C-Rock Posted October 18, 2015 Share Posted October 18, 2015 (edited) I think WWE is lacking in star power overall and most of the matches are very generic, similar to each other and repetitive week on week. There's no fire or intensity in any of the Superstars or storylines and everything feels really fake and hammed up, there was more drama in the Power Rangers than in WWE TV at the moment, there's no cliff hanger endings or storylines with a controversial risqué edge to them that fans can really sink their teeth in to. The good guy against bad guy storyline is bland and boring and WWE lately seem to be coasting along on this month it's this good guy against this bad guy each week on Raw with very little in the way of storyline or depth leading to a weak PPV match then straight after they are switched and the same formula is used again.  WWE is becoming to main stream and instead of thinking outside the box they are firmly stuck inside of it. It's almost like WWE has given up on Raw because it's become un-fixable and on a downward slide and instead they are focusing more on NXT were the possibilities and surprises etc same endless because they have fresh and raw talent that can still be molded and a fan base that probably haven't seen a fraction of what NXT can pull out of the bag, NXT is the underdog compared to Raw and Smackdown with room to grow and expand and it's fan base is firmly behind it were as Raw peaked years ago and now it's meh i might watch it but I'm not bothered if I miss it or I'll watch it but fast forward through most of it.  I think the only saving grace for Raw long term will be the influx of NXT talents to spice things up. They dropped the ball with the Shield because the WWE writers lack long term vision and worry more about the here and now and I can imagine have the mentality of lets think about tomorrow, tomorrow. WWE storylines fail to have a beginning, a middle and a climatic dramatic end. I also miss fueds having a big blow off stipulation like 3 Stages of Hell or something like that and I miss the days of TLC matches on Raw. Food tastes bland without a little spice and WWE TV is the same thing. Raw is like eating a bland omelette every week on the same day after a while it gets boring but add some other ingredients and it becomes more enjoyable.  The only problem with the NXT Superstars who are on fire in NXT is that when they are called up to the main roster it's almost like they have to water down their skills and abilities in order to not out shine and match the tired and not as good abilities of the veterans that have been with WWE for ages and have become stale. The obvious example being the Divas Revolution and and the NXT girls having to dumb down their skills and abilities in order to work with the Bellas/Alicia Fox and they others. I think one buy one, the veteran Divas should be quietly sent back to NXT to smooth up their rough wrestling a skills.  WWE having to rely on bringing back the Undertaker/Ric Flair/the Dudleys and others to add some star power and the entertainment factor doesn't scream they have loads of faith in their young current Superstars. WWE must be praying the answer to their long term problems and decline is in NXT and this could probably be the case but looking at the Divas Revolution and the barley tepid impact Adrian Neville and Kevin Owens have made its not looking good.  I think instead of praying the answers to their problems are in NXT they should be praying the Rocks movie career bombs, Austin decides to come out of retirement, Shawn gets a calling from the Lord to step back inside the squared circle and that Undertaker has at least another 20 years left. It's pretty bad for WWE that if Jake Roberts were to appear on Raw and deliver one DDT it would pop the crowd, cause more excitement and be more entertaining than anything WWE has done with its new talents in ages lol Edited October 18, 2015 by C-Rock Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WyattSheepMask Posted October 18, 2015 Share Posted October 18, 2015 WWE is becoming to main stream and instead of thinking outside the box they are firmly stuck inside of it. It's almost like WWE has given up on Raw because it's become un-fixable and on a downward slideand instead they are focusing more on NXT were the possibilities and surprises etc same endless because they have fresh and raw talent that can still be molded and a fan base that probably haven't seen a fraction of what NXT can pull out of the bag, NXT is the underdog compared to Raw and Smackdown with room to grow and expand and it's fan base is firmly behind it were as Raw peaked years ago and now it's meh i might watch it but I'm not bothered if I miss it or I'll watch it but fast forward through most of it. So which is it? You can't become mainstream if your flagship TV show is on a downward slide, you've contradicted your own false statement (that WWE is becoming mainstream) in the space of one sentence. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
