WWE General Complaints Thread

[Suibon]

To JohnJohnson:

So the notion of WWE being a publicly-traded company with shareholders to please and bottomlines to ponder and money to boot doesn't appeal to you? Oh well - not everybody's a hard-workin' joe.

But think of this for the minute: if you're a sports entertainment company and seek to widen your audience, would you stick with a formula that's guaranteed to make a majority of plain joes and little jimmys without a rebellious or sadistic streak shun you (and parents to form groups denouncing your numerous vices within storylines, and congressmen to plot the eventual banning of your company as too violent for R-18), thus essentially losing your chance to create more revenue?

Of course not. No sane - or even insane - businessman would attempt to commit financial suicide that way.

But I'll throw you a rope to hang on and create a retort for you: maybe you'll state that 'the WWE may have gained the world, but it has lost its soul'. Only that... soul? What soul? The sight of blood upon a top face's face? 'Motherfucker' trending worldwide? Eh, what kind of 'soul' is that, if you could call it that?
​

 

[JohnJohnson]

Haha. I guess what you failed to realize is that I don't run a sports entertainment company. I'm a sports entertainment viewer. "Motherfucker" trending worldwide? Are you serious. Wrestling only allowed the words ass, hell, and bitch. And again...Blood has been a part of the business for decades. I know you've probably never been in a fight before but blood tends to be a factor when someone gets hit repeatedly. If they want to make it believable then that would definitely help. Besides it's not as if they have to go to the extremes of ECW. I'm not asking for a blood bath here. Hell the main thing I want is storylines other than "superstar wants belt". But it seems that certain people only focus on the blood part of it. Did you even watch the attitude era? You were like 5. And as far as "hard-workin' joe" please kid. I'm one of those troops to which the WWE pays tribute each year and I busted my ass overseas in Afghanistan 12+ hours everyday while being shot at. So I don't need some teenager telling me about hard work. When it comes to wrestling I'm more interested in the show than I am in Vince's wallet, period.

 

[Suibon]

Haha. I guess what you failed to realize is that I don't run a sports entertainment company. I'm a sports entertainment viewer. .

Well, I salute you for your dedication and valor, then (and where did you serve? curiouser and curioser): but I am here asking you to visualize, to imagine yourself In Vince's shoes. What if you're not a soldier but Vince McMahon, CEO and Chairman of the Board of Directors of that publicly-traded corporation known as the WWE? What if you want to expand your company, make it be known as something more than a 'rasslin promotion, but societal mores (however haphazardly and inconsistently valued - they'd tolerate blood in boxing and MMA and cussing on HBO, but neither in pro wrestling) prevent you from expanding with the accompanying blood and gore and barbed words?

Which path would you choose as a CEO and Chairman of the Board of the WWE - a WWE with the blood and barb, but seeing less revenue, or a WWE without those but with a diversified revenue stream?

(And, oh yeah, 'motherfucker trending worldwide'. )


​

 

[Suibon]

And again...Blood has been a part of the business for decades. I know you've probably never been in a fight before but blood tends to be a factor when someone gets hit repeatedly. If they want to make it believable then that would definitely help. Besides it's not as if they have to go to the extremes of ECW. I'm not asking for a blood bath here. Hell the main thing I want is storylines other than "superstar wants belt".

Yes, yes, I know the importance of blood as a storyline device, and several matches go down in believability and scariness and selling point (and whatever else you can insert into hell in a cell, first blood match, streetfight, etc.), but you can have matches and angles without blood streaking down the ramp and into the ring and scaring important segments of the population away. You're a soldier if you say you are, you may have seen combat, you may have become desensitized to the blood and gore and shit that accompanies military exercises, but the WWE isn't a war zone.

