WWE in 5 years

[rkoshouldvewon]

As I watched this past Monday's Raw and last week's Smackdown, I felt something watching the WWE product that I hadn't felt in a while... hope. I'm fairly sure a lot of the members on this board are at the wits end with the WWE product (at least the Raw brand). From the PG rating to the number of PPVs to recycled feuds to lack of new stars, WWE has been in a slump for a few years now. Despite all that, I watched Raw on July 6th and was satisfied.

On Raw we saw something we haven't seen in a very very very long time (with the exception of Randy Orton).. this was character development and by extension superstar building. Dibase Jr's character finally showed signs of life and fluidity with help with the Million Dollar Man. What's being set up (and hopefully does not stop) is the conflict between Dibase Sr. and Orton with Teddy Jr in the middle. Forcing Dibase to wonder where his loyalties lie, in the mean time building his profile and an inevitable face turn. Although I didn't find his match with Orton to be that impressive (Orton carried him for most of the match), we were finally given a chance to see Dibase do..something worth watching. And it was with the WWE champion. I've always been really skeptical of the IWC dudes and dudettes who were declaring Priceless as the future of the WWE when they've done next to nothing. And for all the shiiiite that was his match with Mark Henry, Cody Rhodes' backstage segment with Dibase Sr was pretty barable and comfortable to watch (unlike Dibase/Rhodes calling a match a few weeks back). The future for Rhodes doesn't look completely bleek, but the WWE will have to figure out what to do with his character because Dibase seems to have the next 6-8 months planned. Despite those two upticks, Bourne, Kingston, and Big Show was an absolute crapshoot. Why WWE thinks pitting big monster heels with the underdog small guy is entertaining is beyond me (Rey/Kane, Rey/Knox). It's very possible that Kingston and Bourne could have a series of barnburner matches, but their characters will not develop and fans will not care about them. Adding Show doesn't make the fans that much more invested in the characters, either. I'm very excited to see Swagger and MVP -- the company's possible next great feuding pair. I find MVP to be medicore on the mic (better than... Hardy i guess) and Swagger to be horrendous on the mic. But what Swagger lacks on the mic, he makes up in the ring.. the dude is a beast that's not yet been unleashed. In his short time in the WWE, he's seemed to turn all his detractors into marks. MVP, who I like, is capable in the ring, but kind of boring and slow paced. But that can work. The reason why this feud has such great potential is you are FINALLY shining light onto MVP's legit life experience and giving the crowd something to cheer for and invest in...while you're showing how big of a d-ck Swagger is for his intolerance for anything below him.

On Smackdown, we've seen the great developments since the draft. You've built up and given CM Punk a character that's still in limbo but very much a heel. You're going to actually do something with Dolph Ziggler -- who I'm so very much into. Ziggler can sell like Shawn and Henning and has the cocky attitude that doesn't hurt. They will have to tweak his character and look over the coming months but you've already seen him 'defeat' Khali and R-truth. John Morrison looks like he'll pick up the face reigns when Jeff leaves -- I'm fairly sure Morrison is getting to face the winner from Night of Champions for the title afterwards (i think thats what was said on Smackdown). Maybe a little bit premature, but you've moved the Hart Dynasty to Smackdown and can actually feud with a real tag team of Cryme Tyme (which gives them something to do!) rather than the tossed together pairings of Christian/Dreamer/Finlay.

WWE's future isn't completely bright, but it's no longer bleak when you've got potential main eventers like Morrison, Ziggler, Swagger, MVP. And you're already establishing CM Punk as a much more legit winning champ. That being said the dancing partners of Orton/HHH/Cena will have to end soon for Swagger and the like to really be successful.

 

[Nev]

This may sound odd, but most of the only reason why I watch RAW every week is the hope that it improves to its glory days.

Keep in mind that wrestling booms once a decade. The mid to late 80s, late 90s, & early 00s all expierenced a boom in popularity for the WWF/E.

I expect wrestling to boom around the mid 2010's probably. If it doesn't, the company is screwed. But the WWE always finds a way and is ultimately successful.