King Pitcos Posted October 18, 2015 Share Posted October 18, 2015 How often does raw open with a hot match. Â WWE's problem is not being able to build hot matches. If they ever do manage to build one, it's best put on a PPV or at least the Raw main event. It's not like they've got a million hot matches to just throw at the start of Raw. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Liam O'Rourke Posted October 18, 2015 Share Posted October 18, 2015 In many ways, I think they're prisoners of their own success, and it's turned to failure. Value in the high ratings by cable standards leads to a ton of TV, so they have their formula and blueprint that they follow step by step every week. The main event DQ, the long promo, the midcarders being cycled without consequences for any match, no character evolution from the moment they get established, as mentioned in previous pages. They don't have the time or inclination to sit down and debate different ways to present the show, make it feel like it isn't part of the same tired formula with things happening out of sync than the status quo. I assume this is the product of having so many writers and having the key people get them to work within a certain framework. But the framework isn't exciting, and so it's hard for anything on the show to have life when you've convinced the majority of your potential audience that none of them are true stars. Â The TV is stale, they've burned out the potential star power on the roster, and the trick now is to shake people up and make them see that the new crew are a big deal, as big as anything that's come before. And they're horrible at that. Â It's amazing to watch a lot of 2002 back this week, and see how even when they were kind of flailing, they were trying a lot of unique things to hook people. Now they just can't be bothered. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hallicks Posted October 18, 2015 Share Posted October 18, 2015 Since both WWE and USA Network know that Raw's only real value to the network is the ratings boost, if they start getting low to the point of not raising the network average then they're really in the shit. I suppose they might still be a long way from that, I just wonder if/when it happens, how it will manifest itself - surely cancellation is a long way off, but some kind of creative direction or directives from on high, or something. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
UK Kat Von D Posted October 18, 2015 Share Posted October 18, 2015 Id say #cancelthenetwork is a much more real danger for WWE than declining rating. Â It's already happened before, but no one really did anything. But what if next time all the "I'm never watching WWE again" lot actually banded together and cancelled their subscriptions? They could have every intention of resigning the day before the next Takeover special, but if one day 500000 people unsubscribe the share holders will fucking flip. In the time of monthly PPVs people had a month to calm down and just order the next one out of habit. Now you can unsubscribe, even if just to send a message. Â All hell would break loose over night as Vince either has a heart attack or starts firing random writers, texting Rock every two minutes and throwing unseen amounts of shit at the wall. Fuck, if enough people unsubscribe at once Vince might even actually have to step down Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hallicks Posted October 18, 2015 Share Posted October 18, 2015 If that is true then that's a staggering level of complacency in regards to their TV output. The monthly shows are, by and large, worth the 9.99. So I think you have a large amount of people happy to keep that subscription rolling just for the big shows. That hoo-ha about cancelling the network was butt hurt internet fans at their finest. They probably lost 3 subscriptions in total, and I'll bet they all came back 2 months later. Â They're so dependent on that TV money, yet the weekly output is so poor. It's not sustainable. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
UK Kat Von D Posted October 18, 2015 Share Posted October 18, 2015 The first time it happened, yeah it was just a bit of talk. WWE better hope the fans don't actually realise the power theyd have if the campaign went viral. Â I suppose as long as there's no one the fans actually care about it won't be a problem Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
the_mole Posted October 18, 2015 Share Posted October 18, 2015 Raw is still the most popular show on USA Network, could the ratings be explained by cord cutters? The top networks have dropped 5 million subscribers in the last few years with the rise of Netflix & Amazon Prime. Â Unlike over here where you can pay for Sky & BT Sports on their own, ESPN costs $6 a month for everyone no matter if you watch sports or not and even more when you count ESPN2, NFL Network, FS1 etc. Â The top channels like ESPN & USA have went from 99 million homes to 94 million because of cord cutters, that has to effect ratings. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