As for developing storylines other than 'superstar wants belt', well, I agree, but do you really need to include blood to make the tag team division relevant again? To make the divas division bearable? To make the mid-card more than just a pile of jobbers, two up-and-comers, Zack Ryder, and Santino Marella?
​

 

[JohnJohnson]

My most recent tour was Afghanistan. Came home from that this summer. As for the blood, I don't want to see it in every match nor at every event. I just want to see it made legal so that from time to time to further illustrate the physical toll a match takes on a superstar. Ric Flair was famous for his crimson mask of blood. He'd get busted open and still get up and wrestle. Blood shouldn't be a big part of the show and should rarely happen, but it shouldn't be omitted entirely. As far as cussing, the word ass should be allowed simply because the show is about guys kicking each other's asses. I understand that it has been used recently along with the word "bitch" by The Rock. It doesn't seem to me that he has any less fans for it. Hell he got a huge pop. I don't think that will cause anyone to stop watching if used time to time. It doesn't need to be as edgy as the Attitude Era in which the middle finger was a common thing and promos would often have multiple "cuss words". The Rock uses those words on occasion in his recent promos and I think superstars should be able to do that. It would make it less childish for the adults. If I were to want to expand my market I'd find that happy medium that makes it ok for children but still not too watered down for kids. And to be honest if I was Vince and I had more money than I can possibly spend in my lifetime and my entire family was very wealthy I'd make my job fun again before I retired. It's not like he would go broke. Eventually he's going to probably leave it with Triple H who, during the attitude era, was one of the most vulgar characters on the show. Odds are Triple H is going to mkae it more appealing to adults anyways. Hell even Disney makes PG-13 movies and they do very well. And if that were so bad for business, they wouldn't have made 3 sequels to Pirates of the Caribbean.
When I say I'd like a new attitude era, I'm talking about giving each superstar a personality. Give them each an actual character that stays with them. Back in the attitude era there weren't many boring, generic first and last name wrestlers that just attack so-and-so because they want the belt. They were all character wrapped up in their own storylines or in a storyline with their stable. Nowadays the superstars think they are actually superstars and focus more on getting their camera close ups and advertising their merchandise. Back in the days they were wrestlers and worked hard to try and entertain us. I think this is the reason a tag division won't be able to flourish any time soon. Too much ego. The superstars would get less photo ops. Also it seems they have gotten lazy with their ring-work and just perform the same handful of moves. Being in a tag team would mean they would have to learn to work with 3 other superstars and actually put in work. This< I believe, also killed the divas division. They are just that, divas. No longer are they women wrestlers. It's all about the spotlight and photo ops for them and therefore we see the slender model dominate the division. Hell what was the point of Natalya training at the dungeon if she would just end up jobbing to a bunch of models that can't even wrestler a 2 min match without a botch? Hell if I were a woman I'd rather be in a bra and panties match than end up jobbing to some barbie doll just because I don't fit the model mold. When did you start watching wrestling btw? A lot of people bash the attitude era without having watched it. I'd advise watching the years 98-2000. 97 was a good year too but not nearly as exciting. If you actually sat down and watched a full show you'd see where I'm coming from. I don't think there was a single dull episode in 99.

 

[BooMan]

The WWE is going for the reality era but we need to see more reality or "golden age" here. CM PUNK has to change the belt and usher in the next generation. It needs to happen now!

 

[Nada]

Blood is a funny thing, because WCW during their hottest years, late 96 to early 98, had little to no blood, no skimpy girls other than Nitro Girls dancing for 20 seconds and that it was it and no swearing what so ever.

"oh but WCW had great wrestlers like Jericho, Malenko, Eddie, Benoit...."


Yea but that is not why people watched, they watched the show to see what old man Hogan, Savage, slow and immobile Nash and Giant would do?

How did that happen?

Booking. Having a storyline that you are interested in. That feels unique in wrestling. WWE just dosent have that anymore, its just heel vs face, coward heel cuts lame promos while doing his best Jericho imitation:

"I AM THE BEST....IN...THE...WORLD"

/crowd boos mildly, is barely awake

"NONE OF YOU....ARE BETTER...THAN ME"

/crowd is quite at this point

"YOUR [insert_sports_team] SUCKS!"

/yawn


You cant do guy vs guy all the time, sometimes you gotta change the story to faction vs promotion, guy vs boss (austin vs vince) think outside the box.

 

[Kenneth]

It's hard to come up with something fresh though a lot of different storylines have been done numerous times before.

Although it seems when there is a fresh storyline coming along nicely it's cut short or WWE drops the ball with it.

