|
Post by Hobby Drifter on Dec 2, 2015 7:17:13 GMT -5
You have to imagine a conversation like this HAD to have taken place a few weeks ago:
Vince: Ok. So. Rollins is hurt. Putting the title on Reigns *now* is too obvious. What do we do?
HHH: Well, we could put the title on ME. Or, if you're not into that, maybe Ambrose? People dig Ambrose. He's kinda a Stone Cold/Daniel Bryan kinda guy.
Vince: NO! No. Just. Just, no. Ok. How about this? Reigns DOES win the title, but then Sheamus cashes in MitB and becomes champ.
HHH: Fans will hate that. Like, just, utterly, totally, completely, hate that.
Vince: But he's a HEEL! They're supposed to hate it!
HHH: I'd like to allow our mutual friend, Mr. Waltman to say a few words.
X-Pac: Vince? There's such a thing as *bad* heel heat. I'm told there's even a name for it.
Vince: None of you know what you're talking about! I'm Vince McMahon, dammit! We're gonna have Roman win the title, beating Dean Ambrose, who nobody cares about, and then SHEAMUS, that glorious pale rider, is going to STEAL the title! Building Roman up to have a triumphant victory at WRESTLEMANIA.
HHH: Vince? Dad? Pop? I love ya, but listen to me. The fans are boo-ing the **** out of Roman right now. They know he's *your* guy and they resent being told who to cheer for. Remember Batista? If Roman wins the title, they're gonna hate it. If Sheamus takes the title FROM Roman, they're not even gonna know *how* to feel, because they simply don't care about him. That's dangerous. There's no reason for them to care.
Vince: Fans don't know WHAT they want! I know what they want! They want Sheamus!
Jerry Lawler: See? Told ya.
HHH: How about this? Have AMBROSE beat Roman. THEN have Sheamus beat Ambrose. The fans will be PISSED, but they'll also want to see Ambrose get his revenge. They'll tune in to watch that. But having Reigns, a guy they don't like, feuding with Sheamus, a guy they just don't care about, isn't giving people a lot of incentive to actually watch the show.
Vince: Oh, baloney! It's RAW! Over a BILLION people have watched RAW. It's the longest-running weekly episodic program in American cable TV history! It sells itself! It's CAN'T MISS TV! That's it. Book it! Done! It's not like people are just going to NOT watch RAW!
Next RAW rating is the lowest since 1997.
Vince: Oh, well, of course, because it was going up against stiff competition! Next week will go up! And, just to make sure, we're going to book three solid hours of, just, absolute TRASH next week.
Next RAW rating is even lower.
Vince: Haha! Marks! Internet losers! We've got 'em eating out of the palm of our hands.
|
|
StuntGranny®
Bill S. Preston, Esq.
Not Actually a Granny
Posts: 16,099
|
Post by StuntGranny® on Dec 2, 2015 7:21:26 GMT -5
Let's keep in mind this was up against an abysmal MNF game.
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Dec 2, 2015 7:23:36 GMT -5
I don't think "If the ratings go low enough, things will change" will be positive for the WWE.
It'll just result in more part timers, more tried and true stuff that was boring in the past and is boring now, etc. Unfortunately. Would love to be wrong on that, but I don't see it.
If the ratings drop even more from that, or soon after that, I still don't see improvements. I see the company just slowly dying. Not anytime soon of course, but over the course of the upcoming years.
|
|
|
Post by corradosoprano on Dec 2, 2015 7:33:00 GMT -5
So how long 'till Disney buys WWE?
|
|
StuntGranny®
Bill S. Preston, Esq.
Not Actually a Granny
Posts: 16,099
|
Post by StuntGranny® on Dec 2, 2015 7:35:02 GMT -5
So how long 'till Disney buys WWE? This probably wouldn't be a bad thing at all. The sooner Vince Jr. is gone from the wrestling SPORTS-ENTERTAINMENT world, the better.
|
|
|
Post by Widow's Peak on Dec 2, 2015 7:37:24 GMT -5
Reigns is going to be the IWC scapegoat for this (and probably Sheamus as well), but I wouldn't pin this freefall on any of the performers.
The problem is that they are pushing a dull, safe product that gives more thought to corporate buzzwords than its storylines.
Seriously, they could put the belt on Ambrose tomorrow and I have no confidence in that not ending up a dull mess.
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Dec 2, 2015 7:43:20 GMT -5
What if they push the young talent and the ratings are still in the dumper? I don't know if there's one answer. The new generation era turned a lot of fans off. Well, what's your solution? Keep Cena and Orton on top for the next ten years and hope they magically turn into Austin and The Rock level draws? The New Generation turned people off because the booking and characters mostly sucked. The Attitude Era was mostly built around new talent and a couple of WCW midcarders and that turned out ok.
|
|
|
Post by corradosoprano on Dec 2, 2015 7:43:58 GMT -5
So how long 'till Disney buys WWE? This probably wouldn't be a bad thing at all. The sooner Vince Jr. is gone from the wrestling SPORTS-ENTERTAINMENT world, the better. Disney have done some good things with their recent buying sprees. But like someone said earlier in the thread, McMahon will sink the ship and go down with it before letting someone else bail it out. I think the sabotage of the Invasion angle shows the man's real mindset.
|
|
Push R Truth
Patti Mayonnaise
Unique and Special Snowflake, and a pants-less heathen.
Perpetually Constipated
Posts: 39,310
|
Post by Push R Truth on Dec 2, 2015 7:46:43 GMT -5
This excites me. Shit is about to get shaken up. You aren't going to get KO vs Samoa Joe in a Ironman Streetfight for the title in a shakeup. You are going to get Cenamania Version .... shit, like 15 by now?
|
|
StuntGranny®
Bill S. Preston, Esq.
