Except for Bret Hart's and Don Callis' columns, please ignore SLAM! Wrestling. Their comments of not only calling WrestleMania XX "a bomb", but also claiming that "the WWE is heading toward self-destruction" make you wonder what's in the cereals they eat every morning.
When I read the little teaser on the front page before clicking the link, I honestly thought it was a joke ... Like, the first line would read "This pay per view was the worst thing ever in the history of television!!!" and then the next paragraph would be along the lines of "Ha ha, just kidding. I loved it."
But I guess that wasn't the case; I mean, everyone is entitled to their opinion, but ... damn. Just, damn.
It seems like every writer they got over there at SLAM! Wrestling pushes the whole "I hate everything about WWE until Triple H is fired" line farther than any other web site I've been to ... Quite comical, actually.
(edited by Alessandro on 15.3.04 1210) Alessandro "Hercules" Boondy
Just so you guys know: 75% of this crap [you read on the internet] is made up, either by the writer, or the wrestler the writer is getting the dirt from. Just so you know. -- Statement by "Tammy Sytch", from Hyatte's Dec. 29th column ... Lest we forget.
I guess I'm just surprised because Slam! USED to be very fair and up front with its coverage. But ever since WWE cut off its relations with the media... yeah, something crawled up their respective asses.
Originally posted by CANADIAN BULLDOGI guess I'm just surprised because Slam! USED to be very fair and up front with its coverage. But ever since WWE cut off its relations with the media... yeah, something crawled up their respective asses.
Then again, it's Sun Media/Quebecor we're talking about. So I can't say any of this shocks me.
Originally posted by CajunManWas John Powell the writer that Meltzer(Observer) fired a couple of years ago for being to negative and posting WWE phone #'s?
I don't think so... at least I'd never heard that story before. He's been with Slam! for ages. He may have left when the site essentially closed down a while ago, but I think he was still working for Slam! in another capacity....
imo wrestmania xx was a disaster. i agree wwe is heading for hard times..least i hope they are, losing brock, goldberg and having angle out for a while will hurt them a great deal. many fans think benoit, and eddie guerro will carry the company for the "new generation. there is only vince's generation and believe me hhh is still very much in the picture to get his dam belt back. storylines are more than predictable they are as stale as any wcw storline ever was. if vince could focus on WRESTLING and get off the "showbix" style programs he runs, he could see more profits. the way it's going, he needs a miracle. his wmxx buy rates are gonna be interesting to see. snatching up nwa stars isn't gonna work forever for vinnie mac. a. j styles, amazing red, sonjay dutt, raven, abyss..all the nwa stars can and will give vinnie a reality check soon enough.
this is my first post here..hope i don't piss anyone off. it's just my opinion..and ya know what they say about those.
it's only funny till someone gets hurt, then..it's hilarious!!
So I actually wrote into the author of the column after I read it, saying that while he's certainly entitled to his opinion, I didn't see where he was getting this from.
He responded yesterday -- politely, I should add -- and said that the current direction WWE has isn't doing anything to attract new fans, which is what's leading the company to self-destruction. He conceded that a few of the matches were good, but they weren't going to be changing the product overall. He also said that four years from now, people won't be taking the Mania XX DVD out to watch it.
I still disagree with this, and think this was one of the better versions of WrestleMania (with WMIII and X-7 rating slightly higher with me), but at least I'll say he responded and tried to back up his arguments.
CANADIAN BULLDOG: He responded yesterday -- politely, I should add -- and said that the current direction WWE has isn't doing anything to attract new fans, which is what's leading the company to self-destruction. He conceded that a few of the matches were good, but they weren't going to be changing the product overall. He also said that four years from now, people won't be taking the Mania XX DVD out to watch it.
Oh great - another chicken little. I suggest he do a follow-up column explaining how a publicly traded company with 250 million in CASH reserves(and a cash flow of mechandise), a dead lock on the rights to video archives and a world to conquer with the WWE brand will "self -destruct" because of an alledgely bad WM event. And I would guarantee there is at least one or two people who will get mileage out of repeated viewings of WMXX, just to make sure that HHH *really* did TAP TAP TAP to Benoit. THAT was history.
