II]

I think the main reason is WWE is going overboard in fake things. It's extremly fake and so boring that most of the times make me sleep while watching PPVs! People like Vickie Guerrero and Edge was my nightmares for the whole last 3,4 months!! We don't see any real match anymore. We don't see really bloody matches, challenging matches, Hell in a Cells, Elimination Chambers... It's been about 2 years that all of the PPVs were pure dissapoiting. I think the last PPV that I watched and enjoyed was Backlash 2007!

 

[Razz]

One big reason to me the WWE is in a lull and often boring right now is because they don't concentrate on creative for anything other than the top of the Card and title holders to a lesser extent. And to add to that the main event title holder picture never changes and gets boring with the same angles/wrestlers and only some excitement added with gimmick matches. I think there was a stat here on Wrestlezone about how Cena/Orton/HHH/Batista are like almost in every main event and title match in last 3 years. Don't get me wrong that a title holder can have a long run, but no one in that group can excite me more that long personally to me like a Rock/Austin etc. could. Its time for the creative to come up with better angles for mid to low card. Given pushes to lesser guys like Lance Cade might be a start. Maybe the draft will help. But then again the draft last year did nothing for some like London and Kendrick. One of the best times in WWE was attitude era when tons of stars were made. They need to start letting some people do their thing to get over even if it takes time. They need to invest in good and deep storylines and character development. When they do start getting some people over they seem to kill it or put it to a back burner like Santino Marella. They might also think gimmicks are a thing of the past but I think if done right they would work with the fans.

 

[DMan23]

The WWE appears to be sinking because there is no creativity in storylines and no competition. The brand structure needs to be dropped. Way back when there would be interesting storylines that didn't involve just going after the World championship. There is no real tag team division; the Intercontinental and U.S. titles don't mean a damn thing anymore. There are no over arching angles. There aren't any managers or stables....oh yeah la familia. Right now they start angles on a monthly basis for each ppv. They don't give any real time for good feuds to develop, with a few exceptions.

Finally, there is no one big guy like a Hogan, Rock, or Austin to carry the load. Nobody in WWE is close to these guys when it comes to the one guy everybody wants to see and everybody cheers for. Nobody gets the reactions these guys got. Who's going to step up?

I should've read Razz's post before I posted.

 

[knslms]

I think the question is why hasn't it sunk yet? I am so tired of the same main events. Instead of bringing in new talent and giving other wrestlers the push they deserve they do a draft. There are plenty more stonecolds and rocks out there but we will never know because they give all the air time to the same people, and the rest goes to Vince for him to do his unrealistic crap.

 

[JaJaBings]

I wouldn't mind Cena vs. HHH for the umpteenth time, but there must be an engaging storyline angle behind the feud. Basically, they're both faces now and their feud is based on "I've got nth against u but I want ur championship" and "I've not beaten u in the ring yet and I wanna prove it to the world". That seriously stinks. They need to turn a major superstar such as Cena heel to freshen up the product.

We weren't bored of seeing Rock vs. Austin time and time again. Why? They did some crazy and hilarious promos against one and other and engaged the crowd. Their feud got personal, altho' sometimes the championship was involved, but even that took a backseat as their personal vendetta was so strong.

That's the way feuds should be booked. Never mind if Vince feels unsecure to hand the ball to an untested superstar and tell him to run with it. If he has to use the same few dudes, at least come up with new ideas.

 

[PhenomAJJones]

We don't have to worry bout that feud since HHH is on SD now. The next feud i could see WWE dong is Cena vs Batista, which in my opinion nothing great.

Cena wants to be a street fightin, meat head wrestler that relies on power and a series of terrible moves.

Batista is suppose to be a Animal, but he is a meat head himself meaning he is just a big roided up guy that relies on power, and shakes the ropes like he is the Ultimate Warrior and does a spear, and a Falling sit out power bomb.

No WWE Title, or World Title? This feud is nothng special but 2 muscle heads beatin the crap out of each other, and either Cena or Batista will have to carry the other to a decent match.

 

[saldivar3]

To me why WWE is sinking and ratings are falling is because you hardly get to see new upcoming superstars. I think as long as Triple HHH is there and Undertaker, there will be repeat story lines over and over again. Don't get me wrong I think that The Game and The Phoenom are two of the most greatest and talented wrestlers to ever lace up the boots. But they have to much creative say in the back over their characters and matches. So there for they are always in the title picture and are always put themselves over.

Think about it? when has Triple HHH put over a upcoming superstar? I'm not talking about Cena, Hbk, and Orton.....

I think Vince should concentrate more on wrestling than entertainment. Honestly, thats how WWE got so big. People come to see guys beat up on each other, not to see the likes of Hornswoggle beat someone like the Great Khali, or Vince's fake death segment. I think all these angles that are running are ones used before. I mean wrestling story lines are so predictable now. I think more now than ever before.

I would like to see more wrestling matches, and more build up matches than just the wwe and world heavyweight title matches.

 

[SeriphinX]

You know back in the mid to late 90's there use to be a particular order of things. A mid card guy usually had to win King of The Ring first, then went on to get the IC title for a bit, then lost it to whoever won the next KOTR or just plain dropped it to get ready for a WWE title push.

Now with all the brands, that has ceased to be. And that is a problem. You got guys APPEARING to get a push..like MVP or Kennedy, only to see it die out. Or guys quickly getting a mid card title, as if to force a quick push down our throats. As an avid watcher , I sit back and wait and wait and wait, thinking that there is a method to their madness and that some of these angles will work out in a brilliant way..but its starting to look more and more like they dont know WHAT they want to do.

