Your current outlook on Wrestling

Diabhal Beag

It is getting worse every year I think. When I see the same names like John Cena as WWE Champion I get annoyed. I see nothing in Randy Orton.

The future is looking brighter but what do you think about it?

Bounty Hunter

i do feel it has been getting worse but almost any fan of the last decade except the new ones probably feel that way howeve i do have more hope for the future now then in recent years as their does seem to be a concerted effort to actually book towards it. That is saying this is just in reference to the WWE.

TNA gives me some slight hope dor the scene in general in the US as despite me not seing them as competition for the WWE it does give wrestler an alternate place to earn their stripes outside of the WWE cookie cutter as ive heard it referred to and thus stand out if they do make it to the E.

waltersobchak

I think its getting better, but id say we're definitely a few years away from WWE getting a peak in popularity again, i think once the generation of HHH, Taker etc etc are finally gone WWE will then allow others to step up.. At the end of the day WWE is a machine and its alway churning out the next big thing, from Hogan to Warrior, from Bret to Austin, there's always someone new around the corner, and although WWE have put their eggs in Cena's basket, i think someone like Bryan Danielson or perhaps some unknown could be the future of WWE..

jaykhunter

I went for "not great", although I'll admit i'm still addicted to wrestling, a lot of it isn't that enjoyable.

i only watch RAW if it's recommended (so if it is, I catch it maybe wednesday) as opposed to watching it anyway;

NXT looks to be in dire straights come a few weeks into Season 2....

I've stopped watching SmackDown, it's simply not good enough (I love seeing Punk/Mysterio, but turn on McIntyre, Croft, Baretta, any diva etc etc and I'm out)

i'm finding WWE's PPVs post-mania to be a struggle to watch, so i watch em with friends and get through it instead of paying attention. They don't wrestle fast enough for me. And the no-blood/stop the match unless you're Taker thing really annoys me.

With WWE continually making/pushing new stars, it'll be great in 5 years. But for now, we're stuck with the old guard on RAW and nobody on SmackDown. I've seen everyone wrestle everyone; are there any great fresh feuds left in WWE? The big problem for me is that WWE will never have their backs against the wall again, and so will not have to innovate again. So it's pretty boring. The saying "art from adversity" rings through; but WWE don't have any adversity to make them create gold.

WWE are really exhausting their gimmick matches and 40 title changes in 40 months doesn't help, either. Their titles are meaningless and their feuds stale.

iMPACT! i still watch but it takes me days to get through the broadcast, their PPVs have been poor, but more manageable than WWE's PPVs. I'm getting disappointed now that I see RVD and Hardy as just another name in the roster (which makes me sad)

I've stopped watching ROH ever since they lost Danielson & McGuinness, I caught weeks of their show but I don't really care enough anymore. Stopped watching New Japan as well.

DGUSA's PPVs have been great but i've only seen their first two.

davrho

It seems we have came, at last, to the changing of the guard.

WWE-Although I don't think the shows are the best just now it's good to see new faces. It will take a while for us to condition ourselves to the new talent on show but hopefully long term this should work out.

Its an improvement on 3 years ago thats for sure.

Hopefully good things ahead.

I watch TNA now. I never this time last year. That has to go down as a plus.

Again good points by all.

Charisteas

I don't think WWE will ever gain a peak in popularity ever again, as long as they are PG rated.

I miss the Attitude era so much. For me, 1998-2002 were the greatest years ever for Pro Wrestling. The Monday Night Wars, ECW, hot crowds and hot ratings. Massive popularity. Those days are gone for me, I don't think Wrestling will ever be that huge again.

DM_7

I think wwe is great at the moment. Lots of tv. Lots of new guys coming in. Nice mix of Surprising things I didn't expect to see each week with things I wanted to see each week.

One thing I don't like is all the negativity I keep reading. Its hard to find the positive remarks at this stage.

G-Money

I have to admit though, I was thinking about WM27 next year and what fresh match-ups do they have left? Probably Cena v Taker is the biggest match that they have left but that's it.

Bounty Hunter

grandmaster wrote: »

I have to admit though, I was thinking about WM27 next year and what fresh match-ups do they have left? Probably Cena v Taker is the biggest match that they have left but that's it.

