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How can WWE be popular and mainstream again?

16K views 116 replies 90 participants last post by  Erik. 
#1 ·
WWE is irrelevant in the mainstream and has been for a long time now. No matter what they do, they just can't get mainstream attention like they used to. Raw's ratings keep declining and SmackDown's ratings are too low. So how can WWE be popular and mainstream again?
 
#3 ·
I honestly don't think they can. Sad as it is to admit it the entire concept of pro-wrestling is passe these days. It's not just WWE, it's wrestling as a whole, it's just a very dated, old fashioned thing. There's a reason that ratings have steadily declined since the Attitude Era, people who try and pin the current low ratings on "flippy indy guys" are way off base tbh. The world is different now, take a look at TV now compared to a decade or longer ago and the vast majority of it is "reality tv" where in the mid-90's everything was drama shows and "acting based" television - whether comedy, thriller, dramas etc. These days it's easy to watch legitimate sport from all over the world, including the obscure stuff you never got to see. There is a much bigger combat sports scene in MMA. Everything that wrestling offers is actually a low-rent equivalent to other things - which it always has been, but since the early 00's it's been a lot cheaper, easier and more accessible to get all of the other forms of entertainment than it was in years past. If you want "good stories and drama" there are tv shows all over the place that are lightyears beyond wrestling. If you want combat sports/legitimate competition - exactly the same. There is literally nothing on offer in the WWE/wrestling as a whole that you can't get better in another medium. People need to accept that wrestling is very much a "niche" market now and probably always will be. The business is no longer going to grow in the mainstream (at least in Western civilization) it can only grow by hitting untapped markets in other countries.
 
#9 ·
This pretty much says it all, Wrestling has already hit it's peak and now it can only go downhill and then just plateau at some point. There are a lot of other better alternative forms of entertainment out there for wrestling to keep up with.

I doubt even ditching the PG rating and getting legit superstars on the level of the Rock and Austin would be enough to be more mainstream nowadays.
 
#7 · (Edited)
For WWE to get back in demand it needs to have WAY less programming on television which can be accessed so easily.

Even the Network is a blessing and a curse. Fans who hate the current product have easy access to the product they fell in love with which gives them no incentive to pay attention to the new stuff.

The pro wrestling business is cyclical and is in a kind of state that it went into after the initial days of television when pro wrestling was a huge factor in its success in terms of giving tv programming. It had to go underground and under the radar creating its own niche product before it got big again in the 80's with a fresh approach.

WWE needs to cut down on ppv shows and the tv shows and make people not take the product for granted, but it won't happen because it is still profitable.

Weekly shows and monthly ppv shows by the SAME company with no alternatives has made the product become bland to the masses imo. You just have too much easy access to it. It's over exposed. You know the saying too much of a good thing can turn into a bad thing.

If they FORCE fans to only be able to see it live with rare tv shows people may seek it out more. As it is right now you can miss a whole month and not miss anything. It is on every damn week at the same time for decades which has made fans just comfortable to change the channel to something else when nothing much is happening.

Once WWE can once again feel must watch or exclusive to watch again will it gain back huge demand.
 
#13 ·
It would be VERY interesting to know how the WWE of today with all its history of knowledge would redo all of this over if it had the opportunity. The problem I see out the gate is that the WWF would probably try to NOT make the wrestlers bigger than their company. It seems there is deliberate intention to have the Mcmahons the be all and end all because the family will always be there for the company.

Sometimes ignorance is bliss and I believe the old WWF's attitude may have been better in not tinkering the product with micromanagement as today.

I don't have an answer to the topic question, but I do have one point I rarely see made.

If we all accept they'll never be as popular again, it'd probably lead to less overall criticism by long-time fans. A lot of us want it to be as popular as it was when we were teenagers and it was the coolest thing so we could be proud of our hobby and have it validated by our wider friendship circles again. That's the ultimate source of frustration with ratings IMO.
I always felt 1999 and post WM V-WM VI WWF was at its popularity peaks, but it was actually more organically over the year before with the core product without the fringe changes to aesthetics that caused the extra fair weather fans to jump on the bandwagon.
 
