It's not really the lack of quality wrestling

[NoCalMike 0]

My interest in WWE has been waning, like many of you here at smartmarks, however I must say that despite the overall lack of quality wrestling on the shows, I think my waning interest has a lot more to do with the lack of suprises, and always seeming to know how things are being booked. You can chalk some of that up to WO.com I suppose, but even without the aide of that website, I just feel that when I am watching Raw or Smackdown, there just isn't any reason to be emotionally involved in the underdogs, and/or non-company favorites. We are back in the era of Indestructable Hogan, however it just isn't Hulk Hogan anymore.

 

Recently I had stopped watching Raw & Smackdown for almost three months, and I decided that right before the PPV to watch both to see what was going on for the PPV, and I can tell you flat our, that is was like I never even stopped watching in the first place. Neiter was doing anything remotely different from the prior 3 months it seemed.

 

I guess the wrestling scene is altogether different since there are no other promotions to compete against, so you don't see the constant jumping ship from brand to brand like you used to. Also, you don't see a competative style difference anymore. Everything and Everyone in WWE has the same "mold" to them.

 

All in all, I guess this post was a waste of time.....

 

[Black Lushus 0]

you're a true blue smark, like i mentioned in another thread....long gone are the days of just actually enjoying a wrestling show rather than analyzing EVERYTHING about it...

[Guest LooneyTune]

Wrestlemania is the only show I can get into without caring about politics... or when Hogan is on Smackdown. Makes me feel glad to be a mark sometimes when he shows up.

[Guest Loss]

you're a true blue smark, like i mentioned in another thread....long gone are the days of just actually enjoying a wrestling show rather than analyzing EVERYTHING about it...

I agree, those days are definitely long gone. I wish the product was so good right now that we could just enjoy it, but I guess when one's enjoyment is affected, we're going to try to figure out why. There are a lot of factors involved, and I think the writers have lost sight of the fact that watching the show should be fun and they've stopped thinking about the shows from a fan's point of view.

[Taker666 0]

you're a true blue smark, like i mentioned in another thread....long gone are the days of just actually enjoying a wrestling show rather than analyzing EVERYTHING about it...

For me , thats what I always do when watching WWE programming. I don't let what I read on the net effect what I watch and I definlly don't analyze or put logic into everything the WWE does. Its just more fun the watch Raw and SD! that way. Like any other TV show, I watch WWE to be entertained and I have been enjoying Raw and Smackdown these past couple of months. i"ve seen alot of great matches on the shows latly, espeically SD!. WWE shows arn't made to be analyzed. if your watching WWE with a smark state of mind than WWE isn't for you, you'll be hating on everything they do. Instead of wondering why the WWE put the belt on JBL, why don't you just enjoy him as the cocky heel busniess man you love to hate. Hell, even if a show is bad, there would always be at least something I enjoyed about the show.

[Guest Loss]

Loving everything is an apologist point of view. Not speaking with your wallet when the shows aren't as good as they once were only encourages them to put out more crap. It's never a good idea to blame fans for watching wrestling the wrong way. That's more elitist than anything a "smark" could ever dream of.

[Crimson Platypus 0]

For me it's not so much the lack of quality wrestling as it is the lack of actual matches. Take this week's SD! as an example:

 

Matches:

 

1. Fatal Four way - I enjoyed it, fun match nothing great but yeah okay.

 

2. Angle Invitational - Two and a half minute squash. Completely pointless.

 

3. Cena beat Kenzo in less time than match #2, and was an even bigger squash imo.

 

4. Funaki/Nunzio - good match, very enjoyable but rather short.

 

 

So over two hours, and roughly 10 minutes of wrestling? Considering the horrendous writers the WWE employs, this is completely unacceptable. All of that other storyline stuff is fine, but it should be taking a backseat to the wrestling, not the other way around.

[Taker666 0]

For me it's not so much the lack of quality wrestling as it is the lack of actual matches. Take this week's SD! as an example:

 

Matches:

 

1. Fatal Four way - I enjoyed it, fun match nothing great but yeah okay.

 

2. Angle Invitational - Two and a half minute squash. Completely pointless.

 

3. Cena beat Kenzo in less time than match #2, and was an even bigger squash imo.

 

4. Funaki/Nunzio - good match, very enjoyable but rather short.

 

 

So over two hours, and roughly 10 minutes of wrestling? Considering the horrendous writers the WWE employs, this is completely unacceptable. All of that other storyline stuff is fine, but it should be taking a backseat to the wrestling, not the other way around.

Yeah, some more wrestling on the show would of been nice, but storylines > Matches have been going on sence the attitude days so complaining about it NOW is kinda pointless to me.

 

besides, didn't Raw have 8 matches the other week?

[NoCalMike 0]

It's not even the lack of wrestling perse. I mean hell in the Attitude era, the promos and skits were hilarious, so I tended to overlook the lack of wrestling.

 

Also, WM is the one show I can not care about anything political and just enjoy the show. The same goes for the rumble match, or at least until it is down to the obvious final four guys.

