The Official UKFF RAW thread (part 2)...

[Devon Malcolm]

1 hour ago, Kfogg1991 said:

I really am excited for the move to netflix and think we're going to get blood and edge back again

Here's hoping it will/won't be disappointing but satisfying for you.

[Hannibal Scorch]

5 minutes ago, d-d-d-dAz said:

Hasn't WWE been plenty edgy for a while now? Everyone's always swearing, they have super violent matches and they've even flirted with blood a few times.

This idea that they're putting out PG shows hasn't been true for ages, but is just something people say reflexively - as if the genuinely sanitised years have left us all with longstanding PTSD.

One day, they'll film someone getting stabbed whilst half the roster have a big gangbang in the background and we'll still have people bemoaning PG wrestling.

Not for TV. TV is strictly PG, at least the first 2 hours of Raw, hour 3 was usually TV14 as it was after 10am. PLE’s were normally more edgy/violent. But as they have said it’s going to be PG https://www.cagesideseats.com/wwe/2024/12/4/24313088/wwe-raw-remaining-pg-family-friendly-netflix-nick-khan-quote-triple-h-runtime

And of course it is! They have toys to sell and sponsors to keep happy. They would be mad to change that now more people will have access. I imagine we may see a change to PLE’s once the Peacock deal expires as well. 

[FLips]

7 minutes ago, d-d-d-dAz said:

Hasn't WWE been plenty edgy for a while now? Everyone's always swearing, they have super violent matches and they've even flirted with blood a few times.

This idea that they're putting out PG shows hasn't been true for ages, but is just something people say reflexively - as if the genuinely sanitised years have left us all with longstanding PTSD.

One day, they'll film someone getting stabbed whilst half the roster have a big gangbang in the background and we'll still have people bemoaning PG wrestling.

The footage uploaded to Youtube recently too seems to be mostly unedited when it comes to blood and weapon shots.

It's arguable that the product now is more adult than it's ever been. A little bit of swearing, a little bit of violence but grounded mostly in real people and real stories. I think people forget that the adult stuff during the Attitude Era was actually shit. Choppy Choppy Pee Pee, Mae Young's Hand, relentless violence, objectification and degredation against women, HHH in blackface, chairshots to the head and steroids making sure nobody made it to 50.

 

[d-d-d-dAz]

2 minutes ago, Hannibal Scorch said:

Not for TV. TV is strictly PG, at least the first 2 hours of Raw, hour 3 was usually TV14 as it was after 10am. PLE’s were normally more edgy/violent. But as they have said it’s going to be PG https://www.cagesideseats.com/wwe/2024/12/4/24313088/wwe-raw-remaining-pg-family-friendly-netflix-nick-khan-quote-triple-h-runtime

And of course it is! They have toys to sell and sponsors to keep happy. They would be mad to change that now more people will have access. I imagine we may see a change to PLE’s once the Peacock deal expires as well. 

Seth Rollins called CM Punk an arsehole and Rhea Ripley called Dom and Raquel sluts on Raw just this week.

What do people want from wrestling shows?

Blood and guts every week? Just a relentless stream of meaningless violence and swearing?

They'd have to hire Moxley back for that, and no one wants that.

[Supremo]

[SuperBacon]

25 minutes ago, d-d-d-dAz said:

What do people want from wrestling shows?

25 minutes ago, d-d-d-dAz said:

Rhea Ripley

 

[TheScarlettChad]

2 hours ago, Kfogg1991 said:

It's certainly been a strong year for WWE as a whole.

For the first time ever they listened to the fans and showed that it matters to use our voices which hasn't been the case until now which made wrestle mania so much bigger.

Getting the rock back and him turning heel was fantastic, I didn't think we would see it again.

Having Roman reigns be the most hated man by far only to now be a babyface again shows what this company can do when done right.

Getting a good hell in a cell match again after it being useless for so long was amazing.

 

I really am excited for the move to netflix and think we're going to get blood and edge back again which will feel like a breath of fresh air after 20 years in the bubblegum smile and kiss babies era.

Here's to 2025

Punk bled a gusher.

2004 was 20 years ago, They weren't kissing babies and "bubblegum smiling" whatever that means.

[DavidB6937]

Theres a very lazy thing that some people still hold on to that PG was to blame for WWE's dip in quality. It never was. You can book great TV whatever the rating as long as you make people give a shit. And for so long they just didn't. They didn't build stars. They often followed through with their own stubborn visions and had no real interest in pleasing the audience overall. Tell the viewers what they want rather than listening to what the viewers actually want. That was what was wrong, not PG.

Go back and look at a lot of the Attitude era stuff. In hindsight it was shit but the crowds were enjoying it because the product was hot. So you can get away with some middling stuff. Same as now. It's not all great but because there's a hot and enthusiastic vibe with a lot of over people it kinda all works.

The rating is one of the least important things about the product.

[Mr_Danger]

I’m sick of the PG era too. Bring back bra and panty matches and geriatric ladies giving birth to hands etc.

[SwayWays]

The decline in WWE for me, was that it wrote it self like a generic soap TV show too often. I remember the authority fired a bunch of guys, I think including ziggler if I remember correctly and they just stood there to end the show like idiots, because they didn't have any more lines like an off scene npc, or video game character during the loading parts. It lacked realism, that's what WWE's biggest decline for me was the lack of realism and believability when it mattered. I find it harder to suspend my belief in some of the most awkward clunky dialogue and storylines than undertaker levitating and shooting Greggs pasties from his eyes. It does always have to be "well Austin wouldn't react like this..." it's when "hang on, no one would" that kills if for me. 

[Mr_Danger]

Exactly, bad writing and cookie cutter wrestlers are what caused the lull. How many Raw’s started with a boring HHH promo, a face interruption, an Evolution beat down, tag main event for later in the night. It’s still the go to formula for most shows but it just seemed to be the exact same shit every week whilst they threw Matt Morgan/Nathan Jones/Test/Big Muscley White Guy Of The Week in to boring mid card feuds. I’d argue that what people miss most about the attitude era is the unpredictability and frenetic booking not the swears, blood and titties. I’d also argue that what we have now is a happy medium between the two. The more extreme elements are few and far between but mean a bit more and the boring house style has taken an Indy flavour to the point that we’d rather see a classic WWE style guy like Gunther over a flashy shit in the wall wrestler like Seth Rollins because there’s so much flashy Indy style wrestling integrated in to the house style now.

[The King of Old School]

Quite the turn around for Karrion Kross, everyone wanted him unemployed a few months ago!

[The Gaffer]

.

Edited December 20, 2024 by The Gaffer
Ignore. Image expired and it's not worth finding again.

[Supremo]

9 hours ago, The King of Old School said:

Quite the turn around for Karrion Kross, everyone wanted him unemployed a few months ago!

Anything can happen in the World Wrestling Federation.

[air_raid]

On 12/18/2024 at 10:04 PM, DavidB6937 said:

Theres a very lazy thing that some people still hold on to that PG was to blame for WWE's dip in quality. It never was. You can book great TV whatever the rating as long as you make people give a shit.

As has been repeated time and time again by people far more learned than me - Nitro at its best, when it captured the imagination of wrestling fans and won the ratings battle every week, did so with a PG show.

There’s a difference between PG meaning be wary of children watching, and writing TV as though children are writing it, as we saw in the “JBL Is Poopy” era.