Undefeated Steak Posted February 4, 2015 Share Posted February 4, 2015 They keep saying wrestling and football analogies don't work but so what, current WWE is like watching an entire season of friendlies. Doesn't matter how great the matches are, if there's no bigger picture and reason for the matches then they become meaningless and you eventually stop caring. Who'd watch 8 Arsenal vs Chelsea games in a row and then pay to see them a few months later?  Rumble to Mania is the Champions League. They still have that thankfully.  Glad I'm not the only one in this boat and you make a good point, Goosh. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
King Pitcos Posted February 4, 2015 Share Posted February 4, 2015 They keep saying wrestling and football analogies don't work but so what, current WWE is like watching an entire season of friendlies. Doesn't matter how great the matches are, if there's no bigger picture and reason for the matches then they become meaningless and you eventually stop caring. Who'd watch 8 Arsenal vs Chelsea games in a row and then pay to see them a few months later?  I think that analogy works, more or less. That's the big problem with it for me. I think those weeks when the Authority weren't around were the lowest point in WWE history, creatively speaking. Everyone is so overexposed by the repetition of the dull, dull, well-worked, dull, pointless, dull, really long and dull matches. Twenty minutes of TV time a week, spent doing the same twenty minutes as the week before. Crash Holly was nary on screen for more than two minutes at a time and I loved him.  Right now, I'm back on board though. All the anal bleeding caused by the Rumble has me invested. Fast Lane has a couple of fresh matches at the top, and there's (some) direction now. Don't know how long that will continue past WrestleMania, and it doesn't feel like the Rumble-to-Mania corridor yet, to be honest. I'm happy enough with it now though.  I really wish they'd bother with stories more. Vince and HHH both talk about the importance of them and the pointlessness of no-reason matches, yet the TV shows don't reflect their supposed attitudes. I tend to skip to the finish in about 80% of TV bouts now, which means the only WWE shows I don't fast-forward are Total Divas and pay-per-views. I think I actually did fast-forward most of Cena vs Rollins XXVIII at TLC, mind. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members Au Posted February 4, 2015 Paid Members Share Posted February 4, 2015  Right now, I'm back on board though. All the anal bleeding caused by the Rumble has me invested. Fast Lane has a couple of fresh matches at the top, and there's (some) direction now. Don't know how long that will continue past WrestleMania, and it doesn't feel like the Rumble-to-Mania corridor yet, to be honest. I'm happy enough with it now though.   Isn't that a pretty strange attitude that it's taken a few thousand people being pissed off at the state of the product to get you more invested in it?  I pretty much didn't watch wrestling from about 2005 to 2011. I still got together with some mates to watch Mania and, occasionally, the Rumble and Summerslam. I've been an Observer subscriber for years and I occasionally dipped into on-topic on here whilst I was far more active in off-topic. I made some effort to get back into it around the time Jeff Hardy was getting pushed but that didn't last long.  I doubt this will help my argument here but it was Punk's pipebomb promo that got me watching again. Not just me though, suddenly my days at work were spent in an email chain between 5 or 6 friends, that's now grown into a group message on Facebook between several more again. Over the last few years, all the lapsed fans I know have really started getting together and hanging out more to watch events.  I even went to the states for Punk vs Rock at the Rumble a couple of years ago. That's not something that would have happened had it not been for that promo.  However, whilst I've probably watched every PPV since mid-2011, every time I've even attempted to watch Raw, I've not been able to sit through it. It's awful. So I'm now at about a full decade of not watching WWE TV and I'm guessing from what everyone says on here, I'm not alone in that. Even the guys I know who do watch it, either fast forward or skip through most of it. That's not a sign of a TV show worth watching. Although, I have no idea how you make a 3 hour show compelling from beginning to end though but it would probably need to change format completely.  I'd say this is probably why I like the guys I like and dislike the guys I dislike. I'm not over exposed to them, I see their PPV matches with the highlight packages along with them and base my judgements on that, along with what I read on here and hear on podcasts. I'm okay with this, I find it much easier to enjoy the product that way.  I've been a fan since the late 80's when I 6 or 7 years old. I'm probably in it for life now. But that doesn't stop me from wanting a more satisfying product, even if I'm not really watching it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Awards Moderator Onyx2 Posted February 4, 2015 Awards Moderator Share Posted February 4, 2015 I have no idea how you make a 3 hour show compelling from beginning to end though  Neither does Triple H which is kinda worrying.  It does feel like we're in a transitiony point which is traditionally when Vince struggles creatively. It's the only way he knows to book. Cena's participation is in decline - he's nowhere near the star of the show he was say 2 years ago - and there's no one person the company are behind. Reigns is obviously in the sights but this is suffering a setback, so Rollins, Bryan and to a lesser extent Wyatt and Ambrose float around jostling for position.   Reach for that brass ring, guys. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members garynysmon Posted February 4, 2015 Paid Members Share Posted February 4, 2015 Since getting the network I've taken much more of an interest in the current product than any time since around 2010. The build-up to Shawn Michaels v Undertaker part two was the last time I'd taken a genuine interest in what was going on, and never missed an episode of Raw. I even quite liked the guest hosts when it was someone like Jesse Ventura. I can't see myself watching an episode of Raw in its entirety for the forseeable future, but will carry on what i'm doing now which is sky+ Raw and then go back to it if something sounds good or there's someone like the nWo, Piper, Hogan etc on the show. The thing is, with having easy access to the PPV's, it at least gives me a reason to keep up to date with storylines and I find myself reading a lot more column pieces on the current roster then used to be the case. