The W
June 7, 2009 - birthdaybritney.jpg
Views: 179011862
Main | FAQ | Search: Y! / G | Calendar | Color chart | Log in for more!
28.3.24 1025
The W - Pro Wrestling - It's a Great Time to be a Wrestling Fan
This thread has 15 referrals leading to it
Register and log in to post!
Pages: 1(14138 newer) Next thread | Previous thread
User
Post (15 total)
HitTheSnoozeButton
Boudin rouge








Since: 2.1.02
From: Pittsburgh PA

Since last post: 5533 days
Last activity: 2739 days
#1 Posted on
It's a great time to be a wrestling fan.

Let me repeat that.

It's a great time to be a wrestling fan.

Here's why:

There's an invention of sportswriters called the Ewing theory. For the few of you not familiar with it, what it generally means is that when a sports team loses its big star, the rest of the team rallies together to overcome their newfound shortcomings and plays better than when they had the star with them, because they realize that they don't have the crutch that is the star to lean on anymore.

This is what is happening with the WWF. The "big star", no matter what anyone says, was Stone Cold Steve Austin. The WWE had been putting out crappy storylines and getting away with ratings not taking a huge hit. Why? Because they knew that SCSA would keep the diehards coming back for more. Then SCSA walked out. The WWE wasted no time. They intensified their elevation of new talent, and everyone from the writers to the wrestlers to the announcers put forth a much better effort. Their crutch had been taken, and it was time to see if they could walk without it. The jury is still out on whether or not they can, but I personally am excited. That is why it's such a great time to be a wrestling fan. We are going to witness the best efforts of the Fed to win viewers back. We can expect some great TV and PPV in the future, with good workrate and good storylines. Everyone is going to try harder, and it's all for us.


Enjoy these next few months: If the last few shows are any indication, this upcoming time period could be one of the best stretches the WWF will ever have as far as quality of shows.


One more time...

It's a great time to be a wrestling fan.



What a Manuever!
Promote this thread!
Socks
Landjager








Since: 25.6.02
From: Ottawa

Since last post: 2982 days
Last activity: 2859 days
#2 Posted on
Breath in......Breath Out.....ahh

It is a great time to be a wrestling fan...



I'm a lumberjack and I'm ok, I work all night and I sleep all day!

dskillz
Landjager








Since: 2.1.02
From: Houston Texas

Since last post: 6643 days
Last activity: 6348 days
#3 Posted on
That theory works on an Actual sports team because the product is based upon the effort that the player put on the floor. But Wrestling is not soley based on the effort that the wrestler puts in the ring. It is largely based on the booking. The booking has been crap and do we see that changing because Austin is gone? If anything it might get worse because they don't have to worry about Austin complaining about stupid moves. I want to believe that things will get better, but I think it will only get better when things hit Rock Bottom. As bad as we say WWE is, it hasn't hit Rock Bottom quite yet. Smackdown was a good start in creating some new stars, but I wonder if VKM is going to take the "slow burn" way to creating new stars, or will keep hotshotting everything.


I hate to be pessimistic, but there are all kinds of monetary pressures on the WWE that were not there before. RAW could drop in ratings untilt hey built some new stars before, but now they have shareholders to appease. They could for months build up the Rock and HHH, but now they have Viacom to answer to if ratings keep slipping.

I am not going to say this is a Great Time to be a fan, but it sure is an Interesting Time.


(edited by dskillz on 28.6.02 1926)


January 4th 1999 - The day WCW injected itself with 10 gallons of Liquid Anthrax...AKA...The day Hogan "Defeated" Nash to win the WCW title in front of 40,000.
cfgb
Bierwurst








Since: 2.1.02
From: Ottawa, Ontario

Since last post: 571 days
Last activity: 31 days
#4 Posted on | Instant Rating: 7.87
I have to agree that it's an interesting time and not neccessarily a great time.

My favorite WWF period ever was from November 1999 - May 2000.

Steve Austin had just been sent away with an injury. After him, The Rock appeared to be next in line as the Top Guy, but from there, nobody was quite sure.

So they experimented. Mick Foley turned from comedy jobber back to main eventer in one sweet move and started putting on the performances of his life. He was driven by the fact the end was near and wanted to go out on top.

The Big Show was finally tried as a main eventer, and actually did mildly well after Royal Rumble 2000. His angle of having won but not winning was entertaining and got him the only real heat he's ever drawn since being part of the WWF.

Triple H was pushed to the moon and delivered some memorable matches in the process. His run was definitely the finest short heel run I've ever seen.

