Vince Russo recently put out a 3 part series on his website detailing why he thinks the mainstream audience no longer cares about WWE. I agree with pretty much everything and expect most of the discussion to stem from part one. Try not to harbor on DA LOOK to much and see the overall picture.
Part 1: No Larger Than Life Superstars: http://www.pyroandballyhoo.com/wres...estling-fans-stopped-watching-wrestling-part/
Part 3: No Storylines: http://www.pyroandballyhoo.com/wres...ual-wrestling-fans-stopped-watching-part-iii/
Part 1: No Larger Than Life Superstars: http://www.pyroandballyhoo.com/wres...estling-fans-stopped-watching-wrestling-part/
Part 2: No Character Development: http://www.pyroandballyhoo.com/wrestling/mass-exodus-casual-wrestling-fans-stopped-watching-part-ii/When a casual wrestling fan turns on a wrestling show, they expect to see actual WRESTLERS. And, to the masses, the definition of a WRESTLER is much different from that of the “die-hard” fan, or “core” wrestling audience. You see, to a casual fan, the draw of a wrestler has little to actually do with the way he “wrestles”. To us, a wrestling match is a wrestling match. Yes, some are better than others, and some are worse, but—we’re not tuning in for the “match” per say. If that were the case then we’d be tuning in every week because we would indeed be “wrestling” fans.
When it comes to casual wrestling fans, we like the wrestlers who are “larger than life”. The guys with the big frames, or impressive physiques that we all wish we had, but don’t, so we live vicariously through them. Now there are exceptions to that rule, for instance take a Shawn Michaels and Bret Hart, but those guys have very distinctive characters which made up for their “lack of” physical presence. Casual wrestling fans are drawn to the wrestlers that we grew up watching, maybe the business was a bit more selective back then who knows, but whatever the case—all those guys just LOOKED like wrestlers. They didn’t look like you and me, regular guys, they looked “different”, “special”, they just stood out in the crowd. There was no one like a “Rowdy” Roddy Piper, or a King Kong Bundy, Randy Savage, Hulk Hogan, Mick Foley, the “Rock” or, of course “Stone Cold”. No one looked like someone you would run into on the street. And, if they did, then they would be road kill much like your Barry Horowitz’s. In the mind of a casual fan, when you tune into a wrestling show—WRESTLERS need to look like WRESTLERS.
For whatever reason, I know of a few, that has changed over the years. For starters, the majority of the wrestlers of today are not as “jacked-up” as years passed, largely due to the decrease in steroids over the years. You read how in the past even though a wrestler was never “directly” told to go on the juice, it was implied that if they did . . . they would find themselves higher up on the card. And, let’s face it, many did it on their own accord because it was a “business decision” as they thought it would help their stock in the long run–regardless of what the consequences may be later on in life.
Today, with drug testing in place, the importance of being a physical specimen, has been replaced with the idea of being a “great worker”. One that can actually “wrestle”. Now, where that is a must to the “core” wrestling fan, it’s not as important to the “casual” fan. Again, remember, we don’t watch every week because we’re NOT necessarily fans of the wrestling. I’ve always said this when it comes to casual wrestling fans, when there is a guy on a wrestling show on TV that —regardles of his acrobatic performance in the ring—you actually BELIEVE YOU CAN TAKE—then you have a problem on your hands.
Look at current history. The guys that the “core” wrestling fans see as over are guys like; CM Punk, Daniel Bryan , Seth Rollins and Dean Ambrose. Now again, even though the audiences who pay to see them are reacting to them, that doesn’t mean that the world is, or even the “casual” wrestling fan. All great wrestlers, and tremendous talents in their own right, but to casual wrestling fans these guys just look like “regular guys” when you stand them up next to a Brock Lesnar, or a John Cena, or a Roman Reigns even. Now granted, the WWE brain trust haven’t exactly stepped up to the plate in supplying these guys with defined characters that could help make up for some of their lack off physical prowess, but still, at the end of the day if I ran into any one of them on the street—they wouldn’t scare me. There is nothing “different”, or “unique” about them—they just look like ordinary guys (with the exception of Daniel Bryan, of course). That’s why the WWE never really pushed CM Punk, and were hesitant to push Bryan Daniel, not because of their wrestling ability, but because these guys may not necessarily appeal to the MASSES. And, that’s just fact, not opinion. Go back and look at your numbers when these guys were on top. No question that both Rollins and Ambrose are the two best “workers” on the WWE roster right now, NO DOUBT, but, when it comes to business . . . where are they getting the WWE? Look at the numbers . . . the casual fans are not watching.
