What's the problem with the WWE?

[Guest The Grand Pubah of 1620]

Yeah, another one of these threads.

 

Without posting any stories per se ...

What do YOU think the WWE is missing?

 

I say it's a motivated, imaginative, REALISTIC, fan point-of-view on the Creative Team. They've just missed the mark SO many times it's pathetic. I still can't see how Vince could let anything ... much less his steroid-pumped ego ... completely ruin "Invasion" the way he did.

 

Kevin Smith (whether he knew it or not) PERFECTLY described the WWE Creative Team's grasp of what the fans want.

 

Brodie: This is the pulse. And this is your finger, far away from the pulse, jammed straight up your ass. Say, would you like a chocolate covered pretzel?

[Guest mickberna]

They're missing competition.

[Guest Youth N Asia]

The shows just aren't "Oh man, I gotta tune in to see what happens next week" anymore. Like they were in 99-early 01.

 

I could care less if I miss a show now

[Guest Insane Bump Machine]

They're missing the 'sports' part of 'sports entertainment'.

[Guest Youth N Asia]

They're missing the 'sports' part of 'sports entertainment'.

And the "entertainment" of sports entertainment...cause I'm not entertained by this Vince/Zack/Steph/Sable thing one bit

[Guest The Grand Pubah of 1620]

They're missing the 'sports' part of 'sports entertainment'.

And the "entertainment" of sports entertainment...cause I'm not entertained by this Vince/Zack/Steph/Sable thing one bit

I normally don't watch Smackdown, but I did last night. And that shit was ridiculous. I cut it off after the first segment with Vince/Steph. Horrible writing.

[Guest Showstoppa Icon]

Johnson, i used to hate your posts, but after the Broadie quote and Kevin Smith reference, i have new respect for you.

[Guest Goose749]

Brodie lives...

 

After a while, I learned to just ignore most of what Vince says. You can predict most of it anyway.

[Guest Insane Bump Machine]

I watch Smackdown every week, but I always fast forward through all the McMahon crap. Smackdown rocks that way. I feel for JHawk and all the other Smackdown recappers who have to suffer through the complete shows.

[Guest razazteca]

Jerry Seinfeld: Yadda Yadda Yadda

 

At least the last Raw had a 25 minute match of headlock and armbar.

[Guest Lord of The Curry]

This has got to be the broadest question ever. To figure out what is truly wrong w/ the WWE you'd have to divide everything up into sections and sub-sections and analyze each one individually. Then and only then would you be able to realize why they suck.

[Guest Lord of The Curry]

They're missing the 'sports' part of 'sports entertainment'.

Actually, there's a big problem right there. They've turned "wrestling" into a dirty word, a gimmick. Now the only "wrestlers" in the WWE world are guys like Angle, Benoit, Jericho and Guerrero. The rest are sports entertainers.

[Guest Ghettoman]

The comfort to take risks and follow through.

[Guest Insane Bump Machine]

They're missing the 'sports' part of 'sports entertainment'.

Actually, there's a big problem right there. They've turned "wrestling" into a dirty word, a gimmick. Now the only "wrestlers" in the WWE world are guys like Angle, Benoit, Jericho and Guerrero. The rest are sports entertainers.

Jericho currently talks more than he wrestles.

[ChrisMWaters 0]

They're missing the 'sports' part of 'sports entertainment'.

Actually, there's a big problem right there. They've turned "wrestling" into a dirty word, a gimmick. Now the only "wrestlers" in the WWE world are guys like Angle, Benoit, Jericho and Guerrero. The rest are sports entertainers.

Would Lesnar qualify in Sports Entertainers?

[Guest Lord of The Curry]

You know what I mean, though. They're the only wrestlers that actually have their past recognized and played up in order to get them over to the fans as "wrestlers". Guys like Hurricane, Booker T, HHH and such are "atheletes" or "sports entertainers".

[Guest Insane Bump Machine]

You know what I mean, though. They're the only wrestlers that actually have their past recognized and played up in order to get them over to the fans as "wrestlers". Guys like Hurricane, Booker T, HHH and such are "atheletes" or "sports entertainers".

You could add Ultimo Dragon to that list if they...you know..did something with him.

[Guest Goodear]

After some consideration, I came to the following conclusion. That WWE is exactly the same as it always has been. There has always been large side shows and worthless piles of dreck on the roster. There has always been an emphasis on character over athletic competition. WWE has not changed, you all have. Quite frankly, you've matured past the point of the WWE brand of wrestling. But instead of finding avenues of entertainment that are more appealing, you seem to expect the product to grow along with you. It's like expecting your cartoons to mature alongside you as you get smarter and more evolved. But why should it? There's always another group of kids coming up that will buy into the Vince McMahon style of promotion, at least for a while. The whole notion that WWE 'sucks now' implies that in some time in the past, they weren't doing exactly what they're doing now. And thats simply not true going back all the way to Hulk Hogan.

