WWE As It Is Now.

deanodrummer

Hey everybody, new on the boards so go easy on me.

Just wondering what exacly you guys thought of the product now compared to when you first started watching. I would say I'm a casual fan now whereas for years I was a wrestling fanatic. Feels like it's just boring and predictable. I don't know whether people have just moved on from the Attitude days or not and that wrestling is again uncool, but it has changed for me.
I started watching when I was about 3 or 4 years old in the Hogan era and followed it religiously through to about 02-03. The Attitude Era was a high point in terms of entertainment rather than wrestling quality, but with the addition of The Radicalz, Angle, Jericho, Edge and others the wrestling got better. Since the brand extension it's been downhill for me.
I think the main problems are:

. The Brand Extension was and still is a bad idea. I would rather just follow one ''promotion''.

. 2 World titles. ''World'' titles. Why 2? It devalues both titles, and further devalues the Intercontinental and U.S titles, which used to mean so much and provide quality matches.
While I'm on it I think there are too many titles, period. 2 women's, 2 tag teams, I.C, U.S, 2 world titles. There is a lack of importance to them now.

. Too many P.P.Vs. Building of feuds is too short and the payoff comes too early. They seem less special. 12 is too many even, but they will never go less than that I know.

. Lack of characters. Back in the day there were many different personas that made them unique and interesting. Everbody seems to look the same, cut the same promos, wrestle the same. Very few wrestlers stand out to me. Stop scripting promos too.

. Lack of tag teams. Used to be a staple but now who cares? Late 80s and late 90s were great times for actual ''teams''. Same attire, team name. WWE doesn't seem to care about good tag team wrestling.

. Same wrestlers still on top. Some are ok like Shawn and Taker putting on good matches but who isn't sick of HHH and his constant quest for the title? I heard someone say recently that he doesn't have a gimmick outside of being champ or chasing the belt and I have to agree. Still a good wrestler, mind.

. Managers. A forgotten art in pro wrestling. Defo not used enough anymore. Good managers add alot to a match, enhance a wrestler's profile and more importantly can speak on behalf of wrestler's who aint so good on the mic. Who wouldn't like to go back to the days of Heenan, Heyman, Cornette, Hart, Blassie. I know talented wrestlers like Shelton Benjamin would benefit. JBL and Matt Striker would make good managers methinks.

. PG rating. This was a really bad idea. Take the EC matches from No Way Out as an example. If I was in a fight with 5 lads inside a chain link cage, chances are I would bleed. Not into garbage wrestling or anything but there is a time and a place for blood or moderate violence.

There are some positives and some wrestlers that still get my attention but just thought I'd put it out there what problems I have with it.

What you guys think?

pau8lieskins

Have to agree with everything Brand Extension is just dreadful and way to many titles, I'd rather Raw have the Heavyweight title and Smack down the IC with tag teams allowed to float between them. Tag Teams are dreadful the best tag teams were one unit not just 2 people but a unit the last great tag teams for me were Acolytes/APA, Dudley Boyz, The Hardy Boyz, Too Cool, New Age Outlaws late 90s to early 00s but before that most of the mid 90s was really bad and like you said late 80s early 90s was also a good era British Bulldogs, Hart Foundation, Rockers, Demolition, Strike Force, Nasty Boys, LOD and Steiner Brothers.

The US and 2 women's should be shelved, Tag and World titles should be algamated

Too many P.P.Vs. Building of feuds is too short and the payoff comes too early


THats the way it is nowerdays I was watching some old 88/89 WWF shows and the whole Hulk and Savage angle went on for ages today probably 2/3 months at the most


One problem is there is no serious compettion anymore WCW and the NWO angle made WWF pull up its socks and work harder

Degag

I actually agree with most of what you have to say... will go into more detail tomorrow.

CMpunked

I think you could attribute a lot of your view in the decline in wrestling to the same reason nearly everyone can(but never really think of) is the simple fact that we can grow up.
See through the smoke and mirrors etc etc.

In saying that..
All you have said are valid points and in comparison to the height of the attitude era but these are all ways that the WWE can become a better, more profitable, widely known company in the world.
But of course that means sacrificing some elements, like the actual wrestling!


Take for example the split brand;
In april the WWE Raw show will roll into Dublin and be here for two nights, and we will get to see a handful of their roster do a 2 hour show.
Then a few days later somewhere in england they will get to see a different set or wrestlers and that process will repeat.
And then the same thing might happen next year with a different section of the roster.

Now this could never of happened back in the attitude era, the idea of traveling that often just wasnt that possible.

Making the comparison to what a 12 year old fan was like in say the 90s and now would be:
The 12 year olds friend has sky and goes to watch it at his mates or hear about what happened or get a video etc etc.
He could get a gift of a type of merchandise like a tee shirt from a cheap stall in the market, or one of those in spain etc etc.
The only way the 12 year old will see the WWF live is if they are on holiday and coincedentaly get to see a show.