CM Punk could have a lot of fresh feuds against big names

G-Money

Bounty Hunter wrote: »

CM Punk could have a lot of fresh feuds against big names

Ok, that's Cena v Taker and CM Punk v ???

What other fresh matches do they have left?

davrho

Charisteas wrote: »

I don't think WWE will ever gain a peak in popularity ever again, as long as they are PG rated.

I miss the Attitude era so much. For me, 1998-2002 were the greatest years ever for Pro Wrestling. The Monday Night Wars, ECW, hot crowds and hot ratings. Massive popularity. Those days are gone for me, I don't think Wrestling will ever be that huge again.

I think thats the problem. The attitude era was good but not as great as everyone thinks. Those days are gone. It was enjoyable when it lasted but to me a lot of it was not pro wrestling. If you were hitting your teenage years around 1997 you are going to forever compare now and then. I don't blame anyone growing up with this not liking the wwe product as it is now. I enjoyed the wwf before WCW became a big player.

Jaykhunter and Flahavaj have great posts in other threads talking about the attitude era compared to now.

Can I ask what age you were in 1998?

G-Money

I have to admit that I missed most of the Attitude Era. I was into the WWF from the 80's, although I can't remember exactly when. I'd say probably mid 80's onwards. I really liked it back then. They had a great tag team division, with proper tag teams, with matching outfits, double team moves. Nowadays teams are just randomly thrown together then broken up a month or two later. Remember the time when someone who became IC champ eventually became WWF champ? It was like they seemed to have a system for making stars.

Up home in the north we didn't have Sky so the only WWF I got to see were the videos after they were released on DVD. Eventually around 2000-2002 when I moved to Dublin, I had access to Sky and got to see some shows.

I still remember the build up to WM18 with the Rock v Hogan. I was marking out big time back then and that's not that long ago.

Nowadays though, that almost never happens.

waltersobchak

grandmaster wrote: »

I have to admit that I missed most of the Attitude Era. I was into the WWF from the 80's, although I can't remember exactly when. I'd say probably mid 80's onwards. I really liked it back then. They had a great tag team division, with proper tag teams, with matching outfits, double team moves. Nowadays teams are just randomly thrown together then broken up a month or two later. Remember the time when someone who became IC champ eventually became WWF champ? It was like they seemed to have a system for making stars.

Up home in the north we didn't have Sky so the only WWF I got to see were the videos after they were released on DVD. Eventually around 2000-2002 when I moved to Dublin, I had access to Sky and got to see some shows.

I still remember the build up to WM18 with the Rock v Hogan. I was marking out big time back then and that's not that long ago.

Nowadays though, that almost never happens.

Thats a big pet hate of mine tbh, the fact that TNA in particular have the best Tag Team and (Basically) Cruiserweight divison on the planet but refuse to use them properly really gets on my nerves..

WWE on the otherhand have the Eric Bischoff syndrome at the moment of "Why should we have a tag team, when we could have 2 singles stars?"

John 187

Punk Vs. HHH hasn't been done as a big PPV feud just a throwaway match on T.V. same can be said for Punk Vs. Jerico, Big Show, Swagger,MVP etc.

I feel like I need a break from wrestling. The only WWE Show I like is NXT because of Bryan. Raw, Smackdown & TNA feel just like the same old stuff. Along with ROH/Chikara/PWG etc. Feel like watching the same old faces the whole time wrestling each other. Maybe I just Jaded about it.

sky88

i feel about todays wrestling that i still enjoy it but i dont mind if i miss it now like in the atitude era were i hated to miss anything i feel like i watch it out of habit now. i kinda feel now that ill probaley stop watching wrestling when the last of the atitude wrestlers retire

Jolt2007

I'm not enjoying it too much these days. I only really watch and keep track of WWE out of habit and being an insomniac watching stuff live during the night/morning. TNA I quit a while ago. ROH tv I watched a few episodes and quite liked, much better than it was at the start but still nothing compelled me to keep watching and I don't really bother with the PPVs. I do enjoy watching Dragon Gate but I can't watch it too much or I get burnt out on it.

