Wrestling in the next 5 years

[Guest Jokir]

Continuing my streak of posts no one likes or pays attention to I present this one. Apparently I'm uninteresting, fair enough. /self pity

 

So to the topic. Where do you see wrestling 5 years from now? Specifically in the US. Are the ratings going to continue to slump? And if so who or what will come forward to revitalize the product, if possible? Anyway what does everyone think?

 

This topic has probably been raised before, but any new thoughts would be appreciated.

[Guest]

Did you say something?

[Guest Mystery Eskimo]

What? /end tired joke

[Guest]

Did you guys hear something?

[Guest muzanisa]

Well the common view is that the business is cyclical and waxes and wanes in five year periods. However there has never been a monopoly before and Vince seems to be hot shotting on a grand scale in buying up every bit of talent  in North America. That combined with the unwillingness of most of the Main Eventers to actually put anyone over means I wouldn't be surprised to see te WWF decline dramatically in popularity in the next few years. However unless a viable promotion is set up I think there will be enough people like us around to keep them in business.

[Guest Goodear]

Continuing my streak of posts no one likes or pays attention to I present this one. Apparently I'm uninteresting, fair enough. /self pity

 

So to the topic. Where do you see wrestling 5 years from now? Specifically in the US. Are the ratings going to continue to slump? And if so who or what will come forward to revitalize the product, if possible? Anyway what does everyone think?

 

This topic has probably been raised before, but any new thoughts would be appreciated.

Don't cry for me .... ArgentEEEEENA!

 

Anyway, the future of wrestling is here and it looks a lot like Billy Gunn.  Seriously.  I took a look at the OVW homepage a while back and a large number of workers had the same kind of look: tall, muscular, and kind of lean.  It seems as though the variety of workers is decreasing as more of these leaners (as I call them) and cruiserweights pop up.  Where are the fat bastards to flop on people?  The manical brawlers?  I don't see this being an improvement for the state of business.

[Guest pinnacleofallthingsmanly]

I think people are being a bit optimistic whne they start talking about the cyclical nature of wrestling. Back in the teritory days, they went from area to area and didn't overexpose their product. These days the business is different. There have been two wrestling booms that the WWF has basked in so I really wonder how everybody is so optimistic and cocksure. I hope everyone is right and wrestling experiences another boom, but on the same hand I hope the WWF doesn't sit back and wait for it and continues putting forth a lot of bad stuff. There is no wrestling competition around to make the WWF worry, so the WWF just might coast. I think the brand extension is a good thing though because it creates an artificial demand for the product. If you want to see Brock Lesnar, you have to watch RAW, you can't miss it and tune into Smackdown and see him and a recap of his actions from RAW. I think that is a good thing, but I hope some real competition comes along soon because even though they are trying to pass off the two shows as two different brands, they are both the same thing.

[Guest oldschoolwrestling]

The funny thing is, we say wrestling is in a slump and indeed it is, by our standards.  But tell me what is the highest rated show on UPN? What is the highest rated show on TNN?  What product gets the highest PPV buys?  Ratings in the 4's for tv arent' that bad.  Unless they drop into the mid to low 3's, we are going to keep getting the same old crap.

[Guest pinnacleofallthingsmanly]

Well considering that there is only one major promotion in the US and the fact that WWF ratings are not at their peak, you could say it is slumping. Times have been worse, but you don't strive towards staying away from your worst times, you strive towards your best. WWF might be the last man standing on the wrestling scene, but don't forget that anything that you can turn the channel to instead of WWF programming is competition.

[Guest cobainwasmurdered]

There won't be any crusierweights around, Due To Nash's drunken decision to have a game of lawn darts.

 

Goldust will be fired after he runs out of gold paint and his debut as Pinkdust bombs.

 

HHH and Stephanie will break up.

 

HHH will disappear and redebut as: The Gobelly Gooker 2002.

