When did the wwf's first boom period end?

[wildojinx]

We all know the wwf's first boom period started around 84-85 with hogan, piper, mr t, etc, but when did it end in your opinion? Ive heard everywhere from 1988 to 1993. I'd say that around 93-94 it started getting less popular from what i could see (of course, i lived in NH where wrestlings always been popular, so there was always a small contingent of fans, even during the dark period)

[domrep]

1993 would be my guess. 1992, despite the steroid scandal, they had some awesome stuff going on at that time. Flair/Warrior/Savage/Perfect in the main event feud, Bulldog/Bret Hart, Shawn Michaels' rise to being a single's star. Razor Ramon in the main event feuds.

All of that went to the crapper once Hogan came back.

[Blindkarevik]

I'd say the writing was on the wall after Wrestlemania 6. Warrior just wasn't able to carry the torch from Hogan... and '92, as much as I love that year, with having Flair, Savage, Hogan, Sid, Undertaker, Roberts, Flair, Piper, etc,.... all at pretty much the same time, it seemed a lot like the '02-'04 era in WWE when they started pulling in pretty much everyone who had ever main evented WCW.

[Samoa Kenny]

I think the steroid trials had a lot to do with it.. around the time that the "family friendly/every wrestler has a day job" era

[MolotovMocktail]

Wrestlemania 6 was its last great moment. At Summerslam of that year, Slaughter debuted his pro-Iraqi gimmick, and that drove away a lot of fans. The departures of 80's mainstays sealed it, with Hogan leaving in 92 a major factor.

["Nature Boy" Ric Moranis]

Wrestlemania VII (or shortly before that at the Rumble), when has-been, Iraqi Slaughter beat Warrior...and people started tuning out, killing the WWF momentum built from 1984-1990. Great, textbook booking to set up Hogan saving the day, but the Slaughter stuff happened at the wrong time, and turned lots of people off.

Plus, when you just played Skydome the year before, and you can't sell tickets, and you have to move Wrestlemania from the advertised, world famous, outdoor, 100,000-seat L.A. Coliseum to the dump that the Clippers used to play in...that's a pretty major business indicator.

...I realize the next Wrestlemania was at the Hoosier Dome, but that was an early day version of today's Wrestlemania. Quite the familiar Wrestlemania spectacle, and a fun time, but it wasn't happening during any boom period.

[Robbymac]

Wrestlemania VI is when the boom ended. Putting the belt on the Warrior was the mistake that killed the original boom, just like turning Austin heel and then burying WCW killed the second boom. Saying the boom continued into 93-94 is like saying the Attitude boom is still going on.

[YouStayClassy]

aaaaaaaaa said:

Plus, when you just played Skydome the year before, and you can't sell tickets, and you have to move Wrestlemania from the advertised, world famous, outdoor, 100,000-seat L.A. Coliseum to the dump that the Clippers used to play in...that's a pretty major business indicator.

Umm, there were numerous bomb threats called in by the vast legion of people who wanted to kill Slaughter! Hello?!

Vince wasn't about to jeporadize the lives of all his fans by holding it in the Coliseum, come on now!

[Rocky Van Heineken]

I'd say it ended in 90, right after WrestleMania 6.

[Aceorton]

I consider the arrival of the Nasty Boys to be the official end of that era. I'm not joking.

So late 1990, right after the Survivor Series.

[Cap'n Crud]

I would say 1993 As more and more of WWF's talent was heading for the greener pastures of WCW the show began to suck and eventually led to the abyssmal New Generation Era a time which has no doubt given RD tons of material to write not only books but also a whole website about.

[willywonka666]

To me, it was when Hogan started slowing down, particularly around 92 or so. You still had some pretty big names from the 80's boom, but they were slowly going away. Even though Hogan was at WM IX, it was becoming a different promotion, and other wrestlers quickly followed Hogan and were gone.

[thesunbeast]

Isay that the first boom period ended around 1977. It was always popular back then, so a down period wasn't really a down period, it was just that it wasn't as big a draw as before. When Bruno was on top, it was big, but then when Superstar Billy Graham took over and then Backlund, It was still big, but just not as big as before.

Then Hogan came along and added a whole new meaning to boom period. It started in 1984 and ended in 1992. That was an 8 year boom period, and from 1992 to 1997 was a down period for 5 years.

The 3rd boom period for WWE was the attitude era, and this boom period acrtually started in 1997, not 1998 like so many people think. When Austin was intercontinental champion having rivalries with Owen Hart and The Rock, it was already a boom period, as many new casual fans were tuning in.

This is how I know what's a boom period and what isn't. A boom period will sucessfully cater to new, casual fans, people that have been watching for less than a year. A down period will cater to loyal fans, well, because they're loyal, and if you need loyal fans, you're not doing too well.

The only way to go from a down period and enter a boom period, is to ditch the loyal fans and recruit new fans, and then cater to them, just look at history.

