Can the WWE win back the casual fan?

[Guest panthermatt7]

First time poster. Moderate time reader.

I'm a smark in terms of knowing what goes on backstage with wrestling, but not in terms of the work rate stuff that most of you guys love.

 

I USED to enjoy WWE bc of the PROMOS, CHARACTER/STORYLINES, and SPOT FESTS.

To me, actual 'wresting' is boring.

i consider myself a casual fan which the WWE pulled in when it was doing 6-7 ratings. I still think they can pull those types of numbers, but after watching Raw last nite and on/off again the last several months, they have major problems.

 

#1. WWE was great in the past due to STRONG characters. Most of the time these guys didnt need gimmicks, they just needed to be themselves (Rock, Austin, Jericho, Mick Foley, HHH)...The WWE can have still get there because I see alot of talent that is being completely unutilized. It just makes me sick how close the WWE is to being really good again, but they cant seem to pull it together. I'm gonna analyze a few stars and give my suggestions how they can take the next step.

 

A. JOHN CENA--Lots of people here hate him but the guy has talent. Just let the dude be HIMSELF. Get rid of the wigga nonsense. Thats why people hate him. Its not his wrestling's skills, its his character. Look, Cena can be a MEGA-STAR if the WWE just lets him be whom he is...Whom is John Cena? John Cena is a Boston Southy. Right now, all things Boston are cool/hip/pop culture. Think the Red Sox, Matt Damon, Tom Brady, etc.... Let John Cena play the working class tough from the south of Boston (where's he's from in real life). Let him be the hard,tough cocky wise ass that is still a hard worker. Let him be himself. Injecting Boston into his routine is gold. Let John Cena be John Cena. Much like Austin is the beer drinking ass kicking redneck... Let Cena be the cool, hip, boston toughy.

 

B. SHELTON BENJAMIN- get rid of this guy's mama and make him a Terrell Owens character. Please. He has the look, the athletic skills, he does have an arrogance about him. TO is pop culture. This 'gimmick' is so obvious and would be perfect for Benjamin. How can the WWE miss this?

 

C. CARLITO--A ton of potential being underutilized. The guy has charisma and mic skills. How do you make him a big star? Simple. Stick the hottest piece of Latina ass you can find to be his valet/girlfriend. But she cant be an airhead. She needs to have some attitude too. You want to make the crowd jealous of Carlito. Make Carlito seem important. Sticking a hottie with him will help. Next, feed Carlito a bunch of jobbers, and part of his gimmick will be to verbally bury his opponents before each match, of even during the match. The "who's this guy" phrase he did tonite was PERFECT. Keep the energy going. Cocky prick with hot ass GF....Good we have a strong character, but there needs to be some respect there. Carlito then needs to have a few big spots. Go through a table, bleed, show that he's a bad ass in the ring as well. Now you got a strong character.

 

D. BIG SHOW and SPIRIT SQUAD--- Now comes some real fantasy booking by me. Not sure if you guys will like but here goes. First, when I look at Big Show, I see a pretty crappy wrestler. For a guy that big, he's not a monster, he has limited mic skills.. Wasted talent, right? WRONG. Big Show has a PRESENCE. When I see Big Show, I see a perfect guy to be a "godfather" or mob boss. Seriously, stick Big Show in a suit, give him a hat, and big puffy cigar. He can be intimidating. Spirit Squad--ok their current gimmick is weak. No one likes to root for or against a bunch of cheerleading wimps. They get X-Pac heat. They are just weak characters. Make the Spirit Squad guys members of Big Show's mob faction. Dress the SS in suits and tuxes. Show them meeting with Big Show in restaurants and back stage. Let them do matches where two of them tag team, and the other two run around with lead pipes and the like. Big Show's Mob Group will gain power in the WWE, and would be crazy over. They'd be a strong character group, for guys that need something to do. Big Show as Godfather would be perfect. Honestly I see Big Show and I think Marlon Brando or any of these big fat larger than life real life mob bosses.

 

 

RIC FLAIR & other Old wrestlers: WWE PLEASE stop these guys from wrestling. FLAIR should retire. He just doesnt have the look anymore. If he's going to continue to wrestle, then let him get absolutely squashed by Benjamin or another up and comer. Having the near 60yr old Flair compete with guys half his age is a joke. Give up on this joke WWE. No one is buying it or cares.

