Fans Sending Message to WWE

[mehmonster]

We often hear the "don't watch if you don't like it" logic applied to sending a message to WWE with the counter-argument thsy they don't want to drop all the people they like because of one overbearing aspect (often Roman). Both are valid points and have positive and negative aspects to them.

However, does the internet give fans .ore flexibility with this? We have WWE.com and YouTube clips and even Facebook and Twitter hosting clips nevermind the Network. Is this the way to support who you like while hitting the ratings to make your point?

Would WWE take more notice of sinking ratings during a Roman push if Cesaro segments on YouTube started hitting 3m views instead?

It may be a totally obvious point I'm making but if WWE are intent on making their shows a collection of segments instead of a cohesive show, is this the best "protest vote" available?

I guess our litmus test is how they go with The Miz after his promo went viral.

[Deleted]

WWE's going to do what it wants to do regardless of fan input. The only outside person whose views on things matters is Bonnie Hammer.

[Mozenrath]

In my experience, most of the messages fans send to WWE go like "Rusiv is the worse, bring back mud wrestling!!"

[This Player Hating Mothman]

WWE will only pay attention to things when it fits their narrative, and ignore them otherwise. They'll insist the NFL isn't a competition but you know that internally they're dreading the start of the season and what that will do for their already middling ratings. In the past, reports would come in that internally speaking, whoever headlined the house show B tour would be seen as not a big enough draw to put the focus to over Cena because the B show tours did lower houses, even though they were generally in lesser markets and in slightly smaller venues. But when the A show actually did so weak under Reigns that it was doing as much business as the B show headlined by Ambrose, that didn't really do anything to stop the Roman Reigns experiment.

WWE isn't going to start paying mind to whose segments get the most Youtube hits.It's a messy metric to try and consider to begin with, but in general we've seen that a paying audience's reaction to something isn't enough to derail it, so why would a bunch of people on Youtube? The flip-side to "I don't care how you loud boo, I already have your money" in Vince Land is "you're not even paying me money, I don't care how loud you're booing, go buy a ticket".

And then you have to figure, WWE is getting plenty of reinforcing feedback that tells them what they want to hear. Not just in their tailored-to-get-the-answers-they-want-to-hear market research shit, either. There are people whose favorites wrestlers are John Cena and Roman Reigns, and who have never cheered a heel in their lives. There are people who genuinely believe that blood and Vince Russo are the only ways to save WWE's ratings. Even in a community that isn't made up of thousands of people screaming overlapping nonsense and accusing each other of being nazis, this forum is never in unanimous agreement about any one issue. You could make a thread asking people what the biggest problem they'd want fixed in WWE is and you'd probably see a lot of similar ideas being listed, but you'd also see a bunch of divergent opinions way out of left field.

We've seen what it takes for the "protest vote" to win out against anything in modern WWE, and that is to have a perfect storm of almost the entire audience being 100% behind a single person with the stubborn insistence that come hell or high water they will ruin a show that Vince McMahon will under no circumstances allow to be ruined, after months and months of derailing shows and never shutting the f*** up. And you're just not going to get that kind of passionate supermajority anywhere else. Even if most people thought Cesaro deserved to be higher than he is, how many of them feel it hard enough to go in on that and how many would rather see their favorites pushed instead?

To them, the internet is a way to look like they're relevant through social media, and another avenue to try and work the marks. Nothing more.

[The Dark Order Inferno]

The WWE are the focal point of a sport with more former fans than current ones and the blame for that falls squarely on their shoulders. in 2001 they stood alone with the combined WWF and WCW fanbase, as well as the 3 people and a cat who actually watched ECW rather than pretending they did after the fact, and they systematically drove them away with crappy booking and pushes based on what management wanted to see out rather than what the fanbase wanted.

The way the WWE is now, the talent will be blamed for declining ratings before booking, and Vince's response will be to stirr the pot with his upper tier guys, trying to build Bret/Shawn style resentment among top guys because a tense, hostile environment filled with alpha males worked so well before.

