WWE asking fans why they don't WWE programming anymore

[CleetusVanDamme]

Female wrestlers need to be able to wrestle. It's fairly evident that Kelly Kelly can't, and yet she's the champion. Yet when given the time, some of the divas are able to put together good matches.

 

 

That has absolutely fuck all to do with why anyone tuned out, or continues to tune out.

 

 

Kelly Kelly's got herself more over in a bunch of 5 minute shitfests than the "real" wrestlers like Beth, Natalya, Gail Kim ever have when they've been given 10 minutes to give the crowd a longer toilet break.

 

 

Enjoy the girls all you want, but don't try and make out that they affect business in any way, and don't make out that they're hard done by for tv time when they get guaranteed tv time every single week, regardless of how poorly they perform or how over they are, solely because of their gender, and because people like you will call the company sexist if they don't get the tv time.

 

 

 

It's insulting to the real hard done by wrestlers, who no matter how good a performance they put out, or how much they can genuinely make a crowd care about their match, can't even get a fucking second of tv time, while on average, the women will get 3 matches every week, 95% of them terrible, and 100% of them have a large portion of the crowd fucking off to the bog.

 

 

What have they done to deserve more time?.

 

 

 

WWE is fucking class. Look at how it makes plenty of cash, is the proven market leader and only game in town, sells out a 70,000 seater stadium every year for its big show, and they still want to find out how to bring the moaning cunt audience back on board.

 

Fuck them, that's how. Every post in here, particularly the nostalgic ones, is offering the same old so-called constructive criticism, which when broken right down, is basically "do the wrestling show I liked when I was younger, mixed with a bit of what I like now". So basically, cater to the whims of millions of individual fans all over the world? Nah fuck that. To us lot, wrestling's like tabs. You're addicted, and if you honestly weren't, you probably woulndn't be in this thread or this arm of the forum.

 

You might not love the show like you used to any more, but every now and then the company throws a bone out like the CM Punk angle, The Rock returning, Bret Hart, Nexus or whatever, just enjoy that and stop waiting for some daft boom period to come around again.

 

Dillkid's mentioned on here before how much he adores 2002 and 03, which was because he was nipper. I love 1990-1996 WWF probably more than any period in the company ever, because I was young and involved in that way you only are when you're young and it's special. I've always enjoyed it, but post 2001, my interests peak and dip like everybody elses.

 

WWE is nailing it now, because in Cena, they have what Hogan was in the 80s. Back then, I'd say it was a vocal minority of Observer readers that picked holes in his silly promos and three moves. These days, it's a vocal and visible majority going for the top guy instead. What it does do is create an enormous generation of young fans that will either stick around like we did, or force Vince's hand to cater for them when they become teenagers just like what happened the last time.

 

So yeah, in conclusion, I'd say keep doing what you're doing. It's not 1995 with the water coolers being taken out to save money is it? Chill out and never stray away from completely ignoring us miserable bastards on the internet. We don't get it and we never fucking will.

 

And bring back Diesel.

 

 

Love you, NEWM.

[Richie Freebird]

I can

[Glenryck Pilchards]

My biggest gripe at the moment is that there is hardly any time investment in the undercard. Throughout the 80's, 90's and early 00's pretty much everyone on the roster had a purpose and were involved in some kind of storyline so the fans gave a shit about everyone. I know it was at the height of the boom in 1999 but the J.O.B Squad were getting louder pops than most of the current midcard. It is because they had a purpose they were sick of being curtain jerkers and want to make a name for themselves. Can anyone tell me what the purpose of Primo or Chris Masters is?

 

A modern solution is to allow all the roster to have creative freedom on social networks to connect with the audience, like what Zack Ryder is doing. I can understand why WWE have kept a tight leash on talent creativity to make sure there are no lawsuits put against them but the product has been getting stale since the Invasion.

