Would turning back to Attitude Era be more profitable?

[Jackal960]

Hi everyone. I was reading the news about WWE profits and PPV buyrates going down again for the last quarter. There was a historical low of the buyrate of Fatal Four Way PPV, second lowest in history. Also the quarterly profits (not only the buyrates) were down from last year. Considering that last years economic climate was worse than today, and the company's profits were already low back then, it makes this news even more interesting. It got to a point where WWE started making polls in their official website to find out if viewers were watching in groups (as a reason to the low buyrates)

I know most of us would like to go back to Attitude Era, but there was always a point that WWE was selling great amount of merchandise to kids. Since the profits are getting lower each year, would turning back to Attitude Era be more profitable? Would this increase the buyrates of PPV's and maybe even the ratings, which in turn may cause higher profits then historical lows? Or is it just because of bad storylines, not because WWE is PG?

 

[mrbrownstone]

No, as much as I would like it to happen it won't happen and if it did it wouldnt help the buy rates or profits.

The problem isn't the lack of attitude in the programming it is that the PPV's (Extreme Rules - F4Way) have had s*it cards and people havent been interested in buying them, it is pretty much as simple as that. If the WWE wants to start making profits again then they need to start putting on better PPV cards and giving people a reason to buy them instead of announcing half of the matches on the PPV like F4Way did, if I had have known Jericho vs Bourne was going to be on the PPV I would have considered buying it.

 

[super_crazy]

No I do not believe trying to re-create the attitude era would help. It can't be re-created, it was what it was. It's dead and gone, society is different now lol.

I think too many people are dying on this "WWE is PG" hill. The fact that WWE is PG is not the reason for the WWE "sucking". In some peoples words.

For me personally, I don't buy the pay per views because I find the match quality is no better than it is on RAW or Smackdown. If I'm going to pay.. I don't $45 or whatever it is now-a-days I want to see some really good matches, not the regular same old stuff. So, perhaps a lot of other people feel that same way? I'm gonna make a prediction that summerslam will do much better. Simply because of this Nexus thing taking centre stage.

 

[kissfan85]

Why I don't find WWE as entertaining any more is because nothing gets me excited anymore.
When I was in middle school watching Raw Monday nights,
watching the hardcore matches were just awesome. I just loved Al Snow and Hardcore Holly.
I loved the mid carders back then as well.

oh sorry time line wise that would put us at........98'sh 99
I loved Val Venus and Ken Shamrock, Steve Blackman and Boss Man and Jeff Jarrett, they were all my fav's ... My fav entrance was watching Gangral come down to the ring.

It just doesn't seem as wow anymore

That's just why I don't get excited anymore, I know a lot of other people all have there reasons, that's just some of what I miss

 

[fredstephenson]

to be fair i think its not the pg rating as such but more the fact that wwe has made it so toned down to the point were you can get fired for choking someone with a tie which is ridiculous.with that in mind i think people know that there isnt a very good chance of anything really cool happening anymore.the extreme rules ppv is a good example if they did that in the attitude era it would get lots of buys because everyone would expect it to be insane but i think when people see that advertised now they think hang on a second this is going to be a harcore ppv with no blood no swearing and no chairshots so im not going to buy that. wrestling tends to repeat itself so its likely something similar to the attiude era will happen at some point in the future but i dont think it will happen for a while as it wouldnt be very profitable now as they have just spent two years aiming there product at children.

they used to say anything can happen in the wwe but now its not the case and i think people know that and it puts them off.a full blown attitude era would be nice admitidly but for now i think they should just loosen up a little on the whole child friendly thing and that may improve buyrates

 

[kissfan85]

I just don't see why it's so important to tone it down for kids.
Kids watched back in the attitude era.
Kids play grand theft auto, Kids swear at there parents, honestly this is even too kid friendly for kids in my opinion.
I mean at least have the pay per views have more action if not raw or Smackdown.
I just don't find it appealing to watch a wrestling program that kids even find weak nowadays

