FireBrand Posted March 3, 2011 Share Posted March 3, 2011 The Rock is one of the VERY few that has genuine mainstream appeal, he went on to do movie because of this he is one of the handfull of talents that has actually managed to create a worthy acting career for himself and expand his profile outside of wrestling. Â Cena as good as he is in WWE will never be able to do this, his role as a tri-sqaured jawed Marine in...The Marine was pretty dire stuff and it just went to prove that this guy will only find real succsess in pro-wrestling. Â Not even The Undertaker could launch a decent career outside wrestling, not one on the level of Rock, Hogan or even Roddy Piper. The WWE currently have no talent with a mainstream crossover. Not because the wrestlers they have are not talented but because none of them have the star quality that demands the attention of non-wrestling fans. Â The spike in ratings is less about the state of the WWE but more about just how great The Rock is and the scope of his universal appeal. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members IANdrewDiceClay Posted March 3, 2011 Paid Members Share Posted March 3, 2011 The spike in ratings is less about the state of the WWE but more about just how great The Rock is and the scope of his universal appeal. That isnt right at all, because WWE has gotten ratings like that before in the last year. Last year they were doing 3.8's. Its obviously about the current state of WWE, because this time last year, WWE were getting in this range. These ratings arent a return to the glory days. They just highlight the fact that there's a wrestling fanbase out there, that will watch if they find out there is something worth watching. Just went to show the night Bret Hart came back and Impact was on the otherside. That was a big night for wrestling, and it was the most watched night of wrestling in years. Not to long after, they went away again. One person or a bit of hype (in TNA's case) doesnt do much in the longterm. Just because your a big star outside wrestling means nothing to anyone. Otherwise these guest hosts would have been a massive success. Wrestling fans want to watch something they can follow and enjoy everyweek. Its an episodic form of entertainment. The wrestling stars will only draw if they are in situations that make us watch them. Cena's obviously still their biggest star, because its him on the house shows, him selling the shit at the gimmick tables and him on TV every week. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FireBrand Posted March 3, 2011 Share Posted March 3, 2011 The spike in ratings is less about the state of the WWE but more about just how great The Rock is and the scope of his universal appeal. That isnt right at all, because WWE has gotten ratings like that before in the last year. Last year they were doing 3.8's. Its obviously about the current state of WWE, because this time last year, WWE were getting in this range. These ratings arent a return to the glory days. They just highlight the fact that there's a wrestling fanbase out there, that will watch if they find out there is something worth watching. Just went to show the night Bret Hart came back and Impact was on the otherside. That was a big night for wrestling, and it was the most watched night of wrestling in years. Not to long after, they went away again. One person or a bit of hype (in TNA's case) doesnt do much in the longterm. Just because your a big star outside wrestling means nothing to anyone. Otherwise these guest hosts would have been a massive success. Wrestling fans want to watch something they can follow and enjoy everyweek. Its an episodic form of entertainment. The wrestling stars will only draw if they are in situations that make us watch them. Â Thinking about it I could be fundementaly wrong, like my spelling often is. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Miz Posted March 3, 2011 Share Posted March 3, 2011 Even when WWE were spanking WCW back in the late 1990's glory period of pro wrestling, if Hogan showed up the rating would have also sky rocketed even more. It isn't the fact that "Rock got a higher rating than the current roster, what does that say about the current product" it is simply a fact of a former major star returns after a massive length of time, and it garners major attention from those who are no longer regular viewers. Damn good business in other words from WWE. Whatever they are paying Rock is worth it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Super Cena Posted March 3, 2011 Share Posted March 3, 2011 If David Beckham returned for a short stint to Manchester Utd, the club would see a surge in interest. Is this a knock on the current team? No - it's a legend of the club returning for a short period. Â However, if Becks returned and the club saw an improvement in results and performances on the pitch, then questions would need to be asked. Â Ergo, Rock's status as a legend of the sport and a man that has since had a huge level of success in Hollywood has translated into a surge in popularity to WWE thanks to his return. Â His segments have been the most exciting part of the Raw's that he's featured on, and I can see why people are using this as an excuse to knock the current WWE product. Â However, you have to realise that Rocky's involvements on Raw's, Smackdown's and PPV's during the '98-'02 period were very often the best part of said programmings (WWE's greatest period artistically and financially). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members Shit Poster Posted March 3, 2011 Paid Members Share Posted March 3, 2011 How come everyone is so sure it is The Rock who spiked the ratings. The ratings represent two shows that he was not even on. I am sure it has something to do with the most must see WWE champion of all time, The greatest Brawler, The Greatest Technician, The awesome one. Maybe the great one should go one on one with the Awesome one. The ratings would be through the roof. Â Ok really though The Rock clearly has spiked the ratings and it is good. Might bring a few more people back to wrestling. Also Vince won't be complaining one bit. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Magnum Posted March 3, 2011 Share Posted March 3, 2011 I just think both his performance and the reactions to it are great because of what they'll hopefully teach Vince and the creative team about what wrestling fans want to see. If you give the more capable talent room to improvise and come up with their own material, and relax the 'PG' reigns a little (a few minor swear words slipping out isn't going to automatically result in another Katie Vick angle), you can have some entertaining TV on your hands. It's no coincidence that the rap Cena did in response to The Rock was about the most entertaining promo he's done in 7 or 8 years - not because he said 'blow me', but because his insults were edgy in a clever way. A million times more so than talking about poop or comparing an opponent to a Jersey Shore character. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members Shit Poster Posted March 3, 2011 Paid Members Share Posted March 3, 2011 I just think both his performance and the reactions to it are great because of what they'll hopefully teach Vince and the creative team about what wrestling fans want to see. If you give the more capable talent room to improvise and come up with their own material, and relax the 'PG' reigns a little (a few minor swear words slipping out isn't going to automatically result in another Katie Vick angle), you can have some entertaining TV on your hands. It's no coincidence that the rap Cena did in response to The Rock was about the most entertaining promo he's done in 7 or 8 years - not because he said 'blow me', but because his insults were edgy in a clever way. A million times more so than talking about poop or comparing an opponent to a Jersey Shore character. Â I think the whole poop thing now is a Cena inside joke with backstage maybe. He used it against J.B.L in that awful promo a few years ago but has used it 3 seperate times this year. He then does some kind of goofy face. I think he even mentioned a few weeks a go he said he was doing the best he could with the material or words to that effect. Â Vince should just let him go on the mic he clearly is good on the mic. If The Rock can come back and say ass etc he should let Cena go a little bit as well. I am not saying you need swearing to get a promo over but words like poop are lame. Â If The Rock fucks off after Wrestlemania which is likely and Cena starts doing more edgy promo's in the next few weeks what will happen after Wrestlemania? Â Next week Cena is likely to cut a fucking great promo that we all like but then what happens after that? Do we get his childish shit and lame gay jokes again? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Turnbucklepads Posted March 3, 2011 Share Posted March 3, 2011 It's a sad state of affairs though that a man who hasn't wrestled in seven years gets massively higher ratings than the current product. I'm not saying the return of the Rock wouldn't and shouldn't draw people in, but when it does better than anything they've done in six years, that should set off alarm bells. But he is one of the biggest draws in modern wrestling history, and was one of the main guys in the boom period. He's going to pull in the viewers, because he is the sort of person most of the people actually want to see - the ratings, buyrates, exposure for his time period confirms that. Â He's not saying that. He's saying why can't someone else on the current roster draw those numbers, without the need to go back to a guy from the last boom period. I love the fact that Rock is back, but its shit that no one in the WWE can draw those numbers already. Because there isn't anyone on the current roster from today's era that people want to see as much. I'm sure John Cena could draw the numbers if he's promo's (WWE's fault, not Cena's) were as entertaining and revolutionary. What you have to remember is, it's a TV show. The people choose who they find entertaining, in this case they chose The Rock, his character pulled the numbers in 13 years ago, and they still do today because the man is special. It's just the simple fact that no one on today's roster stands out enough for people to want to spend as much of their time and money on it. Â See where we are going with this? The point being made? Probably not. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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