 

[cwheathman]

Simply put, I'm very impressed with a lot of the new and and some of the older talents developing like they should. For instance, The Miz and MVP have grabbed the brass rings on Raw and are trying to capitalize on their moments to shine. Who wouldn't be impressed with John Morrison at this point. Even Chris Jericho is doing the best work I've seen in years. All this means absolutely nothing if the front office doesn't take any chances with them for better or worse. In my opinion, the WWE is going to have to create this generations defining Wrestlemania moment. We had Hogan/Andre. The WWE is going to have to let someone beat the Undertaker at Mania. The streak is awesome, but it would be more significant at this point if he was able to pass the torch to a new superstar.

 

[Razor]

See guys? Patience. That's all I've ever asked. If you're just patient with the WWE, they know what they're doing. They have to build the new generation of stars, but all the while they have to make money. That's what they're doing with the Orton/Triple H feud, they're cementing Orton as a main-event star. That's what they're doing with the Miz/Cena feud. They're building the Miz as a main-event star. They're building MVP and Swagger up with their feud. It's all for a purpose. Maybe it's not as fast as you want it, as "edgy" as you want it, or with the exact stars you want, but the WWE knows how to make a product.

As far as the totally off topic "Taker losing his streak," have Swagger do it. That would be the pentultimate way to get Swagger over by far. Swagger could totally pull it off.

 

[avi01]

Taker should not loose the streak, even to put over some new guy. It is important for the vet to create new superstars and Taker does a lot of that but the WM streak should not be touch, it is a myth and personifies Taker. Many people will remember Taker because of this. I`m sure WWE know that and would touch that.

 

[Sasori]

Yeah man I know what you mean. CM Punk, MVP, Sawgger, Morrison, Ziggler. There the future! And I hate the whole under-dog thing too! It's ******ed and makes no sense what so over! Kayfabe can be a downfall sometimes, but the kiddies wont notice! This is probably another kiddies feud like Cena vs. Show.

 

[Ambiguous Turd]

This may sound odd, but most of the only reason why I watch RAW every week is the hope that it improves to its glory days.

Keep in mind that wrestling booms once a decade. The mid to late 80s, late 90s, & early 00s all expierenced a boom in popularity for the WWF/E.

I expect wrestling to boom around the mid 2010's probably. If it doesn't, the company is screwed. But the WWE always finds a way and is ultimately successful.

I don't think it's odd to watch each week with the hope that it returns to the Glory Days. I did that myself for many, many years. However, eventually, after so many years, you come to the point of realization that it isn't. Now that we have the Internet and that news stories get posted daily about the business, we will know that something BIG is going to happen to the entire product before we see it transpire on TV.

If Vince decides to take the product in a new direction, we'll know about it online, first.

But once you come to the realization that things aren't changing, then it is a little easier to turn that TV and keep it off. I watched Raw for the Trump show a couple weeks ago, and I watched last Monday because I knew in advance that Dibiase was on. Otherwise, I would have probably skipped it. I may have it on in the background on Monday, or not. But the three other WWE shows, I do not watch at all. I have been trying to get more into TNA, even though it's difficult. But I will probably watch that tonight. I definitely am not tuning in for ECW or Superstars.

Looking at the talent today, I am not expecting another boom in 2010. WWE can create all the new stars they want to, but it won't do any good. The problem is that they are all being rushed to the top. Same thing happened with Cena, and look what happened to him. WWE has not learned after all these years, that the best way to develop talent is to INVEST in that Mid-Card and place prominence on the Mid-card Division. Talent needs to stay in that midcard for several years, until being promoted to the Upper Midcarder and Main Event divisions.

What needs to change in order to create that BOOM is a BIG change somewhere in the programming and the format ... because talent alone isn't going to bring about that BOOM.

WWE did radically change their product back around late 2006, early 2007 and began taking the show in a new direction in the heavily wrestling-focused PG ERA . No BOOM resulted. Evidently, that was not the direction the fans were hoping the product was going to be taken in, and thus have been less than enthused with it.

 

[Chill]

Originally posted by Lord Sidious: the best way to develop talent is to INVEST in that Mid-Card and place prominence on the Mid-card Division. Talent needs to stay in that midcard for several years, until being promoted to the Upper Midcarder and Main Event divisions.

I have to agree with this and once upon a time the WWE, I think actually used to be good at paying attention to their mid card. In my opinion, the mid card is the most important division in terms of building toward and sustaining the main event, unfortunately WWE has failed to do this lately, hence why they are having to resort to repeatition when it comes to main event matches...they simply don't have that large crop of main eventers they need.