 

[thebarber]

Inate, stupid, not thought out booking is what really shits me with the WWE product.
First example. EVERYBODY knew Chris Jerciho was returning, WWE didnt think it important enough to shield him in the local areas airport, this they will blame on Jericho for ratings not improving. The vignettes alone gave enough reason to believe it was Jerichop returning. Now, when Jericho was last seen on WWE tv, he was punted by Randy Orton. Well, the same Orton is now sidelined(drug suspension/back injury/whatever). Wouldnt the SMART booking have had Jericho return, and take Orton out. He could have easily been written into raw for that night, Jericho returns, without speaking still and takes Orton out. This explains his absence of tv, instant heat on Jericho and confirms his heel status. When Orton returns, it opens the doors of different possibilities. But no, Jericho returns, says nothing for ten minutes and has the crowed booing for him to leave and stop his arrogant showboating. If Jericho is going to be the obnoxious, rock star Fozzy gimmick that Im expectinmg, then this return will work. But if they throw him staright into a meaningless fued with Alex Riley or some other mid card bum, then WWE will NEVER learn.

 

[TheLegendWWEJ]

I'm tired of the WWE Tag Team division being treated like the red headed step child and it has been for a long time. There use to be competition from the likes of The Steiners, The British Bulldogs, The Hart Foundation, The Hardy Boys, Dudley Boys, E&C, Demolition, The Brain Busters and so many more over the ages but the last few years have been meshed together teams with no real unity. Even today the only team in the WWE truly is the Uso Brothers, but they have yet to hold the titles or get enough exposure. Tag Team wrestling in the WWE is a thing of the past, but I want it back!

 

[JTeller]

I honestly see no point of having 2 World Titles anymore, the 2 brands are going all over the place and there's just no point. Here's what I would like to see happen:

Jericho, Bryan and Punk at Wrestlemania

What relevance does this have? Well, one of them wins and merges the two. Get rid of that "ugly" belt and that pointless belt, and replace it with something better. Though, this is only my personal opinion.

 

[Richard Blonoff]

First off I wanna make it clear this isn't a hate thread on the PG era. I will mention reasons I think the PG era has hurt the WWE's overall popularity but hate this era I do not. I find many things I do like currently, because sometimes I just like to feel like a little kid again. Plus the PG era isn't as bad as the G rated super friendly era of the 80s.

That said there are two big issues I see with the PG era.

1) It alienates a large chunk of their demographic. A couple of year ago, around the end of 2010, the WWE said that 40% of their demo is made up of women and children who are drawn to the PG style they currently use. Thats all fine and well, its always good to change your content a bit to fit changing demos but they did a near complete overall to appeal to their minority audience. 60% still preferred the PG-13/borderline R rated product. Recently they seem to be headed back to a less PG style with the masked demonic Kane coming back, they are allowing blood that occurs naturally without censor, Punk has been allowed to swear a bit here and there, and the innuendos with Aksana and Teddy Long but they still retain a lot of the PG syle. Cena is still the same Cena of the last 4 or 5 years, the Divas are typically portrayed as helpless Kristen Stewart in Twilight damsels, and none of the gimmicks are too edgy.

2) Its hard to create a good long lasting heel. Look at some of the top heels from the late 90s and early 00s when you could get away with more. Compare them with the heels of today. Aside from the recently returning Kane most main event heels are nothing more than arrogant foreigners like Del Rio and Barret, big bullies like Henry and Swagger or cowards like Miz and Christian before he was injured. Even when Sheamus was a heel he was just a bully towards guys like Cena and Santino. They shackle them on the mic, not allowing them to really lay into the crowd and they are usually unable to use weapons to really gain an advantage. Even the physical showcase matches know for great spots like ladder, cage and Hell in a Cell have been toned down. Rarely do we see guys fighting atop the cell or taking extreme leaps from ladders or even a good old hardcore match.

Again this wasn't a thread to hate on the PG era, just my take on the two main problems with it and why the WWE has suffered recent years

 

[KnowMyRole-ShutYourMouth]

First off I wanna make it clear this isn't a hate thread on the PG era. I will mention reasons I think the PG era has hurt the WWE's overall popularity but hate this era I do not. I find many things I do like currently, because sometimes I just like to feel like a little kid again. Plus the PG era isn't as bad as the G rated super friendly era of the 80s.

That said there are two big issues I see with the PG era.

