Once upon a time, everyone in the wrestling business had to keep up kayfabe everywhere they went. Faces and heels couldn't be seen with each other, they had to keep in character, the titles felt like they meant something etc. While this made for great entertainment, it conditioned people to think that it was something that it wasn't and when the cat was out of the bag this left bad tastes in a lot of people's mouths. They turned on wrestling. They felt like they were lied to. They found other means of entertainment. The only time the people came back to it in large numbers was when they had guys with a shit ton of charisma leading the way (Hogan, Austin, Rock). After these guys left, people turned on wrestling again for the same reasons before and because their biggest stars had left.
When Rollins appeared on The Daily Show and had his run in with Jon Stewart it was basically what the world thinks of wrestling all into one. Obviously not real, no legitimacy, corny promos. And guess what? It was a fun segment.
We as wrestling fans have all encountered the "wrestling is fake and gay" comments and it can be discouraging. Well The Daily Show segment is something that people who complain that it's fake can't be all bitter about. This is the type of things WWE need to be doing to get rid of the "fake and gay" stigma and perhaps even get some old and new fans back to their product in today's environment. However I don't know how you can create more segments like that on bigger platforms without over doing to death. Perhaps some SNL skits?
Anyway, I believe that WWE is on the right track with thing which means they'll probably fuck it up somehow but oh well. One thing is for sure, they need an overhaul with the product.
As for stars, we all know they blew up several goldmines over the years. Cena by sending him to RAW and turning him into a goof (meaning they could have made him into more of a goldmine if they handled him properly creative wise), Batista by making him play 2nd fiddle to Cena, Orton by...well you know, Punk by shitting on his 2011 run and finally Bryan with recent events.
They currently have a good crop of superstars which can lead the new generation (but they won't take advantage of it) Ambrose, Rollins, Wyatt, Ziggler and have a good crop of stars in NXT with Zayn, Owens, Balor and Itami.
Reigns is money. But WWE is lowering the ceiling of how much money they can make with him by handling him badly creative wise like they did with Cena. As THE top face and being an underdeveloped one at that, he should have gone through the slow burn like his predecessors. Tear up the midcard after branching out from The Shield then defeating Rusev for the US title at WM 31. If they did that, there would be little to no criticisms of Reigns and he would have had a few options at WM 32 to crown himself as the face of the company and they would have been all viable. The WWE title, Cena and Rock. All of which he would have been ready for, Rock not as much as the other two and would be very risky. All that is gone now but currently they could make more money with him as a heel. We will see at Wrestlemania if they take the best route for it.
When Rollins appeared on The Daily Show and had his run in with Jon Stewart it was basically what the world thinks of wrestling all into one. Obviously not real, no legitimacy, corny promos. And guess what? It was a fun segment.
We as wrestling fans have all encountered the "wrestling is fake and gay" comments and it can be discouraging. Well The Daily Show segment is something that people who complain that it's fake can't be all bitter about. This is the type of things WWE need to be doing to get rid of the "fake and gay" stigma and perhaps even get some old and new fans back to their product in today's environment. However I don't know how you can create more segments like that on bigger platforms without over doing to death. Perhaps some SNL skits?
Anyway, I believe that WWE is on the right track with thing which means they'll probably fuck it up somehow but oh well. One thing is for sure, they need an overhaul with the product.
As for stars, we all know they blew up several goldmines over the years. Cena by sending him to RAW and turning him into a goof (meaning they could have made him into more of a goldmine if they handled him properly creative wise), Batista by making him play 2nd fiddle to Cena, Orton by...well you know, Punk by shitting on his 2011 run and finally Bryan with recent events.
They currently have a good crop of superstars which can lead the new generation (but they won't take advantage of it) Ambrose, Rollins, Wyatt, Ziggler and have a good crop of stars in NXT with Zayn, Owens, Balor and Itami.
Reigns is money. But WWE is lowering the ceiling of how much money they can make with him by handling him badly creative wise like they did with Cena. As THE top face and being an underdeveloped one at that, he should have gone through the slow burn like his predecessors. Tear up the midcard after branching out from The Shield then defeating Rusev for the US title at WM 31. If they did that, there would be little to no criticisms of Reigns and he would have had a few options at WM 32 to crown himself as the face of the company and they would have been all viable. The WWE title, Cena and Rock. All of which he would have been ready for, Rock not as much as the other two and would be very risky. All that is gone now but currently they could make more money with him as a heel. We will see at Wrestlemania if they take the best route for it.