What is Austin returning for besides.....

[Guest NoCalMike]

Ok, I know upon his return he will get popped out of the building and the marks shall rejoice like they have witnessed the birth of christ, HOWEVER, when those 2-4 weeks is overwith, then what? I really don't see Austin coming back to put over young talent. I don't see him coming back to elevate NEW stars. I just see him coming back to try to re-create his run from a few years back when HE WAS THE SHOW. However, WWE needs to realize that Austin is NOT THE SHOW ANYMORE. It will NEVER BE THE SAME. There is no need to take desperate measures for a spike in 2 weeks worth of programming. Has Steiner made a LICK OF DIFFERENCE?? Does ANYONE HONESTLY CARE ABOUT STEINER? It seems like WWE has already managed to get people bored with that nonsense after 2 weeks. In fact, the only real HUGE pop I remember him getting, was at the ppv. Ever since then it has been dwindling. Ok this post is about Austin, so back to Austin. If Austin's purpose is to come back and use his name recognition to help elevate youth in the company and PASS THE TORCH, then ok do it, even though his credibility and power to elevate has most likely greatly been decreased over the past 6 months. Now if he is just back to go straight back to the top and feud with Triple H(Raw) or Undertaker(Smackdown), then FUCK THAT.

[Guest DJ Jeff]

I don't really care what's planned for Austin upon his return. I just can't wait to see him back.

[Guest NoCalMike]

I don't really care what's planned for Austin upon his return. I just can't wait to see him back.

Well people said that about the "nWo" and Steiner and those two events proved WORTHLESS.

[Guest godthedog]

the fed has 2 main problems right now:

 

1. bad writing

 

2. no real top draws

 

getting austin back won't solve everything, but it helps #2. attendence & viewing is down not only because the storylines suck, but because the fans aren't seeing the guys they know & love (namely, the rock & austin). the star they have with the biggest name value right now is triple h, and the current trend shows that he is NOT a proven moneymaker by himself. fans WANT him back. with austin back, they'd at least have 3 times as much star power as they have right now. it can't really hurt the situation. and since vince is paying him anyway no matter what he does, so why not put him back on television?

[Guest saturnmark4life]

agreed, austin is pretty much the only case in which i'd advocate a desperation signing right now. Hogan back wouldn't hurt #2 either, if they kept him away from brock. I like Scott Keith's idea (shut up) of having him enter the rumble as a mystery, stunner 7,000,000 people then get tossed by brock at the end.

[Guest cynicalprofit]

cynicalprofit 3:16 says "Austin save us from HHH."

[Guest HartFan86]

Yup....Austin will not only help draw better, but HHH will be G-O-N-E.

[Guest jester]

Actually, I can see WWE wanting Austin to cut a promo explaining how he left because he was afraid of HHH and the he understands he's the greatest of all time.

[Guest OSIcon]

Despite a lot of people getting on Austin recently for not wanting to put over new talent or whatever, he still has two major pluses over anybody else the WWF has right now:

 

1. He is a legit draw. Nobody else active right now in the WWE is a draw.

 

2. While he may win a lot it is justified. He is over, still has good matches, and works hard (Unlike Trips). Plus he still gives a good bit. He beat Benoit everytime in there series, but Benoit still came out looking stronger. Same can be said for Angle (especially the early stages of the feud). When have you been able to say the same about Undertaker or Trips?

 

His return will add more then just an initial pop. It gives the WWE a legit draw and a main eventer who can still work and get people over while doing so.

[Guest SP-1]

Austin and Rock both have demonstrated that they don't mind putting younger talent over. I know, the rumored reason that Austin left is because of Brock in the first place but in a way I have to agree with him there. There's senselessly putting over someone, and then there's putting them over when they reach a certain level, as Brock has reached now, I would think.

 

And, hopefully Austin would put his foot down and kill off the Helmsley Reign backstage if it's going on.

[Guest humongous2002]

Yup....Austin will not only help draw better, but HHH will be G-O-N-E.