 

Another thing I would like to see is giving the secondary titles more importance. How many wrestlers are actually going for the IC or US titles? I can only think of Ziggler, Kingston, Jackson and Barrett competing for them in the last couple of months. Prior the Invasion there seemed to be 5 or 6 in the loop for the IC title, and that was the same for the European and Hardcore belts.

 

There are loads of things that the WWE are doing right. Storyline wise CM Punk, Nexus and Cody Rhodes have been great in the last 12-18 months. They are a marketing monster and running a great business. But with a few tweaks they could make more money and bring back old fans.

[andrew "the ref" coyne]

My biggest gripe at the moment is that there is hardly any time investment in the undercard. Throughout the 80's, 90's and early 00's pretty much everyone on the roster had a purpose and were involved in some kind of storyline so the fans gave a shit about everyone. I know it was at the height of the boom in 1999 but the J.O.B Squad were getting louder pops than most of the current midcard. It is because they had a purpose they were sick of being curtain jerkers and want to make a name for themselves. Can anyone tell me what the purpose of Primo or Chris Masters is?

 

I certainly agree with this, it does feel like the midcard is void of any real activity sometimes. But again are we looking through rose tinted classes? To some degree yes, but I do believe the focus has shifted away from the midcard over the years.

[JakEDUBDUB]

Thankyou for posting this up there are so many reasons why I don't like WWE anymore. First of all, I only watch it now for guys like The Undertaker, HHH, Austin and The Rock, they cannot create stars like they used to, look at the new guys, some I like..some I don't, but the thing is..even the NEW guys that I like watching, I wouldn't watch the programming simply for them, nowadays its guys that look like they are from college, spikey hair, and wearing trunks, what happened to the gimmicks? people that stood out? nobody can cut a decent promo anymore, Dolph Ziggle..Kofi Kingston..Wade Barratt, Sheamus, R-Truth and Miz, there are more but lets keep it at that..those that have impressed me in that group I've now lost interest in, back in the day, even guys on the under card, e.g. Gangrel, Val Venis..D-lo Brown..X-Pac etc..I loved every minute of it, even back in the eighties, I loved watching everybody because they all stood out, I can't watch Orton..Cena is shit..end of , and I just watched Rocks promo on Cena that went onlnie yesturday and it's one of the best promos I've ever seen, the thing with CM Punk is the only thing right now making me watch WWE again, I hate to say it but TNA is putting on better shows at the mo but this is about WWE. The other thing I really dislike is the P.G. Back in the old P.G. era of WWF, it was fun but they kept it realistic, someone gets hit with a chair at the head..they bleed, if a guy is angry, he'll swear etc, now its too politically in correct and the fact Punk actually said the word 'wrestler' on tv made me so happy. Maybe Vince himself is the problem. As a fan, WWE..sort it out! Ok guys..rant over, but had to get it off my chest lol

[sgmilne]

That has absolutely fuck all to do with why anyone tuned out, or continues to tune out.

 

 

Kelly Kelly's got herself more over in a bunch of 5 minute shitfests than the "real" wrestlers like Beth, Natalya, Gail Kim ever have when they've been given 10 minutes to give the crowd a longer toilet break.

 

 

Enjoy the girls all you want, but don't try and make out that they affect business in any way, and don't make out that they're hard done by for tv time when they get guaranteed tv time every single week, regardless of how poorly they perform or how over they are, solely because of their gender, and because people like you will call the company sexist if they don't get the tv time.

 

 

 

It's insulting to the real hard done by wrestlers, who no matter how good a performance they put out, or how much they can genuinely make a crowd care about their match, can't even get a fucking second of tv time, while on average, the women will get 3 matches every week, 95% of them terrible, and 100% of them have a large portion of the crowd fucking off to the bog.

 

Nice overreaction.

 

As I said, I still watch the product, but that was just one of my issues with it, and it was a small issue based upon a good womens' match I saw on Superstars the other week.

