WWE past its Prime?

[mayhem]

From my experience i would say that the wwe is past it's prime and a lot of the hardcore fans feel this way too. At the start of the decade most people would agree the WWF/WWE was really good with rowdy crowds and top, fresh, charsimatic wrestlers on fire. Now we have a brand extension that has run the rosters thin and the new names are no longer as capable to produce the magic that wrestlers like Stone Cold and The Rock created plus the top names are still the old school guys.

I would say that Orton is the best new young superstar but he faces the same guys over and over again. Some of the newer wrestlers are bland or have a lack of charisma to them and the wwe being marketed to kids has dumbened down the in ring product like the hell in a cell matches recently.

Some Hardcore fans now tend to think of ROH and TNA as putting on better wrestling than the WWE when the WWE is the biggest wrestling organisation out there. Whats your thoughts on the state of the WWE now? Is it past its prime for good?

 

[KBeef]

I wont go as far as to say past its prime, but i will say a little out of touch.
Ive said this before The PG thing will pass eventually this is not permanent ( even though a lot of people think it is ).
ROH has way better wrestling and its product is good but very small (now im saying this based on the last ROH show i went to in July of this year, great show BTW).
TNA idk dont watch dont care , WWE well get back on track at some point, I also believe that new fued need to be made but people are afraid of pushing new people in to the ME in fear itll blow up in their face so they stick to the safe bets which isnt good for IWC but great for business(Wrestling is a business first).

 

[tnafan05]

I think the WWE is past their prime! We dont see the fueds anymore like Stonecold Steve austin Vs. The rock or we dont really see any hardcore matches that turned me away from WCW. WWE needs the revamp their product and drop the PG rating! and I do agree with you the That Randy Orton is a great superstar he just needs to wrestle different people! I am getting sick of the John Cena fued! TNA is putting out a stellar product right now but it cant compete with The WWE as of yet. I guess we will se what direction TNA is moving in After Bound For Glory

 

[Badstreet]

I don't think the WWE is past it's prime as much as I think a growing number of it's fans are past theirs. What I mean by that is the love of the Attitude Era. I'm not saying the poster of this thread is in that lot, but a lot of posts on this thread seem to harp on things not being the way they were in the Attitude Era.

No one ever thought there would be anyone as big as Hogan and then The Rock and Austin came along. Whether people like him or not, Cena is The Rock/Austin of this stage of WWE programming. His popularity spreads across all types of entertainment. He may not have the movie career that The Rock has, but he's certainly hanging with Austin in that capacity. So WWE has produced a bona fide star in the past few years, it's just that most of the people who grew up on the Attitude Era don't seem to care for him. That's the WWE's fault. They have pushed him as an unstoppable force and adults have a hard time with that. They have had him face the same people over and over again. That's a mistake. One of the great things about Hogan was that he always was facing new opponents. They would gear up a monster (Bundy, Andre) or a guy who had used the IC title to elevate himself (Savage, Perfect). it was a constant steam of new challengers. As I kid I would wonder if this is the guy to beat Hogan. You don't get that with Cena.

As far as the PG thing goes, it will run it's course. It's going to be a here for a few years though. Ratings will slip more, merchandise sales will slump, and Vince will ratchet back up the sex and violence. It's become such a cliche, but the wrestling business is cyclical. Will WWE ever rise to the heights of the Attitude Era again? Probably not. There are too many options for people out there now and I'm not talking about ROH or TNA. There are countless entertainment options that are out there now that weren't present during the attitude era.

Wow, I really rambled there. In short, I don't think it's past it's prime.

 

[lunghater]

The WWE is unquestionably past their prime, and has been for a number of years now. This is the one persistent, constant thought that I cannot stop from running through my mind every time I sit down to turn on their programming, only to turn it off literally 20 minutes later.

It is a sad, sad thought. Also, Gamer mentioned how "hardcore" fans today consider TNA and especially ROH to be a better wrestling product than WWE even though they are the biggest and most established product out there. This is 100% true, for the sole fact that WWE is not a wrestling program to me anymore. Almost the entire world's perception of WWE has now been altered to fit the image of what a kid friendly television show should be. When you go to the shows (I refuse to attend them anymore, the last show I went to was Royal Rumble 2009), no longer do you see thousands of screaming young adults who are hungry for an exciting, entertaining wrestling show. The overwhelming majority of the crowd is composed of parents, and their flock of kin screaming and yelling behind your ear.

