What casual fans want

[Promoter 0]

I think what it all boils down to his heat and momentumn. When the wrestling gets hot they get away with a lot of crap that they would alienate fans with when they are not doing so well. The wwe also needs to know their market. From some stuff I've read it seems like the wwe's main audience is growing in age. This person who wrote this article is thinking like Vince Russo 1999 and last I checked that was in the last millennium.

 

Let's see here. When Vince Mcmahon took over the company with the expansion it's said that the audience that was attracted to the product was older males who were into the realism(or what was realistic). Sort of a PT Barnum style. So, Vince took that product and slowly transformed it into sports entertainment with slicker storylines and bigger/better stars. By 1988-89 Vince became more Walt Disney with the product to attract kids with ice cream bars and action figures all over. Vince kept to that script, but he did not realize that those same kids were now teenagers or had grown into young adults. In late '95 it was said that the wwe would become more adult oriented with storylines and even released the raw magazine(for the smart fan). Remember the HBK storyline where he came back too soon from head injuries in a match with Owen Hart? The wwe was just on the brink of getting with the 90's and "keepin it real".

 

However, Eric Bischoff and the nWo took it to a new level by blurring reality/fiction with the hostile takeover. The wrestling storylines became more realistic, believable, and less insulting which brought back the fans who were turned off from the cartoon characters like The Goon and insulting storylines like the Dungeon of Doom/Giant falling off Cobo Arena. The wwe and wcw started to get with pop culture with gang warz playing off the east coast/west coast hip hop rivalry being played up in the media. The "Me Against the World" attitude started to takeover in the wrestling business with the nWo and "Stone Cold" Steve Austin and the casual/masses hooked onto the product. It captivated the audience regardless of the product's quality. That's the difference back then and now.

 

Now, the wwe has lost the some fans just like they lost the fans that hooked onto the product in the 80's in the early 90's because of doing the same crap. An example this week was the midget Undertaker skit. That is not entertaining anymore. It was during the days of attitude/wcw/nwo. The reason the wwe is not mainstream is that the overall atmosphere doesn't have anything to grab the masses because it isn't hooking onto what is hot in pop culture. It has nothing to do with long ironman matches(really look at the ratings and see it wasn't that much of a difference from previous weeks as someone said the wwe has its core fanbase watching regardless of anything) or short Diva search segments because if the wwe had at least one or two powerful stars like Austin and Rock the fans would follow. The wwe needs someone like a John Cena to take off since he has the potential to have that appeal for the youth like Austin and Hogan did before him with the type of character he has. Orton on raw could also be groomed as an old school type generation star for the new millennium.

 

The thing is if the wwe just simply gets a couple of hot stars for the two brands it's kind of irrelevant what type of product it is unfortunately as we saw 1999 was a terrible year, but they made some serious ratings(although the ppv numbers weren't all that great in comparison). When I also think about it 1999 was a year that the wwe did a lot of reversal of what brought them back to the dance with the outrageous and over the top antics which only get them the kind of flavour of the month popularity. The wwe and wcw/nwo got back with "shoot" and realistic storylines, but ended going back to action adventure stuff that slowly turned away fans a couple of years later. The reason the popularity sustained because the wwe had strong stars into 2001 and by 2002 the wwe was grasping for straws bringing back the nWo and trying to shove guys like Brock Lesnar down people's throats. That was the chance to have a rebirth of some sort, but the wwe went again with the action adventure crap like Rock being killed in a semi and Jericho being a lap dog of a champion. The wwe has re-started and promised new eras since then, but have disappointed fans. The casual fans are out there as we see the increase in ratings like the night of the draft lottery. The wwe just has to win back the general audience's trust and I don't think having champs like JBL will do it. There are no short cuts to bring the wwe back to the promise land.

[Lord of The Curry 0]

You bring up a really good point Loss. I'm slowly in the process of attempting to convert my best friend into a wrestling fan. For the most part, the matches I've shown him have centered around two wrestlers: Chris Benoit and Rey Mysterio. I picked Rey to show him how fun wrestling can be to watch. Cruiserweights have the most cross-over appeal to non-fans in terms of how quickly they can get over. All it takes is a good hurricanrana or 450 splash to get a non-fan into the match sometimes and that's what happened with my friend.

 

He's more into Benoit, though, I think because what Benoit does in the ring always comes across as legit, hard and athletic. When watching other matches my friend will sometimes point out how fake a strike looks or how contrived a spot is. That doesn't happen when we're watching Benoit matches.

[Kizzo 0]

All you guys made some very valid points...

 

On storylines...I do agree with Vince Russo on one thing...you cannot insult the viewers....if you do...they will be turned off immediately....

 

Casual viewers(also interent fans)...but mostly the casual viewer...wants a character that they can relate too....I have yet to see a character that could relate to pop culture...besides maybe John Cena....if they had a Russo or Kreski in creative.....John Cena could be a very valuable person to the WWE....he has mainstream written all over him..

