WWE Returns As Good As They Once Were?

[thats the bottom lineee]

From time to time there has been many returns/debuts, but are they as 'magical' as before in the attitude era?

The question i'm asking is, does the commentary help make them better, remember kanes debut? Vince: that's gotta be kane!
Also watch stone cold returns, jr and the king actually erupt!

Another factor is the crowd, the crowd helps, the rocks return back in February was the loudest pop ever in the pg/reality era. I also found Chris Jerichos return a bunch of not as good as his other returns/debuts as the crowd and the commentators sounded half dead, even though there were some strong Y2J chants! Kanes returns was also shit compared to those returns against DX!

So what i ask you is... do you think the crowd, commentators and the actual booking help better a return or debut. And also what I ask you is, were returns better before or now? For me it would be during the attitude era!

 

[bk555]

the booking is fine. Its the crowd. Almost everyone who returns in WWE now was active a long time ago. The problem with this is that most of the fans that watched these people have died out and/or new fans occupy their place in the arenas and they simply dont cheer loudly since they do not recognize the guy. With the exception of the Rock, Booker T, and Kevin Nash, all WWE returns this year have received mediocre pops. Like Jericho, Triple H in the summer, Masked Kane, and the worst of all, Jim Ross.

 

[Aberle4Life]

The crowd doesn't seem as into the product, so some of the returns haven't been as special as they should have been. The one exception from this past year has been The Rock--the crowd's reaction was outstanding during that return.

Mostly, I blame the WWE itself. They have changed the formula of their product, and it has hurt their business. Why should people get excited--even about big returns--when there just isn't much to get excited about overall? I've been watching RAW because of my love of professional wrestling and the hopes it turns around, not because it's been good. It hasn't been good, mostly.

In years gone by, when a big name has returned the rest of the WWE was mostly in good shape. It was easier to get really excited. In this uncreative era, it's just tougher to get really excited. Hopefully WWE can change this mentality.

 

[The Ram]

I've been paying more attention to the crowd lately and their reactions arent.... that good at all. Like at the slammy's some of the superstars who made appearances should've got the loudest pop ever but they don't. Im not saying that when I attend one of the wrestling events I'm the loudest person (even thought I do like to credit myself for starting cena sucks chants seeing that I do it as soon as I here is music) but I am an active participant when I attend. Most crowd members fail to realize that they are apart of the show too. They can make or break a moment simply off of their reactions. The fans make every moment special and I encourage every person who reads this post to give the superstars a reaction whether u hate them, love them or don't even know them. We can bring back those attitude era type reactions.

 

[Rising Savior]

The crowd doesn't seem as into the product, so some of the returns haven't been as special as they should have been. The one exception from this past year has been The Rock--the crowd's reaction was outstanding during that return.

Mostly, I blame the WWE itself. They have changed the formula of their product, and it has hurt their business. Why should people get excited--even about big returns--when there just isn't much to get excited about overall? I've been watching RAW because of my love of professional wrestling and the hopes it turns around, not because it's been good. It hasn't been good, mostly.

In years gone by, when a big name has returned the rest of the WWE was mostly in good shape. It was easier to get really excited. In this uncreative era, it's just tougher to get really excited. Hopefully WWE can change this mentality.

No it's hard to get exicited because everything gets spoiled on the internet these days. How can you say the only good return in the past year was The Rock's return? Did you see the reactions that Kevin Nash and Booker T got at the royal rumble? Or what about the reactions that The Undertaker and Triple H got when they returned on the same night?

 

[The Average Guy]

No it's hard to get exicited because everything gets spoiled on the internet these days. How can you say the only good return in the past year was The Rock's return? Did you see the reactions that Kevin Nash and Booker T got at the royal rumble? Or what about the reactions that The Undertaker and Triple H got when they returned on the same night?

You said it perfectly. How many people could be excited about Jericho's return when everyone and there mothers knew it was coming. Returns arent as exciting because they are usually spoiled by sites like this.

It also depends on where the return takes place. A smart New York or Chicago crowd will usually give a better reaction then another casual place thats not that into wrestling.