Charisteas

davrho wrote: »

I think thats the problem. The attitude era was good but not as great as everyone thinks. Those days are gone. It was enjoyable when it lasted but to me a lot of it was not pro wrestling. If you were hitting your teenage years around 1997 you are going to forever compare now and then. I don't blame anyone growing up with this not liking the wwe product as it is now. I enjoyed the wwf before WCW became a big player.

Jaykhunter and Flahavaj have great posts in other threads talking about the attitude era compared to now.

Can I ask what age you were in 1998?

I turned 14 in 1998, so I did grow up with the Attitude Era in my teens, and I will say that I did love the shock value, white trash, sexualised product.

I do enjoy the actual wrestling matches, but its the storylines and feuds which determine if I going to spend my cash on the next PPV.

I understand your point that it wasn't pro wrestling. For the more purest of wrestling fans such as yourself, i understand if you think the Russo style crash tv went way over the top. But ratings were huge back then, do you think they could ever get those ratings again in the future?

In 1999/2000, even the unmissable and unpredictable Smackdown was better than todays PG Raw product. Even Sunday Night Heat was good!

I will have to read Jaykhunter and Flahavaj's posts to see what they said.

davrho

Charisteas wrote: »

I turned 14 in 1998, so I did grow up with the Attitude Era in my teens, and I will say that I did love the shock value, white trash, sexualised product.

I do enjoy the actual wrestling matches, but its the storylines and feuds which determine if I going to spend my cash on the next PPV.

I understand your point that it wasn't pro wrestling. For the more purest of wrestling fans such as yourself, i understand if you think the Russo style crash tv went way over the top. But ratings were huge back then, do you think they could ever get those ratings again in the future?

In 1999/2000, even the unmissable and unpredictable Smackdown was better than todays PG Raw product. Even Sunday Night Heat was good!

I will have to read Jaykhunter and Flahavaj's posts to see what they said.

I agree with most you say but

What shock value could you get now? Ye can see woman eating their own own muck with 2 selective words on your search engine.

I don't think wrestling will ever be as popular but then again i don't expect it ever to be promoted by one of the worlds mass media outlets again. It was a fad. They come and go. Did anyone expect this to go for ever? 2 out the 3 went out of business and Vince will admitt he was nearly burst too.
Smackdown has always been pg. Why was this never moaned about before?

I am no wrestling purest, i like it as a clean cut piss take. A tv show.

In agreement with you here if you know where i am coming from, well i hope so

JP Liz V1

TNA has gotten really bad lately especially since Hogan took over imo

WWE is doing good imo building the likes of Punk as a main eventer. having Bret back (did we ever think we would see that day) and the introduction of Bryan it will be interesting to see what show he goes to after his "awesome" feud with the Miz

Rjd2

grandmaster wrote: »

Ok, that's Cena v Taker and CM Punk v ???

What other fresh matches do they have left?

Punk v Hunter
Punk v Cena
Punk v Orton
Cena v Danielson
Masters v Satan
Jericho v Orton
Jeff v Cena (Jeff will be back)
Edge v Christian
Rey v Cena
Rey v Danielson
Edge v Punk ( They have had matches but never a feud)

Some of those guys have wrestled each other but they have never feuded (Orton v Jericho was very brief) and some of those may not scream Mania main event but all of them are feuds which would result in some awesome telly and matches.

HBK

To be fair....

Wrestling is not even watchable these days. At most, one might 'read' the spoilers of Raw, and that is enough, sometimes missing weeks at a time, and you havent missed much.

Yes the Attitiude era was great, peak of popularity, but probably better than it was for most fans as its what they were growing up with, and at that time, could relate to whats going on...

Its like a cycle starting over. When I started watching wrestling, you had your billy grahams, hogan,warrior,savage...all bigger than life charactors, that just wouldnt work this day n age. Things evolved for those fans, they grew up with the business

perhaps, being PG and kid friendly, is the WWE trying to start over, new fan base, to build for the next I dunno, 10-15years...things change, if the attitude era was brought back now, it would not be as effective...Why? Because all the spoilers would be out on the net days/weeks before.

Gone are the days where you got the lowdown on 'behind the scenes' goings on from the monthly issue of Powerslam!

waltersobchak

HBK wrote: »

To be fair....