neil is brill Posted October 18, 2015 Share Posted October 18, 2015 I dunno, I like watching Cena win whilst people cry about it online. Well worth £9.99 a month. As long as he keeps kicking out at 2, I'll keep my subscription. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
King Pitcos Posted October 18, 2015 Share Posted October 18, 2015 The first time it happened, yeah it was just a bit of talk. WWE better hope the fans don't actually realise the power theyd have if the campaign went viral.  I suppose as long as there's no one the fans actually care about it won't be a problem  It would never happen. Daniel Bryan has as many Internet points of any wrestler ever, and if dey didn't cancel the network over him, dey won't cancel the network over anyone. And even then, a short-sighted "my favourite didn't win the belts" tantrum-cancel wouldn't solve any real problems. It might make WWE change an individual plan, but Internet shitfits have done that the last two years anyway and it hasn't actually improved the show.  There's zero chance of half a million people cancelling the network because Raw's been boring as fuck, that's the problem. Though there's an overall decline in popularity that would affect both, watching Raw and paying for the network are two different things. If anything, watching Raw probably makes the PPVs every month seem less appealing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
UK Kat Von D Posted October 18, 2015 Share Posted October 18, 2015 (edited) I just wrote a really long reply and deleted it by accident, so this ones coming at you half arsed. Â It is within the realms of possibility and easily more likely than Raw ratings dropping too low. If the fans realise the power they have and WWE piss them off enough then it is on the table. Nobody could have predicted the Bryan fiasco back in 2011, but it happened and looking back it was all pretty mental. What's to say it won't happen again in 2 years with someone else? Â What about this for a scenario. We all remember the "if Cena wins we riot" sign. What about #ifCenawinswecancel. Are the shareholders going to risk having their share prices ruined for WWE's artistic vision? Once people realise the power really is in their hands, we are one hissy fit away people actually cancelling the network with the intention of fucking shit up. People love bandwagons be it Bryan/Wrestlemania or Rage Against the Machine/Christmas. Edited October 18, 2015 by UK Kat Von D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
the_mole Posted October 18, 2015 Share Posted October 18, 2015 I know wrestling is a different thing because it's live and the fans are vocal onscreen. Â Would Breaking Bad, The Wire & Game of Thrones etc be as popular if they let a bunch of self entitled internet wanks influencing the writing of their shows? Of course they wouldn't and the WWE shouldn't just bow down anytime these people throw their toys out the pram because John Cena a guy who happens to sell a lot of merchandise and house shows, wins some US title matches. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
neil is brill Posted October 18, 2015 Share Posted October 18, 2015 I know wrestling is a different thing because it's live and the fans are vocal onscreen. Â Would Breaking Bad, The Wire & Game of Thrones etc be as popular if they let a bunch of self entitled internet wanks influencing the writing of their shows? Of course they wouldn't and the WWE shouldn't just bow down anytime these people throw their toys out the pram because John Cena a guy who happens to sell a lot of merchandise and house shows, wins some US title matches. Â There's no pleasing the boo-boys though. WWE make Cena the undercard champion to make way for Johnny Kickpadz/Seth Rollins to be the WWE Champion and they still complain about it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members air_raid Posted October 18, 2015 Paid Members Share Posted October 18, 2015 Cena's a special case, isn't he? Cena wrestles like John Cena, they hate him. Cena tries to throw in springboard Stunners, Code Red and wrestle like Kid Community Centre and they ridicule him for trying. That "Cena is trying to learn Hurricarana" meme came from the mind of someone I'd love to kick straight in the left nad. It's so hideously ironic that that mob get called (or anoint themselves, on occasion) "workrate perverts" and yet the actual workrate of John Cena, the hardest working guy in the industry, earns him no plaudits. Maddening. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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