It is a thought that I have learned to accept, with time, over the past few years. I can only hope that sometime within the next decade, WWE will start to change the momentum towards the direction they used to be in. For this is the only way they will ever get ONE single dollar out of me ever again. Because, while staying on the road they're currently traveling, I will not purchase one single payperview, DVD, t-shirt, or any other piece of merchandise available.

 

[Dirty Spamchez]

It is way past it's prime. They can't think of anything anymore, in terms of good storylines, etc.. It's prime was the Attitude era where we saw the greats like the Rock, Stone Cold, Hogan, Angle, etc.. What has WWE amounted to? Some new douche bag in the main event of a PPV, noob wrestlers taking over the WWE, stupid PPV themes, repeating matches that nobdy wants to see for the 1238847237th time, etc.. The WWE can't develop wrestlers like The Rock or Stone Cold anymore because they just don't have it in them anymore. None of the new guys have the charisma or mic skill to become a great. John Cena was on the right track, a lot of people liked him but then he had to become the face of the company, make WWE PG, face the same people over and over again to the point where nobody wants to watch WWE anymore.

TNA does have good matches, the problem is they copy WWE way too much. Ex: Lashley vs Samoa Joe = WrestleMania 23 Lashley vs Umaga (Lashley vs Samoan), Mick Foley vs Abys = WrestleMania 22 Mick Foley vs Edge and more (just lazy to list them)..

ROH is pretty awesome from what I have seen (not a lot) and I am anticipating the debut of McGuiness and Danielson. To tell you the truth, I've barely seen them wrestler but from what I've heard, they're great wrestlers. So I can't wait for them to debut.

 

[ck-g2006]

I think WWE went down hill when roster split but am a big fan of early 90s ... early 90's in WWE then WWF was great with Shawn Micheals coming into his own Bret Hitman Hart, Macho Man ithe list goes on and on list... Attitude Era was great with Rock, Stone Cold, DeGeneration X Nation Of Domination, etc etc etc etc... NOW you get same guys winning world title same matches over and over again.. same guy holding title edge has won nine or eight world championships there not pushing anyone to main even status.... WASN'T THIS WCW's problem... TNA is gonna be better than wwe by end of this year

 

[ABMorales787]

The WWE isn't past its prime, it is simply going through a re-inventing process. It is circling itself around a new audience. Right now it has a lack of main-event talent but that really isn't the brand extension's fault, or the superstars. It creative's own carelessness. Its a slump they'll get over in time.But right now the WWE is shifting itself towards kids. We are not kids. If you ask me it has basically traded its more adult viewers for merchandise income. I don't see anything wrong with that, its business. And because of that business the company makes more money than ever before. Just because most hardcore fans prefer a different product doesn't mean WWE is past its prime. Think about it, in 10 years the kid fans of today will be our age and the WWE will be more oriented to that age group, thus creating a new hardcore fanbase for itself. Its a cycle.

 

[classicviolence]

For me WWE has been kinda off since 2006, Edge's breakout year. Everything up to that point was still good TV: Eddie and Benoit pushes, Brock/Angle, JBL and the HHH/HBK rivalry. All of those feuds and matches were great programming. Now since the end of 08 it started to get pretty bad after Survivor Series 08. Then now, its bad but WWE has some bright spots but they need to get back on the edgier side of wrestling.

 

[DigitalNight]

I am somewhat on the same lines as ck-g2006. The idea of separate rosters has always seemed a bit silly to me.

This has been proven ever so well with the "unified tag team championship." Why unify something if you have two (I dont even count ECW. You're just being punished for something if you are there) separate entities? There is absolutely no reason to.

As far as downhills, sure it's not the slapstick comedy of the Attitude Era (which I missed a lot of after Owen Hart died), but it still has a few golden moments. Let us hope with the acquisition of some ROH and possible returning TNA stars they can pick up speed and bring in some fun angles and story lines.