 

TAG TEAM DIVISION: You want it popular again? Bring back the TLC matches. Make it about spot fests. Thats what the casual fan wants to see. EC, Hardy Boyz, Dudley's were way way over bc of this style of match. Its the only way the division will get that over again. It doesnt matter if you have to pluck some no-name tag talents. As long as they can spot wrestle, they will get over.

 

Well, thats my perspective from the casual Attitude Era fan.

Thanks for reading.

 

I LOVE the Big Show idea. He could have what is currently the Spirit Squad be his cronies taking care of the dirty work, and then when someone became a 'problem,' he could take care of it himself in the ring. That would not only give the SS better characters, but it would also make Big Show that much more of a feared badass.

 

I also completely agree with the Shelton Benjamin gimmick. You would definitely have to find him the perfect slick-haired, fast talking agent, though. There are two big problems with Shelton's mama - first, I was watching RAW this Monday, and I didn't know whether to cheer or boo him for getting interference from her. The other is, this gimmick requires him to do a lot of acting - not a good thing. Have the agent do the acting while Shelton prima donnas it up in the corner with sunglasses on, and then he only wrestles when the conditions are perfect as set by the agent. That would be a 100% better than what we're getting now.

 

Carlito with a hot-ass girlfriend is excellent as well. You can't tell me that 75% of Edge's heat didn't come from Lita. Doing the extremely hot chick would give him an actual reason to be cocky, as well as for everyone to be jealous and hate him. It would remind me of the dumb, arrogant jock that always got the chick back in high school.

 

Really good first post; digging most of the stuff. OK, back to work.

[Jericholic82 0]

Perhaps they can drop the whole evil owner/gm thing once and for all.

 

Plus as Vince Russo said on wrestlecrap radio, let creative talk to guys and learn about them before giving them characters. Find something in their personality and blow it up.

 

 

Actually it's hard to say, there are too many factors involved in a wrestling boom. Personally I can care less about the ratings and casual fans coming back, I would just like to see a better show all around.

[USC Wuz Robbed! 0]

I'm not a fan of the Big Show mob boss idea but hey, it's better than 5 guys jumping around hootin and hollerin while clad in green jumpsuits.

 

The WWE's problem is getting something started and then cutting it off at the knees to go back to the same ol, same ol.

 

-Cena gets hot, so they nueter him.

 

-They want to make Randy the star, so they have him lose a feud to the one guy that could have made him a star.

 

-They want Lashley to seem like this big monster, so they make him look weak every which way. (Survivor Series, world title battle royal, Rumble, NWO)

 

-Edge FINALLY becomes the star they want, so they give him the lamest title reign in recent memory.

 

-Rey is the most over guy in the company, so they make him look like the biggest idiot loser around.

 

-Shelton becomes crazy over, so they start jobbing him out and give him a mamma.

 

-RVD has been over forever, so they job him constantly. How many times has the lord god king of kings himself beaten this guy, anyway? (Include Rumble eliminations, did he eliminate him this past year and in 2002?)

 

-Angle is always nuts over, so they piddle fuck around with heel/face turns.

 

the shit just doesn't make any sense.

 

 

I think that's the point. WWE doesn't seem to want anyone to look strong at the expense of anyone they MIGHT push. So they resort to even stevens booking that just ends up neutering everyone involved... well not everyone. Thhhere's still thhhat guy.

[Black Lushus 0]

I think Vince just gets scared, honestly...it's like he doesn't trust those guys to carry his company when it's clearly obvious they could.

[USC Wuz Robbed! 0]

Exactly. It's like, "Ok lets make Lashley look good" and then when they have him in a match with someone like JBL, someone else WWE is high on, then they get cold feet with Lashley and resort to stupidity.

[Dobbs 3K 0]

I think overall WWE just needs to pick a new direction, and then stick to it. I don't care what it is. Do they want to be a serious wrestling company, with lots of competitive matches? Fine, do it. Do they want to have lots of comedy skits and gimmicks? Fine, do it. Do they want to have lots of quick, high spot oriented matches? Fine, do it. Just quit putting guys out there that seem like they will fit into one of those molds, and then cut their legs out from under them after two weeks.