Wrestling is not even watchable these days. At most, one might 'read' the spoilers of Raw, and that is enough, sometimes missing weeks at a time, and you havent missed much.

Yes the Attitiude era was great, peak of popularity, but probably better than it was for most fans as its what they were growing up with, and at that time, could relate to whats going on...

Its like a cycle starting over. When I started watching wrestling, you had your billy grahams, hogan,warrior,savage...all bigger than life charactors, that just wouldnt work this day n age. Things evolved for those fans, they grew up with the business

perhaps, being PG and kid friendly, is the WWE trying to start over, new fan base, to build for the next I dunno, 10-15years...things change, if the attitude era was brought back now, it would not be as effective...Why? Because all the spoilers would be out on the net days/weeks before.

Gone are the days where you got the lowdown on 'behind the scenes' goings on from the monthly issue of Powerslam!

Is that because you retired?:pac:

Angron

Personally I think it's good, but not great. The younger talent that is coming in, even if it's very slowly, is good, and when all the old breed are moving on, I have hopes for some good matches and the like. Yeah, there is a few annoyances, like WWE's PG thing, but I put that all down to the "positive spin" on Linda's senator thing. I do occasionally feel the WWE should spilt the tag titles again, and actually have a proper tag division, not just bunch two people together and make a half-assed attempt to call them a team, breaking them up a month or two later. I also agree with the idea that TNA should really push their cruiserweight and tag team stuff, cause damn they have all the talent in the world there, and they can be relied on for years to come, not like some of Bishoff/Hogan's people.

Rjd2 wrote: »

Punk v Hunter
Punk v Cena
Punk v Orton
Cena v Danielson
Masters v Satan
Jericho v Orton
Jeff v Cena (Jeff will be back)
Edge v Christian
Rey v Cena
Rey v Danielson
Edge v Punk ( They have had matches but never a feud)

Some of those guys have wrestled each other but they have never feuded (Orton v Jericho was very brief) and some of those may not scream Mania main event but all of them are feuds which would result in some awesome telly and matches.

I'd watch that one!

geeky

Denny M wrote: »

I'd watch that one!

Unfortunately, I think Satan is a busted flush since this feud:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=twzXR38CMWA

As we know, Masters > anyone in the WWE, and R-Truth > Jesus (3 days to rise from the dead? Try one night, biatch ). Therefore, Masters > Jesus. No point having that match, unless it was followed by an extended dancing pecs routine.

D2D

geeky wrote: »

Unfortunately, I think Satan is a busted flush since this feud:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=twzXR38CMWA

As we know, Masters > anyone in the WWE, and R-Truth > Jesus (3 days to rise from the dead? Try one night, biatch ). Therefore, Masters > Jesus.

Fixed your link

TheTosh

Taker has to go(I know people won't like it) its the same from him all the time punch, kick ,punch repeat and his storyline is always Taker comes back destroys whosoever champion feuds with them gets screwed out of title then beats who ever screwed him at WM saying that, the amount of times he's held the belt is more justifiably then Cena, Dave, Edge and Orton who seem to get titles like they are going out of fashion. WWE is stale HBK v Taker has been the only thing I've liked as I couldn't call it. Bringing Bret was good but to give him the U.S title was a joke and just a money spinner. Tag Teams go like this 2 random guys that WWE want to feud get put together they win the belts have ego problems and don't get on with each other lose belts blame each other feud begins. Where WWE started to lose it for me was when Cena kicked out of a sledgehammer shot. CM Punk is the only thing keeping me interested in it.

Penn

I think it's good, but they need to get rid of the PG stuff. Not so they can start whacking each other with steel chairs in the head and cutting each other up, but just because it restricts the actual characters so much. Having to constantly watch what they say and pretty much having a script for a lot of, what should seem like heart-felt promos, just really takes you out of it

Tribesmen7

I think its very good. The actual wrestling during the attitude era wasn't great, its much better now. Also from 2002-2004 we had to put up with so much rubbish like the Katie Vick angle. This year so far has been my favourite year since 2000. The only things I dont like are the new PPV names and gimmicks and the very short title reigns, other than that I think its pretty good.