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Post by rapidfire187 on Apr 11, 2011 22:19:29 GMT -5
Here me out...
WWE wants to focus on more than just wrestling. They want their hand in all types of entertainment it seems. They're already doing movies, and will presumably be doing television soon. The type of television is unknown, but it wouldn't be far-fetched to assume that they'll be doing some silly sitcoms or something.
So, this change in direction was announced right before WM 27. But for the past two weeks, RAW has featured more wrestling than it has in a long time. Last week had over 30 minutes of actual wrestling (which for a show that is under 2 hours after commercial breaks, that's pretty damn good). This week seemed to have even more.
Is there a connection here? I'm probably just over-analyzing things but my personal theory is that if WWE is looking to branch out into other entertainment venues then they have no reason to do so many silly segments on their wrestling show. For the past few weeks, RAW has featured virtually nothing but wrestling, promo's/segments revolving around wrestling, and WM 27 recaps. Basically, not much has happened that made me think "ugh, this has no place on a wrestling show".
Am I on to something here?
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Post by alabastergrim on Apr 11, 2011 22:20:11 GMT -5
WWE takes "wrestling" out of their name then I wish it happened a whole lot sooner. Raw was awesome tonight. The crowd was hot for everything. Heck, Sin Cara got a VERY good pop and even had chants! I was actually interested in the show the whole time, there was a whole lot of "entertaining" going on and I actually look forward to next week. Please keep it up WWE!
Fun fact: My main reason for posting this is I was one of the people who were pissed in the direction WWE was heading but this show felt like a gigantic turnaround. I don't know what happened, I don't care, I just like it. I assumed that once they officially dropped "wrestling" it was all over. Now if you excuse me, I have a gigantic plate of crow to eat.
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Cronant
Bill S. Preston, Esq.
Posts: 17,556
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Post by Cronant on Apr 11, 2011 22:20:40 GMT -5
It was a cosmetic change.
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Post by Johnny Truant on Apr 11, 2011 22:20:45 GMT -5
I wasn't worried in the slightest and this is the most I've enjoyed Raw in a long time.
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Post by Son of a Pregnant Dog on Apr 11, 2011 22:22:15 GMT -5
All that WM storyline build stuff is over, so that's the real reason there's more wrestling.
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Green Arrow
ALF
YOU HAVE FAILED THIS CITY
Posts: 1,199
Member is Online
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Post by Green Arrow on Apr 11, 2011 22:22:20 GMT -5
"A rose by any other name...etc"
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Post by vajayajayava on Apr 11, 2011 22:22:33 GMT -5
Here's what I think. Wrestling isn't considered real fighting anymore. MMA is. Wrestlers are having to perform these dangerous spots and moves in matches that no one believes in anymore. Maybe the skirmishes or fights should be toned down more. Why a bump after every punch or kick? that has to kill the spine and neck, leading to injuries that take our favorite entertainers away from us much too soon. Get rid of the ropes, the turnbuckles. yeah, that might be 'changing' or 'ruining' wrestling or sports-entertainment as we know it. And have a mat out there, like the UFC has, but without a cage around it. Trained the stars to 'work' a different kind of style. a safer style that is more with the times. And that's your new stage to do more than wrestling. more entertaining.
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Post by kingoftheindies on Apr 11, 2011 22:23:48 GMT -5
I think the big message the WWE is trying to get at is that to make it big you have to be a character and not just a great wrestler.
Even though several of the top stars in the WWE aren't great wrestlers (and really Cena, Orton, and Trips among others aren't really that bad) the WWE isn't stupid. They aren't going to get behind somebody who is a horrible worker.
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Post by casualobserver on Apr 11, 2011 22:25:49 GMT -5
Kinda funny that shortly after the WWE rebranding to get "wrestling" out, they actually had a RAW with a decent amount of in-ring action.