 

By no means am I a massive fan of the divas division, but to suggest that properly booked women can't affect WWE's business isn't true.

[Richie Freebird]

I hope this thread is still going strong when King Pity returns to annihilate the shit out of all the criticisms of current WWE.

[Kenny McBride]

I hope this thread is still going strong when King Pity returns to annihilate the shit out of all the criticisms of current WWE.

 

Yeah, he'd be great in a focus group. "Why would you change anything? So what if business is in the toilet! DON'T LISTEN TO THE FAPPERS!"

[CleetusVanDamme]

to suggest that properly booked women can't affect WWE's business isn't true.

 

 

I said the booking of the girls has nothing to do with why people stopped watching WWE, that is true.

 

 

"Properly booking" the girls aka "they need more time!" isn't going to affect WWE's business either, at least in a positive way.

 

 

Again. Why should they get more tv time?, and what possible good could it do for business?.

[Magnum]

My personal problem with it in recent years is the shitty, predictable and hugely dissatisfying payoffs to potentially cracking storylines. They'll build something up to seem like one of those massive, game-changing angles from 97-2001, but then seemingly bottle it because they can't risk upsetting the kids by going more than a couple of months without having John Cena holding the belt or conclusively vanquishing his foes.

 

Yes, I fully understand from a merchandising POV why they won't try anything too risky with Cena's character or the main event scene in general. But this survey is supposedly about personal reasons why people don't watch WWE anymore, and, personally, watching Cena play the same role in the same feud with the same outcome for 7 years straight bores me.

 

To my mind, each time they launch a potentially game-changing storyline and then follow it with a lame, unimaginative conclusion is like a boy crying wolf one more time. I was bored of WWE in 2009, but I tuned in for a few weeks after Orton's punt on Vince because I couldn't wait to see how they followed it up. They chose the path of least resistance, and I tuned out again. I was bored in 2010, but when I heard about the Nexus beatdown on RAW, I wanted to see where this potentially revolutionary storyline was going to go. They went with Cena doing his superhero act for the umpteenth time, and I tuned out again. Now a year later, this CM Punk stuff has me intrigued again, but all I'm doing is reading the comments about RAW on here and seeking out those specific promos on YouTube. I'm not willing to invest too much time in watching to see how it pays off, because I've now been conditioned to expect the payoff to be a disappointing one - I'll probably tape MITB on sunday, but I fully expect the ending of the main event to be a clean tapout victory for Cena.

[patiirc]

From what I see of the WWE which is mainly PPV's and the odd snippet of Raw, my main criticism of the whole shebang is that it comes across as they dont know what they really want, and are and have been for some time throwing mud at stuff and seeing if it sticks. If it doesnt stick straight away then said wrestler(s) will then get dropped faster than a stone.

 

I dont like or dislike Cena particularly. Dont watch him often enough to get bored senseless or even hate him. I can understand why a lot is built around him and why people are resentful. The best stuff with him is I find when there is chinks in his armour. The Nexus Stuff was great and should have made Wade et al bigger, but then for whatever reason, WWE decided to basically make it null and void. For all the stuff about Cena leaving and such, and the walk around the stadium at Survivor Series was it. He was wrestling as Juan Cena asap after that, and then back to destroy all and sundry not long after.

 

With the current Rock thing, The Rock dicking about costing Cena the title and causing him to chase and importantly, fail in getting it back could help freshen things up, without changing the character too much, especially if they build up someone in the interim and importantly stick with it, rather than getting cold feet. It also wouldnt hurt Cena's character unless they made him look overly weak in comparision. A subtle tweak could help

 

The other thing they need to look at is the identikit wrestlers barring a hand ful of exceptions ( Rey, Sincara Cena Henry etc) Its all neat hair cuts, regulation trunks boots and short hair. Giving some wrestlers a distinctive look and it doesnt need to be cartoony or ott adult could help make some standout more. Heck TNA people have different attires, and they stand out as being individualistic whether they be shit or awesome, yes there are plenty of trunks and pads, but the others are more than just a special attraction.

