gr1990
Don Corleone
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Post by gr1990 on Dec 17, 2015 11:31:00 GMT -5
I was thinking this watching Takeover last night. What on this show would a non-wrestling fan not understand? The feuds are clearly outlined before each match on commentary, the matches tell a consistent story, the commentators actually explain how the moves work, which would be way more accessible to a non-fan than the 'telling stories' stuff they do on Raw. Even if you don't understand workrate or ring psychology, you only need a grasp of gravity and the human body to know that the likes of Apollo Crews and Finn Balor are phenomenal athletes, or that a 300 pound fat guy flying over the top rope is simply mindblowing to behold.
If you're a little girl watching wrestling for the first time, what will get you hooked; a colourful, cheerful, relatable character like Bayley fighting like a lion to beat a woman twice her size who dresses in black and scowls all the time? Or Paige and Charlotte being bitches to each other, then wrestling a boring match where they both cheat and a weird old man who everyone loves for some reason shouts 'woo' at ringside?
If you're only casually into wrestling, you're not gonna spend three hours a week watching it, you're not gonna want to pay for an extra three hour special every month that usually doesn't give you anything you don't see on free TV. But one hour a week with bi-monthly two hour specials that all the best stuff is saved for and you don't have to pay anything extra? Bring it on.
There is nothing niche about NXT. Athleticism, gender equality and strong characters are not foreign concepts to the average person, they're pretty much the minimum people demand in 2015. The weird three hour soup Raw has become where nothing relates to anything else and no one really explains to you why you should care and what's going on and the live audience is often visibly bored? That's practically avant-garde. The only thing inaccessible about NXT is that you have to pay $9.99 a month to see it. Other than that, it pretty much does wrestling the way it was done back when it was a national past-time.
It's possible fans of the three-hour soup of nothing might not get NXT (but you only need to look at the Raw ratings to see how few of them there are these days) but I know which product is more likely to win new wrestling fans. I know I'm not the first person to make any of these points, and it's probably not the best timing for such a rant when this week's Raw was actually good and pulled a decent rating, but it does amaze me how people think NXT is some purists-only sideshow where anyone without a PhD in wrestling history will be alienated.
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Post by Texas Tornado on Dec 17, 2015 11:36:03 GMT -5
I've been able to get more casual fans interested in NXT than Raw (including my little sister - a fan of Bayley AND Izzy at this point).
The 'NXT is a niche product' thing is just a myth. It's perfectly capable of capturing the casual audience. A show that isn't relentlessly stupid has that ability.
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kidglov3s
Bill S. Preston, Esq.
Wants her Shot
Who is Tiger Maskooo?
Posts: 15,870
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Post by kidglov3s on Dec 17, 2015 11:37:24 GMT -5
Wrestling bubble.
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Jobes
Unicron
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Post by Jobes on Dec 17, 2015 11:45:45 GMT -5
Um, it's not on television, it's exclusive to the WWE network. The WWE network, a product that doesn't appeal to casual fans.
Pretty simple answer.
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kidkamikaze10
Dennis Stamp
Trying to think of a new avatar
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Post by kidkamikaze10 on Dec 17, 2015 11:46:54 GMT -5
I wouldn't want it on a mainstream network, but I do think it should be something the E pushes as a mainstream product.
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Jobes
Unicron
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Post by Jobes on Dec 17, 2015 11:48:21 GMT -5
It would be considered a mainstream product if it were available to the mainstream. Is this really that hard to grasp?
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Deleted
Deleted Member
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Post by Deleted on Dec 17, 2015 11:49:25 GMT -5
If you put a taped NXT, as is, on for the first hour of RAW instead of RAW for a few weeks, people would take to it pretty quick.
Its still largely a WWE show with just newer faces that aren't booked like garbage. I don't know if it would do significantly better or worse, but I can't imagine people would watch NXT and go, "What is this? Is this wrestling? I'm so used to RAW that I can't even process what this is."
There's the old theory that "indie dudes can't draw" but that's been shot to shit, its all in the presentation.
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TWERKIN' MAGGLE
Crow T. Robot
Black Lives Matter
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Post by TWERKIN' MAGGLE on Dec 17, 2015 11:49:32 GMT -5
You have to pay for it and watch it on an internet service.
My Smart TV doesn't get WWE Network, which I find inexcusable.
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kidglov3s
Bill S. Preston, Esq.
Wants her Shot
Who is Tiger Maskooo?
Posts: 15,870
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Post by kidglov3s on Dec 17, 2015 11:50:33 GMT -5
I wouldn't want it on a mainstream network, but I do think it should be something the E pushes as a mainstream product. If you consider why NXT is so appealing to you I don't think you want to see what would become of it if WWE took an interest in it as a mainstream product.
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kidkamikaze10
Dennis Stamp
Trying to think of a new avatar
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Post by kidkamikaze10 on Dec 17, 2015 11:51:51 GMT -5
I wouldn't want it on a mainstream network, but I do think it should be something the E pushes as a mainstream product. If you consider why NXT is so appealing to you I don't think you want to see what would become of it if WWE took an interest in it as a mainstream product. I don't think a NXT that has to worry about ratings is a good idea.