The whole WWE Universe can't keep riding on Triple H's shoulders..AND they simply CAN NOT keep pushing guys just to feed to his win record either. At least in his class, he had to job fairly to some guys (Rock, Austin, Foley, etc)..now it just seems they push people just to feed to him.

And I sincerely hope they aren't trying to do what I think they are doing..and that is to constantly have him win the belt in order to catch up and pass Flair's record.

 

[knslms]

Yup, we had to wait a long time to see Austin finally win the title. The build up is always better than the match. I think they are punishing these guys for failing drug tests or whatever and knocking them back down the ladder, and when they do this its really punishing the fans.

The draft was so useless as were going to see the same thing just on different brands. Why not just move Kennedy and MVP. How good would a Kennedy/Edge fued and a Triple H/MVP fued be for the titles. HBK could put over MVP to really set this up.

Its time to quit feeding friends and family and start doing business again!

 

[fiasco28]

Here are the reasons why WWE has fallen off since the monday night wars ended:

1.) As already mentioned, lack of competition. They don't have to try as hard to keep things fresh and interesting, there is nobody to compete with. Remember all the great angles, gimmick, feuds, and shows we saw when WCW was hammering WWE in the ratings week after week? Well, don't expect to see those again any time soon.

2.) STABLES/FACTIONS. This one is huge. There needs to be at least three stables, they don't all need to be massive in size, but look how interesting things were when we had DX, Hart Foundation, The Nation, DOA, Los Boriquas (sp?), The Ministry, The Corporation, Right to Censor, The Brood, etc. While some of these may have been much better than others or had moments where they were just stupid, at least they made sense and kept things interesting. Ahmed Johnson battling the Nation of Domination was one of the best examples I can think off where things were kept interesting, or look at Steve Austin vs. Hart Foundation. Look at what the NWO did for WCW, it single handedly swept the ratings away from WWE for a very long time. It disgusts me to see factions like Evolution. How stupid, it didn't even make sense and felt very forced and pushed together. You ever try and make a snowball when it's five degrees outside and the snow keeps crumbling? That's evolution, in my opinion.

3.) Roster Brands. I ABSOLUTELY despise these ridiculous roster brands and have drastically stopped watching as much as I used to once this crap started. They need to cut a third of their roster and let everyone appear on both RAW and Smackdown. Well I'm sure someone is thinking, "well that's too much work for them". No, they don't always need to appear at both shows every week. If they do, they could just participate in a segment or interview. This is how it used to be and this is one of the biggest problems right now. This isn't NFL, I don't want to watch a stupid draft. Just let them carry their angles out and appear on whichever show works out. The way it used to work was Raw was the bigger show and Smackdown was still good, but a little less star heavy and action packed than Raw so everything worked out great. I am dead positive that WWE will remain in this slump until they cut this brand garbage.

4.) Bring some familiar faces back. It seems like I stopped watching somewhere between 2002-2005 and all of a sudden there is a bunch of new guys that do not appeal to me at all and make the product feel of a lesser quality. WWE used to have a very good formula/method of bringing new guys in while the old leave. They would keep their guys who put up ratings and everyone is familiar with while they develop and push a FEW guys at a time. It seems like all of the familiar guys up and left at the same time and a whole new class of guys was shoved down our throats. You also don't see any more surprise returns from big stars. I'm not talking something like Big Show or D-Lo. I'm talking like Hogan jumping to WCW or Jericho returning to WWE. Epic returns and nobody saw coming from major stars. This happens VERY rarely. I agree that it shouldn't be a common occurrence or it wouldn't be exciting at all, but they need to find a good medium and keep us wondering week in and week out. There is just not an element of surprise any more.

5.) Speaking of the element of surprise, I can not believe how predictable everything is. The angles and feuds are always the same and have very similar endings. The whole creative team needs to be fired because we need a huge breath of fresh air in the storyline department. You don't see limos pulling up and wondering who's in it too often anymore, you don't see guys breaking in to houses with guns or jumping people in front yards (see Steve Austin in 1997), there are no more morgue visits with Undertaker embalming people, no more mysterious, shocking storylines that keep you tuned in week in and week out (Kane's intro to WWE). Angles are completely stale and uninteresting, WWE needs to figure out how to do what they did before, it is the only way the next boom period of wrestling will ever come.

6.) While I could keep going, the last thing I will say is the feel of the shows is not the same. Raw used to have a unique feel about it. I would struggle through crappy Mondays and be able to push aside all the trash and BS I had to suffer through that day and kick my feet back and watch Raw. The music, the set, the logos, the artwork, the show format, they all play a role in the "feel". Back then it was a really different feel. Now their show is waaaay too futuristic feeling, filled with crappy music, poor show content, and the format is just as terrible. They need to go back to the grunge looking logos, the hard metal music with video packages that have dogs barking, etc.

I will close this rant with this; sometimes to move forwards, you have to take a step backwards.

this is your true answer right here, honest to god it is, so just keep on reading this and weeping, but all i gotta say is that, they just need to stop being so predictible, stop having the same people feuding and same people in the title picture, and let the midcarders come up instead of jobbing them. vince needs to realize that its not just about triple h, cena, undertaker, edge, or whoever, its more out there and more to it than that. the reason why midcarders like carlito, benjamin, and even kennedy fade away, is because they prolly figure they aint gonna be used or build up upon to main event status.