Cause I really don't enjoy watching TNA too much, but it feels like I have to just to see something funny that isn't approved for a ten year old.

fredstephenson: The exact reason why we didn't order extreme rules is because like you said, it's not going to have blood, no swearing and no chair shots, it's just not extreme to me

It just makes me kinda sad because I really do miss enjoying myself watching WWE

 

[Yarrie]

The PG era isn't generating as much money because it is boring. I dont get the PPV anymore because they are boring. In the Attitude era you never knew what would happen, and that kept you tuning in. It is all good making the show kid friendly but there are still a lot of parents out there that wont let their kids watch wrestling regardless. I say bring back the Attitude era, bring back the larger than life character, bring back the sledgehammers, chairs, blood and bad language...hello people we arent watching the disney channel

 

[Porter1989]

i believe they could recreate the attitude era simply because john cena was from the ruthless aggression era when he ripped on people with his raps. this superhero shit just dont fit him. nexus could be huge with attitude. the undertaker. triple h. and edge can all be who they used to. edge could really go back to the rated r superstar (live sex celebration ex.) randy orton is a huge reminder of the era. i mean come on the PG era ruined D-X they just flat out sucked. attitude would be an easy transition from PG. think before you say its impossible and its dead. vince isnt a PG guy. this is all linda's senate race. you can say it isnt. when they lost ratings during the attitude era was simply because no new superstars were in the main even picture. a big part of the wwe rating drops is the lack of effort they put into the mid-card wrestlers. so people may watch the beginning of raw because it mainly starts with main eventers. but then theres nothing inbetween about 8:30 to 9-15 so why watch its just jobbers basically. come on now whens the last time the us title was put on the line. put more effort into mid cards and they will be fine. but i think in order to do so put a little attitude in the mix. fuck linda shes already a billionair no need to be a senate. for what? if someone can tell me why she needs to be then ill eat my words.

 

[kissfan85]

I wouldn't let my company go down the toilet because my wife wants to run for senate.
I have absolutely no respect for politics. She thinks her never gonna be career is more important then the company?

 

[TRoN]

No I do not believe trying to re-create the attitude era would help. It can't be re-created, it was what it was. It's dead and gone, society is different now lol.

I think too many people are dying on this "WWE is PG" hill. The fact that WWE is PG is not the reason for the WWE "sucking". In some peoples words.

For me personally, I don't buy the pay per views because I find the match quality is no better than it is on RAW or Smackdown. If I'm going to pay.. I don't $45 or whatever it is now-a-days I want to see some really good matches, not the regular same old stuff. So, perhaps a lot of other people feel that same way? I'm gonna make a prediction that summerslam will do much better. Simply because of this Nexus thing taking centre stage.

I agree.
I see very little difference in quality between a match on RAW and a PPV. Can't really blame the wrestlers though, the WWE has been limiting their move sets more and more as they continue with the PG era because of increased wrestler safety (which is a very legit reason) and bad PR. But it does water down the product and makes matches simular and more predictable.

Also, it's much harder for the more talented wrestlers to get over and seperate themselves from the pack. Watching youtube videos of wrestler top 10 moves and pre wwe stuff of the new kids and some of the vets also, it amazing how much entertaining they were compared to now, im not trying to say they aren't good now just not as exciting and innovative imo. Those matches played a big part in getting them noticed by the WWE.

 

[steveh0481]

I'm pleasantly surprised that the majority of people also agree that turning back to the Attitude Era would not be more profitable. Going back and rehashing an idea doesnt lead to interest (see ECW in TNA). If creative was coming up with some better stuff for character development, people would be more interested in the matches... which leads usually to increased buyrates for pay-per-views.

