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Post by Gillberg: 0-175 on May 11, 2007 14:37:12 GMT -5
As long as he doesn't start saluting the military, putting over his Kennedy Klan, kissing babies and all that nonsense, he'll be huge. I'd mark for the Ken Kennedy Klan. I think he's the next Austin. He seems to get a lot of inspiration from Austin (he even named his dog after SCSA), but this new era won't need Austin v2. It's gonna need something new. I don't think you can really point at someone and say "that's the guy that's gonna turn around wrestling". Some promotors will tell you that you can, but honestly, until it's already starting in motion, I don't think you can. Yeah, the SCSA/Bret feud was a catalyst in Austin's career, but to say during that feud "this guy is going to be bigger than Hogan" is wrong. Now during the SCSA/McMahon feud...that's the time you can say it.
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Post by skillz on May 11, 2007 14:47:17 GMT -5
No one has ever provided evidence that wrestling boom periods are cyclical. Not one time. It's just common knowledge, I guess.
Hogan ushered in the first real mainstream boom, and Hogan's turn in 1996 coupled with the new direction of the WWF (Austin, Rock, Foley, etc), lead to the next one. There is no blueprint. There is no proof that another is on the way. It's quite possible that the WWE has peaked and won't ever get above the level it's on now.
All the people waiting for the next boom "cycle" are likely to be disappointed. Guys like Rock, Hogan, Austin, Foley, Piper, etc, don't grow on trees.
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adamclark52
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Post by adamclark52 on May 11, 2007 15:09:44 GMT -5
The 'E will f*** it up somehow.
EDIT: Don't type around the filter.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on May 11, 2007 15:28:29 GMT -5
Yay at my post inspiring a thread.
I don't think Kennedy is the next break out star or Edge-Kennedy would be nearly as good as Hart-Austin.
However it would still be better than 90% of what WWE does these days.
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Post by Seth Drakin of Monster Crap on May 11, 2007 15:30:52 GMT -5
for a new boom period, i believe you would need a rival for wwe
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Post by Deleted on May 11, 2007 15:33:43 GMT -5
I agree that guys like Kennedy, Burke, Punk, etc have the potential to be huge, but it doesn't mean WWE will capitalize on that. They've already picked their future stars, Cena and Lashley. It ridiculous how stubborn they are about pushing them despite the fact that half the fans couldn't care less about them, but that's a testimony to how dedicated they are to shoving them down our throats. WWE has been stupid like that in the past, like during the height of Jericho's popularity in '00 when he beat Triple H for the WWE title, that was the biggest reaction I've ever seen. Jericho could have drawn as champion, but Triple H was WWE's golden boy at the time and they didn't want anyone else challenging him. After the decision was reversed, he was back to midcard status. Then, over a year later WWE decides to give Y2J the title when his flame wasn't as bright and expected him to draw as champion with guys like Rock, Austin, a returning Triple H, and a debuting nWo overshadowing him. He didn't, so they set him up to be buried by Triple H. Again. If they're looking for another Rock or another Austin, they should open their eyes to who the fans like, instead of who they like. I'm talking to you, VINCE! I agree, WWE has become too political for a break out star to get over on their own. Back in 97, Vince was on the verge of losing the war to WCW. He had no choice but to run with Austin. Even though, Vince himself couldn't undertand for the life of him, why he was over. Now if someone starts getting over without the writers(Christian), they'll sabotage them.
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What?
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Post by What? on May 12, 2007 2:54:48 GMT -5
I agree that guys like Kennedy, Burke, Punk, etc have the potential to be huge, but it doesn't mean WWE will capitalize on that. They've already picked their future stars, Cena and Lashley. It ridiculous how stubborn they are about pushing them despite the fact that half the fans couldn't care less about them, but that's a testimony to how dedicated they are to shoving them down our throats. WWE has been stupid like that in the past, like during the height of Jericho's popularity in '00 when he beat Triple H for the WWE title, that was the biggest reaction I've ever seen. Jericho could have drawn as champion, but Triple H was WWE's golden boy at the time and they didn't want anyone else challenging him. After the decision was reversed, he was back to midcard status. Then, over a year later WWE decides to give Y2J the title when his flame wasn't as bright and expected him to draw as champion with guys like Rock, Austin, a returning Triple H, and a debuting nWo overshadowing him. He didn't, so they set him up to be buried by Triple H. Again. If they're looking for another Rock or another Austin, they should open their eyes to who the fans like, instead of who they like. I'm talking to you, VINCE! That's what I'm getting at. This will work if Vince just stops being stubborn and lets the real stars shine.
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Post by erwxcalibur on May 12, 2007 3:18:56 GMT -5
Kenny could bring the next boom period...
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What?
Don Corleone
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Post by What? on May 12, 2007 3:25:51 GMT -5
Wrong.
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Stevie J
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Post by Stevie J on May 12, 2007 3:32:11 GMT -5
The problem with Kennedy's ascendence right now is that he's at the center of a perfect storm. WWE will push him so hard he will sail out of the eye of that storm into career turmoil and upheaval. He may have his head better screwed on than Orton or Lesnar did when they got the uber-push, but we can only hope.