 

[UseYourBrain]

WWE is a part of American culture, no matter how horrible it gets. Unlike, say, "The Sopranos", WWE ratings will always stay constant because like it or not, pro-wrestling is known as something that's pretty moronic and stupid. To be honest, 90% of the time it's exactly that. It's fake fighting for God's sake. It takes something or somebody really great or compelling to hold the attention of the intelligent mind. Something like, say, Undertaker vs. HBK at 25. For the most part, though, wrestling sucks. I'm a fan and it sucks. I'm aware of that. The good news (if it IS good) is that it's not going anywhere because hardcore wrestling fans are not going anywhere.

If WWE has run it's course, then TNA never even got it's butt off the couch.

Sooner or later pro-wrestling will reinvent itself and enter another boom period filled with a lot of industry change. How and when it will happen nobody knows, or else they'd be a millionaire.

For the record, having Undertaker job to Kofi Kingston or The Miz just to please the internet geeks is NOT a step in the right direction.

 

[ANT-MAN87]

From my experience i would say that the wwe is past it's prime and a lot of the hardcore fans feel this way too. At the start of the decade most people would agree the WWF/WWE was really good with rowdy crowds and top, fresh, charsimatic wrestlers on fire. Now we have a brand extension that has run the rosters thin and the new names are no longer as capable to produce the magic that wrestlers like Stone Cold and The Rock created plus the top names are still the old school guys.

I would say that Orton is the best new young superstar but he faces the same guys over and over again. Some of the newer wrestlers are bland or have a lack of charisma to them and the wwe being marketed to kids has dumbened down the in ring product like the hell in a cell matches recently.

Some Hardcore fans now tend to think of ROH and TNA as putting on better wrestling than the WWE when the WWE is the biggest wrestling organisation out there. Whats your thoughts on the state of the WWE now? Is it past its prime for good?

Hey it's past its prime when they have to resort to changing P.P.V.'s to single based match themes, like they did back in the 1980's which was cool but that approach led to the W.W.F. almost being put into bankruptcy. W.C.W. was smart enough at that time to some what abandoned the campy image and adopt the more teenage rebellious attitude until Shawn Michaels and Steve Austin changed the game and made it feel real. The reason why the attitude era was great because new faces like The Rock and Austin who were only two years in, and they become Heavy-Weight champions in the same year as well as Mankind. That formula was perfect it helped create guys like Angle, Lesnar, Batista, Orton,Edge, Cena(Hip-Hop version, not amalgamation of Hulk Hogan and Austin) and Eddie Guerrero. To me things were never the same after Eddie died, the name changed was like officially the end of the attitude era but they still had that mentality. It's cool that are trying to appeal to kids like they did to me back in the late 80's and early 90's but those kids will grow up and grow tired of the campy bullshit. Then the WWE will face the same crisis they faced in the mid 90's, loss of rating and possible competition if TNA can get a major network to buy they, which i hope not. So I feel it's past it's prime but at the end of the day I grew up watching them I hope that they don't lose fans like me who actually care about this business and not just the video games and toys like the kids do. Because they are making fans like us feel like maybe we should move on and wrestling isn't for us anymore.

 

[Karnuj]

I don't think the wwe is past its prime but i do believe that wwe's current creative team needs to wake the heck up or completely overhaul the team. sure they can't win them all, but certainly they are not going to be BS'ing us with that crap all through out this pg garbage are they?

 

[samboisdead]

Um people were saying this same thing right before the attitude era hit. Wrestling comes in cycles it is huge for awhile dies down then gets huge again. Always has. As far as everyone judging the talent in WWE right now. I just watched an old WWE In Your House that is on the 27/7 channel this month. On that show I saw HHH still in blue blood gimmick looking ******ed. I saw Stone Cold while he was starting to become our beloved SCSA, but he needed outside interference to beat HHH who was at best a mid carder then plus he ran from Mr. Perfect. I also saw Sable with marc mero and didnt even recognize her. Point I am making is when wrestling starts getting big it is impossible to figure out who would be the breakout stars. If you tell me you saw that PPV and saw all 3 of these people going on to be huge stars I would call you a liar.

 

[Blade]

This is, without a doubt, the dumbest thing I've ever heard.
Stop talking about WWE's "prime" as if they only have one. They had a prime in the late 80's thanks to Hogan and the rock/wrestling thing. Then they had a second one in the attitude era. So unless you guys are implying that WWE had 15-20 year prime? Don't be so stupid.

