[DesolationRow]

Originally Posted by Starbuck

There's a Dunn/Levesque power struggle? I don't know much about that.

That's the rumor. Supposedly, Dunn disliked/distrusted Sheamus, and that was one reason Sheamus was jobbed out for a while a year ago. Triple H had endorsed Sheamus, but Dunn reportedly used pay-per-view buyrates with Sheamus headlining in 2010 as evidence for why they couldn't trust him with "the ball," and was instrumental behind jobbing him out. There was also talk of how Sheamus needed to re-sign with them, too. Anyway, the Dunn/Levesque power struggle supposedly encompasses many matters in WWE today, with Dunn leading Vince more toward the "sports entertainment" avenue and Levesque emphasizing all-around solid talents, etceteras. I don't know how much truth, if any, there is in this but like I said, it could be a possible explanation for why WWE's product has been so largely shaky these past few months.

Originally Posted by Marv95

Or just have an all-out brawl between the 2 sometime before Mania. For two guys who have legit beef towards one another a lack of physicality is lame an unrealistic.

Either have Rock lose his cool after being "shown up" week after week, or have Rock get personal with Cena and actually bury him to the point where Cena finally gets fazed and you got a brawl. Screw being professional, time to get real.

They certainly need to "up" the intensity. The Hell in a Cell match is currently leaving Rock/Cena in the dust.

[Starbuck]

Originally Posted by DesolationRow

That's the rumor. Supposedly, Dunn disliked/distrusted Sheamus, and that was one reason Sheamus was jobbed out for a while a year ago. Triple H had endorsed Sheamus, but Dunn reportedly used pay-per-view buyrates with Sheamus headlining in 2010 as evidence for why they couldn't trust him with "the ball," and was instrumental behind jobbing him out. There was also talk of how Sheamus needed to re-sign with them, too. Anyway, the Dunn/Levesque power struggle supposedly encompasses many matters in WWE today, with Dunn leading Vince more toward the "sports entertainment" avenue and Levesque emphasizing all-around solid talents, etceteras. I don't know how much truth, if any, there is in this but like I said, it could be a possible explanation for why WWE's product has been so largely shaky these past few months.

Hmmm. I've heard of the Seamus stuff but not to that extent. Didn't know it went deeper than that either. I guess when you look at the whole thing together it does provide a plausible reason for the utter shambles WWE has become as of late. Two opposing sides fighting for two different things with a damn lunatic in the middle lol. What we see on TV every week is the outcome.

[Green Light]

Is it fair to say that the interest in this Rock/Cena program is gone? It doesn't surprise me at all, the angle they have gone with it is fucking stupid. "Reality era" clearly is not resonating with fans, people want to see entertaining larger than life characters, not petty one-upping shoot promos

[Carcass]

Was the RAW after the Royal Rumble the only time they got over 5 million?

[Starbuck]

They've got over it for some individual segments but for the overall show? I don't know. You'll have to go look back through the thread and see.

[DesolationRow]

Originally Posted by Starbuck

Hmmm. I've heard of the Seamus stuff but not to that extent. Didn't know it went deeper than that either. I guess when you look at the whole thing together it does provide a plausible reason for the utter shambles WWE has become as of late. Two opposing sides fighting for two different things with a damn lunatic in the middle lol. What we see on TV every week is the outcome.

Haha, sounds like we get to see the outcome of a Shakespearean tragedy every week, LOL.

Originally Posted by Green Light

Is it fair to say that the interest in this Rock/Cena program is gone? It doesn't surprise me at all, the angle they have gone with it is fucking stupid. "Reality era" clearly is not resonating with fans, people want to see entertaining larger than life characters, not petty one-upping shoot promos

Indeed. Starbuck and I have both frequently dismissed the whole concept of "owning" someone in a promo as the end-all of everything, like in that thread last week on the Jericho/Punk promo. Perhaps Cena actually subscribes to this terrible outlook?

Originally Posted by Carcass

Was the RAW after the Royal Rumble the only time they got over 5 million?

Mmm... I think so. And of course that was because everyone wanted to see the aftermath of Daniel Bryan retaining in the cage match with the two giants.

[Mister Hands]

Originally Posted by DesolationRow

Mmm... I think so. And of course that was because everyone wanted to see the aftermath of Daniel Bryan retaining in the cage match with the two giants.

Speaking of whom, it might be interesting post-WM to compare ratings patterns of Rocky Raws with Starless Smackdown.

[Starbuck]

Originally Posted by DesolationRow

Haha, sounds like we get to see the outcome of a Shakespearean tragedy every week, LOL.

Now there's a nice descriptive term for current day WWE, no? Lol.

[kokepepsi]

3.2
According to f4wonline

[GillbergReturns]

Originally Posted by Mister Hands

Speaking of whom, it might be interesting post-WM to compare ratings patterns of Rocky Raws with Starless Smackdown.

Smackdown gets 60% the audience that Raw gets. Their rating might go up but they have the potential to do that because it's a smaller market compared to Raw.