Is wrestling is dead in the water ?

Chong

Good Morning,

I felt I should explain my comments that most of truely hardcore wrestling fans feel. I am or should I say I was a huge wrestling fan all my life, I would watch everything associated with wrestling and I had started watchin it from 1988( 1988 - 1998 The Golden Era). I stopped watchin it proper about 1 and half ago, the reason being is that Vince single handledly ruined the business. Sure you could say and probably will that he has revolutionised it but the man has no competition whatsoever anymore, currently you can not say that TNA is anywhere close to being competitive foe in the wrestling world. Fair enough WCW was beaten like a dead dog by Turner and Russo but it could have been resurrected, had it been given time and the sacking of Russo. Vince listened to much to what Russo said. Wrestling is no longer wrestling, any former wrestler would tell you, it has detoriated in to a soap opera which has very bad bookers. Without competition the monopolising force loose's sight and the program ails as a result. For peats sake look at Ric Flair how much more has that man got to put himself through so he can keep lining his pockets with the fans money( At the age of 55 what has he got to offer, nothing thats what), for any of you there who says he does this for the business, he most certainly dosen't, he must be one serious money grubbin person. I loved wrestling with my heart and soul, I had bundles upon bundles of merchandise consisting of figures,videos, clothes and when you sit back and look at it all we have been for twenty years or so is makin the McMahons richer and richer, so Vince can sit back and churn out more more drivel. Now I know now that I will be slated for my comments but if you really look at it, its true. The WWE is fast becoming a farce, I touched on it earlier that storylines are so stale its not even funny anymore, the whole Gay Marriage Thing between billy and chuck what has that got to do with wrestling, the necrophilia was ten times worse, as for the blatant insulting storyline surrounding Zak McGowan, don't get me wrong by any means but i like women prancing around in next to nothin but its simply not wrestling, and tbh there is less wrestlin on Raw and Smackdown its simply soap opera's. All I am really saying is that lets get back to good old wrestling rather than soap opera trash, take a look at the smaller indy promotions they have taken the bull by the horns and in turn are producing good wrestlin with a dash of extreme, a good example would be our very own IWW. Please don't me wrong on this thread I just feel something should be done about the lack of proper wrestling.

Ph3n0m

The problem is most small Indy feds live and die by their house shows, plus most if not all borrow heavily so they can try and establish themselves - and most of them die very quickly.

That could be the same problem IWW and NWA Ireland could possibly face (this is only an assumption based on other feds that have come and gone).

Vince McMahon said he was always going to take wrestling away from the wrestling of old and make it more of a soap opera, however in recent years that vision has been tired, cliched, hacked and in some cases down-right crap.

It is only in recent months (with the exception of Kane/Hardy/Lita) that Raw and Smackdown have made moves towards more wrestling and less backstage crap. But that said, it is Vince McMahon's company and people still do watch wrestling and they still buy into what he is selling.

So while WWE will never die (they have simply too much money for that to happen), it will be a long time before the product picks up and becomes what it once was - a watchable and entertaining show.

But I must point out that WWE's most popular era was back in the late 90's when most of the roster developed attitudes, were free and easy with their swearing and walking the thin line (e.g. D-X, Austin).

YOu are right that Vince has no competition and he has made sure of that - he is the only one right now that can advertise his brand of entertainment to the masses, the smaller fish can only rely on word of mouth and that is not always effective.

It would take someone like Ted Turner again to make Vince sweat, but if that were to happen, whoever ran it would have to listen to the fans and give them what they want - kinda like NWA-TNA, but on a much larger scale.

Only then could anyone have a hope in hell in forcing McMahon to look at his product and re-adjust it in the face of competition.

Then and only then will we ever get what we truely want - entertaining shows, that showcase wrestling and not the over-the-top soap operas that we watch every week

oneofakind32

The truth is that by turning his product into a soap opera during the atitude eara Vince made more money then he ever did before. He also burried WCW by doing this. On Raw and Smackdown theese day more influence is on playing to the crowd and telling a story during a match and less back stage segments. Vince is the position were he dosnt have to risk the saftey of his tallent to turn a proffit.

Sure a few years back Vince Mcmahon was quoted in saying if there was a way to get the Ring out of wrestling.

Magnolia_Fan

Vince took charge in 1985...There fore he was also responsible for the Golden Era. Though I too feel wrestling has lost its way. We need more Kurt Angles and Eddie Guerreros wrestlers than can get it done.And alot less of Lita gettin knocked up..Both shows have improved slightly over the last year but still leave alot to be desired. Vince should think of a total re-vamp. Could you imagine WWE Heat on MTV being a 2 hour show each week with Paul Heyman and all the ECW old guys tearing it up...Joey Styles back on commentary...That could be something beautiful but I seriously doubt it will happen. I still hold some hope that Vince can turn things around and if not him than maybe when Shane O'Mac takes the helm he'll be like his father and totally re-vamp everything his father had done before him