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Post by rapidfire187 on Apr 13, 2011 16:00:03 GMT -5
All that WM storyline build stuff is over, so that's the real reason there's more wrestling. I don't buy that. RAW has been notorious for having very short matches for a while now, even when they're not doing WM build. Not to mention that this year's WM didn't really have a lot of build up going on. Plus, the RAW before WM 27 was amazing as well, even if it didn't feature a lot of wrestling it DID focus heavily on promoting the upcoming matches and overall felt more like a wrestling show than anything they had done in quite a while. Wrestlemania build has also lead to more in ring action in the past. Anyone remember the build to Wrestlemania 20? During that time, we were getting at least one 15-20 minute singles match every week on RAW. Including a great Benoit vs. HBK match. |
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Marvelously Mediocre
Fry's dog Seymour
Beggin' for a little SWAGGAH!
Haha. What a story Mark.
Posts: 21,224
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Post by Marvelously Mediocre on Apr 13, 2011 16:19:59 GMT -5
Raw being good has nothing to do with anything. The name change has NOTHING to do with what you see on TV every week. KFC didn't stop selling chicken when they ceased to use the words 'Kentucky Fried Chicken'
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Post by rapidfire187 on Apr 13, 2011 16:31:13 GMT -5
Raw being good has nothing to do with anything. The name change has NOTHING to do with what you see on TV every week. KFC didn't stop selling chicken when they ceased to use the words 'Kentucky Fried Chicken' Invalid comparison IMO. I could go into detail as to why I think that, but I'll save time by saying it's simply too much of a stretch to compare pro wrestling to food.  Still, I think my theory holds a little weight. If WWE is going to properly utilize their TV soap opera style writers by having them write TV shows and whatnot, then why would they have them writing bad comedy segments for RAW? Basically, what I'm saying is that I think RAW has been so entertainment oriented because WWE was trying to present itself as an entertainment company but their wrestling shows were the only things they had on television. Now, the "entertainment" crap is being saved for the actual TV shows or concerts or whatever the hell they're working on for the future. Leaving RAW to just be a pro wrestling show again, albeit with "WWE Universe, Superstars, and Titles" instead of "fans, wrestlers, and belts". Of course, I'll be completely proven wrong next week when RAW features 1 match and it's a 5 minute comedy match between Hornswoggle and Santino.... |
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Big L
Grimlock
Posts: 13,883
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Post by Big L on Apr 13, 2011 16:41:12 GMT -5
I don't know!!
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Marvelously Mediocre
Fry's dog Seymour
Beggin' for a little SWAGGAH!
Haha. What a story Mark.
Posts: 21,224
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Post by Marvelously Mediocre on Apr 13, 2011 17:17:35 GMT -5
Raw being good has nothing to do with anything. The name change has NOTHING to do with what you see on TV every week. KFC didn't stop selling chicken when they ceased to use the words 'Kentucky Fried Chicken' Invalid comparison IMO. I could go into detail as to why I think that, but I'll save time by saying it's simply too much of a stretch to compare pro wrestling to food. Still, I think my theory holds a little weight. If WWE is going to properly utilize their TV soap opera style writers by having them write TV shows and whatnot, then why would they have them writing bad comedy segments for RAW? Basically, what I'm saying is that I think RAW has been so entertainment oriented because WWE was trying to present itself as an entertainment company but their wrestling shows were the only things they had on television. Now, the "entertainment" crap is being saved for the actual TV shows or concerts or whatever the hell they're working on for the future. Leaving RAW to just be a pro wrestling show again, albeit with "WWE Universe, Superstars, and Titles" instead of "fans, wrestlers, and belts". Of course, I'll be completely proven wrong next week when RAW features 1 match and it's a 5 minute comedy match between Hornswoggle and Santino.... That's what gets me though. WWE has always been sports entertainment. They've always had comedy segments on their shows and feature much more storyline than wrestling. That's what WWE is and always has been. The most successful period in their history was the Attitude Era which isn't exactly well known for it's 5 star matches. The name change is purely so they can branch out without people saying 'oh that wrestling company is making movies/cartoons/ice cream bars' Of course it won't work as WWE will forever be known by the mainstream as a wrestling company. Wrestling is the core product but it doesn't market itself as professional wrestling. This weeks Raw was very wrestling-centric as it can be occasionally. This has nothing to do with the name change as it was purely done for the reasons I mentioned above. The comparison with KFC is apt as they also changed their name to just their acronym to allow them to branch out to more than just fried chicken while fried chicken is still their best selling product range. |
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Legion
Fry's dog Seymour
Amy Pond's #1 fan
Hail Hydra!
