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Post by Magneto on Sept 26, 2006 8:41:28 GMT -5
Don't analyze it. You are only wasting your time. There is NO ONE in the WWE that is close to having that special feel to them like Austin did back in 1997-98 or the Rock from 1998-1999 when they hit the next level. Eddie was becoming VERY LOVED before he died but he's gone now. So..who knows when there will be a hugely accepted star on such a level again.
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Post by Mr Ismaeal Naji on Sept 26, 2006 8:44:10 GMT -5
not until mickie james ties down some hot newcomer diva and.....nevermind
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vaderbomb91
ALF
South Park's Mel Gibson > you.
Posts: 1,167
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Post by vaderbomb91 on Sept 26, 2006 13:16:20 GMT -5
I've said this before, but here are WWE's major problems, the ones that will keep it from starting a boom period: The real biggest reason that we don't see young guys with star potential emerging is because the guys in WWE that do have it aren't/won't be allowed to show it; this is true both in the ring and on the mic. 1.) The reason that many of the young wrestlers with real promo potential don't seem to be anything special on the mic is often that WWE's almost unfathomably stupid writers and bookers have no idea how to take a character past its shallow base. Look at Carlito's character. As simple as it is, the guy's natural charisma on that mic has gotten him over. But that character has to evolve and gain some depth, or it will have no longevity. How long will spitting apples and quips about things being "cool" be entertaining? And why in the hell did they do that go nowhere relationship angle with Trish (who was going to leave soon, mind you)? It seems that the well is already running dry for the "creative geniuses" (i.e. reject sitcom/soap writers) when it comes to building up Carlito. As for Punk, well compare this: youtube.com/watch?v=XuP8tqxeslY to his promos on SciFi written by WWE "creative." There really is no comparison. And don't even get me started on Shelton's 'Momma.' 2.) Safe style must be abandoned. It's all good and well to want workers to have long careers and not get injured, but those careers won't come with much credibility when it's obvious to those watching that there's little risk involved, and thus little athleticism or toughness required, in what they're doing. Times have changed. Workrate is important enough that a wrestler cannot get over on their gimmick alone anymore. And for God's sake, if someone who was made a star in another fed is better than his own workers, Vince has to get over this aversion to pushing them. It's not 1987 anymore, and until Vince realizes this, you won't see any of the future's big stars emerging from WWE. You'll only continue to see the same boring, cookie-cutter matches (clothesline over the ropes, charging the back against the TB post on the outside spinebuster style, big boots, taking out several opponents with repeated clotheslines after a fresh tag, you know the drill) and one-dimensional, short-lifespan characters that you see now. WWE, basically, has no competition in terms of size. And until they abandon some of their archaic conceptions of the industry, you won't see new stars unless they come by through dumb luck. By the time a lot of the ROH/TNA/indy guys go to WWE, they might be past their primes. And if they aren't, Gerwitz and pals will almost certainly cut their primes short with their incompetence. If Vince doesn't start showing some foresight, he'll be left out of the next boom period.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Sept 26, 2006 13:19:06 GMT -5
New boom period = Debut of CRYME TYME!
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Post by HMARK Center on Sept 26, 2006 13:43:26 GMT -5
Let's chill on the "boom period" talk.
There have been TWO TIMES in wrestling history that pro wrestling got to the point where it was one of the biggest aspects of pop culture: Hulkamania, and the nWo/Austin days. That's it. And those days only lasted a few years each.
The things those two periods have in common: major characters that were departures from what most fans were accustomed to, and major players who happened to be in the right place at the right time.
This is where Vince deserves to be smacked on the head: you cannot attempt to recreate a boom period; so many ridiculous circumstances have to be in place, it's impossible to MAKE it happen.
If the wrestling industry has a lick of intelligence, it'll try to get to the point it was at in the pre-Hulkamania days in terms of how it's viewed in mainstream culture: wrestling has ALWAYS been very popular, and, before Hogan, it was widely accepted as a fun pasttime, and the market was bountiful enough to support a ton of companies working in different regions. These days, despite Raw drawing 3.5-4.0's a week, it's a much-maligned industry (for good and bad reasons), one most people frown upon.
Stop trying to find another Hulk Hogan or Steve Austin, and just try building up the business.
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EvilMasterBetty, Esq.
Bill S. Preston, Esq.
Bird...Birdie...birdie......Tiger...Tiger Tiger.....
R2C2 Reporting for duty
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Post by EvilMasterBetty, Esq. on Sept 26, 2006 13:50:24 GMT -5
There was also a huge boom in the 50s at the dawn of television. Gorgeous George was one of the first major TV stars in the US.
And as for building up the business, that's all well and good, but it won't lead to anything more than just maybe making wrestling less of a joke in the culture, which is a tall task in and of itself. The fact is there won't be a boom without a star, so people will continue to look until they find them, which is funny because he could be out there right now, even on WWE TV.
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kevinhardy
Dennis Stamp
Because I can become a better Champion than this person.
Posts: 4,115
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Post by kevinhardy on Sept 26, 2006 13:56:22 GMT -5
yes in given time
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Deleted
Deleted Member
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Post by Deleted on Sept 26, 2006 14:03:23 GMT -5
Let's chill on the "boom period" talk. There have been TWO TIMES in wrestling history that pro wrestling got to the point where it was one of the biggest aspects of pop culture: Hulkamania, and the nWo/Austin days. That's it. And those days only lasted a few years each. The things those two periods have in common: major characters that were departures from what most fans were accustomed to, and major players who happened to be in the right place at the right time. This is where Vince deserves to be smacked on the head: you cannot attempt to recreate a boom period; so many ridiculous circumstances have to be in place, it's impossible to MAKE it happen. If the wrestling industry has a lick of intelligence, it'll try to get to the point it was at in the pre-Hulkamania days in terms of how it's viewed in mainstream culture: wrestling has ALWAYS been very popular, and, before Hogan, it was widely accepted as a fun pasttime, and the market was bountiful enough to support a ton of companies working in different regions. These days, despite Raw drawing 3.5-4.0's a week, it's a much-maligned industry (for good and bad reasons), one most people frown upon. Stop trying to find another Hulk Hogan or Steve Austin, and just try building up the business. Yup, that would certainly make sense. Build up the business. Probably will NEVER happen though. As soon as their PPV buyrates show a 5% decline, Hogan's making a surprise appearance, Piper's making the save for someone, Rock appears on the Titantron and anything else they can think of that worked in the past. Whatever it is, you can be sure it won't include wrestling.