#11 ·
They can still charge exorbitant amount of money for their house shows and are getting decent views on Youtube so WWE is still popular. WWE is still mainstream, they just aren't the hottest thing like they were back in the late 90's.

Are the Kardashians mainstream? I would probably say yes. But they aren't the 'IT' thing as say 4-5 years ago.
 
#15 · (Edited)
Kylie Jenner is the IT girl, Kendall Jenner (hot af) is actually a supermodel. Caitlyn has inspired a lot of trans folk including Charlotte. Kim may no longer be a force, but the Kardashian brand is still as big.

OT: Wrestling has peaked. Unless people get tired of realism and relatable personas, we won't be seeing the general public clamorf larger-to-life people/characters ( hence why Bland Taylor Swift is popular and over-the-top Lady Gaga has faded into irrelevance). WWE at its core is quirky, over-the-top, and rooted in absurdity. Why would the generic public be interested in WWE pretending to be a legit sport when boxing and MMA exist? They are not.
 
#12 ·
I don't have an answer to the topic question, but I do have one point I rarely see made.

If we all accept they'll never be as popular again, it'd probably lead to less overall criticism by long-time fans. A lot of us want it to be as popular as it was when we were teenagers and it was the coolest thing so we could be proud of our hobby and have it validated by our wider friendship circles again. That's the ultimate source of frustration with ratings IMO.
 
#14 ·
No more boundaries left to push. Larger than life characters were maxed out by the early 90's to the point where it got ridiculous. Fortunately, there were still moral boundaries left to push so they went with more realistic characters(for the most part) that pushed the limits on sex, religion, and violence until they couldn't push anymore. The only boundary left that has room to still be pushed is athleticism within the ring and that's what they are doing now. Eventually they will hit a ceiling there too. Doubtful that anyone will come along that is stronger than Brock and Goldberg and eventually the gymnastic style will hit its peak too. There aren't but so many flips that are humanly possible between the top rope and the ring. After that I'm not sure where the shock value will come from and without shock value there is no mainstream appeal.
 
#16 · (Edited)
This post is exactly why I say the WWE won't get big again until it becomes smaller. I mean when someone like THE BIG SHOW just seems ordinary something is wrong. It is down to overexposure.

When Bret Hart came to power his ring excellence was rare which is why he started to get pops comparable to 91 Hogan and Warrior. Then the physicality went up a notch when HBK did the ladder match which made fans become in awe.

Then we got warring wrestling organizations where fans chose sides like team sports. That was not done before.

For long time fans we have seen it all, BUT let wrestling get small and less exposed again for a few years. There are fans of today who were not around when the last boom happened.

Let's say the biz is cyclical. What old is new again in a few years and may captivate the audiences. For all the changes they are trying to do with RAW and Smackdown the reality of it all is that the WWE has NOT CHANGED really since the Monday Night War.

You see Shane and Stephanie Mcmahon in family struggle on the brands JUST like fans saw in 2000-2002. It will just seem like the same show to casual fans imo especially since it is on every week all year long.

Cut the easy access and it goes underground it will rise again in popularity. That is how it got so huge during the 80's. It was niche until it just exploded where mainstream was begging for it. Then it died off into the underground again from 90-92 until Hogan turned heel in 1996.

The HUGE difference though which I see is a BIG problem is that those two booms were within a decade and it was basically ignited with the wrestlers the mainstream fell in love with in the 80's (Hogan and Piper with roles reversed in WCW for example was HUGE) until the new crop of guys like Austin and Rock won people over.

Today's WWE does not have the luxury of allowing familiarity to grow through its competitor and riding the wave.

For all intents and purposes following that formula, we would have John Cena in the competition now with guys like Batista in new characters down South bringing back fans they came on board in 2005(last time ratings were at its highest for those Batista and HHH segments).
 
#20 ·
Probably never going to happen. Maybe if they can come up with the next huge Austin vs McMahon/NWO angle but something completely unique we haven't seen before. With WWE's creative team though can you really see that happening? I can't.
 
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#23 · (Edited)
I used to think the direction Lucha Underground was going would be the way forward but I don't think that anymore. In general I've come to the conclusion Pro Wrestling is dying a slow death. As others have said, the whole idea of pro wrestling is pretty old fashioned and goes back to the days of the Circus which is also a dying form of entertainment. I think it will remain very niche.
 