[Urfarkendarf]

The ONLY way to send WWE a message is by not giving them money. Period. Point blank. The end. Booing, complaining on the internet, none of it matters in the slightest. If you're still paying them for the network, merch, giving them ratings, buying tickets, etc. etc. etc. why do they have reason to listen to anybody?

What they do with this Miz "thing" doesn't matter in the slightest as long as people continue pay attention to WWE. The only litmus test is the bottom line. They've proven their stance with them shoving Roman Reigns down our throats, editing his boos, etc.

[mehmonster]

Aug 29, 2016 9:06:37 GMT -5 Urfarkendarf said:

The ONLY way to send WWE a message is by not giving them money. Period. Point blank. The end. Booing, complaining on the internet, none of it matters in the slightest. If you're still paying them for the network, merch, giving them ratings, buying tickets, etc. etc. etc. why do they have reason to listen to anybody?

What they do with this Miz "thing" doesn't matter in the slightest as long as people continue pay attention to WWE. The only litmus test is the bottom line. They've proven their stance with them shoving Roman Reigns down our throats, editing his boos, etc.

Isn't that the point of watching YouTube clips and clips on their own social media?

Yeah, I know about YouTube payments and stuff but if you aren't paying for the Network or helping ratings, it seems the best way to go to still show support to those you like on the show in some way.

[Hanzo]

KANE RUUUUULES!!

[the2ndevil]

This seems as good a place as any to discuss the last two times fans tried to send WWE a message, both via Twitter, and both occurring last year.

The first, #CancelWWENetwork. It was prompted by Roman Reign winning the 2015 Royal Rumble, and trended for a bit, but ultimately came and went very, very quickly, and was all but killed off for good when it was announced that the WWE Network actually gained subscribers in the days that followed the PPV.

The second was #GiveDivasAChance. This was prompted by the fans getting upset over the treatment of the women wrestlers on RAW and SmackDown compared to those on NXT, the hashtag itself surfacing after a match that literally lasted less than a minute long, while the women in NXT were getting matches that lasted upwards of 20 minutes on a regular basis, and recognized that the women on the main roster were very talented wrestlers that deserved better treatment.

This hashtag trended for days, to the point that Vince McMahon even commented on it on Twitter, telling the fans that they hear them, and to stay tuned. The result of this was the Women's Evolution, which culminated in the show stealing triple threat match for the brand new Women's Championship at WrestleMania 32, and has continued beyond that with some high profile matches that are in high places on the card.

I think the moral of this is you need to try to send a message for the right reasons. The hashtag that was essentially a temper tantrum because they person they wanted to win didn't fizzled out very quickly, and the one that was telling WWE that their women wrestlers are very talented and deserve better treatment was worked at, and they've achieved something they can all be proud of, to the point that Michael Cole essentially told Finn Balor and Roman Reigns good luck following that, when Sasha Banks won the Women's Championship from Charlotte on the first RAW after the draft.

[mehmonster]

I guess what I am saying is if you want to send a message that RAW is shit, don't watch it but do watch the segments with people you like on YouTube.

If more did that and ratings fell while certain YouTube segments shot up, surely that's the best way to make a point?

[StuntGranny®]

Aug 29, 2016 7:20:25 GMT -5 Lizuka #BLM said:

WWE's going to do what it wants to do regardless of fan input. The only outside person whose views on things matters is Bonnie Hammer.

Yep! Vince and company do not remotely care about the fans. They have no reason to. What else are you gonna watch on Monday nights? They don't care because they don't have to care.

[lookout]

Ive never have liked the not watching or going to shows route. For starters..Not watching or going only hurts everyone on the roster. Plus it's easy for mcmahon or someone else to claim or believe the downward trend is because of something else and not the real reason.

The best thing I think people should do is if something is really unpopular...like the roman reigns push...any time he comes out or wins, everyone in tbe audience should turn their backs to him...especially since booing doesn't work and they so often mute the boos. But Imagine if reigns wins tonight but then 80 percent of the crowd turn their backs to him..it would be an amazing sight, a stunning protest, and something they could not just ignore, brush off, or cover up. With social media being who it is today....something like that is actually possible. Id give anything to see that if reigns wins tonight...just imagine cole trying to explain it and vince backstage cursing...to steal a line from bobby roode..it would be glorius.