The thing is, is that the loyal fans will have to leave, and this was easy before, but nowadays with the internet, It's hard. You have an arena filled with dissapointed jaded older fans, and you switch the product to catter to kids. That way, he will leave in a disgusted misery, but will be replaced with two parents and their two kids.

When I go to a show now, It's just me and a friend, and sometimes, we have the tendancy to "analyze" the matches. When I was 14 and it was the attitude era, it was me, my mother, my father, my brother, my cousin, and my aunt. Do the math. Ofcourse, they were just trying to cater to the kids they had growing up, to keep them as fans, who were now teenagers. So thay had "flashers" in the ring during commercial, and I was embarressed to have to be there with my family (not the show, the boobies). I was the only true fan, the one that would watch dueing a down period, everyone else was there to see Stone Cold. We had to leave early just because of the fact that my Aunt and mother thought that Stone Cold wasn't going to show up. What does that say?

The flagship of the company is what brings a boom period. Every family is the same way.

Now, the WWE is at the point it was at in 1984. Your kid fans are now grown up and are watching their wrestling in cigar smoked filled bars. They enjoy the life of the cocktail waitress giving you your drink while you indulge in a smoke and your wrestling match. Then along comes a new era, and the cigar smoking fan leaves forever, having nothing left other than the stories of what wrestling was like in "his day", and he's replaced by two kids and their parents.

2007 is the equivelent of 1984, only under very different curcumstances. The cigar smoking fan lets the family sit next to him, if there's room, but he won't leave. While they're cheering, he tells them stories that they don't want to hear about what wrestling was like in "his day", but he still won't leave. There's technology now, and the cigar smoking fan can use this technology to grant his wrestling fix, and now will still keep following the product.

The only thing that postponed the 1984-like boom period of 2007 is that you have an arena filled with fans that's sold out, and half of them wil have an "OK" time, and meanwhile you have a poor kid at home who would have had the absolute time of his life if he was able to go, but can't go to the show because it's sold out, and his spot is being taken up but some guy who can't enjoy the show, but he won't go away.

The cigar smoking fan of today now call themselves "smart marks".

[Nice Guy Cody]

wildojinx said:

We all know the wwf's first boom period started around 84-85 with hogan, piper, mr t, etc,

I think Bruno Sammartino would have something to say about that.

[Galluchadore]

I think what made the attitude era so big was that they went after the right audience. They started going after the 18-34 demographic. Which did two things one it brought the young male audience to the table simply because that is who the WWF was going after. Second little kids were into it as well , younger kids always will like what their older brothers are into and since it was considered "adult and mature" they felt like they were watching something they shouldn't. Now as the business seems to be a slower the WWE has been going after the little kids instead of young men. It is never the reverse effect, the older fans liking what younger kids like. Sure the little kids bring their parents and they will sell the extra ticket for the dad to be with them but the father isn't there at the show chanting and popping during the matches.

[thesunbeast]

galluch said:

I think what made the attitude era so big was that they went after the right audience. They started going after the 18-34 demographic. Which did two things one it brought the young male audience to the table simply because that is who the WWF was going after. Second little kids were into it as well , younger kids always will like what their older brothers are into and since it was considered "adult and mature" they felt like they were watching something they shouldn't. Now as the business seems to be a slower the WWE has been going after the little kids instead of young men. It is never the reverse effect, the older fans liking what younger kids like. Sure the little kids bring their parents and they will sell the extra ticket for the dad to be with them but the father isn't there at the show chanting and popping during the matches.

Mabe, but I was actually explaining WHY things were going that way, not just what ends up happening. Sure they wen't after the 18-34 year old demographic, and people say that it's a smart move, but no one knows why. It was a smart move in 1997 to go after 20 year olds because they jumped on board in 1986 when they were 9. Combine this with the other 30% of 20 year olds that are brand new fans, and you have big business. If they went after tht demographic in 1992, you would have had just those 30% new 20 year olds, which would equal 4,000 people in the arenas.

Yes the dad's didn't give a crap about the product, since when does that matter when they still paid for a ticket? Disneyworld does phenominal business too, but I don't think you have alot of grown Micky Mouse fans, who is indeed the flagship to disney world and won't be loosing his spot to Donald Duck anytime soon.

[Jack]

It began to wind down in 1991ish slowly bu surely and probably final ended around mid 1992. Wrestling was still very popular then but when guys who had carried the company for so many years, Piper, Hogan, Warrior, Savage and the like all one by one disappeared over a relatively shor period of time as did the audience.

Wrestling isn't like a drama or a sitcom, the people won't stay for the show, they'll stay for characters and superstars they can identify with and whom they find entertaining.

[tankmcquade]

I would say it slowly died down between WM 6 and 7

[The Summer of Muskrat XVII]

sunbeast, that was probably the best possible explanation for this topic I've ever seen. Well done sir