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Post by Loki on May 12, 2007 3:58:28 GMT -5
Now if someone starts getting over without the writers(Christian), they'll sabotage them. C'mon... not again with "Christian was the next Rock, but WWE aborted his push"... Christian was getting good reactions, but so did Virgil in his feud against DiBiase, and so did Tito Santana for most of his career, but nobody would ever thought about pushing them as main eventers... The next boom will happen out of the blue. The harder WWE try to plan it, the fewest chances to actually happen it has. I think we won't have a boom until our society finds out the "trend of the decade", so WWE can ride along with it. In the 80s it was about rock'n'fun --> cartoonish over the top characters. In the 90s it was about anti-heroes and rebellion --> DX, Austin, Rock... The 00s so far are a DULL decade without a real identity --> relics from different eras. And C-list celebrities plus attempts to get wrestlers into the C-list...
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Post by Red 'n' Black Reggie on May 12, 2007 6:22:36 GMT -5
yeah, but modern day wwe is notoriously crap at face turns, so there is a good chance that they will screw up all his popularity. remember how we all liked heel cena?
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Post by EvilShadow76 on May 12, 2007 7:42:02 GMT -5
He could be their next big star if they don't go the Cena route with him, but I think they're all boomed out though. I don't think they'll ever see a huge spike in popularity like what happened in the late 90's again.
They'll probably remain in the same condition they are now for a long time to come. Which isn't terrible...but it's not great either.
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What?
Don Corleone
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Post by What? on May 12, 2007 8:08:36 GMT -5
To be fair, WWE probably made the right decision by not having Christian turn face and be a superstar. TNA tried it and he sucked so bad as a face they had to turn him heel.
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Post by Arturo Classico on May 12, 2007 8:13:14 GMT -5
To be fair, WWE probably made the right decision by not having Christian turn face and be a superstar. TNA tried it and he sucked so bad as a face they had to turn him heel. Yeah few things sucked more than Christian's face period in TNA. I mean that was a John Cena or Rocky Maivia of level in horribleness. Christian is only good as a heel.
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Post by Red 'n' Black Reggie on May 12, 2007 8:14:44 GMT -5
face turns work, though. all you have to do is keep the thing which fans cheered for:
rocks cockiness austins attitude undertakers violence mankinds lovable goofiness etc
but wwe and tna lost:
cenas badassedness carlitos cockiness christians ego batistas "silent but deadly" mystique
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What?
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Post by What? on May 12, 2007 8:20:53 GMT -5
Batista's turn is another I agree on. When he first was leaving/officially left Evolution he was great. Powerhouse with excellent facial expressions and a silent destroyer gimmick. Then one week he turned up smiling next to JR. When he came in to fight Coach on the Raw before Taboo Tuesday, he showed glimpses of how he used to be, same during the feud with Eddie when he knew what Eddie was upto. But other than those few times, he's been a whole different person.
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Post by skillz on May 12, 2007 8:46:59 GMT -5
The next boom will happen out of the blue. The harder WWE try to plan it, the fewest chances to actually happen it has. I think we won't have a boom until our society finds out the "trend of the decade", so WWE can ride along with it. In the 80s it was about rock'n'fun --> cartoonish over the top characters. In the 90s it was about anti-heroes and rebellion --> DX, Austin, Rock... The 00s so far are a DULL decade without a real identity --> relics from different eras. And C-list celebrities plus attempts to get wrestlers into the C-list... I think wrestling booms are also tied in to some degree with economic booms. The 2000's hasn't really seen one (at least not a significant one), so that's also a big reason. And again, finding guys like Rock, Austin, Foley, Hogan, Piper, Savage, Andre, etc, is not easy. It's not just about perceived wrestling talent or charisma, it's about connecting with the fanbase in a special way. A lot of guys get over but can't draw. There has to be that unique connection with the fanbase that makes them want to pay to see a wrestler. Again, I think people seem to think a huge boom will just happen out of the blue because it happened in 1985-88 and in 1998-00. It doesn't work that way. Several things have to happen, and none of those things are guaranteed.
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Post by BRAINFADE on May 12, 2007 14:30:53 GMT -5
I think Kennedy has the potential to bring a boom period. The reason being in the fact that the stars that have brought boom periods to wrestling have all had a recognition with non-fans (Hogan, Austin, Rock). For example, non- fans wouldn't have a clue who Bret Hart or Shawn Michaels are, even though they are huge names in wrestling. Ditto John Cena.
All that said, I was in the pub the other day with friends from college (none of whom are wrestling fans), and for some reason i started to drunkenly blabber on about wrestling. My friends said that they didn't really like wrestling, but they loved that Mr. Kennedy guy. Then we all started yelling 'KENNEDY!!!!' at the top of our lungs.
My point in all this? That is the first time since the Attitude era i've heard a bunch of people who don't like wrestling not only being aware of a wrestler, but also saying that they enjoy said wrestler- and they even knew his CATCHPHRASE!!!
With WWE Creative's seemingly never-ending ability to ruin a potentially great thing, i can't say for certain that there will EVER be another boom period for wrestling. But IMO Mr. Kennedy is their best chance to create one.
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Post by chunkylover53 on May 13, 2007 21:18:14 GMT -5
Why are we so obsessed with another boom period in wrestling? Let it happen when it happens.
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