The majority of the people reading this post are going to kill me with their comments, and you know why? The Internet Wrestling Community is made up of DIE-HARD wrestling fans! Casual wrestling fans don’t go to sites like this, they don’t even know that they exist. To them, its real simple—WRESTLERS NEED TO LOOK LIKE WRESTLERS! They need to look different, stand-out, be unique and posses a LARGER THEN LIFE presence. That’s what we grew up on, that’s what we want! It’s just part of the wrestling business, and always has been. Without even knowing the card, go look at the WrestleMania I roster. Just look at what those guys looked like PHYSICALLY! Hogan, Piper, Bundy, Orndorf, JYD, Big John Studd, Andre the Giant (OK, an exception to the rule), Jimmy Snuka, Iron Shiek, Nikolai Volkoff, ALL THESE GUYS LOOKED LIKE WRESTLERS!!! Can you say the same about today’s crop? Now, face it, much of that also has to do with lack of character development, and I’ll get into that tomorrow, but out of all those guys listed—do you think you could actually take one of them? They all just had a “presence”, and the physical aspect played a huge part. Casual fans want super heroes—we always have . . . we always will.
But, at some point, the wrestling business actually started listening to the internet fans. Somewhere along the line “work rate” became more important than “physical presence”. And, again, when the vast majority of the casual fans could give two HURRICANRANAS about how good a wrestling match is, or a wrestling match at all—you’ve lost them. And, the WWE continues to go down that road. Just watching NXT last week I saw first hand how they are getting further and further away from what the MASSES want. Yeah, I saw some UNBELIVABLE wrestlers on that show, BUT—are they going to appeal to the masses—or, do they just look like regular guys?
I guess all that is a part of STAR POWER, and unfortunately, physical appearance has something to do with that in the majority of the cases.
As part two of this series continues, we take a much closer look at what may very well be at the crux of the WWE’s problem when it comes to turning away the mass audience from their product—the overall lack of character development. When you look up and down the current WWE roster, which wrestlers actually have a personality, or character, that the casual wrestling fan could invest in, thus committing them to actually care about that performer. In other words, who has the WWE built “character wise” that the casual fan can buy into.
Wrestling has created such a rich catalogue of characters throughout the years, tracing all the way back to the beginning with over the top personalities such as “Gorgeous George” and the barefooted Antonino Rocca. Wrestling was built on characters that were larger than life. The backbone of wrestling was structured through the idea of pulling on the emotions of its viewers. Give them reason to either boo, or cheer somebody. That type of emotion isn’t built through a wrestling match, it’s built through the wrestlers IN the wrestling match.
For decades it’s been all about the personalities. From my grandfather through my own kids. You were drawn to a particular wrestler because you had feelings towards him/her, one way, or another. And, how were those feelings created? They were created by forming a personality for that particular star, a personality that was different from everybody else. When Jake Roberts showed up on your television every week—you KNEW who he was. Same goes for Piper, Bret Hart, HBK, Hogan, and on, and on, and on. These characters were CLEARLY defined, through the way they dressed, talked, interacted with others, WRESTLED, and perhaps more importantly the way that they carried themselves when in that superstar persona. But, make no mistake s about it, each wrestler couldn’t have created that persona on their own. They needed the tools from those in creative at the time. They needed to be put into positions where their characters would come across with overwhelming force! Austin drove a beer truck into the arena for a reason, Mick Foley abducted Vince McMahon for a reason, “The Rock” looked at Faarooq a certain way for a reason. There were a series of Val Venus vignettes before you ever saw him . . . for a reason. Goldust recited movie quotes for a reason, DX drove a rocket launcher to WCW’s backdoor for a reason. In all cases that reason was to BUILD THEIR CHARACTERS. To make these individuals unique, to make them stand out, to make YOU care about them.
