[The-Rock-Says]

DEM MUSCLES

[SerapisLiber]

Originally Posted by WashingtonD

I have real life friends, 8 of whom casually watch wrestling. ... That's enough first-hand evidence for me

8 people out of 3 to 4 million is enough evidence?

[NearFall]

Originally Posted by Evil Peter

So the lesson according to you is "be a big star from before"? It doesn't matter what The Rock does when he comes back. He could come in and just do a tired routine where he just burps his catchphrases but he still draws in people just because of his name that's already built up.

That doesn't really solve anything, just as it won't help Rock much more than short term if Johnny Depp, or some other real actor, does a movie with him.

I was kidding. But since you responded seriously, I'll give my opinion on the matter. Not at all should the show have to rely on older stars such as the Rock to keep them afloat in ratings. Do they have a place on the show for certain periods? Definitely, its always nice to see people back but when your RELYING on that star to keep your entire show afloat ,due to how bad things currently are(and this is based on ALOT of factors, not just the talent/roster), then that is a major issue. RAW needs to continue to plummet before WWE and Vince realise that not even the casuals care. Even with Cena/Punk and Punk/RyBack, their most faithed pairings, the ratings are going the shitter. The main-event just wont carry the show anymore, and since they only focus on the main-event semi-decently, they really are in trouble.

Originally Posted by jblvdx

[CC91]

[Coffey]

Originally Posted by Marv95

The first 2 in bold existed 6 years ago and ratings were a point higher, sometimes even more.

It's a combination of excuses. They are still an excuse. They do still factor into the equation. They always will. That's just how things are. How much they factor in can be argued but the fact that they do factor in can not.

Besides MMA being huge six years ago is a big reason why modern wrestling is in the shape it is in. Think of all the potential wrestlers that went to MMA schools instead of wrestling schools. Six years later, those athletes, some with ability, are not honing their craft in a squared circle but sparring instead. It definitely factors in, we just can't see it visually.

[Goldfinger]

2.5.. wtf haha..

that's Diesel-like ratings.

[Evil Peter]

Originally Posted by NearFall

I was kidding. But since you responded seriously, I'll give my opinion on the matter. Not at all should the show have to rely on older stars such as the Rock to keep them afloat in ratings. Do they have a place on the show for certain periods? Definitely, its always nice to see people back but when your RELYING on that star to keep your entire show afloat ,due to how bad things currently are(and this is based on ALOT of factors, not just the talent/roster), then that is a major issue. RAW needs to continue to plummet before WWE and Vince realise that not even the casuals care. Even with Cena/Punk and Punk/RyBack, their most faithed pairings, the ratings are going the shitter. The main-event just wont carry the show anymore, and since they only focus on the main-event semi-decently, they really are in trouble.

I didn't mean that there's anything negative about The Rock coming back, quite the contrary. I just meant that I don't think the rest learn too much from him because it doesn't matter what he does, he's already over and no one can really copy what he does either.

I agree with you on that they are in trouble and, as you allude to, the writing is the big problem. It's very thin in quality and it gets worse when that needs to be stretched over three hours. I do think they have enough talent to make a good show but while the wrestlers need to step up it's more important that they get good things to work with.

[joeisgonnakillyou]

Ryback bringing dem ratings

[Coffey]

Let's talk about the writing. Yes, we all know it is not stellar, but why is it that way? There are a lot of theories:

- The writers aren't wrestling fans so they don't know how to write wrestling.
- The writers are not writing to appease an audience, they are writing to appease Vince McMahon.
- No matter what the writers submit, it is rewritten by other people anyway, including Vince McMahon.
- People like Stephanie McMahon & Michael Hayes having a say in the creative process is a conflict of interest as they play favorites & politic as much as the wrestlers do.

So, really, if one or any combination of those are actually true, there is no real solution. It would require Vince McMahon to step away from WWE completely, Stephanie McMahon to lose her creative job & then either the writers could write with free reign or would be replaced with wrestling fans, which again just leads to politics and playing favorites.

With constant re-writes, last minute changes, injuries, suspensions, ratings panic, Vince McMahon mood swings, etc. it doesn't matter who is writing what it is never going to have any continuity or make any sense. It is a creative frog in a blender. So now the show is just a way to kill time, from a creative standpoint. It does not really matter what is put on air as long as they get through each show. That is why things happen for no reason. It is why feuds never die. It is why no one is over, there is no heat, titles don't mean anything, title reigns don't mean anything, champions don't matter, shows don't matter, etc.

Plus, just from a creative standpoint, having to write, what, 7 1/2 hours of TV/Internet shows a week (on non-PPV weeks) & over 10 hours worth of material (on a week with PPV) EVERY WEEK would burn anyone out. That's over thirty hours a month.

[LovelyElle890]

Maybe they should have a special Attitude Era talk session for Raw? Three hours of the stars from that era roundtable talking, showing clips, and taking fan questions. Then compare that rating to the current product's rating and you can then see how astronomical/minute the gap between the old stars and new stars truly is. If people would rather watch the old stars just talk than watch the new stars wrestle, then you have a very serious problem that isn't going away.

Watch it do a 5.0+ rating for all three hours.