1) It alienates a large chunk of their demographic. A couple of year ago, around the end of 2010, the WWE said that 40% of their demo is made up of women and children who are drawn to the PG style they currently use. Thats all fine and well, its always good to change your content a bit to fit changing demos but they did a near complete overall to appeal to their minority audience. 60% still preferred the PG-13/borderline R rated product. Recently they seem to be headed back to a less PG style with the masked demonic Kane coming back, they are allowing blood that occurs naturally without censor, Punk has been allowed to swear a bit here and there, and the innuendos with Aksana and Teddy Long but they still retain a lot of the PG syle. Cena is still the same Cena of the last 4 or 5 years, the Divas are typically portrayed as helpless Kristen Stewart in Twilight damsels, and none of the gimmicks are too edgy.

2) Its hard to create a good long lasting heel. Look at some of the top heels from the late 90s and early 00s when you could get away with more. Compare them with the heels of today. Aside from the recently returning Kane most main event heels are nothing more than arrogant foreigners like Del Rio and Barret, big bullies like Henry and Swagger or cowards like Miz and Christian before he was injured. Even when Sheamus was a heel he was just a bully towards guys like Cena and Santino. They shackle them on the mic, not allowing them to really lay into the crowd and they are usually unable to use weapons to really gain an advantage. Even the physical showcase matches know for great spots like ladder, cage and Hell in a Cell have been toned down. Rarely do we see guys fighting atop the cell or taking extreme leaps from ladders or even a good old hardcore match.

Again this wasn't a thread to hate on the PG era, just my take on the two main problems with it and why the WWE has suffered recent years

1.) You make it sound like "the masked demonic Kane" is really pushinig the PG boundaries. LOL not even close. It's so cartoony and over the top. It completely fits the PG model. Punk has been allowed to swear? All I can remember is his obnoxious "bitching, bitching, bitching..." comeback that dragged on way too long. They aren't even close to pushing the envelope. The Teddy/Aksana crap is barely beyond PG. They don't hint at anything much more than movies such as Shrek and Toy Story do.

2.) The problem with heels is the WWE absolutely refuses to legitimize them. Heels are no longer threats to faces. They may talk a big game, but faces always overcome them no matter how insurmountable the odds. You think the WWE would ever book a heel to kick out of pins @ 1 like they do with Sheamus as a face? Basically every major to bore-derline major feud is like watching a Globetrotters game. The WWE doesn't seem to have the balls anymore to commit to pissing off their fans and sending them home unhappy.

Perhaps if WWE stopped trying to get shit to trend on twitter, they could push an interesting and compelling product. It's just extremely difficult for a viewer to latch on to a product that pretty much resets itself every week. The common cliche is a hero is only as good as the villain(s) he's up against. It should be no secret that if there is no credible adversary, there is no conflict. And without conflict what's the point?

 

[litarock82]

2010 WAS THE WWES MOST PROFITABLE YEAR ON RECORD!!!!!!
(not counting 2011, as figures are yet to be released)

How is the business model flawed, if they are making more money now than ever before? A businesses main aim is to MAKE MONEY!

 

[Dysturbed]

Well the fact is that WWE PG era isn't getting anywhere near the ratings the attitude era got so I kind of think that speaks for itself.

I am not going to suggest that the "pg era" isn't alienating a large number of people but am going to say that ratings only speak for themself where comparing the two eras are concerned if we ignore the stronger reason why ratings are probably lower in comparison which is inevitability. (if we were to discuss ratings lowering from within the same era that may be a different story). How many scripted primetime shows don't eventually go down in ratings or go off the air before they drop too much or at all? When we name those shows, we have to also consider how many less shows per year they air. WWE on the other hand keeps on going and going while creating new material every week (which is unmatched) so of course ratings were going to fall at some point. How many long aired shows go up in ratings on a permanent basis once they have consistently been lower for a long period of time? The most comparable thing (in America at least) are daytime soap operas but even they eventually went down in ratings and are being eliminated one by one, but where primetime is concerned, what can you compare it too as far as how many shows per year? Of course it was going to be repetetive and a certain portion of fans was going to lose interest even if the pg thing never happened.

Currently there are more viewing options and other avenues to be able to watch shows at a later time so it is actually pretty good that ratings are fairly stable where the overall ratings are concerned in this period of time. When wrestling was at it's peak ratings wise there were people wearing shirts without embaressment all over the place and the shows were being discussed but that applies to a lot of things and people and then those things (with sports in general being an exception though certain teams may stop getting as much attention) stop becoming as much of a focus. That is part of what happened with wrestling though other things can also be attributed.