Austin wants to go to Smackdown so pretty much HGH will still be taking the spotlight at RAW, the only way HHH is going to stop being the center of attention is by having a heart attack and dying from steroid and painkillers abuse.

[Guest Brian]

Austin's not going to need to explain himself. Come back, stun JR and Vince, end of story.

[JasonX 0]

cynicalprofit 3:16 says "Austin save us from HHH."

Well given how Austin is trying to get put on the SD roster, I don't think he gives a fuck about limiting HHH's influence over the company whatsoever.

[JasonX 0]

Actually, I can see WWE wanting Austin to cut a promo explaining how he left because he was afraid of HHH and the he understands he's the greatest of all time.

Actually HHH would be the one making the "Austin fears HHH" comments and if Austin DOES succeed in getting put on the SD roster when he comes back, expect HHH to make "Austin ran out on the WWE because of me" to be a regular part of his twenty-minute interview segments...

[JasonX 0]

Yup....Austin will not only help draw better, but HHH will be G-O-N-E.

Austin wants to go to Smackdown so pretty much HGH will still be taking the spotlight at RAW, the only way HHH is going to stop being the center of attention is by having a heart attack and dying from steroid and painkillers abuse.

There is a simply way around that though:

 

Put Austin on Raw and trade HHH for Benoit/the Guerrerros/Angle.

 

Switch writers for Raw and SD

 

Let HHH scorch earth SD while Austin saves Raw in the ratings given how Raw stands to lose MORE ratings than SD ever could with HHH as the center of the universe on the show...

[Guest XdojimeX]

"He beat Benoit everytime in there series, but Benoit still came out looking stronger. Same can be said for Angle (especially the early stages of the feud). When have you been able to say the same about Undertaker or Trips?"

 

True. But that was as a heel. I was never a big Austin fan. His formulaic, loosey goosy brawls and Patterson special finishes bored the hell out of me during his big run. But I enjoyed his heel run immensely. He surprised the hell out of me that he had those notes in him as a performer, not to mention how unselfish he was. Too bad it was sabotaged and ended up drawing diddly. And I suppose in the end fans just want to cheer the guy. But his babyface act by proxy shows no ass whatsoever, and it's stale as hell. He eats foils alive. His only two peers came up during the same period he did, and one of them had to get so far up the office's ass he can see what they ate at Denny's 5 years ago. Anything beneath that surface has been pure fodder for the Austin machine. Sure his return will stop the bleeding, I won't argue that. But for a company in a so-called rebuilding process I wonder if the Austin train is one they can ride for very long. Can he take a step back as a fan-favorite and still be effective? Especially with the way business is being run these days? Who has more reason to be paranoid then him? I don't buy the retirement in a year or two talk either. Austin will go until his knee braces start Forest Gumping on his ass.

 

EDIT: Oh, forgot about the Undertaker. That happens.

[Guest EricMM]

I believe that the fact remains that Stone Cold is an awsome wrestler who has been part of some of the best matches I have ever seen, not because he was being carried but because he was in them. He ALSO gets the biggest pops, period. He ALSO understands putting people over (as he was doing with Benoit) and he understands when jobbing wouldn't have put someone over. He knows his worth, and he knows how the business goes.

 

I just think it's a shame that HHH must have so much more sway than austin ever could, because Austin would probably bring the ratings up again. But he's not stupid, and he doesn't want to wrestle with HHH anymore, because HHH is bad for people's careers (See Jericho, RVD)

[Guest Cataclysm911]

Austin and Rock both have demonstrated that they don't mind putting younger talent over. I know, the rumored reason that Austin left is because of Brock in the first place but in a way I have to agree with him there. There's senselessly putting over someone, and then there's putting them over when they reach a certain level, as Brock has reached now, I would think.

 

And, hopefully Austin would put his foot down and kill off the Helmsley Reign backstage if it's going on.

See, this is the part that confuses me. I read that Austin left because of the writing, not because of Brock. He had no problem facing Brock, or losing to Brock. He was upset that the match was announced that night at the arena... even to him. He felt that it was a huge match and should have been built up. Get fans to take notice. Let people know ahead of time that it was going to go down.