WWE had great success back in the 80s and early 90s as a PG product. I dont think going back to TV-14 is the answer. People equate too quickly that TV-14 = success. Just because someone can say "ass" on TV doesnt make me interested in it. Plus, its not like creative is going to be any better if its TV-14. People saying the product needs to be TV-14 are simply ignoring the fact that creative is the reason the product is stale.

The big thing to remember is a lot of the wrestling fanbase from the attitude era left for MMA/UFC and will not be coming back, even if WWE goes back to TV-14. So if WWE goes from PG to TV-14, then they lose their biggest fanbase. Sound like a good marketing idea to anyone?

 

[kissfan85]

Increasing wrestling safety?

It's wrestling, it's not going to be safe.
It's not a damn nursery and these aren't babies.
There wrestlers and there supposed to take risk's

 

[Geeker]

Before reading what everyone else has said I want to put in my two cents.

Attitude was in my own opinion the greatest era in professional wrestling history. Before that we had the 80's where most wrestlers were some kind of lame gimmick. And I doubt there are many people on here that even remember wrestling before then. (I myself, wasn't even alive.)

I'm not entirely sure when the attitude era officially ended, but I am guessing it was around the time that Vince McMahon bought the opposing companies. At first it wasn't so bad but it quickly went downhill. Then eventually ECW came back to us for about a week and a half until WWE shat all over that as well.

It was the 90's when WWE was making the most money and it was when professional wrestling was at its peak. (Even for wCW). I loved it and would want nothing more for wrestling to go back to that time. Unfortunately it will never happen.

Vince McMahon has this half assed thought out notion that appealing to the kids is where wrestling is at. WWE has toned down its violence, its language, and the divas are getting uglier as time goes on. The storylines are either lame, recycled, or blatantly stolen from the other guys. WWE today is like watching porn on cinemax - it's still considered porn but there are other, better choices.

Yes, they would profit by going back to their old ways as long as they do it right.

 

[The Ram]

What I missed the most about the attitude area was the midcarders were just as entertaining to me as the main eventers and then you have a variety of different gimmicks. We have some gimmicks but to me some supposed to be gimmicks aren't gimmicks to me. Like the Miz is basically erogant person ok it's a common gimmick. Back then you have val venis the porn star. Then you have goldust who was way more entertaining back then who is basically treated like crap. Then you have kurt angle the olympic gold medalist. Then you have Too cool dancing to music and stuff. Then you have the hurricane the super hero. The whole gimmick thing was great and that's one of the things I think would make the WWE better today and keep it interesting.

 

[Tyler44]

I think the PG rating is the reason why I don't watch WWE anymore. I like blood, swearing, sex-related promos, and all that. Why? I never got to live with it. The Attitude Era was before my time, so I never got to see it. Now that I am a teenager, it would be cool to see again, but when I see WWE not using blood, not using weapons, having little kid story-lines and characters, it's boring to me. I can't get behind anyone anymore like older teens got behind Austin and the Rock because no face excites me. That is why you see a lot of heel cheering. People don't cheer heels to be "cool", they do it because they want to get behind someone. I'm not going to cheer for Cena, Rey Mysterio, etc. because I couldn't give 2 shits about them. They are babyfaces for the kids, not for me. That is why I cheer for Orton, because he is exciting. Something most faces are not these days. Now that he is a face, it's different. I can finally cheer a face, rather than cheering a heel. It's just that heels are more interesting, and that is why you see fans cheering heels. 2 points I covered right there.

To answer your question, as much as I want them to do it, it won't be smart at all.

 

[TRoN]

Increasing wrestling safety?

It's wrestling, it's not going to be safe.
It's not a damn nursery and these aren't babies.
There wrestlers and there supposed to take risk's

The amount of risks wrestlers take now compared to what they were doing in the attitude era and other promotions is significantly lower which is one of, if not the top reason why I don't spend money on ppv's anymore. I not saying the storylines should go back to the attitude era but if they expect us to pay $45 a month for ppv's a couple of HOLY SHIT! moments isn't too much to ask for imo.