[Fauxnaki]

Well I keep clicking on Braun strowman videos but he's still not champion.

[wisdomwizard]

Aug 29, 2016 10:30:17 GMT -5 the2ndevil said:

This seems as good a place as any to discuss the last two times fans tried to send WWE a message, both via Twitter, and both occurring last year.

The first, #CancelWWENetwork. It was prompted by Roman Reign winning the 2015 Royal Rumble, and trended for a bit, but ultimately came and went very, very quickly, and was all but killed off for good when it was announced that the WWE Network actually gained subscribers in the days that followed the PPV.

The second was #GiveDivasAChance. This was prompted by the fans getting upset over the treatment of the women wrestlers on RAW and SmackDown compared to those on NXT, the hashtag itself surfacing after a match that literally lasted less than a minute long, while the women in NXT were getting matches that lasted upwards of 20 minutes on a regular basis, and recognized that the women on the main roster were very talented wrestlers that deserved better treatment.

This hashtag trended for days, to the point that Vince McMahon even commented on it on Twitter, telling the fans that they hear them, and to stay tuned. The result of this was the Women's Evolution, which culminated in the show stealing triple threat match for the brand new Women's Championship at WrestleMania 32, and has continued beyond that with some high profile matches that are in high places on the card.

I think the moral of this is you need to try to send a message for the right reasons. The hashtag that was essentially a temper tantrum because they person they wanted to win didn't fizzled out very quickly, and the one that was telling WWE that their women wrestlers are very talented and deserve better treatment was worked at, and they've achieved something they can all be proud of, to the point that Michael Cole essentially told Finn Balor and Roman Reigns good luck following that, when Sasha Banks won the Women's Championship from Charlotte on the first RAW after the draft.

Yup, very strong points here. #CancelWWENetwork flopped while #GiveDivasAChance worked wonderfully for the exact reasons you listed. I don't know how well a hashtag like #TurnRomanHeel or #OwensChampNow, but I don't think it would hurt since it'd be more clear what the intended goals of each are. Personally I'm all in favor of getting more Twitter protests like this going because nothing only accomplishes nothing. We know from the now Women's Division and Daniel Bryan that it can work.

[TWERKIN' MAGGLE]

Aug 29, 2016 7:21:59 GMT -5 Mozenrath said:

In my experience, most of the messages fans send to WWE go like "Rusiv is the worse, bring back mud wrestling!!"

If you don't want to see Rusev wrestle in the mud, we can't be friends.

[Deleted]

Aug 29, 2016 7:21:59 GMT -5 Mozenrath said:

In my experience, most of the messages fans send to WWE go like "Rusiv is the worse, bring back mud wrestling!!"

AKA your average TNA fan.

[Deleted]

I think it really is as simple as either watch it or don't. #GiveDivasAChance worked because it was more of a social issue, women weren't being given a fair shake and it was obvious, and that disparity looks bad for a company. Something like #GiveBryanAChance is much easier to ignore because it can be seen as fans just being spoiled, and it's usually so drenched in negativity that we don't look like the good guys anyways. It's just easier to not watch than start a project because you don't like the creative direction of a TV show, and if it doesn't make you upset enough to stop watching/paying for it then it can't be that bad, can it?

[Allie Kitsune]

#RusevMudWrestling

[mrbananagrabber]

Thing is though, who do they listen to? I went to a show and Reigns was over like f***ing Hogan in the 80's and 3/4 of the kids who had merch had Reigns merch. So listening to THOSE fans would mean Reigns is a big, money making draw. Listen to the fans on TV though and he's despised.

How do you choose who to listen to?

[Deleted]

Don't worry, I've already taken care of everything.

Just now I sent a tweet to WWE saying "ROMAN IS POOP BRING BACK THE ATTITUDE ERA" so now that they know I'm sure they're working on changing up RAW tonight. I also threw in some profanity in as well that I don't think I can post here, to make sure they knew I had my finger on the pulse of the community and was hip.