Now compare to a 12 year old now adays.
Can see WWE in nearly every home.
Has absolutely no problem getting proper WWE merchandise.
WWE comes practically every year and does a show.

Thus WWE is doing better business in Ireland than it was ten years ago and if that trend is repeated around the world then obviously they looked at how their producted was aimed at the 16-30 male demographic and decided to scrap it,
Initiating the idea of making the WWE PG.

Everyone can think of some point where they heard of some kid nearly killing someone else from doing a move seen on the WWE, which in turn makes parents very very worried.. Which TV networks pick up on.. And automaticaly are against it.

Now the WWE has said "Were PG!" Which straight away covers their asses.


I know that was a monster of a post but a point to show that the WWE has decided that being a massive money making company is better for them than being a Wrestling company like they used to be.

rossie1977

couple of points, you say

. The Brand Extension was and still is a bad idea. I would rather just follow one ''promotion''.

and then you say

. Same wrestlers still on top. Some are ok like Shawn and Taker putting on good matches but who isn't sick of HHH and his constant quest for the title? I heard someone say recently that he doesn't have a gimmick outside of being champ or chasing the belt and I have to agree. Still a good wrestler, mind.

the whole point of the brand extension imo was to give other wrestlers more exposure, prior to the brand extension the same guys (top guys) appeared on both shows.

the wwe has approx 60-70 male wrestlers on their main roster, many would never get a sniff of a chance on tv if everyone was on one show. just look at the upper, upper mid card wwe has; HHH, orton, jericho, michaels, batista, cena, undertaker, edge, jeff hardy, jbl, mysterio, big show

now without the brand extension they would all be on the same show every week, raw would be dominated by those same 12 guys every week, in fact i believe guys like jeff would still be in tag action, orton probably mid-card at best, jbl too probably already gone. i have no problem with HHH, HBK or taker on tv for the next 10 years as long as they put over guys which HBK does, taker does the odd time but not near enough, HHH hasn't allowed himself to be beat by an opponents finishing move since cena at WM22

. 2 World titles. ''World'' titles. Why 2? It devalues both titles, and further devalues the Intercontinental and U.S titles, which used to mean so much and provide quality matches.
While I'm on it I think there are too many titles, period. 2 women's, 2 tag teams, I.C, U.S, 2 world titles. There is a lack of importance to them now.

i agree too many titles, don't forget ECW title

Too many P.P.Vs. Building of feuds is too short and the payoff comes too early. They seem less special. 12 is too many even, but they will never go less than that I know.

agree with this as well

Lack of tag teams. Used to be a staple but now who cares? Late 80s and late 90s were great times for actual ''teams''. Same attire, team name. WWE doesn't seem to care about good tag team wrestling.

tag-team wrestling for some reason always goes through a lull period, we had great teams in the 1980s, then from 1992 to say 1997 godawful rubbish, people just thrown together. then from 1998 to 2002 another golden period of tag-wrestling. tag-wrestling is weak in america right now, tna/roh has teams but they haven't lived up to their early expectations at all for me.

Managers. A forgotten art in pro wrestling. Defo not used enough anymore. Good managers add alot to a match, enhance a wrestler's profile and more importantly can speak on behalf of wrestler's who aint so good on the mic. Who wouldn't like to go back to the days of Heenan, Heyman, Cornette, Hart, Blassie. I know talented wrestlers like Shelton Benjamin would benefit. JBL and Matt Striker would make good managers methinks.

jbl would make a great manager, i am surprised that hasn't happened yet. listening to DDP shoot the other day he said promoters don't want the manager to "outshine the wrestler", thats the problem vince has

PG rating. This was a really bad idea. Take the EC matches from No Way Out as an example. If I was in a fight with 5 lads inside a chain link cage, chances are I would bleed. Not into garbage wrestling or anything but there is a time and a place for blood or moderate violence.

i have no problem with PG rating, blading in wwe had got out of hand anyways; at least when someone gets cut these days we know its legit e.g. orton at NWO, big show at ONS 2008 so it makes it more real looking for me

deanodrummer

Comic Book Guy I see your points and they're valid. I know its more or a money-making machine now more than ever and there are more wrestlers active than ever, akin to havin a large squad in football, there is always somebody to cover for an injury etc...

Funy thing I noticed a few years back is that when wrestling isn't as popular (lets face it its not hugely popular today) as it was in the Hogan or Attitude era they rely on world tours to generate income. In the 80s Irish audiences didn't get a sniff of WWF then when it declined in the mid 90s they toured every year, then again in the late 90s the touring ended and picked up again in 2003. Im just speaking as an Irish fan obviously as I know they toured South Africa, Germany and the UK and others which are always huge markets anyways.

I alos agree with you about the whole fans growing up thing but I can suspend disbelief in movies or Tv programs so if a show is good enough I can invest in it whether it's wrestling or not.

Rossie, I see your point about the brand extension and I realise why it was implemented in the first place but I just cant follow 3 shows and care about that many wrestlers. I know they need more exposure but imo some of them just cant cut it.