Is Vince out of touch?

[Grecian]

 

I think the answer to this one is 'sort of'.

 

Vince is trying to cater the product to one type of audience member, the kids who like the larger-than-life superhero characters, your Cenas, your Batistas, your Reigns'. Guys like me, who've been watching wrestling for around 25 years don't give a crap how someone looks, I much prefer the wrestling, the storytellers, the psychology - something that Reigns hasn't quite clicked yet. The guys that I think should be pushed are not the guys that my 9 year old neighbour thinks should be the top guy.

 

NXT appeals because it's catered towards me. The main event stories on Raw are aimed at the younger audience, and the other two and a half hours are just filler.

You mention that you 'much prefer the wrestling, the storytellers, the psychology', yet reckon the lads at the top of the card don't appeal to you?  They've quite clearly got there for a reason, and that is that they excel at what you've said.  Wrestling is not The Shawshank Redemption.  The story should be, this person you like has been wronged, now watch him get his redemption (OK, maybe it is Shawshank).

 

So yeah, basically, John Cena is Tim Robbins and Daniel Bryan is Morgan Freeman.

 

 

So when Batista, Cena and Reigns all received their first main event pushes, was it due to their workrate / psychology / wrestling finesse, or the fact that they looked as they did? Cena got shown up for what he was as soon as he went to Raw and was away from the editing suite on Smackdown, Batista struggled as soon as he was away from Triple H and had some absolute stinkers, Reigns is a good looking chap who's not had his definitive singles match yet, and gets to main-event Wrestlemania...

[King Pitcos]

So when Batista, Cena and Reigns all received their first main event pushes, was it due to their workrate / psychology / wrestling finesse, or the fact that they looked as they did?

 

Those three terms aren't interchangeable. And in Cena and Batista's case, it was neither. Cena had big muscles when he was on the to-sack list, and Batista had big muscles when he was never meant to be much more than an enforcer. They got their first main event pushes because they had characters that got over.

[Bosco Blick]

Cena was never gonna be sacked at any point.

[Flangedango]

Don't know about that. Cena himself has come out and said that Vince wanted shot of him after a few months as the 'Ruthless Aggression guy'. His saving grace was spitting bars and going hard on that bus.

[jonnybgoode82]

I would perhaps phrase the original question, 'has Vince ever been in touch?' or has he caught lightning in a bottle on a couple of occasions and had his hand forced by outside factors on others?

[d-d-d-dAz]

You don't stumble blind into the sort of prolonged success Vince McMahon has had. That's ludicrous.

 

In an age where wrestling is pretty much dead from the waist down, he manages to still fill some of the biggest arenas in the world. In his field, he's a genius.

 

That said, the business model has changed so they're less reliant on spiking business once a month for particular shows, and instead prefer a steady, unexciting through-year flow. Between that and the fact that we're all hurtling well past their target demographic, the question is more whether Vince actually gives an arse if he's in touch with any of us?

[IANdrewDiceClay]

Of course he cares. Vince McMahon has thrived for acceptance from the outside world for decades. He is so thin skinned. Hence all the money he spent on projects most would have told him didnt have a chance of succeeding and his innevitable meltdown when they fuck up. He's a driven man. I imagine the idea he's out of touch drives him mad.

[Dead Mike]

Between that and the fact that we're all hurtling well past their target demographic,

 

 

 

What is the WWE’s target demographic these days? I know they moved to PG & aimed their product more at the kids but surely with all the focus seemingly on the WWE Network they’re aiming at an older age group (18-35)? Can’t imagine many 10 year olds in Cena merch having much interest in watching 20 year old WCW shows & documentaries?

[jonnybgoode82]

You don't stumble blind into the sort of prolonged success Vince McMahon has had. That's ludicrous.

 

In an age where wrestling is pretty much dead from the waist down, he manages to still fill some of the biggest arenas in the world. In his field, he's a genius.

 

That said, the business model has changed so they're less reliant on spiking business once a month for particular shows, and instead prefer a steady, unexciting through-year flow. Between that and the fact that we're all hurtling well past their target demographic, the question is more whether Vince actually gives an arse if he's in touch with any of us?

 

I personally don't think Vince has never been in touch, it's just something I thought was worth sticking out there as a theory.

 

But you do hear plenty of interviews where people say he doesn't keep up-to-date with current trends, doesn't really watch current TV and does stuff on a whim based on what happened to him that week, the famous rumour that Isaac Yankem's character came about because Vince had a particularly harsh dental appointment one week for example.

[IANdrewDiceClay]

The guy was totally in touch in the mid-80s. It can be argued he stubbled onto good fortune in the late 90s, but they were so in tune with the climate of the time from 1984-87. All those celebs you see were so of their time, and all the merchandise they sprung onto people was amazing. He really turned the WWF into Disney or Marvel for the young wrestling fan. When ever I see shows detailing pop culture from the 80s, I always go "WWF had those, WWF had that." Whether it was successful arcade machines, toy lines, video games, Hulk Hogan popping up at the Grammys with Cyndi Lauper, WWF showing up on MTV when MTV was cool, the WWF was so hot at the time. And Vince was the visionary behind it, because most thought he was mental to take it in that direction. The mid-80s were probably his biggest success as the owner.

[ColinBollocks]

Of course he cares. Vince McMahon has thrived for acceptance from the outside world for decades. He is so thin skinned. Hence all the money he spent on projects most would have told him didnt have a chance of succeeding and his innevitable meltdown when they fuck up. He's a driven man. I imagine the idea he's out of touch drives him mad.

That's one of the things that stuck out from that Austin interview. He was clear to stress several times that he's not out of touch, to the point where it seemed like it's a bit of a sore point.

 

Vince is always going on about moving forward with the times. He's a hyper driven/insecure bloke.

[Callum1993]

I think if WWE had a genuine competitor then Vince would be far more motivated than he is. He's seemingly fallen into the comfort blanket that is today's WWE. Let's face it with the network now far less effort has to be put into PPV's because hell once the first of the month comes they have your money. Until either:

 

A) WWE gets a genuine competitor

 

B) WWE suffers a massive ratings slump/ huge loss of network subscribers

 

Unless either of these things happen I can't see Vince changing. I don't think he's out of touch persay but rather he's just safe in the current climate of the Wrestling business.

[King Pitcos]

The thing is as well, nobody ever seems to really have any ideas on how to feasibly move it forward to a new relevant fad period anyway. People used to do the "less talking, more workrate" moan. They've done that now, and it's utter shit that makes the show more boring than ever and the characters less over. There's the "bring back the attitude era" moan, which is pointless because everyone was sick of that in 2002-2007 anyway. And there's the "copy NXT" moan, which is irrelevant as fuck to a three hour show chasing ratings every week and pushing big events every four.

 

At least in 1996 or so, you could look at ECW and imagine that the WWF showing loads of tit and blood and swearing would be attention-getting. There's nothing like that now.

[Undefeated Steak]

Pop culture is too clean for another blood and guts era yet. The problem with Raw and Smackdown is that nothing about them feels fun which is when wrestling's at its best and most contagious. NXT does. I think the next boom period would come by turning the characters, promos and gimmicks up to 11. Realism in wrestling sucks. They need new Hogans and Warriors. 

[DoinkBrah]

They have too many people to please imo.  Advertisers, sponsors, long time fans, "internet" fans, the general public and so on and so on.  With that level of spreaded focus, it must be an almost impossible task to write something every week if you have so many groups you have to please.

 

I wouldn't say he's out of touch, he's more a man with a fork in a world full of soup.