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Post by kwydjebo on Sept 26, 2006 15:27:18 GMT -5
So looking back....here are some fun facts.
Wrestling hit a major Boom in the 80s with the WWFs (To heck with the Panda People) product, which was lead by Hulk Hogan, and (like Much of the Hogan personae itself) was targeted at kids. It was very cartoony, clear distinctions between good and evil, and good was almost always better than bad, however bad cheated to even the playing field. This is a time when many non-wrestling fans started tuning in. I was about 10 years old at the time (Born in the mid to late 70s made us children of the 80s). Almost every wrestler had some sort of gimmick, and many of those were jobs. We had wrestling Policemen, tax men, millionaires, funeral directors, country bumpkins, bull fighters, models etc.... We, the 8 to 14 year olds were the demographic.
Next boom, mid to late 90s. Lets call 97 and 98 the peak years. According to the ratings, more people were watching both monday night shows (Combined) than had ever watched wrestling before (In ratings history).
Who was the target? Young adults, late teens...it was about rebellion (NWO) and bucking athority (NWO/DX and Austin). Less cartoony, more adult oriented. So 10 to 15 years after marketing to 6 to 15 year olds, they were marketting to 16 to 30 year olds. The hip, the young, and those who were trying to act young.
I guess my main point here is that, a lot of the same people likely made up both of these booms.
Hogan (Who had a lot of talent and charisma, if not wrestling skill, and Vince put everything he had behind him, making him a household name...and by extension the WWF become one as well...Remember the WWF was building up its national exposure at that point...Had Hogan become a joke or Flop of a personality, the WWF may have failed as well) is the face of the first boom, Austin (Talented, and charismatic, I think his incredible appeal may have been a surprise at first, but Vinny Mac captilized on it right quick...at the time Vince was fighting to keep his company afloat) is the most recognizable name of the second.
Another Boom in the future? Its possible. Will the children of the 80s be the target demo again? Will the WWF (Or another major Company) need to be on the verge of collapse in order to jumpstart the boom?
But in order for the WWE to cash in on a future boom they are seriously going to need to improve their product....
Just my opinion...
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Post by Mayonnaise on Sept 26, 2006 15:33:30 GMT -5
There was also a huge boom in the 50s at the dawn of television. Gorgeous George was one of the first major TV stars in the US. Absolutely. The man was ripped of by Muhammad Ali, who in turn has been ripped off by every major sports star since. His impact on pop culture is more than any other wrestler. Only Hogan, Rock and, Austin can even come near that.
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Post by Cactus Jack on Sept 26, 2006 15:36:59 GMT -5
Maybe. Hopefully. Perhaps 2006 = 1996, etc. That means we're due for a boom period in...2008. But folks, you need to remember the product doesn't even have to be particularly "good" for there to be a boom period, to be honest.
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Post by HMARK Center on Sept 26, 2006 16:21:39 GMT -5
My point with building up the business is that, if you put on a quality product and book intelligently, odds are good that you will pretty quickly stumble onto something that can get you some nice numbers. Maybe not enormous numbers, but something to build on.
Just throwing crap at a wall and hoping it sticks due to some baseless idea that "the product is cyclical" isn't going to accomplish anything.
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Post by tartsonawire on Sept 26, 2006 16:32:20 GMT -5
I think so. May be just around the corner, may be a few years from now. As much as I don't particularly like to see Angle go to TNA, it made me think about how the competition could be really good for WWE. Kinda like the Monday Night Wars.
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Post by kickassforumguyme on Sept 26, 2006 16:41:03 GMT -5
If people put their WWE loyalty aside and give TNA a chance once they hit Prime time then yes a boom will happen again.
Im personally excited for TNA right now and I hope they really do well. That will force WWE to wake up and do something different.
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Post by Cheeto Smith on Sept 26, 2006 16:47:59 GMT -5
We all know that the 90s boom followed shortly after WCW started Nitro and created arguably the most competitive wrestling environment in history. Prior to that, nobody had to compete for TV viewers, everybody had their own time slot, their own show.
Was there any sort of similar moment during the 80s boom? Did the 80s boom include wrestling in general, as the 90s boom did, or was it really just a WWF/Hogan boom?
Anybody remember? Was NWA/Ric Flair getting any increased interest/exposure during the 80s boom?
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BRV
Bill S. Preston, Esq.
Wants him some Taco Flavored Kisses.
Posts: 16,974
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Post by BRV on Sept 26, 2006 21:32:37 GMT -5
How can we predict a boom, either?
I mean, back in 1996, who expected 'Stunning' Steve Austin a.k.a. The Ringmaster to become arguably the most popular WWF supserstar ever?
Or in early 1997, who expected Blue-Chipper Rocky Maivia, who everyone was chanting, "Die Rocky Die" at, to become one of the biggest stars in wrestling history?
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Corporate H
Grimlock
He Buries Them Alive
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Post by Corporate H on Sept 26, 2006 21:47:52 GMT -5
I feel it coming along soon. I predict that within the next five years wrestling will once again be at it's pinacle.
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