Deleted
Deleted Member
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Post by Deleted on Nov 25, 2015 14:09:11 GMT -5
let me put it to you this way, how much did Russo help TNA a few years back? Late 2009, the product was being praised. AJ was champion, TT division being in good shape with the MCMG, BM, BI. The X-division mattered more than in 2015. The KO was very strong(Hamada was on the rise IIRC). If Russo handles the product as TNA late 2009, then the ratings should improve imo . The only reason 2009 was the way it was is because the second they signed Hogan they went into a holding pattern of just making sure not to do anything of note until he got there. That would have never happened otherwise. |
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Reflecto
Hank Scorpio
The Sorceress' Knight
Posts: 6,847 
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Post by Reflecto on Nov 25, 2015 14:09:33 GMT -5
The problem there, though, is that following "the pulse" may be something that leaves wrestling irreparably broken right now, and we're beginning to see it. If you had to determine who or what, exactly, is the pulse of current popular culture, in all forms: That answer is " You. You are the most important and coolest person on the planet. Whatever you like is the pulse of pop culture that everyone in the world loves. Whatever is important to you or personally benefits you is important to the whole world and is the utopia everyone's searching for. You are the center of the universe, and the biggest reason that the world is broken right now is that the world hasn't accepted you are the center of the universe, and spends too much time caring about themselves or other people and not enough time talking about how awesome YOU are." That, in itself, is the biggest reason you can't follow the pulse of society. When you try translating that into a pro wrestling world, you end up with...well, a world where everyone has to look important, but the only way to truly BE important is to be the WWE World Champion and be the center of all the shows, and all the fans want everyone on the roster to get a turn as champion and center of the WWE Universe (while also having WWE take time to notice how cool and awesome they are personally, too. Who cares about these 'rasslers, *YOU* are there and you're more important than them!). I know your gimmick lately is, "The Internet is nothing but people who are self-centered to the point of being evil," so this is really wasted effort, but isn't hard to see what is really the popular trend in entertainment these days and why WWE fails to capture that. The move in entertainment in recent years, in terms of what gets people really talking, is toward compelling, well-written stories with intricate continuity, a lot of foreshadowing and with plans in place well in advance, and an increased focus on three-dimensional characters. A lot of stuff that's gotten huge over the past few years - the rise of cartoons like Adventure Time and Avatar / Korra, TV shows like Breaking Bad, the web that is the Marvel cinematic universe - has done so by way of playing to that, raising the standard of what's really come to be expected out of the quality of writing in things, and making things as "can't miss" as possible so that people are always eagerly awaiting that next episode to see what you're going to do next. But the reason WWE doesn't do that is having compelling, fleshed out stories and characters takes effort, and they're a lot more eager to do the easy thing of, "Neville and Stardust face each other twice a week for two months, then Neville faces Barrett for awhile." And note a good bit of that stuff I mentioned I don't even like so that's not just talking about my own personal interests. I think Adventure Time's well past its prime, have pretty much completely stopped following the Marvel stuff, and hated everything after the first season of Korra, but the general point remains, these sorts of things are what capture the popular consciousness now, and WWE doesn't come anywhere close to that. Ignoring the knock on me for no apparent reason that is a load of crap, I'll go with the other facts. Whether you want to call it "some gimmick" or ignore this, the fact is still clear. YES, the segmenting of the Internet and the rise of social media IS a big part of what modern pop culture is, segmenting people to a point where their fandoms do become a separate part and makes every part of pop culture turn what would have been cult hits or failures even 10 years ago into huge trends in the zeitgeist today. Avatar/Korra is a good example of this- Avatar was popular, but not a huge part of the zeitgeist in its original run, where Korra became as big or "FELT" bigger than Avatar was during its run. This does lead to the other question for WWE programming at the moment of "Raw's ratings have plummeted to around 2.5 million viewers and Smackdown's are doing even worse...but at the same time, the majority of those Raw/Smackdown viewers also subscribe to the WWE Network". Both of those facts seem contrary and unlikely, but given how popular culture's fragmented from "everyone in the USA watches Johnny Carson" to "There's