 

[Aberle4Life]

No it's hard to get exicited because everything gets spoiled on the internet these days. How can you say the only good return in the past year was The Rock's return? Did you see the reactions that Kevin Nash and Booker T got at the royal rumble? Or what about the reactions that The Undertaker and Triple H got when they returned on the same night?

You're right about those other pops. I was thinking mostly of the RAW audience, so I wasn't considering Diesel and Booker's returns. As for Trips/Taker, they did have a strong reaction, too...I just didn't like that whole angle, so I forgot about it. But yes, there were other decent return-reactions this past year other than The Rock.

I disagree about the internet spoiling things, though. The internet isn't new anymore...we've been getting spoiled on wrestling news for over fifteen years now. It's something else. The magic wrestling had just isn't there right now. Again, I go back to blaming WWE and way they're running their business these days. It's unimaginative and, bluntly, boring. That is going to effect how the audience reacts to it, and even if a big return occurs it is going to suffer as a result.

I see some things they are doing to shake things up a little--there is some light at the end of the tunnel. But it's going to take time, and they have been running things a certain way for a couple years now. I'm not talking "PG," either. I'm talking about a blatant formula and never straying from it. That formula has driven some good fans away. It'll take time to get an audience back that will give WWE the reactions they need to give segments better impact.

 

[lil bitch Kid]

Agreed. Tha Internet and spoilers are the cause of the deflation of the reaction. Personally, I think the WWE has to try and outplay the Internet to an extent. First, I get that they have some master plan with the use of twitter, but it's drawing people into finding spoilers if anything. I think they could have shocked the crowd on the second of Jan by having Taker come out instead of Jericho only to have him interrupted by Jericho.

 

[thebarber]

exactly, the internet is whats spoilt all surprises in wrestling. The last time I genuinely was shcoked and had an OMG moment watching WWE programming was the nhight after Survivor Series 2001 when Ric Flair came out as the co-owner of Raw. I was not into spoilers or much of an internet person 11 years ago so seeing Flair on WWE for the first time since 1993 was huge. And being Flair, he was a huge draw still and nearly the only guy who could have been viewed in the fans eyes as an equal to McMahon. Ever since, nothing is secret anymore. Also, as we get older and wiser, the storylines themselves are so basic to figure out, because they are aimed at the mentality of children, as their product is aimed at children these days Thus they cannot be too complicated and over the top so as to not confuse the kiddies. If "insiders" would stop posting spilers and idiots in turn did not believe everything they read on here, the world of wrestling would be in a better place. The easiest way for this to happen is to film all shows live, and only have immediate talent affected by storylines know their own business and not other talents, keep the chance of leaking ghetting out

 

[DexVendetta88]

With the dawn of the internet, debuts and returns aren't as great as they once were. With sites like these giving us spoilers and rumors (we all know we're guilty of reading them, even myself) it's no wonder the WWE is having a tough time doing this these days. The WWE tries so hard to hype up a return or a debut, but at the end of the day the internet still prevails. The way I look at it, once someone makes a debut or a return to the WWE it just shuts up all the rumors that can run rampant on these sites.

 

[The Suplexer Perfecter]

Kids and women aren't as loud as a crowd of 20k young men. That's the reason. Men have the loud booming voices and obviously kids and women don't.

So whenever a guy returns it isn't as loud as a pop from 1999 when the crowd was practically all 18-25 year olds.

With the dawn of the internet, debuts and returns aren't as great as they once were. With sites like these giving us spoilers and rumors (we all know we're guilty of reading them, even myself) it's no wonder the WWE is having a tough time doing this these days. The WWE tries so hard to hype up a return or a debut, but at the end of the day the internet still prevails. The way I look at it, once someone makes a debut or a return to the WWE it just shuts up all the rumors that can run rampant on these sites.

Jericho's 1999 WWE debut was loud, and everyone knew it was him. There were plenty of Jericho signs in the arena.

 

[lil bitch Kid]

In the same breath that I blame spoilers for this, I ask the question : why can't WWE (and TNA, on PPV) find a way to do it? Last time I got a genuine surprise was Cena at the RR. The reason it worked was because they sold the injury so well that no one expected his return. It wasn't unheard of for an injured guy to be backstage, so that explained his being in attendance. Now, the problem is that they are trying to do it again with Orton, and now, people see it coming.