 

Connect the fans with the wrestler, by doing something different like Punk, have a few with longer hair, face paint or different ring attire and give them something different to do rather than Promo 101 and it would go someway to redress the balance.

 

The wrestling itself isnt entirely awful, though it has gone back some to what it was in the 1980's with largely Kick Punch style, with the odd move thrown in heck even most of the finishers are bland.. A kick to the head or variations of a theme, arent spectacular . They dont need to be uber dangerous, but they could be freshened up a little. And even a deviation from ooh look its a different end to the match may also help. An unexpected move here, a quick roll up there, rather than going through the motions to just have the finishers each time. I think it was HHH who was utterly crucified for finishing a match with a sleeper once, but something that is out of the ordinary could be beneficial.

 

Thats just me though.

[LaGoosh]

Alot of good points made in this thread, one thing that irks me is people complaining about the same people wrestling eachother over and over again. I don't think this is really fair as the only reason these rematches can get frustrating and boring is because of the lack of storylines attached to them. In 98-2000 the same wrestlers were put against eachother almost endlessly but because the matches usually involved a story, bigger picture or an actual point no one gave a shit. I mean between 98-99 Austin and Stone Cold had about a million matches against eachother, between 98-2000 The Rock and Triple H must have faced eachother every two weeks and remember when The Rock & Mick Foley wrestled pretty much every week from November 98 to March 99. It just bothers me so much tese days that they only seem to bother writing proper storylines for the main event (alot of the time they don't even bother with that) as to me the best thing to get a wrestler over isn't a match but a combination of good angles & promos leading to a good match.

[sgmilne]

I said the booking of the girls has nothing to do with why people stopped watching WWE, that is true.

 

 

"Properly booking" the girls aka "they need more time!" isn't going to affect WWE's business either, at least in a positive way.

 

 

Again. Why should they get more tv time?, and what possible good could it do for business?.

 

Why should any wrestler get more TV time?

 

I wouldn't say that the divas division should get extra segments, and neither do I think they should always have a guaranteed slot on every Raw and Smackdown. But 5 minute Diva matches involving women who can't wrestle - like Kelly Kelly - don't add to the product at all. I completely agree that they are piss break material. A small number of the female wrestlers are able to wrestle well, and if they are going to be used at all, then they should be allowed to wrestle proper matches.

 

By picking up on this point you've got me arguing something that I don't feel that strongly about, but to suggest that the booking of the divas has nothing to do with why people stopped watching WWE, probably is not true. You can bet that some females have stopped watching because of it. And as the initial post suggests, WWE aren't just asking men.

[IANdrewDiceClay]

Bad example, there. Kelly Kelly just appeared on the list of FHM's sexiest woman and does all kinds of media appearances. Sure she cant wrestle, but she's well known to anyone with a cock and balls. Kelly Kelly probably adds more to WWE than most of the midcarders and all the tag teams. Look at Sable. She was a massive star. One of the biggest attractions of the late 90s, judging by her media appearances and the television ratings she attracted (as well as her video and Playboy issue selling huge). But she couldnt wrestle worth a shite and worse, she spoke like she had Johnny B Badd's shock stick lodged down her gob. Its all about how you look and are presented. Nobody cares enough about womens wrestling to like it if they are performing well or not. Kelly Kelly is perfect. She's a hot girl, who performs for 3 minutes and fucks off. Its how we all like our women.

[ColinBollocks]

The thing I want more of is nice episodic booking. Like this Punk angle or the Nexus. It's what they are missing most. They'll go a couple of months with a hot angle then it will go back to the formulaic rubbish that does nothing. It's just lazy that this doesn't happen, there is no excuse for them to not have a story arcs etc. It's what made 1997 and 2000 such classic years (and successful).

 

Also WWE need to invest more in characters. I miss midcarders that you want to be your best mate.