 

They need to quit trying to revive 1998 style WWF, and pick a new direction, and then just stick with it. They need a new formula. They also need to differentiate RAW and Smackdown better. Here's what I'd do:

 

RAW would be the show for lots of storylines and backstage segments. Matches would mostly be relatively short, no more than 15 minutes for a main event. One on one and tag matches would be very spot oriented. Flashy teams like MNM would be on RAW and wrestle quick, spot-style matches. RAW would feature the women's division and any "diva" on Smackdown would be there to be a manager, not wrestle. Since RAW has no GM, I'd have Vince McMahon say he likes not having "an idiot like Bischoff ruining everything" and announce that he's taking a hands off approach to RAW. Have someone like Arn Anderson be a backstage agent who sets the matches, but would be on TV infrequently (like Larry Z in TNA). RAW would feature more in-ring interviews and confrontations, and matches would get set frequently via wrestlers challenging each other.

 

Smackdown would be the show for longer matches and more wrestling. There'd be at least one big Cruiserweight match every week, and frequently there'd be 6, 8, or even 10 man CW tag matches, typically to start the show. I'd move the Juniors to RAW, since they serve no purpose being on the same show as the Cruiserweights, and would fit better with the "entertainment" aspect of RAW. The World Heavyweight Champion would defend his belt almost every week, usually in longer matches. Kurt Angle would fit perfectly in this role. Teddy Long would stay in the GM role, mainly to set World Title matches and the like.

 

Maybe the above formats could be tweaked, but I think they'd work, and at least there'd be a set direction for each show. Right now it seems like it's "generic WWE show A and generic WWE show B."

[Black Lushus 0]

Exactly. It's like, "Ok lets make Lashley look good" and then when they have him in a match with someone like JBL, someone else WWE is high on, then they get cold feet with Lashley and resort to stupidity.

 

yup...now don't get me wrong, Lashley's not ready, but let's be honest here...WWE, at first, wanted him to be this Goldberg/Brock kinda guy and started him out that way before suddenly deciding against it. It was obvious from the start that they wanted to go down that road. Maybe backing off on his push was for the best, maybe they finalyl decided he's not that guy, but then they turn around and STILL try to make him out that way while fucking him around in those key moments that COULD have made him that guy. makes you go WTF?

[USC Wuz Robbed! 0]

Perhaps in Lashley's case, WWE is extremely reluctant to give an OVW callup the god push because of what happened between them (WWE) and Brock as well as Goldy.

[foleyfanforever88 0]

I don't know if anyone said this yet, but I was thinking yesterday that the title fued on each show should be the biggest thing to watch. There should be 3 or 4 segments each week about the title picture and that's what the show should revolve around. While I do think that the IC/US title divisions and the cruiserweights should be more a part of the show, I just think that each show should have one huge fued at a time for fans to focus on.

[USC Wuz Robbed! 0]

They do. HHH vs the flavor of the month.

[Black Lushus 0]

I've often wondered why the IC/US title holder never seems to challende his brand's world champion.

[BruiserKC 0]

There are so many factors that make a wrestler be able to transcend mainstream pop culture. Let's face it, wrestling isn't cool right now mainstream wise. Guys like Hogan, Austin, Rock, Andre, Flair...all had that certain "it." It can't be learned, can't be taught...you either have it or you don't. I think Kurt Angle had that potential, although now his body is broken down to the point he can't carry the company long term. Brock Lesnar had that also, and if he had stuck around the WWE I think he would be HUGE right now as far as mainstream acceptance.

[justcoz 0]

JESUS, THIS FOLLOWING POST IS LONG, THOUGHTS JUST KEPT COMING - if you don't have the attention-span to read, my apologies.

 

I think we are on the verge of another wrestling boom, however, it possibly won't heat up until 2008. Actually the timing is almost parallel to the state of the business ten years ago. This isn't something that Vince McMahon and WWE are going to generate on their own though. It's necessary for TNA to succeed in this equation and I think it's necessary for a head to head spot on Monday night. I think each of us would be hard pressed to disagree that the Monday Night Wars were an extremely fun time to be a wrestling fan.

