What would it take for another boom period in wrestling to happen?

[dh86 0]

I still think MMA is competing more with Boxing than Wrestling...but thats just me

[CBright7831 0]

I think wrestling has entered what I would like to call it's doomsday period. There is no turning back from here.

[BorneAgain 0]

Ultimately for wrestling to hit a boom period, it can't be an overnight change. The WWF back in 97 was doing some innovative, incredible stuff, but the ratings didn't reflect that until around Wrestlemania XIV, and the company didn't actually reach their financial peak until 2000. It has to come down to building up the right guys up initially, and then when the time is right pulling the trigger and doing something innovative to grab the casual audience and hook them in while utilizing the talent you've worked on already.

 

That's what led WWF to a boom period in the 80s and late 90s work, that they presented a product not only new to the hardcore fan, but very different to the casual fan who keeps hearing about how crazy and incredible wrestling is these days, they turn in to watch, get hooked and you start making some real money.

 

The new babyface of wrestling being a beer swilling, finger gesturing, foul mouthed vigilante who fought his boss, far away from the generic smiling good guy stereotype that most casual fans and non fans had in the their minds, was a huge factor in getting both an older audience who had given up on the sport and new fans who found wrestling done in that way interesting.

 

Combine that with the new crash TV method, which as opposed to the old, heavily produced and polished way of presenting it, its not a surprise that the WWF took a huge financial leap. People had never seen anything like that before, especially from a company that for so long had been stuck in its ways.

 

Raw and Smackdown may not have been the most high brow entertainment in those days, but even with all the goofy Russo nonsense that occasionally made it on screen, overall there was something that, say a family member or friend of a wrestling fan could see that could catch their interest and make them watch just to satisfy their initial curiosity. It made them ask questions, but unlike today such questions were not akin to "what's this stupid shit?"

 

Mick made a great point in Foley is Good when he said that the company was like a circus in that if a fan didn't like the clowns, they might like the acrobats or lion tamer. Even in 98-99, when workrate was not exactly a standard in the matches, there was a variety among the performs and divisions that a fan could find a thing/s that they could get into.

 

If certain wrestling aspects didn't interest you, there were charismatic guys who could entertain you otherwise. Soap opera stuff not interesting? Then there's a hardcore division dedicated to violence alone. Want some T&A? There's some of that to. The formula was made to perfection in 2000, when you had solid workers, charismatic entertainers, risk-taking bump machines, well done soap opera characters, and enough Tits and Ass to satisfy. Also notice that other than Hunter a lot of the political bullshit was minimal at this point.

 

These days you flip on a WWE program and much of the niche concept has faded. The performers and divisions are far too similar, the matches seem to blur, and anything that gets close to standing out is squashed out of fear, jealously, stupidity, or a combination of the three. What is out of the comfort zone is discouraged, lest the company put out something unpredictable.

 

The once innovative character types are over utilized, and even if one did not watch during the initial boom period, the feuds and characters seem so derivative, and rehearsed that that the feel of spontaneity is gone. And when only a select few are shown to be worthy of attention and interest, why should the audience care when those who have been ignored are finally used?

 

I don't doubt that change is possible within WWE. But the level of change necessary to make the company close to what it was? That I doubt.

[Team Angle Pusher 0]

I was always thought the next boom period would happen during an era that is all about wrestling. Like ROH, but then the WWE, ofcourse with the entertainment bit. It looked like Smackdown! went that way in 2002/2003 with Paul Heyman as the booker because SD! was very popular during the time of the Magnificent Six or something, but they killed that off and went back to being shit. I think if they managed to continue that, SD! could have been something really special. People would have started tuning in just to see another Haas match or another Angle/Benoit combination.

[BorneAgain 0]

I was always thought the next boom period would happen during an era that is all about wrestling. Like ROH, but then the WWE, ofcourse with the entertainment bit. It looked like Smackdown! went that way in 2002/2003 with Paul Heyman as the booker because SD! was very popular during the time of the Magnificent Six or something, but they killed that off and went back to being shit. I think if they managed to continue that, SD! could have been something really special. People would have started tuning in just to see another Haas match or another Angle/Benoit combination.

I think the brand extension really hurt the appeal of the shows because often times they would split the types of performers on different brands, and thus niche fans would be less likely to watch one of them. To have a program say in late 2002/Early 2003, where you had Bookdust/Jericho/Christian/Angle/Benoit/Edge/Van Dam/Mysterio/Los Guerreros/Cena all on one show would have been fantastic because you have a solid mix of workers and mic guys to make up the program from top to bottom.

[Guest DRH 502]

I still think MMA is competing more with Boxing than Wrestling...but thats just me

 

I'm kinda thinking UFC has been kicking WWE's ass in PPV buys the past year, INCLUDING Wrestlemania...Vince knows they are his biggest threat...

[Lt. Al Giardello 0]

the saddest thing now is...the only over face that hasnt been champ now is Lashley and prolly CM Punk...thats all fans can get behind for a title push

 

Carlito??????

 

And yes MMA is more competing with boxing then it is Pro Wrestling, even Dana White said this.

 

Pro Wrestling will have another boom peroid, they just need the next Stone Cold or The Rock to build it's franchise around. Carlito has the charisma to be the next big thing in Pro Wrestling, as does Lashley, and CM Punk.

 

WWE fucked up big time by taking this long to put the WWE title around RVD's waist. He could've been the biggest star in Pro Wrestling, both him and Booker T could've been huge faces, but were held down, and eventually their star power started to go down hill, because the WWE didn't use them right. RVD and Booker T should've held the title in 2002-2003, when they were mega over. But because of a certain main eventer wrestler was boning the boss's daughter, and them thinking wrestlers like Scott Steiner and Goldberg would help bring them to past glory.

 

People started to turn off to wrestling after they failed the Invasion. I mean why bring in wrestlers that should've been in the WCW Invasion, after the Invasion is done? It's just stupid. They had a chance to make the next Rock Vs. HHH fued and made them money over the last few years in RVD Vs. Lesnar, but fucked they fucked that up by having them both on different shows.

[BorneAgain 0]

I still think MMA is competing more with Boxing than Wrestling...but thats just me

 

I'm kinda thinking UFC has been kicking WWE's ass in PPV buys the past year, INCLUDING Wrestlemania...Vince knows they are his biggest threat...

The question remains however, is WWE willing to take steps to combat either UFC? Vince has never really suceeded doing anything except straight wrestling and its likely that the only person who has an interest in that is Heyman, and he's had much of his power stripped. And with Angle, the closest person on the roster to mimicking any type of MMA style gone, is there any chance of that happening?

 

Furthermore, is there a point in doing so? Spike TV has UFC on their network and its getting an audience. MMA is in the mainstream and is far easier to access than it was in the mid-90s. Why would a fan want to watch a fixed attempt at Mixed Martial Arts when there's the real thing on another station as well as the internet?

 

I just can't see WWE emulating it with much sucess.

[Guest Floridian Cool]

Carlito could be money, but not in the role that they are using him in now. Ditto for Kennedy. Lashley could be a big player in a boom period, but he's not going to start a boom period. I could see CM Punk being the guy to draw in new fans.

[Lightning Flik 0]

For there to be a wrestling boom, you'll need to whip the slate clean. It will take a new company to do it. WWE has done to many things wrong recently to get people to come back to watching even if you had them doing the right things.

 

It's going to take a company that does wrestling in a different way that will start a new wrestling boom. Because unless something hugely changes over in WWE, it'll never happen.