Somehow, once the Attitude Era passed on, the WWE lost this fine art. They forgot how to create stars and build wrestlers. They rely now more on the in-ring product, the part of the show that the casual wrestling fans care the least about. They started listening to the internet. They let the dirt sheets begin to determine what their product needed to be based on what THEY wanted. The only problem with that is the FACT that they are the very small minority when it comes to who is actually watching wrestling—or, used to watch wrestling, any way. Casual wrestling fans–in general–doen’t even know the Internet Wrestling Community exits.
What is a pre-tape today? The “Authority” making a match in their office? A hot chick with a mic interviewing Roman Reigns? Where are the vignettes that were built for weeks, and weeks and weeks? Remember Double J’s gold tooth sparking straight from Music City months before you ever saw him. Now, you have “New Day” signing with a choir for 2 weeks. OK. And, that does what for who? Because these guys are part of a church choir I can’t wait to see them on RAW—even though I’ve already seen them and they weren’t gospel singers prior? Ouy Vey.
Here’s a perfect example. Let’s look at the top three workers in the WWE right now. Dolph Ziggler, Dean Ambrose and Seth Rollins. All OUTSTANDING wrestlers, nobody can deny that, but—when you look at their characters—who are they? Why should casual wrestling fans really care about them?
DOLPH ZIGGLER–Who is he? We know he’s a great wrestler, and looks good, but beyond that, why is he different from everybody else. What storyline does he currently have that is building a case for his character? What is drawing me to this guy? To the casual fan it’s not his work rate because the casual fan is not a WRESTLING FAN.
SETH ROLLINS–Another great worker. OK, who is he? “Mr. Money in the Bank” because he won a briefcase in a match? “The Future of Professional Wrestling” because Triple H said so? Where is his story? Who is he? Why should I care? This is where the backstage element is drastically missing in wrestling today. The backstage was used to build characters and stories. For cryin’ out loud, you knew who even the MEAN STREET POSSE were!!!
DEAN AMBROSE–Great wrestler. Packs a mean slime exploding briefcase. Keep him away from mustard and ketchup dispensers. He’s a ‘lunatic” and “crazy” because he sticks out his tongue a lot. Are you serious? Where’s his interaction with other wrestlers outside of the wrestling ring? Why do him and Bray Wyatt only cross paths in the arena? They have to see each other in then back . . . don’t they.
And, now more than ever wrestlers like the three just mentioned, desperately need to be crafted, created and defined, because the WWE is fast tracking them to main event status, when based on the package we’re seeing they should be somewhere around mid-card level. Come on, are you going to put Brock Lesnar in the same ring with a Dean Ambrose and have people actually believe that Ambrose could beat him? Same with Rollins and Cena. On his best day Rollins could never beat Cena. Part of that is not only physical, but part of it is that Lesnar and Cena are stars due to them having CHARACTERS. We KNOW who they are when we see them. We either root, or cheer, based on the characters that have been created for them. The only problem in both the WWE and TNA right now is for every one character that you care about, there are 10 that you don’t. Who is Cesaro? Who is Austin Aries? Who is Jack Swagger? I know who Kurt Angle is.
If you don’t have compelling characters, the casual wrestling fans WILL NOT WATCH YOUR PRODUCT. It doesn’t matter HOW GOOD the wrestling match is. The casual wrestling fan doesn’t remember Savage/Steamboat WM III like the hard-core wrestling fans do, they remember the “Macho King”, Damien gnawing on the Macho Man’s arm, and the conflict that was Hulk, Savage and Miss Elizabeth. That’s what they remember. All stories built around their unique characters. No different than any other television show that the casual TV viewer watches. They watched Seinfeld for Kramer, George and Newman, they watch “South Park” to see what Cartman’s going to say this week. They watched “Jersey Shore” in droves to see what kind of trouble those Chuckleheads were going to get themselves into this week. And, even those characters were built. We knew more about “The Situation” then we do Seth Rollins—trust me.