 

Spike also needs to put some money behind the TNA product and lure in people like Jim Ross, Goldberg, Chris Jericho, Chris Benoit, The Rock, Brock Lesnar (if it becomes legal) or even Paul Heyman or dare I say Eric Bischoff. Christian and The Dudleys are a start. You need to create the feeling of the tide turning, just like ten years ago when WWF stars started appearing on WCW. And of course, the existing guys like AJ, Samoa Joe, Christopher Daniels, Aries, etc. are the next Benoits, Mysterios and Eddies to benefit from more viewers drawn by bigger names. TNA has young guys that are exciting to watch but few guys that are going to draw people into watching. For example, you need the NWO for people to notice the cruisers.

 

What does this have to do with WWE winning back the casual fan? This forces WWE to change gears. Vince doesn't feel the urgency to re-invent his product until someone is taking money, ratings and accolades that should be his. Completely changed his formula when ECW and Nitro started having an impact.

 

If you watch TNA, it feels fresh. If you watch WWE it looks no different than 1998. I'm all for Legends but WWE looks like Nitro used to feel anymore with Hacksaw Duggan, Goldust, Flair, HHH, HBK, Kane, Taker, etc. still taking up air time. We are back to silly Vince McMahon gimmicks just like The Dumpster, MVP, The Goon, etc ten years ago. Don't think that common channel surfers flipping stations don't notice this stuff. Everyone watched wrestling at some point in their lives, whether they were kids, in college or whatever. They stop mostly because they get bored with it, it becomes too predictible, people say they 'outgrow' it but what that essentially means is they are tired of the same old shit and it all comes across as childish to them.

 

First, drop the current creative regime. Yes, this is smarky, no casual fan even cares but this creative team hasn't made one star or produced one money making angle in six years. Put Stephanie in Linda's role as spokesperson. I'd almost like Paul Heyman to stay with the company just because I'd like to see what a Vince/HHH/Heyman combo can do, I believe it would be as good, if not better, as Vince/Russo/Ferrara. It also takes a load from McMahon's shoulders. Instead of Vince being in the announcers headsets, it's Heyman, producing a more ECW-styled Joey Styles and Tazz, working a RVD promo, etc. Whether he's head of creative or not, use Heyman to get people over, cover their weaknesses, play to their strengths and make new stars. He's proven he can do it in OVW only to have all of his work thrown in the toilet when guys are called up with silly WWE gimmicks.

 

I think the era of running television in big arenas is done. Note the Impact! Zone. Tour smaller venues, similar to the Hammerstein Ballroom to create a more intimate program where it seems as if there is more heat and energy from the crowd.

 

End backstage segments, they are 1998.

 

Become 'smarter' without going over people's heads. For instance, most fans know that HHH and Stephanie are married. Everyone knows that HHH is the top dog because he's tied in to the McMahon's. It's admirable that they'd like to create the impression that this is lost on 90% of their audience but it really isn't. Maybe 30-40%.

 

It's not McMahons on TV that we hate. We hate McMahons on TV with no purpose but just to be on TV. You pop for a Vince appearance if it's been awhile. People pop for Shane McMahon, lots of how will they use him, what's he going to do talk only to have creative forget they put him on television. I still feel there is a money-making angle using the McMahons. Stephanie and HHH taking power in the company away from Vince. Deeming Vince "out of touch" with the times just as Vince Sr. once was. Making Vince the 'good guy' and the man that the roster supports. Bringing in legends to back him. Also bringing in legends who side with Steph/HHH. I know we've already had the McMahon/Helmsley era but there is more power to it now.

 

Acknowledge HHH being a McMahon (and setting him up for the future Mr. McMahon type character) and use his and Stephanie's position to hold talent down storyline wise. Tell guys like CM Punk he's just the 'king of the indies', RVD that stoners never become world champions, call John Cena out for being booed, feed somone's ego like Shelton Benjamin by calling him their money, franchise player, creating that TO character like suggested.

 

Use Vince McMahon as the motivational force behind the talent supporting him. Vince telling Kendrick and London that he sees the next Shawn Michaels and Bret Hart in them. Comparing Jamie Noble to Chris Benoit. Telling John Cena how much he believes in him.

 

I really feel it's time for HHH to look at himself and see not Ric Flair or Harley Race but Vince McMahon. The man that will run the empire. How he could let ego ruin smart business is beyond me. HHH doesn't need the title for camera time. He can still be the center of the show based on his name and presence alone.