WWE has had times of exceeding popularity and times of difficulty. Right now, times are somewhat difficult. Their talent isn't quite as good as past generations, and they're having trouble making new stars. And the recession, yeah. But WWE are due, they'll have another "prime" in the next few years in my opinion...

Past its prime... Honestly...

 

[KillHannah44]

The talent isnt as good? and they are having trouble making new stars? are you smoking crack? They have great talent that can be stars, but instead they make us watch the same few guys wrestle over and over and over and over and over again. Maybe next months PPV can be Cena Vs. Orton in a Tables, Ladders, and Hell in a first blood submission lion's den elimination chamber 3 stages of hell match we havent seen that one yet! its ******ed no matter what kind of match u put them in WE DONT WANT TO SEE IT ANYMORE! Hell i'd rather see Jimmy Wang Yang vs. Orton or bring back the shockmaster to take on Cena im tired of seein the same guys wrestle each other. im tired of seeing cena have anything to do with the championship actually

 

[The Todd]

From my experience i would say that the wwe is past it's prime and a lot of the hardcore fans feel this way too.

The "hardcore" fans would like it no matter what.

At the start of the decade most people would agree the WWF/WWE was really good with rowdy crowds and top, fresh, charsimatic wrestlers on fire.

I would say that the WWE is really good now, with up and coming fresh, charismatic wrestlers who are about to make it big, as well as a whole host of great main event level talent.

I would say that Orton is the best new young superstar but he faces the same guys over and over again. Some of the newer wrestlers are bland or have a lack of charisma to them and the wwe being marketed to kids has dumbened down the in ring product like the hell in a cell matches recently.

The WWE was aimed at kids back in Hogan's day. It worked well then didn't it? Orton is bland. How is he not? If he's not, how are those who you say are bland bland?

Some Hardcore fans now tend to think of ROH and TNA as putting on better wrestling than the WWE when the WWE is the biggest wrestling organisation out there.

WWE has some great talent at consistently putting on good matches, and no one can hype an event like the WWE. WWE are still far and away the biggest company in wrestling. If you don't like them, go away. It no longer makes you an "hardcore" fan though, whatever one of them is.

Whats your thoughts on the state of the WWE now? Is it past its prime for good?

No. You've grown out of it's target audicence and can't view it in the right frame of mind. I watch, and enjoy it, as I switch off and just enjoy the show. I don't watch with the mindset of "that's wrong, that's unrealistic" etc. I study journalism, I do that in my every day life, I odon't want to do it with wrestling. I watch it and I enjoy it. If you can't do this, then that's your problem. Go and watch something you do enjoy.

 

[Suneeboy]

The WWE isn't past its prime, but I understand what the OP was referring to. The WWE is just as if not more popular than it was in the Attitude Era, however, their main fan base, those who grew up on the product are not satisfied and are not being supported like they were during the Attitude Era and the Hulkamania Era. They appear to have shifted focus on a different demographic in an effort to bring non wrestling fans into the fold, and they are using gimmicks to do it. This doesn't please traditional wrestling fans like us so we view it as past its prime.

 

[russyruss21]

The WWE will never be pass it prime. It simply in a rebuilding stage. And that was going to happen. You have to build new stars and get new writers. And that not the easiest thing to do. Everyone is so hard on these stars today. If any of you could tell me that "The Ringmaster", Hunter Hearst Helmsely, Mankind, and Rocky Mavia would usher in the Attitude Era, then you probably lying.

Another thing is we're a lot more critical of the newer stars. Everyone on John Cena wrestling abilty and their been worst main eventers.

 

[wrestleman]

From my experience i would say that the wwe is past it's prime and a lot of the hardcore fans feel this way too. At the start of the decade most people would agree the WWF/WWE was really good with rowdy crowds and top, fresh, charsimatic wrestlers on fire. Now we have a brand extension that has run the rosters thin and the new names are no longer as capable to produce the magic that wrestlers like Stone Cold and The Rock created plus the top names are still the old school guys.

I would say that Orton is the best new young superstar but he faces the same guys over and over again. Some of the newer wrestlers are bland or have a lack of charisma to them and the wwe being marketed to kids has dumbened down the in ring product like the hell in a cell matches recently.