 

[JVel]

I woudn't exactly blame spoilers on websites for the cause. I've been to Raw and Smackdown just about every time they're in the area and the crowds anymore pretty much suck. Many people just go and stay mellow and calm and it absolutely ruins the product. It's like going to a rock concert and seeing people around you just standing there doing nothing even if the band is tearing the house down.

Granted, the WWE doesn't exactly give us tons of excitement anymore and overall has fallen pretty bland, but a lot of fans don't realize that they help make the product. The fans can turn a mediocre moment into something big simply based on how loud they cheer or boo.

 

[Arsenal]

The product is boring, bland, and uninspiring. It has nothing to do with internet spoilers. The VAST majority of people in attendance aren't reading internet spoilers. You IWC smarks aren't that important to blame the internet for the weak crowds.

Give the crowds a great product they can get excited about (e.g. Golden Era, Attitude Era), and they'll get excited. Give them the current cr@p, and they'll yawn and sit on their hands.

 

[Azane]

You lost the teenage audience, you have attitude era fans, that are in their 20's, and you have their kids, ages probably 6-12 or so.

The median of the audience is really underrepresented, and those are the kids who get really loud and cause huge pops.

I think in a couple years, you'll start seeing the pops like you saw in the legendary returns, but I think they still won't top the definition of epic, which was Y2j 1999.

The internets a factor slightly, sure you saw plenty of Jericho signs in 1999, but you had a much higher concentration of ignorant fans.

Y2j 2k12 was ruined by the GIANT GREEN Y2J SIGN right in front of the camera as they were setting up the debut. (although admittedly, I thought the idiot cameraman focused it on purpose, to throw us off.)

 

[Headman]

Y2J has returned so many times I just don't even care anymore. I want him back, but honestly the returns are the worst part. Another problem is all the one offs. It's hard to get excited because anything seems possible for the right price, but it's always in the back of my mind that the return is either a one off appearance or the beginning of a short run. If Austin's music were to hit monday night I wouldn't care because I'd assume he was just coming to the ring to plug a new straight to dvd movie. If Lesnar came back I'd get kinda pumped but knowing it was just the start of a limited run would temper my reaction. So yes, in this time of dream matches and guys not really being committed to other companies it would take a lot to excite me.

 

[RIPRKO1005]

Spoilers can hurt a return. For example when the lights went out and you were waiting for Jericho music to hit it took a bit of the excitement out of it. But, i choose to read those spoilers so i can't complain. Maybe if WWE didn't have jericho fly into an airport instead of flying him in and we didn't get the picture of him in a Memphis airport I would of still had a little doubt that it was Jericho. Also crowds just aren't as hot anymore. Crowds really make or break moments sometime. For example i feel like the 2001 survivor series ppv would have not been half as good as it was if you took the hot new york crowd out of the equation. The last return i can think of where the crowd was just like OH SH*T! was John Cena at the Royal Rumble. If WWE had a way to tell when they were going to have a hot crowd and if they put in enough effort to keep the return completely under wraps then returns could still be off the chain.

 

[Headman]

Spoilers can hurt a return. For example when the lights went out and you were waiting for Jericho music to hit it took a bit of the excitement out of it. But, i choose to read those spoilers so i can't complain. Maybe if WWE didn't have jericho fly into an airport instead of flying him in and we didn't get the picture of him in a Memphis airport I would of still had a little doubt that it was Jericho. Also crowds just aren't as hot anymore. Crowds really make or break moments sometime. For example i feel like the 2001 survivor series ppv would have not been half as good as it was if you took the hot new york crowd out of the equation. The last return i can think of where the crowd was just like OH SH*T! was John Cena at the Royal Rumble. If WWE had a way to tell when they were going to have a hot crowd and if they put in enough effort to keep the return completely under wraps then returns could still be off the chain.

Agreed on the Cena point. The WWE did such a good job keeping this underwraps and misdirecting the fans. I put Jericho's comeback partly on him for a couple reasons. #1 He really sucks at playing things off on twitter. #2 He does the same viral return every time. Only this time it made absolutely no sense. Both Save.Us and "She says" vignettes pointing to something completely different than what we were given. Which was a half assed blow off answer and not much else. "Save us from Booooring Randy Orton."??? What a let down. That's why his last return flopped until he went heel. And then this new one. What on earth did those vignettes mean? They didn't fool anyone into thinking it was someone else, but they didn't end up having anything to do with Jericho's return either. (At least so far.) I'm just tired of Jericho returns. As I said before, I'm glad he's back. But his returns suck.