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members tiger_rick Posted February 4, 2015 Author Paid Members Share Posted February 4, 2015 The talent keeps me interested in the product. The writing is inconsistent and the meaningless re-matches are a huge problem if they want people to watch instead of FF'ing half the show. However, as I said after Raw this week, the talent depth is as impressive as it's been for a while. You've got a real blend of guys at the top of the card who have fairly well defined characteristics, who all look different and all have lots of potential. The only complaint I'd have is that the heel guys aren't really top level which is something they need to work on. Â Ambrose, Barrett, Bryan, Cena, Harper, Lesnar, Orton, Reigns, Rollins, Rusev, Wyatt and Ziggler is something they could really work with. The thought of some of those NXT guys coming up to fill out the spots below these guys is an exciting prospect too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pinc Posted February 4, 2015 Share Posted February 4, 2015 Ambrose should start a new stable. He'd be great in the role Punk was in when he was doing the Straight Edge Society. Have him turn heel when he wins the IC title and have an incrementally growing band of misfits around him to help him retain each month. Or hell just keep him face and do it, it'd be something different. Â You could call the group the lunatic fringe. It's always, always used as a collective name for a group, except when WWE use it for Ambrose. Is it a rib on his hairline? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
King Pitcos Posted February 4, 2015 Share Posted February 4, 2015 (edited) I wouldn't turn Ambrose heel anytime soon. He's a fresh, chaotic babyface that has an energy quite unlike the other top faces and as a heel, you're running the risk of him being cheered against Cena, Reigns, Orton, even Bryan if the you-know-whos ever decide that Bryan is being "pushed" and that his wins are booked by WWE rather than anti-authority shoot fights. For now, I'd run with Ambrose as a good guy and use him to get people invested in feuds with Bad News Barrett and Luke Harper. The heels have been damaged by being used in the "you just said a thing that offended me, so you have a match right now against this guy" role and it's high time they had some proper feuds. Â Barrett can get away with it a bit because of his talking, but Harper in particular should mean so much more than he does. Absolutely cracking performer with untold potential as an upper card bad guy yet he does nothing except wrestle matches, and he usually loses them. The odd time he does talk, the stupid voice they've got him doing now doesn't help. I'm sure he never did it in the Wyatt Family, or even the breakup videos. Â Ambrose's hairline is mental though. Proudly following in the tradition of Michaels, Undertaker and Heyman. Edited February 4, 2015 by King Pitcos Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members LaGoosh Posted February 4, 2015 Paid Members Share Posted February 4, 2015 I love Harper but he needs to change his character up a bit. He's currently a bit Bray Wyatt-lite. He should be more of a sleazy redneck trucker/rapist. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
UK Kat Von D Posted February 4, 2015 Share Posted February 4, 2015 I haven't watch Raw consistently since Punk left. I've caught PPVs and the odd but on YouTube if something looked good. Â I've said before that I think the writing team should be split up into pairs. Each pair can be assigned a group of wrestlers to book for. The better the writer the better the quality of wrestlers they are assigned. Each month they have to present a months worth of booking for their respective wrestlers. This would create competition among the writing team, make all stories feel different and give everyone something to do. It would also allow the writers to work with the wrestlers more and hear their ideas. Vince/HHH sit at the top of the chain filtering out the shit and compliling all the ideas into a workable show. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Syl Posted February 4, 2015 Share Posted February 4, 2015 Joel Redman just been on The Hotel, on channel 4. Was on screen for about 60 seconds and came across like a right knob  I saw this as well. Hilarious. Everything about it was so cringe-y (and that is saying something, when it was on the cringe-fest that is The Hotel). The initial meeting with Joel and the manager set the scene...http://www.channel4.com/programmes/the-hotel/videos/all/s4-ep6-big-lad  Then we skip to the day of the show. From the wrestlers turning up in a limo (the Britwres version of the Four Horsemen, perhaps? Or judging by their cheap suits and lack of athletic physique, maybe they could be called 'The Four Estate Agents'? Arriving in style for their big event inside a tiny hotel function room), to them telling the manager that they wouldn't degrade themselves by having a arm wrestling match (yet were happy to play fight in their hotel room for the cameras), it was just yuck. At least Joel Redman looks like a wrestler. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Abe_Knuckleball_Schwartz Posted February 4, 2015 Share Posted February 4, 2015 IF Daniel Bryan defeats Roman Reigns at Fast Lane, should the WWE just do away with "Winner of the Royal Rumble gets a title shot at Wrestlemania" gig? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DeanoTheGame Posted February 4, 2015 Share Posted February 4, 2015 No. The Royal Rumble winner going on to fight for the belt at Mania has always been a perfect idea. They just need to book it better. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IronSheik Posted February 4, 2015 Share Posted February 4, 2015 (edited) XPW - when did that die? I remember Terry Funk throwing himself about down there in ex pea dubya. Edited February 4, 2015 by IronSheik Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members LaGoosh Posted February 4, 2015 Paid Members Share Posted February 4, 2015 2002-2003 I think. Shane Douglas somehow convinced the promoter to move the whole company from LA to Philadelphia. They went under a few months later. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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