Post by cabbageboy on Mar 31, 2020 16:39:54 GMT -5
I think it goes beyond the empty arena stuff and showing older matches. These WWE Performance Center shows are just so....bleak. Apocalyptic and unsettling to watch. It's a bit better with the camera facing the entrance and getting rid of the empty seats, but it's like watching Nero fiddle while Rome burned. They just don't have a clue, with announcers out there blathering about WM being "too big for just one night!" while they are in an empty building and wrestlers are refusing to appear and/or being sick. It doesn't help that they are still building these ultra serious WM feuds. As effective as Edge and Orton have been in these roles it's just dark stuff to deal with, as is Taker/AJ and the Boneyard Match.
I think AEW hasn't gotten as much crap because the two shows they've done have been at least life affirming and made the majority of viewers who watched feel better instead of worse. Some loathed the Broken Matt/Jericho foolishness last week but at least it was wacky escapist fun that took my mind off of world events. Even goofy stuff like Cody and Tony having a debate about Star Trek captains and DS9, it was just off the cuff discussion that was fun. AEW's show at least hasn't been bleak or dark. Cody and Kenny did that address to open the show two weeks ago, and then they just did occasional virus mentions and did not do a bunch of ultra personal and dark angles.
Post by Oh Cry Me a Screwball on Mar 31, 2020 16:54:55 GMT -5
People stuck at home with nothing to do, and this is what we end up with. All those writers, and nobody can figure out any way past the limitations. I feel like they'd just be better off airing chopped up Attitude Era PPVs at this rate.
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Going to say it again, Raw being 3 hours is biting them in the rear, using a skeleton roster to fill 3 hours of tv every week is asking the impossible imo. Smackdown at least doesnt feel like a total drag due to being 2 hours.
Last Edit: Mar 31, 2020 17:22:36 GMT -5 by markymark
Post by Toilet Paper Roll on Mar 31, 2020 17:36:22 GMT -5
I don’t think WWE comes back too strong after this. They were always just kinda there in the past but people are finding other things to entertain themselves with.
People stuck at home with nothing to do, and this is what we end up with. All those writers, and nobody can figure out any way past the limitations. I feel like they'd just be better off airing chopped up Attitude Era PPVs at this rate.
The issue is that WWE isnt trying to work around tbe limits and circunstances.
Just like their booking,they are just forcing the same thing until it works. Just keeping WWE as normal ,trying to force the idea is is just business as usual
Going to say it again, Raw being 3 hours is biting them in the rear, using a skeleton roster to fill 3 hours of tv every week is asking the impossible imo. Smackdown at least doesnt feel like a total drag due to being 2 hours.
This is why they need to pull guys from NXT and Smackdown to help fill the voids they have until they’re back to normal.
Yeah, on one hand the shows are not normal due to the virus so can't fault people for not caring, but on the other hand there is literally nothing else on and people are trapped at home. Not sure what to make of these ratings. I'm sure they'll go back to the normal 2.5 million when it's business as usual again, but the company really had an opportunity to get creative with how they presented their show. Clearly it did not work.
Wrestling isn’t built for a show without a live audience. It’s just not.
I think it can be done, but a) not without strengthening the feuds/arcs in a way that will entertain and attract the TV crowd; and b) selling the product as if the results matter long-term. Sports analytics and a balanced roster alignment-wise can work even with a studio show, especially if the in-ring work underlines the moral divisions. Turning everyone heel or heelish and reducing the faces to chumps doesn't lift people's spirits during a crisis period, and won't even help sell Wrestlemania without the 65K crowd looking on and the huge arena setup.
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