Until the wrestling business re-visits it’s roots, and goes back to square one, they are never going to truly understand what brought them to the dance in the first place. Somewhere along the lines . . . they’ve forgotten. Think about this–looking at the merch sales from the Attitude Era compared to today, one would have to think that even with rising prices and internet sales, the WWE is nowhere close to selling t-shirts and toys (units) as it was back then. Compared to “Austin 3:16″ tees, how many “Lunatic Fringe” ones are you seeing? My point—sales/viewers are down across the board because your casual wrestling fan DOES NOT BUY INTO WRESTLING MATCHES! They buy into people. They buy into personalities. They buy into CHARACTERS.
Man, it’s really not that hard to understand.
Part 3: No Storylines: http://www.pyroandballyhoo.com/wres...ual-wrestling-fans-stopped-watching-part-iii/
Television shows are built on two things—characters and storyline. In fact, it’s impossible to have a successful television show even if you have one . . . without the other. Popular shows in today’s culture such as Breaking Bad, The Walking Dead and Sons of Anarchy, all thrive on the combination of characters and story. Even reality shows depend on that one-two punch to deliver healthy ratings every week. Last week, in part two of this series we covered why the lack of characters in wrestling are forcing the masses away from the product. Tonight, we will look at how non-existent storylines will continue to keep them away once they’ve already hit the highway.
Yes, I have to talk about the Attitude Era, because that’s where my WWE experience comes from. When Ed Ferrara and myself wrote TV, it was real simple—build to the next pay-per-view by using every segment, of every show, to get your characters and the STORIES they were involved in OVER. Everybody had a story, regardless of how high, or low you were on the card. Go back and watch some of the shows from that era on the WWE Network, you will NEVER find one, single, cold match on any of those episodes. Every match meant something and had meaning, all leading to the blow-off at the pay-per-view.
Now, in order to prove my point, let me dissect tonight’s episode of RAW as it relates to story, and by STORY I mean some kind of personal issue between the combatants—not them wrestling because they’ve wrestled prior. That does not consist of a story.
Rollins vs. Cena—STORY—Rollins has heat with John Cena because Cena was responsible for the exit of “The Authority”. I think it’s fair to say, that story is weak . . . at best.
Fandango vs. Jack Swagger-–STORY—NONE
Adam Rose vs. R-Truth—STORY—NONE—If the WWE wants to say that the story is Rose and Peter Cottontail, I’ll give that to them because they’re going to need it.
Big Show vs. Roman Reigns—STORY—NONE
Brie vs. Natalya—STORY—NONE
Los Matadores/El Torito vs. Goldust/Stardust—STORY—NONE
Luke Harper vs. Jack Swagger—STORY—NONE
Rusev/Ryback—STORY—NONE
Six Diva Tag Match—STORY—NONE
Miz vs. Jay Uso—STORY—Jay’s brother Jimmy is mad at the Miz for trying to set his wife Naomi up with an agent—weak at best.
Bray Wyatt vs. Dean Ambrose—STORY—There was a hologram at the beginning, then something about Dean’s father being in prison, then eventually . . . NOTHING.
When you look at that over the course of one three-hour show—isn’t that mind-boggling?
Again, we are talking about the MASS AUDIENCE here. Not the die-hard wrestling fans, but television viewers who turn into episodic television shows because they get hooked on the characters and STORIES. How are you supposed to get hooked on the stories in professional wrestling if they are NON-EXISTENT? Look at tonight’s show—everything you need to know is RIGHT THERE. What hooked the audience? What did they miss if they weren’t able to watch the show? What is the cliff hanger that is bringing them back next week? NOTHING IS THERE. Just a wrestling show with cold match, after cold match, with the majority of them meaning NOTHING.
At this rate, and by putting out this type of product, the WWE will NEVER win back the MILLIONS of viewers that they’ve managed to lose since the Attitude Era. Those television viewers are LONG GONE, and it’s nobody’s fault outside of the person who’s writing the show these days.
Who knows . . . maybe Vince McMahon needs a filter.