Matt
El Dandy
Posts: 8,932
|
Post by Matt on Sept 30, 2016 19:30:49 GMT -5
According to Facebook bring back the Attitude Era and say sorry to CM Punk for firing him on his weeding day.
|
|
|
Post by CertifiedBA on Sept 30, 2016 23:57:29 GMT -5
Admitting you like wrestling nowadays isn't as lame as it was after the year 2000. My friend and I were watching Smackdown with a friend who hasn't watched since the attitude era the other night and he was totally getting into it. I have to agree with them NOT trying to be cool. But whatever they seem to be doing now has somewhat worked. At least it seems so to me, and I'm smack dab in the middle of the target demographic. I haven't seen so many of my peers interested since the late 90s. As for the younger fans, I don't know. I don't know what is cool and I don't care, I'm not them. Lol I think you're right in terms of mainstream acceptance. The fact that ESPN is covering it is huge. It's not frowned upon like it was not that long ago to be a wrestling fan. ESPN's credibility is shot almost across the board. They have been losing subscribers and their reporting has become a joke. Seems cool that WWE is featured there to some extent, but the folks actually sitting down to watch Sportscenter blow it off like most people have just started to do to ESPN in general. The absolute destruction of kayfabe played a large part in it. Can't pull the curtain back that much time after time with little payoff.
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Oct 1, 2016 7:16:03 GMT -5
Not sure it will ever happen again. The kids who grew up with the product of the eighties felt the products that they were presenting in the early nineties was still geared too much towards kids. But when the product became edgier and something the now teenaged kids could appreciate the industry took off. Not sure how you replicate that when the product for quite some time now has tried appealing to both audiences. That's really the whole self-fulfilling prophecy that IS the weakness of the "smark bubble", though. WWE, at its heart, is a KIDS' SHOW. Period. This doesn't make it a bad thing to be beloved by older fans. Harry Potter, Doctor Who, Adventure Time, My Little Pony, Steven Universe, the list goes on and on- they're beloved by older fans as well as younger fans...but they were still KIDS' SHOWS at their heart, it was accepted, and the fanbase has the inherent idea "okay, just because I love this does not necessarily mean that this show is FOR ME. Kids are still the target audience, so the show should put kids first and I'm willing to accept that." The only problem is that adult wrestling fans, for some reason- never really ACCEPTED THAT point, and it's the whole problem for WWE being "cool" again. Where the traditional circle of life would be: The kids who grew up with the product in the '80s as Hulkamaniacs. The product became edgier in the '90s...and spoke to those kids as teenagers, and they loved Austin and Rock. They grow up, got to college, started their careers and families of their own...and then take their OWN kids to the show to be John Cena fans (or Roman Reigns fans if they waited a bit) and the cycle starts over again. The only problem with that, is that we didn't put away OUR toys. And now, we smarks have our own sense of entitlement, where we demand "nope. Screw that circle of life. MINE! MINE MINE MINE!", and the Hulkamaniacs of the '80s, who became the Austin/Rock fans of the '90s, NOW demanded WWE book their shows to fans in their 20s in the 2000s, and fans in their 30s in the 2010s, and next decade to fans in their '40s, and fans in their 50s in the 2030s, and so on until we all die off (and WWE dies with us because they had to book to what WE wanted.) It's a kids show, sure, but that doesn't excuse that it's often badly written, it constantly harps on business matters kids couldn't possibly care about because even the adults don't really, and while they are where the money is if you can hook them for like, kids don't make up the bulk of WWE's audience and the kids they do attract don't stick around when they grow up.
|
|
Dang!
Dennis Stamp
Posts: 4,282
|
Post by Dang! on Oct 1, 2016 7:45:31 GMT -5
According to Facebook bring back the Attitude Era and say sorry to CM Punk for firing him on his weeding day. Such much for "straight edge".
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Oct 1, 2016 7:51:58 GMT -5
According to Facebook bring back the Attitude Era and say sorry to CM Punk for firing him on his weeding day. Such much for "straight edge". Don't be ridiculous. He's playing Animal Crossing for the first time in a year or so.
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Oct 1, 2016 9:05:36 GMT -5
More of Shane shoe-shopping. Because nothing gets the plebians excited like a $700 pair of kicks on a 46 year old man in casual business attire.
|
|
|
Post by cabbageboy on Oct 1, 2016 10:18:05 GMT -5
It might help if any of the current WWE roster had any real cool factor, or seemed like larger than life ass kickers (aside from Lesnar, who presents his own problems). I hate to say it but WWE is trotting so many guys out there at the moment who had no cool factor and they don't seem especially like real life tough guys. On a basic level I don't think fans buy wrestlers who they would try in a real life fight. It's okay in the case of a wimpy heel like Miz or Honky Tonk Man, who deceive and screw people over to win.