#25 ·
Get rid of PG.
I was supporter for PG for a while but it's run its course. When Sami Zayn said "bitch" it got him one of the biggest reactions of his career, is that seriously all it takes now??

Bring back blood, swearing, trucks, cars, weapons, backstage brawls, sex symbols, keep the good wrestling, and one huge storyline ( like CM PUNK AND AJ RETURN TO TAKE DOWN HHH/STEPHANIE )

P.S : I love wrestling right now, and would prefer it to anything I just mentioned above, Ring Work :mark: but if they can combine the 2 with the awesome talent they have, perfect.
 
#26 ·
Sexing up the product on both the male and female ends wouldn't be a bad shout tbh, "sex sells" really is a truth when it comes to television. I don't think a return to Russo's crash tv would help these days, it's more likely to push the audience away in the modern period. But delivering a more adult product certainly wouldn't hurt things. (Though as I've stated earlier in this thread, I think it's impossible for WWE to really become mainstream again.)
 
#28 ·
First, I would make Chris Jericho RAW GM, since that is the job he would be best suited towards. Cut down wrestlers, start feuds, avenge losses, increase the GM physically.
Chris Jericho could do all that.

Second, push the wrestlers fans want to see, and drop the ones they don't. Bloody obvious, but WWE has done the opposite of this too many times to count.

Third, bring back feuds, actual real feuds.

Fourth, stop shaking the camera, it sickens me, I have to look away while it's happening. Show the match as a match, not as though the camera guy is jacking off to the action.

Fifth, build stars bigger than WWE, larger than life badass stars, theyv'e done it before, is it so hard to create a living legend.
 
#30 ·
How is this going to bring in the non-WWE fans though? All this will do is (possibly) improve the enjoyment of the fans they already have, it won't put more eyes on the product at all. You'd have to already be watching for any of this to affect you.
 
#31 · (Edited)
I used to wonder this too around 2010/11, when I started watching bits and pieces of wrestling again and started taking an interest (once more) in the indy stuff.

What I realise now is, that wrestling being a mainstream aspect of American and to a certain extent, British society was a blip and that the norm is wrestling being aimed at a niche, quite hardcore demographic who take it all too serious.

With Hogan and the mass, patriotic dogma of the 80s in the US and then later, the dirty, grungy 90s pop culture scene helped wrestling get to a new audience. That's not going to be replicated now.
 
#32 · (Edited)
WWE have tried to tap into pop-culture over the last ten years and have had a decrease in ratings. What does that tell you?
That banging on about twitter trends, making references to non-wrestling (for example boxing figures) and the like need to stop. The business has gone from being organic and exciting to being over produced and trying to be entertainment rather than a wrestling product. There is a reason I watched wrestling in my teens and early 20s religiously.. because it was like nothing else on television.

We now have the likes of Game of Thrones, Criminal Minds and Walking Dead on mainstream TV. We have big sporting events like the NFL football season in the US. We have 'talent' (i use that term mildly) shows across the spectrum and we have comedy shows that have hit the mainstream more than at any other point in history. There are hundreds of channels with an vast array of genres. WWE have forgotten that they are a genre on their own and have tried so hard to turn away from 'wrasslin' (because Vince is ashamed of the product that made him a millionaire).

I watched wrestling because it was gritty, it was action-packed and it was FUN. I watched for the unpredictability of it, the chase for the title, the conflict and the resolution. I watched for the colourful characters who were built so that I genuinely cared about what would happen the next week.

WWE have tried to be something they are not and are not as good at it as the competition. They simply can't compete with other mainstream forms of entertainment because they have the ball and chain that is wrestling. I believe if Vince had his way he wouldn't even have a wrestling ring, it would just be a load of skits with no matches linking each other at all.

In short it is not about the 'next big star'. It is not about the booking or the storylines. It is about the fact WWE is no longer accepting that it is a WRESTLING company and a genre on its own. Until they come to that realisation they will never compete with the big selling alternatives again.

As someone else point out, it takes people talking about the product to get more fans on board. If they see it as sub-standard or a joke they aren't likely to talk to non-fans about it.
 
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