 

I like the idea of making Cena more or less a Boston type meanie. You can't drop the hip hop shtick completely because I do think that's a real part of his personality. There is enough there with Cena where that alone doesn't have to define him, he doesn't have to dress like Marky Mark. He can show up on Entourage or at hip hop awards and just be the Boston guy into hip hop. He could still do the occassional edgy rap, the type that brought him to the dance and carry the heel attitude he had on Smackdown. Have 'Lazy Sunday' type video vignette/promos on his opponents.

 

Remember the grey area that Vince talked about in the 90's. No more black and white. Listening to the audience and letting them decide who to boo or cheeer. Cena was over huge as a heel and they turned him and softened the character, he's booed now because he is the generic babyface, playing to the crowd, trying to be cute to get a pop and people don't eat that shit up anymore. He's limited in the ring but can be carried. He has the charisma, looks and acting ability to be the next Rock but the Rock would have never turned into what he is had they kept him in the Rocky Maivia role and continued forcing him on people, people turned on the Rock too because this creative team often did the same thing with him on his babyface runs.

 

Like the idea of putting Carlito with someone like maybe Melina or Mickey James. I actually liked Bob Orton being in Randy Orton's corner. BRING BACK MANAGERS!!!!!!!!! My God, this pisses me off. James Mitchell, Bill Alphonso, Joel Gertner, Don Callis, Coach, even Paul Heyman - there are potentially great managers out there. My friends who no longer watch wrestling always talk about the managers. Coach as the agent for Shelton Benjamin would have been tremendous. Heyman as the agent would have surely worked. But in typical WWE fashion, we have Mama, just as we had Sapphire, Mathilda and Rocco. Those are the type of decisions you make when you don't feel threatened by competition.

 

Coming full circle here. TNA needs name attractions to build a larger audience. Providing more exposure to the real workers in the company, the X Division guys, etc. These guys will feel overshadowed by the big money contracts the company lays out for guys like Sting, Goldberg, Jim Ross, Chris Jericho, etc. Suddenly Vince and WWE start signing men like Samoa Joe, AJ Styles, Chris Sabin, Elix Skipper, etc. WWE starts their youth movement. And by 2012 we hit another wall again until someone "shakes things up".

[MillenniumMan831 0]

I'm not a fan of the Big Show mob boss idea but hey, it's better than 5 guys jumping around hootin and hollerin while clad in green jumpsuits.

 

The WWE's problem is getting something started and then cutting it off at the knees to go back to the same ol, same ol.

 

-Cena gets hot, so they nueter him.

 

-They want to make Randy the star, so they have him lose a feud to the one guy that could have made him a star.

 

-They want Lashley to seem like this big monster, so they make him look weak every which way. (Survivor Series, world title battle royal, Rumble, NWO)

 

-Edge FINALLY becomes the star they want, so they give him the lamest title reign in recent memory.

 

-Rey is the most over guy in the company, so they make him look like the biggest idiot loser around.

 

-Shelton becomes crazy over, so they start jobbing him out and give him a mamma.

 

-RVD has been over forever, so they job him constantly. How many times has the lord god king of kings himself beaten this guy, anyway? (Include Rumble eliminations, did he eliminate him this past year and in 2002?)

 

-Angle is always nuts over, so they piddle fuck around with heel/face turns.

 

the shit just doesn't make any sense.

 

Completely agree w/ everything here. This is probably the result of a booking "committee". If one or two people were in charge of writing these shows, I highly doubt that there'd be so many contradictions in the booking. And HHH did indeed cause the eliminations of RVD in 02 and 06 (In 02, he Pedigreed him allowing Booker to casually chuck him out).

[BruiserKC 0]

Wrestling on TV will always be done in the larger arenas. It gives the show more of a "big-time" feel. TNA isn't doing that right now because of money. The only other option is doing wrestling TV shows at the high-school gyms...not happening.

[iggymcfly 0]

Face Vince vs. the young heel McMahons has been done already and it failed. That's not the solution.

 

And TNA's not the solution either. I've tried watching Impact a few times, and they have even more problems then Raw right now. Practically everyone on the roster seems interchangeable and vanilla, and when they focus on "stars" like the James Gang, it just makes them look like they're scraping the bottom of the barrel for the WWE's leftovers. Giving Christian the title was a good move, but there's not one other person on that roster that interests me enough to make me stop flipping channels when they're on-screen.