Some Hardcore fans now tend to think of ROH and TNA as putting on better wrestling than the WWE when the WWE is the biggest wrestling organisation out there. Whats your thoughts on the state of the WWE now? Is it past its prime for good?

are you stupid yeah wwe is past its prime but not as much as you say and i watched ring of honor and it was stupid tna is a knock off version of wcw with jeff jerret running it have you seen drew macintyre,dolph ziggler,or even jack swagger tna is feild with wannabys and old peple that think their still in their prime and the only reason stone cold or any body else from the 1990 2 2002 was because vince thought of the greatest rivalry of all time wcw vs wwe so shut your mouth and come up with a good argument

 

[Tugboat77]

Um people were saying this same thing right before the attitude era hit. Wrestling comes in cycles it is huge for awhile dies down then gets huge again. Always has. As far as everyone judging the talent in WWE right now. I just watched an old WWE In Your House that is on the 27/7 channel this month. On that show I saw HHH still in blue blood gimmick looking ******ed. I saw Stone Cold while he was starting to become our beloved SCSA, but he needed outside interference to beat HHH who was at best a mid carder then plus he ran from Mr. Perfect. I also saw Sable with marc mero and didnt even recognize her. Point I am making is when wrestling starts getting big it is impossible to figure out who would be the breakout stars. If you tell me you saw that PPV and saw all 3 of these people going on to be huge stars I would call you a liar.

I agree with this person 100%. Also, I'm not sure the phrase "past its prime" can really apply to a sport or sport related genre. It's like saying the NBA is past is prime, etc. Now I'm not comparing WWE to NBA but I'm just saying that things like these can easily become very popular and profitable again after being in a slump. It's not like an ordinary television show where you know that eventually it will end and go off the air and towards the end of it's run you can say that it is past its prime.

The wrestling business is like Madonna. It can go on for a hundred years and have several "primes" by simply reinventing itself to fit into the culture currently supporting it. So I guess the question is...can you be past your prime if you can potentially have endless primes?

 

[BWRBrett]

are you stupid yeah wwe is past its prime but not as much as you say and i watched ring of honor and it was stupid tna is a knock off version of wcw with jeff jerret running it have you seen drew macintyre,dolph ziggler,or even jack swagger tna is feild with wannabys and old peple that think their still in their prime and the only reason stone cold or any body else from the 1990 2 2002 was because vince thought of the greatest rivalry of all time wcw vs wwe so shut your mouth and come up with a good argument

You're the stupid one, your grammar proves it. Also it was WCW vs. WWF dumbass, you're probably some 10 year old mark. Vince didn't think up the rivalry, it was real. WCW was a separate company, seriously graduate the fourth grade before you post on a message board. Think before you post. Jeff Jarrett does not run TNA anymore, and hasn't in months. He was booted in July, you are obviously a WWE sheep since you are bashing TNA and you don't even watch it.

I think everybody (outside of WWE sheep) can agree, like TNA's current product or not, if it could become legitimate competition that would be GREAT for the wrestling business since Vince would finally have a fire lit under his ass and couldn't put out the stale product he has right now. Competition brings out the best in everybody. It's sad that some people refuse to give TNA a chance just because they're not "the mighty WWE." I know some watch and don't like it, but there are A LOT of sheep who just write off TNA as a joke without even watching it.

WWE barely give any promo time or character development to their young guys, and like TNA or not right now they have a youth movement going on. They are giving tons of young guys (AJ Styles, Hernandez, Eric Young, Matt Morgan, Nigel McGuness, British Invasion, Amazing Red etc.) promo time and character development and are phasing out the veterans (Sting is taking a break, Booker is gone, Steiner will be out soon). WWE's vibe is just very dry now. There really aren't even storylines anymore. It's just the same matches over and over again along with some stupid "comedy" bits.

 

[Mantaur Rodeo Clown]

From my experience i would say that the wwe is past it's prime and a lot of the hardcore fans feel this way too.

Hey! I'm a hardcore fan and I don't feel that way!

At the start of the decade most people would agree the WWF/WWE was really good with rowdy crowds and top, fresh, charsimatic wrestlers on fire.

