Hi, my name is Rudo, and....

[RavishingRickRudo 0]

This is a thread for those who are (and are becoming) completely disinterested in the WWE and those who have already stopped watching.

 

Identify yourselves here, brothers.

 

Come and share your experiences of apathy.

 

I tried to watch RAW today.

 

I saw HHH's interview, it wasn't bad. I couldn't care less. I've seen and heard it a thousand times before.

 

I saw parts of Steph, but changed the channel before she could form words. She might possibly be the least sexy woman alive. Speaking of which, Trish Stratus, Ashley, that chick who was doing the same thing Victoria did a few years ago. Sandpaper is more appealing than those girls. But that's what you get when all the girls look the same.

 

I saw bits of the cabana with John Cena saying he wants to put his cock in Angles mouth and have Carlito suck his balls. Potential feuds against Big Show, Angle, Carlito, HBK and Edge had my blood rushing... I'm sorry, did I say "blood"? I meant "fingers"... rushing to the remote, that is. Why should I care about any of it?

 

I saw Cena say he lost respect for HHH and saw other wrestlers act like HHH hasn't done this a thousand times before, and I couldn't believe their disgust for a single fucking second.

 

Then I saw Vince and Steph and Linda fuck with JR. You'd think that something like this would get the fans enraged, but to me, there wasn't nearly as much heat for it as there should have been. Why? Because they've done this sort of thing to JR countless times and no one believes it.

 

This is not one of my "GOD I HATE THE WWE~! HOW COULD THEY DO THIS!" rants. No, those were a few years ago. Infact, the rants I have nowadays for the WWE are few and far between. Not because they haven't fucked up in some places, because they probably have. I just don't care enough to complain about them.

 

No, this is just a feeble attempt to convey my disinterest in the WWE and hoping that others here will express theirs, in hopes that somehow, someway, someone in the WWE will read this and realize that fans who have been with them for years, who have loved them, who have hated them, are simply not feeling anything for them anymore, and potentially never will again.

 

My name is John MacKinnon.

 

I live in Mississauga, Ontario. I'm 22.

 

The first house show I went to, and first wrestling memory I have, was a WWF show in the Halifax Forum, in the month of January 1990 and from that day-on I have been with the WWE - through highs and lows. I've cheered Hulk Hogan, Bret Hart, Shawn Michaels, Steve Austin, The Rock, Brock Lesnar. I've spent countless hours of my life -probably too much time most would say- dedicated to what I thought was one of the greatest shows on earth. And even in my most bitter, venomous, state, I still thought that. And the only reason I was angry was because I thought you, WWE, could do better.

 

Well now I don't. And I am just about done thinking, caring, feeling anything for this promotion that I've spent 15 years of my life following. Because, simply put, there is nothing to feel. I don't even hate that I'm feeling this way. I'm going to move on, just like millions of others have, because it's clear the WWE can't go forward. The only thing is, I'm saying it with words, and I hope others share theirs, so there could be a voice put to the actions. That if millions of people walking away doesn't say anything, maybe a clearer message is needed.

[USC Wuz Robbed! 0]

I haven't watched WWE since about June, having finally given up around draft time.

[Chazz 0]

I watched just about all of The MNF Game between San Diego and my Hometown Pittsburgh Steelers. The only time I changed channels all night to USA was at Halftime, and even then I quickly switched back. I laughed to myself as I thought back to when the choice was actually a difficult one: Watch The Steelers or MNF. Now It doesn't even matter if The Steelers are playing or not on MNF.

[The Buzz 0]

*a tear falls from his eye and he sniffles before stepping up to the podium*

 

I too have stopped watching Raw. I've recently over the past few weeks tried to watch and find myself changing the channel or popping in an alternative wrestling product or best of dvds produced by the WWE.

 

I grew up cheering for guys like The LOD, The Ultimate Warrior, Savage, Piper, Hart, Lesnar, Benoit, Guerrero, Sting, Flair, Vader, Goldberg, and Steamboat among others. When WCW and ECW died I was left with two choices. Quit watching wrestling(wasn't into Puro or indy wrestling at the time), or watch WWE programming, which I hadn't really watched full time since 97. In my post I will post why I do not enjoy the product any more rather than simply say they suck.

