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Post by HMARK Center on Mar 2, 2024 9:00:46 GMT -5
This kind of got mentioned in passing on the Deadlock podcast this past week when the guys were discussing being at a Smackdown due to being invited to a prelaunch event for the 2K24 video game - they don't really watch WWE much since it's just not their preferred style of wrestling, but I think Johnny said something like "WWE is an entrance promotion": people go to the show and are invested in hearing their favorite wrestlers' themes, pop for their entrance, and later on pop for either a line/catchphrase in a promo, their finisher being hit, or seeing someone surprising run in and/or return. But when the bell rings, thousands of phones come out and a lot of folks don't really watch a lot of what's happening between the ropes, plus you get a lot more downtime between segments because it feels more like a TV taping than a live pro wrestling show. To WWE's credit, in the past couple of years since Vince took a backseat/left they've done an infinitely better job of just getting out of the way of acts that get over and not filling fans with the dread of "if you like this person and we didn't plan on it, we're going to intentionally de-push them", and instead they're allowing them to get featured matches on bigger shows and just rolling with it more. I think people are reacting to that right now after years of the opposite, so I get the excitement. But the promotion kind of is what it is, and you either dig that style or you don't; in my case, it's not what I want out of pro wrestling, hence why I mostly don't watch. I think that's a really condescending way of looking at people who enjoy WWE. The shows I've been to people are very invested in the matches, saying people just take out there phones and ignore the action is just blatantly untrue. Honestly, I think it's mostly just what WWE has kind of trained the audience to expect (and *all* promotions train their audiences to some degree or another, just in different ways) - the presentation and promos matter more than week to week matches. Dwelling on the phone part probably doesn't take away from the point that, yeah, a lot of the appeal of the show isn't really based around what happens once the bell rings, but it clearly still clicks for a lot of people.
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Post by "Evil Brood" Jackson Vanik on Mar 2, 2024 9:05:17 GMT -5
This kind of got mentioned in passing on the Deadlock podcast this past week when the guys were discussing being at a Smackdown due to being invited to a prelaunch event for the 2K24 video game - they don't really watch WWE much since it's just not their preferred style of wrestling, but I think Johnny said something like "WWE is an entrance promotion": people go to the show and are invested in hearing their favorite wrestlers' themes, pop for their entrance, and later on pop for either a line/catchphrase in a promo, their finisher being hit, or seeing someone surprising run in and/or return. But when the bell rings, thousands of phones come out and a lot of folks don't really watch a lot of what's happening between the ropes, plus you get a lot more downtime between segments because it feels more like a TV taping than a live pro wrestling show. To WWE's credit, in the past couple of years since Vince took a backseat/left they've done an infinitely better job of just getting out of the way of acts that get over and not filling fans with the dread of "if you like this person and we didn't plan on it, we're going to intentionally de-push them", and instead they're allowing them to get featured matches on bigger shows and just rolling with it more. I think people are reacting to that right now after years of the opposite, so I get the excitement. But the promotion kind of is what it is, and you either dig that style or you don't; in my case, it's not what I want out of pro wrestling, hence why I mostly don't watch. I think that's a really condescending way of looking at people who enjoy WWE. The shows I've been to people are very invested in the matches, saying people just take out there phones and ignore the action is just blatantly untrue. Your experience and the experience of someone else aren't mutually exclusive. I've been to WWE shows where the crowd was invested in the matches but I've always been to shows where they popped on the entrance and the finish but otherwise just sat there and chatted with each other or took out their phone. And people can watch however they want. It's their money. But I imagine both crowds exist depending on the night.
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Post by Alice Syndrome on Mar 2, 2024 9:25:26 GMT -5
Honestly I'm still baffled by how bad that opening promo was.
Rock posts a 21 minute promo on social media saying nothing interesting at all, and then still needs 40 minutes, a third of the actual show, to get to the point that should have taken maybe 5.
This is just as bad as that Nitro where the first hour was all backstage segments, and the 10/14/10 Impact.
This show was an exercise in WWE not actually caring about wrestling on their wrestling show.
Rampage had just as much in ring action in half the show time.
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Renslayer
Bill S. Preston, Esq.
every time i come around your city...