 

[Showtime]

What is Attitude Era anyway? Crazy, adult centre storylines and real blood. Unless WWE wants to start programming on say an HBO, Showcase, or Fight Network, the later of which will not happen, then WWE really has to watch what they put on TV. WWE during the Attitude era got so much ridiculous beef from the FCC and Parents against Television corp. Now with so much censorship going on with cable TV, WWE would never be allowed to show a lot of what they used too. They'd lose the kid demography, and wouldn't gain that much from the 18 and older group.

At the moment, no, it wouldn't make it more profitable. The Attitude Era was fueled by teenagers who went crazy from seeing DX breaking all the rules, giving crotch chops and telling everyone to suck it. The Attitude era was fueled by young adults who shared Austin's hatred for the boss, and wished that they too could be like Austin and punch their boss out and chug a beer standing over top of him. But alas, those times are long dead and buried. That demography is heavily into UFC now, and something that is clearly promoted as 'not real' will no longer sway them back to wrestling. UFC is that hard drug that everyone goes crazy over. WWE is like vanilla ice cream, no longer viewed as exciting anymore. I talked to my friend about WWE house show coming to the peg, and was met with an unenthusiastic Wooo. UFC is the top dog when it comes to the demography WWE once had with the Attitude era and will hold onto that title until the next adrenaline crazed sport comes out.

Is there any hope for the WWE anymore? It's grim, but with careful planning, they will get through this. The next 5-10 years will be interesting because we will see if the WWE "grows" with their audience. Look, when the WWF first brought in Hulk Hogan in the 80's, they began targeting families and children and moved away from the dirty old timers who chewed cigars and yelled for blood. They saw a better market in families and went in that direction quite successfully. As their audience grew and became tired of the old school storylines, the WWF switched gears and grew with their audience. WWE has now gone full circle with that and went back to targeting children in an effort to survive. Was it a good move. In some ways, yea I suppose, but it's left them with a demography that doesn't have the disposable cash. But if they grow with this audience, they may be able to get back to some level they had during the Attitude era. And they may go back to using more adult based storylines and feuds that won't have teens and young adults cringing that WWE is for kids. Or they can stay with the current audience they have and make that work. It is plausible, but those ideas are for another thread. Either way, now is not the time to be pushing to go back to Attitude era.

 

[bigbootydaddyV]

The attitude era can't be revived without a stone cold or rock to anchor it to. Those two guys single handedly made the WWF what it was and saved it from falling to #2. They brought in a mainstream appeal that to some degree hulk hogan couldn't even do. I had friends who thought wrestling was the lamest shit but enjoyed stone cold just as they did Goldberg. There is no one around today who can create that kind of excitement. As for low PPV buyrates and all that's simple, they are way too expensive and nothing really special to make me want to drop that much money. They have over saturated the market, PPVs should be every couple of months not once a month and in some cases two. I love wrestling and all, but I'm not going to spend that much money on it when there are other ways to be entertained. Technology kind of hurt them too because having HD just bumped the price up 10 bucks for me on top of what it already was. And i know this is a little off topic, but in my opinion I think the child fan base is much less than what it was and going PG isn't go to help when they are going "real" on top of it. Children live in a fantasy world, they still have an imagination and without characters to bring those imaginations to life what's the point. I personally like Daniel Bryan, but what kid really cares to see a regular guy every week, a big part of what got me into wrestling over sports was the fact that they were characters come to life.

 

[duckbutter]

I don't agree that they are losing money. Ask the investors who are still making money despite the down economy. The fact is that the WWE is making more money with bigger name advertisers because they are no longer the "Attitude" wrestling company. There were a lot of big name advertisers that ditched them when they became an adult show. A lot of those advertisers, as well as new ones, have come to them because they appeal to a much broader audience now and no longer appeal to just, what the advertisers would call, the lowest common denominator.