[King Cucaracha 0]

Do you not think Benoit has the type of appeal that would get real sports fans interested in the product since his work doesn't look "fake"? And Jericho has more value than the company allows him to have -- they never cross-promote his appearances on VH1, where he comes off well, and they won't let him become a permanent headliner.

I agree Benoit can draw fans into the wrestling portion of the shows. But, he doesn't scream 'mainstream' like The Rock did. I think if you're talking A casual fan, you can show that fan Benoit's work and he'll most probably be impressed. However that's not going to make that fan tell 9 of his friends how cool Benoit is. And even if he does, the first impression of Benoit (not very young, gaptoothed, doesn't possess natural charisma) will be a detrimant to him.

 

Basically, if you school casual fans on wrestling then they will warm towards Benoit. But left to their own means, there's no snappy catchphrase, sparkling personality or oozing of charisma than entertainers must have to draw in the fans...whever it be movies or music. The diehard fans will look for quality. The mainstream fans looks for something which can only be described with a buzz-word like 'Pizzaaz' or something. And it's the entertainment part that most casual fans will be won or lost on. If it were the wrestling, then likely they'd already be watching wrestling and enjoying it.

 

...as for Jericho, I agree to a point. That point being his look. The long rock-star hair, parchant for leather pants and the fact his merchandise looks like it's directed towards his female fanbase...not good. It can be looked past, but again, first impressions count.

[CanadianChick 0]

And Jericho has more value than the company allows him to have -- they never cross-promote his appearances on VH1, where he comes off well, and they won't let him become a permanent headliner.

I agree. WWE obviously knows that he comes off well at public appearances, as he's probably the guy who maybe does the most PR out of the wrestlers. The fans love him, he makes his opponents look good, he's got a pretty boy look (the most desireable outside of the body builder look). There is no excuse why he shouldn't be consistantley higher in the card.

 

LOTC, I also showed an open minded friend a number of wrestling matches, to see what she liked. She liked good cruiser matches (Rey vs. Eddie, HH '97), but got bored of some spotastic matches after seeing a lot of ladder/TLC matches after a while. On the other hand, she loved Angle/Benoit from Royal Rumble '03, because "they looked like they hated each other and were hitting hard".

[Guest Loss]

Do you not think Benoit has the type of appeal that would get real sports fans interested in the product since his work doesn't look "fake"? And Jericho has more value than the company allows him to have -- they never cross-promote his appearances on VH1, where he comes off well, and they won't let him become a permanent headliner.

I agree Benoit can draw fans into the wrestling portion of the shows. But, he doesn't scream 'mainstream' like The Rock did. I think if you're talking A casual fan, you can show that fan Benoit's work and he'll most probably be impressed. However that's not going to make that fan tell 9 of his friends how cool Benoit is. And even if he does, the first impression of Benoit (not very young, gaptoothed, doesn't possess natural charisma) will be a detrimant to him.

 

Basically, if you school casual fans on wrestling then they will warm towards Benoit. But left to their own means, there's no snappy catchphrase, sparkling personality or oozing of charisma than entertainers must have to draw in the fans...whever it be movies or music. The diehard fans will look for quality. The mainstream fans looks for something which can only be described with a buzz-word like 'Pizzaaz' or something. And it's the entertainment part that most casual fans will be won or lost on. If it were the wrestling, then likely they'd already be watching wrestling and enjoying it.

 

...as for Jericho, I agree to a point. That point being his look. The long rock-star hair, parchant for leather pants and the fact his merchandise looks like it's directed towards his female fanbase...not good. It can be looked past, but again, first impressions count.

According to market surveys WCW did in 1997, Benoit and Rey were two wrestlers that stood out as the wrestlers most respected by hardcore sports fans, those being the ones who appreciate the athleticism and attention to detail. I think if some of the other elements of WWE weren't so cartoonish, Benoit and Rey could both do a lot to draw in new viewers. The problem is that the rest of the show typically doesn't agree with them.

 

As for Jericho, if he can draw in a female demographic, that's a feather in his cap. Rock had that too, actually. Jericho has far more support among male fans than Shawn Michaels typically had in his prime, though, and Michaels was pushed as a top guy for several years in an attempt to lure in female viewers.

[King Cucaracha 0]

You may have a point on the 'Benoit/Mysterio being draws for hardcore sports fans' part. Obviously it's in a lesser extent, but Goldberg got over as hard hitting/real, Batista gets pops for his stuff, Bob Sapp over in Japan...realism helps. The thing is, they really need to couple that with a mainstream player like a Rock or a Hogan. The fans who appreciate athleticism don't really buy merchandise on the scale of the NWO fans or the Austin fans. But I agree that the Benoits and Mysterios, in WCW style matches rather than 'WWE Style' matches, can play an underrated part.

 

And I'm not saying Jericho's shirts being marketed towards girls is a bad thing. I'm saying the fact that he wears them is.