Wrestling companies used to have to listen to the fans because they were a couple of bad houses away from going bankrupt. If a good guy had generational popularity, the company better go with him, or else. If a good guy got booed out the building, they will turn him heel. They couldn't afford to ever troll their fan base.
Steve Austin and Shane Helms Shoot on the Problems With Modern Day Wrestling
- Thread starter Amor fati
- Start date
Wrestling companies used to have to listen to the fans because they were a couple of bad houses away from going bankrupt. If a good guy had generational popularity, the company better go with him, or else. If a good guy got booed out the building, they will turn him heel. They couldn't afford to ever troll their fan base.
Yes, because they don't acknowledge the performance correctly. What's the point of there being a story at all if you have nonsensical reactions to it? Helms had a good analogy of comparing wrestling to movies. This would be like if people went to Star Wars and cheered for Darth Vader because James Earl Jones paid his dues in Claudine and Mark Hamill was a green nobody pushed because the office saw dollar signs in him.
Again, the issue isn't that they cheer for workrate and skilled mic workers, it's that they have the same reaction for skills levels and *don't* respect the performance of the character. It fukks the show up and makes it hard to tell stories. It's hard for anyone to get strong reactions because there's such a disconnect in how crowds should react. The worst thing that can ever happen to a performer in wrestling is to get no reaction but you have these dummies booing people they think suck. Boos should be for people you hate if you think it's real, and if you respect the performance you should save them for exceptional heels.
Yes, the show is too long.
Yes, the show is too sterile and controlled.
Yes, the wrong guy gets pushed frequently.
Guess what? None of those thing fukk up the fundamental dynamic that wrestling is supposed to operate on like what the fans do when they ignore characters and try to hijack shows. Even when lapsed fans tune in, then turn it on at it's confusing.
We've had periods with no Hogan or Austin or Rock before and we've had periods where the product was sterile before. Popularity relative to other entertainment wasn't at it's peak but it was never*this* bad. The only thing that's different between now and then is that the fans have changed. Maybe WWE should do a fan engagement program and try to see if they can get the crowds to actively play along and show their support in the correct fashion. That would go a long way towards improving the watchability of the shows. The greatest thing about the Attitude era was the talent and stories at the top. The second best thing? The crowds. They were always hot when it counted and it elevated a lot of the subpar aspects that we were seeing at the time.
Mic-Nificent
I didn't eat nobody
Wrestling fans have just become entitled a$$holes that are fans of the wrestling business than wrestling itself. WWE will give fans EXACTLY what they want and it's almost a guarantee that a vocal group of fans will still bytch and moan about it.
Just watch, if WWE puts the belt on Samoa Joe or Finn Balor (again) watch how quickly motherfukkers will start complaining about it. I'm convinced if Daniel Bryan hadn't gotten hurt fans would have turned on him too.
Just watch, if WWE puts the belt on Samoa Joe or Finn Balor (again) watch how quickly motherfukkers will start complaining about it. I'm convinced if Daniel Bryan hadn't gotten hurt fans would have turned on him too.
JerseyBoy23
Veteran
Helms is mostly right but not on the ratings part. Every season fans flock to ratings sites to make sure the shows they like aren't getting cancelled, there's actually Twitter accounts specifically made for telling people whether certain shows will make it to the next season.
Notorious 1 E.Y.E.
Superstar
eh, shane's movie analogy was off, because people talk like that about movies and tv all the time
Notorious 1 E.Y.E.
Superstar
cant really blame the fans shyt doesn't really seem to be a problem when ever ive watched other feds, when the heels do heel shyt they get boo'ed
if the show is fun and the characters are good the crowd will boo the heel and cheer the face regardless if they actually like the wrestler or not
but hell some people legit like bad guys and will cheer for bad guys because their a bad guy
build and write your characters better and you wont have problems
if the show is fun and the characters are good the crowd will boo the heel and cheer the face regardless if they actually like the wrestler or not
but hell some people legit like bad guys and will cheer for bad guys because their a bad guy
build and write your characters better and you wont have problems
Stone Cold & The NWO & DX & The Rock killed all that shyt
Playaz Eyez
Veteran
By being good and interesting? Lol.
kWhat's the point of just throwing 2 "smark favorites" out there for 15 minutes if there's no story to get invested in?? People were invested in Daniel Bryan because there were always stories surrounding his matches. Intriguing stories is what has always gotten people's attention, regardless of how good or bad the wrestling in. It just so happens that the WWE has totally tanked when it comes to telling stories. Look back at the Big Show/Bossman feud. They had crappy matches, but they told such a hilarious and engaging story, that people were invested in Big Show murdering Bossman. Samoa Joe and Rollins had a pretty good Raw match 2-3 weeks ago. And what? For a feud that is supposed to be a blood feud, it sure hasn't felt like it.
Acknowledging the art correctly to who's standards? 'worker' is an euphemism for pro wrestler because They're ideally supposed to 'work' the fans out of their $. The fans can't be in the wrong. They're the one with the $. Vince said he's in the entertainment business, so why can't he book his weekly variety shows to elicit the desired reactions? During your beloved attitude era, Vince had to roll with what worked to stop fans from flipping the channel to Nitro and the company literally depended on that. The "u mad marks
" mentality never existed in WWE before competition dying in 2001 and it's done a number on the fanbase & its reactions.WWE books more to those 'entitled a$$holes' now, or when they were scared to death of fans flipping to nitro during a bad segment?
Roman Reigns current singles push started upon the Shield break up on June 2, 2014. The 3 year anniversary is next Friday. We are seven months away from the 3 year anniversary of the 2015 royal rumble where the boos started. WWE is currently about to reset an extremely unpopular storyline from then and coronate Roman reigns yet again. Austin's beloved World Class would have never done that. Couldn't afford to. Nor would Helms beloved Crockett. Although Crockett introduced wrestling to the 80s version of the 'u mad marks ' in the Dusty Finish. Which worked and increased business the first time. It got to the point where Dusty got fired and had to wear polka dots for Vince and the company was sold to Ted Turner.
' in the Dusty Finish. Which worked and increased business the first time. It got to the point where Dusty got fired and had to wear polka dots for Vince and the company was sold to Ted Turner.
The problem, Vince wants to create this Disneyland with Wrestlers. Here is the problem, you can't spin this as all-child friendly. They need to treat this as a Universal Studios because the eras of clean-cun good guys are over. The world is more cynical and making people into something of purely make believe won't cut it anymore. People want Athletes more than Actors.
Sure its the fans fault in some ways because they have had some sway, but its all Vince's grandplan gone into the wrong direction when he started killing promotions. By broadcasting himself and his promotion, it really made it easier to open up Wrestling backstage because he painted a target on his back.
Its impossible to keyfabe as a character, that is long gone.
Sure its the fans fault in some ways because they have had some sway, but its all Vince's grandplan gone into the wrong direction when he started killing promotions. By broadcasting himself and his promotion, it really made it easier to open up Wrestling backstage because he painted a target on his back.
Its impossible to keyfabe as a character, that is long gone.
Vince has an entire show on the network where he states his views of the fans through Corey Graves & JBL.