 

The problem with the WWE is that they're inflexible and they give no respect whatsoever to their fans. Five or six years ago, when Cena started getting mixed reactions against Jericho, they would have instantly made a character change or set up a turn. Now, they say, "Oh well, Angle's over as a heel. Cena will get cheered over him." Then when Angle starts getting cheered, they say, "Oh, if we have Angle turn on America, that will make the fans boo him." Finally, when that doesn't work, they run an elaborate angle where Edge screwing Cena out of the title thinking that will "make the fans cheer him."

 

The common thread is that instead of reacting to the fans and trying to figure out what they want, the WWE keeps trying to force the fans to think what they want. That's why almost every match you see is face vs. heel, and that's why you keep seeing the heels resort to ridiculous cheap heat tactics whenever the fans get into them. Vince seems to be scared to death of the idea that someone could just play a tweener for a while and let the fans decide whether they ultimately want to cheer or boo them.

 

If the WWE would just focus on telling good stories and giving the fans what they want to see instead of trying to force the creation of icons that change the business overnight, they'd be in a lot better shape. They're wasting all their energy making the fans cheer the "faces" and boo the "heels", when if they'd just write interesting feuds, they'd get more PPV buys in the long run anyway.

[justcoz 0]

Wrestling on TV will always be done in the larger arenas. It gives the show more of a "big-time" feel. TNA isn't doing that right now because of money. The only other option is doing wrestling TV shows at the high-school gyms...not happening.

 

That "big time" feel doesn't come across at times when the product isn't very good and the crowd isn't into it. When the match inside the ring has no heat. Smaller crowds feed off of the participants in the ring and there is typically heat for everything. I see no harm in doing one of the shows, whether it's Smackdown, Raw or SNME from smaller theater style arenas similar to Hammerstein Ballroom. Most cities have mid-sized venues. If gate/revenue is an issue just charge $50-$250 a ticket or something. The fans that do go will be rabid and it's more intimate, they can do Axxess type things at the venue during the day, etc.

 

When I first heard they were bringing back SNME, I figured they'd do it in SNL's timeslot and felt they should just run it, "Live From New York's Hammerstein Ballroom" or something. Especially since they weren't running the Garden but that is supposed to be changing soon.

[justcoz 0]

Face Vince vs. the young heel McMahons has been done already and it failed. That's not the solution.

 

It wasn't done with any touch of creativity or storyline continuity. HHH wasn't playing the role that I'm proposing. They touched on some things in the McMahon/Helmsley era but let's face it, the McMahon/Helmsley era was years before it's time. We didn't completely expect that storyline to become real-life and dominate the company behind the scenes. There's more realism in the storyline now.

 

 

And TNA's not the solution either. I've tried watching Impact a few times, and they have even more problems then Raw right now. Practically everyone on the roster seems interchangeable and vanilla, and when they focus on "stars" like the James Gang, it just makes them look like they're scraping the bottom of the barrel for the WWE's leftovers. Giving Christian the title was a good move, but there's not one other person on that roster that interests me enough to make me stop flipping channels when they're on-screen.

 

That's a shame because you've missed some good stuff, the best pay-per-views of the past 12 months and some good talent get some national exposure. Don't get me wrong, I see the same problems as you mentioned but they are doing a slightly better job as of late giving the X Division guys some characters and storyline development. I agree with you about the "James Gang", that's a wasted attempt of trying to recapture something that was over years ago and is just pathetic now. These aren't the WWE leftovers they need to make an impact. The names I mentioned, Jericho, Benoit, Goldberg, Jim Ross, etc. are. You get Jericho or Ross and Lawler and it's the equivalent of The Outsiders and Mean Gene/Bobby Heenan. And the way WWE hands out pink slips these days.

 

TNA isn't the solution but competition and a threat to Vince McMahon is. Like I said, he only makes changes to his philosophy if someone else is enjoying success that should be his.

 

The problem with the WWE is that they're inflexible and they give no respect whatsoever to their fans. Five or six years ago, when Cena started getting mixed reactions against Jericho, they would have instantly made a character change or set up a turn. Now, they say, "Oh well, Angle's over as a heel. Cena will get cheered over him." Then when Angle starts getting cheered, they say, "Oh, if we have Angle turn on America, that will make the fans boo him." Finally, when that doesn't work, they run an elaborate angle where Edge screwing Cena out of the title thinking that will "make the fans cheer him."

