RavishingRickRudo

On the "fighting over girlfriends thing", here's what I posted over at DVDVRMB... You know, if Big Show was represented as the lonely giant -ostracised from society, and women in general, because of his size - and they played that up for weeks until he became a broken down man (let's say Kurt Angle kept putting all these women in Big Shows path, so they could laugh, act disgusted, and/or mock him) and then just when he is about to give up and go into exhile he meets Joy and her geniune love for him makes him stronger. So then when Joy is kidnapped and Big Show gets angry, it would actually seem believable, rather than laughable. This is the problem with the WWE creative team. They never make the initial investment and expect us to buy everything they sell us because "they say so". Big Show has feelings for Joy. Well, he kisses her, so he must! ... And Vince said the "step forward/back" thing to Flair. It was in regards to WM 8 and, I believe, Flair blading.

He called Jericho "Christian" I believe, on Raw last week. I marked out a bit. Meanwhile, Steve Austin and Steve Blackman/Stevie Ricards were never mistaken for each other

Like Roadkill. Eugene getting boo'd still follows "Toronto likes to be different". And JBL isn't a gimmick.

Oh god no. It wouldn't even be a contest. The Juice was funny on a completely different level than The Rock. They wouldn't mesh. The Juice and The Hurricane? That would rule.

The Juice was fantastic.

Maybe they would be more personable without the mask, so audiences could build emotional connections on a human level, whereas a mask could possibly cause a detachment. Masked cruisers would be judged only on action, and action without emotion will eventually become meaningless. There's only so much wrestlers can do to make fans go "ooh" and "aah" rather than "oh my god NO!" or "YES YES YES!" as would be the reaction when there is emotional investment involved. So then the marketability comes from people paying to cheer their favourites live or on PPV. Where it goes from "I might get the PPV to see this match" to "I must get the PPV to see if X wins".

No. The 0.5 that stopped watching Heat are more likely to stop watching RAW. They didn't exclusively watch Heat, they watched it to compliment Raw. If they don't care about Heat, that means they have a declining interest in the WWE and RAW. The first thing that goes is the B-shows. At its peak, I used to watch Heat, Metal, Jakked, Raw, Smackdown... I watched whatever I could. Now? Raw. And not even all of RAW. Occasionally Velocity. Rarely Smackdown. Barely Heat (before PPVs so I can see the sets ). Never Experience, Afterburn, Bottom Line. I think thats the case with most people here.

Look at it this way. In one year, heats ratings have been cut in half. Has the WWE audience been cut in half in that time?

There, I edited it. Satisfied? Nah. It wasn't so much misrepresenting the "ratings gain" that I was dissatisfied with, as it was ignoring the depressing state of the B shows. That has been a long-time peeve of mine, though, and too many people look at shows like Heat and Velocity as filler rather than opportunities.

But... I'm untouchable. You can't tell me to refrain!!! *zip* For all the flak I give the WWE, I must admit they have a brilliant business model. Any other show on television with the same quality (or lack thereof) would be off the air. Wrestling is an amazing property to have at the WWE's level, and the way the WWE has diversified its revenue generating streams has been the reason why it is.

Your Opinions are Stupid.

Ooooh. So you're ignoring 50% of their programming... gotcha.

Wait, I'm *not* THE Poster... ? You've got to be fucking kidding me. Jesus fucking Christ. I.. I... I don't know what to say... I don't know what to do... Loss! LOSS! Make him stop the hurting words! Say it ain't so!

Those shows shouldn't be expected to get high ratings anyways..surprised they've been doing as well as they have for so long. (mainly Heat) Why shouldn't they be expected to get high ratings? Heat used to get 4's. Velocidential got 1's. That you consider such sharp declines and generally poor numbers "well" is mindboggling. Ok, that *you* consider it "well" isn't, but if it were anyone else... There was a time when Smackdown could barely break 3.2, and hell..WWE as a whole couldn't break 3.4/3.5. So yes, ratings are up. The final rating will be a 3.3 +/ 0.2 as the overnights that had 4.0's before ended up with 3.4. 3.3 +/1 0.2 has been the average rating for a while.

Some people don't turn their brains off when wrestling is on, you know? ... "Why did that happen/Why did they do that/What is going on/What is going to happen" These thoughts go through my mind, as a reaction to what I am watching, in regards to *everything* I watch. Every show I watch is able to explain it easily. WWE? Not so much.

You know you're on a wrestling messageboard, so this "cooler than thou" shit doesn't really fly, right? I watch other shows with the same critical eye that I do wrestling (even more), yet I enjoy those shows A LOT more than RAW or Smackdown. Why? Because it HOLDS UP. I put it under the microscope and it passes. And sometimes, it goes beyond my expectations. The WWE fails 99% of the times and the word "exceeds expectations" is rarely, if ever, used. Somehow, this is "us smarks" fault for thinking about what's being presented (or, as you say "analyzing EVERYTHING") rather than being rah-rah for complete shit. Back on topic, the WWE would do itself a favour if they change the format for their shows. If someone who stopped watching in 2001 turned on the channel to see HHH on the screen in the middle of the ring cutting a promo talking about how he's god, the lil scratch mark in the bottom, JR and the King throwing in lil quips, the authority figure comes out with his theme music from under the titantron, the crowd boos him and hold their signs, there are short camera shots and reaction shots and JR and King wonder what's going on... why would they continue watching? It's the same thing they STOPPED watching a few years ago. The foundation needs to change.

Untold - "The Smashing Machine" SPIKEC, Sun Jan 16 09:00am EST • Untold - "The Smashing Machine" SPIKEC, Mon Jan 17 12:00am EST

It's nice to see the WWE jumping on the Lucha train 10 years after it left station

Shhh. Let him continue babbling like a dumbfuck.

It's the lack of characters you can get behind. There really isn't a wrestler I am invested in. Then it's the storylines that interest you. Then the good wrestling. A shit match can still be enjoyable if the personalities are right.

The Benoit/Eddie matches over the past 2 years have been poor. Esp. the Vengeance match.

???

I almost loved the Renzo feature more than the Kerr documentary.

As the title says, at 9:00 pm (to 11 pm) tonight Spike TV will be airing The Smashing Machine. It's a documentary following Mark Kerr, an American amateur wrestler (has beaten Kurt Angle) turned Ultimate Fighter. Mark Kerr was an extraordinary athlete who had all the tools to be the top fighter in the sport and was on his way to becoming one until his personal problems caught up with him. Kerr isn't a killer, he isn't a typical jock. He's intelligent and emotional, which makes it all the more real. What Mark went through, which is covered in-depth in the docu, is very similar to what many pro wrestlers have gone through, so this should interest more than just fight-fans. The B story follows Mark "The Hammer" Coleman, who was on the opposite path of Kerr. Where Kerr was going up, Coleman was down. The climax of the film is the 2000 PRIDE Grand Prix, which Coleman and Kerr both competed in. You get some really good backstage shots of various fighters during the PRIDE, and you get to go inside the mind of Kerr as he explains what it was like to be in his first cage fight. The praise for this documentary has been tremendous, and I couldn't recommend it more. Make time for it.

Maybe the blurring is intentional. Just a thought.