 

Matches: I'm not a guy who's going to say any new wrestler who sucks in the WWE sucks everywhere unless I've seen their other work outside of the WWE and it sucks as well. With that being said...what's the point with the matches in the WWE? They are usually a bunch of signature moves that were cool on the indy circuit or in japan in the late 80s and early 90s, a few chinlocks armbars and sleepers thrown in to make you think they are using ring pyschology, and a finisher, ref bump, or interference. There are rarely any stories told in a WWE match, and when there is its by guys like Regal, Benoit, Guerrero, Venis, HBK, Angle, and to an extent Taker and HHH. To be honest it's not just WWE that's done this...a lot of wcw from 97 on was exactly the same. It's hard to see two guys bust their ass like Lesnar and Eddy did at No Way Out 2004 using ring pyschology and selling...only to come back the next night on Raw and see a bunch of guys pretending to be superman going through the motions. I read about how all the veterans say that so and so who was praised by the net.

 

Storylines: I find myself watching the shows able to predict what is going to happen after not watching for three months. While that isn't neccesarily horrible....the fact that the storylines make me cringe is. How many times is the undertaker gonna be locked in a casket and "die" only to come back and then destroy his nemesis. I love Undertaker....but damn write a new storyline already.

 

Drinking The Koolaid: If Vince and the boys said it, then it must be true. When people call Vince a genius it makes me cringe. Give me a couple hundred million dollars, and I too can throw a bunch of ideas at the wall and I'm dead sure atleast one of them will stick. Oh hey....lets sign this guy who's being called a great worker in Japan and the indys, let him work a match, then tell him he sucks because he actually uses pyschology and selling. I won't go into much on that point other than pointing out the situation that happened with Jericho and the one currently with CM Punk. Lastly the whole no one does sports entertainment better than WWE thing....well that's just a load of horse shit. The whole Ultimate Warrior deal too....i mean jesus if I was a million dollar company and got beat in court by a wrestler I could spread a bunch of propaganda too. I'm sure some of its true...but there are two sides to every story and somewhere in the middle lies the truth.

 

Better Alternatives: ROH, NOAH, NJPW, Classic Wrestling, and even TNA. I have hope that TNA can pave the way for ROH to get an investor and go national. None of the promotions I listed are perfect, but they provide me entertainment and good matches. Which at the end of the day is more than I can say about the WWE.

 

 

I doubt anything beyond Sting making a comeback would make me watch WWE, but as a guy who's going to go through training soon to be a pro-wrestler I'd hope they improve their product enough to help make the market stronger so that I and others have more opportunities waiting for us.

[The Niggardly King 0]

This thread makes me apathetic, but not as much as the current WWE product.

[tommytomlin 0]

I was heavy into the WWF as a kid, living in Australia my only contact with the Whiff was through their monthly magazines and tapes of PPVs, but it was my #1 obsession. When we got cable TV, I started watching WCW Nitro each week and liked that even more. RAW eventually hit cable, but I never got into the WWF as much as I did WCW. The Attitude Era was great, and I'd watch RAW every week, but I'd never miss Nitro.

 

Even in the darkest days of WCW, I could watch three hours of Russo's Nitro with that god-awful tag team tournament with PG-13 and David Flair and Crowbar and Steiner joining the nWo at the end and enjoy it more than two hours of RAW at its hottest period. When WCW died, I was stuck with the WWE.

 

I enjoyed it, in 2001 I ordered pretty much every PPV. From 2002-2004, I got the Big 5. But I noticed that while I read the RAW and Smackdown results and every piece of wrestling news or opinion I could, I never really sat down and watched the shows. We get the shows on a delay, so I would just read the results and watch bits that interested me. I don't think I've watched a full RAW since 2001. And since Wrestlemania of this year, I haven't ordered a PPV. Not one. I've got tickets to RAW at the Sydney Superdome at the end of this month, but I wouldn't say I'm psyched for it.

 

I don't know if I've outgrown wrestling (I'm only 21), I'd watch TNA and ROH if it was readily available, but I'm just bored of WWE. I'm bored that they haven't re-invented themselves for 5 years. The WWF of 1995 would not have worked in 2000, so why do they think the WWF of 2000 will work in 2005?