[RavishingRickRudo 0]

It's the lack of characters you can get behind. There really isn't a wrestler I am invested in. Then it's the storylines that interest you. Then the good wrestling. A shit match can still be enjoyable if the personalities are right.

[Slayer 0]

you're a true blue smark, like i mentioned in another thread....long gone are the days of just actually enjoying a wrestling show rather than analyzing EVERYTHING about it...

It doesn't take a great deal of analysis for me to say that ten minutes of diva pillow fighting is not enjoyable

[RavishingRickRudo 0]

Shhh.

 

Let him continue babbling like a dumbfuck.

[Black Lushus 0]

oh piss on you Rudo, you're the very defintion of guy with too much time onhis hands...

[Guest Loss]

Rudo listens to Styx?

[Black Lushus 0]

hey, to each his own...shit, I need to quit messing with King Smark there before he destroys me with his vast knowledge and superior intellect about something as AWESOME as ProWrestling...I bow before thee...

[Slayer 0]

My point remains though. I'm not the superanalytical "It was ***1/4, not **5/8!!" smark type, I just know what I like, and when I watched RAW for the first time since the night after WM (bored in my hotel room, driving back from Georgia to here), I know I saw stuff I didn't like

[Black Lushus 0]

no I get that, I'm the same way...but when I watch a match, I try to fight the urge to gauge every single aspect involved and just enjoy the match as is...

[Guest Loss]

The point of looking deeper, though, believe it or not, is not to pick apart the bad, but rather praise the excellent. The problems start when the bad occurs, as you kinda have to be fair.

[Black Lushus 0]

but why look deeper? boredom? staleness of WWE product? exposure to the internet over so many years?

[RavishingRickRudo 0]

You know you're on a wrestling messageboard, so this "cooler than thou" shit doesn't really fly, right?

 

I watch other shows with the same critical eye that I do wrestling (even more), yet I enjoy those shows A LOT more than RAW or Smackdown. Why? Because it HOLDS UP. I put it under the microscope and it passes. And sometimes, it goes beyond my expectations. The WWE fails 99% of the times and the word "exceeds expectations" is rarely, if ever, used. Somehow, this is "us smarks" fault for thinking about what's being presented (or, as you say "analyzing EVERYTHING") rather than being rah-rah for complete shit.

 

Back on topic, the WWE would do itself a favour if they change the format for their shows. If someone who stopped watching in 2001 turned on the channel to see HHH on the screen in the middle of the ring cutting a promo talking about how he's god, the lil scratch mark in the bottom, JR and the King throwing in lil quips, the authority figure comes out with his theme music from under the titantron, the crowd boos him and hold their signs, there are short camera shots and reaction shots and JR and King wonder what's going on... why would they continue watching? It's the same thing they STOPPED watching a few years ago. The foundation needs to change.

[RavishingRickRudo 0]

but why look deeper? boredom? staleness of WWE product? exposure to the internet over so many years?

Some people don't turn their brains off when wrestling is on, you know?

 

...

 

"Why did that happen/Why did they do that/What is going on/What is going to happen"

 

These thoughts go through my mind, as a reaction to what I am watching, in regards to *everything* I watch. Every show I watch is able to explain it easily. WWE? Not so much.

[Black Lushus 0]

if anyone around here thinks they are "cooler than thou", it's you big boy...heaven forbid someone brings an opinion that differs from you...you immediately tear them up left and right, saying that our opinions are stupid, we're stupid blah blah as if someone died and made you THE poster...you don't just do that to me but others as well...I guess I need to remind myself you are one of the TSM "Untouchables" and I need to kiss the ground you walk on...alright I'm done...have fun "always being right" Rudo...

[Guest Loss]

but why look deeper? boredom? staleness of WWE product? exposure to the internet over so many years?

Because respecting pro wrestling as an art form and respecting the wrestlers involved for busting their asses means paying attention. It's no different than Roger Ebert reviewing movies or studying literature in school. Some things work and some things don't in wrestling -- some of us think it's fascinating because it's a performance art and the ability to hold a crowd in the palm of one's hand through staged combat is pretty fucking amazing when you think about it. It's worth looking at. Not everyone has to do it, and if you're happier not looking deeper, that's certainly your prerogative. But I see wrestling as one of the greatest forms of storytelling there is, and like with any story, it's natural to want to figure out what made it so good. To do that, you sort of have to look beyond the surface.

[Black Lushus 0]

I can live with that reasoning...me, I just watch...if it's interesting I stay tuned, if not I turn the channel...but I get where you're coming from...

[RavishingRickRudo 0]

Wait,

 

I'm *not* THE Poster... ?

 

You've got to be fucking kidding me. Jesus fucking Christ. I.. I... I don't know what to say... I don't know what to do... Loss! LOSS! Make him stop the hurting words! Say it ain't so!

[Slayer 0]

You just wanna eat him up...

[Black Lushus 0]

oh yeah you're a barrel of laughs there, buddy...when can I expect to see your HBO Comedy Hour?

[RavishingRickRudo 0]

Your Opinions are Stupid.

[Black Lushus 0]

so are yours...neener neener...thus continues the pissing contest...

[BUTT 0]

This thread is awful....through no fault of the person who started it.