Topic: Wrestling?

you know what I WILL say about all this. I never thought that WWE could get the crowd to boo Oiled ever again. I figured that on "sex appeal" alone he would forever be held in perpetual tweener status.

That is a good point.


Apparently, even sexy evil men can still be booed for being evil.




After watching Raw tonight, honestly my number 1 thought right now would have to be

I want Goldust back.


He's like William Regal. Talented, Charismatic, never given the chance to fully shine like he deserves, and you never realize how much you miss him until you see him again.

Plus he got a pretty awesome pop.

This rule of 7 seems like a lame rationale to say: "Ok, time has passed and we're bancrupt for ideas and new twists again, let's recycle something".

I pity a human being that can't remember a wrestling happening that happened 7 years ago if it was huge and he actually saw it happening live or on TV. And I sigh at the thought of people that remember but don't care and pretend to have never seen something like this.
Cena lifting Big Show for example. Big Show has spent more time in the air than Kofi ffs. The only way to not know this is to be either very young or totally ignorant of your surrounding. That's basically the minimum required intelligence to live on your own without foreign help in my eyes you're missing when you are not aware of the things that happened back then and is akin to forgetting the name of your high school cause you've left it years ago.

Anyone that can't remember, for example, Hogan turn face again against the Rock while watching it on TV or live needs professional help with his memory^^

I think the idea is more that the 12 year old who watched it, ~7 years later, no longer watches WWE, and so wouldn't notice when they recycle the storyline. That's the idea behind fanbase turnover, you don't have the same people watching religiously and discussing it in forums for decades.

Hardcore fans are a separate entity, and perpetually in the minority.

Sure.

But the businessman and sports guy(no, I don't think I could manage WWE better than Vince) can't cease to wonder why WWE does not use it's rich history for it's gain to raise the percentage of their die hard fans like: "hey fans, remember Big Show being tossed in the air like a sack of feathers? Happened at blah blah. Can John Cena do it again at the lowest point of his strength? Tune in to find out!". The only thing different is the word again If for some reasons the top face does not draw(like sadly Hart, Diesel and Michaels), WWE is in deep trouble that could be cushioned better with a larger base of hardcore fans. Even the power rangers have season finales, and WWE at it's worst is a 24/7 power ranger episode with no season finale^^

I think maybe some actual market research into WWE's fanbase would clear up some of these uncertainties for you.

You mean the report where it's stated that only around 20% of the WWE's viewers are children or juveniles? Even factoring in that these numbers double with parents and other relatives, it's still considerably under 50%. And not every parent is made of money to buy their kids tons of stuff. People nearing retirement are actually the largest of these groups, and the add relevant group is traditionally ages 18 to 49, or ages 18 to 34. Don't know about the US, but children by themselves can't buy shit here.

Do they move merch?`Sure. Is this fanbase good to have? Sure.
Is it good to focus on only one segment of viewers and search for the lowest common denominator? No. If Walt Disney knew that 80+ years ago, why not Vince?
"I do not make films primarily for children. I make them for the child in all of us, whether we be six or sixty."

I see the WWE thriving as a brand(Adds etc ), but loosing at their core business until HHH takes over. Just hoping that the straw Giant isn't just straw at that time and still partly giant.

That's interesting.

Anyway, I guess you brought that up because I used the number 12 a couple posts ago. I suppose the point is that there's a difference between saying "I want to see this" vs "they're stupid for not doing this". The latter is just recreational whining, and while it might do it for some, probably your garden variety mark is able to enjoy the stuff more. The end result is the same in that you both watch it.

I'm just not interested in professional fandom.



I'll see myself out.

Blue's right. Wrestling DOES tend to have a large fan turnover rate. These days I would say its kids that watch until their old enough to discover UFC and watch that instead.

WWE is not in "deep trouble" as you claim. Their making plenty of cash in merchandise and other area's. Wrestlemania alone always makes bank for the company as well.


Catering to the "Die Hard" fans is, quite frankly, a stupid idea.

Look at ECW. ECW catered too, and ONLY too, its die hard fanbase, resulting in a lot of fans literally following the company around to be at their shows. Sure, they had a cult like following, but where did it get them? Bingo halls, gymnasiums, armories. They never rose above that level and never actually gained a larger fan base because all they cared about was making that core group of fans happy. Then they failed, went bankrupt, and now Vince owns every bit of it.

The incredibly shitty Combat Zone Wrestling is making the same exact mistake by catering just to that one type of fan, only half of their shows take place in backyards and parking lots. Ring of Honor is making a slightly different mistake by catering to fans of actual wrestling, though mainly to fans of the Japanese style of pro wrestling.

Juggalo Championsh*t Wrestling is making both the mistake of catering to former ECW fans, AND the mistake of being allowed to exist. Shame on you ICP. Shame on you.

I think what you probably meant to say was that WWE should cater more to the Smarks. Which is also a really stupid idea, since WWE can, and has, done things just to appease the IWC before, and they complained about it.

So the die hards will watch no matter what they do, because thats who they are and what they like. The IWC/Smark fanbase will complain and talk shit about the company no matter what they do, because quite frankly none of them know or even want to enjoy wrestling anymore and think their little fantasy booking is how things should be done and refuse to accept anything else.

That leaves the casual fans. The ones that take their kids to the shows, that order the ppv's, that buy the merchandise, that bought Cena's lame music album and, perhaps most importantly, they the ones that have fun and ENJOY the product.

Plus, unlike the other two groups, when casual fans leave, more take their place.


To use a video game example, its kinda like how casual games can sell millions, while the more "hardcore gamer" oriented games tend to barely succeed or even flop.

My smarkiness and my casualness get along just fine. I love wrestling because I don't take it too seriously and knowing about how the sausage is made lets me appreciate the jokes I make about it that much more ^ ^ Like, because I know Santa isn't real, I obviously can't enjoy it the way I did as a kid. So, now it's more like MST3k but with the occasional spectacular feats of athletics. " title="cookie" />

That leaves the casual fans. The ones that take their kids to the shows, that order the ppv's, that buy the merchandise, that bought Cena's lame music album and, perhaps most importantly, they the ones that have fun and ENJOY the product.

I do all that. Except for the bold because no kids and fucking fuck no. I don't need more reasons to hate The Prof. " title="no no.." />