WWE thinks..what?

[Guest El Psycho Diablo]

As WWE once again sinks into a ratings funk, word is that the company is aware of how low the quality of their shows, specifically RAW, has become.

 

The two brands have been producing two very different shows. RAW has become more of the "sports entertainment show" relying on star power, while Smackdown has focused more on wrestling and young talent.

 

Vince McMahon is still very hesitant to bite the bullet and take WWE in a brand new direction, away from the type of TV that took the company to new heights a few years ago.

 

Internally, a lot of debate is going on as to which style WWE should use more. Paul Heyman, the booker of Smackdown, is more traditional while Brian Gerwertz, booker of RAW, is more of a "sports entertainment" guy.

 

Despite Smackdown being the more critically acclaimed show, WWE has, for the most part, felt that RAW is better due to it being closer to the "RAW formula" that made WWE so big a few years ago. However, it is becoming clear to many now that the "RAW formula" does not work unless you have plenty of over talent to make skits, comedic segments, and other non-wrestling things work. Right now, WWE does not have the talent needed.

 

WWE is also concerned about the crowd not reacting to what it wants them to react to, especially on the last two RAW broadcasts.

 

WWE is now more concerned than ever, which could indicate that big changes are, one again, on the way. At the same time, McMahon has proven to be a very stubborn man and may continue in the same direction despite business declines in ratings, PPV buyrates, and house show attendance.

 

(ripped off 411, who ripped it off 1popup)

[JasonX]

As WWE once again sinks into a ratings funk, word is that the company is aware of how low the quality of their shows, specifically RAW, has become.

 

The two brands have been producing two very different shows. RAW has become more of the "sports entertainment show" relying on star power, while Smackdown has focused more on wrestling and young talent.

 

Vince McMahon is still very hesitant to bite the bullet and take WWE in a brand new direction, away from the type of TV that took the company to new heights a few years ago.

 

Internally, a lot of debate is going on as to which style WWE should use more. Paul Heyman, the booker of Smackdown, is more traditional while Brian Gerwertz, booker of RAW, is more of a "sports entertainment" guy.

 

Despite Smackdown being the more critically acclaimed show, WWE has, for the most part, felt that RAW is better due to it being closer to the "RAW formula" that made WWE so big a few years ago. However, it is becoming clear to many now that the "RAW formula" does not work unless you have plenty of over talent to make skits, comedic segments, and other non-wrestling things work. Right now, WWE does not have the talent needed.

 

WWE is also concerned about the crowd not reacting to what it wants them to react to, especially on the last two RAW broadcasts.

 

WWE is now more concerned than ever, which could indicate that big changes are, one again, on the way. At the same time, McMahon has proven to be a very stubborn man and may continue in the same direction despite business declines in ratings, PPV buyrates, and house show attendance.

 

(ripped off 411, who ripped it off 1popup)

I see the following happening:

 

Vince keeps going with the current direction till Survivor Series, where the big cosmic reset button will be pushed.

 

Brock vs Kurt gets pushed forward to the October PPV and HHH/Jericho vs RVD/Flair headlines the PPV. The Brock experiment is killed off and the World Title put on Angle (who does a hasty face turn) in order to spare Brock what is to occur next and preserve his heat:

 

The split gets killed off at Survivor Series with Angle jobbing the world title to HHH to reunify the belts. Steph beats Bischoff, who is fired from the WWF as SD wins the Split War. The next night on Raw as both the Raw and SD rosters are put in the ring and Vince, Steph, and HHH do a family reunion thing and badmouth everyone when glass breaks and the returned Stone Cold Steve Austin beats the three up, setting up another round of Austin/HHH leading to Austin beating HHH for the Undisputed World Title at WM while the midcard goes back to being ignored and jobbed out. Austin then jobs the title to Brock on Raw and the belt becomes the centerpiece in a three-way Brock/Austin/HHH feud during the summer...

[Guest Ozymandias]

Are you trying to scare us? Because it's working

[Guest El Psycho Diablo]

Unfortunately..that sounds VERY WWEish. So it'll probably happen. However, you forgot to throw Taker in there.

[Guest Will Scarlet]

WWE is also concerned about the crowd not reacting to what it wants them to react to, especially on the last two RAW broadcasts.

 

Any speculation on what the crowd failed to react to that the WWF wanted them to? I am infintely curious at what segments they might be talking about here.

[Guest Kahran Ramsus]

Any speculation on what the crowd failed to react to that the WWF wanted them to? I am infintely curious at what segments they might be talking about here.

 

I would have figured they would have been more concerned about the reaction at the main event of Summerslam.

[Guest Mole]

I remember reading that Vince thinks there are more marquee names on Raw then Smackdown. Which it an extent, is true. The casual fans know more names on Raw than Smackdown.

[Guest goodhelmet]

i think the biggest problem is that the fed is too worried about shaping what the fans think instead of allowing the fans to particpate in shaping the storyline. whenever this is mentioned, people like to bring up hulk hogan. the problem with this is that hogan should have turned face. he just shouldn't have been main eventing. as for the reactions on raw, sometime soon, they have to come to grips with the fact that hhh is not the man nor does he heave the star power of an austin or a rock. he is NOT the man who should be carrying monday nights.

[LaParkaYourCar]

WWE seems to have a problem ending storylines that are recieving no reaction at all. Like the Fink/Lillian thing and the endless parade of Bubba/Trish vs. Regal/Nowinski or Molly/Nowinski matches. That's all RAW is anymore. Every week's RAW seems like the last one except the backstage and promo segments are different.

 

RAW is always 30 min of HHH, some match involving Bubba Ray and Regal/Nowinski, T&A, and someone getting the 3 min. treatment. The only saving grace is RVD, Book Dust, and Tommy Dreamer

[Guest The Mighty Damaramu]

I dunno....maybe they're referring to the crickets chirping when HHH was given the title. I mean the man wasn't even booed.....the fans did not give a damn. There was spread out clapping and whistling and that's just as bad as silence.

[JasonX]

WWE is also concerned about the crowd not reacting to what it wants them to react to, especially on the last two RAW broadcasts.

 

Any speculation on what the crowd failed to react to that the WWF wanted them to? I am infintely curious at what segments they might be talking about here.

The HHH segments are my guess....

[Guest LaParkaMarka]

LaParkaYourCar????? What the? I thought I was the number one La Parka Mark(a)? And you have a title, even though I'm 200 posts up on you. *cries* *poses* *spits water*

 

......Anyways, maybe if they changed up the card it would get more people interested? Like someone said above, all Raw episodes are essentially the same. They should really end that horrible Bubba/Trish/Spike vs Nowinski/Regal/Molly. Tommy Dreamer needs something to do...so does Steven Richards. How about feuding Nowinski and Dreamer? That could work. Hell, Bubba/Richards might work, for that matter. Just something different. And I wish they'd end the horribly TnA segments. That Lingerie Pillow Fight was just sad.

[Guest Celestial Dung]

"WWE is also concerned about the crowd not reacting to what it wants them to react to, especially on the last two RAW broadcasts."

 

I think that's the WWE's biggest problem. Their trying to force reactions instead of listening to reactions.

[Guest El Psycho Diablo]

Exactly, Celestial.

 

If they'd listen to people..we'd probably have RVD or Angle instead of Triple H and Lesnar..

 

But we don't want that, do they?