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Post by Feargus McReddit on Mar 13, 2019 1:55:21 GMT -5
I mean, they do care about lower TV ratings or else Ronda wouldn’t have been signed at all. And the fact we’re seeing more McMahons because USA believe that’s a thing that works (no proof of that but they were the reason the Authority was a thing) and acted like it’s a new thing so to say they don’t care because they make money is a bit of a misdemeanor. And if you really want to ask me personally, I cancelled my Network subscription after the first bits of FOX news were coming out because they don’t need me or my subscription to make money. Saudi Arabia’s dealings would have sealed it but that was WAY later. People aren’t watching or going to house shows or even talking about it (and yes, it’s talked about here and on social media but the company made $9m from social media last year which is really unimpressive in the grand scheme of things) but if it doesn’t lead to any improvement, why do it? It’s not even a moral stance at this point, it’s of a realisation that they’re desperate for any kind of attention. They know this stuff worked for three years in the late 90s, let’s do it again and not understand WHY it worked and why Austin was a big star and even why Vince Russo’s work shoots were the final death nail for WCW. I agree on everything you said up until the Russo death of WCW thing. There is no Vince McMahon type trying daily to destroy WWE, like Vince was to WCW. There is no AOL takeover of WWE's parent company and canceling of the TV show. There is no one to pay 4.2 million to their friend to buy the trademarks and bury them until they could be exploited as nostalgia. WWE can hire Vince Russo and have him write everything and they would still be super profitable. Thats what spending decades destroying competition gets you. I didn’t mean it literally because, again, other stuff WWE isn’t doing that WCW did killed WCW, I’m saying the Russo stuff was the last thing that killed it for good. That’s why I said “final death nail”.
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Post by HMARK Center on Mar 13, 2019 5:41:08 GMT -5
I just miss when this storyline was actually about Becky and not Ronda going on a drunken rampage. That's a really good point; given crowd reactions and what appears to be the goal of the booking, Becky is supposed to be the protagonist, here. That doesn't mean she needs to be the "hero", but she needs to be the main focus, since she's the one drawing the big reactions, selling merch, etc. By doing...whatever this has been, the focus has been taken off Becky, since now Ronda is the one who has all the attention for the weird stuff they have her doing. It's missing the point of a narrative with a clear central figure, whereas a more straightforward clash between the two would've likely served both infinitely better.
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cjh
Hank Scorpio
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Post by cjh on Mar 13, 2019 7:34:32 GMT -5
I mean, sure. But all of those are a) because they don’t have anything else (USA), b) they need their own content soon (FOX) and c) they’re money marks (Saudis) Again, getting people to talk means nothing when people aren’t watching, which leads to... The NFL’s ratings have dropped the last few years, one of many sports to drop in the last 5 years outside of the NBA which have risen, but the Super Bowl sells out because it’s the Super Bowl. Both of these things can be true. Merchandise sales are also down and have been for a while. Again, two completely different things. You’re supposed to WANT people to be invested and if you don’t, people won’t be. Ratings have been going down, year by year, by between 15% to 20%. Nothing they’re doing is working and, hey, they’re reaping what they sowed after the post Attitude Era buzz died down. I can agree with everything you say and still say so what? My point is, they dont want YOU invested. They hate wrestling fans. Theyre reaping record profits last I heard. Listen, it upsets me as much as anything. I hate when they do this too. But in the the end they are riding the money mark Saudis and content hungry Fox to record profits, and Wrestlemania will be sold out, and every single person on this thread will watch at least Wrestlemania, if not all the PPVs. So why should they care what Rhonda says? Why should they care if they go full Vince Russo? The angry marks bugging out to Rhonda's tweet will be back next week. They cant help themselves but turn to Raw on Mondays. And the people who left are enjoying NJPW or ROH or whatever and dont care what Rhonda has to say. So thats your choice. Be upset about Rousey breaking kayfabe enough where you stop WWE. But you wont, so why should they care? Record revenues, not profits. 2000 was WWE's most profitable year.