[Kurt Angle Mark 0]

Up until last week I had taped every single episode of Smackdown but due to the Angels playoff game and KCOP deciding to change the re-air time at the last moment I missed last week's episode.

 

A few years ago, hell a few months ago, someone at KCOP would be dead by now but instead I didn't give a crap.

[Guest Amy Ace]

brothers & sisters, my man! I too, am dissallusioned with the current state of the wwe. And dear lord did that triple h promo go on forever.

[King Cucaracha 0]

I've never been one of the "OMG BOYCOTT RAW" types (man, those were the days, huh? Huh? Yeah...) but I've pretty much given up hope on Raw. Homecoming was the final nail in the coffin. Smackdown still holds a little bit of interest, but it's sad when I'm only contemplating watching a show for Ken Kennedy.

 

I still watch if it's on. Scheduling here in the UK isn't as bad as in the US apparantly, ie no clashes with football/soccer, and there's usually enough repeats of shows that eventually one is on when nothing else is. But I no longer go out of my way to catch the WWE. This year is pretty much the first year I've ever missed Summerslam and not given it a second thought.

 

Then again, I'm lucky because over here we get ROH, TNA and NOAH on 'free' TV, amongst other promotions. There's also UFC shown for 'free'. I also own a shitload of tapes and DVDs which are more than enough to pass time when I want to watch wrestling.

[edotherocket 0]

I've been a fan since my brother rented Wrestlemania 5 when it came out on VHS. I watched during the quieter mid-Nineties period and even though it dipped in popularity, I still enjoyed watching matches with Hart, Michaels, Nash and Hall.

 

My interest first started waning in 2001, with the Taker/Kane vs Austin/HHH main event for Backlash. From there you had shit like the necrophilia and whatnot but they also had some awesome matches such as Benoit&Lesnar vs Team Angle and Benoit/Lesnar.

 

I was absolutely thrilled to see Benoit and Guerrero close out WM20 and I actually met Benoit this year and shook his hand and got a photo taken with him.

 

I think that moment was where I was done with WWE. It'd be nice if Benoit or Eddie won the title again but I don't really care either way. I had a mild spike in interest with Shelton Benjamin's WM XXI performance (and that Shawn/Angle match was good too) but it has absolutely flatlined at this stage, and like Rudo, I'm not even angry at Shelton's treatment post-Mania, just indifferent.

 

In the past year, I've also become a big fan of wrestlers in NOAH, ROH and TNA. All three promotions provide me with either consistent high quality matches (ROH and NOAH) or potential (TNA) which satisfy my wrestling fix.

 

I'll keep checking up on WWE for when they throw out the occasional Regal/Benoit match on Velocity or maybe they'll let CM Punk or Burchill bust out a good match but by and large, my interest in the fed is pretty much done.

[World's Worst Man 0]

I watched WWF since I was knew what pro wrestling was (1989 at the age of 5). I stopped caring about WWF near the end of 1999, and I haven't cared since. It was just a matter of growing up and realizing how bad the WWE was. I didn't care if the angles were "kewl~!" because they were illogical and ridiculous. They certainly weren't bringing it from a match quality perespective. A handful of *** matches a year doesn't cut it. I just moved on to better wrestling, it was as simple as that. And at this point, I'm fairly certain the WWE will never have what I'm looking for. Their "WWE style" doesn't seem to be going away anytime soon, which pretty much kills any chance of the promotion consistently producing good matches. Plus, their insistence on pushing steroid freaks severely limits their chances on finding good talent. Nothing short of the McMahon family selling the promotion to someone who knows what they're doing will fix what ails the WWE. And we all know that's never going to happen.

[EricMM 0]

The only WWE I've watched in weeks has been the online content.

 

Brian Kendrick? Paul London?

 

WWE will have me as long as they're employed.

 

But only for THEM.

[redbaron29 0]

I too have been watching the product since the late 80's. When I saw Raw last night, like most nights in the past four years...I really didn't care. Then as I watched the McMahon/JR segment something happened that hasn't before. For the first time every I was actually ashamed to be watching this. I feel horrible about it, and contemplating just simply not going to my friends house next week. In fact I don't think I can watch it for awhile.