As much as we may not like the product, they were smart to tone it down. Not only does it giver a longer shelf life to the guys in the ring, it also allows them to branch out in uncharted territory with a family-friendly product.

 

[TNAmark]

I don't really care whether or not going back to Attitude Era style programming would be more profitable for the WWE, all I'm concerned about is how entertaining the shows are and a fast-paced Attitude style approach would certainly be more exciting than the molasses speed product they've been offering for most of the past decade.

 

[Porter1989]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EXUrdHoJOFo watch that video only from a year ago and you finally see what randy orton is about. half the superstars dont wanna be the characters they play. they would rather play a character and import themselves into the character. the only reason half the attitude fans went to the ufc/mma was because of the PG era. they got what 6.0 ratings on average in that time to todays hmm 3.5. half the time you see wrestlers studder on tv because its pg. the wrestlers cannot add themselves to the charcter because of now-a-days. its not dead. it will be back. just as soon as triple h takes over. u think he gives a damn about fcc and all others who hate that shit. they made it work the first time dx got busted.

 

[JuviJuiceIsLoose]

I think bringing back an "Attitude Era" in the WWE would be close to impossible. Just like it would be possible to bring back Rock N Wrestling Golden Era that was before Attitude.

An Era is a period of time, so going back in time isn't gonna happen.

Most of the problems with the WWE isn't because it's "PG".

You can let wrestlers curse and bleed all you want, and that doesn't mean the product is gonna be better.

Letting the Miz say "ass" isn't gonna make the creative team focus on the Mid-Card more.

The Attitude Era is a period of time that's passed. Just like the New Generation Era before that, and the Golden Era before that.

 

[TRoN]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EXUrdHoJOFo watch that video only from a year ago and you finally see what randy orton is about. half the superstars dont wanna be the characters they play. they would rather play a character and import themselves into the character. the only reason half the attitude fans went to the ufc/mma was because of the PG era. they got what 6.0 ratings on average in that time to todays hmm 3.5. half the time you see wrestlers studder on tv because its pg. the wrestlers cannot add themselves to the charcter because of now-a-days. its not dead. it will be back. just as soon as triple h takes over. u think he gives a damn about fcc and all others who hate that shit. they made it work the first time dx got busted.

Triple H will not be taking over anything Stephanie will and by that time they both will be in their 50's and the edge that Triple H had in the attitude era will long be forgotten.

 

[enterkey]

It doesn't need to go back to the Attitude Era as much as it needs to start doing more storylines that don't insult the viewers intelligence and develop feuds for people other than just the main eventers. In essence this was a main part about what made the attitude era great but you would not need to go back to what worked a decade ago to simply do that. The PG era cracks down on blood, swearing, unnecessarily extreme violence, and Tits not intelligent stories. Vince just needs to let his love for Supermen like Cena go for a while and start pushing more realistic characters alongside him until those characters EVENTUALLY dethrone the SC. As long as the young kids and female viewers are basically suckin Cena's dick every night it would be impossible to phase him out completely over a short time span but if given the correct amount of time, probably years, it could happen and the crowd would probably barely notice.

 

[wiigotaproblem]

While I do believe bringing back blood would add some realism to the now blatantly fake matches we've seen since this PG thing came about, I don't think it would solve all of their problems.

For me, the biggest problem WWE has right now is the creative team... Smackdown's especially. I mean, when Sareena came down 2 weeks ago and was all "OMG OMG IM SO SORRY I'LL NEVER DRINK AGAIN I FAILED YOU PUNK", I vowed to stop watching Smackdown, because that was easily the stupidest thing I've seen from any show on TV in the last 5 years. The whole "Kane vowing to get revenge on whoever turned his brother into a veggietale" thing is getting kinda old too.

Really, the only good angle they have going right now is the Nexus angle, and even it's starting to test my patience a bit.

So no, I don't think bringing back the Attitude Era would help... I think bringing in a new creative team would.