no one show you can say EVERYONE is watching...but everyone watching a certain show is OBSESSED with the show they're watching." This also changes the other side of that- well-written stories that are compelling and have intricate continuity will NEVER go out of style. There's no one time where everything is crap, and the crap rises to the top just to hold down the really good television in favor of it. However, it's also a weakness that WWE has due to the sport and how commonplace injuries are. The closest time WWE managed to harness the new era of fandom- even though WWE visibly had to be sent kicking and screaming into it- was the YES! Movement, where Daniel Bryan became the face of a new world of pro wrestling...and quickly got injured shortly after his title run to the point that WWE suddenly lost the storyline. It's the same thing now- where everything about WWE seemed clear that everything would pay off in Seth Rollins having to deal with at least Roman Reigns, if not both of his Shield "brothers" at Wrestlemania over the title he sold them out to eventually get (which had intricate continuity and amazing foreshadowing bringing it to that point)...and an injury to Rollins immediately killed that storyline's build and left WWE scrambling to replace it in a way most regular TV shows would never have to deal with between stuntpeople to keep most injuries happening, and contracts so locked in that it's rare that someone who's an important character to the show's storyline will suddenly be gone and the show has to rebuild around it. |
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Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
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Post by Deleted on Nov 25, 2015 16:02:43 GMT -5
I'm sure the likes of Zack Ryder and Alex Riley would be very grateful to be part of a gay-lovers-turned-long-lost-brothers storyline or a selfie-on-a-pole match. They be grateful for storylines and regular TV time. During Russo's time, even the lower midcarders were over and had something to do, and today's midcard/lower card roster pretty much leaves the Attitude Era midcard/lower card in the dust in terms of pure athletic ability and in ring talent, so at least you'd get a better quality "selfie on a pole match". If late 90s WWF was written like today's WWE, then Crash Holly would've debuted by squashing everyone en route to a feud with Austin before becoming just another guy. No. Just no. If I was a wrestler and if I had a choice of Russo giving me a career damaging/reputation destroying character/angle or be at home and doing nothing or being a characterless lower card guy who only wrestles on Superstars I would go with the latter choices. Doing anything to be on TV doing something that you know can't make it work is far more damaging to your career because nobody will ever take you seriously again and you'll never advance up on the card and get that sweet upper midcard/main eventer pay. Plus if my career wasn't going to take off anyway at least I still have my dignity intact. Many lowercard guys from The Attitude Era, WCW, and TNA have talked about doing a bad character or angle proposal from Russo was the worst career mistake and one of the biggest regrets in life. It's like the story of CM Punk who could of debuted on the main roster in 2005/early 2006 when he was offered a series of bad gimmicks ranging from being a Deaf Wrestler/Evil Balloon Salesman/Spirit Squad member and he said no to all of those gimmicks and stayed in OVW for a few more months while gaining some Nuclear HEATZ of course. If he said yes to any of those he wouldn't be the famous retired multi millionaire/marvel comic book writer/UFC "Fighter"/local Chicago celebrity he is now. You only accept a stupid career damaging gimmick if you know you can somehow make it work while keeping your reputation in hand so you can still advance up the card. |
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metylerca
King Koopa
Loves Him Some Backstreet Boys.
Don't be alarmed.
Posts: 12,480
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Post by metylerca on Nov 25, 2015 16:08:22 GMT -5
Riley needs to be on television somehow. Personally, I'd bring back Freddy Prinze Jr. Not because he was a revolutionary wrestling mind. He was just so much fun to look at  Oh and zombie Kreski. |
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Post by WoodStoner1 on Nov 25, 2015 16:08:31 GMT -5
Long-term, putting Benoit in the Hall of Fame would do less to damage the company than bringing those two back. Pay Max Landis Brock Lesnar money to write a year or two of stories and DON'T throw all his ideas out the window because Vince didn't "get it". Just no helicopters please? |
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Post by Mister Pigwell on Nov 25, 2015 16:13:51 GMT -5
You know what? f*** it. Do it. At least we'll have something new to mock and make jokes about.
If we're gonna be stuck with shit at least make it shit that's SO bad, we have new material to use as punchlines going into the next decade.
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metylerca
King Koopa
Loves Him Some Backstreet Boys.
Don't be alarmed.
