Hulk Hogan is on his last legs, Ric Flair is older than Egyptian dirt, the Undertaker has the mobility of a pregnant beached whale, the Rock is semi-retired, and Stone Cold Steve Austin has left the company. Anyone left? A few people… but no one we really care about. What was once “must-see” television for the all-important 18-35 demographic has slowly become stale and repetitive. And the program that once caused Monday Night Football headaches is now road kill on the Nielsen gridiron.
Wrestling rode shock-TV and boot-stomping, profanity-laced anti-heroism to unparalleled success in the late 90s, but this formula has aged poorly, and wrestling’s writers have done a shitty job at creating compelling storylines or new stars. The television shows themselves have become woefully formulaic: Someone cuts a promo (including a few catch-phrases), a few women prance about trying to “out-slut” one another, an established star challenges another established star to some sort of showdown, and the announcers feverishly engage in redundant hyperbolic superlatives in an effort to hawk the upcoming PPV. Before, viewers still knew that they were watching, in essence, a two hour commercial for the monthly wrestling PPV, but the commercial was of such intrigue and quality that nobody felt cheated. Now? Being spoon-fed a program that spends its duration hawking a “main event” that lasts all of two minutes leaves the viewers with a growing empathy for the employees of Enron.
Among the better young talent in the industry are RVD, Brock Lesnar, Booker T, Kurt Angle, HHH, the Hurricane, and Chris Jericho. Unfortunately, we’ve seen derivative works of the same routine so many times, their act has lost any semblance of impact. “Hey, look! Ric Flair said ‘Whoo’! Triple H just hit someone with a sledge-hammer! Vince McMahon is acting corrupt! The Undertaker is riding a motorcycle! One of those interchangeable female wrestlers is showing some cleavage! How outrageous!” Been there, done that.
Wrestling still has its bright spots, but the best reason to watch these shows is nostalgia. And even nostalgia wears thin after a while.
Hulk Hogan is on his last legs, Ric Flair is older than Egyptian dirt, the Undertaker has the mobility of a pregnant beached whale, the Rock is semi-retired, and Stone Cold Steve Austin has left the company. Anyone left? A few people… but no one we really care about. What was once “must-see” television for the all-important 18-35 demographic has slowly become stale and repetitive. And the program that once caused Monday Night Football headaches is now road kill on the Nielsen gridiron.
Wrestling rode shock-TV and boot-stomping, profanity-laced anti-heroism to unparalleled success in the late 90s, but this formula has aged poorly, and wrestling’s writers have done a shitty job at creating compelling storylines or new stars. The television shows themselves have become woefully formulaic: Someone cuts a promo (including a few catch-phrases), a few women prance about trying to “out-slut” one another, an established star challenges another established star to some sort of showdown, and the announcers feverishly engage in redundant hyperbolic superlatives in an effort to hawk the upcoming PPV. Before, viewers still knew that they were watching, in essence, a two hour commercial for the monthly wrestling PPV, but the commercial was of such intrigue and quality that nobody felt cheated. Now? Being spoon-fed a program that spends its duration hawking a “main event” that lasts all of two minutes leaves the viewers with a growing empathy for the employees of Enron.
Among the better young talent in the industry are RVD, Brock Lesnar, Booker T, Kurt Angle, HHH, the Hurricane, and Chris Jericho. Unfortunately, we’ve seen derivative works of the same routine so many times, their act has lost any semblance of impact. “Hey, look! Ric Flair said ‘Whoo’! Triple H just hit someone with a sledge-hammer! Vince McMahon is acting corrupt! The Undertaker is riding a motorcycle! One of those interchangeable female wrestlers is showing some cleavage! How outrageous!” Been there, done that.
Wrestling still has its bright spots, but the best reason to watch these shows is nostalgia. And even nostalgia wears thin after a while.
Grade: C+
Dude, do you work for this website you get all your info from? How about providing some original thought? (Just a suggestion.)
The call is from heroism; will you accept the charges?
I don't get "all my info" from this or any other site. It's just another outlet that provides wrestling fans with wrestling talk. And my purpose in posting it is that I thought others in this forum would find the article interesting to read while surfing the net, looking for a take on sports entertainment.
And judging be the responses to some of the articles here, others DO find the subject matter fodder for discussion.
Originally posted by rv581I don't get "all my info" from this or any other site. It's just another outlet that provides wrestling fans with wrestling talk. And my purpose in posting it is that I thought others in this forum would find the article interesting to read while surfing the net, looking for a take on sports entertainment.
And judging be the responses to some of the articles here, others DO find the subject matter fodder for discussion.
Well, Torchslasher *IS* the treasurer of the RFMC, so don't expect anything more from him =) (heh, sorry, people who take pride in something like a "Real Fucking Moron Club" ask for it!)
But back to the article, HHH is an old name, but just cause we don't like him doesn't change the fact that Booker T. is a good 3 or 4 years older than him. In wrestling terms, Triple H, at 32 or so, is still "young".
Unfortunately it's his character that isn't "young" or "fresh" anymore. I still think HHH, being young and TALENTED as he is, still has potential to do something with the next 5-7 years. Just because he's hated now and his body needs some renovation and rest, this doesn't mean we should write him off as part of the "old guard" that needs to retire.
WrestleMania XIX - Raw Main Event - Who is toughest??
Its interesting to read a report that sounds like it was written by a guy that used to enjoy wrestling but now rarely bothers. Much as many of us bitch about Rock, Taker, Austin and HHH it seems like these are the guys that the missing masses enjoyed watching.
Theres just no accounting for taste.
"I tear my quadricep all the time. Heck I tore it this morning and I'm fine!" Kurt Angle
i think the most unfortunate thing about this "review" is the tone.. it's the tone of, "well my old favorites are gone, so let's just go home." that's the same attitude that led to the 90s version of wcw: push the "old guard" to the moon because no one wants to take a chance on the new guys. i'm personally GLAD that this "reviewer" doesn't like the wwe anymore, because that would mean it's been stagnant.
i mean, i agree that, as the review suggests, russo's "crash tv" was what brought the wwf to where it is, and now it's having trouble maintaining that because it's hard to shock people anymore. but that doesn't mean you stop giving it a chance to do things other than shock you to keep you interested.
I don't know that anyone is even on the right continent to see a wrestling show in Chile. This video might make you consider making the trip: (website is www.guerradetitanes.cl)