 

Austin was fucking right.

[Guest HartFan86]

Exactly.

 

Giving a future main event match (with putting over the younger star) at Wrestlemania on Free TV with no build up is WCW-ish. Why?

 

 

 

 

Exhibit A: Hogan/Goldberg on Nitro.

 

 

 

 

 

And people wonder why Austin left.

[Guest Super Pissed Smark]

If Austin comes back he may pop a rating for a few weeks, but after that he'll just become a member of the Smackdown 7, having good matches with the usual suspects, but none of them meaning anything. It's hard to elevate anyone when you're all trading wins in the mid-card. Triple-H isn't going anywhere until Steph either dumps him or marries him, so forget about Austin exerting more control over the product. And after a few months he'll get fed up and be gone again. Nothing's really changed since he left, none of the things he was upset about have been fixed, if anything the writing and booking has gotten markedly worse, particularly on the RAW side, so I think it would be naive to presume Austin'll stick around. And in the end I think Vince is just trying to get him back so that he can give him a proper screwing on his way out this time.

[Guest DJ Jeff]

I have a feeling that if Austin gets put on Smackdown, he won't leave. I can understand him not wanting to be on RAW, since it's just the HHH show more or less. Smackdown would be the better show for Austin to be on also. Better opponents for him to face, and the show itself is all around better. As far as the ratings go, I think this is what the WWE needs. Sure, it might boost ratings for a few weeks, but during that time, the WWE should do everything it can to start pushing younger talent, ie. RVD, Jericho, Booker T, Angle, Lesnar, etc. so fans start noticing them more and continue watching, not because of Austin, but because of fresh main eventers.

[JasonX 0]

I have a feeling that if Austin gets put on Smackdown, he won't leave. I can understand him not wanting to be on RAW, since it's just the HHH show more or less. Smackdown would be the better show for Austin to be on also. Better opponents for him to face, and the show itself is all around better. As far as the ratings go, I think this is what the WWE needs. Sure, it might boost ratings for a few weeks, but during that time, the WWE should do everything it can to start pushing younger talent, ie. RVD, Jericho, Booker T, Angle, Lesnar, etc. so fans start noticing them more and continue watching, not because of Austin, but because of fresh main eventers.

Austin on SD will do ZERO for SD. Raw needs all the help it can get and they can always move the Raw writers/HHH to SD and import the SD writers and the bulk of the SD 6 to Raw to push Austin to go with Raw over SD.

 

Yes it's a massive overhaul but tossing Austin on SD does jack shit to improve the WWE product whatsoever. SD never rises about into the 4s anyway so why not put HHH on there and let him sink or swim on Thursday up against Friends and Survivor and have Austin, you know SAVE the company by reviving Raw's ratings (which go into the middle 4s and higher when the product is good).

 

Exiling Austin to SD is another nail in the WWE coffin and a BIG one to boot given how they will be doing nothing more than hotshotting Austin's return by having him do jack shit on SD. Put him on Raw with Benoit and Angle and send HHH to SD to make a whole new set of wrestlers his personal bitches for a change and earn those paltry ratings that he's bringing in...

[Guest Brian]

Difference is RAW's contract is not coming up soon.

 

Just move Rock and Undertaker to RAW and let Steiner sign there.

[Guest DJ Jeff]

Austin on SD will do ZERO for SD. Raw needs all the help it can get and they can always move the Raw writers/HHH to SD and import the SD writers and the bulk of the SD 6 to Raw to push Austin to go with Raw over SD.

 

Yes it's a massive overhaul but tossing Austin on SD does jack shit to improve the WWE product whatsoever. SD never rises about into the 4s anyway so why not put HHH on there and let him sink or swim on Thursday up against Friends and Survivor and have Austin, you know SAVE the company by reviving Raw's ratings (which go into the middle 4s and higher when the product is good).