Posts: 12,480
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Post by metylerca on Nov 25, 2015 16:16:06 GMT -5
You know what? f*** it. Do it. At least we'll have something new to mock and make jokes about. Hope his kids enjoy getting their lives sworn on with each booking decision Russo makes between lives of coke. Think of the children, 'fed! |
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Post by The Heartbreak TWERK on Nov 25, 2015 21:05:22 GMT -5
At least we'll have something new to mock and make jokes about If we're gonna be stuck with shit at least make it shit that's SO bad, we have new material to use as punchlines going into the next decade. We don't need Russo to get there, they've accomplished that already. |
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Fade
Patti Mayonnaise
Posts: 38,599
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Post by Fade on Nov 25, 2015 21:11:09 GMT -5
They need a Russo-Type. Yeah. But the current head honchos are Anti-Russo-Type. So they wont get what thwy creatively need and will continue sailing along with plummeting numbers (Yet still sailing) until Vince dies. Then it's accelerate or sink.
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Post by RedSmile on Nov 26, 2015 12:44:25 GMT -5
How about they let the people who book NXT book RAW?
Why can't we do that, instead?
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Greer
Unicron
Points. Don't. Matter.
Posts: 3,199
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Post by Greer on Nov 26, 2015 13:23:14 GMT -5
Watching some of their recent talks together on youtube, Ferrara has a much different mindset than Russo does.
Ferrara is actually very much on board with the in ring talent and just giving them freedom promo wise and character wise. Ferrara is a actually a really smart guy and seems to have his finger on the pulse, knowing that things have evolved and crash tv isn't necessarily the answer.
Russo on the other hand is still very much stuck in his ways.
However, I wouldn't be opposed to bringing them in for a year and just seeing where things go.
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Rick Mad
Grimlock
Rick Mad Champion
Posts: 14,613
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Post by Rick Mad on Nov 26, 2015 14:03:29 GMT -5
I prefer so-bad-its-good wrestling to WWE's boring, nothing ever really happens wrestling, so yes. I would welcome this.
Er, as long as they don't get to destroy the women's division or something.
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Post by Richard on Nov 26, 2015 14:16:09 GMT -5
Er, as long as they don't get to destroy the women's division or something. We're talking about Russo, the ink on the contract would not even be dry before he renames Azuka "Enola Gay" and send her with the repackaged "Fat Man" Hornswoggle and "Little Boy" Torito" to take over the division. |
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Dat Dude
Dennis Stamp
Wait, what?
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Post by Dat Dude on Nov 26, 2015 16:16:22 GMT -5
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Post by Bob Schlapowitz on Nov 27, 2015 21:37:14 GMT -5
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Post by darkjourney on Nov 27, 2015 23:45:11 GMT -5
How about they let the people who book NXT book RAW? Why can't we do that, instead? Because the main guy who booked NXT's success was Dusty and hes gone.. Now NXT is declining without him rapidly |
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Post by A Platypus Rave is Correct on Nov 28, 2015 0:32:33 GMT -5
How about they let the people who book NXT book RAW? Why can't we do that, instead? Because the main guy who booked NXT's success was Dusty and hes gone.. Now NXT is declining without him rapidly No it wasn't. and personally, no it isn't. The weekly shows are what they always were. competently booked if nothing amazing that build towards the big Takeover shows. |
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Post by CATCH_US IS the Conversation on Nov 28, 2015 0:35:07 GMT -5
Because the main guy who booked NXT's success was Dusty and hes gone.. Now NXT is declining without him rapidly No it wasn't. and personally, no it isn't. The weekly shows are what they always were. competently booked if nothing amazing that build towards the big Takeover shows. Dusty was the guy who helped most of the NXT/FCW guys find themselves as characters. |
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Post by A Platypus Rave is Correct on Nov 28, 2015 0:40:49 GMT -5
No it wasn't. and personally, no it isn't. The weekly shows are what they always were. competently booked if nothing amazing that build towards the big Takeover shows. Dusty was the guy who helped most of the NXT/FCW guys find themselves as characters. I know Dusty was a big help in developmental... but I unless I am mistaken I do not believe he was the booker. |
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Sam Punk
Hank Scorpio
Own Nothing, Be Happy
Posts: 6,322
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Post by Sam Punk on Nov 28, 2015 1:13:10 GMT -5
What about someone like Phil Brooks or Cody Rhodes?
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