Posts: 17,279
Member is Online
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Post by Renslayer on Mar 2, 2024 11:03:47 GMT -5
I had fun
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Post by "Trickster Dogg" James Jesse on Mar 2, 2024 13:13:43 GMT -5
Mid-3. 40 minutes of the Bloodline drags this grade down. Without the Bloodline, maybe a mid-6. Crowd was hot, which was fun to see, but I'm confused about why they were so hot for this show. The actual matches on TV are the same as they ever were, but people are losing their minds wanting to see WWE shows right now. I don't get it. This kind of got mentioned in passing on the Deadlock podcast this past week when the guys were discussing being at a Smackdown due to being invited to a prelaunch event for the 2K24 video game - they don't really watch WWE much since it's just not their preferred style of wrestling, but I think Johnny said something like "WWE is an entrance promotion": people go to the show and are invested in hearing their favorite wrestlers' themes, pop for their entrance, and later on pop for either a line/catchphrase in a promo, their finisher being hit, or seeing someone surprising run in and/or return. But when the bell rings, thousands of phones come out and a lot of folks don't really watch a lot of what's happening between the ropes, plus you get a lot more downtime between segments because it feels more like a TV taping than a live pro wrestling show. To WWE's credit, in the past couple of years since Vince took a backseat/left they've done an infinitely better job of just getting out of the way of acts that get over and not filling fans with the dread of "if you like this person and we didn't plan on it, we're going to intentionally de-push them", and instead they're allowing them to get featured matches on bigger shows and just rolling with it more. I think people are reacting to that right now after years of the opposite, so I get the excitement. But the promotion kind of is what it is, and you either dig that style or you don't; in my case, it's not what I want out of pro wrestling, hence why I mostly don't watch. I'd agree with most of this. Last year I attended a WWE TV taping and an AEW TV taping. And so much of the WWE show was about shooting the wrestling around the TV rather than shooting the TV around the wrestling. (The old Cornette complaint about modern wrestling was very true in this case, I thought.) WWE aired more than 10 commercials during the taping, including commercials for SmackDown, which was the very show I was attending! Wrestlers came out and stop either mid-aisle or mid-ring while we're in commercial break, which kills the flow and the vibe of the crowd. And it also had a long in-ring Bloodline talking segment. This show wasn't bad, but it was so over-produced, and the wrestling matches themselves mattered so little, it put me off the idea of ever attending another WWE TV taping. I also attended an AEW TV taping last year, and counting the ROH tapings, it was a 5-hour show. Maybe that's too much wrestling for a regular TV taping session. My friends and I left at the 4-hour mark. At least most of the focus was on the wrestling in the ring and not backstage segments and video packages. And the crowd remained hot for most of the taping, which was impressive for just how long it was. I may have my issues with AEW, but this taping made me excited to go to an AEW taping again whenever Tony Khan runs the next loop. Anecdotally, the two things I would say WWE did better than AEW is draw in a greater variety of fans and, obviously, also draw in a greater number of fans. I saw more children and families at the WWE show than the AEW show, and there was a closer gender parity at the WWE show than the AEW show. I think that audience variety will do more for keeping interest in wrestling alive in my area, even if that interest eschews more to WWE-style wrestling than AEW-style wrestling, if the audience attendance was anything to go by.
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4real
Wade Wilson
Posts: 28,709
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Post by 4real on Mar 2, 2024 14:07:52 GMT -5
8. One of the best Smackdown’s I’ve seen for a long while. Great promo from Rock & Roman (if a little long obviously but held my attention). Breakker match was incredible of cause! Streetfight was fun. Tiffany is firing on all cylinders. Women’s tag was rushed but happy they got the turn over with.
Potentially dull Orton v Theory main event saved by KO commentary, sick RKO by Randy and potential KO & Orton team up. KORKO? rKO? Randy Owens?