 

Vince will die when he fails off his penthouse's balcony while trying to kiss his own ass.

[Guest Will Scarlet]

I know I always hate when I hear that the business is cyclical.  I always feel that it often times human nature that ends up hurting the business. It is like when people are getting bored with the WWF and stop watching.  The WWF promptly blames the ratings downturn on midcarders and guys who are recently getting pushed, and decides that the people do not want new guys into the fold, they want more Austin, more Rock, more McMahons, more UT, and a healthy helping of Triple H.  Of course, the problem usually seems to be that the fans are sick of seeing one, some, or all of those guys, thus causing the ratings to fall more, Vince panics, does something stupid, which leads to more stupidity, which leads to Lucy the dog taking a dump on the floor.  

 

I think the brand extension is a step in the right direction as Raw and Smackdown were basically becoming recap shows for the last few months.  Both shows never seemed like they were must see to me because I thought, "Well, if I missed anything important, it will be recapped on the next show." Not to mention the utter stupidity of recapping what happened earlier, as if everyone switched over to Ally McBeal when it happened, so they have to show a recap of it, just in case no one saw it.  Doing I really need to see Rock getting hit by a semi 15 times in a two hour period?  At least now they seem to be giving longer matches, and are actually showcasing their upcoming talent.  I would love to see the split succeed, as I feel that it could get interesting down the road.  

 

I think wrestling will be just fine 5 years from now, as long as they do not do anything too stupid.  Who knows? Lesnarmania could be running wild 5 years from now, or the upper card could still be full of the same guys who are in the upper card with McMahons everywhere and 3 minute matches and screwjobs happening everywhere.  I try to look at it from an optimistic standpoint, and think things will be just fine 5 years from now. The WWF seems to doing the right things so far with the brand extension, and they seem to be shying away from the stale Attitude era, so it just might be okay, afterall

[Guest razazteca]

In the next 5 years the WWF will try to reinvent itself by changing networks again, making new sets with a Save by the Bell theme, Dustin Diamond will be an announcer.

 

WWF will not be any different than it is today, unless it gets a new owner.

[Guest Risk]

Maybe Vince SHOULD sell 35% of his 70% WWFE stock, thus making them real co-owners.  Then they could ditch the writers and let wrestlers make their own gimmicks.  They also need to vacate and eliminate some of the titles.

[Guest Zack Malibu]

In the next 5 years the WWF will try to reinvent itself by changing networks again, making new sets with a Save by the Bell theme, Dustin Diamond will be an announcer.

We can only hope!

 

Seriously, I think over the next few years we'll finally see McMahon and co. break down and give in to lucha/puro influence to an extent.  I think Chris Benoit will have had a healthy reign with the WWF Title at least once, I think Jamie Knoble, Brock Lesnar, Prototype and Sean O'Haire will be upper level/main event stars, and I think we would have at least 2 "real life" controversies involving popular stars of the day.

[Guest Lei Tong]

(Wishful thinking):

 

-Vince McMahon will attempt to build up heat for a few of his wrestlers (and his company in general) by pushing them as faux-shooters. However, after a few are destroyed by mid-level MMA fighters in actual MMA matches, he pulls the plug on the idea and claims the fights were works.

[Guest razazteca]

Vince McMahon will attempt to build up heat for a few of his wrestlers (and his company in general) by pushing them as faux-shooters. However, after a few are destroyed by mid-level MMA fighters in actual MMA matches, he pulls the plug on the idea and claims the fights were works.

 

Hmmm an angle for Shamrock and Waterman!!!!

[Guest Lei Tong]

I like how they refer to Waterman as a former "UFC Champion" despite being 2-1 in his UFC career, while Shamrock has had "great succss in the MMA world" since his stint in the WWF, although his wins were against Alexander Otsuka (2-8) & Sam Atkins (1-6), for  a record of 2-2 since he left the WWF.

 

Hopefully, someting like what I wrote before happens.