[Black Lushus 0]

i watch out of habit...a BAD habit, but habit none-the-less...

[Guest Damn You Helmsley]

I stopped watching in the summer of 2003. It was when Angle had just come back from injury. As soon as he started singing along to the "You suck!" chants, I knew it was over for me. I have little awareness of what's going on in the company right now though if RAW had Vince, Stephanie and Linda on the show, "fucking" with JR as recently as yesterday then I admire the people that still bother to tune in.

[dubq 0]

Didn't watch, and haven't in weeks, but I'm reading the results right now. All of the McMahons except Shane are back? Why is this? Because for some reason their segment with Austin was the highest rated last week?

 

No one needs this.

[Stephen Joseph 0]

I care more about TNA now than WWE

 

Give me alternative products like the indys where guys bust their ass over the stale WHEEE anyday of the week

[spman 0]

I sat through 1989, I sat through 1995, and I sat through 1999, the stuff on RAW now looks like EMLL in comparison to the shit cranked out in those years.

[Guest I miss Test.]

I've watched WWE sparingly since 2001.

 

Like people said before, I think people's habit of watching Raw may finally be dying. More and more of my markish friends are getting that "ashamed to watch" feeling. I'd hope this would start to show in the ratings, but it hasn't.

[Guest Reservoir_Kitty]

I still watch out of some fucked up sense of loyalty. Why? I'm not sure. Maybe I just like to torment myself. I was frantically flipping back and forth between USA and Spike at the end of the night, catching snippets of TUF while Vince and Stephanie stunk up my TV.

 

I like UFC and TNA wayyyyy more than WWE.

 

I suppose pretty soon, I'll just stop watching WWE altogether. I stopped caring about it a long time ago.

[Guest scratch]

Watching that JR/Vince segment made me really think that Vince has completely lost touch with his audience, and if he doesn't die or give the business up, that he is going to eventually run this company straight into the ground. I've always looked forward to RAW, even Smackdown still, even though I'm kind of indifferent to the WWE product as it is... but lately.. I dunno. I turned it off before Linda came down thinking she would turn on JR and fire him anyway. Looks like I was right.

 

I'm done with WWE for now.

 

Wrestlemania tickets were going to be bought on Saturday. But now... I think I'm gonna spend my money on a product more worthwhille.

[Guest Andrew J.]

Man, and you said ROH fans try to get themselves over at the expense of the product. They've got nothing on you, RRR.

[Guest Fook_Theta]

The opening Doink-Conway match was fucking strange. I thought at first Nick Dinsmore was behind the mask but apparently it wasn't him. Sloppy and strange.

 

I thought the womens match was pretty good this week. The beginning sucked with Victoria selling way too much and some contrived/sloppy offense from Trish. Came together when Victoria took over and the little brawl section was unusually nice. Anything unexpected and entertaining deserves some praise.

 

Damn good HHH promo. I suppose he's had so many this one means nothing but removing him from all his previous work this was quite good. Now if any other wrestler could get that much time to tell a story we'd be in business.

 

The Cabana segment was good till Cena came out. I hate the Prototype so maybe it's just my bias. Why is HBK a face again? Do these people remember what has went on in the past few months?

 

The Trios match was pretty good. Finish was unexpected and I was glad to see it. Give Angle the title.

 

The finishing segment was terrible. Lawler shouldn't have gotten off the hook as easily as he did. Linda McMahon is backstage day in and day out with wrestlers for over 20 years and she has never once asked any of them how to throw a fake kick to the groin. Evil Linda needs to manage evil Kane just as another spit in the face of continunity.

[JN News 0]

I couldn't finish watching RAW, last night, because I was so bored to death with the whole show being centered around the McMaHHHons. I just had to go to bed.

 

 

 

 

 

And that is just a bad sign for me.

[Guest Fook]

Raw was delayed in Canada last night due to the Leafs game.

 

I went online when the game was done, but before Raw started and read up on the first hour of the show (which had already been shown in the US).