And The Rock? He was THE STAR. His feud with Triple H is now legendary, as The Rock struggled and struggled and STRUGGLED to overcome him and his gang of protection. In that time period he undoubtedly captured the wave and rode it to heights the WWF had never seen before - ratings and TV both.

Meanwhile, the undercard was going under a great cleansing. Gone were Jeff Jarrett, D'Lo Brown, Hardcore Holly, Val Venis, The New Age Outlaws, and a plethora of others who were starting to wear thin (whether it was gone from TV or just gone from big storylines). In were Kurt Angle, Chris Jericho, Chris Benoit, Eddie Guerrero, and others who were putting on fantastic matches and telling great stories with their feuds.

The WWF finds themselves in a bit of a similar position now - only they have more main eventers than ever. It's going to take some serious card tweaking and alot of creativity to make the new guys on TV major players. Two years ago, there was some stupidity on TV, but nothing the likes of debuting wrestlers as stylists and money box carriers. It seems like they've gone from Shades Of Grey back to Gimmicks and Vince has to stop that or these new faces on TV simply will not work.

What was the Radicals gimmick? I don't remember one... But they all had character (except Saturn who was treated as such). Kurt Angle had a gimmick - but instead chose to play a character. He was an Olympic Gold Medalist inside, and that's what wound up working.

Gimmicks NEVER work in the main event. So why Vince keeps trying is insane.

Cool thing of last night on everyone's minds? John Cena. Why? Because he was awesome. Why was he awesome? Because he came out and put on an entertaining little match.

THAT'S what we need more of. And if last night is any indication (and I'm not holding my breath until he does it for several weeks in a row), then Vince is slowly but surely "getting it" once again.




Contact cfgb
Visit my homepage
deadbeater
Morcilla








Since: 12.2.02
From: Parts unknown

Since last post: 7815 days
Last activity: 7815 days
#5 Posted on
It does not matter if Austin leaves. He wasn't the problem, bad storytelling was. The Raw announcers Lawler and JR also have to go, as they are ruining Molly's and BookerDust's pushes like Motormouth ruined GLOW. I mean, they sold the Molly/Trish rivalry like it was the Booker/Buff main atrocity. Grrr.

(edited by deadbeater on 28.6.02 2332)
ekedolphin
Scrapple








Since: 12.1.02
From: Indianapolis, IN; now residing in Suffolk, VA

Since last post: 490 days
Last activity: 14 days
#6 Posted on | Instant Rating: 4.52

Well, I agree that there are about a hundred people just on this board who'd probably be better color commentators than the King.

But anyway... the Booker T/Goldust angle keeps me watching RAW. Chris Benoit keeps me watching RAW. To be honest... right now I can't think of much else.

It is an interesting time, anyway...



“You want a war, you got one. Only... only, let's do it right. In the ring, where it matters. Not on no microphones. Not in no newspapers or dirt sheets. In the ring... where it matters.”

--Scott Hall

Randomly Selected Weiner of the Day, 5/27/02

Teppan-Yaki
Pepperoni








Since: 28.6.02

Since last post: 4381 days
Last activity: 4351 days
#7 Posted on
To draw on Eke's comments --

The nWo Hunter keeps me watching. Booker T getting a push keeps me watching. Unintelligible comments from Jeff Hardy keep me watching. Molly Holly being champ keeps me watching.

The whole "fat-ass" angle makes me want to change the channel.

That said... a thing or two that's been overlooked in the thread is that there's a few wrestlers on the shelf due to injury. I, for one, can't wait until Rhyno gets back. Mike Awesome, mebbe... but just to hear "GORE! GORE! GORE!" once again will be cool.
dskillz
Landjager








Since: 2.1.02
From: Houston Texas

Since last post: 6643 days
Last activity: 6348 days
#8 Posted on

    Originally posted by Teppan-Yaki
    To draw on Eke's comments --

    The nWo Hunter keeps me watching. Booker T getting a push keeps me watching. Unintelligible comments from Jeff Hardy keep me watching. Molly Holly being champ keeps me watching.

    The whole "fat-ass" angle makes me want to change the channel.

    That said... a thing or two that's been overlooked in the thread is that there's a few wrestlers on the shelf due to injury. I, for one, can't wait until Rhyno gets back. Mike Awesome, mebbe... but just to hear once again will be cool.




There will be no" "GORE! GORE! GORE!", Rhyno is an ECW guy, so JR will sell it like "gore".



