Kizzo

I'm NOT surprised this guy left....McMahon and Steph/Gerwitz pushed this guy to the moon......but he finally came to realized that the biz wasn't for him...and he just couldn't take the HEAT.....Everything came too fasttt...

I'm surprised they haven't been to Atlanta @ the Georiga Dome...the offical home of Wrestlemania X-7 before plans went dead... I was almost positive that XX-1 or 21 would be @ the Georgia Dome...I guess not...

I don't think anything can really save WWE or bring it back to where it once was.......the high 6's.....and the record breaking PPV buyrates every month in 2000.....record earnings.... Wrestling in general doesn't have that mainstream appeal it once had....it will take some time for it to recapture that feel....but not likely in the next 2 or 3 years....if not then...I expect it to become a closed circuit sport.... The real test for WWE is when the contract with Viacom ends next September.....we will then see if they have that pull it had...when it was popular.....they are getting paid 500K every week for WWE shows from Viacom...

I knew there was going to be a twist...since the creative team is mostly former Hollywood writers then a "Hollywood" one...

To be honest I wasn't surprise by the look of Undertaker @ Wrestlemania XX....He was buried as the biker Undertaker....it makes sense for him to return as the biker....but if he's going to rise once again he has to have some of the old Undertaker back as well, with a mix of his current look...and thats what happen @ Wrestlemania XX....the past was mixed with the present. For the teasing part that was just a reminder of what he once was, and when he returns...to quote the theme of Mania XX "Where it all begins..AGAIN"

They are probaly going back to actual numbers minus the X...

I like the new Undertaker....its a combination of both the old and the current one(before he got buried)...

The creative team is falling apart...here you have Jericho writing his own storylines(if its true) with that happening you can only imagine how many others are doing there own as well... And on the subject of RAW talent upset about Gerwitz and Co caring only for the top talent....that's when you need a writer that is flexible and are able to write great storylines across the board, which makes the whole show fun to watch..and unpredictable..

This years Mania will be below 2.0...

I actually liked the three man team of Heenan...Bischoff...and Mongo

Let's look at all the December PPV buyrates starting from 96... IYH: It's Time '96...0.35 IYH: DeGeneration X '97...0.44 IYH: Rock Bottom '98...0.78 Armageddon '99...0.97 Armageddon '00...1.15 Armageddon/Vengeance '01.....0.7 ?? Armageddon '02... 0.5 Armageddon '03....0.40

215,000 buys(0.40)......and NOT one change has happen....

I wouldn't doubt it.......I'm sure the consultants were too critical for the WWE's taste...

I was surfing the wrestling sites, and looking at there news board and came across this article from November of last year... Dave Scherer of 1Wrestling.com reported that the WWE has hired two storyline consultants to come in and analyze the current product for its entertainment value. The group is headed by a man named Steve Borden, (not the same Steve Borden who portrays Sting) and the two are believed to have come from Hollywood. Stephanie McMahon was said to be the one responsible for bringing the team in, and she reportedly payed them a hefty sum of money to assess the creative process in the WWE right now. It's interesting to see that the WWE has spent a lot of money to bring in storyline consultants who have no experience in writing for the wrestling business. This indicates that the WWE may be wanting to pay more attention to the entertainment side of the product right now rather than the wrestling side of it. Hiring Hollywood writers may be a good idea though because a couple of years ago the WWE brought in a writer named Chris Kreski, who was more of an entertainment writer, and he produced some of the most entertaining storylines for the WWE before resigning and turning things over to Stephanie McMahon. Very interesting...I didn't know they had Hollywood consultants watching the product...

This is pure BS plain and simple...

They have totally lost it.... Hell you might as well wait for the DVD....at some retail stores they sell the PPV DVD's for 14.95 or 20 bucks.....and the picture looks alot better..

McMahon loves this creative team...of course its put together by his own daughter...so I doubt he would be to critical of the team...

