WWE current presentation appreciation

[Friday Night SmackOwn]

Bet you never thought you'd see a thread explicitly praising WWE's presentation after years of Kevin Dunn's silliness, did you?

Seriously though, since they brought in that guy from ESPN to succeed Dunn, I've found myself enjoying the small changes to the presentation as of late. Stuff like the graphics of wrestlers heading into commercial breaks, showing them arriving at the arena, live shots of the city a particular show is from, and so on. The camera work's also been less dizzying, so that's a big plus.

[ben:friendship frog]

The backstage interviewers pitching back to the commentators after an interview is such a tiny thing but really makes it feel more like a sports broadcast somehow

[Xxcjb01xX [PIECE OF: SH-]]

I think the backstage walking up/around introductions are a bit weird but I like say the graphics after they show someone else is in action, the camera angles are so much better and not cut nearly as much, and the NXT style vignettes are very, very welcomed, Pretty Deadly's looked awesome tonight

Once they kick Def Rebel to the curb and get better themes for some talents it might all come together

[Nosnorb]

Feb 10, 2024 5:59:11 GMT -5 Xxcjb01xX [PIECE OF: SH-] said:

Once they kick Def Rebel to the curb and get better themes for some talents it might all come together

The sooner they do that the better, having to hear that f***ing DIY theme and seeing it kill any heat Gargano and Ciampa get is insufferable.

[Lizuka #BLM]

There are aspects I dislike, like the Last Match of the Night or whatever graphic is really hokey and dumb, but for the most part it is looking a lot less sterile.

[theironyuppie]

I like that they're experimenting with some of their presentation. Bits like how on Raw they had (bald fraud) Pearce and Drew backstage observing Rhea's 'unplanned' entrance help freshen things up across a three-hour show.

[The Thread Barbi]

Feb 10, 2024 5:55:44 GMT -5 ben:friendship frog said:

The backstage interviewers pitching back to the commentators after an interview is such a tiny thing but really makes it feel more like a sports broadcast somehow

"Over to you, Jesse!"

It was a thing in the Golden Era, glad it's back

[A Platypus Rave is Correct]

Feb 10, 2024 6:29:04 GMT -5 theironyuppie said:

I like that they're experimenting with some of their presentation. Bits like how on Raw they had (bald fraud) Pearce and Drew backstage observing Rhea's 'unplanned' entrance help freshen things up across a three-hour show.

Yeah, it's something they've needed for a while that Dunn was never going to do because he was complacent and lazy.

[XIII]

I want to say that it’s to give it a “more sports based presentation” UFC and all of the sports events do a lot of the same things.

It’s better but it also runs the risk of marginalizing a lot of the silliness of wrestling that makes it what it is.

[Main Event Mark]

Feb 10, 2024 5:55:44 GMT -5 ben:friendship frog said:

The backstage interviewers pitching back to the commentators after an interview is such a tiny thing but really makes it feel more like a sports broadcast somehow

You didn't like when the interviewer just silently stared off into space?

[fw91]

Am I the only one who didn't really notice Kevin Dunn's silliness? Never quite understood what people meant when they criticized the camera work. Not saying anyone's wrong, just something I never noticed when watching. I thought most his hate was soley due to him being a shit person. The sports presentation is nice, but when they go back to the ring action, I still feel its more or less the same?

[Friday Night SmackOwn]

Feb 11, 2024 12:09:44 GMT -5 Main Event Mark said:

Feb 10, 2024 5:55:44 GMT -5 ben:friendship frog said:

The backstage interviewers pitching back to the commentators after an interview is such a tiny thing but really makes it feel more like a sports broadcast somehow

You didn't like when the interviewer just silently stared off into space?

If only they did a shrug to the camera after the wrestler walks off like Michael Cole did in cutscenes for Smackdown 2 on PS1.

[BRV]

Feb 11, 2024 12:20:07 GMT -5 fw91 said:

Am I the only one who didn't really notice Kevin Dunn's silliness? Never quite understood what people meant when they criticized the camera work. Not saying anyone's wrong, just something I never noticed when watching. I thought most his hate was soley due to him being a shit person. The sports presentation is nice, but when they go back to the ring action, I still feel its more or less the same?

The needless cuts did lead to missing a lot of moments - Edge's first Spear back at the 2020 Royal Rumble perhaps most notably - and the chaotic zoom-in/zoom-out/zoom-in/zoom-out of brawls outside the ring did get nauseating.

There has definitely been a considerable lean toward WWE being presented like "real sports" in recent weeks, and that's a welcome addition in my books. It's not perfect, but there are noticeable signs of improvement in the way the show is presented to the television audience.

[EoE: Well There's Your Problem]

Apparently they dialled back a bit of the lighting this week:


Last week (2/5/24)


This week (2/12/24)

[ben:friendship frog]

It's a silly thing but I really can't stand the lower third font on RAW, it's so plain and boring

[Goldash #BLM]

Coming back from break, they did this awesome tilt down from the Rupp Arena jumbotron down to the ring. Totally something you'd expect to see on basketball or hockey.

I've done my fair share of freelancing on sports broadcasting productions - these small details matter! It made sense as a cool segue back into the action.

I also liked the pre-match hype package in the Liv/Zoey qualifier. It reminded me a lot of the Cruiserweight Classic and Mae Young Classic, which were lightyears different from anything on WWE television at that point. It really illustrated both wrestlers' need to advance, making the stakes feel more important. I think they should do this for all remaining EC qualifiers moving forward (even in the "last chance" battle royals).

[Friday Night SmackOwn]

Feb 13, 2024 4:22:27 GMT -5 EoE: Well There's Your Problem said:

Apparently they dialled back a bit of the lighting this week:


Last week (2/5/24)


This week (2/12/24)

Also the show graphics (you can see on the second image along the arena leds and barricade leds) are now black, which oddly makes the current Raw graphics look sorta like Netflix's colors.