Big Dave has the scoops on why it's not supposed to be good

[Blessed Koala]

Meltzer is a fukking idiot.

 

[martin payne]

I thought the thread title meant
Dave batista random opinion

i did too

 

[Berniewood Hogan]

 

[TinFoilSnapBack]

Meh, I think Vince is just going with the Brian Frons approach of "training the audience."

I used to cover soaps for my day job and I see a lot of parallels between how Vince is running things and how Brian Frons ran things during his tenure at ABC Daytime. Basically it boils down to a strategy of building a base among newer consumers by giving them more of what they want, accepting that there will be a loss of "casual" viewership who aren't as invested in the product and will tune out b/c they don't like the changes, and "training" long time viewers to accept the current product and continue watching, even if they are unhappy by pushing forward instead of reversing course back to the "good old days."

And while it sounds arrogant af when laid out like that, it isn't entirely off base when it comes to generational programming, especially in a niche market. There's an entire generation of fans who weren't even born or old enough to remember the Attitude Era. For them, these "flippy vanilla midgets" ARE their WWE. It's what they like, what they want, and what they enjoy. Casual fans who aren't overly attached tune out entirely, others drop to part time viewers and others only watch or attend shows on special occasions when someone like Undertaker is going to show up. And the people who are so invested they drop money on shows, merch, signings, the Network, ect? The majority of those folks aren't going anywhere, no matter how displeased they are. They may voice their displeasure but will continue to watch/support and eventually come to a point where even if they hate it... They accept that this is the way it is.

This explanation makes the most sense. WWF/E hot-shot the product so much during the Attitude Era (as Cornette has pointed out many times) that they booked themselves into a corner for a long time. Now that they are the only major player in the game, they can take it easy. That's where training the audience comes in. Kids these days have only seen Cena, Roman, et al. They've only seen mediocre stories (or what we perceive as such). They like it, because they've grown up with it, and they will grow nostalgic about it as they age. Also, as you've pointed out, there are fans who will continue to buy merchandise, tickets, etc. because of their passion for the business, regardless of whether or not they agree with the direction of the company. They also have people like Rock, Brock, Taker, Rousey, etc, that may bring back the casuals once in a while. They can really do whatever they want. These guys aren't stupid. They know they could've turned Roman into a massive heel a long time ago, but they continue to stay the course for a reason. They already trained the fans for over a decade with Cena. Those fans that were shytting on Cena in 2006, are still around today. They haven't gone anywhere. The generation of kids now will have the current product as a frame of reference for their wrestling knowledge. Shyt, even a 19/20 year-old only has Cena as a frame of reference. I 100% agree that Vince & Co. are training the audience.

Sounds about right... he trained the Attitude Era audience too, whether they realize it or not. That wasn't the wrestling they grew up with, or what their parents/older siblings used to watch, but everyone got acclimated to it. And the newer viewers didn't have any older stuff to reference or compare it to, so it was a whole new thing to them. Same happened with the 80s Rock n Wrestling shyt- it turned off a lot of people, but it also introduced wrestling to people who weren't already watching it, so that was the only wrestling they knew. Even during the terrible times, like the New Generation years, SOMEBODY got hooked to wrestling during that time no matter how many people were tuning out by then. Ultimately, there's always gonna be an era that turns certain viewers away, but long as it keeps building a new crowd, it's gonna keep rollin'.

I agree. There are people my age who were completely trained by the Attitude Era, and they have completely different views on wrestling than I have. I started watching at age five (1992), and it was the tail-end of the Golden Era.

I became a super-fan during the New Generation Era (It was a God-tier era, especially if you were a kid at the time ).

I personally loved the way things were in the Golden Era, and the NGE. I've always liked technical wrestling, probably because I grew up on Bret Hart. Brehs who were trained by the Attitude and Ruthless Aggression Eras tend to feel like wrestling should always be that way, but that shyt is not sustainable forever. You eventually get to the point of idiocy by trying to constantly be more extreme.

WWE has always trained its audience, and people generally like the style with which they grew up. It's just like the music industry.

 

[Dog Based Gremlin]

I personally think there is just so much more shyt a young teen/adult could do now than sit and watch RAW on Monday nights now

• Social Media
• Unlimited Apps on Smartphone
• Youtube to search whatever u want in a second
• Netflix/Hulu/Etc
• WSHH
• Endless free porn

RAW has to truly bring it to reel in this crowd

thats why they gave up and decided to just sign the neckbeards favorites from the indies and NJPW

they tryin to just secure the hardcore fanbase and gulliable kids