 

[Ry.the_Stunner]

No it's hard to get exicited because everything gets spoiled on the internet these days. How can you say the only good return in the past year was The Rock's return? Did you see the reactions that Kevin Nash and Booker T got at the royal rumble? Or what about the reactions that The Undertaker and Triple H got when they returned on the same night?

Unfortunately, the only one of those returns that nobody really predicted ahead of time was HHH. Everyone knew Nash and Booker T were returning for the Royal Rumble, everyone knew The Rock was the "Special Guest host" for Wrestlemania, everyone knew those videos were alluding to an Undertaker return. So yes, you're right...almost everything gets spoiled ahead of time. Nobody was even the slightest bit surprised when Jericho returned. Kane was a pleasant surprise, but only because of the timing. Everyone knew he was coming back at some point with his mask on.

 

[bjarvis]

That's not completely true. I remember there being countless of people thinking that for the promos in February last year were for Sting (1/3 of the posts were thinking it was Sting), Kharma and even Seth Rollins.

For Jericho's return promo, whilst I reckon 3/4 of the posts thought it was Jericho, I've also seen posters think it was Undertaker, Kane (1st Jericho video), Shane and Stephanie McMahon and I think even Brodus Clay, when his debut was only talked about but put off each week.

Whilst we can gather, with or without the Internet, who is going to walk out from behind those curtains, not everyone knows. Therefore the effect isn't complete ruined. Even as such I'm a huge Jericho fan. I think he is a genius and I've always enjoyed his work. I would mark out if Jericho returned after a year and a half at the show I was attended. I respect the Undertaker greatly, so I would mark out if after nearly a year and another classic match, The Deadman returned at my show. Despite his career being tarnished if you believe in the too many title reigns-backstage power to stay at the top scene, Triple H is still a legend who puts on good matches. If he returned at my show, I would mark out. If Kane returned with the mask and hair at my show, after 9+ years of being the bald, growing gut wrestler, I would mark the F out.

The crowd is just dead, and its sad, as someone said, the crowd is indeed a phenomenal part of the product. Yes, CM Punk's Money in the Bank moment was created by him weeks ahead, but a city like Chicago who is known for having rabid and respectful fans of the product, plus being the hometown of Punk, definitely helped to create one of the most amazing fan responses we have heard in years. Definitely next to One Night Stand.

In recent months I think the WWE is definitely improving. The roster is starting to take shape. Miz, Ziggler, Rhodes, Sheamus, Barrett, Bryan, Ryder, Del Rio. Punk, Orton and Cena probably have five or so years left. There is some great talent down in FCW. Kane and Jericho returning. An upcoming Rock match. Stronger storylines (from Triple H retuning, to John L taking over, to Kane returning, to the unknown silence of Jericho). A solid face in Punk, who is not 'unbeatable' as has been the problem with Cena and even Orton. But the fans are just not soaking it up.

Remember when Austin would return? The glass would shatter, the fans would go bat shit crazy, Austin would confidently come out, stunner the living shit out of anyone in the ring, drink a case and then leave. That reaction would stay with people. I doubt if Punk, who I am a huge fan of and believe deserves his place as the new face of Raw, was injured, that when his music hits 6+ months later would receive anything like that reaction. Yes, Austin was in another class. You don't get a guy like that every five years and yet we got Rock and Austin at a similar time. However, the crowds emotion has severely decreased and it does hurt the product.

I think I went on ten different tangents then. Excuse grammatical mistakes. Late at night and I'm buggered.

 

[flawd101]

it is the spoilers. i have avoided wrestling sites for the past few months and didn't know that y2j was coming back. when he came out i was shocked and very excited. i have avoided the royal rumble spoilers because there is always a surprise or two there. orton coming back was ruined when i was looking to see when christian will be back. i still have the itch to check news sites but ive have noticed the shows being a lot better after avoiding the internet.