 

Exiling Austin to SD is another nail in the WWE coffin and a BIG one to boot given how they will be doing nothing more than hotshotting Austin's return by having him do jack shit on SD. Put him on Raw with Benoit and Angle and send HHH to SD to make a whole new set of wrestlers his personal bitches for a change and earn those paltry ratings that he's bringing in...

I'd actually like to see Austin on RAW, and if HHH was traded to Smackdown for Angle and Benoit, then I can see Austin returning to RAW. Like I said, I can't blame him for not wanting to be on RAW, what with HHH and the writers. Who knows what kind of a storyline he'd be given.

[JasonX 0]

Difference is RAW's contract is not coming up soon.

 

Just move Rock and Undertaker to RAW and let Steiner sign there.

Undertaker is just as bad as HHH and Rock's useless with his movie schedule dictating when he's available for the fed. Unless Vince decides to ban Rock from making movies until further notice, they should keep him on SD and just split the SD 6 up and send the good ones to Raw while HHH goes to SD for an extra dose of "star power"..

[JasonX 0]

I'd actually like to see Austin on RAW, and if HHH was traded to Smackdown for Angle and Benoit, then I can see Austin returning to RAW. Like I said, I can't blame him for not wanting to be on RAW, what with HHH and the writers. Who knows what kind of a storyline he'd be given.

He'd be forced into a feud with HHH that would ultimately revolve around Austin beating up HHH's flunkies (Flair and Batista and most likely Jericho and Randy Orton) while never getting that decisive victory over HHH, who keeps making Austin job to him and having to listen to HHH spin stories about Austin being a crybaby in the back and a wife-beater too boot during his promos..

[Guest NoCalMike]

I dunno. I just get a feeling that Austin will never be the same aftet this long layoff. Especially how abrupt and unplanned it was. Also, what does this say for the company. I mean when guys like Rock and Austin decide they aren't commited to the company any longer, then it is up to the company to MOVE ON and do something else. Personally, I don't want to see Austin in the main event anymore because we have plenty of guys on Smackdown capable of being champ IF wwe wanted them pushed. What would Austin being back have to do with the HORRIBLE Vince idea of Big Show as champ? Also, Austin has never been the same WRESTLER since his injury. I don't need a half cripple who can't do this, or can't take that, hogging up the main event picture. I don't hate Austin, or wish anything bad on him, however I think he had his run, and it is over, and it would be in the WWE's best LONG TERM interest to just squash this "austing-returning" bullshit ASAP.

[Guest Brian]

Austin came back last time and ended up in the best shape he's been in a long time. Whenever you hear any reports of Austin lately, it's that he's been in the best shape of his career. Plus he has a ring in his backyard if he ever needs to get warmed up.

 

Austin still has one big job left in him and he's worth at least that. If he put Benoit over, then Brock puts Angle over at Mania, you know have a much more established upper card and a ready-to-go feud with back history over the title.

[Guest NoCalMike]

I agree that Austin has at least one BIG JOB to do, however I can almost guarantee that he is NOT gonna come back to job at all. If he does job it will be at least 6 months or a year down the road. I have no idea why a lot of you feel he is going to come back to put Benoit/Eddy/Brock over. When he comes back it will most likely be similar to every Rock debut. Instantly thrown in the main event. Wins belt within a month or two, and the holds onto it until he decides to leave again.

[Guest Kahran Ramsus]

Yes it's a massive overhaul but tossing Austin on SD does jack shit to improve the WWE product whatsoever. SD never rises about into the 4s anyway so why not put HHH on there and let him sink or swim on Thursday up against Friends and Survivor and have Austin, you know SAVE the company by reviving Raw's ratings (which go into the middle 4s and higher when the product is good).

 

That's because Smackdown is on a different rating system then RAW is, not being on cable. Smackdown has almost always had a bigger audience than RAW, despite the fact the ratings are lower. Besides, UPN is available in more homes than TNN is, and Smackdown being taped makes a lot more money for the company than RAW does.

 

Why would you want to kill off what is the most profitable weekly show that the WWF has ever had?