And having the two best workers in the world as Champion cornerstones to a brand "reset" ain't going to change the product? I'll go on the line and say the Main Events, so long as Benoit and Eddy are champs, will be just a tad bit better than a Brock / Big Show stretcher match.
People saying that WCW would "self destruct" (CRZ!) were correct, but that was due to hair-brained management and no idea how (or whom) to book. The WWE has not been a bed of roses in the booking department for the last couple years, but they are probably one of the best "managed" companies around. It's things like that that prevent a business from "self-destructing", not the booking of two four-man tag matches and a match that results in MSG booing a couple of clowns out of the building.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY GURU!
FLEA
Demonstrations are a drag. Besides, we're much too high...
Originally posted by RYDER FAKINCANADIAN BULLDOG: He responded yesterday -- politely, I should add -- and said that the current direction WWE has isn't doing anything to attract new fans, which is what's leading the company to self-destruction. He conceded that a few of the matches were good, but they weren't going to be changing the product overall. He also said that four years from now, people won't be taking the Mania XX DVD out to watch it.
Oh great - another chicken little. I suggest he do a follow-up column explaining how a publicly traded company with 250 million in CASH reserves(and a cash flow of mechandise), a dead lock on the rights to video archives and a world to conquer with the WWE brand will "self -destruct" because of an alledgely bad WM event. And I would guarantee there is at least one or two people who will get mileage out of repeated viewings of WMXX, just to make sure that HHH *really* did TAP TAP TAP to Benoit. THAT was history.
And having the two best workers in the world as Champion cornerstones to a brand "reset" ain't going to change the product? I'll go on the line and say the Main Events, so long as Benoit and Eddy are champs, will be just a tad bit better than a Brock / Big Show stretcher match.
People saying that WCW would "self destruct" (CRZ!) were correct, but that was due to hair-brained management and no idea how (or whom) to book. The WWE has not been a bed of roses in the booking department for the last couple years, but they are probably one of the best "managed" companies around. It's things like that that prevent a business from "self-destructing", not the booking of two four-man tag matches and a match that results in MSG booing a couple of clowns out of the building.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY GURU!
FLEA
Agreed on most of it, and while what I'm about to say in particular obviously wasn't the death knell of WCW, it's just one of 1000 examples of ineptitude.
I had a good number of friends who if they could have ever found lWo shirts available, would have bought them. I've also compared notes with people I talk to who live in SoCal and they've said roughly the same thing. The only problem was that WCW didn't make those shirts readily available to the buying public, some of whom actually WANTED to buy those shirts. Imagine that, a product that WCW didn't HAVE to give away!!
It's stuff like that and lost oppertunities to make money here and there is what sunk them. I'm not saying that selling more lWo shirts in particular would have saved them, but you know that if this was the WWE, those shirts would have been easier to find.
Flea, Blanket: My points exactly (though you guys put it much better). WCW was taking huge, backwards steps for years until it inevitably caught up with them. WWE has stumbled, sure, but (a) they're taking steps to fix some of the common complaints and (b) They are making money regardless! At last check, WWE had a market value of $900 million plus, and although they lost money in 2003, it was far from disastrous (maybe $19 million).
So, if I could sum up: I STILL don't think they're self-destructing, and STILL think WMXX was pretty damn good.
This is kinda going off-topic, but WCW wasn't doing as bad as people claim they were. They were losing only a bit of money each year from 1988 (when Turner took over) to 1994. Losses, yes, but nothing overly drastic. 1995, they moreless broke even. They naturally turned in a profit in 1996, as well as 1997, 98. 1999, they lost money, but it was like the earlier years. 2000 is when they lost a chunkload, and that's when Turner gave up on them, because of one very bad year.
WWE is a different story, as they've had declining profits, rather than losses, even small ones. They're still profitable, which contradicts the author's assumption that they're headed towards "self-destruction".
Christian enters into the Elimination Chamber and wins the title! Someone jumps from Smackdown and enters the Elimination Chamber and wins. They're swerves they just may not happen!