 

The common thread is that instead of reacting to the fans and trying to figure out what they want, the WWE keeps trying to force the fans to think what they want.

 

AMEN!!!!!! They no longer listen to their audience. They instead try to force feed what they want on the audience despite the crowd reaction. Television is written to entertain themselves, to put over the egos rather than talent, to amuse or avenge themselves rather than draw money. This is why nothing will ever change until the creative process is completely overhauled and Vince realizes that he's doing exactly what put WCW out of business. Much of his success against Ted Turner was because they listened to the net fans, the sheet writers and most importantly the reaction of the crowds. I even remember Vince doing AOL chats.

 

If Stone Cold would have cut his King of the Ring promo in 2006 instead of nine years earlier - well, first off, the promo would have been scripted by an 18 year old pimply-faced creative dork. Second, if the audience continued to cheer Austin's heel actions, tcreative would have had him cut promos against the troops or dark promos at the arenas, ripping on the city and their fans, to ensure he got booed when he walked through the curtain. It's all really quite ridiculous. The exact opposite of what they did ten years ago.

 

http://www.pittsburghnetradio.com

[Promoter 0]

Everyone here has some great points that have been said over and over. There is a common theme in all of this. For Vince Mcmahon and the wwe to return to glory they have to CUT THE DAMN CREATIVE AND HIRE PEOPLE WHO KNOW WHAT THEY HELL THEY ARE DOING and NEED SOME SERIOUS COMPETITION.

 

I mean, it is quite obvious. This is EXACTLY what made them come back in the 90's on nitro and wcw. I think it was ten years ago, Vince hired Vince Russo as head writer to change up the damn formula. They have the talent ringwise to an extent, but the creative team is abysmal for the most part. As someone said Stephanie has been a complete BUST in her position. Get rid of her already. Not listening to the fans and reacting accordingly is the biggest problem. They should have taken notice from how the brand split was turning off fans since 2002. That was the first sign they did not really care what fans wanted. Trying to tell fans who are the new superstars of the next era was the second sign and it has never been the same since. Then add Rock, Hogan, Austin, Foley, and nWo to some extent leaving and we got the hole they are in now.

[Team Angle Pusher 0]

The WWE needs to create new and original stars. They try to make John Cena the next Austin, but they fuck it up. The people don't want to see another Austin because Austin is still fresh in their memory, they want something new. Cena was different with his cocky raps, that's what got him over. Why change that? Personally I prefer Cena as a Heel, he has more potential that way. He'll have a small part of the crowd cheering for him because of his raps but the rest just hate him because he's a wigger and he talks trash to the babyfaces.

 

I would LOVE to see Shelton Benjamin come down in kinda like his old Team Angle gear with "Eye of the Tiger" and he comes out to the ring like a boxer. It can be awesome because Shelton has the look, he can be a real bad ass if he wants to. He can even have a manager who rubs his shoulders while walking to the ring and stuff. Hey, why not Mo Greene (or whatever his name is) from OVW!

 

RVD can be the new big fresh Face. He's still really over so why not give him a shot. RVD will be a totally different number one Face then the ones the WWE had before. Give RVD a character who seems like he's "shooting" sometimes and he loves weapons, basically he's ECW but don't let him talk about ECW because that makes ECW look better then WWE. You want the fans to chant WWE instead of ECW.

 

Samoa Joe can be this evil vicious beast that just kills everybody, a bit like he does now in TNA. He has a very new and intimidating look. He's the kind of guy that everybody is afraid of in the middle of the night. Let him speak as well. He becomes the Intercontinental Title at his peak. Then have the IC Champion go after the WWE Champion. They never do that and it doesn't make much sense because the IC Title is the second best title on RAW so why not try to become the World Champ right. So build up towards underdog WWE Champion RVD versus the beast IC Champion Samoa Joe and the fans will love it.

 

Just my fantasy booking

[dh86 0]

best thread i have ever seen...the main point been made over and over again...WWE isnt listening to what the fans want because they know we will watch no matter what..if they get competition..the fans wouldnt be taken for granted and HHH wouldnt be making his triumphant trek to title reign #17