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Post by theironyuppie on Mar 13, 2019 7:50:45 GMT -5
I just miss when this storyline was actually about Becky and not Ronda going on a drunken rampage. That's a really good point; given crowd reactions and what appears to be the goal of the booking, Becky is supposed to be the protagonist, here. That doesn't mean she needs to be the "hero", but she needs to be the main focus, since she's the one drawing the big reactions, selling merch, etc. By doing...whatever this has been, the focus has been taken off Becky, since now Ronda is the one who has all the attention for the weird stuff they have her doing. It's missing the point of a narrative with a clear central figure, whereas a more straightforward clash between the two would've likely served both infinitely better. It’s also a downside of the social media heavy approach and most of it not being able to be referred to on air for various reasons. It can lead to characterisation changes that are hard to explain without reference to it.
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Post by MrElijah on Mar 13, 2019 21:13:52 GMT -5
I find Ronda calling WWE carny con artist where Dana is a Carny and the UFC was nearly outlaw, mudshow bullshit.
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cosmo
Unicron
Posts: 2,981
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Post by cosmo on Mar 14, 2019 2:00:14 GMT -5
Considering there was once a UFC fight that ended with one fighter punching his opponent in the dick over and over until he tapped out, some random cab driver BSing his way into a fight by claiming that he had a professional record of 200-0 (and then got knocked out by Don Frye in eight seconds), and Rorion Gracie initially wanting the Octagon to be electrified and topped with barbed wire when they did the first event, you can't ever say that UFC hasn't had its share of silly bullshit.
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Post by KobashiChop on Mar 14, 2019 2:32:24 GMT -5
Considering there was once a UFC fight that ended with one fighter punching his opponent in the dick over and over until he tapped out, some random cab driver BSing his way into a fight by claiming that he had a professional record of 200-0 (and then got knocked out by Don Frye in eight seconds), and Rorion Gracie initially wanting the Octagon to be electrified and topped with barbed wire when they did the first event, you can't ever say that UFC hasn't had its share of silly bullshit. It was all real martial arts at least (as much as dick punching can be) Plus the era you're referring to predates Dana Whites original UFC ownership group by some time. That was the original vale tudo days where there were minimal rules and it was just a lowest common denominator spectacle.
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cosmo
Unicron
Posts: 2,981
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Post by cosmo on Mar 14, 2019 3:46:40 GMT -5
Considering there was once a UFC fight that ended with one fighter punching his opponent in the dick over and over until he tapped out, some random cab driver BSing his way into a fight by claiming that he had a professional record of 200-0 (and then got knocked out by Don Frye in eight seconds), and Rorion Gracie initially wanting the Octagon to be electrified and topped with barbed wire when they did the first event, you can't ever say that UFC hasn't had its share of silly bullshit. It was all real martial arts at least (as much as dick punching can be) Plus the era you're referring to predates Dana Whites original UFC ownership group by some time. That was the original vale tudo days where there were minimal rules and it was just a lowest common denominator spectacle.
Not gonna lie, lowest common denominator or not, I do miss the old UFC sometimes. They wouldn't have made it very far into the 2000s had Dana White and Zuffa not come along and tried to make MMA a respectable sport, but the utter batshit insanity of the whole thing back in the day was a weird kind of appealing (at least for me).
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Post by KobashiChop on Mar 14, 2019 4:00:52 GMT -5
It was all real martial arts at least (as much as dick punching can be) Plus the era you're referring to predates Dana Whites original UFC ownership group by some time. That was the original vale tudo days where there were minimal rules and it was just a lowest common denominator spectacle. Not gonna lie, lowest common denominator or not, I do miss the old UFC sometimes. They wouldn't have made it very far into the 2000s had Dana White and Zuffa not come along and tried to make MMA a respectable sport, but the utter batshit insanity of the whole thing back in the day was a weird kind of appealing (at least for me).
I do and I dont. There were some really unique things that happened that youd never expect to see in a sporting promotion but fighters were treated as completely expendable and the whole thing was pretty barbaric.
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