January 4th 1999 - The day WCW injected itself with 10 gallons of Liquid Anthrax...AKA...The day Hogan "Defeated" Nash to win the WCW title in front of 40,000.
TheBucsFan
TheChiefsFan








Since: 2.1.02

Since last post: 3516 days
Last activity: 3516 days
#9 Posted on | Instant Rating: 4.42
One thing that worries me is that the guys who are out with injuries right now aren't going to be able to fit in upon returning. Your God and mine, Kanyon, may be a victim of an overcrowded roster. Mike Awesome, who rocks the body that rocks the party, was already virtually ignored BEFORE his inujury, so I hate to see him wasted. As for Rhyno, who needs him? I've never seen the appeal in the man.



Mean Gene: "You know, I don't think it's a question - Goldberg, I don't think it's a question of who's next, I think it's a question of who's left?"
Goldberg: "No, see, that's where you're wrong. It ain't who's left, it's - WHO'S NEXT?"

"Just how hardcore am I? Well this morning, I drank milk that was two days past the expiration!"
-Norman Smiley

"She is one of them! She's CANADIAN!"
-Stevie Ray
SerWolfe
Landjager








Since: 11.1.02
From: st louis

Since last post: 7657 days
Last activity: 7657 days
#10 Posted on | Instant Rating: 0.00
Kanyon i think has the talent and move capability to fit back in. His personality is ok... just need to make a good storyline for him. VKM likes bigger monsters so Ryno would find away into the roster for sure.
AndrewGilkison
Linguica








Since: 20.6.02

Since last post: 6916 days
Last activity: 6191 days
#11 Posted on
Let's see here. ECW went out of business; WCW was bought out by VKM and buried (nothing but the tape library is left), leaving WWF/WWE as the only game in town.

The Austin heel turn was blown. The WCW Invasion was blown. The ECW/WCW Alliance and feud against the WWF was eventually blown. Flair returns as 50% owner and feuds with Vince, but that angle is blown thanks to poor handling of Flair's character. The nWo was brought back with great build up, and was blown two days into its debut.

A lot of bad storylines happened between here and there.

Rock becomes a part-time wrestler in favor of making movies.

Austin develops personal demons and becomes so pissed off at the direction of WWE that he walks out.

The trend of gimmicks without a compelling character behind them begins to make a comeback, as well as stupid comedy oriented feuds (Molly turns on Spike and becomes Mighty Molly; a girl who thinks she's a superheroin, Booker T and Edge feud over shampoo commercial deals, Billy & Chuck's stylist and a money box holder for Reverend D-Von both debut, etc) thus giving the workers involved no real chance to connect with the audience and thus get over.

Hogan makes a comeback and is given a nostalgic title reign which kills business and the quality of WWE TV shows further.

Vince continues to book himself on TV even though evidence suggests that the Mr. McMahon character and the theme it operates under no longer draws money.

So it's safe to say that the 2001/2002 period for WWE sucks, and it's NOT a great time to be a wrestling fan.

Sure, some new players are getting some screen time, and some new stuff is being tried out, but there are still things in the fed that don't work (and that need to go) and are probably going to kill off the new good stuff's effectiveness in the long run. Sorry if I seem negative, but I am just trying to be realistic.

It's a re-building period for WWE right now because Vince screwed things up badly, and how things improve are ultimately up to when Vince gets his head out of his rear and gives the fans the product that they want to see today, rather then pushing things down the fans throats that they DON'T WANT TO SEE (Brock's main event push and VKM as 100% on-air owner, I am looking at you). No telling what will happen, and that is what keeps me watching; to see if Vince will "get it" again or if WWE will crash and burn in the next 20 years after so many bad decisions.

For me, the best period in wrestling was the time between late-May 1996 to November 2000.

There we got the New World Order angle and the successful cruiserweight divisions in WCW, the Stone Cold Steve Austin emergence to the top and the Hart Foundation vs. America angle, which gave way to the emergence of DX and the Attitude Era, which also gave way to the Montreal incident, all of which eventually resulted in the Austin/McMahon storyline. Then came the McMahon/HHH Era storyline that resulted in Foley's great retirement tour and Rock's top babyface stint and awesome matches with Triple H. The Radicals jumping aboard resulted in some great storylines and matches as well. Also should note Kurt Angle's awesome first year as WWF Superstar.

A great run for wrestling all around. Hopefully we can get another one like that again in the next few years or so.