However, the solution is simple as Lord Sidious has said...pay attention to the mid card guys and groom them over a significant period of time so that they can make a smooth transition to the main event....a recent example is the Miz, he went from a mid card tag teamer to an all of a sudden main event level heel on RAW, but now he has seemingly lost his heat and wasn't even on RAW...why? Perhaps because he was pushed too soon before he was ready and most likely he will now return to the mid card (where he should have remained in the first instance imo) to develop further...

So, I think WWE's future can be bright (the talent and potential is there) so long as they don't rush mid carders prematurely into the main event...build them up and allow them to develop and they will shine when they hit the big time.

Originally posted by rkoshouldvewon: And for all the shiiiite that was his match with Mark Henry, Cody Rhodes' backstage segment with Dibase Sr was pretty barable and comfortable to watch.

I would just like to point out that Rhodes is currently carrying a neck and shoulder injury which probably explains why this match was short and ended in an intentional count out...

 

[ZUMBOdriver]

Add me to the list of those who think the mid card is important and should be focused on more. That being said, I feel that the WWE will be hurt 5 years down the road by their current lack of focus on building top contenders more slowly through the mid card and their lack of focus on the mid card in general. And as I look through the current roster, the list of names that will be retired/semi-retired or nearing the twilight of their careers at that time outweighs the list of younger superstars who have main event potential. I'm sure that this fact has applied to plenty of other time periods in wrestling, but I feel that the current number of quality mid card wrestlers with ME potential is as low as it has ever been. And there are no sure bets that guys like MVP and Dolph Ziggler will ever be consistent main eventers. No disrespect to those guys or their talents, but sometimes things just don't work out even if the potential is there.

Also, looking at a few other rosters like TNA and some indy promotions, I still don't see very many prospects for WWE 5 years down the road. I think it will be important to have a future main eventer that was at least somewhat established before making it to the WWE. I believe this because since the WWE started training wrestlers itself through OVW, FCW, or whatever promotion, many wrestlers seem to have the same wrestling style, just with a modified character. Anyone have any suggestions about who could be a future WWE main eventer that doesn't currently wrestle for the WWE?

One person that jumps out at me from outside the E is Nigel McGuinness. I think Nigel would have a chance to be a main eventer in the WWE due to his wrestling ability, ability on the mic, and the fact that he can give the WWE main event more of an international presence. As hes getting started, give him William Regal as a manager in his corner and he can win the US Title. He can have a long reign as US champ while renaming the title the UK Championship. I know Lance Storm did something like that in WCW, but WWE recycles ideas all the time so that shouldn't be a big deal. As I said earlier nothing is a sure bet, but I think Nigel McGuinness has the potential to become a future WWE main eventer.

 

[Bobbywoodhogan]

Wrestling goes in circles, its hugely popular for a while and then people tune out and then a few years later it gets better and people tune in again. WWE in 5 years time will probably have another boom period.

 

[Ambiguous Turd]

Wrestling goes in circles, its hugely popular for a while and then people tune out and then a few years later it gets better and people tune in again. WWE in 5 years time will probably have another boom period.

Boom periods don't "just happen". Boom periods are created as a result of something innovative happening to the entire business.

See Hulk Hogan and Vince tapping into the Entertainment World with the first Wrestlemania.

See the WWE changing its business format to the Attitude Era, bringing about never before seen programming on WWE television. As well as the creation of WCW Monday Nitro.

So why do you think there will be another boom period, may I ask, if things stay as they are? The public has little interest with the current product now. Why would things change in 5 years? If anything, things will only follow the same patterns of the current state of the business and actually get worse.

 

[Bobbywoodhogan]

Boom periods don't "just happen". Boom periods are created as a result of something innovative happening to the entire business.

See Hulk Hogan and Vince tapping into the Entertainment World with the first Wrestlemania.

See the WWE changing its business format to the Attitude Era, bringing about never before seen programming on WWE television. As well as the creation of WCW Monday Nitro.

So why do you think there will be another boom period, may I ask, if things stay as they are? The public has little interest with the current product now. Why would things change in 5 years? If anything, things will only follow the same patterns of the current state of the business and actually get worse.

I just think it will, I think a new star will turn up in the next few years and it will boom again. It just happens with wrestling, I know believe me was watching it since I was 4 until about 4 years ago when I switched off.