 

I hated the McMahonamania at homecoming, so when I read that Steph opened the show, I decided to skip the entire thing. Reading the full results, it looks like I was right to do so.

 

I stopped watching SD last year when the JBL uber-push started. I've stopped watching Raw twice before in its lifetime (mid-95 and late-02) and it looks like I'm going for number three. Like others above mentioned, it's mostly due to the complete apathy and, quite frankly, embarassment I feel after watching. Everyone knows they could do so much more, but if they don't care, why should I?

[2GOLD 0]

i watch out of habit...a BAD habit, but habit none-the-less...

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

This shit is a drug addiction without the high. It's just take the drug and feel the mind numbing hurts so bad CRASH.

 

If I didn't MST3K it with my best friend, I wouldn't be watching anymore. I'd be watching Prison Break or Football or anything.

[Guest panthermatt7]

I became a wrestling fan for a few years back when I was eight years old (1991), and watched WWF Superstars every Saturday morning for a few years up until the kids at school revealed to me that *GASP* it was fake!!!!

 

After several years away from that "stupid fake sport," my father began watching episodes of Smackdown that were shown on our local Fox station late Saturday nights (he would get kicked out of the bed for snoring by my mother, go downstaiirs and turn on the TV while fallling asleep). This was 2000, during the Rock vs. HHH/McMahons/The Entire World feud. I teased him about watching something that was fake, but finally he convinced me to watch with him. I was intrigued by Rock's mic skills and the seemingly unpredictable storylines. It fascinated me how Vince & Co. would pull out stumbling block after stumbling block to prevent The Rock from even facing HHH for the championship, let alone win. A bunch of my friends would come over and we would order pizza, watch RAW and play pool.

 

Then, near the end of my senior year of high school (2001), I became involved in the internet wrestling arena - e-feds, internet forums, etc. This only furthered my interest in wrestling, as I began to look deeper into characters and storylines.

 

After I went off to college, I managed to make my roommate into a (casual) wrestling fan. We would watch RAW every Monday night and try to predict storylines (who would turn heel, what kind of gimmick the blowoff match for a feud would be, etc). The problem started occurring near the end 2001, when suddenly we began to predict them correctly. Suddenly, I knew what was happening sometimes shows in advance before it would. This type of predictability diidn't exist before. It became boring, but I watched anyway, in hope that it would get better. My roommate stopped watching. By the middle of my sophomore year, I began catching only bits and pieces when I was around the TV, and checking recaps on TSM for more.

 

Since 2004, I have never watched more than 30 mins of any given RAW. I read every recap to find out what's happening, and am immediately grateful for not doiing so. I have been working Monday nights now, so I honestly can say that the last time I actually clicked on RAW was last April.

[Masked Man of Mystery 0]

I can't watch any wrestling right now the way my schedule is unless it's on the DVR in my work's break room. I'm much happier going through the used wrestling DVDs I found at Strawberries and MMA stuff because the current product doesn't even sound interesting to me anymore. I hope TNA or ROH get a show on broadcast TV and remind people what this is all about

[Slayer 0]

Watched religiously from 1985 to 2001, albeit with some gaps because my dad hated wrestling and would prevent me from watching at any possible opportunity

 

Invasion initially drew me in but the downplay of actual WCW/ECW talent in favor of highlighting the already old intra-McMahon feud (Steph being introduced as the 'head' of ECW was the exact turning point for me) turned me off until late '02 when word of the SD6 brought me back, although by the time I heard and caught on, they were already waning. After that I watched sporadically until the mass firings earlier this year (around WM) turned me off entirely.

 

I still like old school, puro and indy stuff (TNA has already caught my eye), but right now the E is dead to me

[RavishingRickRudo 0]

There are different stages in losing your WWEligion. The people who say they watch out of habit, believe me, I did too. I'm pretty sure the majority of folk here who have stopped watching did. You don't just STOP at one point and never go back - it's more of a progression. Soon enough you'll find yourself missing a show or two here, a show or two there, and realize that it doesn't matter if you miss a show, nothing ever really happens and you can always turn back to it and get caught up easily. So then you start missing more and more shows. The habit breaks. And without that "habit", there is no interest at all.