Think back to the Attitude Era. Is there anyone who would seriously think they could beat up Austin in a fight? Rock? Mankind? Taker? Kane? Contrast that to today. I can see people thinking they could beat up AJ Styles or Seth Rollins.
|
|
Reflecto
Hank Scorpio
The Sorceress' Knight
Posts: 6,847
|
Post by Reflecto on Oct 1, 2016 14:07:54 GMT -5
It might help if any of the current WWE roster had any real cool factor, or seemed like larger than life ass kickers (aside from Lesnar, who presents his own problems). But that ties to the same issue of how "cool" is nowhere near universal anymore- since every group as their own "cool", and there's very, very few people who could remotely be cool among enough groups to be seen as having a majority, much less a universal "okay, THEY are cool." And it becomes worse when you realize that fact for pro wrestling- because if you do think on that macro level...then you come to the realization that by the "who does almost every group of people or subset accept 'okay, they're cool' enough to matter"- then there's a good chance that the person who'd hold the conch shell as "coolest person alive" today would be... The Rock- a guy WWE already HAS in the fold.
|
|
|
Post by redrooster1985 on Oct 1, 2016 19:38:48 GMT -5
I think this has already been said, but WWE is a publicly traded company. Therefore their first priority is to answer to shareholders.
In the Attitude era they were doing outrageous stunts for ratings but this day in age they can't really rock the boat too much. There is a lot more at stake.
TV ratings are usually #1 in the 18-45 demographic. I'm not sure how much "cooler" they can get than that. If "cool" means outrageously over the top and edgy, I would not ever expect that again.
At this point, being publicly traded, everything is pretty formulaic and a streamlined money machine. I enjoy it for what it is and don't worry too much about the cool factor. From a personal standpoint I used to be what you call a hipster and a fair number of guys I know in their early to mid 30s are back into wrestling again after being childhood fans. Very small sample size but take that for what you will.
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Oct 1, 2016 19:52:51 GMT -5
Dan Matha undisputed WWE Champion record reign.
|
|
Sam Punk
Hank Scorpio
Own Nothing, Be Happy
Posts: 6,312
|
Post by Sam Punk on Oct 1, 2016 21:18:22 GMT -5
Bring back the Mean Street Posse and have them do the dab for three hours every Monday.
|
|
|
Post by IMPRESSIVE knightwing1047 on Oct 1, 2016 23:18:33 GMT -5
I think one of the biggest problems they have is the commentary... Raw's commentary. I'd keep Graves, but Cole and Saxton make thing sound so uncool, that they're cringeworthy. Want to appear legit? Act legit.
Kayfabe as we knew it is not going to work, but it can be re-worked. I would totally believe Miz was a douchebag if I didn't see him shilling charities. Also, the evil authority figure thing is dead. Let it go.
I think a happy medium between the CWC, NXT and UFC would be ideal for WWE. They need to stop overthinking the storylines and just let things happen organically.
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Oct 2, 2016 0:44:21 GMT -5
They should associate themselves with more cool celebrities/musicians. No more Flo Rida, no more Florida-Georgia line, no more MGK. Actually find who are currently cool and book them.
|
|
|
Post by No One on Oct 2, 2016 14:13:36 GMT -5
Kid Rock concerts at all major PPVs
|
|
|
Post by RI Richmark on Oct 2, 2016 14:43:43 GMT -5
Human Leukocyte Antigen? The gene complex responsible for regulating our immunity system? I don't see how that makes Raw any cooler.
|
|
Lupin the Third
Patti Mayonnaise
I'm sorry.....I love you. *boot to the head*--3rd most culpable in the jixing of NXT, D'oh!
Join the Dark Order....
Posts: 36,336
|
Post by Lupin the Third on Oct 2, 2016 14:47:44 GMT -5
Kid Rock concerts at all major PPVs Dear. God. NO!
|
|
triplethreatmark
Grimlock
Party Fouler
I look exactly like this avatar in real life.
Posts: 14,074
|
Post by triplethreatmark on Oct 2, 2016 14:58:41 GMT -5
Guys! Look! It's a time traveler from 2002!
|
|
|
Post by CertifiedBA on Oct 3, 2016 2:14:54 GMT -5
Kid Rock concerts at all major PPVs Dear. God. NO! Fine, they can do Limp Bizkit then, the WWE's favorite band in the world
|
|
|
Post by crowley1986 on Oct 3, 2016 3:15:49 GMT -5
How about Interesting, Coherent storylines and not stopping them half way through due to one of participants not shaking hands with a veteran or someother BS like that
|
|
|
Post by Ricky Nightshade on Oct 3, 2016 5:16:37 GMT -5
Write a miscarriage angle for Paige?
|
|