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Bo Rida
Fry's dog Seymour
Pulled one over on everyone. Got away with it, this time.
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Post by Bo Rida on Dec 17, 2015 11:52:06 GMT -5
Like you say it's just the barrier to entry being network only in most countries.
Another part of that is there's nothing to grasp onto when watching for the first time like there usually is on Raw*, there's no big names that even the most casual of viewers will be vaguely aware of. Not just the name of wrestlers but well known terms like "Wrestlemania", for example you could maybe convince a friend to come around to watch the Royal Rumble but Takeover would be a harder sell.
Although Takeover is welcoming the spectacle of two green wrestlers in front of tired Full Sail audience (ie towards the end of a taping) isn't going to hook people in either.
Despite all that I agree, if you sat people down to watch both shows I think most would prefer NXT, it's just getting them to do that in the first place.
*Minor exception for Joe/Rhyno/Regal
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gr1990
Don Corleone
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Post by gr1990 on Dec 17, 2015 11:53:32 GMT -5
Um, it's not on television, it's exclusive to the WWE network. The WWE network, a product that doesn't appeal to casual fans. Pretty simple answer. That's the only answer I can buy, but you hear plenty of people talking about how certain things 'wouldn't work on Raw' or how NXT 'plays to the smarks' but I just don't see it. It really doesn't matter if you've never seen Finn Balor's Japanese stuff, or Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn's ROH feud, they start afresh with these guys whilst still acknowledging their past. I'd say it's more disorienting for a non-fan when the likes of Ric Flair and Bret Hart show up on Raw and get heroes' welcomes without anyone truly explaining why they're so special.
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Post by 1 Free Moon-Down with Burger on Dec 17, 2015 11:53:48 GMT -5
Because its Network only.
You really think it would pull in viewers on a mainstream network? No one likes wrestling in the mainstream right now.
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kevin
El Dandy
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Post by kevin on Dec 17, 2015 11:55:12 GMT -5
You have to pay for it and watch it on an internet service. My Smart TV doesn't get WWE Network, which I find inexcusable. That is inexcusable every streaming service you can get should be available on it.
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Post by A Platypus Rave on Dec 17, 2015 11:55:24 GMT -5
If you consider why NXT is so appealing to you I don't think you want to see what would become of it if WWE took an interest in it as a mainstream product. I don't think a NXT that has to worry about ratings is a good idea. Yeah, NXT is beholden to no-one at this point. Being on TV adds shareholders and network execs to the mix.
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gr1990
Don Corleone
Posts: 1,485
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Post by gr1990 on Dec 17, 2015 12:08:47 GMT -5
Because its Network only. You really think it would pull in viewers on a mainstream network? No one likes wrestling in the mainstream right now. I think it's got more chance of turning the mainstream back on to wrestling than Raw does. No one likes wrestling in the mainstream because Raw is dreary, badly-written and overly-long most weeks and the powers that be have lost sight of what a 2015 audience is looking for. Obviously you can't just 'get rid' of Raw and all your established stars that appear on it, but taking the NXT approach on Raw would really, really help because most of the common criticisms I see levelled at wrestling are addressed and corrected by NXT. I'm more thinking of how non-fans would react to NXT relative to Raw rather than lapsed/casual fans who are already fully aware of wrestling and how it works. I'm not saying 'put NXT as it is now on TV and it'll beat Raw in the ratings' because of course it won't, the brand is less recognisable and its stars are much less well-known. I just mean the way NXT is booked and the way its performers are put across is way more 21st-century and way more sensitive to the hokeyness that deters a lot of people from wrestling. Taking star power and any prior knowledge of wrestling out of the equation, NXT is a million times more accessible and credible in my view.
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Deleted
Deleted Member
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Post by Deleted on Dec 17, 2015 12:48:38 GMT -5
So much of what's exciting about NXT is exciting specifically because of its contrast to the WWE.
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Post by Lance Uppercut on Dec 17, 2015 14:30:00 GMT -5
People think that it'll alienate the regular WWE fan base because they believe in things like Squash matches and not giving away money matches for months at a time. Also the 1 hour nature prevents us from seeing the entire roster so you can go weeks at a time without seeing some people. Also the occasional inexperienced new guy that they throw out to the wolves to see what happens.
Great show but non-takeover NXT can be a bit too simple and dry for a prime time nation-wide audience. Also, as good as full sail looks, it's kind of bush league to be in a 200 seat studio wrestling auditorium on National Television compared to WWE's usual arenas.
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Post by Alice Syndrome on Dec 17, 2015 14:34:52 GMT -5
It did actually air at a more acceptable time than RAW in the UK (i.e. the old NXT/ECW slot) when it was actually on TV before being replaced by Main Event when we got the network. This probably, like Impact, led to a technically higher viewership.
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Post by Dave the Dave on Dec 17, 2015 15:30:24 GMT -5
My dad can't watch by accidently flipping to it during a football commercial?
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