"Not a great worker, but one hell of a gimmick"
HMD
Andouille








Since: 8.6.02
From: Canada

Since last post: 2541 days
Last activity: 2541 days
#12 Posted on
When did gimmicks without a compelling character ever leave? I'm sorry, fellas, but you must have been watching new japan or something if you thought the WWE ever abandoned that vehicle. Um…Let’s see, what was the period this device was supposedly abandoned? 1998-2000? Let’s take a look please. Who was featured: just to name a few. I’m about to be sarcastic, for the record. The DOA, the three-dimensional Val Venis, the ever-moving Flash Funk, the multi-layered and always original behind the microphone dX, the almost-real person Sable, Steve “I have a lot more to me than it seems” Blackman, Ken “Snap” Shamrock (who's character was one who was prone to snapping), the non-stereotypically portrayed Kientai, the emmy-garnering Al Snow character (pre tough enough, of course), the non-gimmicky Kane who as any well-rounded down-to-earth character could control fire, the mean-looking but soft-hearted Vader, Dan Severn (is there ever more of a gimmickization of a man than seven title belts?), The Brood (we’re deep even if all we do is dump blood on people and then never speak to explain why), the Parade of Human Oddities (each with a unique, refined personality), Gillberg, The Blue Meanie (Goldust’s cabana boy, insert alter boy joke here), the heart-wrenching Godfather, Tiger Ali “we don’t drive taxis” Singh, The Big Show (who in the very personification of gimmicking threw a car over itself), The “subtexts suggests we’re inbred” Holly Cousins , Al Snow’s dog Pepper, Mideon and the subsequent and natural progression of the refined character into ‘naked’ Mideon, the well-explained rhythmic nature of Too Cool, Rikishi Fatu (who really is more than an ass in the face), our buddy Viscera (I suppose this means his character is that he wears a coat), Perry “which ringpost am I looking at” Saturn, the Dudleys who if I’m not mistaken did like three interviews in 2 and half years….and if I missed anyone…It’s because there are TOO MANY TO COUNT. Now to get to the main dogs, Undertaker is the king of gimmick over character and he’s been a top hand in the main event scene since about 1997. Dare I say it, Benoit is a gimmick..The wolverine. He’s a wrestling machine but still a gimmick, has no personality traits whatsoever. So overall, we had Austin, Angle, Rock, Chyna, the Foley characters, Vince, and Stephanie as the ONLY developed characters in the whole period. Please, let’s not kid ourselves about our “entertainment”. This isn’t theatre. If you sat a screenplay writer or a film director in front of RAW or SMACKDOWN! And asked him about the artistic merits, the acting, and most of all the *characterization*….He’d laugh in your face. Wrestling is almost always about gimmicks, in the 80’s, now, and forevermore.



"The greatest trick the devil ever played was convincing the world he didn't exist. And the greatest trick Hulk Hogan ever played was convincing the world workrate didn't exist."
Ender
Blutwurst








Since: 2.1.02

Since last post: 7409 days
Last activity: 5338 days
#13 Posted on
I think you missed the point, Hogan is my Dad...

There is a difference between Gimmicks and Character... it's a fine line, but it's there.

To me, and I beleive most people, a Gimmick is being told to go out there and be, say, a pimp. A character is going out there, and doing your own thing... developing who you are. Not through the fact that you dress in hats with feathers, but through your wrestling. You tell a story though your movements... and that's what I tend to find most compelling.

If the wrestler doesn't know how to wrestle around his gimmick, then his character won't work. The GAY gimmick, for example... Lenny and Lodi WERE the gay gimmick back in WCW. Billy and Chucky are not very good gay character's 'cause they don't know how to do the gimmick properly.

*Coughs* ... Anyway, what I'm trying to say, I think, is that people are being thrown into all these flashy gimmicks, more flashy than we saw in late 1999, and 2000, and quite frankly, most of them can't really seem to find out how to really get involved with their gimmicks, and pull out a good character.

... Anyone get that? I think I did, but I'm not sure...
The Vile One
Chourico








Since: 3.1.02

Since last post: 7889 days
Last activity: 7766 days
#14 Posted on
Val Venis was hardly gone in 2000. In fact he had the second longest title reign of that year.




"It is a strange fate that we suffer so much fear and doubt over so small a thing...such a little thing."
-Boromir
Ender
Blutwurst








Since: 2.1.02

Since last post: 7409 days
Last activity: 5338 days
#15 Posted on
But was Val using his porn-star gimmick? No. He was trying something else. I'd give him credit for at least trying to be more than just... The Porn star.
Pages: 1Thread ahead: devaluation of the WWE title
Next thread: Undertaker face turn?
Previous thread: Something to make you laugh on a Saturday
(14138 newer) Next thread | Previous thread
You CAN be a heel without people thinking you suck in the ring. In fact, you are a much better heel if you are thought of as an actual threat in the ring. Angle "sucks" cause he is a geek that kisses ass not because he can't wrestle.
- Jackson, X-Pac as a main eventer? (2002)
The W - Pro Wrestling - It's a Great Time to be a Wrestling FanRegister and log in to post!

The W™ message board

ZimBoard
©2001-2024 Brothers Zim

This old hunk of junk rendered your page in 0.358 seconds.