ECW was really good with rowdy crowds. you know that bankrupted wrestlinng promotion?

Now we have a brand extension that has run the rosters thin and the new names are no longer as capable to produce the magic that wrestlers like Stone Cold and The Rock created plus the top names are still the old school guys.

I think quite the opposite is true, with overstacked rosters being the problem. The wealth of talent they have isn't getting enough exposure, and that saying something considering all the outlets they have, with RAW, Smackdown, ECW, Superstars. I don't like referencing Stone Cold and The Rock because thats just being selective in your memory. People could look back and just say Cena and Edge and think of 2006 as the greatest year ever. Actually lets look at 1996. HBK and Bret Hart, two of the greatest ever. The WWF was dying. But they had Top names that could produce magic.

I would say that Orton is the best new young superstar but he faces the same guys over and over again. Some of the newer wrestlers are bland or have a lack of charisma to them and the wwe being marketed to kids has dumbened down the in ring product like the hell in a cell matches recently.

I wouldnt agree with any of this. Orton isnt the best young superstar at all, Cena is. Orton is passable, but there are some great talents in WWE if you look hard enough. Like...those guys with the midcard belts? You know those guys? They do the Dirt Sheet? Start with M's?

As for the product being "dumbened down", its pro wrestling man. Thats what its all about, its not supposed to be SAW VI in the ring, nor is it supposed to be an Amateur Wrestling match. You know why? Because that's boring, and we watch WWE to be entertained.

Some Hardcore fans now tend to think of ROH and TNA as putting on better wrestling than the WWE when the WWE is the biggest wrestling organisation out there. Whats your thoughts on the state of the WWE now? Is it past its prime for good?

I don't think that at all, and I think that some fans are just jaded having lived through the Atttitude Era and being spoiled. The product today is still very enjoyable.

 

[Ambiguous Turd]

This was posted from F4W:


- As of this week, nobody who is talking within WWE has any idea what caused Shane McMahon's resignation from WWE or what he plans on doing next. People who worked under Shane are said to be shocked and devastated, saying it came completely out of left field. The department that Shane was in charge of always has had great morale and word is that all the good morale plummeted on Friday when the announcement came out. A lot of people were very worried about their future with the company and there was talk that layoffs might be coming.

It's still unknown what Shane plans on doing with his future. There is a lot of speculation that he will jump into the world of promoting MMA and it's no secret that he's a huge fan and has had interest before in getting involved. One source close to Shane says he is very intrigued by the TV and film business and could end up there but as noted above, nobody right now knows what's next for Shane. Shane is playing it smart by not talking about his plans. Most expect that he will be approached with lots of offers in the next few months.

There was a lot of people in WWE who were nervous when the story broke because they saw it as Vince's son had decided it was time to get out of the family business, for whatever reason. Some are concerned that Shane feels the WWE ship has sailed and is getting out so he doesn't go down with it.

Just wanted to post this bit from F4W, as apparently some within WWE are feeling that this may be a possible reason why Shane left. So in this theory of talking about "WWE being past its prime", apparently we aren't the only ones thinking that here on Wrestlezone.

I do think WWE is past its prime, and unless WWE finds away to create another wrestling boom, then I can't forsee wrestling every being as popular as it once was ever again.

Perhaps it was kayfabe being dropped and now people simply feel that there is very little left to learn about the business.

However, to people like Cornette who are furious at Russo and company for being responsible for dropping kayfabe, it's not like this was something that could have been avoided, especially because of the Internet. People were going to find out sooner or later, especially now that communication across the Internet has been improved two-fold.

To those that argue that kayfabe should be preserved, can you actually imagine WWE still in complete kayfabe today in the year 2009, and still trying to portray wrestling as real to the public? It's a ludicrous suggestion. That is why people like Cornette come off and others who bash Russo for pushing for the dropping kayfabe just show how out-of-touch they can be sometimes, not to mention irrational.

But MMA and UFC are what's in, in this day and age. Unless the wrestling business can create another boom by doing something completely different with the business and make that connection with the audience to lure fans by the droves into the business, then no .... I would have to agree that the company is past its prime.

The key really is to offer a product/products that fans in great numbers can be interested in .... as well as to continually work hard at regularly offering something new to these fans to keep their interest.