Posts: 22,856
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Post by Legion on Apr 13, 2011 18:10:57 GMT -5
Invalid comparison IMO. I could go into detail as to why I think that, but I'll save time by saying it's simply too much of a stretch to compare pro wrestling to food. Still, I think my theory holds a little weight. If WWE is going to properly utilize their TV soap opera style writers by having them write TV shows and whatnot, then why would they have them writing bad comedy segments for RAW? Basically, what I'm saying is that I think RAW has been so entertainment oriented because WWE was trying to present itself as an entertainment company but their wrestling shows were the only things they had on television. Now, the "entertainment" crap is being saved for the actual TV shows or concerts or whatever the hell they're working on for the future. Leaving RAW to just be a pro wrestling show again, albeit with "WWE Universe, Superstars, and Titles" instead of "fans, wrestlers, and belts". Of course, I'll be completely proven wrong next week when RAW features 1 match and it's a 5 minute comedy match between Hornswoggle and Santino.... That's what gets me though. WWE has always been sports entertainment. They've always had comedy segments on their shows and feature much more storyline than wrestling. That's what WWE is and always has been. The most successful period in their history was the Attitude Era which isn't exactly well known for it's 5 star matches. The name change is purely so they can branch out without people saying 'oh that wrestling company is making movies/cartoons/ice cream bars' Of course it won't work as WWE will forever be known by the mainstream as a wrestling company. Wrestling is the core product but it doesn't market itself as professional wrestling. This weeks Raw was very wrestling-centric as it can be occasionally. This has nothing to do with the name change as it was purely done for the reasons I mentioned above. The comparison with KFC is apt as they also changed their name to just their acronym to allow them to branch out to more than just fried chicken while fried chicken is still their best selling product range. But wrestling!!!!! Fan's underappreciated!!!! Rage!!!!!! Totally agree with this post. The same sentiment I've been spouting for years. |
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Post by ihuntthereforiam on Apr 13, 2011 19:38:35 GMT -5
I don't care how you sugar coat it.
The WWE trying to get wrestling out is like baseball getting rid of the outfield and the catcher and only allowing pitchers who can pitch in the mid 60s to pitch.
People like soap operas.
People like the home run derby
They don't like home run derbys in the october and they don't like soap operas during the wrestling shows.
Seriously the WWE in it's current state is to the WWF what the Pro Bowl is to NFL. A watered down almost meaningless verison of something great.
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Post by willywonka666 on Apr 13, 2011 21:14:20 GMT -5
With the E wanting to branch out, and the "entertaining" becoming safer, I still think they should have done this in the 80's when the wrestlers were much more entertaining IMO
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Legion
Fry's dog Seymour
Amy Pond's #1 fan
Hail Hydra!
Posts: 22,856
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Post by Legion on Apr 14, 2011 2:39:41 GMT -5
I don't care how you sugar coat it. The WWE trying to get wrestling out is like baseball getting rid of the outfield and the catcher and only allowing pitchers who can pitch in the mid 60s to pitch. People like soap operas. People like the home run derby They don't like home run derbys in the october and they don't like soap operas during the wrestling shows. Seriously the WWE in it's current state is to the WWF what the Pro Bowl is to NFL. A watered down almost meaningless verison of something great. .......... Didf you get WWE and ROH confused? The only time WWE has ever been about wrestling first was around 95/96 just before they went majorly soap with the Attitude era. 'People,' it appears, actually do want a huge amount of soap with their wrestling. More soap than even. |
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