[Guest Insane Bump Machine]

After some consideration, I came to the following conclusion. That WWE is exactly the same as it always has been. There has always been large side shows and worthless piles of dreck on the roster. There has always been an emphasis on character over athletic competition. WWE has not changed, you all have. Quite frankly, you've matured past the point of the WWE brand of wrestling. But instead of finding avenues of entertainment that are more appealing, you seem to expect the product to grow along with you. It's like expecting your cartoons to mature alongside you as you get smarter and more evolved. But why should it? There's always another group of kids coming up that will buy into the Vince McMahon style of promotion, at least for a while. The whole notion that WWE 'sucks now' implies that in some time in the past, they weren't doing exactly what they're doing now. And thats simply not true going back all the way to Hulk Hogan.

That doesn't explain why ratings, buyrates and attendance are way down compared to 99-01.

[Guest The Mighty Damaramu]

And why I enjoyed what I was watching in 2000-early 01.

[Guest Army Eye]

After some consideration, I came to the following conclusion. That WWE is exactly the same as it always has been. There has always been large side shows and worthless piles of dreck on the roster. There has always been an emphasis on character over athletic competition.

Err maybe they've always had that but they also had good writing at one point. They don't now.

[Guest razazteca]

Its not the bad writing all the time its the bad acting by ego(s) most of the time

[Lil' Bitch 0]

For one reason, WWE charging $35 to watch PPVs that aren't worth the price.

[Guest CoreyLazarus416]

Consistently bad matches, constant hiring of poor workers, raping of a worker's moveset, repackaging workers into a gimmick they can't pull off, etc. etc.

[Guest Aero]

The McMahons have to keep themselves out of the storylines. RAW is currently fine, McMahon-wise, as Linda only makes rare appearances. Smackdown, though, is the problem. Obviously, we've gone over it more than enough... the Vince-Stephanie-Gowen-Sable feud. It's been going on for over two months now, and we're finally getting a match out of it at Vengeance. Call it build-up, if you want, but this has been overkill. Another thing... I thought the point of the separate brand PPVs was to give more wrestlers a chance to shine. With that in mind, you have both Vince and Steph in separate matches at the PPV. Why not just make it a tag match and squeeze in a Matt Hardy-Ultimo Dragon match or something?

 

This is somewhat related to the McMahon problem, too. Will WWE ever lose the "evil owner/GM" bit? Bischoff isn't that bad, as he's at least someone new (one year going, at least), but when will Vince in the that role is getting to be sickening. The whole owner thing is getting really old.

 

It's mentioned above, but they need to really improve on the WRESTLING part of WWE. I don't think I even have to go into detail with the HHH-politics deal.

[Guest Youth N Asia]

For one reason, WWE charging $35 to watch PPVs that aren't worth the price.

I know, they up'd the price as the product was getting worse. And now it's in the shitter. They need to cut that in half

[iggymcfly 0]

The reason that ratings are down from 99-00 has nothing to do with the wrestling quality. That's better than it's ever been. You'd never find a match like Benoit/Hardy or HBK/Jericho back in the "golden days" of the WWE.

 

What's missing is engrossing storylines. If you look at all the thought that went into the Rocky heel turn at SS 1998 or even the storyline where Kurt was trying to steal away Stephanie from Hunter, it was way more complex and intelligently written than the stuff today.

 

That being said, the storylines on Raw have been better since Austin came back. The feuding GMs thing has been done very well, and Foley's return was excellent. Even the Kane storyline, for all it's logic gaps, is much more worthwhile to stick around for than a Steiner/HHH posedown.

And it's shown in the ratings as we've had two of the five highest rated Raws of the year in the last three weeks

 

Well done, intelligent, captivating storylines=6.0 ratings.

 

Half-assed storylines with big logic gaps that at least involve interesting characters, and make a little sense=4.0 ratings

 

Shows with no storyline except for a thrown together main event=3.0 ratings.

 

Good wrestling matches=No one outside the internet gives a shit.

[Guest JMA]

This should be fun. I think I'll make a list.

 

1) Nepotism

2) The Glass Ceiling

3) The "Creative" Team

4) Not listening to the fans

5) Hating all critisism, even if it's constructive

6) Pushing a person's look over their skill

7) Shoving unover wrestlers down our throats

8) Too much skits, not enough matches

 

That's about all I can think of now. Here are the biggest problematic people.

 

1) Triple H

2) Stephanie McMahon

3) Vince McMahon

4) Kevin Nash

5) Brian Gerwitz

6) Goldberg

7) Bradshaw

[Guest nWoCHRISnWo]

What's the problem with WWE- Vince McMahon.

[Guest Rob Edwards]

Is Bradshaw really a problem on his own? I have a feeling that when you remove a couple of others on that list he ceases to be a problem

 

He's more a wacky sidekick