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Post by HMARK Center on Mar 2, 2024 14:55:20 GMT -5
This kind of got mentioned in passing on the Deadlock podcast this past week when the guys were discussing being at a Smackdown due to being invited to a prelaunch event for the 2K24 video game - they don't really watch WWE much since it's just not their preferred style of wrestling, but I think Johnny said something like "WWE is an entrance promotion": people go to the show and are invested in hearing their favorite wrestlers' themes, pop for their entrance, and later on pop for either a line/catchphrase in a promo, their finisher being hit, or seeing someone surprising run in and/or return. But when the bell rings, thousands of phones come out and a lot of folks don't really watch a lot of what's happening between the ropes, plus you get a lot more downtime between segments because it feels more like a TV taping than a live pro wrestling show. To WWE's credit, in the past couple of years since Vince took a backseat/left they've done an infinitely better job of just getting out of the way of acts that get over and not filling fans with the dread of "if you like this person and we didn't plan on it, we're going to intentionally de-push them", and instead they're allowing them to get featured matches on bigger shows and just rolling with it more. I think people are reacting to that right now after years of the opposite, so I get the excitement. But the promotion kind of is what it is, and you either dig that style or you don't; in my case, it's not what I want out of pro wrestling, hence why I mostly don't watch. I'd agree with most of this. Last year I attended a WWE TV taping and an AEW TV taping. And so much of the WWE show was about shooting the wrestling around the TV rather than shooting the TV around the wrestling. (The old Cornette complaint about modern wrestling was very true in this case, I thought.) WWE aired more than 10 commercials during the taping, including commercials for SmackDown, which was the very show I was attending! Wrestlers came out and stop either mid-aisle or mid-ring while we're in commercial break, which kills the flow and the vibe of the crowd. And it also had a long in-ring Bloodline talking segment. This show wasn't bad, but it was so over-produced, and the wrestling matches themselves mattered so little, it put me off the idea of ever attending another WWE TV taping. I also attended an AEW TV taping last year, and counting the ROH tapings, it was a 5-hour show. Maybe that's too much wrestling for a regular TV taping session. My friends and I left at the 4-hour mark. At least most of the focus was on the wrestling in the ring and not backstage segments and video packages. And the crowd remained hot for most of the taping, which was impressive for just how long it was. I may have my issues with AEW, but this taping made me excited to go to an AEW taping again whenever Tony Khan runs the next loop. Anecdotally, the two things I would say WWE did better than AEW is draw in a greater variety of fans and, obviously, also draw in a greater number of fans. I saw more children and families at the WWE show than the AEW show, and there was a closer gender parity at the WWE show than the AEW show. I think that audience variety will do more for keeping interest in wrestling alive in my area, even if that interest eschews more to WWE-style wrestling than AEW-style wrestling, if the audience attendance was anything to go by. And to clarify what I was saying before, I think a big deal for WWE is that it's very much character-driven; people see and latch onto characters they like, and again unlike the Vince years there's now a feeling that those characters will be allowed to go out and do their thing without having a Zack Ryder-style burial pulled on them for daring to get over. People will get into seeing the characters they like, all the pomp and circumstance of their entrances and catchphrases, and be into the outcomes of their matches, emotionally invested in whether their favorite wins or loses (and yes, this is very important in wrestling!). In terms of what gets emphasized at the show, this tends to get greater focus than what happens during the matches; many other promotions place greater emphasis on the in-ring action not just because "hey, cool wrestling is exciting" (though that doesn't hurt), but because the match is meant to serve more as a journey/story unfolding in itself. Not saying WWE never does that, mind you, no promotion does the same thing 100% of the time, but it's just a general vibe.
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Post by simplydurhamcalling on Mar 2, 2024 16:09:43 GMT -5
8. One of the best Smackdown’s I’ve seen for a long while. Great promo from Rock & Roman (if a little long obviously but held my attention). Breakker match was incredible of cause! Streetfight was fun. Tiffany is firing on all cylinders. Women’s tag was rushed but happy they got the turn over with. Potentially dull Orton v Theory main event saved by KO commentary, sick RKO by Randy and potential KO & Orton team up. KORKO? rKO? Randy Owens? Definitely think we are getting Orton Vs Owens Vs Logan (maybe Vs Knight Vs Styles) at Mania.
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Post by welshpenguin on Mar 4, 2024 13:20:06 GMT -5
An easy 9, almost a 10. The opening segment was awesome. It still feels surreal seeing Roman & Rock in the same ring. They interacted with each other more than previously & the “Acknowledge Me” by Roman was edge of the seat stuff. Romans, Solo’s & Heyman’s facial expressions had me chuckling throughout. Another great showing by Tiff. We needed some Pretty Deadly on the show. Didn’t like seeing my boy from NXt Xyon Quinn get squashed. He has a great look so hopefully they can find something for him to do. Send him back to Nxt maybe.
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