Not Actually a Granny
Posts: 16,099
|
Post by StuntGranny® on Dec 2, 2015 7:49:28 GMT -5
Reigns is going to be the IWC scapegoat for this (and probably Sheamus as well), but I wouldn't pin this freefall on any of the performers. The problem is that they are pushing a dull, safe product that gives more thought to corporate buzzwords than its storylines. Seriously, they could put the belt on Ambrose tomorrow and I have no confidence in that not ending up a dull mess. I would agree with this to a certain extent, but I think a lot of it DOES have to do with the wrestlers in the sense that the fans don't want to see them in the main-event picture. The Roman Reigns experiment needs to end, but it won't. They're not going to admit defeat with the guy. The fact of the matter is, they ruined him with last year's Rumble. If that didn't do it, having him fail at getting the title 900 times over the last year certainly did. They need a fresh main-event scene, period. One that doesn't include a member of the Shield, Sheamus, Cena, Orton, etc. Give some new guys a shot and see what they can do. I've said it for a while, but now more than ever, the company needs to hit the big reset button. They need to examine the company and the product as a whole and make some serious changes. If they continue to bury their heads in the sand and push dull, boring wrestlers that the fans reject, they're doomed. It may not happen now or five years from now, but it will eventually happen.
|
|
|
Post by EoE: Well There's Your Problem on Dec 2, 2015 7:50:59 GMT -5
There's definitely going to be no quick fix for this. Personally, I think it would take YEARS of consistently strong writing and storylines up and down the roster to rebuild trust and confidence and for there to be results from it down the line, AND EVEN THEN it would probably take a metric f***ton of luck as well.
|
|
|
Post by 1 Free Moon-Down with Burger on Dec 2, 2015 7:54:51 GMT -5
So how long 'till Disney buys WWE? Because if there's any company that doesn't play to nostalgia and old acts returning. It's disney.
|
|
|
Post by ________ has left the building on Dec 2, 2015 8:06:50 GMT -5
There's definitely going to be no quick fix for this. Personally, I think it would take YEARS of consistently strong writing and storylines up and down the roster for there to be results from it down the line, AND EVEN THEN it would probably take a metric f***ton of luck as well. Folks here keep assuming that wholesale changes like Vince leaving and pushing new people will solve everything. Wrong. It's going to take quite a while for things to get to the level people want. You going to get low ratings with your faves on top. Will people gleeful cheer for a 1.5 when it's Zayn vs Rollins as the top program. No but that's going to be a realistic number. Nothing is a quick fix outside of the things people hate. The return of the Rock. Brock Lesnar holding the WWE world title and disappearing. CenaMania. People go on about WWE dying but it is traditional cable and satellite tv that is dying. Only a few shows still pull in huge numbers. While we laugh at Raw numbers dropping, it is still one of the most top rated shows on cable. WWE's overall business is still healthy. Once stuff start to effect the bottomline is when changes will happen. But will people have the patience to wait it out? Doubtful.
|
|
|
Post by Hit Girl on Dec 2, 2015 8:17:26 GMT -5
So how long 'till Disney buys WWE? Personally I would love it.
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Dec 2, 2015 8:20:54 GMT -5
There's definitely going to be no quick fix for this. Personally, I think it would take YEARS of consistently strong writing and storylines up and down the roster for there to be results from it down the line, AND EVEN THEN it would probably take a metric f***ton of luck as well. Folks here keep assuming that wholesale changes like Vince leaving and pushing new people will solve everything. Wrong. It's going to take quite a while for things to get to the level people want. You going to get low ratings with your faves on top. Will people gleeful cheer for a 1.5 when it's Zayn vs Rollins as the top program. No but that's going to be a realistic number. Nothing is a quick fix outside of the things people hate. The return of the Rock. Brock Lesnar holding the WWE world title and disappearing. CenaMania. People go on about WWE dying but it is traditional cable and satellite tv that is dying. Only a few shows still pull in huge numbers. While we laugh at Raw numbers dropping, it is still one of the most top rated shows on cable. WWE's overall business is still healthy. Once stuff start to effect the bottomline is when changes will happen. But will people have the patience to wait it out? Doubtful. "People"? Maybe not. Fans? Many will complain the whole time but they'll stay.
|
|
|
Post by Hit Girl on Dec 2, 2015 8:29:57 GMT -5
"How about we renegotiate my contract? By the way, anything interesting happen while I was away?" Basically this. I'm sure WWE will be telling themselves that Cena's absence is the reason for declining ratings.
|
|
ASYLUMHAUSEN
Fry's dog Seymour
GIFs | Shitposts | Fun
Posts: 24,499
|
Post by ASYLUMHAUSEN on Dec 2, 2015 8:41:48 GMT -5
Hey, how did you get a camera in Punk's apartment and film his reaction to WWE since he left?
|
|
|
Post by Magic knows Black Lives Matter on Dec 2, 2015 8:50:16 GMT -5
WWE business has to tank on all fronts before changes start being made but either way, they deserve whatever L they catch for this show. I know they are working with a skelton crew but that show was rotten.
|
|
Juice
El Dandy
Wrong? Oh he can tell ya about being wrong.
I'm the one who raised you from perdition.
Posts: 8,172
|
Post by Juice on Dec 2, 2015 8:53:36 GMT -5
They don't care about ratings. They care about ticket sales.
|
|
|
Post by Magic knows Black Lives Matter on Dec 2, 2015 8:54:33 GMT -5
Let's keep in mind this was up against an abysmal MNF game. It should be noted that it was only a bad game on paper. I didn't see most of it but by all accounts, I've heard it was one of the best games of the season so far with one of the most insane "WTF?" endings ever.
|
|