That isn't to say that if something interesting enough happens, word of mouth won't make things go up but again, but it would essentally make things a fad (which isn't meant to have a negative connotation), a fad that could last several months or a few years, but still would inevitably go down at some point.

 

[DJ Kyo]

Bad business model? Hardly. If they are making money, then their business model is just fine.

The problem is the demographic in which they are having to appeal to, to make money.

WWE used to be about makes ages 18-24, a prime demographic for violence, sex, and funny/crude storylines. Unfortunately that demographic is also a very broke demographic a lot of time and they don't purchase as much merchandise as someone a little older and people who are younger who have mommy and daddy to buy crap for them. So the "PG Era" makes sense in a merchandising way. After all, look at all the Cena crap that's getting sold and now look at all the CM Punk crap that's getting sold.

CENA sells to little kids. CM Punk sells easily to rebellious 13-17 year olds. All of which have their parents credit card on hand. Merchadise sales are important when advertising revenues might be down due to lower ratings.

My biggest problem with the WWE doesn't come from the PG Era, as much as I do miss the hardcore division, etc.. My biggest problem comes from the horrid writing staff. PG can and does work, but if CM Punk is kept off air from truly talking for a couple of weeks and he's the champion, how is he supposed to keep people tuned in? If CENA is the only one finishing a show every week, how does that keep people interested in something new/different. Wrestlers don't get mic time anymore. I mean REAL mic time, not this 30 second: "Oh you suck" mic time or cheap-pop mic time. I mean actual "I hate you, and this is why....... " mic time. They trick us every now and then, but then they take it all away... Why did CM Punk fight Jack Swagger on this past Monday? It was a random match and Punk didn't say hardly 2 words about it. Then we have this random stipulation from Johnny Ace. It's ******ed...

Ok, I gotta stop, I could go on about the writing for hours...

All in all WWE isn't a bad business product, they are fine in that aspect. It's about what they are doing though to keep new people coming in and older people interested in the long run.

 

[thebromm]

No I don't really think it's flawed. Ratings dropped before the PG era began. Ratings dropped because they stopped writing compelling television. Ratings dropped because there is no competition. I enjoy being a wrestling fan. I watch because I enjoy the art. I don't watch to see a diva lose their top or to watch Cena nearly bleed "to death" on tv. They appeal to children for one reason: merchandise. Parents bring their kids to a WWE event do you think for one second Dad isn't shelling out some dough because his kid wants some John Cena arm bands? It works for them. If it aint broke, don't fix it. Besides they are still able to write some compelling stuff without just catering to one portion of their audience. They WERE making that mistake but have seemingly corrected it and are once again appealing to the portion they left out. They got Cena for the ladies and kids, and who did they pick to fill the void for that other percentage the were leaving out? CM Punk. Why? Because he is the anti-Cena.

Business model flawed? No. Creative logic flawed? Yeah pretty much.

 

[ItWasTyped.com]

I think sometimes they are a bit "late" with their ideas, i.e. the WWE network. Maybe they just like to see how it works out for other markets, since WWE is such a niche product it doesn't matter if they are late, because they have no other wrestling competition to do it before them

 

[King of the Words]

Like someone said, the writing is there biggest problem. It doesn't seem like much effort is put into it. The product could be half decent, no attitude era, but decent if there were story lines that were actually interesting. I'm interested to see what they do in the new year to correct this. I like the building up of Dolph and Rhodes, and Jericho returning. It would be great to see a change in Cena's character and that he doesn't just burry Kane with the 5 moves of doom. That would be a total waist of a story line. I think Kane needs to win this feud to keep Cena's character in a confused state of mind going into Mania 28. So, if they are going to stick with the PG rating for a while the least they can do is work on the writing aspect. Give us well thought out story lines that actually make some sense, are interesting, and eventually have a payoff in the end, and not just dropped.

 

[XXJJ]

2010 WAS THE WWES MOST PROFITABLE YEAR ON RECORD!!!!!!
(not counting 2011, as figures are yet to be released)

How is the business model flawed, if they are making more money now than ever before? A businesses main aim is to MAKE MONEY!