...to lead the creative team After Russo left in 1999, Vince McMahon only hired Hollywood writers to his creative team....it was a risky business move to only have Hollywood writers who have no or little wrestling knowledge...but it turned out to be a sucess.... Chris Kreski would be the new creative director of the creative team and would take Russo's spot and also have total control of the creative process......his creative team was an all Hollywood staff, he even had people on there he already worked with....like Tony Blacha and Brian Gerwitz...I can't remember the other 5 Hollywood writers WWE brought end...but these 3 were McMahon's favorites... IMO, this Hollywood team did a great job...we had alot of great storylines...and alot of good booking...there was a sense of direction...and you can tell that everything was planned out....It was reported that Kreski used a storyboard to help with his storyline planning...and the writers planned 3 or 4 months in advanced.... Since 2000 was such a great year for the WWE, could this happen all over again if McMahon were to give a writer from Hollywood, and actually give him the creative team..with little input from him....like Chris Kreski Can you believe that Brian Gerwitz was part of that creative team???....He now leads RAW...didn't he learn anything from his former boss Chris Kreski????

As I stated in my other post....they should have planned this in July or August...or better yet if you really want to plan ahead...after the final draft of Wrestlemania 19 was finish they should have started on XX... You dont' need all the final drafts done...but you should atleast have a sense of what direction you want to go...and what needs to be accomplish after March...

Lets look at the big picture... If you have good ratings...that translates into a good buyrate...which then means you are doing so well...that house shows should be sell outs....Each has a certain importance....but it all starts on the T.V. screen... If the T.V. shows are not doing so well...you can kiss a good PPV buyrate goodbye... Hardcore fans are going to watch the show regardless(in some situations)....and of course they will buy the PPVs....the hardcore viewer equals the 2s, and 3's in ratings...with sometimes a good buyrate here and there....THAT'S NOT GROWTH...you are holding up...but you are not growing....now you see why they rose the PPV purchases... So they have to be creative and get new fans to watch the shows...but you can't do that with the current creative team...and all the "YES" men surrounding Vince McMahon..... NEW FANS or CASUAL VIEWERS = CASH

Russo/Kreski are two of the same writers...they both want to get the casual viewer invovled.....but also try to please the hardcore base...I think Kreski had the most sucess of doing that.. Kreski was able to give the die hard wrestling fans what they want, and was able to also keep the casual viewer involved by creating some can't miss storylines...Although the focus would always be the entertainment side... The main goal of the two were to get enough casual viewers to get hooked to the show and turned them into hardcore fans or just fans who just enjoy WWE programming...that way they would eventually buy the PPV if hooked to a certain storyline.....They had to create a balance.....that's what is missing on WWE programming...there is no balance....one minute you are doing entertainment...the next its an all 80's wrestling show....you just can't do that..... During the time of 97/ early 01...the WWE's main fans were "mainstream viewers"...they are they ones who increased WWE's revenue and earned them tons of cash...and made the company become public...and McMahon knew that...you don't hit 6's and 7's in ratings every single week with just a hardcore base.. I'm guessing thats the reason Vince went with an all Hollywood writing team..because he knew what viewers were watching the shows...and generating the cash...so he had to hire writers that were able to please those fans......no one expected that they would do so well on the wrestling side of things making the crash tv/wrestling coming together as one...

Yes...they have done alot of hype.... And far as buildup I haven't seen any yet....if reports are true they havne't even figured out who will be in the main event....first it was Brock and Goldberg...then its a tag team match with Rock and Foley teaming up.... That tells me how sloppy things are going..

Jericho did you ever watch WWE programming in 2000...

This is going to be a total mess with the current creative team... They should have planned this event long ago...starting in July or August.....so that everything would had run smooth.....Instead they probaly are just now starting the drafts for the event...and that will change until the event actually starts...

Vince Russo was a great writer...and wasn't afriad of telling Vince when he was wrong or the direction he was going wasn't going to work...and McMahon did the same thing to Russo editing his work as well.... When he came back in 2002 or was it 2003? None of the writers liked Russo, and complained to McMahon about him etc....with Steph not liking the idea of her being replaced by Vince Russo..... Steph has extreme power...McMahon was in talks with Russo for a month without no one even knowing according to Russo...but as soon as Steph found out...he was gone that same day...