I think it might of been 2nd. But yeah I get your point. You cant say their business model is flawed when they are making record profits.
Its funny all you read from a lot of the IWC is how awful the product is, and how its not as popular as it once was. Yet they are still making a ton of money.

 

[King of the Words]

I think the majority of their profits are coming from the kids who beg their parents to go to an event or buy a PPV event. Plus, those of us who are die hard fans of the WWE and find it really difficult to give up on them, even though they are not giving us the product that we loved anymore. Their trying to make a NEW fan base with the kids, which maybe is a good move business wise, but for all of us who stuck with the WWE through the though times and helped make Vince a billionaire, it's hard not to feel slighted. I still think WWE needs 2 separate products. One for the youth and one for the adults. Instead of squishing it all into one messy product their should be 2 separate entites. Raw, which is on a school night, should be the adult, r rated show, and Smackdown could be the PG show for the kids. Split the roster down the middle and put the wrestlers where they would shine the most. For example, Cena would be on the PG show and I don't think many adult fans would miss him not being on raw as long as he is being Super Cena. Orton and Punk could be on Raw, perhaps a heel turn for Orton. WWE has 2 major groups of fans and neither should be forgot about, and both should get the product they deserve to see. When kids see a show or a ppv they want to see super Cena overcome all odds but when most adult fans see a show or ppv they want to see a hardcore battle with someone ending up going through a table or cage. Both should be able to be offered to the respective fan base. No body should be left out in the dark.(IMO)

 

[Bernkastel]

I don't believe that the current WWE business model is flawed at all. Apart from the WWE catering to the children, it's been established multiple times that the WWE is doing this to re-establish their fan base.

The internet society is huge right now, so it would make sense for the WWE to really push sites like Twitter and Facebook; just look at the WWE website as an example. 10 years ago the site only really offered a written recap of shows and some photos. Nowadays the site offers video recaps, in-depth interviews, special segments, streams, and polls that really keep the fans involved.

The ratings game has changed as well with DVR and Tivo; many fans don't even watch the show live anymore when they can just record it and watch it later at their convenience. And obviously the economy will affect how much money the WWE brings in annually, but if the company is still making a killing... which they are... I'd say their is very little wrong with the way WWE does business.

 

[Ithil]

The biggest problem they have today isn't the weak booking, the lack of a proper undercard, the over-abundance of PPVs with weak builds, the over-reliance on Cena, or any of those other flaws, it's the commentary.

It is genuinely damaging the product, it's so awful. From both Cole AND Lawler. Smackdown would be fine with Josh Matthews and Booker alone, not brilliant, but solid. RAW however is ruined by it.

The whole point of commentary is to put over your product, and make it sound the best it can, to make your TV audience feel like this is what they should be watching right now and they shouldnt change the channel. JR knew how to do this. No matter how useless the wrestler, how stupid the segment, how bad the story, he put it over with huge enthusiasm and made it seem like the most important thing in the world.

Get excited about what's on screen, and your audience will get excited.

 

[perfectbluefan]

Like someone said, the writing is there biggest problem. It doesn't seem like much effort is put into it.

I actually think the problem is they put TOO much effort into it. Raw is insanely over booked. People have said partly why shows like Smackdown and NXT are so good is that WWE generally ignores them, or Vince doesn't care enough to write and re-write them 398 times.

 

[aussietool]

I have a number of issues with the WWE.
(1)- Too many PPV'S.. Its hard to keep up with them all. Back in the day the writers and "creative team" had only to worry about the big ones, Summerslam, Rumble and the lead up to mania.. This lead to more fluent storylines that made sense, good fued build ups, and no "non sensical mini storylines in between.."

(2)The modern day "creative team"- don't even deserve the term creative. Fueds that start- then abruptly stop or go "nowhere"- yes they cater for the kiddie market- but please you bunch of drooling spastics- adults also view your tripe as well, give us some god damned credit.. or beware you will lose us..

(3)Diva's.. nuff said.

(4) Vince- or whoever's in charge these days.. Not listening to the wider community of the older fanbase.. wanting to end this hideous "pg era".. BAH!!

(5)A distinct lack off thought put in wrestlers "gimmicks"- refer to point 2..